Starting out in WoW can be challenging. The story is confusing, and for new players, there is simply too much and at the same time too little information in the narrative.
Who is speaking? In an interview with gamesindustry, Patrick Dawson, one of the Technical Directors of World of Warcraft, discussed the new expansion Battle for Azeroth and how the constantly evolving game presents developers with new challenges. Especially new players find it increasingly difficult to connect with the story and keep an overview.
To grant players more freedom, Blizzard introduced world scaling with the end of Legion. It became possible to play in many areas, regardless of the character’s level. This way, everyone could largely determine what they wanted to experience.
Almost 15 years of content can overwhelm a newcomer
Overwhelming and confusing story: It is further stated that the developers are aware that there is an incredible amount of story in the game. For new players, this can feel “overwhelming and a bit confusing”.
This is not a good thing if you want to keep players engaged in a world, and the creators of WoW are aware of this. “We want to continue working on making the leveling experience fun and filled with story, while also being able to tell old tales.”
However, there is still no concrete solution for this. “We don’t have an answer to that today. But it’s something we would like to change.”
Too much and too little information. Yet it is not only the sheer volume of stories and information that is confusing, but also their presentation: World of Warcraft actually has a chronological order, namely the sequence of the release of all expansions. However, this was thrown out the window with Cataclysm.
Players start in a world that was destroyed by the Cataclysm, only to travel back in time and see the shattered world. This is not only confusing but simply makes no sense if one has not dealt much with WoW.
Are you a newcomer to World of Warcraft and struggling to understand the story? Then you might enjoy this article:
Cortyn says: I believe that World of Warcraft has now simply become too big to force the story and game world into a “red thread” corset. It simply makes no sense to start in the world of Cataclysm, then travel back to the shattered world of the past, only to end back in Cataclysm.
Here, a few new quests could perhaps help explain the chronological order of the individual areas more accurately – but of course that would draw resources away from current content.
Do you have any suggestions on how World of Warcraft could solve the storytelling problem with content that is almost 15 years old? Or should they just “leave it alone”?
