Blizzard seems to have concrete plans to drastically lower the maximum level in World of Warcraft. Will our heroes soon be back at level 60?
Several months ago, a developer Q&A discussed the state of World of Warcraft and its many character levels. Heroes can currently level up to 120. Game Director Ion Hazzikostas had considered reducing the maximum character level and effectively conducting a “level squish.” This idea now seems to be a concrete plan that Blizzard is considering.
Where does the information come from? Blizzard has sent surveys to some players to provide feedback on the current state of World of Warcraft. One of the questions reads quite specifically. It says:
Are you aware that the maximum level of 120 will be reduced in the future?
There is also a follow-up question:
The ‘level squish’ will reduce the maximum number of levels needed to play the latest content. The new level cap will be dramatically lower than the current level cap of 120. How much would you like or dislike a reduction of character levels?
At least the wording of the questions suggests that Blizzard already has concrete plans for a future date. The next reasonable date would likely be Patch 9.0, which is the pre-patch for the next expansion.
What is the problem? With the ever-increasing number of levels, it becomes increasingly difficult for Blizzard to make each level meaningful and rewarding. After all, you can’t reward characters 120 times with meaningful upgrades like talents or new abilities without the game feeling overloaded. At the same time, a hurdle of 120 levels is a strong deterrent for newcomers, who see it as a much larger barrier than, say, level 60 or 70, even if the time investment is the same.
What would be the benefits? By reducing the maximum level, not only does the perceived barrier for newcomers and twinks decrease, but Blizzard could also equip more levels with meaningful rewards. Thus, there would no longer be a talent every 15 levels, but perhaps every 8 to 9 levels. At the same time, you could redistribute a character’s abilities from level 1 to 60, so that with almost every level-up, you receive a new ability or upgrade. This would at least strengthen the feeling of getting an upgrade while leveling.
When exactly this will happen and whether the plans will really be implemented remains to be seen. Apparently, however, this seems to be more than just an idea, as Blizzard discusses it in surveys as something that “will be the case in the future.”
What do you think of this idea of level reduction? Is it a sensible step?
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