It’s day six of Blizzard Entertainment’s website splash/index page showcase. Over the past six days they have been displaying an image and quote of their biggest titles, dating back to Warcraft I and II. It’s actually been really fun recounting my time spent on these fantastic games. A greater portion of my “gaming life” has been spent enjoying Blizzard titles from many genres. However today is somewhat different. I’m not enjoying the memories I have of World of Warcraft.
Back in the summer of 2004 the only thing I could think about was World of Warcraft. It was to be the biggest release the mmo genre had ever seen. We know now that the anticipation was correct because WoW is the “biggest” mmo out there. But I want to talk about why the game failed in my mind and in the mind of others who share my views on the industry and the Warcraft name. I don’t need to recount things that are obvious to everyone. The launch was smooth and the first few months of release were fine. However the start of WoW was the end of Blizzard winning streak. Not everything remained that way. Click ‘More’ for the rest of the article.
I guess the best place to start would be how Blizzard damaged the genre. Never once had it crossed the minds of developers that mmo’s had to be built for the masses. It simply wasn’t fathomable. Developers knew that the genre was small and niche. People at this time still shyed away from spending $10-15 a month on a game subscription. However Blizzard sought to change that. I hate this quote because it’s true. “WoW brought mmo’s to the masses”. By bringing the “masses” to the genre Blizzard also introduced a new generation of gamers that I love to call the “WoW kiddies”. They’re simply never content with what they have. They’re constantly pushing developers for more more more and never once consider what overextending can and will do to a game. Aside from Zoo Tycoon which we now know was the downfall of Vanguard, I consider WoW to be a huge factor. You know it was absolutely on the minds of each and every employee at Sigil. It had to be.
So now we know the wrecking power that World of Warcraft carries. Let’s talk about how Blizzard destroyed the lore and soul of the greatest title ever. With the release of the Burning Crusade, or rather the production and design, Blizzard quickly learned they could not make a MMO for the masses AND hold true to the lore. With some crazy changes to the Drenei and a wacky attempt at mocking the lore by giving the Horde paladins and the Alliance shamans… it disgusts me. It’s despicable and it truly violates the should-be-code of game design. I could continue on about all the various things and pick it apart tit for tat but this isn’t the post for that.
Now the lesser of the wrongs Blizzard inflicted upon our genre would be the “hardcore raider” and “hardcore raiding guild” mentality. Creating content solely revolving around raiding and creating the mentalities mentioned before should never be the goal of any game company. Hopefully Blizzard learned from their mistakes and will take tomorrow’s announcement and make a better future for our addiction.
AMEN!
It *KILLS* me how so much end-game content Blizz designs that caters to only maybe 2% of players. After you hit 70, it means join a “hardcore raiding guild” or keep paying monthly for content you’ll never get to see. Or grind and grind through PVP, to acheive gear that once you HAVE you are too sick of PVP to even use it.
And I must add… The guilds are so driven by loot/greed that everyone transforms into a jerk! Any player of end-game will admit, at least inwardly that much is true. =)
Tom aka Hammerpants
Hey Tom! That’s exactly right. You pay for monthly content that you can’t experience unless you join one of these loot driven elitist guilds. And once you’ve done that you either transform into one of them or fall by the wayside.
Let’s hope that Blizzard can turn things around in the future.
The worst part for me, is I was like everyone else, loving every minute of the game… until I hit 60. I cancelled in 2006 and then somehow got duped into buying the BC, thinking maybe they really had made it better at the end-game.
Once a turd, always a turd.
Such a great leveling experience the 1st time through, tainted by a horrid design standpoint for endgame.
Absolutely. The leveling process for World of Warcraft is phenomenal the first time through and even the 2nd or 3rd time. However once you reach endgame … it truly is the end of the game.