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Accessibility in Cataclysm – Blessing or Curse?

A Note Before We Begin: In no way is this a “WoW is dying,” dead, or other kind of jilted lover post. Just thought I’d get that out of the way first 😉

Edit: Title updated to better reflect my thoughts.

Edit #2: I’ve been struggling to share the concern I have for Cataclysm-era WoW. This article may make it seem like I feel there will be a lack of content and that’s not the case. I’ve updated a paragraph regarding the amount of heroics (thanks GA). There will be as much to do as there always was, I just think we’ll be putting it all on farm-mode quicker than ever before. That’s the side effect of accessibility. Part of that is because of the dungeon finder, which I admit to loving. Part of it is because that’s simply how we’ve been trained in Wrath. In any event, after the article, please take a second to check out the comments section. There may be more there to answer any questions this post raises for you.

On the last episode of the Multiverse (incoming later today, thanks Ferrel!), guest, friend, and fellow blogger Green Armadillo drew my attention to an interesting behavior taking shape in pre-Cataclysm WoW. The behavior, as a direct result of the incoming emblem-to-Justice Point change, is that players are cashing in any left over badges they have towards heirloom gear, lest they be given gold instead. Most players, seeking the biggest bang for their buck, are picking up every peace of experience boosting gear they can get, totaling at 25% bonus experience per kill.

On the surface, that sounds great. The core of WoW has always been in its end-game, so players can be forgiven for taking the path getting them there quickest. The problem, of course, is rooted in the very same reason Tobold is declining to try the beta: the more you see, the less interested you become. Players will rush through old Azeroth, begrudgingly level through Outland and Northrend, and then enjoy the brevity of the 80-85 experience before diving back into heroics and raids.

Except, once it’s done, it’s done. There is no making Cataclysm new and fresh again. What is once rushed through is trudged through on the second attempt and given up on before the third. Before long, the player finds himself waiting for the next expansion, still unheard of through the pipeline. It’s a strange message Blizzard seems to be sending. The revisions to the old world seem to say stop and smell the roses while their emphasis on heirloom gear adds but do it as quickly as possible.

Taken at the surface, there doesn’t seem to much to complain about. Leveling is quicker than ever before, more raids, better graphics, new stories– the works. New players coming into WoW have never had it so good.

The problem is that Blizzard is setting themselves up to fill a role they doesn’t seem to be able to. Accessibility is great and I love that we’re moving that direction, but everything about Cataclysm just screams do it now, do it fast. Dungeons are quick and easy with fewer of them to worry about. Raids are broken into smaller, easier to digest chunks. Players only have to worry about leveling five times instead of the previous 10 (though the length of each level is yet to be seen). In short, the barrier to entry is lower than we’ve ever seen it before. The natural consequence has got to be that we’ll also complete this content quicker than ever before, sans the 80-85 experience. And that would work, if there was enough content to support it.

All of this would be fine if Blizzard moved to an expansion-a-year release cycle. That’s been their goal according to nearly every Blizzcon in recent memory. Yet, the fact that we still wait two years between each release seems to say that they just aren’t able to meet that. We’ve all said that their “release it when it’s done” policy was admirable, but, like all creative works, over-indulgence can be detrimental. This is where accessibility might just be the bug that bites their back.


Deathwing: ushering in a new age of... prosperity?

If the game opens doors to all players, more people than ever before will find themselves waiting between content patches. If you’re not a raider, Cataclysm will offer less to you than any expansion before it– unless you want to reroll. Less levels also means that heroics will go in one of two ways: there will be less gear in each dungeon or the gear will overlap. From there, we move into the path of least resistance, as players pick and choose which dungeons are worth running. We get dungeon neglect, similar to how most players find the ICC trio of 5-mans preferable to everything else.

Though the dungeon finder will surely alleviate that, it will also ensure that every player who wants to see a dungeon can– and as soon as possible. This will be the first expansion where the dungeon finder is available from day one. While the good side to that is obvious, the flip side is that they’ll all move into farm mode sooner than ever before. Doing dungeons will move into silent speed runs similar to what we have now, in all likelihood, before we even hit 85. And how long before that tires you out? Something tells me that’s not what the developers had in mind and is perhaps a silent evil they hadn’t anticipated when implementing the LFD tool.

Accessibility is good if you have the content to support it. While Cataclysm may offer some great things and a new vision to World of Warcraft, it might also usher in the longest period of pre-expansion burn out in the game’s history. Unless Blizzard moves to a yearly expansion– and sticks to it (*fingers crossed*) – all this accessibility is going to drive people away. I’ve always said that there’s wisdom in slowing the player down, even if they think it’s less fun. Wrath backed that premise up, as there’s basically two raids worth doing in the current game. And once you’ve been in and “seen the content,” how much is there to keep you coming back?

I’m not a hater, so don’t mistake this post for a rant. Honestly, I’d love it if they met their expansion-a-year goal. I’d be happy to play only WoW if it could support it.  But, here, I can’t help but feel like they’re banking on replacing us; for every one of us that drops out, two more people subscribe to WoW as their first MMO. Maybe that’s even good, fresh blood and all, but I have to wonder how deep this pool of new players actually goes. My prediction is that we’ll see a boom in population over the first six months and the first cries of “there’s not enough to do” by twelve. I hope I’m wrong because that would mean a whole year of people feeling detached from the game. Don’t get me wrong, lots of raiders will be happy– there’s lots of raids I hear– but, well, even the most hardcore raider will run heroics in his downtime. If there’s not enough variety outside of raiding, everyone loses.

WoW needs Cataclysm. It was growing long in the tooth before we’d even heard the buffeting of Deathwing’s approaching wings. My fear is that they’ve made a bargain they can’t support. In a year with major releases like SW:TOR and Guild Wars 2, perhaps the smartest move isn’t to rush players through with heirloom items and streamlined end-game.

I have to ask, once they’ve seen it once, would any player re-roll and do the same 85 levels over again or would they try something new? I’d have to think Arenanet and Bioware may just see Cataclysm as a blessing in disguise.

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