World of Warcraft: Somehow currently unremarkable
In World of Warcraft, we somewhat cheekily remarked before the expansion “Warlords of Draenor” that what Blizzard says sounds great for the time after WoD. However, there was very little about WoD itself.
This seems to be proving true now. Warlords of Draenor was for some a flash in the pan that burned brightly for six weeks and then faded. Leveling to 100 was done excellently, the instances were great, the garrison was pleasant, the cinematics were impressive, the WoD test results were incredibly strong, the numbers were right. In a success bingo, Tom Chilton would have jumped up and shouted… well, “Bingo.”
Staying at home instead of exploring
However, somehow they patched out the long-term motivation from the WoW we knew. They may have traded long-term fun for the short thrill.
Many veterans who have remained loyal to the game for years are visibly annoyed by the garrison: staying at home instead of exploring seems to be the motto. Rather a loner than a dungeon runner. Farming ores or group instances is hardly worthwhile anymore. They have almost abolished dailies. Blizzard seems to have consciously wanted to move away from the trance-like routine gaming in the evenings with occasional adrenaline spikes when raids were on: They have eliminated routine gaming. But whether they didn’t alienate their most loyal customers?
Where is the vision of World of Warcraft for 2015?
There are raids, yes, there was also the first new raid with the Blackrock Foundry, yet aside from that, there is very little to do. The Patch 6.1 – the first since November brought all sorts of trinkets: You can now tweet and take selfies, there are new heirlooms, the epic quest has a few new steps, and there is now a jukebox in the garrison. But World of Warcraft has not really convinced in 2015. With all the returning and new players in focus, they may have forgotten the players who remained loyal to the game all those years.
Now they have planned an alternative payment model for the future, but that’s about it. One is currently searching in vain for any grand future visions, innovations, or new ideas. They know that Blizzard wants to release expansions faster. At the moment, one wishes they would develop the next Patch 6.2 faster.
But while The Elder Scrolls Online, Guild Wars 2, and Final Fantasy XIV have a clear roadmap for the coming months, where they are offering players something to look forward to, there are only vague plans for WoW at the moment: something in the jungle and certainly a new raid. But nothing with trolls this time, that one knows.
Perhaps, some speculate, that’s about it with Warlords of Draenor. Could the next and last raid tier already come with 6.2? And will we remember Warlords of Draenor later as a peculiar “interim expansion” while WoW switched from biennial to annual expansions? A ridiculous thought, isn’t it?
Is Blizzard getting sidetracked?
It seems that Blizzard has its focus everywhere but on World of Warcraft. Hearthstone is getting an expansion, Heroes of the Storm will have its release soon, Overwatch is the new darling and going into beta soon, Starcraft comes the next round, Diablo has started the new season – and since the release of Warlords of Draenor, there has been little talk about WoW.
A strange situation for the industry leader. Everyone expects the next quarterly numbers to show a significant decline in players for WoW. This will again trigger the doom-sayers who sing the downfall of WoW. And once again, that will be nonsense.
However, the initial tremendous momentum that Warlords of Draenor brought at the end of 2014 seems to have dissipated by New Year’s. One must wait and see whether this will lead to problems and how Blizzard will handle it.
On the other hand, a community that forgives a paid MMORPG a 13-month content drought can probably not be easily thrown off balance. Does anyone know an MMORPG that wouldn’t trade its own problems in an instant for those of WoW?
Blizzard continues to move along its lonely course. For World of Warcraft, its own laws still apply in 2015.
