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Monday, November 20, 2006
World of Warcraft Burning Beta
Generally I support public betas as a good marketing move, besides obvious testing purposes. Just like a free trial, a beta which invites a large number of people can produce a lot of positive hype, provided the game is any good. Having said that, I think that the Burning Crusade beta is a flaming disaster for World of Warcraft. A mix of bad timing of the beta and bad end-game design of the original game is driving more people away than it attracts.
The bad timing is due to the delay of the expansion release to January. Inviting a large number of people to an unfinished beta three months before release is not a good idea, especially without an NDA.
The bad end-game design of the original World of Warcraft has always been with us. At level 60 the normal flow of the game stops, and is replaced by a variety of alternative activities, like grinding faction, PvP, or raiding, all of which have a much lower reward to effort ratio than leveling up and questing. You can still improve your character, but it will cost you a lot of time, and in the case of raiding a huge organizational effort. Now that is not unusual for an end-game, most MMORPG work this way. But all the information coming out of the beta makes is blindingly obvious that the huge effort we put into the level 60 activities will be wasted shortly after the expansion comes out. By end of February most people will have fully replaced all their shiny epics with Burning Crusade green and blue gear. They will also have replaced all their PvP reward gear, their PvP rank will have gone up in smoke, and their PvP factions won't be used for anything any more. Other factions they might have grinded will have become pretty much obsolete.
With the motivation from the rewards falling away, many people start asking themselves why they are doing this end-game. If you raid or PvP or grind because it is fun, everything is fine. If you don't really like it, and just do it because of the rewards or because there isn't anything else to do, the knowledge of the Burning Crusade beta is a big drain on motivation.
Especially raid guilds have always been an uneasy alliance between people who actually like getting wiped repeatedly for 6 hours in a big group of 40 people, and others who are just there for the epics, or because they couldn't find anything better to do. Hands up everybody who is in a raid guild and who noticed a declining participation in raids over the last couple of weeks. My guild has some people openly refusing to go raiding any more, citing the Burning Crusade as a reason. Others don't give a reason, but simply don't show up for raids. Even the people who enjoy raiding, which includes me to a certain extent, are getting frustrated with signing up for BWL raids that never start due to lack of participation, or Molten Core raids which go a lot less smoothly than before, due to many experienced raiders missing. Whether you raid for loot or for fun, at some point you have seen enough of Molten Core.
Curiously while lots of people have been invited to the beta, and more invitations are being sent out all the time, the beta servers are pretty empty. In the beta of a new game you can create a character and learn a lot about how the game works. Although you know that your beta character will be deleted, at least you feel you gained a lot of useful knowledge for the release version. You can also experiment with different character classes and see which one you would like to take for the real game. Playing a copy of your original level 60 character in the Burning Crusade beta is a lot less attractive. You already know how to play him. You gain some knowledge of new zones, quests, and dungeons, and you can experiment with the new talents. But that isn't really enough to keep you busy for 3 months. And the release of the Burning Crusade expansion will then feel like a big roll-back, where your same character gets thrown back to 60 and will have to do everything again. After first proposing ready-made level 60 characters, Blizzard changed their mind and only allowed copies of existing characters in the beta. Thus you can't for example try a level 60 character of a class you didn't play yet.
Lots of people visited the beta as tourists, had a look around, explored a couple of quests and the new instances, and then stopped. Especially the big increase in xp requirements for leveling discouraged a lot of people from playing the beta to 70. Even if you get there, it will be difficult to find enough people to explore the level 70 raid content. So the beta had the curious effect of making people want to play neither the expansion beta, nor the pre-expansion real game. Most of them will be back for the Burning Crusade release, but right now the beta is rather causing a low point in World of Warcraft, and not the hoped-for hype.
- posted by Tobold @ 8:26 AM Permanent Link
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Yes, for some people who raided for months in MC/BWL/Naxx the BC will be painful at first.
But let's face the truth here. Is it really enjoyable to raid MC for months?
I'm also in a Raid'ing Guild, and while it's fun for some Weeks, it get's boring and always-the-same very fast. More a pain in the Ass, as really enjoyable.
If they wouldn't be the good atmosphere with my fellow raid'ers, i would have quit raiding as well, but not because of BC.
Now this Expansion is like a new Start. Of course there will be Raiding Content at Level 70 again (somehow Blizz needs to entertain the people that are leveling up like hell, and don't care to play with twinks thru the same content more than once)
I see it as a big chance, first to get to new Places and new Dungeons, and get rid of old sticky Molten Core.
Now alot of people may mourn and complain ,but once BC is out ,and they venture into the new content and have new encounters, they will forget about that.
For Non-Raider's the new content is welcoming anyway, because they could only dream of epics and that stuff. Now they have at least new Content to explore.
About people not interested in the Beta Content, i agree. If i would have a Beta Key, my motivation would be low to explore it too.
But there are always hard-core people out there ,who will want to be the first to see that Dungeons and that Boss.
I'm pretty sure ,once BC hits the street, it will be a huge sucess and the Content will be in the high quality,like we do expect from Blizzard.
So Heads up, Tobold.
But let's face the truth here. Is it really enjoyable to raid MC for months?
I'm also in a Raid'ing Guild, and while it's fun for some Weeks, it get's boring and always-the-same very fast. More a pain in the Ass, as really enjoyable.
If they wouldn't be the good atmosphere with my fellow raid'ers, i would have quit raiding as well, but not because of BC.
Now this Expansion is like a new Start. Of course there will be Raiding Content at Level 70 again (somehow Blizz needs to entertain the people that are leveling up like hell, and don't care to play with twinks thru the same content more than once)
I see it as a big chance, first to get to new Places and new Dungeons, and get rid of old sticky Molten Core.
Now alot of people may mourn and complain ,but once BC is out ,and they venture into the new content and have new encounters, they will forget about that.
For Non-Raider's the new content is welcoming anyway, because they could only dream of epics and that stuff. Now they have at least new Content to explore.
About people not interested in the Beta Content, i agree. If i would have a Beta Key, my motivation would be low to explore it too.
But there are always hard-core people out there ,who will want to be the first to see that Dungeons and that Boss.
I'm pretty sure ,once BC hits the street, it will be a huge sucess and the Content will be in the high quality,like we do expect from Blizzard.
So Heads up, Tobold.
# posted by 
: 20/11/06 10:46
: 20/11/06 10:46
My problem with the expansion is that Blizzard is throwing a huge chunk of content out of the window. If you look at the expansion from the perspective of a fresh level 60 character, which is more appealing: Doing existing 5-mans to get tier 0 or equivalent blues, or to do Outland quests and instances and get loot that rivals or even exceeds BWL gear? Even if Outland was almost overwhelmingly difficult for a fresh 60 (which it isn't, as far as I can tell), the risk/reward ratio is still much better.
# posted by : 20/11/06 11:48
: 20/11/06 11:48
For me, as a new player of WoW, sitting on my first character at level 36, by the time I get to 60, all the people who would have been around to do AQ40 or MC will be long gone into the 60-70 content. I seriously wonder if I will ever have an opportunity to do them even once, considering the numbers required.
You've addressed the Burning Question (pun intended).
I think that the comments hit some other perspectives, leaving us with:
1) Old-timers who have seen everything there is to see and spent huge amounts of time to reach for the pinnacle of WoW, knowing they will see it all wiped away by BC (this group is probably represented by the really serious raiders and very top PvP-ers)
2) Old-timers who have seen most of what there is to see and spent a lot of time to reach for some goals in WoW, who may be somewhat tired of the old grind, but are hopeful about new content, and not bothered by the loss of effort (the group is probably represented by more casual or more recent raiders and PvP-ers)
3) Newer players (and there are probably a ton of them) or very casual players who haven't even exhausted the current content, not yet 60 or have been at level 60 for a relatively short time, and are looking at BC as a bonus
I fit in the last category, and of the dozen-or-so people I know in RL who play WoW, there are a couple who fit category 2, and the rest are in category 3 -- we are all looking forward to BC with anticipation.
Blizzard is a for-profit company.
I'm certain that they carefully watch numbers detailing new accounts, age of accounts, how many new accounts are household additions with character transfers, how many accounts have 60th-level characters, and how long accounts have been open (I've heard that it typically takes 6 months RL time to level to 60).
From my vantage point, it seems that Blizzard's actions with BC indicate that the bulk of the WoW population is in categories 2 and 3. In other words, the percentage of the WoW subscriber base who are serious raiders or top PvP-ers is probably small (which one would logically expect; a statistical bell curve). On the other hand, this serious player base is also likely a very vocal minority attuned to the WoW community online through forums and blogs.
Another personal observation: Oddly enough, PvP action is unabated on Battlegroup 6 where I play (I had expected a decline). The AV queue times are always less than a minute, and the AB queue times have followed the same patterns I've seen for weeks. Given that its common knowledge that all this honor and time are pretty much throwaway -- for example, I'll lose all of my honor and my bright shiny (pre-BC) PvP reward gear will pale in comparison to BC greens-and-blues -- I would have expected that people would quit PvP. But that's not happening -- though *why* people are still PvP-ing is a difficult question to answer. There are two of us in my household gunning hard for at least Rank 8 -- and I'm not even sure I could answer "why" myself. "Because its there", I suppose -- plus its still fun...
I think that the comments hit some other perspectives, leaving us with:
1) Old-timers who have seen everything there is to see and spent huge amounts of time to reach for the pinnacle of WoW, knowing they will see it all wiped away by BC (this group is probably represented by the really serious raiders and very top PvP-ers)
2) Old-timers who have seen most of what there is to see and spent a lot of time to reach for some goals in WoW, who may be somewhat tired of the old grind, but are hopeful about new content, and not bothered by the loss of effort (the group is probably represented by more casual or more recent raiders and PvP-ers)
3) Newer players (and there are probably a ton of them) or very casual players who haven't even exhausted the current content, not yet 60 or have been at level 60 for a relatively short time, and are looking at BC as a bonus
I fit in the last category, and of the dozen-or-so people I know in RL who play WoW, there are a couple who fit category 2, and the rest are in category 3 -- we are all looking forward to BC with anticipation.
Blizzard is a for-profit company.
I'm certain that they carefully watch numbers detailing new accounts, age of accounts, how many new accounts are household additions with character transfers, how many accounts have 60th-level characters, and how long accounts have been open (I've heard that it typically takes 6 months RL time to level to 60).
From my vantage point, it seems that Blizzard's actions with BC indicate that the bulk of the WoW population is in categories 2 and 3. In other words, the percentage of the WoW subscriber base who are serious raiders or top PvP-ers is probably small (which one would logically expect; a statistical bell curve). On the other hand, this serious player base is also likely a very vocal minority attuned to the WoW community online through forums and blogs.
Another personal observation: Oddly enough, PvP action is unabated on Battlegroup 6 where I play (I had expected a decline). The AV queue times are always less than a minute, and the AB queue times have followed the same patterns I've seen for weeks. Given that its common knowledge that all this honor and time are pretty much throwaway -- for example, I'll lose all of my honor and my bright shiny (pre-BC) PvP reward gear will pale in comparison to BC greens-and-blues -- I would have expected that people would quit PvP. But that's not happening -- though *why* people are still PvP-ing is a difficult question to answer. There are two of us in my household gunning hard for at least Rank 8 -- and I'm not even sure I could answer "why" myself. "Because its there", I suppose -- plus its still fun...
we are all looking forward to BC with anticipation
So am I. I just think that they shouldn't have started the beta that early, especially since it isn't feature-complete yet. A beta-key christmas present on the 24th of December would have been early enough. By giving the public access to the beta information much later, there would have been less of a motivation loss for the pre-BC game.
For me, as a new player of WoW, sitting on my first character at level 36, by the time I get to 60, all the people who would have been around to do AQ40 or MC will be long gone into the 60-70 content. I seriously wonder if I will ever have an opportunity to do them even once, considering the numbers required.
There is no level cap on AQ40 or MC, thus after the patch groups with mixed levels from 60 to 70 can go there. And some items and tradeskill components can only be gotten from there, so it might well be possible that higher level than 60 still visit the level 60 40-man raid dungeons. You'll have a good chance to at least *see* Molten Core.
What you will never have is the experience of conquering Molten Core with a level 60 guild, unless you find a guild whose members all don't buy the expansion.
So am I. I just think that they shouldn't have started the beta that early, especially since it isn't feature-complete yet. A beta-key christmas present on the 24th of December would have been early enough. By giving the public access to the beta information much later, there would have been less of a motivation loss for the pre-BC game.
For me, as a new player of WoW, sitting on my first character at level 36, by the time I get to 60, all the people who would have been around to do AQ40 or MC will be long gone into the 60-70 content. I seriously wonder if I will ever have an opportunity to do them even once, considering the numbers required.
There is no level cap on AQ40 or MC, thus after the patch groups with mixed levels from 60 to 70 can go there. And some items and tradeskill components can only be gotten from there, so it might well be possible that higher level than 60 still visit the level 60 40-man raid dungeons. You'll have a good chance to at least *see* Molten Core.
What you will never have is the experience of conquering Molten Core with a level 60 guild, unless you find a guild whose members all don't buy the expansion.
I have a key for the Beta but have not set foot in it, and doubt I will until I get the actual Xpac. For me, to play my one & only 60 in the Beta would be frustrating because I know I'd start leveling him (again, finally, after almost a year), and I'd get some really good loot, and in a couple of months (or less) it would all be gone and I'd have to do it all over again.
I don't even want to play the new lowbie content for a similar reason.
I did some hardcore PvP a week or so back and jumped to Rank 4 (my goal was also Rank 8) but that burned me out for PvP and I haven't been back in a BG for a week & a half now. And when Blue items several levels into the Xpac will replace all but the most Epic of the PvP rewards, what's the point?
I'll most likely get the Xpac when it comes out, but it's not something I'm willing to line up to get. I'll wait for the dust to settle then I'll get my copy.
I don't even want to play the new lowbie content for a similar reason.
I did some hardcore PvP a week or so back and jumped to Rank 4 (my goal was also Rank 8) but that burned me out for PvP and I haven't been back in a BG for a week & a half now. And when Blue items several levels into the Xpac will replace all but the most Epic of the PvP rewards, what's the point?
I'll most likely get the Xpac when it comes out, but it's not something I'm willing to line up to get. I'll wait for the dust to settle then I'll get my copy.
# posted by : 20/11/06 16:56
: 20/11/06 16:56
For one of the few times that I can remember our guild had to call off a raid due to lack of participation this weekend.
Perhaps its the holidays. But I hear someone saying "All we're going to do is wipe, I might as well save my repair bill gold, take a night off and wait until the expansion to get the same if not better gear."
This is no surprise, raids have always been filled with a core of people who like to raid for raiding's sake. Its that filler (I'm becoming one of them) who is starting to find all kinds of excuses to not attend. Knowing what beta holds is one of them.
Perhaps its the holidays. But I hear someone saying "All we're going to do is wipe, I might as well save my repair bill gold, take a night off and wait until the expansion to get the same if not better gear."
This is no surprise, raids have always been filled with a core of people who like to raid for raiding's sake. Its that filler (I'm becoming one of them) who is starting to find all kinds of excuses to not attend. Knowing what beta holds is one of them.
This is actually completely outside my own experience - I don't know of anybody quitting the game because of BC and the long beta. Of course, I read the random forum comments of people who are saying 'xyz is a nerf, no point in playing my class, I'm quitting' - but nobody I know personally in my raiding guild, my regular guild OR my pvp twink guild has expressed that.
In my raiding guild we've actually been having the opposite problem - too many people are showing up for raids now, because everybody is as eager as possible to experience existing content to the fullest before we move on, to see how far we can progress in AQ40 and if we can step foot in Naxx. We have a waiting list of people every raid night - and we're not a large guild, before this we were sometimes struggling to get 40 signups on nights we'd be learning new bosses.
In my regular guild, we're the most excited of all - we can't wait to start doing new five and ten man instances together, exploring and learning and knowing we have each other's backs. That's the part I'm actually the most thrilled about, myself.
My pvp guild is twinks and it's a race against time in some ways, but more because we know that when BC comes out, we'll be doing less on that and more with our mains. Plus, we're still just having so much fun.
I don't have a beta key and - I'm kind of glad about it. Not that I'd turn one down but - I want to explore the new stuff with my existing friends, not with mostly-strangers or solo. I think that could be part of the reason beta is often empty - part of it is because anything you accomplish gets wiped but the other part is - I think that in addition to some guilds being offered keys, beta keys should have been issued in sets of oh, five or so - one for you and one for four friends. Of course, that could have led to silly auction-abuse but I think it'd encourage more people to beta.
Of course the main thing is that I don't identify with the concept of grinding. Whether I'm still running MC to help gear up alts, leveling my own alt, raiding or pvp'ing, I'll only do the parts that are *fun*. If I don't enjoy playing a character up through level 60, what makes me think I'll enjoy raiding with him/her - particularly when second characters go up so much faster than first? If you're not enjoying the route, why take the trip?
I say that with one exception: faction grinds. I really, really think they need to work on the balancing of reputation, because that's where you really do get stuck doing the same thing over and over just for the recipe, gear or whatnot. PVP is the exception for me, just because people as your opposition keeps things unpredictable.
In my raiding guild we've actually been having the opposite problem - too many people are showing up for raids now, because everybody is as eager as possible to experience existing content to the fullest before we move on, to see how far we can progress in AQ40 and if we can step foot in Naxx. We have a waiting list of people every raid night - and we're not a large guild, before this we were sometimes struggling to get 40 signups on nights we'd be learning new bosses.
In my regular guild, we're the most excited of all - we can't wait to start doing new five and ten man instances together, exploring and learning and knowing we have each other's backs. That's the part I'm actually the most thrilled about, myself.
My pvp guild is twinks and it's a race against time in some ways, but more because we know that when BC comes out, we'll be doing less on that and more with our mains. Plus, we're still just having so much fun.
I don't have a beta key and - I'm kind of glad about it. Not that I'd turn one down but - I want to explore the new stuff with my existing friends, not with mostly-strangers or solo. I think that could be part of the reason beta is often empty - part of it is because anything you accomplish gets wiped but the other part is - I think that in addition to some guilds being offered keys, beta keys should have been issued in sets of oh, five or so - one for you and one for four friends. Of course, that could have led to silly auction-abuse but I think it'd encourage more people to beta.
Of course the main thing is that I don't identify with the concept of grinding. Whether I'm still running MC to help gear up alts, leveling my own alt, raiding or pvp'ing, I'll only do the parts that are *fun*. If I don't enjoy playing a character up through level 60, what makes me think I'll enjoy raiding with him/her - particularly when second characters go up so much faster than first? If you're not enjoying the route, why take the trip?
I say that with one exception: faction grinds. I really, really think they need to work on the balancing of reputation, because that's where you really do get stuck doing the same thing over and over just for the recipe, gear or whatnot. PVP is the exception for me, just because people as your opposition keeps things unpredictable.
# posted by : 20/11/06 20:21
: 20/11/06 20:21
What beta server are you playing on? The PvE beta server is packed constantly. I can't speak for PvP since I personally don't on a world level, but the HUGE influx of new people to the PvE server is causing a lot of lag and server hiccups which are to be expected of a beta in progress. I think that some people who are raiding now will be dissapointed, but I think it will pass fairly quickly simply because there will be a new shiny to pursue and from what I've seen of the Outlands, there will be a lot to SEE and RECEIVE. The loot is fantastic. I think that raiding guilds will still get their fill of dungeons to conquer.
# posted by : 21/11/06 03:46
: 21/11/06 03:46
it's a very specific way of thinking.
I don't raid every day for the loot. I raid one time by week for the fun (for 3hours max by session) and sometimes I got some T1 (now T2) stuff.
so it stays fun.
the same for "grinding" factions. I got from them some useful "stuff" to explore the game, to be efficient in BG.
it would be the same with BC.
It's true in BC beta I only test some aspects of the game. not all, I didn"t stop to play the "old" content because I can access to the beta. I want to keep some things fresh and new to play it with friends and guildies.
I read your text as a "burn of", time to put the game at stop for a time, no ?
for me, the real problems with the expansion it's it did not add true _new_ mechanics to the game (other way to play the world of Warcraft). but if we still love the quests, raids, grinding, jcj, exploration, BC is very beautiful.
I don't raid every day for the loot. I raid one time by week for the fun (for 3hours max by session) and sometimes I got some T1 (now T2) stuff.
so it stays fun.
the same for "grinding" factions. I got from them some useful "stuff" to explore the game, to be efficient in BG.
it would be the same with BC.
It's true in BC beta I only test some aspects of the game. not all, I didn"t stop to play the "old" content because I can access to the beta. I want to keep some things fresh and new to play it with friends and guildies.
I read your text as a "burn of", time to put the game at stop for a time, no ?
for me, the real problems with the expansion it's it did not add true _new_ mechanics to the game (other way to play the world of Warcraft). but if we still love the quests, raids, grinding, jcj, exploration, BC is very beautiful.
# posted by : 21/11/06 08:30
: 21/11/06 08:30
So am I. I just think that they shouldn't have started the beta that early, especially since it isn't feature-complete yet. A beta-key christmas present on the 24th of December would have been early enough. By giving the public access to the beta information much later, there would have been less of a motivation loss for the pre-BC game.
They started the beta before the game was 'delayed' (though considering no firm date was ever given before it, its technically not a delay). Had the game hit the rumored and anticipated early december release, the Beta would have started about when you would have expected it.
What you will never have is the experience of conquering Molten Core with a level 60 guild, unless you find a guild whose members all don't buy the expansion.
Considering how crap MC is, that wouldn't be much of a loss. Seriously, MC is the first and possibly worst raid Blizzard made, but for a first try i guess it was a decent attempt. They have learnt alot though. Ossirian in AQ20 is awesome fun. 1 huge running battle. Great stuff.
As for the gear changes...what did you want them to do? They realised that they had fucked up end game gear progression for anyone by hardcore raiders, and if they didnt even things up by level 70 in BC, they would have lost all those customers that have only stuck around to see if BC changes how end game is done.
Blizzard couldn't continue to develop WoW the way it had been. It was getting very EQish (though still some distant away) and that is not why people came to this game. They came here because it is everything that EQ isn't. I think Blizzard are doing alot of things right, and most raiders that are crying about the BC gear progression will just quiet down and get on with getting to 70.
They started the beta before the game was 'delayed' (though considering no firm date was ever given before it, its technically not a delay). Had the game hit the rumored and anticipated early december release, the Beta would have started about when you would have expected it.
What you will never have is the experience of conquering Molten Core with a level 60 guild, unless you find a guild whose members all don't buy the expansion.
Considering how crap MC is, that wouldn't be much of a loss. Seriously, MC is the first and possibly worst raid Blizzard made, but for a first try i guess it was a decent attempt. They have learnt alot though. Ossirian in AQ20 is awesome fun. 1 huge running battle. Great stuff.
As for the gear changes...what did you want them to do? They realised that they had fucked up end game gear progression for anyone by hardcore raiders, and if they didnt even things up by level 70 in BC, they would have lost all those customers that have only stuck around to see if BC changes how end game is done.
Blizzard couldn't continue to develop WoW the way it had been. It was getting very EQish (though still some distant away) and that is not why people came to this game. They came here because it is everything that EQ isn't. I think Blizzard are doing alot of things right, and most raiders that are crying about the BC gear progression will just quiet down and get on with getting to 70.
# posted by : 21/11/06 08:39
: 21/11/06 08:39
It's not a bug, it's a feature. The people so addicted to the game that they'll spend literally hours a night doing something that they don't even enjoy anymore so that they can get a 2% chance to marginally upgrade their pauldrons 50 armor points are going to feel like they royally wasted their time when they can get better stuff in an hour of soloing Outland. But that's okay. Because they really did waste their time. They misunderstood the point of the game (which is fun, not accomplishment) and are now being educated.
In our guild, there's 0 chance of this dissatisfaction, because we raid a lot, and we do it for fun. And when BC comes, we'll keep doing it.
Blizzard isn't going to cater their business strategy to obsessive and cynical grognards (present company excepted, of course) who manage to suck the fun out of any game within hours of launch. They're going to cater it to the seventyteen billion casual people who actually pay their salaries.
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In our guild, there's 0 chance of this dissatisfaction, because we raid a lot, and we do it for fun. And when BC comes, we'll keep doing it.
Blizzard isn't going to cater their business strategy to obsessive and cynical grognards (present company excepted, of course) who manage to suck the fun out of any game within hours of launch. They're going to cater it to the seventyteen billion casual people who actually pay their salaries.
# posted by : 21/11/06 19:12
: 21/11/06 19:12<< Home
