This post took me a fair bit of time to write, and with Patch 4.0.6 dropping today and the subsequent nerfing of some heroic bosses, it may lose a bit of its prevalence. Then again, it very well may not. So it goes. I’m posting this, regardless.
Also, it’s a bit longer than my usual posts. You have been warned. 🙂
While there is a negative stigma associated with it, I will say it up front. I am a casual WoW player and I am a member of a casual guild.
Jeez.
What does that even mean? I’m sure you’ll get a different explanation depending on who you ask.
Myself…I would generalize it as “commitment to the game”. Part of that commitment could involve time and part of it could involve objectives. The larger commitments you make (time or objectives), the more dedicated (or “hard core”) you are to playing the game. So, casually speaking, while one person may commit a certain amount of time to the game, they may not have committed to larger objectives (ie: raiding). Similarly, one person may like to commit themselves to a large objective, but they are otherwise limited by time to play the game. Also, by extension of its members, this can be observed on the guild level. Even if the casual guild does go raiding, it’s typically never made into the priority. Nor does the “guild” – via guild officers, more active players, etc. – make demands of its members. They may ask, but ultimatums are not really associated with playing a game on a casual level.
That’s what “casual” means to me when it comes to WoW.
Now, I’m not really trying to stir-the-pot with the “Casual vs. Hardcore” debate – I’m just clarifying my perspective. Heck, while I’m at it, I should state that I’m not really trying to chime in on the “WoW is too hard” sob fest, either; although they’re both related to my thoughts on Cataclysm. I won’t go as far as saying that WoW is too difficult – because frankly, I don’t know, nor do I feel that way.
But I will say that by making things as difficult as they have, Blizzard has made WoW less accessible. As such, the casual player will ultimately be exposed to less content than they were in WotLK.
And for the sake of being melodramatic, I’ll just go out and say it:
The casual player was spoiled in Wrath of the Lich King.
While the more committed/hardcore players were lamenting in the “free epix” and “roflstomp raids”, casual players like myself were basking in the warm glowing warming glow and accessibility of Wrath. Even if they were going horribly wrong, Heroic dungeons took about anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes (Violet Hold) to an hour and a half (Nexus). Our guild had finished Naxx-10 about three months after release. The gear requirements weren’t too demanding and DPS didn’t need to be through the roof. Heck, by the end of Wrath, I had four characters that had completed the first wing of ICC (10 & 25), and mostly in PuGs. Two of those toons made it as far as Arthas with the guild. I experienced almost all the raids fights in WotLK prior to the release of Cataclysm. It felt like I had access to it all.
Indeed – casual players, like me, had it pretty good in Wrath.
Now, here I am three months into Cataclysm. I have three level 85’s, two of them technically ready for heroics, but I have yet to experience them*. And although I do look forward to Cata dungeons being more of a challenge than the AoE-fest that WotLK dungeons evolved into, I’m still apprehensive about them. Not so much learning the encounters and wiping on them, but mostly the fact that I could spend several hours in a dungeon and make minimal progress. A good run in a heroic may take slightly over an hour, but a bad run could take up an entire evening. This becomes tricky to organize when your guild is spread out over five time zones (six, including our friend in New Zealand). It becomes even MORE tricky to organize when you don’t know if you actually have five people online that can run heroics. Sure, I could PuG it, but if I’m going to get my ass handed to me, I’d rather do it with friends.
So, the increased difficulty has drawn out the time it takes to do heroics, which is only the tip of the iceberg. There are still dailies that could be done to assist in the rep grind. As well as grinding the mats to work on professions or for potential upgrades. And who knows what other things I could be doing to advance my character and gear. But, regardless of how long that list may be, time constraints limit me to only one option on any given night. Thus, the advancement is sloooooooooow.
When you take all these factors together and mix it with a casual player, the result is my second melodramatic statement of the post:
Cataclysm is less of a game than WotLK.
And no, I don’t mean that in terms of content. “Then how do you mean it?” you may ask.
Well, basically, someone who can only dedicate so much time and effort to WoW is not going to see as much content in Cataclysm as they did in WotLK. Of course, I can only speak for myself and it’s still early in the expansion, but I’m not really sure I’ll ever see the inside of a Cata raid. Maybe, eventually, I will do some raiding – but certainly not to the same extent that I did in Wrath. I can say with extreme confidence that I’ll never experience the Deathwing fight during this expansion. So, at the end of the day, many casual players are getting a lot less “bang for their buck” with Cataclysm.
“Entitled Casuals”
Another blogger used this term, and for whatever reason, it bothered me. I won’t say who it was because I’m not really trying to call anyone out or get into a nasty debate. But this kind of label keeps bringing up an analogy in my head. It involves steak, partly because I’m craving steak all the time…bacon wrapped filet mignon… and… *drool*
*ahem* Anyway…
Let’s say you and a friend have been eating at the same restaurant together for the last two years. The two of you both order the same $30 steak. Every time, you both get a steak and a baked potato with your order. This week, you’ve got a new waiter. You still both order the same $30 steak. His (or her) steak comes out with the baked potato, but you don’t get a side-order. How would that make you feel? I’m guessing you’d be pretty pissed.
Now, I do realize that my analogy is a bit of a stretch, comparing restaurants with MMO’s. But the base principle still applies. For the last two years, I was paying for essentially the same game experience as a “hardcore” player. But now I’m paying the same price for less of an experience than those more committed to the game. Does the fact I want to still have that fuller WoW experience make me “entitled”?
Please don’t get me wrong…I’m not supporting the idea of micro-transactions or purchased content for WoW (outside of the existing vanity objects). To be honest, I really don’t like the idea…but I can see why some people might prefer that business model. I’m just saying that it’s not unreasonable for a casual player to ask for the same experience because they spend the same amount of money as the next person. And that also doesn’t make them entitled.
(Side note: if someone at Bliz reads this and wants to give me back $2 or $3 for every month I didn’t raid, I wouldn’t say no. 🙂 )
Choices, Choices
In-game, most of the things we get out of WoW are the repercussions of the choices we make. We choose who we spend time with, we choose what we do with that time, and we choose how we do it. So, one could argue that I, at least indirectly, choose to not raid. I could be in a bigger, more raid-driven guild that can work around my schedule. I could choose a guild that is very picky about whom they raid with. I could choose to PuG what content I can. I could choose to push myself to play the game as a grind.
But this is the core of my point. (Yes, I have one… sort of…)
While I could choose to put myself into a situation where I do get to see all the Cataclysm content, I did NOT have to make those choices in Wraith.
I could choose to play with my friends and still experience content, regardless of what we do or don’t do. I could choose a guild that values friendship over recount numbers (or even not targeting the Bone Spikes) and still raid. I could choose to take a night off and relax without worry of being cut from a team or missing something. I could choose to play the game instead of work at the game. I already have a full-time job where I work my ass off. I don’t need to come home and do more “work”.
I didn’t have to make any of those choices in Wrath, but now I do if I want to see everything. Or I could choose not to. And while that choice is obvious for me (hint: friends > content), it’s still a bit disappointing. I have to adapt and choose more deliberately as to how I have my fun.
Mind you, I am also fully aware I left out a very big choice:
I could also choose to quit and play another game.
But I’ll go back to my steak analogy. If the steak is good enough, the potato doesn’t matter so much.
And Cataclysm is still a damn good steak.
(Hrrm, now I’m hungry.)
* – We actually stepped into our first heroic this past weekend. SFK. First two bosses down with some hiccups, third boss, he pummelled us good.
That reminds me, I really need to get at least one character to 85 and ready for instancing.
Too bad it can’t be my hunter, he’s already 82…
It can be whomever you’d like, man.
(Although a tank would be nice… you’re likely much, much better at it than I am. 🙂 )
Well, it just so happens I have this Sunwalker I have been spending some time on…
I just wish Blizz would go ahead and make BOA’s actually BOA and not BOS (bound to server).
I have a full set of plate heirlooms, trinkets, swords and maces and stuffs… all over on Draenor.
SFK is a hard one to start on. Sure, we did get through it but OMG, the pain, the wipes, the weird mechanics.
I would do baby steps on vortex pinnacle. That one was a good starter heroic.
I think there are a few reasons why we are a little behind the curve compared to where we were at this point in Wrath.
I think a big part of it is the introduction of guild leveling combined with being in a small guild.
I’m getting over it a bit but for a while I had a hard time doing things that didn’t generate guild XP, which includes farming (apart from as a part of questing) and running non-guild instance runs.
Added to that we’ve just had less overlap between everyone playtimes than we have had at some points. I’ve been on a number of times when we’ve had three people wanting to run something but we’ve waited because if a fourth person logged on we could do a guild run and get the benefits from that. In Wrath we probably would have just queued.
Additionally, I am actually happy with the new healing difficultly level but I am still finding myself reluctant to tank for strangers at this stage. I know others feel the same way, which is leading to a scenario where we have four on but either wait for a possible fifth guildie or queue tankless, which leads to a much longer wait time.
However, all of these issues are in the process of being solved, I think.
We’ve been having more people on more often lately which makes runs easier. We get guild XP for having three guildies in the group now (with bonus for five!).
And I’ve enjoyed my last few tanking runs (even with that terrible PUG pally) so I’m going to boldly state that I’ll tank runs even if we only have three on. My warrior is only a piece or two from having heroic gear.
Once JPs start flowing from heroics we should be ready for early raiding in short order, probably starting with Baradin Hold.
Then there will be baked potatoes for all.
While all very valid points, and we still may make it to raiding, it’s still going to be a notably slower process. And although we were always “behind the curve” in Wrath, I do still think it will be much more exaggerated in this expansion.
I’m just finding with my limited play time in the evenings, I have to be much more selective with my time. I simply just can’t as much done in Cata as I did in Wrath given the same amount of play time.
I also know that some of these situations are a result of being in a small guild, but we’re also not really any smaller than we were two years ago. Yet we’re still behind our Wrath curve.
Also, if raids are as difficult as reported, the raid itself may be the proverbial “wall”. Should a casual guild have any members that “under perform” in raids, they may have to make some unfortunate decisions. Do they push that person to min/max and play better? Do they cut or replace that person in the raid? Do they accept the fact they will fail at the raid until everyone over-gears it enough to carry the “under performer”? Et cetera, et cetera. All questions that didn’t need to be asked in Wrath.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t see this as a “problem”, per se. I still enjoy the game.
But the game is still less accessible than it used to be, and the casual player will likely see less content than they did in WotLK.
Incidentally, I gather you can skip that SFK boss. Next time we can finish the instance and come back to him if we feel lucky.
Or try the modified tactics I posted on the guild site.
Two months: Dec 7 to Jan 7 (one month), Jan 7 to Feb 7 (two month). We’re only two months into Cataclysm. 😛
But back to the topic! One thing I keep reminding myself is: that just like LK, all good things will come with time. Remember when you couldn’t get T7 without going into Naxx? But T9 and T10 were totally purchased via badges or justice points. So the way I figure is that it’s going to suck now for the casual, but that’s because the “hardcore” need to feel special about themselves. 😉 They need to have time where they are the only ones with epics, because later, they will rain down from the sky. And all I know is that I’ll be waiting with all 10 of my toons waiting to catch the storm of epics. 🙂
You know, I had it as “two” months, and changed it to three for some silly reason. I r teh count guud. 😛
Anwho, you’re correct; it will eventually get easier to get bigger upgrades with Justice Points. Heroics will eventually become a cakewalk as we begin to out-gear them. But will be enough to keep up with endgame raiding? Can I expect to see Deathwing PuGs nearing the end of Cataclysm like I saw them for Arthas?
Maybe. I don’t think so, but maybe.
I will be also (pleasantly) surprised if I ever get to see the Deathwing fight.
And hey, it’s still early. Things may change. But this is my perceived reality right now. 🙂
I don’t know how many of those PUGs got Arthas down. Even when you “outgear” certain content it is still critical that it be executed well. I mean, you can still drop your Ice Tomb in the wrong spot on Sindragosa regardless of your gear and you just froze the whole raid. FML.
I am optomistic that eventually even if it’s just a few months before the next expansion, we will see Deathwing, I think Blizzard wants as many people as possible to see those things.
Of course, I have no issue with seeing things after they are old, hence the persistence of Crits and Giggles Classic Raid nights! Which still are a huge success. Who even remembers Karazhan? 😛
I have no idea how those LK PuGs went. And sure their success is questionable, but there were reports of PuGs downing Arthas. It may still happen with DWing, but right now, I’m (obviously) skeptical.
Maybe I’m jumping the gun on my expectations. /shrug
We also do old raids, and I suspect we’ll try to finish off Arthas eventually. But there’s something to be said about facing content when it’s still relevant, too.
Like I said, I’m still having fun. But I also think I need to be realistic about what I can expect from this expansion and adapt accordingly.
Well of course facing content while it’s relevent is good times, but I guess I understand this is a game and really “relevent” content is really…well irrelevent? Whether or not I down LK or Deathwing while it’s “relevent” in the realm of WoW has no impact on my actual existence as a human. So I don’t let that impact me too much.
As long as people enjoy the game they are playing, whether it’s fishing and archaeology or getting world firsts, that is what is important. 🙂 And I do have fun, especially when I don’t feel the pressure to complete certain objectives or let my characters be judged by others.
I guess I don’t feel that I’m being shut out of any content due to the game but rather due to our numbers. As you say time zones, work commitments, other RL stuff aren’t doing us any favours regarding raiding and heroics but eventually that stuff will come and it will be all the better when we do it together. Yay friends!
If we complain about the baked potato long enough the restaurant will bring us one! Sure it will arrive super late and after all the other diners have gone, but it will come on a silver platter making us forget about the wait….and it will have bacon bits which will be AWESOME.
Sorry, I forgot where I was going with that…bacon!
Bacon bits ARE awesome!
The use of words like “spoiled” or “entitled” has the implication that casual players *shouldn’t* be asking for what they’re asking for.
This is nonsense. The customer has the right to ask for whatever he wants. His desires and preferences are his, and his alone, and no one else can gainsay them.
Now, Blizzard doesn’t have to *deliver* on those requests. And the customer doesn’t have to keep sending them money if they don’t.
In the end, whether Blizzard has made the right decision will depend on how well they’ve sustained their profits, not on whether one segment or another of their customer base was more worthy of attention.
At this point, the numbers that we have aren’t looking all that good for the WoW dev team. Cataclysm is rumored to have not met Blizzard’s internal sales goals. Game activity as tracked by warcrafrealms.com is falling precipitously.
If Blizzard has made a lot of customers unhappy, they screwed up not because those customers are entitled, but because they are numerous.
“The use of words like “spoiled” or “entitled” has the implication that casual players *shouldn’t* be asking for what they’re asking for.”
Nicely put, Paul. And that’s probably why the term irked me so. I don’t see how asking for things to be more accessible (or easier) is wrong when compared to asking for things to be harder (or less accessible).
On one hand, you’re taking away the joy some people get from the challenge. And on the other, you’re taking away the opportunity to experience some of the content.
But with a player base in excess of 10 million people, you’re bound to have some (or many) not entirely happy with the product. And as you’ve said, it’s ultimately up to Blizzard to decide which will be a better business decision for them.
Heroics were also hard when Wrath first dropped. Most casuals didn’t down Lich King. You will be able to down all the raids one tier behind.
As a once a week raider starting in Jan 2010, I cleared Nax, EOE, Ulduar, TOC, all the 5 mans, and 3/4 of ICC. Due to picking up on someone else’s raid lockout, I had my first shot at Lich King the Tuesday before Cata hit, getting him down to 30% health.
My ‘guild’ had 3 players, but a lot of regular ‘pugs’. There is every reason to expect that – by playing just one night a week – you will be able to see a large portion of Cata. And you have archaeology to fill in the spare time.
Blizzard will provide – just from running normal dungeons, enough gear to AOE tank and spank most heroics, at some time around 4.1.
I agree that most casuals probably didn’t down Arthas. But I’m willing to bet that many more did than in Burning Crusade. Mind you, I don’t think that Cata has reverted to the extreme that was BC – but under the assumption that Cata is more difficult that WotLK, less people will still be exposed to the content. It’s a matter of what the average casual player can commit to the game.
You’re correct, though. It’s a little too early to say with any definite conclusion. I very well may be wrong and things may change. But as it stands right now, more commitment is required from the casual player to maintain the same progress they may have observed in WotLK.
Um… Comment turned into a post.
It’s here : http://dechionsplace.wordpress.com/2011/02/15/i-was-thinking/
More Dech posts = a good thing! 🙂
I’m all for buying content in these MMO things… *instead* of paying a subscription. That’s how Guild Wars and even Wizard 101 work, and it’s perfect for a casual player like me. I get my money’s worth when I can get around to it.
…but that’s a different thing from making endgame content in WoW exclusive to only the hardcore hardtime players. I’m all for nerfing raids to the ground *as an option* with commensurately weaker rewards. Sort of like the Heroic design paradigm, just in the other direction. Let casual players play through the content (that they paid for?) at a lower difficulty setting, but if they want the uberleet lootz, they have to play it the hard way.
I tend to agree. An optional nerfbat on raids would be very beneficial who can’t devote their time to 15 wipes a night, four nights a week.
And hell, there’s a ton of video games with different difficulty settings. (e.g.: I’m playing FIFA 11 on mega-easy because, I’ll be honest, I suck. But it wouldn’t be all that fun if I never won.)