In the current patch 6.2 for World of Warcraft, a lot has changed. Not only have preparations been made to enable flying in the current expansion Warlords of Draenor, but measures have also been taken to bring players out of the garrisons and into the world. Ion Hazzikostas, the Game Director, explained in an interview with PCGamesN why these steps were necessary and what they aim to achieve.
Why flying is now allowed
There have been major discussions about flying in WoD. It is quite easy to determine that the world has been developed with the mindset that players could never take to the skies: Players would have to wait in hard-to-reach places, rare enemies must first be found, and many secrets need to be solved on foot.
“Flying is great for player exploration freedom, but it undermines large portions of gameplay”, Hazzikostas states. Everyone who has been playing since earlier expansions knows the examples: If a boss stands at the end of a well-guarded camp, you simply fly over his minions, take out the main boss, mount your griffon, and disappear again. While this is highly effective, the developers could have saved the design of the entire camp in this case.
“For a while, players accepted that gameplay took place on the ground. But when they became aware that they might never take to the skies again and use their hard-earned flying mounts, it quickly turned into dissatisfaction.”
A compromise had to be found that grants players the ability to fly while ensuring that new content is perceived as intended by the developers.
The solution seems nearly perfect: Players must first complete an achievement that requires them to conquer nearly all content in the game world on foot. This forces everyone to engage with the story, the world, and its secrets at least once before they can – if they want – skip all areas on alt characters.
The end of solitude (in the garrison)
A large part of the innovations in patch 6.2 encourages players to engage more with the game world again. While all professions could previously be mastered in the cozy halls of their own garrison with little to no contact with other players, the heroes now have to dive into the jungle themselves.
“Much of the content of patch 6.2 aims to bring players back into the game world. Things like professions and crafting items, which could previously be managed in isolation through the use of garrison buildings and missions, now require players to venture into the Tanaan Jungle to craft the most powerful items.”
Furthermore, Hazzikostas states: “We want to ensure that we do not lose sight of what an MMO is all about at its core: interactions between players in the open world.” It is precisely these possibilities for cooperation that are emphasized with the new system of weekly events. A good example is the Timewalking, which makes old instances more attractive at regular intervals by providing decent loot and a solid challenge. For this, the strength of the players is reduced so that the player experience is about that of 2 or 3 expansions ago. It also does not matter whether one player in the group is level 97 while another is level 86. “It is a small step to break down the barriers that prevent players from playing together.”
The shipyard – more risk, less obligation
Despite the significant criticism, there are also many players who do not want to do without the garrison anymore. This target group was also to be satisfied without binding them endlessly to their main base and blindly repeating the follower system. For this reason, there is the shipyard, where every mission also represents a risk. “Unlike followers, ships are expendable. They are built in the shipyard, but if a mission fails, they can be lost permanently. New ones must then be built to replace the old ones.” Of course, the rewards from these missions are also a bit higher, for instance, rare pets await successful fleet commanders. “Players will not feel like they have to return every 30 minutes to send the ships on a new mission.”
It has been ensured that players have to make difficult decisions, for according to Hazzikostas, much has been learned from the behavior in the follower missions: “Players go to great lengths to eliminate every risk. If the success chances of a task are at 96%, then a player will undertake all sorts of unpleasant, time-consuming things to reach the additional 4% and ensure that absolutely nothing can go wrong.”
Hellfire Citadel: One of the coolest raids in a long time
Of all the new content introduced with the latest update – whether it be pet battles, the Tanaan Jungle, timewalking, or the shipyard – the Game Director is most impressed by one rather classic element: the new raid.
“The Hellfire Citadel is one of the coolest raids we have ever developed. It has something for everyone. It is a mix of nostalgia for fans of the old demon raids, with some well-known bosses from the past and very creative new mechanics. Our team really broke all the chains this time when building this gigantic orc citadel that is now infused with demonic energies.”
Those who want to get an impression of all these things should just log into World of Warcraft – the patch has been live since yesterday.
