I wanted to take this week to discuss in the Podcast and on the blog whether or not we hobby gamers (if you don't know what I mean by that, read some of the early posts I make defining this concept) are getting what we want out of the content and the patches.
4.2 proports itself to be a boon for hobby gamers. 60 new daily quests, a tree to grow, new profession items to attain, and the big attraction, raids. Raiding tends to be out of the scope of many hobby gamers, given the fact that most of us have lives, children or quite frankly, better things to do. I want to put a special spotlight on what the many feel are the peripherals that come with a content patch.
First off, the 60 daily quests. I come down on the side of people that think daily quests are a cop out. From Blizzard's standpoint, how better to satisfy subscribers than to make repeatable quests that take significant amounts of time to complete? We don't have to create multiple new zones for the quests, we don't have to do much lore advancement all the while we're off the hook for at least another 8 to 12 weeks. As a business, this line of thinking is unimpeachable, but from a subscriber standpoint, this is not enough! Daily repeatable quests are not the answer, nor does it meet the expectations of the subscribers who are discerning enough to quantify what they want out of a game. Daily quests constitute busy work, they are what you have to do to achieve reputation and ultimately the gear and gear boosters you want and need. I will admit, the concept of growing a tree within the firelands is an alluring one, but I can't help but feel that I am playing a Farmville mini-game within WoW, and paying them for the favor. The same mechanics are applied as Farmville, except I don't have to spam my friends on Facebook to proceed.
The only true content update that is legitimately a challenge are the professions tier coming out. The gathering of materials and hawking your wares on the auction house are a WoW thing to do through-and-through, and I appreciate the challenge they pose. However, professions do not a patch make. We will be getting no new 5 mans in 4.2, we will be getting no major lore advancement quest chains beyond the struggle for the firelands. Technically, the 4.1 Zandalari updates to Zul Aman and Zul Gurub are recycled content. Technically, Blizzard has not added any new 5 man content since Cataclysm's drop 7 months ago. From a game developer like Blizzard, I find this to be disappointing.
Where are the millions of dollars in membership going? Why can't a major content patch be well-rounded and aggressive enough on all fronts to satisfy all levels of gamer. Why must I choose to roll the dice raiding, to see new things? I call it rolling the dice, because the choice to raid doesn't mean you will see anything new, you have to win to see things. No guarantees there at all. Where are my 5 mans?
In short, no!! Blizzard needs to do more for hobby gamers, they need to do more to cater to the vast majority of their members who are interested in the game but can't hardcore raid. Membership went down from 12 million to 11.5 million, how many more have to drop off before they consider more than just the raiding community in their content patches???
Do you aggree/disagree? Respond if you dare!
