Nassira quitting The World (of Warcraft)

A good blogger and fellow hunter has quit the World of Warcraft recently. And just as I make a couple posts saying I think WoW is in a good spot, it will keep getting better, and subscription numbers are still growing... *BAM* A quitter. Here is her post with my thoughts in bold.

Hello, everyone.

It is with mixed emotion that I write this post today, announcing that I will no longer be playing World of Warcraft on a regular basis. - "...on a regular basis?" Are you quitting or not?

There are many reasons behind this final decision. The first of these, and the most important, is that I no longer have fun within the game. - Understandable.

I don’t like the direction WoW is going, and haven’t truly enjoyed myself since before the release of Wrath of the Lich King. - What direction is WoW going?

I’ve been playing this game for many years, and I think I’ve finally burnt out. I no longer enjoy raiding, dailies are a chore, and leveling is mind-numbing for me. - Understandable.

Too many changes have been made which I believe are for the wrong reasons. - What changes?

It has slowly corrupted the game for me, and has leached my enjoyment from it, not to mention the fact that very little has changed in regards to visual aspects or in-game mechanics – two things which are imperative for keeping my interest. - Cataclysm is pretty much having an overhaul of visual aspects (which have gotten better over every expansion) and also possibly in game mechanics (which should be elaborated on).

I feel, at this point, that WoW is a dying game, something Blizzard is simply trying to keep alive long enough to bring all the old players into their latest, greatest, next-gen MMO. - How is WoW a dying game? I think Cataclysm sales numbers will determine that and it is too early to tell if it is "dying." Also, Blizzard puts a lot of time and effort into all their games and the second statement seems like a bitter shot below the belt at Blizzard because you are not happy with the game (for reasons you didn't elaborate on).

This latest-greatest is where they’re putting all the effort now, and it’s become apparent by the lack of attention being payed to the parts of WoW which need that attention the most. - There is some explanation of why you think the WoW developers attention has shifted, but no elaboration on WHAT NEEDS ATTENTION.

This is, of course, my personal opinion, so please take it only for what it is. - Noted.

Secondly, as most of you know, I’ve been attending college again full-time. I simply don’t have the extra time to spend on WoW when I should be improving upon my classwork. As an art major, it’s incredibly difficult to make everything fit into regular time slots, and many of my projects span across days until completion. I simply cannot justify spending over 20 hours a week playing and writing about WoW when I have so many other things to accomplish. - Understandable and a mature evaluation of time and priorities.

I have enjoyed the posts on mmnassira.com and will continue to keep it linked on my blog. I am not a "Blizzard fanboi" but I am a fan and do think they are a good company. I have to disagree with the statements that WoW isn't being paid attention to like it should be. They put a lot of time and effort into WoW as well as their other games. I also know for a fact that they have pulled people from Diablo development to work on WoW, so I don't know why they would not pay attention to it's cash cow to try and work on it's future.

Is WoW (still) a good game? Part 2.

I know I am a noob and a shitty ass blogger for writing a new blog as a sequel to my previous blog all within minutes of one another but I wanted to add some insight to why I wrote the last post.


First I read a post on MMO-champion where someone is basically trolling and asking, "hey i left wow for 4 months and is there anything worth coming back to," followed by 13 pages of saying how crappy and stupid the game is. It was lame and I was laughing because of how many people will be on a WoW related forum and say how crappy the game is. THEN in the comments section here, someone says WoW is crappy because they are changing the game and making it easier. A lot of making fun of this guy and back and forth debate. Really entertaining stuff.

Eventually though, you will come to someone named JoeQuincy, who made an awesome comment that I really want to give recognition too.

There's plenty of your post I'd like to take to task... but the first one really stands out:

"Even 'hardmodes' are an artificial way to make a fight harder."

What the hell EXACTLY is that supposed to mean?
We're talking about a series of functions laid out by game developers to cause players to interact with audio/visual stimulus and keyboard/mouse inputs in various ways. What ISN'T artificial about that? Ever?

The content developers have options here:

1) All easymode, almost all players can handle it, elitists complain that the game is 'too easy' (but never actually quit the game they hate so much, for some reason)

2) All hardmode, only the best 10% (or less) can handle it, everyone else complains that the game's too hard. People actually do quit playing, because they're paying for something they can't access.

3) Default easymode with hardmode toggles, elite players have a challenge, casuals can see all content. Theoretically, everybody's happy. (In reality, the elitists think the company should develop the game for only their relatively tiny share of the market, and alienate 90%+ of their players/income, so they complain endlessly. About everything.)


Let's face it, easy/hard toggles are making Blizz money, and it means they still have a way to provide a challenge for strong players even while catering to the much larger casual player pool. Sure, killing Freya with three trees up may not be /necessary/ as the game stands... but if it's the only way you're going to be challenged by that fight, DO IT. Use that tool to HAVE FUN.

That's what it's for. Blizz is still pandering to y'all. Get over your whiny selves.


That all will make more sense once the other comments are read but the point about the easy modes, hard modes, and complaining really stood out and further proves why Blizzard is a great company. They are starting to design content that everyone can see and experience, and in all honesty, get what they pay for when they buy the game and pay every month (more on that in a future post in the not so distant future). The problem people are having is Blizzard PREVIOUSLY made content that only a minority saw, and now the majority sees it. They want to make the game as accessible as possible while still making it challenging for the players who want the challenge. This is different from what they did in the original WoW and different from what they did in The Burning Crusade, but they have shown this is the future of the content. People should know this by now and either get on board with it or GO PLAY SOMETHING ELSE.

Is WoW (still) a good game?

I am really losing my fucking mind. Most of it is over forum trolls. People that all day complain about how crappy and "casual" and easy WoW is and how everything Blizzard does is ruining the game ON WOW/WOW RELATED FORUMS. THESE PEOPLE ARE WASTING THEIR TIME POSTING ON HOW SHITTY A GAME IS ON FORUMS ABOUT THE GAME WHEN THEY COULD BE PLAYING ANOTHER GAME AND SAVING THE QQ.

It is the most hypocritical load of bullshit ever.

"Hey everyone WoW is so easy and everything is so casual and this game is dying. /end post"
/open WoW.exe

You know that is EXACTLY what happens. People run their mouth and then run to the game.



The question I wanted to pose is this. Is WoW a good game?

My answer obviously yes. I think the problem people have is they keep judging WoW on every change it has ever made and comparing it to everything it has ever done. But if someone was to go out today and pick this game up off the shelf, never having played it before, what would they think of it? My guess is, if they like MMO's, they would like this game. Of course this game isn't for everyone, but why are MILLIONS (you really can't even comprehend millions) of people playing this game if it is so shitty? Also, if everything Blizzard is doing is ruining the game and everyone is quitting because it sucks now, why is there proof subscriptions are growing.

World of Warcraft is the most successful MMO of all time (based on subscriptions) and how would that be possible if the game is dead and dying and sucks. The game got there some how. Anyone can have a valid complaint about anything, but all these people that keep saying that "the next patch is going to kill WoW" (which has been said before EVERY SINGLE PATCH EVER) need to just fucking stop.

I will leave everyone with this link which, in my opinion is a pretty fucking awesome list.

BEST SELLING VIDEO GAMES OF ALL TIME

Expansions, Patches, Raids, Progression

Yes, this insane wall of text is planning on covering it all... I want to talk about how expansions and patches change the game, as well as, how raids and progression has evolved through said expansions and patches. Last, I want to speculate on how all of this relates to the future/Cataclysm.

Expansions:
I love expansions and I love keeping a game that deserves it going and alive with expansions. A big complaint about the expansions in WoW, is that as soon as one comes out, all the end game in the previous version is obsolete. When an expansion for WoW comes out, they try to bridge the ilvl gap quickly and some items that were once epic are replaced quickly with blues or greens. Granted, in Wrath of the Lich King the ilvl gap wasn't closed as quick as it was in The Burning Crusade, but it is still a valid point to make. Honestly, I don't have a problem with expansions making gear and content obsolete, I believe a lot of people play for the moment and are ready to move on by the time an expansion comes out. So the complaint I mentioned before was not mine, just one I have heard. A complaint that I have, is when content is not left in it's original state. Example, Naxxramas and Onyxia. While I am glad they amped them up so they are relevant to a max level now, I wish they kept stuff the original way so future players could see it, should they choose to. An example of this, Karazhan, a really crazy and fun raid and I am glad I can go steamroll it at 80 so I can show my girlfriend, who didn't play during TBC, cool stuff like the Opera Event and Chess.

Patches:
People pay $15 dollars every month with the promise of new content and maintenance. I am very pleased with how open Blizzard is about the details of patch development, the rate new content is implemented, and the quality of said content. My only current complaint about patches is something that I will also address further down the post, the fact that patches are actually making content obsolete now and not just leaving that to expansions. For example, in patch 3.2 a 5 man dungeon, Trial of the Champion, was implemented that dropped ilvl 200 epics on normal and a fresh 80 (technically 78) could go run it and get epics, actually making the need for any other 5 man normal (or heroic), and even 10 man Naxxramas/Sarth+0, obsolete. However, there are certain drops that are really good in those dungeons and might warrant a run in them, but you could in all actuality, run the 5man ToC normal until you gear up enough for Heroic, then only run 5man ToC heroic until you gear up fully in there, and then go straight into 10man Trial of the Crusader. Therefore making normal 80 dungeons, heroic 80 dungeons, 10/25 Naxx, and 10 Ulduar obsolete. In the next patch, 3.3, 3 new 5 mans will be coming out that will drop ilvl 219 on normal and 232 on heroic. So if they are not any harder than the other normal 5 mans and heroic 5 mans in the game currently, the next patch will make almost every dungeon and raid in the game obsolete in terms of gear, save for Trial of the Crusader 25man and Trial of the Grand Crusader 10/25 man.

Raids:
Raids have gone through A LOT of change since WoW was released. I wasn't raiding in the original WoW, although I had a lot of friends that did, I don't want to try and sound like I know everything about it since I wasn't doing it personally. What I do know is this, when you got to about 57 - 60 you started running the high level 5 man dungeons to start gearing up for raids. You would start putting together a dungeon set of gear, while questing to get attuned to raids, and while trying to get rep with certain end game factions like the Argent Dawn. Back then the raids varied in size, from I think 10 to 15 to 20 to 40.

Fast forward to The Burning Crusade. Now you hit 70, run normal dungeons and quest to try and get rep up to "Revered" with certain factions so you can buy the key to the Heroic version of their dungeons. So basically new heroic dungeons were introduced and that is how you started to gear up for raids. Also, you had to get attuned for Karazhan, so attunements were still in. Also they tried to standardize the raid size to 10 and 25 man raids. I wont go into the drama it put some guilds in but you can imagine I'm sure going from a 40 man to a 10. However, the problem was that you had to gear 25 people up in Kara to progress to Gruul's Lair and Mag's. 10 + 10 = 20, so where are the other 5 people getting gear? then after that you had 25 man raids in Tempest Keep and SSC, but then they added another 10 man in ZA. Then the finished it off with a 25 man Black Temple, then a 40 man Sunwell. SO AS YOU CAN SEE, Blizzard was all over the place.

Fast forward once more, to Wrath of the Lich King. Blizzard stuck with the standard in The Burning Crusade of Heroic dungeons to gear up when you hit 80, but they dropped the rep requirement. Also, no attunements to run raids in Wrath. They also standardized the raid sizes to 10 and 25 man, which makes it to where you can actually run with a raid group and not have to worry about who is geared and how you are going to gear them up if the raid members are consistent. Not much to say about raids in Wrath, chances are if you are reading this you already know all about them. My personal opinion is that the way they did raids this expansion is by far the best and I hope they continue this. From what was said at Blizzcon, they are going to keep this format.

Progression:
Although I touched on this a couple times in previous segments, I want to make myself more clear. When you hit max level in every version of the game, where did you go for gear and where did you go once you got all that? WoW has a tiered gear system. You get a certain level of gear, then you are ready for a harder level of raid. Tier 1 -> 2 -> 3 -> 4 and so on. In the original WoW, progression was pretty straight forward once you knew what the path was. The Burning Crusade progression was similar, except when they released the Sunwell patch, then you could obtain high level gear by running lower level dungeons and raids and buying the gear with badges. In Wrath of the Lich King, they have actually changed the progression path more than once and are continuing to throughout the next major path as well. Honestly, there has been so much time between the patch changing that the only people really effected are Alt's (for the better) and slow levelers not max level yet. Like I said before, I have a problem with patches changing the progression path, because of the making of content pretty much obsolete. However, as I am writing this one of the big changes of Patch 3.3 is weekly raid quests that will send our heroes back into lower tier raids to kill a boss and get a phat lewt turn in. So Blizzard is already trying to fix the patch obsoleteness.




I wanted to cover all of this to say, I think Blizzard is on the right track how they are going, and I hope a lot of what they have learned over the past 2 expansions they are putting in Cataclysm. You can see things have changed quite a bit, so who really knows how they will handle the 4 things I mentioned above? I would like to think it will be more like Wrath. They made all content available for all players which is good. However, I hope they don't kill progression paths every patch. Basically, I hope you don't just have to wait until patch 4.3 to kill Deathwing even if you only gear up in 5 mans up until that point (which is how it will be come 3.3 with the Lich King). My final thought on that is, just because Blizzard is making many modes of the content so everyone can see it, doesn't mean you shouldn't have to raid and progress to get the gear before hand. Thoughts? Opinions?

Patch 3.3 Emblem Change

I might go back to posting on the ridiculousness of restrooms in my area soon, but today I wanted to give my thoughts on something that generated a lot of rage, not so long ago, and the potential rage it could currently bring. I go where the rage goes people!

In patch 3.2, all dungeons that currently dropped Emblems of Heroism/Valor started dropping Emblems of Conquest. This got a lot of people up in arms about loot, gear, welfare epics, etc.

The big deal was that people who raided complained that they worked for their gear and now any scrub running 5 mans could one day get the gear they have. (Notice I didn't use the word "achieved," while it is true gear can be a representation of what you have achieved, it is no longer a standard.) The counterpoint from other raiders was basically this, "Fine, give them the gear we have, they haven't ran raids and we know what we are doing. Skill>gear. Also, we can gear up our alts faster to so why are we even complaining?"

Now in patch 3.3, "All dungeons that previously dropped Emblems of Conquest will drop Emblems of Triumph."

I am going to be honest and say I did not see this change coming and was excited when it was announced. After I settled down the change makes sense and I know what Blizzard is trying to do. There are millions of people that play this game for a hundred different reasons. In this expansion, Blizzard is trying to make sure that even someone who doesn't raid and only runs 5 mans can possibly gear up to one day fight the Lich King, should they have the time to get the group together and such. It is about content. Blizzard has said they they don't want to put content into the game that only 5% of the players get to experience. So if that means giving away epics like candy so that you can raid the current content, fine.

I would like to think that everyone who plays this game is playing to have fun. As much as I started to rage when my friends started out gearing me with 5 man ToC gear, I see where Blizzard is going with this expansion and what they are trying to do. If I only have to run 5 mans for a couple of weeks and then get to fight the Lich King with ten different alts, awesome. If you play to see new content, why not make gearing up for it easier (for many people) the second time around? If you are a raider you probably already have a geared toon ready for the Lich King, so now, you can grab and alt and not have to raid so much to gear up to do it again. Blizzard is making things easier the second time around and i think it is all for the better.

If you play the game because you want a challenge and you want to beat your head on the desk after wiping constantly, WoW has hard modes. However, if you just want to see all the content because you paid $50 for a game and then $15 bucks a month for a year waiting for the "Final Boss," well then go down the Lich King.

One point I do want to make soon is how raid progression has evolved through WoW and it's 2 expansions and what the future will hold for raiding. Post on my thoughts about that, coming soon, when I can collect them all coherently.