Breakfast Topic: The simplification of the game
by Dan O'Halloran 
Sep 29th 2008 at 8:00AM
One of the key reasons behind WoW's runaway success when it launched was it made MMORPG's accessible. Quests were tracked, instances were on rails and progression was clear. Other games on the market at the time were deeply complex affairs that required players to spend more time outside the game researching it than actually in it playing.As time went on WoW became more complex in an effort to continually challenge its players. New game mechanics were introduced and corresponding stats showed up on items to deal with them. Classes took on new roles and new game mechanics were introduced to cater to it. Multiple sets of gear became necessary to deal with the many different encounters available in Azeroth and the Outlands.
But now, with Wrath, Blizzard is simplifying the game to a great extent. Item stats are being merged or removed (hello, +Spellpower.) Different classes are approaching encounters the same way (all tanks are getting better at AE abilities). Raid boss mechanics, which only a small percentage of the player population has seen, are being reused in more accessible encouters.
So the questions is: Do we want a more simplified WoW so we can spend more time playing and less time analyzing dps charts or is the complexity of the current game part of the appeal?
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Breakfast Topics, Wrath of the Lich King
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
Walter Ritzel Sep 29th 2008 8:09AM
I would say simplify itemization is always good. What I would like to see is more complex raids in a sense of strategy. I think Blizzard should create encounters where the player's skills are more important than the gear or DPS itself.
seam Sep 29th 2008 8:41AM
^^^ I agree
BillDoor Sep 29th 2008 8:50AM
I agree completely. A few of these encounters do exist already in BC. To start, there are Vasjh and Kael'Thas. After that you've got Teron Gorefiend and Illidan Flame tanking. Finally you've got most of Sunwell.
I'm very happy that gear is being somewhat homogenized. It'll make progression faster, because you'll have to farm loot from old instances less.
andyjay220 Sep 29th 2008 9:54AM
I am happy they are making things more ACCESSIBLE. I have less time to play than hardcore raiders, but more time to play than casuals. I love the 10 man raids, achievements, and fun heroics. This makes up the bulk of the game for the bulk of the players. They should keep a lot of good high end content for the lucky few that progress that far, but I am glad to see they are catering a lot of good stuff to the masses.
scnd Sep 29th 2008 9:32AM
Yep, simplifying itemization makes the game more fun for everyone (no one likes sharding epics), but simplifying mechanics does not.
I want something to sink my teeth into when it comes to strategy and skill in both PvE and PvP. I want to be challenged. That's the only way I can continue to play any game.
Simon Sep 29th 2008 11:48AM
Agree - with Vanilla WoW and TBC it got to the point where before you even rolled a character, you had to read something like 'Elitest Jerks & the WoW forums' to work that no, you won't be fighting on the front line if you roll a Paladin - you'll be healing. And no, your warrior will not be doing dps end-game - you'll be tanking. And if you want to raid and the raid already has a MT, sorry you're out of luck, best to re-roll.
So it's definitely better that the game is getting simpler re spells and gear and that the classes do at endgame pretty much what you'd expect them to do.
Hopefully it'll now be more about teamwork and strategy rather than as I said, working out what class you need to roll and poring over excel spreadsheets to find the best gear combinations!
Cthulu Sep 29th 2008 8:12AM
Simplification is good at times to not have to spend hours on other websites but there are so many bad players at 70 nowadays maybe some complexity is a good thing!
Harmun Sep 29th 2008 9:42AM
Blizzard keeps trying to cater to both solitudes, and for the most part I think they're doing a fair job. The game allows me to achieve things in the end game with my extremely limited available play time if I prioritize properly and bring my A game, but it also has enough distractions that someone who is less invested in seeing end game content won't lose interest in the game with all the daily quests, reputation rewards, fishing spots, and world events.
Debricashi Sep 30th 2008 3:00PM
Leveling is really a joke for most classes. That's why you get the "huntards" and "retardins." A good hunter can provide top notch DPS, and a pally... well they can tank or heal. However, the barrier to 70 is just one of time played. No matter how many times you die, you'll get there if you keep at it. Frankly, that doesn't bother me and if that means there are a bunch of bad players at 70, whatever. I don't have to run with them.
However, it's really annoying to have to shard everything that drops in a raid because it's f*ing shammy gear and you don't have one tonight. And consolidated stats don't necessarily mean simple to do right or max out. A good example is hit vs haste, or AP vs Crit.
Balius Sep 29th 2008 8:11AM
At its most complex, WoW is still remarkably simple. Better for it to play to its strengths than try to come off as "hardcore".
That said, more complex non-raid encounters are nice t change it up a little, and the simplification of stats means MORE complexity (because now you're dealing with multiplicative modifiers ON TOP of the spell length and talents and spell specific mechanics) and only really works to simplify drop tables from bosses so each boss can drop a wider variety of gear.
Tian Xia Sep 29th 2008 8:14AM
Simplified for me.
Time spent on actual playing = fun.
DPS charts and tons of theorycrafting = not fun.
Rugus Sep 29th 2008 8:18AM
Same for me. Of course no one wants a "1-click" game, but theorycrafting too much is indeed a waste of time (that we pay every month).
scnd Sep 29th 2008 9:32AM
Without the ability to theorycraft, I think the game would lose a lot of its depth and a lot of its appeal to me.
You should be able to play your class well without it, but if you want to really excel, you should have to analyze charts and crunch numbers. That's where this genre has its roots.
Amaxe Sep 29th 2008 11:01AM
"Theorycraft" as in how to improve your play is good. I certainly recommend studying this
"Theorycraft" as in needing an advanced degree in Math and running constant simulators to figure out how to play your class properly (like the Enhancement Shaman) is harmful to the game.
How many people can tell from simply playing that to be a Shaman, you need a 2.6 speed weapon? Or what buffs you need on your weapon to avoid weakening yourself instead of strengthening it? It is certainly not intuitive.
Why does Elitist Jerks need 90+ pages of forum to figure out whether the changes for WOLK are a nerf or a benefit?
Ultimately this is the difference between good and bad theorycraft
Cae Sep 29th 2008 11:32AM
I really agree with scnd here. Frankly the casuals will continue to do what they do (fishing? Heroics?) regardless of changes to the game's mechanics, and I think the developers should not even consider them when creating or revamping talents and skills, etc. WoW is at heart a numbers game and optimising how those numbers perform for you should be rewarded, rather than punished (i.e. removal of priest racials). But the thing that scares me the most about the ongoing development of WoW is this trend towards homogeneity (tee hee) between classes. A palette of bright colours when mixed becomes brown.
Druids should not necessarily be as good at single-target tanking as warriors. Warriors should not be as good at AOE tanking as paladins. If there is no difference between classes, why even have classes? Why not just have a single class with points to allocate between healing, tanking, and damage? This is the logical conclusion of Blizzard's current direction. I hope they realise before then that each class is a beautiful, unique snowflake whose individuality must be cherished and nurtured rather than shared (how many classes have MS now?) or destroyed as a lazy way of balancing.
Tian Xia Sep 29th 2008 12:23PM
I think the theorycrafting adds an interesting point to the game, but when grinding, or planning to raid, I'll stick to addons that count everything for me... ^^
Michael Torpey Sep 29th 2008 12:35PM
I strongly agree with Cae, although I have a few points that suggest it might not be as bad as he fears.
Firstly, note the current trend in WotLK talents. In many cases (DK, Warrior, Mage specifically) Blizzard are trying to make all trees useful for all roles and play styles, depending on exactly how you build them (at least that's the direction it's moving in). This shift in design has meant that there are a lot more difficult choices to make when you're making a build, and difficult choices are good. How we make difficult choices is what makes each of us different from the crowd.
So although I don't like the homogenisation of classes, I don't think all hope is lost if they continue moving in this direction.
SaintStryfe Sep 29th 2008 2:39PM
Amen. I'm very confused right now as an ENH shaman - my Dual Wield, slow/fast? Fast/fast? Flametounge or Windfury? AP or Spell Damage? Since it's not set in stone yet, it's hard to be sure, but I'm a little flustered that my number go down so much.
It's silly things too - the hidden cooldown on WF, that shouldn't have to be there. It just makes us go to these sites.
Eh? Sep 30th 2008 5:42AM
"I hope they realise before then that each class is a beautiful, unique snowflake whose individuality must be cherished and nurtured rather than shared (how many classes have MS now?) or destroyed as a lazy way of balancing."
Heh, to that I will say: You are a beautiful and unique snowflake, just like everyone else.
I laugh heartily at anyone decrying what Blizzard is doing in terms of homogenizing the classes. What people fail to notice is that every single ability being granted to classes to bring similarities all come with their own special wrinkles. While the end result is very similar, each class that is given that ability has it's own way of doing it.
While I don't necessarily agree with EVERY change made by blizzard, I for one, am HAPPY the old way of thinking is going the way of the dodo.
Dyermaker Sep 29th 2008 8:14AM
Oversimplification will be the downfall of WoW. The split between 10 man and 25 man raid content used to have different zones to explore and different challenges. For guilds who are pushing 10 man content, they will come to a complete stall after its over. There's nothing new for them to push for. They will never see the same content as 25 man raid, who will want to look at the same things after having pushed that raid content for who knows how long? If they are going to spend their time in the zone, they will do it as rewardingly as possible, meaning taking on less challenge and collecting as much loot as possible.
One of the problems with EQ raids that everyone decried was that the size marginalized the contribution of any individual. With all raid roles overlaping to the extent that they do with WotLK, you have the exact same problem but with a much different cause.