I think I like accessibility

| Thursday, February 18, 2010
In vanilla I cleared AQ20, ZG, and MC. I died on Razorgore. That was the full extent of my raiding. I never saw AQ40 or Naxx or most of BWL.

In BC I cleared Kara and ZA and had killed Gruul and Mag. I killed a boss or two in SSC. I did all of ZA, but was never anywhere close to the mount. After 3.0 I also killed a handful in BT, which doesn't count in my book. I've still not seen Sunwell.

Now I've cleared Naxx, downed Malygos and Sartharion. Most of Ulduar I've killed. The exceptions are Vazax and Yogg-Saron, and I've at least died to Yogg a few times. TotC I've done all of. I've already seen a lot of ICC25; clearing the first wing, Rotface and Festergut, and died a few times in the other wings. On 10-man I've not seen blood wing, but I have killed Putricide. I've never done ToC 10 and barely touched Ulduar 10. I suspect I am afraid of PUG raids.

I can't imagine what I'd be doing now if I'd hit a wall. I cannot imagine still running naxx, over and over and over. Maybe I'd be forced to do arenas just to pass the time. Oh, the horror...

Just for fun, I'm going to end this with a question and blanket statement which ignores individual differences or other perspectives. WoW is split between those who benefit from accessibility and get a much greater value from their $15 than before, and those who whine that noobs get to play the same game as them. Which are you?

12 comments:

Nick said...

I'm in the same boat as you, except I never did end game in Vanilla or in BC at all (granted I did quit for a couple of years).

I like the accessibility of it all, it's fun. :-)

Making a game enjoyable to more people is the key, with hard mode stuff for the HC crowd.

I don't really mind n00bs in the game because I hang out with my guild mostly.

Anonymous said...

Oh hell yeah, accessibility all the way. As someone who never even beat Mario Bros (I fell in the hole, repeatedly), it's MY TURN to win.

G-Rebel said...

I've always said this: If I am paying as much as you, at least everything should be accessible. Whether I choose to access it is a different argument, but if I'm not meant or allowed to access something, why am I paying for it?

In the end accessibility is the way to go. It's better than communism. :)

Ateve said...

Can't I be both?

In Vanilla I was in a hardcore raiding guild for the sole reason as I wanted to experience all of the game I could.

I spent so much time and effort that for BC I was burnt out from raiding and lived the pvp life instead.

This more casual form of raiding is much better imho. I want to kill the LK, it doesnt matter if its wussy 10man regular mode and not 25man hard mode with a shiney mount.

I do like to whine about the noobs though.

Vidyala said...

Definitely the former! I haven't been playing since Vanilla. In BC I saw Kara, and Zul'Aman, and that's all. Granted, I liked them, but I wasn't joining a 25 man guild. Now I've seen every fight in the game with the exception of the Lich King, and it feels awesome. I'm in a guild that makes our focus hard modes and the like, but I love that not everyone has to be doing that, and everyone can see all the fights they want on normal at whatever pace they'd like to do, with nine other people or twenty-four. I think it's a vast improvement over the "elite" setup of the past.

Klepsacovic said...

@Nick: Yep, playing the game is fun!

@crankyhealer: Lol, noob. :)

@G-Rebel: Accessibility vs. Communism, battle of the theories!

@Ateve: I'm not sure noobs are caused by accessibility. But that's a good thing to think about. Maybe it depends on what it means for content to be accessible. And that's up for debate.

@Vidyala: Hardmodes? That's so elitist. I banish you! :P

Dwism said...

You made me rant: http://dwarfdk.blogspot.com/2010/02/klepsacovic-likes-accessibility.html

Dwism said...

And to answer you question: If I had to chose, i'd chose the second one.
If you want to dedicate yourself to something, and you are better at it, why should you not get access to more?
What is the alternative? "welcome to wow, here is your tier 11 of each class and the special "iWin" button.

I'd rather have people reach content I won't see. At least you would have something to strive for. (love extremists, right?)

Endyme said...

I've played since Vanilla and until a few months before BC came out, I never raided because I worked until 1am...bleh. I eventually experienced MC and BWL some before BC hit. What I remember and had more of a problem with back in the day was the TIME factor required to raid. If you couldn't dedicate a crap ton of hours to raiding and farming for mats and all that jazz, you couldn't get anywhere. It locked out more casual folks who may have had jobs or family or other obligations. They had no way to get the nice gear, cause they couldn't get in the instances. Then they introduced Badges of Justice and that....was awesome.

Nowadays, raiding much MUCH more accessible and I for one am glad. I'm sure there are hardcore raiders who bemoan changes that made things easier, like when they nerfed Vashj. They killed her when it was harder and worked for it, and I can understand their frustration. I think Blizzard has tried to make more variety with the 10 man, 25 man, hardmode versions of instances and achievements.

Before, endgame was something only a fraction of the millions of players could see. Now it's a much bigger percentage, I'm sure. And I like that.

Elguido said...

I enjoy the fact that they have made raids much more bite sized. I don't have the time to dedicate more than one night a week to raiding, so I enjoy the fact that I am able to progress despite my lack of time. On the other hand, I would like to be able to do some of the earlier raids with my alts, even though the rewards aren't great. I find it fun to run through Naxx or Uld once in a while, I think that people that new players are still missing some of the end game fun by skipping all of the earlier raids.

Klepsacovic said...

@Dwism: I prefer to strive for something I can reach. When the target is out of reach seemingly forever, people quit.

@Endyme: The badges were a mixed bag for me. I liked the opportunity to advance, but when I looked back at my gear, it was 'welfare' gear: trivial PvP gear and grindy badge gear. I wish some of it had reflected challenges.

@Elguido: It is unfortunate that content is progressively obsolete, and as we chase gear older content is left behind. But what's there to do? I'd hate to 'have' to still run naxx, and if people don't have to do a place, they don't.

Snoop101 said...

@DWISM: I agree 100%. It really is sad when you heroics or simple raids like VOA and people dont even understand their own class or others. Why because everything they got was handed to them. I miss the old days of WOW when CC and mana management was something you looked out for. You took a rogue or mage for the CC or even a priest in Kara to do CC. You had to make sure that you managed mana right down to the T so that people wouldent die.

Simple fact of it all is that Blizz made things easier so that the everyday people can play an MMO. This might be good for some, but for others who grew up in the days where you had to work for something and respect others for what they did it really is an issue.

I started playing multiplayer games on BBS's. Games like BRE where it took months and months of playing to build up.

New generation, new money, new type of game. Sad but some of us just have to suck it up and deal with this new generation.

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