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[General Article] World of Warcraft: The Evolution of WoW

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  • StaretssayasStaretssayas Member Posts: 2
    Originally posted by Gardavsshade
    Originally posted by Mors.Magne
    Originally posted by Heatsink98
    The dumbing of the game design over the years is a real problem.  Unless this new expansion injects real depth back into WoW gameplay, the slide will continue.  The designers have a product now where progression means seeing bigger numbers floating over mobs' heads, and they expect that to be entertaining.  Oh, and Pokemon, there's that now, too.

    I agree that WoW's depth has been diminished and this is a bad thing, e.g. - crafting used to be more powerful - now there is no point.

     

    However, I liked the PvP pet battles because you can play them if you have a spare 5 minutes. The problem with the PvP pet battles is that you must go raiding for the rewards to be useful. So you can't play the end-game of WoW on a casual basis.

     

    WoW's end-game activities (raiding etc) demand many hours (half a day etc.) on a daily/weekly basis. This limits the fan-base and gives MMORPGs in general a very bad name, e.g. - nerdy, no life, antisocial etc.

    Hmm... this again. No matter how I try to answer statements like these I always end up looking like Loki or some other Jerk like that.... here goes....

    MMOs were NOT and NEVER WERE made "for the Masses".... they were NOT for People with busy lives that don't have hours and hours to play a game. Blizzard did not change that no matter what their Marketers think they did.

    With all due respect to all People who ever played MMOs but never understood this simple FACT.... MMOs were not intended to be "Casual Friendly" or "Quick Entertainment". MMOs were originally made for geeks, nerds, and dorks, who lived with their Personal Computers like a Spouse, who dreamed of a virtual worlds that THEY could mold and shape to THEIR will (in contrast to the will of the Masses). Saving time was NOT a design parameter, on the contrary... spending time in your favorite MMO was a FEATURE. Working together with other Players for hours while in a Group was a FEATURE.

    No matter how many so-called improvements Blizzard made to the MMO Model, in the end it doesn't matter... MMOs are still MMOs and even Blizzard could not change that without altering WoW so much that Players stopped referring to it as a MMO.  Some Players already have stopped referring to WoW as a MMO btw.

    Now that being said.... I am not going to say today "get out of my MMO genre"... in belongs to all of us Players so I welcome all to enjoy it.... but PLEASE REALIZE that calls and suggestions to make MMOs anymore solo and casual friendly than what they already ARE is a call or a suggestion to turn MMOs into a game of another genre entirely. MMOs will cease to be MMOs if this so-called "evolution" continues.

    We are not trying to be anti-social: Some of us Players are NOT calling for Players to "Get off our Lawns".... we are calling for "Walk on our Lawns if you wish to but please respect our property and don't hurt it". There is a big difference in those two statements and outlooks.

    You want to call me anti-social, nerdy, you want to accuse me of having no life? Go right ahead. Just remember this analogy if you want to understand why we don't agree with "improving" MMOs for the Masses....for example.... I do not  visit FaceBook calling people stupid for sharing their personal info and pics on an Internet system not designed for adequate security and privacy of personal information.... Yet I could do this but I do not for it would be considered rude to stand on a virtual street corner and warn everyone how foolish FaceBook is.... I care what happens to People in general, but the Masses won't listen to People telling them their activities on FB are dangerous because People have already been warned about this for years and the Masses don't care to hear the message.

    ...but you see here is the "Kicker".... THAT is exactly what People are doing when they say on one hand they play MMOs and on the other hand ask they be completely changed.... I personally find suggestions by Players to make MMOs more solo friendly and less time consuming to be a rude and anti-social behavior against the demographic of Players that MMOs were made for in the first place. It would be like going to a BaseBall game and demanding that the Team Owner put in Football Goal Posts even though they are counter-productive to Gameplay for BaseBall.

    Keeping MMOs group oriented and time consuming like old school MMOs hurts no one contrary to the opinions of some People. MMOs needed improvements, yes, improvements in graphics, in the game engines, in account security, NOT in gameplay design and philosophy and Key Features.

    So maybe now People will understand better why some of us loyal old school MMO fans get so cranky.... We never said you could not walk on our Lawn....we invited you to our Lawns(play MMOs with us) in the first place..... but you DID dig holes in it and mess it up as you walked across it, and some are still doing this.... that Lawn was Our before it was also Yours. We need to share it as it was designed to be, if we don't eventually it won't be a Lawn anymore, it will just be a sand lot full of weeds and trash.

    If Players want and desire a new type of game that is solo friendly yet also multiplayer, that can be played in quick, short bursts of time, then COOL, ask the Devs to make one for all the Players that want this (and ask them to NOT call it a MMO).... but please DON'T ask them to change an existing genre that already has loyal Fans.

    I have put this out as respectfully as I could. I hope People will understand. Have a good day.

     

    It's rare to gain a whole new perspective from a forum post. Thank you! Personally, I wish there was a way to kind of combine both. I wish there was a way to  immerse for a Saturday in that group nerd dynamic without the huge ramp up or ongoing commitment. I don't need  a game committed to 30 minutes of solo play time but I can't go back to the exclusion of everything else for weeks, months, years at a time. I don't know how you'd make an experience like I envision. For me, Rift's instant adventures come kind of close I guess. 

  • Ender4Ender4 Member UncommonPosts: 2,247

    This article probably should have mentioned Diablo since that series is basically a small scale version of a MMORPG. WoW borrowed the game story/style from the Warcraft series but it is much more influenced by the diablo games for everything else.

  • daltaniousdaltanious Member UncommonPosts: 2,381
    Really great article. Thanks OP. :-) Only game (along with Swtor) I can easily immagine to play even after next 10 or 20 years. :-) Through expansions of course, without no game can have lasting appeal for ever.
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