So Blizzard will (likely) allow folks to purchase level 90
characters in Warlords of Draenor
(where the level cap will be 100). While unofficial workarounds would have
existed, which Blizzard even mentioned—namely purchasing a second account,
getting a free level 90, and then merging accounts—turning it into an official
feature means something a lot more.
I wanted to wait a few days to see what the reaction was
going to be, but for blogs it’s either been non-existent, or rather optimistic
on the outcome.
The cesspits that are the MMO-Champion forums bring up a lot of wailing and
gnashing of teeth. However, the level of discourse in most forum threads isn’t
precisely high, and I only survived a couple of pages there before my brain ran
for its life, quivering in fear in the recesses of my skull.
WARNING: NSFW language.
This is how I imagine the MMO-Champion forums. Except this
is probably more entertaining.
In my mind, granting the ability to purchase near max-level
characters is Blizzard embracing the fact that they have two games: the
levelling game, and the end-game. To be fair, many of the developers have
outright stated that people want to play with their friends, and all the things
that happen pretty much happen at end-game, but this goes a little bit further.
This is effectively World of Warcraft II, but anyone who
already has level 90 characters are grandfathered into the new game, similar to
the transition from FFXIV to FFXIV: A Realm Reborn. With a new model
of questing from 90 to 100 based on the Timeless Isle, the pervasiveness and scale
of the Garrisons, new character models, new level 90 introduction experience
for boosted characters, the ilvl squish, and a new isolated continent (granted,
a new isolated continent is kind of their modus operandi for expansions), they’re
changing how the WoW levelling game plays pretty significantly, and potentially
how that dovetails into the end-game as well. A new game within the game, if
you will.
It’s basically the ultimate reset button short of making
everything pre-90 completely inaccessible and declaring Warlords of Draenor WoW II, which they likely would never do
because that’s a lot of content they have for “free” between pets, old
raids/dungeons, zones, etc. And just because you can buy a level 90 character doesn’t mean everyone will. We don’t
know what it will cost yet, and some folks just love leveling.
But as far as grandiose experiments, this one is still a
doozy. It’s as close to “Paying to Win” as you can get without actually paying
to win, ignoring the fact that the game really begins anew once you hit max
level and level 90 won’t even be the max level next expansion. But if the only
thing you care about is leveling—and many folks do—then yes, this is Pay 2
Almost Win. And you bet every other MMO developer is going to be watching this
experiment extremely closely. If it goes remotely well, expect every other MMO
to copy it.
In the end, though, I really don’t think this will turn out
poorly like the Diablo Auction House did. And lest folks forget, we’ve already
had an MMO where the leveling system was pretty much non-existent: the
original Guild Wars. You were basically max level once you completed the
tutorial, and you made personal progress by collecting skills and gear. So you
can have a successful MMO without having levels at all. We’ll just have to see
if WoW can pull it off.
Old but relevant: http://balkothsword.blogspot.com/2013/07/i-just-want-to-play-with-my-friends-on.html
ReplyDeleteThat's an excellent post. And more fuel for the fire in support of Blizzard's pay-to-90.
DeleteJust to clarify one point, Blizzard has also mentioned that what's currently a workaround wouldn't necessarily have been possible going forward... they could easily flag the boosted toon as "non-transferable" in some way to prevent multi-account buy/boost/transfer workarounds in the first place. Lock the boosted toon to that particular account and the workaround no longer exists. A lot of commentary out there exists based solely on the current reality, not the one the future feature will actually be operating in...
ReplyDeleteThe "WoW 2" comment is the first time I've seen that and it's a great analogy... WoW 1 is 1-90, WoW 2 is 90+, and WoW 1 is functionally included with the purchase of WoW 2 if one desires to play it since you have to purchase the base product to add the expansion to. Single player game sequels have often historically started at level >1 where you can import a character you've played in an earlier game (or download one off the Internet) or start a fresh appropriate-level character, this is basically the same thing for WoW (your FF comment might make the same point but I didn't play 'em so can't be sure, consider this a +1 if that's the case). Good observation... Blizz could solidify that analogy completely by offering WoD in two versions, WoD Full (including the 1-90 content) for $60 and WoD Expansion for those who already own 1-90. Not sure they'll go that route but it would be interesting if they did.
I really don't get the pay to win analogy, though... I think anyone would argue that leveling, from a difficulty perspective, is close to trivial... if anything, it's simply pay to save time. I'm not sure by what criteria simply having a L90 toon would be considered "winning". Any player for whom leveling is the only concern would 100% negate their actual reason for playing by buying a toon, so they won't... and since leveling isn't a competitive sport, others buying 90s should have zero impact on them. To this point I've leveled, I think (scary big numbers are scary big, I'm honestly not 100% sure), 21 toons to 90... what did I win?! Seriously, I must have won SOMETHING! ;) If my 22nd is purchased (well, by the time they're available it'll be my 30th... don't judge me...), what have I won by doing that vs just leveling it myself casually over a few weeks? Is it winning if it's your 1st vs 30th? Or 2nd? I don't see how. For some it will be pay to save time, for others pay to play with friends, others it'll be pay to check out a new server, for a rare few it could be pay to show that idiot rogue in their guild how to ACTUALLY PLAY A F'N ROGUE (IT CAN'T BE THAT HARD, JUST STABBYSTABBY FFS!!! HERE, GIMME A SEC TO BUY A 90 AND I'LL SHOW YOU!) (if you think that out of millions of players at least 3 won't buy a 90 solely to definitively show some other guy that he's a moron, you and I are playing different games)... it'll be pay for any number of personal criteria but I don't think "winning" is anywhere on that list. Having a 90 doesn't win anyone anything, you have to play to win, it just, perhaps, puts players in a better position to play. I don't see a downside to that.
"if you think that out of millions of players at least 3 won't buy a 90 solely to definitively show some other guy that he's a moron"
DeleteAnd it will be glorious.
I really, really wish I could like comments on Blogger, because +1 to Balkoth and R on that last statement. I'm half-tempted to do that myself. I kinda did it with my mage, though I also liked mages anyhow.
Delete"Just to clarify one point, Blizzard has also mentioned that what's currently a workaround wouldn't necessarily have been possible going forward..."
~ Yup. Excellent point.
"The "WoW 2" comment is the first time I've seen that and it's a great analogy..."
~ Thanks! And yes, the FFXIV statement was basically the same thing. Back when the game sucked, they let people play, then eventually shut it down to launch A Realm Reborn. Folks who had characters in the old game got grandfathered in with their money and character levels to a certain extent.
"I really don't get the pay to win analogy, though... I think anyone would argue that leveling, from a difficulty perspective, is close to trivial... if anything, it's simply pay to save time."
~ Personally, I agree with you 100%. However, I've observed plenty of folks who's only interest is the leveling game, and once they hit max level they start another toon. Keep in mind while WoW doesn't really have a win condition, since there are so many ways to play the game, it then falls to players to define how they "win".
For me, it's when my raids beat the final boss in an expansion, then we won the expansion. For others, perhaps it's they caught all the pets and mounts for that expansions. For others, it's the Loremaster achievement. So on and so forth. So it stands for a subset of people, winning to them is hitting the level cap, and following that line of logic, this is Pay 2 Almost Win, as they've circumvented 90% of the leveling game with a 90 boosted character.
Yes, they have the option to not do it, and no, personally I'm not particularly concerned for those folks anyhow, but it's still a valid point for that subset of players.
I'm just glad I'm almost out of toon slots, might keep me from making toons for that or other less than altruistic purposes. :)
Delete(and just to correct my original comment, 22 max-level toons, not 21, scary big numbers ARE scary big and subtracting from 11 is harder than I realized)
It'll be interesting to see if there's any social pressure aimed toward those with only non-hybrid / dps-only toons in their toon stables... I wouldn't be shocked if it happened occasionally. Dual Spec: Revisited, perhaps.
My only point about winning via leveling is that if leveling IS the entire game for someone, buying a 90 simply won't be on their radar. Imagine an online F2P chess game where, for $5 (or $0.05), you can just remove every piece the opponent has except his king and 2 knights. If that option existed, who would actually use it? I think nobody, in that simple scenario, since it breaks their game. Adding a wrinkle to make it more applicable here, winning chess is now a prerequisite to play backgammon. Chess players would still ignore that option since it would destroy the game they play. Someone who's only playing chess to get to backgammon, though, might jump all over it, especially if they don't like chess. A backgammon player who also likes chess would likely just stick to the chess->backgammon progression as intended.
Oh, I agree with you that they have the option to not use it, but for many folks the fact that the option is there is somehow offensive.
DeleteAnd that's a great point about folks with pures, though perhaps we'll also see more healers and tanks step up too. Though it may be more likely that the status quo won't change.
".....granting the ability to purchase near max-level characters is Blizzard embracing the fact that they have two games: the levelling game, and the end-game"
ReplyDelete....Really? :D because to me that proves the exact opposite point: Blizzard realize they don't really have a leveling game, not one that has mattered for ages. they embrace the fact that WoW is all about endgame.
If that was entirely the case, they'd have just let folks purchase level 100 characters, rather than 10 levels short of maximum.
DeleteThough I agree as far as the previous leveling game doesn't really matter, but that still falls under my WoD == WoW II hypothesis.
DeleteI like the idea .. you get one free and pay for one .. imagine how much of the old players would possibly return to the game just on that alone. I for one am a vanilla player upto wrath. I thoroughly enjoyed the game .. after reading and watching a few vidz of the up n coming .. im very keen to get back and have a jam again!!
ReplyDeleteI think you're precisely the target audience for this! Enticing returning players is immensely powerful, specially since, I can't find the quote, but I think Bashiok had mentioned there were probably more players who'd played WoW at some point and quit then there were MMO players who haven't played WoW yet.
Delete