Patch 5.4 patch notes
Virtual Realms feature revealed
The Proving Grounds are coming
The latest patch 5.4 newsBlizzard's success with equalizing content
by Mike Schramm 
May 15th 2009 at 1:00PM
Kinless Chronicles talks about something I think Blizzard has done exceptionally well with the latest expansion: "equalized content." Their story is about taking control of a Blightblood to finish off Drakuru, but there are countless examples of this in Northrend, from the last fight of Drak'theron to the encounter in Eye of Eternity with Malygos. World of Warcraft (and MMOs in general) has always been about levels and gear -- get better gear or level up, and you can cast more spells, swing an axe harder, and move on to more epic encounters. But Blizzard's "equalizing content" means that gear isn't always an issue -- by putting you in control of something else, whether that be a mind-controlled Troll or a siege vehicle, you can have extremely epic encounters without worrying about whether you're powerful enough for them or not. The limiter becomes not gear but skill (and/or the knowledge of how to use those skills).Obviously they can't do nothing but equalized content, otherwise we're all just playing the same game (and, under pressure from players, they've even moved on to a mix of both, where gear does affect how you play in a vehicle). But Blizzard has really hit on something brilliant with what we're calling "equalized content" here, and used in a balanced way, it can allow players of all kinds of different skill levels to do even more epic things than they'd normally be able to do.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Fan stuff, Blizzard, Instances, Expansions, Bosses, Wrath of the Lich King
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 4)
Raze May 15th 2009 1:41PM
It's nearly impossible to make a game that lasts any length of time not tedious. So long as that tedium is presented in a reasonably interesting and entertaining way it's not always bad thing.
gj May 15th 2009 3:52PM
"So long as that tedium is presented in a reasonably interesting and entertaining way it's not always bad thing."
So... let me get this straight, Raze: as long as your tedium isn't... tedious... then it... isn't... tedious?
Help me out here. I think I understand what you're *trying* to say, but what came out was "Boring is boring. Unless it isn't."
Raze May 15th 2009 2:21PM
@GJ
Yeah. Bad word choice, I suppose. 'Repetitive' might of been better. I just stuck with tedious because of the argument from earlier.
Klangkor May 15th 2009 1:34PM
At first I did not like the vehicles. I felt like all the time I spent perfecting my skills and rotation were being substituted for a gimmick. Now after having some time to let the idea grow on me I can say that I hate it less. I still find it a little gimmicky, but in a way I am having fun with it. It could be better, but I'll reserve those ideas for another thread.
James Riggs May 15th 2009 1:43PM
"Obviously they can't do nothing but equalized content"
What? Grammar: it's not something they fortify your cereal with you know.
csarcops May 15th 2009 2:15PM
@ James: I agree, could have been worded better. Maybe "Obviously they can't do only equalized content"?
AirWalke May 15th 2009 1:45PM
LOL, all this time spent bellyaching about the use of vehicles in raids... nothing is ever good enough, is it?
I personally love the use of vehicles in certain raid encounters. Sure, you could see it as "cheapening" the abilities used to destroy said encounter, but you're ignoring the fun factor involved. I've been with my guild since Karazhan, and we've been through everything together through half of Sunwell and now Ulduar. At first, manning up in vehicles for Flame Leviathan was a bit chaotic, but soon people were commenting "... wow, this is fun!"
It's not a slap in the face at all. It's a break from your class to participate in something fun and different. And it's only *one encounter* in Ulduar. Is that so bad?
sirfwalgman May 15th 2009 1:46PM
I hate vehicles and getting changed to another monster type fights. Really lame. Mostly probably because I have a hard time controlling all these things.. and some seem buggy.. and others are just weird.. I dunno I have never liked the vehicle quests.. For the Ebon Hold quest where you have to kill Griffons on a Bone Dragon I just kill them myself.. and the stupid giant acid worm vs the giggantic monster in Storm Peaks I just let the worm die and kill him. Hate vehicles as implemented.
Netherscourge May 15th 2009 1:50PM
uuummm... I don't like to think that I've been spending the past 4 years building up my characters.... to see all their gear and skills be completely useless and unavailabe lwhile I'm stuck in some stupid vehicle with 4 buttons...
Gnosh May 15th 2009 2:01PM
...for five minutes at a time. WHAT was blizzard THINKING?
If you really hate vehicles... they're optional. With your attitude, I'm sure your guild wouldn't suffer if you just sat out FL every week like a wet sack of potatoes.
NUMBERONESTUNNA May 15th 2009 1:53PM
Yes, Blizz equalized content, but they also made the content so easy that alot of the content lost it's appeal.
"What we obtain to cheap, we esteem to lightly" - Thomas Paine.
Altho he was talking about the Revolutionary War and the Intolerable Acts, Mr. Paine makes an excellent point that can be used to generalize what has happened to WoW's endgame content.
The content isn't hard enough, and when the content is too easy, theres not enough "respect" that goes with the instance.
SWP was released and preNerf, only some WoW players had actually gone in and were successful. PostNerf dosen't count. This made SWP even more alluring and appealing. The fact that you had to actually be GOOD and couldn't just reply to somone LFG in Trade to get in the raid made the public have more "respect" for the instance and the gear that dropp'd in said instance.
By making the content too easy, and the content equalized, they failed and let down their most dedicated group of players.
Lyraat May 15th 2009 1:58PM
Downed Algalon yet? Completed all the achievements in Ulduar yet? If you have, congrats. If not, STFU about the game being too easy.
Pyornthe May 15th 2009 2:26PM
Obviously it's fair that only those people who have the time to park themselves in front of a computer and play nothing but WoW in a hardcore raiding guild should be able to see all the content in a game we /pay/ for.
I think the new system is perfect, and agree with Lyraat. Ulduar has two modes, one for you e-peen flexers who need to feel superior, and another one for people who just want to see the content and have a good time.
Honestly, I get the impression that most of the high-end raiders think they belong to some sort of special country club. The management of said club has lowered the required fee to enter, and now the hoity-toities are all miffed because they have to associate with the middle classes.
OH THE HORROR.
Come on boys and girls, learn to share the raids so we can all enjoy them. I don't know how one game can attract so many divas.
Innerness May 15th 2009 4:39PM
@Pyornthe
I played WoW for two years without setting foot in a raid, and precious few instances.
As people who are hostile towards raiders are so fond of pointing out, this is an MMORPG, a social game ultimately As a non-raider, I looked at the people doing 40 man raids and wondered how they could ever manage to do that; I looked at dedicated role-players and wondered how they could ever manage to do that; I looked at people who had phenomenal pvp titles, or crazy achievements in the days when achievements such as Bloodscale or Winterspring rep were a really big thing, and wondered how they could ever manage to do that. It never occurred to me to be jealous of or hostile towards any of these people, because as you people say, WoW is an MMORPG, a social game ultimately, played by people who are so varied that they have a range of different asperations and interests and playstyles - which sounds like a good thing to me.
Comments like 'Ulduar has two modes, one for you e-peen flexers who need to feel superior, and another one for people who just want to see the content and have a good time' just seem to ooze jealousy tbh.
'Honestly, I get the impression that most of the high-end raiders think they belong to some sort of special country club' - I don't get that impression, whyever would you think that? Comments like that just show what *you* think, reveal that *you* feel inferior to them for whatever strange reason. If you don't get satisfaction from the way you choose to play the game, and resent so bitterly people who do get satisfaction from the way they choose to play, then perhaps you should be looking more closely at how and why you play than at anyone else :)
Franlkin May 15th 2009 5:23PM
Thomas Paine? Really?
I am still a little bit astonished when I read commenters here quoting Jefferson or comparing WOW to the olympics or something.
It.Is.A.Video.Game.
Take a deep breath, and try to reestablish some perspective.
Anteia May 15th 2009 6:17PM
Their most dedicated players? I've played for three years, my boyfriend was a hardcore raider back when Molten Core was the place you slowly progressed in. He finally quit because he was sick of the attitudes and the way WoW had become a 'job' as opposed to a game. So, he ended up with his super casual girlfriend, clearly not dedicated because neither of us raided even though we played around five hours a day for fun. I mean, we didn't spend that time in a raid right? So Blizzard releasing content for us instead of their 'most dedicated players' who were in the raids during that five hours, that's Blizzard making the game cheap.
That said, we hit 80 in about about a week after the patch. And we are in Ulduar 25 now. And I was the first one in our 25 raid to have full 8.5. But I haven't changed the amount of hours I play Wow. I have two eighties. I'm working on levelling up a rogue with a friend. It sort of reminds me of the Foxtrot comic right after the release of Wrath, where Jason is refusing to leave his computer and a friend calls asking him to go out with ice cream. He declares she can't understand the duty and dedication it will take to reach 80 and he doesn't have time... the punchline of the joke is there's a level 80 gnome waving at him and she wants to celebrate hitting 80 before him.
There are not a 'few' players dedicated to WoW. Raiders are not even the MOST dedicated. Quite a few of the people in my raid have not even -finished the northrend quests-. Quite a few have NO IDEA on the lore behind any of it. They don't even know why I'm spazzing over seeing Thorim... they've never finished Zul'drak and don't know why I have a seething personal hatred for the Rhino prophet. But they'll spend hours wiping in there, so I imagine they're dedicated. They go on, even to sometimes do 25 Naxx or 10 Naxx or EOE or whatever. While I curl up to read my Arthas book or devote myself to the Argent tourney dailies.
Blizzard did not let down their most dedicated players. They just changed the way the game was organized. What they may have let down was their -elitist- players... there's quite a few people in my raid who saw and defeated those raids pre-nerf. But they're still enjoying challenges in Ulduar. That's the funny thing about games... the only people who get let down are the ones who refuse to enjoy their actual actions and, instead, stare at others and say they shouldn't be here.
Anteia May 15th 2009 6:20PM
Correcting my comment: Ulduar was on the brain so I typed 8.5 instead of 7.5 Clearly, I meant 7.5. I do not have full 8.5 yet. And I doubt I'll be first on that one. :)
Schubie May 15th 2009 1:58PM
I've long had this idea for Blizzard, to use "equalized content" for a battleground. A competition that was more about skill than gear.
That would allow them to get much more creative, because it wouldn't have to be about killing and capturing. There could be other objectives involved.
Pyornthe May 15th 2009 2:15PM
I agree completely! For once my enhancement shaman can actually contribute to a BG.
Grendalsh May 15th 2009 2:28PM
Standardized "army issue" gear in BGs would be awesome, but totally piss off the players that farmed gear so they could roll newbs. After all, they 'earned' that right. 8/
Even more than "standard issue gear", I really wish some form of collission detection could be implemented in BGs. Without a means of actually protecting your back ranks, there's nothing stopping a fury warrior from charging thru 10 players, literally, to stomp squishies in the back. Specialized units and composite formations are based on front line units physically denying access to back line ranged attack and utility. If you can't protect your specialized units, then why should healers and utility players bother with BGs? Imagine Raids where the NPC logic automatically aggro'd on anyone healing or de/buffing, and didn't switch targets till they were dead... How many healing priests, druids, or shammies would you see in raids? And that's why you never see heals in BG. It's one big epeen waving contest, cause anything besides burst DPS is pointless.
I fully understand why it was not included in the base game - too many resources and opportunities for griefing. But in a BG? Oh noes, they've blocked the entrance to their general with plate wearers, we'll have to actually fight through them!... oh, wait...