Ghostcrawler: Wrath's difficulty is where we want it
by Mike Schramm 
Nov 29th 2008 at 5:00PM
One of the biggest concerns we've heard from players since the expansion launched is that everything is too easy -- not only did the hardcore raiders burn down the PvE endgame content in a matter of days, but upgrades aren't really what they used to be, and anyone with some solid gear that blow through most of the instances without too much trouble. Which begs the question: is Wrath too easy?No, according to our buddy Ghostcrawler. He says that Blizzard's goal this time around was to avoid the Karazhan mistake from the last expansion, where players butted their heads up against tougher content in the early endgame. GC says that Blizzard certainly knows how to make tougher content, but they'd rather everyone got a turn this time around.
The only question I have left is why they didn't include it all in the same release -- Blizzard seems to be saying that harder content is on the way, but wouldn't it be more prudent to have both easy and hard content in at the same time? As a casual player, I'm thrilled to hear that the endgame is easier -- I'll get to see more of it. But we've got two versions of each endgame instance now -- do they both have to be easy enough to conquer in a few days?
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Odds and ends, Blizzard, Expansions, Raiding, The Burning Crusade, Bosses, Wrath of the Lich King
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
Fluufykins Nov 29th 2008 5:10PM
I get the Blizz wants things to be easy so that the casual guilds can see content that would have otherwise been only playable to the top 10% or less of the player population.
But come on... running instances without even bringing a healer? A sole shadowpriest throwing the occasional bubble and the pally tank using self-healing seals/judgements as the sole healing in an instance? That's a bit TOO easy. We cleared level 80 content below level with no "real" healer... and we're not even hardcore.
outforprophets Nov 29th 2008 9:19PM
Yeah, you (nor I for that matter) might not be hardcore, which means the average WoW player is muuuuuch below our skill level. In which case, compared to them, we are very skilled.
Scary thought isn't it? But 11 million people IS a lot so the majority is bound to be mediocre or (as forum goers would say) "bads."
bonelip Nov 29th 2008 5:25PM
GC says that Blizzard certainly knows how to make tougher content, but they'd rather everyone got a turn this time around.
Thats awesome, everyone should see all the content. Not just those without jobs, children or significant others.
Maarick Nov 29th 2008 5:33PM
Not just those without jobs, children or significant others.
will these annoying commentors ever go away?
it's not that hard to be good at this game
im tired of the "I have a RL" excuse from scrubs
Some people are good, some people are not, like every other video game
if you suck at the game go hanfg out with your insignifgant others
Jagoex Nov 29th 2008 5:55PM
Maarick, you're right, it is not hard to be good at this game, but that is not the point.
What Bonelip is saying is that raiding for hours at a time outside of the other many hours spent in-game requires one to sacrifice time elsewhere. Given the absurd amount of time some people play this game, he believes it is safe to assume that they do not have more important responsibilities to attend to... or that they just ignore them altogether. I believe that is a safe assumption.
Having a "real life" does indeed limit one's time, as surely you would know if you had a job, kids, the works... and calling someone a "scrub" for acknowledging the obvious is, well, less than pro, if you know what I mean. ;)
Kanuris Nov 29th 2008 5:56PM
@Maarick
For many endgame raids, it's very rarely a skill issue. Sure, noobs weren't ever going to be killing Illidan or KJ back in TBC, but niether were those with little time to invest in WoW.
A decent endgame raiding guild will raid about 4 days a week, for about 4 hours each time, at set days each week.
For people with full time jobs, significant others or families, life can butt in way too easily. Son threw up, work colleague killed the network etc. Life will butt into your WoW time and you won't raid that night.
If WoW was a single player game your statement would be faultless. However organising times for raiding is an issue for some of us with less time/less reliable time to invest into this game.
ArchVile125 Nov 29th 2008 6:04PM
And I'm tired of people like Maarick flaming others for their opinions because they are so insecure about themselves that they feel threatened at the idea that they may be playing a game that is not tough enough for their "1337 skillz." t another idiot who needs to command respect through an online video game rather than in real life.
Putting down others for making a comment is, like many others, his only way to feel tough and important. If you actually had a life and commitments, you'd probably understand that its hard to raid 5 nights a week with a job and a family, but since you most likely live in your parents basement with not so much as even a sweater overweight dude that you speak to through AIM, whom you believe is a girl and indeed you online girlfriend, you may understand that WoW raiding doesn't sometimes fit in people's schedules. I'm sure the pinnacle of your existence, and those like you, are the idea that people are walking past you in Dalaran, inspecting your big gear and thinking 'Wow, I wish I was that guy's friend IRL" (newflash, people aren't inspecting you - they're too wrapped up in their own gameplay, to care about yours).
Well, if WoW has gotten too soft for you, try AoC, while its still around, or test your skills on WAR. The guys over at EA Mythic to have another WoW defect in their ranks, and you can take your BS posts and flaming over there.
Oh, and calling people "scrubs" isn't cool either. That word was died back in 1991.
I await for, what I'm sure will be a rebuttal along the lines of how my "wall of text" is too much for illiterates to read. That's fine. it would just prove a point that anyone who can't spend 45 seconds to read a little over a paragraph is probably better off living in their parents basement past the age of 40. There's a reason why the cash registers at McDonalds have icons of hamburgers and fries, rather than the words of the hamburgers and fries.
eillind Nov 29th 2008 7:58PM
this is an MMO not fable 2
Fyve & Boomstick Nov 29th 2008 9:05PM
@ArchVile125,
Took more than 45 seconds to read your post dude. You could skip read, you wrote it. I would've put it more at the 90 second mark, maybe 2 mins.
Also, you are aware of the hypocrisy in slagging someone off for stating a comment about "scrubs" and generally being elitist, then going on to state they live in their parents basement and their only girlfriend is a heavy set guy from michigan. Horrid generalisation right there dont you think? In fact, i would say you comment was more full of hate then Maaricks original. He expressed a distaste for bad players blaming real life commitments for their bad playing. Well you know, I'm sick of those players too.
And, this is rather picky of me, but. "A little over a paragraph" of text would indicate two paragraphs, one of significant length, one of maybe only a sentence. Your post is five paragraphs in length. Which i think most would agree, is quite a way over a paragraph, rather than a little.
apoxic Nov 29th 2008 10:24PM
@Fyve & Boomstick
To make it even worse.. people actually voted up his post.
Seriously, flaming in any direction is bad, but starting it.
"Thats awesome, everyone should see all the content. Not just those without jobs, children or significant others."
I'm not sure if that was meant as such a bad flame as it turned into, but you're basically calling everyone who can dedicate some time to the game a no-lifer because YOU don't have the time putting time into a game, while there's hundreds of games out there that can be played and enjoyed other than world of warcraft.
So, to the contrary, why can't "these people without jobs" also have a challenge in their game? You're already "winning" in real life, can't you let them have some fun as well, if this is actually your opinion.
So sick of people telling others how to live their lives.
(Just for a note, I've always WANTED to be able to dedicate enough time to be at the very top, but I've always been in guilds that I'm allowed to just raid maybe 2-3 days a week without getting kicked out, due to these so called "IRL"-thingies)
ArchVile125 Nov 29th 2008 11:53PM
Yes, I am aware of the irony in my previous post, in which I used the same tactics that I was criticizing another for. It was intended to make a point. Perhaps I failed to make it more obvious in my post, that i was being extreme for a reason. The point I was hoping to convey is that the rest of us, like myself, can make grand sweeping generalizations about his lifestyle as well. Obviously, I can't know if he lives in his mother's basement, or if he has an "online relationship" with an overweight old dude. I don't know that guy anymore than he knew the life of the guy he chose to flame, or others in that similar situation.
What I am willing to guess though, is that Maarick is making a criticism of a lifestyle he knows nothing about and making assumptions about how someone with that lifestyle can and should be able to live it. Maybe I'm wrong. maybe he's one of a few lucky folks who has kids of the right age that they don't require consistent attention, and a steady job that allows him plenty of free time and night, and a flexible guild that works into his raiding schedule. Maybe that's the case. I doubt it, but maybe. After all, I'm in a guild with a guild leader that has just that very lucky type of life that allows him plenty of time to not only raid, but set up raids and run them on a consistent schedule. I'm lucky to be in the raid, because it works into my busy schedule and was lucky to have cleared BT and part of Sunwell.
The problem is, I'm not nearly as busy in my schedule as some others are, and even for me, it's tough. I've nearly backed out multiple times from losing sleep and even missing a few deadlines, which I promised I'd never do. Sadly, most WoW players have very busy, or unpredictable schedules (anyone ever work retail or are on call, say at a hospital?) It makes time management very difficult for a lot of people.
So yes, I realize the irony in my previous post and I expected people to mention that. Frankly I'm surprised I didn't get nailed over my plethora of typos (the grammar police love me). Yeah, I'm a lousy typist. Usually I just glaze over those types of posts, but sometimes after seeing so many elitist posts from people with big mouths starts to build up on me, and now and again I see a post where...well my tolerance cup done runneth over, so to speak. It gets to the point where no one can express their feelings about something without some jackass coming back with cheap shots and holier than thou attitude towards someone who really didn't deserve that.
It's a game, but elitists that want to complain or disagree with someone, sometimes like to treat the issues like its the Republicans versus the Democrats or something. it's not. The hardcore need to calm down, or if the game isn't good enough for them, wait it out or cancel their account for awhile and come back later. We're talking about a game whose mechanics can literally change over a Tuesday morning. And we've also not even yet seen any of the real endgame content. There is more to come, and Blizzard knows what they are doing. Not saying they are infallible, but they don't do things at random or make wild stabs in the dark when they make decisions about their game.
As for this post -- it'll definitely take more than 40 seconds to read. I apologize for my poor discretion when calculating the time it would take to read my previous post. Let it be known that my math skills are just as pitiful as my typing skills.
Grubba Nov 30th 2008 1:22AM
Maarick is right. If those of you shouting him down and downvoting his posts weren't so insecure about what you've accomplished (or failed to accomplish) in the game, you wouldn't have to resort to the name-calling and stereotyping you accuse him of doing.
Sarius Nov 30th 2008 2:18AM
@ArchVile125
I know this adds nothing to the conversation but sariusly that last post was worth the 40 seconds to read... LMAO...
And on topic...
WoW feels, more often than not 10% skill 90% time suck. Grinding for gear, buff materials, reputation (for gear), running raids (for gear) or whaterver. It takes a lot of time to make a good toon that has the stats to raid (or at least my TBC raiding experience, I'm still trying to find enough time to reach lvl 80, go figure). Time is really the key factor that makes the difference between a good or bad character (note I didn't say "player").
SaintStryfe Nov 30th 2008 2:58AM
"will these annoying commentors ever go away?"
It's not hard to be good. It IS time-consuming though.
KenMo Nov 30th 2008 9:26AM
I agree.
In BC, once I hit 70, I got into a casual raid guild, worked to get my gear and attunment to get into Kara, then went through Kara and Heroics for months before getting into 25 man content (up to TK and SSC at the end).
I was on the hard core end of casual for a while and I never even saw more than the front porch of the Black Temple.
So I would imagine that a bunch never even got as far as Magtheredon, or Gruul.
I'm all for making it easier in the end game.
Ice Nov 29th 2008 5:27PM
Im glad. At BC there was bunch of elitist jerks crying about "your gear is not overgeared enough for kara!" therefore I had to grind pvp epic set to even get to "and do good dps" kara -.- I love raiding. Not because I get epics, I enjoy them and the feeling.
P.s some people who take free from work for weeks to get to 80 and clearing all content is too easy? They are out of their league not "its too easy"
SMaxwell Nov 29th 2008 5:27PM
They didn't release harder content with the expansion because they knew hardcore gamers would blast to the endgame. Blizz wants them to keep their subscriptions, so they tease them with "harder content on the way." This prevents the 3-month subs for hardcore gamers as they blast through the content. Brilliant marketing if you ask me.
Amaxe Nov 29th 2008 5:33PM
I am averaging a level per day when I am off, every two days when working. I think it is a lot easier than BC was. I think BC was designed from a flight perspective (everything is so far apart), while LK was designed to keep people grounded until 77,
This means that quests are a lot closer together, making powerlevelling easier. At 20K xp a quest, it climbs quickly, and once you have a mount, the realms up to level 76 become so simple to do, and still provide a good return of XP.
The thing is if you make it challenging for flyers, the lower levels can't do it, but things that are challenging for non-flyers become very simple to the flyers.
So, no, I really don't believe GC that they "intended" it to be this way
Alex P Nov 29th 2008 5:41PM
But in BC you were grounded for all of your Outland levelling as you can't get flight training till 70... so if anything you can fly more often during your Wrath levelling surely?
Amaxe Nov 30th 2008 9:33AM
No. You were grounded until 70 I agree. However, BC does appear to be based on flying mounts in its design, as the distances were ideal for an epic flyer, but felt like The Barrens if you weren't.
Here, the pre-flying stuff seems to be designed for the non-flyer.
That's actually a plus for LK, I think, as it makes levelling less frustrating compared to the "I have to run WHERE?" quests of BC.
But I wish they had found a better balance between flyers and non-flyers so the dividing line is not too easy/impossible depending on which side of the flight ability you are