I was reading Klepsacovic's blog about WoW difficulty, and he seemed to point out that WoW's problem isn't that it's too easy or too hard, but it's inconsistent. It definitely pays tribute to the fact that WoW has tried desperately to evolve, although not necessarily with its audience, but with something else, although I can't figure out what it is.I hesitate to say gaming community because the gaming community is so vastly varied that it would be a huge mistake to try and clump them together in one category (I've been taking a lot of Ethnic Group classes so I'm in a stereotype mode...Black or White?...is this racists...no its Pokemon!). That being said, the gaming community is where the money is at.So how do you keep so many varied people happy?
(I don't know.)
Casual vs. Hardcore
I'm a "WotLK Baby" (more on this later), and I never really played Diablo or Warcraft back in the day, so I'm not up to par with Blizzard as a gaming company (Let's talk Squeenix though, and I've got this). But it seems that Blizzard suddenly became aware of the power of it's little game World of Warcraft and decided to capitalize on it. So they made it more casual, thus "easier" and more accessible to gamers ($$$$$$$$$$$). More people, more money. Duh.
I listen to my guildees (who are older players) reminisce (and QQ) about how raids were different back then. Getting gear had a whole different meaning (prestige) and raids were hard. If you must know, they are loving the new content. We're "behind" as far as a progression goes, which they bring up constantly. They seem to be trapped in this mindset that they are hardcore gamers. But to be honest, I see them all, except maybe one or two people, as casual gamers. We only raid a couple hours each raid night. Some of them have strict time limits to avoid wife aggro or get to bed before work (or leave for work, in the case of a guildee whose based in India). We've had to end some raids abruptly due to personal family issues. I have no problems with this. I am a full time student with homework and could probably use more sleep than I am getting. But I definitely don't see myself as a serious, hardcore gamer.Nor do I see them as a hardcore gamers either.
I've been in a hardcore progression guild, and the mindset there was a lot more different then in <Inner Demons>.
The hardcore guild I was in expected raiding to be a priority, where as, <Inner Demons> places life as a priority.
I had some serious internet issues, and I know if I was in that hardcore guild, I would've been booted. But <Inner Demons> waits for me. Politely. Lovingly. They even comment on my patience for being able to handle such terrible internet issues.
WotLK Baby...wahhh wahhh.
I am what people (specifically, veteran WoW players) call a WotLK baby. I began a serious career in WotLK, and thus, have been "spoiled" by Blizzard's direction to appeal to casual gamers. This is a negative connotation, and I'm sick of being considered this just because I wasn't around during BC or Vanilla. (Although me complaining about this might justify that I am a WB because I'm QQing.) I've never spent months trying to kill one boss. I didn't have to CC mobs, and had the tank who just barreled through the heroic because time is money (friend...)
I don't think it's fair to be called this. It's not my fault that I played what Blizzard offered to me when I did. I pay for the game so shouldn't I enjoy it. Blizzard made a "MMO"; massive-multiplayer, but if they truly want to grab the attention of so many people, don't they need to make the game accessible to more people.
People in this game are truly elitist. I am. I know I'm a good healer. I work hard for what I've earned. Hell, I know I can out heal my gear any time because I have skill. But I don't spend time walking around with my head high, a stick up my ass, telling people they're all wrong because they aren't elite like me. Except for my close friends, and this blog(which is public, but I don't have a huge readership), I tend to keep things to myself. I offer my opinion, but am open to others. I read and take in what others said. If anything, I am elite because I took advice from other elite people.
iLevel = SKILL YAH
I mentioned the other night that gear was important in terms of fights that involve DPS races. I think tanking/healing has a level of gear dependency as well. Yes skill is important, but skill can only make up for so much mana or health. Because I said this, and because I haven't been doing this for "four expansions," I was dismissed and accused of just wanting to outgear content, which is what WotLK was about and this is Cataclysm and because I've never raided in Vanilla and BC, I don't understand that skill and mechanics can make up for poor gear. Sure, we can't make it to Cho'gall Phase 2, but maybe its also a gear issue (not having the dps to take down all the glob adds), as well as mechanics. The tanks are getting hit too hard. The healers are going oom to fast. Corruption galore! Phase 2 is a dps race. We couldn't kill Elementium Monstrosity because our dps just wasn't up to par. We won because of an accident that included DoTs and a mage ice block.
Is it also so bad that I have faith in my guild's skill? We all make mistakes but in general I think this group is well-skilled. I attribute to the inability to do things on gear (like the healing). Maybe I should be accusing people of not having the skill instead.
I don't really know where I'm heading with this. This whole rant spawned from a difficult guild drama filled night where I felt like I was talking to a wall. I got all tongue tied trying to explain my point of view, while getting immediately dismissed because I'm a WotLK baby. I could say some other stuff, but it's just plain mean.
I understand we need leaders. I don't like to lead because I don't like telling people what to do. Yes yes, I'm a follower. But there's a point where, if enough people (especially in a 10 man raid) express disagreement with a choice, maybe there should be some more talk about it. Instead of talking things through, another guildie was insulted and ended up raid quitting which put a bad mood on the rest of the night (and spawned this entire rant) I'm not against progressing with a boss. I spent a lot of time dying to one boss (although maybe not a month), but I think time is important and I still stand by my belief that the decision made last night wasn't the best one. It was a reaction to another night that went horribly wrong, (which I wasn't there for) and I think it may have been an overreaction.
In the end, it doesn't even matter...
I also overreacted last night. I was upset with the treatment of a guildie; I was upset that other's opinions weren't taken seriously even though we all chose to be followers. But I'm getting the sense that Cataclysm not only tried to bring back hardcore gamers, but it's bringing out the hardcore gamer in others. I'm not sure if this is what I signed up for. I loved this guild and ditched my other friends because I felt that this casual atmosphere, where noone yelled at anyone and we all got along, was where I wanted to be. Last night was a taste of something I didn't recognize. I know most of these people have been together for years, through good times and bad, and I'm new and possibly intruding on a tight knit group, but I always felt welcomed and I felt that I belonged. Last night, for the first time, even beyond the inside jokes and past reminiscence, I actually felt like a stranger.
In other rants...Rift
I still don't believe Rift is a WoW killer, but Rift may be a WoW tripper. One of my friends mentioned he was going to get Rift, but then sent me a paragraph of text about how Trion is uncreative and can't think of anything on their own and basically ripped off a bunch of games and mashed them together to make a new game. Instead of Deathwing scorching everything on fire, they have Rifts. Trion sucks.
But he's still getting the game.
WoW isn't falling short because of Rift. Or Trion. Or Trion's Rift. It's falling short because of it's own shortcomings. Only 5 levels, increased difficulty for raiding (thus making raiding alts pretty much useless until later), incredibly linear leveling (perhaps too linear), and a gaming community that loves to take swings at each other.
No comments:
Post a Comment