community blog topic

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Community Blog Topic: Would you play on an expansion specific server?

Posted by Peter (Devee) on September 9, 2013
Posted in: Game Mechanics, World of Warcraft, WoW Insider Community Blog Topic. Tagged: , , , . 1 Comment

Would you play on an expansion locked server? If so, which expansion would you pick? How would you answer the class and grouping questions above? What other logistical problems would you expect to have to be overcome?

via Community Blog Topic: Would you play on an expansion specific server?, Robin Torres, WoW Insider, 9/8/13.

Nope! It sounds interesting, and I completely understand the fascination with the idea, but players idealize previous expansions.

How would expansion-locked servers work exactly? Would they really be exactly like they were during that expansion? Let’s not even get into specifics on exact tuning. I’ll assume experience curve, required level to use a mount, the lack of a LFR/LFD, and similar aspects of the game on a vanilla-locked server would be like they were during the end of vanilla. We’d have the old talent system – the really old one. Classes would play like they did in vanilla, and you couldn’t be Blood Elf, dranei, worgen, goblin, pandaren, death knight, or monk.

It sounds fascinating to get to experience that game. The problem is, that’s a different game. Maybe it’d be easy for Blizzard. They must have backup copies of their old software, right? I don’t know, but let’s continue. What would it be like for a player? I’d find it incredibly frustrating. It’s not that I’m a worse player. It’s simply that vanilla was, honestly, worse in a lot of ways. We can argue lore, flavor, and raids, but mechanically it was a bit archaic. World of Warcraft was still one of the early MMOs even if it was definitely not the first. The genre has come a long way. Also, don’t forget how confusing it would be to play a game that looked the same but felt different. If you played the same class on both a vanilla-locked server and the current server, it would be pretty confusing.

What if Blizzard decided to use the current mechanics in every way but lock newer content and impose a level-cap. A vanilla-locked server in this case would have a level cap of 60. It would the dungeon finder, the current class mechanics, and the current talent system. The problem is that classes aren’t currently tuned to be balanced across the board at level 60. I don’t Blizzard worries too much about lower level balance. They’d have to continually balance everything for multiple endgames, and that just doesn’t seem realistic. I suppose I’d be a little more likely to check that out, but I could do the same by finding a guild that turns off XP at level 60. In addition, the backlash would be just as bad as not having expansion-locked servers. “This isn’t what it was like in vanilla at all! All these kids think they’re hardcore like we were, but they’re not!”

Blizzard would be in a lose-lose situation. Raid tiers are more like PVP seasons (or seasons in sports for that matter) than we think. Yes, you can go back and run an old raid, but it’s different. You can never truly go back. The majesty of an MMO is that the world, the game, the players change. Past expansions are in the past, and I want to move forward.

Edit: Here’s the results post on WoW Insider: Community Blog Topic Results: Expansion specific servers, Robin Torres, WoW Insider, 9/13/13.

Community Blog Topic: Which race would you like to become playable?

Posted by Peter (Devee) on September 2, 2013
Posted in: World of Warcraft, WoW Insider Community Blog Topic. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , . 2 Comments

tuskarr

Which race would you like to play in a future expansion? Would they be Alliance or Horde and why? What would be their racials? Do you have any ideas for their jokes and/or flirts? Blog about your answer and link to the post in the comments. Or if you don’t have a World of Warcraft related blog, leave your response in the comments below.

via Community Blog Topic: Which race would you like to become playable?, Robin Torres, WoW Insider, 8/30/13.

Ever since the April Fools’ Day that Blizzard made everybody Tuskarr on the Armory, I’ve wanted playable Tuskarr. They’re so cute and cuddly! I love that they seem laid back and relaxed, yet at the same time probably have a lot of power in them. Mists of Pandaria introduced Trawler Yotimo in the Krasarang Wilds at Anglers Wharf. When you talk to him, he says the following:

Call me crazy, but I love this warm weather! I always felt like an outcast back in Borean but I think this new climate is going to work out great for me!

And then you ask him, “What are you doing so far from home?”

Well, times were getting tough up north. While the scourge problem has been dealt with, we are constantly on the move and looking for food. I decided it was time to head out and find some new fishing grounds!

After almost a month at sea, I ended up here. Good thing I packed a few crates of pickled herring for the trip!

If there are other Tuskarr who feel like outcasts, and times are tough for them too, might it be time for them to go adventuring?

I realize we haven’t seen the Tuskarr have any affinity for magic, but there’s no reason they couldn’t discover some. They’d need seven classes to put them on par with gnomes. I’d give them hunter, rogue, and warrior easily. I think I’d really love to see Tuskarr shaman, so let’s give them that too. Fishing pole totems, perhaps? If they’re adventuring, it’s very easily conceivable that they’d begin to study the arcane, so I’ll add mage. Having a connection with Pandaria already, they could also learn to be monks. They’re already in Northrend, but I don’t really want to give them Death Knights. Warlocks also seem like a jump if they’re just learning the arcane. I’d love to see Tuskarr paladins, but that seems like quite the jump as well. Priest is a possibility, but I think Tuskarr druids would be really cool too! As for faction, both the Alliance and Horde have both had contact with them, and the Tuskarr haven’t shown an affinity to one over the other so far. They could be given a choice just like the Pandaren.

I absolutely love the Tuskarr and would jump at the chance to play as one. However, I think it’s unlikely that they’d be added any time soon. Blizzard could always find a way to give a lore explanation, but it just doesn’t tie into the narration that we have currently (unless we’re given a curveball and are heading back to Northrend).

My second choice would be the Ethereals. If and when we go back to Outland, deal with the Burning Legion, or travel to any other planet, it would be a perfect time to make them playable. I’d also allow them to join either faction and would give them mages, warlocks, priests, rogues, warriors, hunters, and monks.

Edit: Here’s the follow-up piece on WoW Insider: Community Blog Topic Results: Which race would you like to become playable?, Robin Torres, WoW Insider, 9/5/13.