Not everything is good in World of Warcraft: The War Within. Especially not among the players. They are discussing, sometimes very exhaustively and offensively.
The early access of World of Warcraft: The War Within has been running now for three days. On Tuesday, the rest of the “normal” players can finally join in. These people did not buy the Epic Edition.
When Blizzard announced the early access for The War Within back then, the uproar was quite large. As expected, this did not diminish with the actual early access, and there is heated debate in the forums about whether this was a good or bad decision.
- Supporters felt that early access is a nice bonus for the Epic Edition that one would have purchased anyway. Since it is primarily limited to story content, the advantage is not huge.
- Critics believe that it has divided the community. The “shared experience” now depends on one’s wallet, and the early gathering of resources gives a huge, unfair advantage that will be felt for months.
Discussion Takes Place in the Game, Is Extremely Toxic
However, it must also be said that these discussions, for instance in the WoW subreddit, have mostly been drowned out again. Those who are already playing “The War Within” are largely positively surprised. The number of posts praising individual aspects of the expansion’s story or the love for details is significantly higher. Currently, the negative is being “pushed down,” so mainly positive posts are coming up.
This does not mean, however, that the discontent has disappeared – especially not from the game itself. Right in the trade channel, discussions about the “two-class society” that Blizzard has created with the early access flare up almost every minute.
It is rarely a rational discussion:
- On one side, there are those who do not have early access and are loudly complaining that “Blizzard has completely ruined the game with the early access and everyone who bought it is an idiot who is contributing to the game’s downfall.”
- On the other side, there are people who write sentences in the style of “If you went to work instead of whining in WoW all day, you could afford the early access too.”
Neither side provides a healthy discussion foundation, and attacking the other group does not contribute to understanding. On many realms, it is simply more pleasant to turn off the corresponding chats for now.
The “problem” is that many do not take their frustration to places where it would be heard or make sense. One can criticize Blizzard for the early access and should do so if it aligns with their beliefs. But attacking the players who are currently enjoying early access – that will hardly lead to a solution. It doesn’t help when big streamers loudly join this conflict.
How Bad is Early Access Really?
How strong the influence on the game will actually be can probably only be said in a few days. It is clear that buyers of early access have an advantage and can already build a lead on certain things. This relates more to the in-game gold than to actual character power. Because the item level and many activities are still limited, collecting crafting materials is already possible.
Although the bitter realization on many realms is: The typical “druid farm bots” that fly in groups of 10 from ore to ore already exist in The War Within. And unfortunately, they are those who end up dominating the market prices.
Cortyn says: I can understand the discussion around this topic and find that both sides are not particularly shining at the moment. It is not productive to insult people who evidently seem to have a lot of fun. Snapping at people and telling them to stop having fun
has probably never helped. On the other hand, the counter-arguments are also not helpful, calling people poor, unemployed addicts who just can’t get their fix
. Both do not lead to a rational discussion – and that is actually necessary.
What is your opinion on the early access of The War Within? Are you enjoying the game already and do you think Blizzard’s decision is good? Or do you stand on the other side and grind your teeth because the developers made such an unfair move? Or do you see both the good and bad at the same time and can understand both sides?
After all – many in early access are already leveling their second or third character. Because you can reach level 80 in 3 hours.
