WoW presses the big EZ button

[Kaa]

* 15% reduction in experience needed per level between 20 and 60

* Overall experience gained by questing between 30 and 60 boosted

* Say goodbye to the difficult to kill elite mobs that chill outdoors in the sunshine, they’ll also have same if not better quality loot drops

* New quests (approx 60 or so) and a new goblin town smack dab in Dustwallow Marsh (levels 30 to 40)

* Dungeons will be retuned to a narrower level range. (example: SFK currently is 18-25, but will be gimped to 18-21)

* Dungeon quests will yield a higher experience reward and dungeons will also see revamped loot tables

Hoo boy...

Kaa

[SurfD]

Rather then calling it the big EZ button, call it what it really is:  The pathway to FUN.

See, strange as it may seem, people like to ENJOY the run up to the level cap.  By properly retuning stuff, and shortening the grind from 20-60, they will be keeping the Fun factor in there, especially for new players.  Add in the bonus to Old players leveling alts (and dont forget the level cap will be going up to 80 in WotLK), and this is looking like a pretty nice change to me.

Besides, some dungeons NEEDED retuning.  Or are you honestly going to tell me you ENJOYED going through Uldaman 4 freaking times to complete the quests there (if you tried to do them in the order you got them based on level) (not to mention the fact that the last boss in there was something like 7 levels higher then the first boss).

Hell, even Arugal in SFK is fairly heftily over conned for the rest of the dungeon. 

[tmp]

Level based gameplay: spending huge chunk of your development time on building stuff your players will do their darndest to skip.

[Azaroth]

Is 15% even really that big of a deal? It's all about getting everyone to 70 in time to buy WoTLK anyway.

As far as dungeons, yeah, they needed serious retuning. Especially dungeons like Scholo, Strat, etc. Hopefully they're on the list as well.

Regardless, WoW has been turning into a very endgame heavy game for some time now. I know that on my old server, basically 90% of the population is level 70 right now and finding a group for anything below 60 is a pain in the nuts - even in prime time. Let's not talk about finding a group in non peak hours.

The money is now in selling the expansion packs. Newbies just aren't as profitable. So make it easier for them to advance and become the profitable kind of customer (for instance, I quit just before BC and have recently returned to slowly work an alt... I haven't even bought BC, and probably never will... they came up with the 15% number  as a way to speed me up into being a more profitable customer for them, while pissing off their current most-profitable customers to only a small degree - and in true Blizzard fashion, I'm betting that they've only managed to hit the sweet spot where EVERYONE will think it sucks).

[Kail]

Looking forward to this.  I've already got a character at 70, and trying to level an alt is annoying.  While I like the BC content, the old world content is a pain to grind through as you get near the top.  Levelling right now is a lot of fun up to 20 or 30, then it gets grindy for fifteen levels, then it gets even grindier for fifteen levels, then you go to Outland and you finally get to do some neat stuff again.

Of course, it had to come right after I just got my new guy to 60, but still, sounds like a change for the better. 

[Krakrok]

That isn't an EZ button. An EZ button would be me paying them an extra $5 and them just giving me a level 70.

[tmp]

they came up with the 15% number  as a way to speed me up into being a more profitable customer for them, while pissing off their current most-profitable customers to only a small degree - and in true Blizzard fashion, I'm betting that they've only managed to hit the sweet spot where EVERYONE will think it sucks).

It's 15% less to gain level, plus unspecified boost to experience gained from quests, so it's more overall. E.g if the boost to quest xp is 15% too then the overall speed up would be 1.15/0.85 = 35% faster levelling. Actually less overall because some of the xp comes from mob kills but that's overcomplicating it.

But given how many people couldn't solve their way out of wet paper bag they'll bitch it's "only 15%, it's worthless", yeah.

[HaemishM]

I fail to see how this is a bad thing.

[schild]

Moved.

[Merusk]

If you don't like WoW, or don't plan on playing it it's not a big deal.  If you do play, or have friends who want to join you it's huge.  That 15% happens for the levels where the game started to feel 'grindy.'  Combined with an increase to quest XP, you'll probably see a 30% increase minimum in leveling speed - before rested XP.  That means about 3-4 fewer days /played or a few weeks 'real time' off the grind for those new characters.

It's a good change, and I'm pretty happy about it.  It's a much better idea than, "congrats, here's your new level 50 character."  because you still have folks using your older (and relativly well-done) content.

[Azaroth]

Actually, I generally avoid questing and mostly run instances. Even when I do quest, a serious hunk of the XP I gain is from mob killing.

I guess killing furbolgs in Feralas for the 7th time doesn't make me that horny.

But, I suppose I'll have to get in the mood again.

[Morat20]

If you don't like WoW, or don't plan on playing it it's not a big deal.  If you do play, or have friends who want to join you it's huge.  That 15% happens for the levels where the game started to feel 'grindy.'  Combined with an increase to quest XP, you'll probably see a 30% increase minimum in leveling speed - before rested XP.  That means about 3-4 fewer days /played or a few weeks 'real time' off the grind for those new characters.

It's a good change, and I'm pretty happy about it.  It's a much better idea than, "congrats, here's your new level 50 character."  because you still have folks using your older (and relativly well-done) content.

This really seems to have a two-fold purpose.

First and foremost -- ease of levelling alts, and to basically keep the "time played to level cap" more-or-less the same even as they raised the level cap. Secondly, it brings the Old World more in tune with TBC content.

Leveling 1 to 20 in Azuremist was considerably smoother and faster than 1 to 20 anywhere else, and god knows the 30-40 grind needed some help to begin with.

[Ironwood]

I fail to see how this is a bad thing.

[Dren]

I'm extremely good with all of this.  Old world content makes no sense with TBC and will make even less sense with the upcoming expansion.  This is a change that has been needed for a long time.

As I've said before:

Happy.In.The.Pants.

[Nebu]

Wow... I may last beyond the 10 day trial if this is true.  A grind that isn't soul-crushing.  They need to talk to NCSoft about this. 

[Paelos]

This may actually get my 32 priest back out of hock. I couldn't handle the stupidity of the Arathi Highlands and STV anymore.

[Reg]

Yup, I'd been seriously thinking of cancelling until the next expansion but this next patch might convince me to finish getting my 54 rogue those last few levels he needs to go to Outlands.

[Fordel]

Now they need to fucking remove the "of the whale" green suffix loot items from the game and I'll be mostly content.


Playing a lowbie caster is often infuriating when all your gear is at best, "of the eagle".

[Morat20]

I've said this before, but TBC (including the new starter areas) shows how much Blizzard learned from making and releasing WoW, and how much they incorporated that into their expansion.

The new starter areas are excellent, the quest flow and zone flow in Outland is far superior to "Old World" -- can't speak much to instances yet.

I sincerely hope, and sadly really doubt, that this is just the first step in reworking the Old World. I'd like to see some of the old Raid Content redesigned and retuned for use at level cap -- any instance 58+, really -- turned into a 5 or 10 man heroic.

[stu]

As someone who used to play Lineage II (worst grind I've experienced) and only has a level 46 Holy Priest in WoW, I think this is an excellent decision on the part of Blizzard. I don't have a lot of time to play and this helps a lot.

[Yegolev]

I admit it.  I'm intrigued.

[Mrbloodworth]

Doesn't this, devalue some of the lower end content?

I mean, wont it now be very easy to out level content even faster than before? I know the game has expanded quite a bit.. But when i read this i just hear the posts about "This game has no content, i leveled to 70 in 2 weeks and now i am bored" Screaming in the back of my head.

Then again, i am not sure how many avenues for progression there are at lower levels for player..i mean, does every level 1-50 something take the same route (as far as quest lines, zones, towns etc..)?

This is one of the very few MMO's i have not played. I am scared of it, and scared for my life if i do..so no, i haven't played it.

[Morat20]

Doesn't this, devalue some of the lower end content?

Everything 58+ was already devauled, as you just go to Outland at level 58 and get handed massive gear upgrades (the greens you get are T1 quality, just for showing up), and a lot more XP.

Prior to that, there's some grouping problems for outdoor quests (instance runs are easier to find groups for) and Blizzard's always had a bit of a problem in the 30-40 range.

So it seems like they're getting rid of uninstanced outdoor quests (I guess this means no more Hogger raids!), since no one can find groups for them, and retuning dungeons for tighter ranges so there's less overlap and better rewards, and smoothing out the levelling time so that you hit cap at about the same rate it took you to cap prior to TBC.

[Sjofn]

I'm not sure it really devalues content so much as makes it so you can pick and choose what content you want to do for X levels. Part of the reason I really enjoy 1-30 in WoW is because I have multiple choices as to where to level. If I don't feel like leveling in Duskwood, I can go to Ashenvale (or whatever). Once you hit 30, you start having to do all the same stuff every time (unless you have all rest XP all the time). Sick of STV? Too bad. Really loathe Felwood? Oh well! This change will make it so it's possible to NOT have to do zones you hate.

Plus, as others have noted, most people try to rush to 58 so they can get to Outlands where the gear and flow and everything is better than the Old World.

In other news, I am so glad they're narrowing the level ranges for the old dungeons. Places like Uldaman were just ridiculous.

[Morat20]

In other news, I am so glad they're narrowing the level ranges for the old dungeons. Places like Uldaman were just ridiculous.

I had a guildie summon my enchanter alt to the Scyer teir so I would never have to run Uldaman to meet with the bloody enchanter trainer there.

What pisses me off is I did all of Uldaman and forgot to get the bloody disks.

[HaemishM]

Shit, I tried to get an Uldaman group going this past Friday night, and the most I could muster was 2 others. I ended up getting in a Zul'Farrak group instead.

[Morfiend]

Actually, I generally avoid questing

I guess killing furbolgs in Feralas for the 7th time doesn't make me that horny.

Umm. Mix in a few quests. You will level quicker, and it will be much more entertaining. They are adding 60 quests to dustwallow, plus they have probably added about 25% more quests since release.

I recently leveled up a Blood Elf, and it was pretty cool. I found a lot of new net quests and areas that where not there when I leveled my first 2 characters back near release.

[Margalis]

Sounds fine except for:

"Say goodbye to the difficult to kill elite mobs that chill outdoors in the sunshine, they’ll also have same if not better quality loot drops."

What's wrong with wandering super-tough outdoor enemies?

There is a difference between difficult and time consuming, pain in the ass and dangerous. A wandering high-level mob is not a cock-block or a time-sink, it's actual difficulty. Reducing the XP to level doesn't make the game any easier, just faster, but elimating some elite outdoor mobs does seem to be a bit of dumbing down.

[Abelian75]

Sounds fine except for:

"Say goodbye to the difficult to kill elite mobs that chill outdoors in the sunshine, they’ll also have same if not better quality loot drops."

What's wrong with wandering super-tough outdoor enemies?

There is a difference between difficult and time consuming, pain in the ass and dangerous. A wandering high-level mob is not a cock-block or a time-sink, it's actual difficulty. Reducing the XP to level doesn't make the game any easier, just faster, but elimating some elite outdoor mobs does seem to be a bit of dumbing down.

That's (obviously) a negative paraphrasing of the original quote, which I'm pretty sure was saying that certain quest mobs that were previously elite will now be regular mobs.  I'm guessing they're talking about things like Morbent Fel in Duskwood, which nobody bothers doing because it's an elite quest and not worth the rewards.  I doubt it refers to Sons of Arugal or the big wandering coastal giants in Desolace and whatnot.  'Course that's just a guess.

[Numtini]

I figured they meant the elites at the end of quests. The ones marked "don't bother with the followup" in the levelling guides. I think I've killed one with a group, the rest a 60th guildie just knocked off for me.

Faster levelling is good. Coming from EQ2, the grind is hideous in WOW.

[SurfD]

As far as dungeons, yeah, they needed serious retuning. Especially dungeons like Scholo, Strat, etc. Hopefully they're on the list as well.

Hm?  As far as I am concerned, Strath / Scholo / UBRS / LBRS were pretty much perfectly designed for what they were : The best dungeons available for non raiders back when the level cap was still 60.   They were nicely difficult, and fairly well laid out. (heck, Scholo has already been nerfed HARD repeatedly)

The biggest problem they suffer from right now is that there is NO REASON TO GO THERE when you can go directly to Outlands at level 58 while wearing "of the" greens that are better then anything that drops out of any of those instances.

[Typhon]

[...]The money is now in selling the expansion packs. Newbies just aren't as profitable. [...]

I think we're thinking the same thing, but in case we aren't - what Newbies?  They have 9 million customers.  They have more customers then the market for MMOs was projected to be prior to WoW launching.  To not focus their efforts on the endgame would seem kind of dumb to me.

They have already changed public perception of what an MMO is, and who will have fun playing them, thus garnering them the 9 million.
They cannot change the game enough to pull in more people (who would otherwise not be inclined to play MMO games) without risk of losing their current fanbase.

All that is left is focusing on selling expansion boxes and adding enough content to keep peopled subbed between expansions.  Modifying the game to allow people get to the endgame content more quickly - where most of the content and players are, only makes sense. 

[Azaroth]

SurfD, that's what I mean. There's no reason to go there these days, they need to be made worthwhile.

Typhon - I never said they were stupid. Just said that's what they're doing.

[Jayce]

I've said this before, but TBC (including the new starter areas) shows how much Blizzard learned from making and releasing WoW, and how much they incorporated that into their expansion.

The sad thing is that even before they learned all this, their newbie experience was head and shoulders above anything that came before.  Which is less a testament to Blizzard's genius and more a testament to the incompetency of the rest of the industry.

[Musashi]

I think this is great.  It won't get me to re-sub, but it's great.  I know a lot of people who feel the same way.  I know relatively few dimwit, crybaby, douche bags who are complaining.  They also don't like ice cream, or America.