World of Warcraft: Negative Vibe
World of Warcraft has to listen to a lot. For anyone who is not frozen in awe of Blizzard, it currently seems like something is wrong. The developers are on the defensive. What is made out of the flying ban is a huge deal. The strange trivialities connected with the S.E.L.F.I.E. are seen by many veterans as a symbol of the problems plaguing Blizzard’s giant: “Things were better in the past; now they’re making this stuff for kids. Ridiculous. It just shows that WoW has lost its roots.” This is a song that has always been heard in WoW. In recent months, it has become noticeably louder.
But the situation is not that bad. From the defensive position after losing 3 million paying players, they have started an analysis of the issues. The lead designer has clearly identified where the problems lie. They overreacted too strongly with Warlords of Draenor: Removed problematic elements from the game, such as daily dungeon runs, valor points, or daily quests – but they failed to provide any acceptable replacements.
This has made Azeroth a dreary land. Players are either in their garrisons or raiding. For many, there is no third option. They can just let their subscriptions run out.
Negatively, Warlords of Draenor has been out for half a year, and since then little has changed. The highlight of Draenor remains leveling up to 100 – after that, it moved into well-crafted but not particularly spectacular raids. Solid craftsmanship indeed: A 2-, a 3+. And outside of that, there was little to do.
But Blizzard claims to already have found solutions. The next patch 6.2 is supposed to remedy some of the structural issues and give players more to do.
More important than a new feature would probably be to instill passion in the players, to make them more eager for WoW, to provide a vision. Currently, it seems in several spots like “duty as usual”; a content machine is churning behind the scenes, working on the next expansion and the one after that. But while this “living in the future” in Final Fantasy XIV has a euphoric feeling, repeatedly giving glimpses into an “eventually”, in Blizzard’s content factory, it feels somehow unclear and secretive. Other than stating that they’re working on something, they say nothing: The future is something Blizzard simply does not discuss.
Blizzard has so many irons in the fire, there’s the next game to hype, the next one being developed. In doing so, they may forget to shine a light on World of Warcraft now and then. In all the planned cycles, fixed rhythms, the ups and downs of expansions, what made World of Warcraft special over the years, the sensation of adventure, threatens to get lost.
