If you play MMOs at all, this isn’t really news to you, but it’s something that’s been on my mind lately since returning to World of Warcraft. There’s been a trend over the last few years of game developers “dumbing down” MMORPG-type games. I actually first took notice of it back when I was a regular player of City of Heroes. I had quit the game for a little while – only a few months or so. When I returned, I tried to find a group for “The Sewers,” which was the standard thing that people did to level up new characters. It was both frustrating and fun, but before I left you could almost always find a group to run with. Not so this time. I did the typical “LFG Sewer” post in the general chat, and was met with deafening silence. Thinking it was maybe a slow day, I tried again later. Same deal. It became clear to me that something had happened. Something changed. I soon discovered what it was. Something known as the “Architect System” had been added to the game, and what a bloody nightmare. City of Heroes would never again be the same. It was the beginning of the end. You see, what the Architect System did was add a way within the game itself for players to create instances (dungeons, if you will). It allowed players to choose what kind of monsters would spawn there, how many bosses, types of loot, amount of experience…Everything. I logged into the game, found the area where you go to engage in this architect business, and found myself thoroughly horrified. Everyone – and I do mean EVERYONE – was inside this one building in the game just creating and entering other people’s instances. There was nobody out on the street actually playing the game. No one out fighting crime, working on the storyline, being social…Hell, even the costume contests people would have in Atlas Park had dwindled away to nothing. The entire fan base of the game were huddled together in mindless instance grinding. I hung up my cape that very day. I knew it was the beginning of the end, and even if it wasn’t, such useless grinding drudgery was not for me. It was a sad day.
Even though I was disappointed that my favorite game had been butchered, I figured it was a fluke. Just a bad decision on their part. Surely no other respectable MMO would allow something like this to happen…Right? Well, this brings me to today. My current game of choice is still World of Warcraft, but I see the same dumbing-down syndrome slowly creeping over the land of Azeroth, just as it destroyed my beloved Atlas Park. Some would say that it truly began with the release of Cataclysm. It’s true – Cataclysm, while still a lot of fun, did dumb down the game in a lot of big ways. For me, however, I first noticed it in the tiniest of changes. Things like no longer having to carry flint and tinder to make a campfire, a reduction in the complexity of crafting recipes, no more ammunition, and no more having to level up each individual weapon type. No single one of those things by itself is a deal breaker, but all together I think those changes really took something special away from the game. It took away complexity. It removed depth.
It’s become clear to me that not everyone agrees that these changes are bad. A lot of people who call themselves “casual” players were very happy to find that they could now just log in and play WoW for ten or fifteen minutes and be done for the day, as if it were pong or something…And sure, there should be casual MMOs out there for people like that (it’s called Guild Wars, folks), but I think it was a big mistake for a game so wildly popular and filled with long-time, RP-type fans. Us role playing types want complexity. We want to be able to get lost in the game, and to feel like we have completely left the real world behind. Every time an RP element is lost – like say hunters no longer being able to carry swords with their bows – a part of what made WoW so great for so many people dies. I understand that casual players want to be able to get in on the MMO fun, but they have other games for people like them. Shouldn’t there be a game for players like me? Players who enjoy the journey of leveling and exploring the world, collecting useless trinkets, pets, and costume pieces rather than just dungeon grinding away to max level for “end game” content? No really. Is it such a horrible thing for there to be a game – even just ONE game – that caters to the hardcore RPers of the world, and ignores casual gamers altogether? One that just allows the game to be deep, and complex, and DIFFICULT to master? I know that the fan base would be smaller. I understand that. But the fan base would also be loyal. There would still be a lot of money to be made.
If a game ever comes along that can create the same experience that I felt up until about midway through Wrath of the Lich King, I will abandon World of Warcraft forever. I think a lot of people will. Blizzard is making a huge mistake. I wish they’d take a history lesson from City of Heroes. This will end badly. There would be no shame in going backwards and admitting to a lapse in judgement.
That being said, the upcoming expansion does look promising. It actually almost looks like a step back is exactly what Blizzard is planning to do. There may be hope yet. I suppose we will see.
~A~
Nerocast 