The increase from level 90 to level 100 is expected to be massive again this time. Where Blizzard wants to go with this strategy is not entirely clear.
[pull_quote_center]It seems a bit like they’re trying to ensure that the psychological pressure to buy the add-on is increased, because a level 100 character is significantly more powerful than a level 90.
While with a constant increase in player power, the gap would only be small, as with earlier add-ons, when a player without the latest add-on could indeed defeat one with it.
Further relics from the past being trimmed
Blizzard has already eliminated some quirks and relics from earlier role-play days from the code. The rough edges of the game have become smoother. Along with other things, resistances, weapon skills, and hit cap have disappeared. Apparently, they want to continue this trend. Excessively strong racial abilities will be nerfed, new ones introduced to level the playing field for each race – something similar happened a few years ago with crafting skills. Additionally, the skills of different classes are to be further thinned out – and the crowd control abilities reduced.
How we see it
As Blizzard adds new abilities and skills with each add-on, but developers are likely constrained by a magical number of only 10 skills or so, this decision is understandable. If new skills come, old ones must make way.
Other games like WildStar or Guild Wars 2 limit the skills through a tight action bar, on which only a few of the numerous available skills fit. These players follow the philosophy of keeping the buffet huge but reducing the plate size. Blizzard keeps the plate size but cuts back the buffet.
We believe: Blizzard consistently continues on its chosen path. In part, old ties that no longer fit the concept will be cut. However, for some players, a part of class and racial identity will also be lost.
The compromise regarding the growth curve of player power, however, is difficult to justify purely from a gameplay standpoint. It would have been consistent to adjust the curve from level 1 to level 100, not just from level 1 to level 85. This apparently only serves to create an additional purchasing incentive for players.
With such purchasing incentives, Blizzard has lost quite a bit of trust in the past. Keyword: Annual Pass. With it, they ensured in the end of the unpopular expansion Cataclysm, that players would be tied to WoW for over a year. However, during that year, hardly any new content was released.
[pull_quote_center]Given the high quality of World of Warcraft, such a tactic is not necessary in our view, though understandable.
At Blizzard’s flagship World of Warcraft, the expansion Warlords of Draenor is slowly taking shape. While there have been mostly images to marvel at from Blizzard in recent months regarding the new housing or the facelift of the old races, the dev blog this time is dedicated to hard facts. Because it goes deep into the game mechanics of the long-standing genre primus.
Player characters with over a million health points
Now, while images of new raids, even bushier dwarf beards, or one’s own garrison are more suited to attract fans’ attention, the real substance usually comes into play when numbers and gameplay are involved.
Already before the last expansion Mists of Pandaria, Blizzard considered out loud, to reduce the numbers. Because the damage points of opponents had reached the millions, players’ health points reached six-figure values (and at the upper spectrum), and even for DPS and similar values, players slowly needed a PhD in mathematics.
Before Mists of Pandaria, an idea was circulating that reminded of the old pre-Euro times: They wanted to possibly just drop three digits off high numbers, just as one used to convert the Italian Lira into Deutsche Marks.
The mega-number as a solution?
Furthermore, there was even the idea of a “MEGA-number”; instead of 1,143,478 health points, a character would then have 1.1 MEGA-health points, or something similar. But the plan was not implemented before Mists of Pandaria. Blizzard feared the wrath of players who would suddenly see themselves reduced to a hundredth.
During the item progression in Mists of Pandaria, damage numbers and values increased once again. Blizzard accordingly makes another attempt and declares war on the big numbers.
Compromise for the add-on found
This time, however, it seems that the developers fear disappointment among fans. Therefore, they only want to significantly flatten the growth curve of numbers and strengths up to level 85.
Blizzard reassures: There will be no change in the actual strength of players. If a player’s damage is only one-tenth of the previous number, they will also reduce the health points of opponents by that factor.
The increase from level 90 to level 100 is expected to be massive again this time. Where Blizzard wants to go with this strategy is not entirely clear.
[pull_quote_center]It seems a bit like they’re trying to ensure that the psychological pressure to buy the add-on is increased, because a level 100 character is significantly more powerful than a level 90.
While with a constant increase in player power, the gap would only be small, as with earlier add-ons, when a player without the latest add-on could indeed defeat one with it.
Further relics from the past being trimmed
Blizzard has already eliminated some quirks and relics from earlier role-play days from the code. The rough edges of the game have become smoother. Along with other things, resistances, weapon skills, and hit cap have disappeared. Apparently, they want to continue this trend. Excessively strong racial abilities will be nerfed, new ones introduced to level the playing field for each race – something similar happened a few years ago with crafting skills. Additionally, the skills of different classes are to be further thinned out – and the crowd control abilities reduced.
How we see it
As Blizzard adds new abilities and skills with each add-on, but developers are likely constrained by a magical number of only 10 skills or so, this decision is understandable. If new skills come, old ones must make way.
Other games like WildStar or Guild Wars 2 limit the skills through a tight action bar, on which only a few of the numerous available skills fit. These players follow the philosophy of keeping the buffet huge but reducing the plate size. Blizzard keeps the plate size but cuts back the buffet.
We believe: Blizzard consistently continues on its chosen path. In part, old ties that no longer fit the concept will be cut. However, for some players, a part of class and racial identity will also be lost.
The compromise regarding the growth curve of player power, however, is difficult to justify purely from a gameplay standpoint. It would have been consistent to adjust the curve from level 1 to level 100, not just from level 1 to level 85. This apparently only serves to create an additional purchasing incentive for players.
With such purchasing incentives, Blizzard has lost quite a bit of trust in the past. Keyword: Annual Pass. With it, they ensured in the end of the unpopular expansion Cataclysm, that players would be tied to WoW for over a year. However, during that year, hardly any new content was released.
[pull_quote_center]Given the high quality of World of Warcraft, such a tactic is not necessary in our view, though understandable.
