Apr 10
Even Blizzard Doesn’t Know What World of Warcraft Means
I sat down earlier this week to write yet another blog post about why Blizzard (and MMO developers in general) should treat their mid-game content with more respect. I was inspired by a few posts around the sphere, from Cameron and Tobold. I’ve blathered about it so many times in the past, but this time I had something new sticking in my memory. A second post from Cameron, talking about comments from THQ’s Head of Development, really brought this discussion into focus.
Cameron makes the excellent point that if WoW has peaked, it’s Blizzard’s fault.
The interest in making WoW “the best game ever” simply doesn’t exist. Instead, they seem to be fine with doing just enough to make sure that people pick up the next expansion pack and sit on the cushy laurels of 10 million subs … A game that keeps you playing is good enough. They’ll worry about the long term tomorrow, and screw the players that they’re alienating– there’s nine million more where you came from.
That was when it hit me. We talk and we gab and we wring our hands over this game, because we *get* it. I’ve been writing about games professionally just a month or two longer than WoW’s been commercially released; in that time I’ve seen the impact, I know what this game really *means* to the players.
Blizzard? Even they don’t know what they have on their hands. And that’s terrifying.
Hardcore MMO folks are very quick to poo-poo the 10 million people playing WoW, but I view that huge community as a message. I’ve joked before that it’s hard to argue with ten millions players, but it’s more like WoW’s success has warped the playing field. My comparison between WoW as pro-card play and other MMOs as a friendly poker session at Bob’s place is very pointed, for for a reason: there really is no comparison.
I look at it the way Paul Barnett has phrased it in past interviews; playing an MMO isn’t really like playing a game. When you play a game, you’re participating in the hobby of ‘games-playing’. When you play an MMO, though, that’s more like participating in the hobby that is *that* MMO. Playing Tabula Rasa is indulging in the TR hobby, these games demand that much of you.
So Blizzard has ten million people on its hands, all playing the hobby they’ve conjured … and they don’t understand what it is they’re running. Technically, from a micro-level of design, from a forum-administration standpoint, they’re all top notch. They’ve got a handle on the individual parts. But I get this sense, as the days and months pass, that Blizzard is the proverbial blind men with the elephant. To flip that a bit, by being the driver strapped to the top of the rampaging pachyderm they don’t have a real sense of what is really going on around them.
Every few months we hear about a new WoW related project: The minis game, the card game, the Arena Tourney, the pro-PvP matches, the movie. I get the sense that each of these is the result of a small cadre of people within Blizzard going ‘this would be cool’ and then making it happen. I’m 100% certain that the effort of getting these projects going isn’t detracting from the expansion’s development, or bug patching. That said, this approach to growing the WoW IP speaks volumes about the way Blizzard sees the game.
As Cameron said above, it’s all about the money. I’m not just talking about your basic “a corporation exists for only one purpose” kind of making-money focus. I mean, the only thing Blizz is now willing to do with the IP is make money. The huge and diverse community they’ve wrestled together under the WoW brand is just not something they understand, so their decision-making process is at an angle to what that community really needs.
As an example: I’ve previously stated that the acceleration of the 20-60 leveling experience shows that their focus is purely on expansion-level content. They don’t really care about those levels any more; they’re not ’supporting’ them. The Dustwallow Marsh content addition was bolstering in so many ways, but I think the design team viewed that as patching over a hole more than catering to the community. That content addition was a hugely important moment in the game’s life, but we’ve seen absolutely no evidence they have any plans to follow that up with more changes to the 60 and below experience.
The direct result of this is an incredibly confusing experience leveling up a character. The Blood Elf and Draenei starting zones are fantastic, a cut above almost every other starting area in the game. They utilize BC-era technologies, thinking, and design techniques to tell really compelling stories. But what happens if you’re a BE and you step beyond the Ghostlands into the 20-30 Horde zones? You hit Barrens or Silverpine. Silverpine is just a mess. It tries to tell like three or four stories, doesn’t do any of them well, and is laid out very poorly (for WoW). Barrens is wall-to-wall content, and as a result the mish-mash of storytelling and sometimes head-scratching flow/design is easier to overlook. Still, stepping from the Ghostlands into the old-world content is like a cold splash of water.
It’s a disruption, and if there’s anything that players hate they are confusing disruptions. Whether Blizz wants to admit it or not, there are a metric ton of people bringing up characters through this content. What they encounter while doing so is a patchwork of mediocre-to-fantastic content that is sometimes really hard to puzzle out. The most confusing time of all in an up-and-coming character’s life is right as they move into the 55-60 range. There’s still a metric ton of content level for the 60s-range character, with numerous quests alluding to BRD, UBRS, LBRS, Onyxia, etc … and no one to do it with. You’re left with the impression that you should be doing this stuff. But -screw that - Outlands awaits!
The huge bulge they have left over from the days when max level was 60 is strange and ugly to behold. We know all this great stuff left over from those days, why not make use of it? Why not go back and reexamine the whole game with an eye towards making a cohesive experience for up-and coming characters?
Let’s blow that out even further! Why spot at in-game experiences? Why isn’t the Darkmoon Faire a traveling World of Warcraft fan festival? There are elements of that, from what I’ve seen, but Blizz should turn it up all the way! Make pricing super-competetive, get a whole bunch of space rented out. Relegate the card tourney to just one part of a weekend’s worth of events, and watch them turn out in droves! World of Warcraft is a hobby, it’s a way of life. Encourage guilds to have get-togethers at the Faire, give out in-game loot that shows you participated. Upgrade the in-game faire to share some events with the real-world one, tie them together somehow. Let the customers know, without any doubt, that Blizzard understands what WoW means to American society.
We’ve all seen the kind of party you throw for the Koreans, guys. We’ve seen the WoW-themed Coke cans, and frankly we’re jealous. Why can’t our hobby be a “loud and proud” kind of thing here?
The sobering answer to my own rhetorical question: Blizzard is acting the way it is because it’s ‘good enough.’ As long as they keep the class balance tweaks coming, the expansions rolling out on a yearly basis, and some support out there for the cards/mini/tabletop RPGs, etc, people will be ‘happy enough’. Because really, realistically, as patchy as the experience can be in WoW - it’s still easily one of the best leveling games on the market. Compare the troughs and rough spots in WoW to the drop-offs and jagged rocks of EverQuest 2’s leveling experience. As much as I might make a face at Stranglethorn Vale, the first expansion content from EQ2 is just utter crap. It’s actually worse than the at-launch content slated for that level range.
So comparatively World of Warcraft and Blizzard have little to worry about. Until and unless something truly drastic happens, they’ve got no reason to stray from their current course. But … what if? What if they looked up and said “We’re going to make this game into the perfect MMO?” What if they looked up and said “Let’s really take the WoW community to the next level?” That, my friends, would be something to see.
10 Comments so far
Yes.
But they won’t.
Not until they make there next game, hype it, launch it, and everyone keeps playing WoW.
Their.*
I agree with you about the problems in WoW, but I don’t agree with the reasoning of why Blizzard makes such decisions. I’ve said it plenty of times that I don’t think many of us can appreciate the way Blizzard does things. Many of us “been there, done that” types can list all the problems within WoW in a heartbeat. Slow expansion development, content hills and gaps, class balance, etc. etc.
Most of these issues have killed other games. Taking the expansion development aspect, so many of us long time MMO gamers point to Everquest 2’s fast expansion turnaround and wonder why Blizzard can’t do it. But who is right in this situation? Blizzard with 10 million subs or SOE with a falling-fast 300k?
Obviously I’m going to say Blizzard is. Not because of the 10 million vs 300k debate, but because Blizzard is BRINGING A SHIT LOAD OF NEW PLAYERS IN. WoW is GROWING, EQ2 is shrinking. It is about time we take a step back and consider that Blizzard may know WTF they are doing afterall and the old way of doing things (which EQ2 is very guilty of) does not work.
Slowly developed, but quality expansions. Focus on new content development, instead of going backwards and fixing old content to match. Things that the MMO bloggers will chastise Blizzard for, are things that probably are leading more and more to it’s success.
What I’m getting at is that we THINK that Blizzard has no clue how to manage WoW, when in fact, they simply “get it” and “have gotten it”. We are the ones that have no clue what should be done with WoW and we’ll continue to be wrong until we stop pretending that MMOs are some greater platform than other games.
I will link it to the Slashdot posting about WoW’s ten innovations. Sure, there is room for arguing some of the facts, but the innovations listed are spot on. The same innovations are something we’ve heard from A LOT OF OTHER GAME DEVELOPERS. The difference being for Blizzard that they actually DO THEM.
Blizzard talks the talk and walks the walk. Plenty of other game developers can talk some fancy talk, but when it comes time to strut their stuff, their corporate policy runs the day, not their “fluff talk”. Blizzard isn’t just turning heads in the MMO developer community, they are turning heads in the entire industry. Blizzard gets game design and it’s about time some of us started appreciating them for it.
PS. I still reserve my right to bitch about class balance :P
The problem with WoW is that it’s been around for a little while now. It’s very hard to change the core of a game; I say this from experience. The game was established at launch, Blizzard has learned (all the lessons that were already available, but I digress); they’ve applied a lot of their lessons learned to the newbie areas, for example, but the amount of time it would require to go and revamp all the existing content is immense. Consider flying mounts: why can’t you use them in the old world? Because there were lots of areas that players aren’t “supposed to go”. They could re-work the old content to restrict this, but the small benefit isn’t worth the cost. But, I don’t think for a second that Blizzard couldn’t revamp it all if they wanted, it’s just not a smart business decision.
So, WoW focuses on one thing and tries to do it well: the expansion content. They’ve focused on getting people to the top. Part of this is because it’s what the audience wants: most people see getting to max level as when the game “really starts”. Yeah, you can casually work your way up, but it’s a lonely experience. And, if you’ve done it before, it’s not really all that fun the second (or third, etc.) time; you’re also more likely to have friends at higher levels that you want to spend time with instead of going through Stranglevale yet again.
EQ2 also tends to get the short shrift. I can’t speak for the most recent expansion, but I actually liked EQ2 a lot more as an experience than WoW. The developers on EQ2 have learned their lessons, too, and the game is a lot faster paced and interesting. It’s also a bit deeper experience, so for an experienced player it’s more engaging. There’s a lot more to do with each character and combats are a lot faster paced. EQ2 is perceived as having “lost” and so it becomes a bit of a self-fullfiling prophecy between the commentators. I didn’t see the game shrinking while I played it. I’d still be playing it if I had the time.
Also, EQ2 did some of the “extras” right. The EQ2 card game (which also includes EQ1) is built right into the game client. You can buy cards and play friends right within the game itself. It’s not a separate activity like the WoW card game. I think this is the better way to do the game.
In the end, I think that the business perspective is what dominates here. It’s easier and generally better to give people more of what has already proven successful. In this case, WoW’s size works against it: you can’t really do anything unusual or risky because you don’t want to be the person that kills the golden goose. The smart career decision is to go with safe decisions and keep things at the dreaded “good enough” level. Never expect at game that appeals to “the masses” to be something that will truly excel in anything beyond having attracted a mass of people. You really want smaller, boutique games if you want a truly unique experience, just like in any other industry. In other words, don’t go to McDonald’s with “billions and billions” served if you want a burger with amazing quality.
My perspective.
Brian I agree on all your WoW points, but I’m not sure what EQ2 you played. The one I played failed on every aspect compared directly to WoW. They are two games designed exactly the same for the exact same players, and EQ2 lost. It isn’t some commentor’s perception, it is the fact of the matter.
Now, if WoW never existed, then yes EQ2 could be given some credit, but that isn’t reality. Reality is that the only saving graces for EQ2 have been lessons directly learned from WoW. To me, that speaks volumes of failure.
So, maybe the EQ2 you played was the one that only appeared after the WoW lessons were learned?
Just because the SOE devs learned lessons from WoW doesn’t make EQ2 invalid. WoW owes *more* than a little bit to EverQuest for paving the way into this space. I’ve always been of the opinion that developers who realize they’ve made errors and correct them are very laudable. Better to make a good game than stand on your faulty design beliefs.
Turbine’s probably my favorite example of this. LOTRO and DDO are much, MUCH better games than they were at launch - and LOTRO’s only a year old. :)
I think WoW in some ways is in the same place that EQ was a few years ago. EQ had some serious issues that were pretty obvious to anyone that played it. Yet because it was far and away the most successful MMO of it’s day SOE saw little reason to address them. Things like the horrific downtime and clunky quest system stayed unchanged for years.
When I think of the overall WoW experience, only the endgame seems as “broken” as parts of EQ did to a new player. The utter lack of compelling content for soloists and small (two or three person) groups is jarring compared to the diverse 1-70 game. I would argue that it’s a much more jarring transition than say, from the bloodelf starting area to Silverpine. And that’s not a weakness that it’s realistic for a competing MMO to capitolize on.
If a game doesn’t give the impression of being a vast improvement over WoW in the first few hours of play, few players will switch. I’m not sure that’s even possible in an EQ style MMO.
LoTRO tried to do it with compelling story elements, and it seems to be too subtle a difference for most players to care about based on the reaction (uselessly to a new player, the endgame is also much more casual friendly than WoW). AoC is apparently trying to do it with gory combat and semi-nudity (14 year olds everywhere rejoice?). And WAR is going to try it by integrating PvP with the entire game. However I’m honestly skeptical that any of these games will ever draw many players from WoW. I think you are looking at 500K players tops in each (despite what EA might wish).
PS: More on topic.
I utterly agree that the 20-60 game in WoW issues. If Blizzard were to revamp the 20-60 game or add a new path of quests as polished as the BC starting zones I would go back in a heartbeat. However, I would argue that these flaws are subtle enough that a designer of a competing MMO can’t realistically expect to capitalize on them in terms of market share. Because of this Blizzard has little financial incentive to improve that portion of the game.
What Michael said. I didn’t play EQ2 near launch, but from everything I heard it’s leaps and bounds better than it was. Yeah, the dev team learned from WoW, but that’s a good thing.
However, the game still retains enough elements that make the game different. I liked the wider variety of character abilities and the faster pace of combat in EQ2. I didn’t get into EQ2 raiding, so I’m judging based on the pre-raiding gameplay. That said, I’m sure there are other people out there that prefer WoW’s gameplay.
My thoughts.
[...] elements are. Like, we all make jokes at Blizzard’s expense and erm … in my case make assumptions that even Blizzard doesn’t get their own game. But some of this stuff? Holy crap it’s good. Like, seriously, top-shelf [...]