Almost two years later, and it’s linked to? You send readers to this? You hate me, don’t you?

I find it funny looking back on this now, how I proposed adding a second layer onto the existing game, never imagining that they’d do something a whole lot more drastic on their end; reboot the entire original world, wiping it from scratch.

Of course, in hindsight, that is a solution that is much smarter than mine. Adding four new classes that, once you hit 40, could never be leveled past that point? What was I smoking? That would only work if they were like the Death Knights, something you had to have played through the whole game to unlock. And creating four new classes? Huge, immense work creating gear and talent trees and a reason for them to exist, something to do in a way that was different from the rest.

Still, fun times to think that Blizzard was thinking the same thing… “We need more people enjoying the game that’s now four+ years old”

1. To BUILD.

One of the appeals of the previous Warcraft games was the opportunity to build little cities, watch them grow, and turn into dangerous civilizations. I was never very good at Battle.net stuff, but I enjoyed the hell out of beating the AI. I tell people now that the object of the game and enjoyment I get now is from building each other. It’s great to go out and get upgrades and drool for gear, but… I miss the days of building Arcane Sanctums and Stables.

I kind of wish there was an opportunity to do something similar in WoW, possibly implementing daily quests and achievements to “open” new buildings similar to the retaking of Dawnstar Village but with far less permanence. Let’s assume we finally get around to rebuilding a home city or something for the Darkspears and Gnomes. Low levels could travel to some remote, but easily reachable area of the Azeroth map, and contribute to building these new settlements. Then some calamity could ocurr every 2 or 3 weeks and we’d have to start over.

2. To COMPETE.

We have arenas. Love them or Hate them, they’re a very important part of the game, and becoming moreso, with the implementation of lore, as the missing diplomat has been slaving away in comic book arenas that we won’t see until WotLK. But I want to see other opportunities for competition that don’t involve pwning nubs with the advantages of PVP gear. I like the Fishing Extravaganza, even though I detest fishing. It’s an event that’s fun, for those that enjoy it.

I’ve mentioned this before, but I think actual races at the Shimmering Flats would be brilliant. Using the operating mechanics of the Brewfest Rams, and using accelerators like the Druid Flightform Aquatic quest, Racing on behalf of the Gnomes or Goblins could win gold, titles, and an array of fascinating RP gear. Shimmering Flats races could also be bracketed accomplishments and win mounts with the prestige of armored Netherdrakes —only they’d be mechanical constructs, and NOT bought from E-Bay card codes. Other forms of competition have a lot to do with Festival Games, and I’m hard pressed to find something unique and creative that could be utilized for solo and/or group play that doesn’t involve more of the same flavored slaughter.

3. To WORSHIP.

Now before you get riled up and loud, let me say that my #1 RP toon is a Priest. Right now, he’s not a priest so much as a doctor, and that kind of pisses me off. We all have a few class quests, but between mind blasts and Smites, he never really engages the game in a way that feels Priesty. I want to make pilgrimages to far off temples, gain buffs froom kneeling at altars and sipping from moonwells, and when I meet a “god” or loa or spirit or something resonating with the “Higher Power”, I should be able humble myself and communicate with it rather than pretend I’m a Mage with heals, and pick up grays and a quest item off its corpse.

The same goes for Druids and Shamans to some extent. Nothing pisses me off more than realizing that in order for me to become exalted with the Cenarion Circle, my druid has to kill thousands and thousands of bugs. I didn’t roll an Arkin Man. Or that the Earthen Ring is the only thing resembling an organized assembly of Shamans, but they’re few, far between, and have little to do with the Elemental Invasions. I did jump for joy over the new Midsummer events though. My shaman loved his battle with the Frost Lord.

I guess I’m asking for more class quests to be implemented across the board… but more specifically: long, engaging, rewarding quest lines for Priests, Druids, and Shamans to learn much much about the lore of WoW, and our role as mediators and preservers in it. Defeating rogue world-hopping demigods in Sethekk Halls is a good start, but I want to hear voices and see omens instructing me to venture into dangerous places and retrieve relics and perform rituals for forsaken Animal Spirits and ghosts from beyond.

Hm. That’s all for now. But new experiences in old content is always a good thing.

If you had items that could be upgraded into close-to best in slot pieces every 10 levels, that could only be obtained via lower level dungeons (and not quests – actual dungeons) – you’d get a lot of people, alts and mains, running these things regularly. If you like, make it so that the quest is only available to be turned in within a given level range and make the dungeons they exist in have a level cap. You’d have people running these things all the time for these drops, forced to do groups within their level range to get items that they want later that don’t become immediately irrelevant. That would help the raiding community, the casuals, and those that don’t want to level all that fast.

One, yikes! What have I started. ;) Actually, I’m intrigued and flattered that my offhand comment could be a springboard for something interesting. I’ve been very interested in MMO design lately, and WoW is fascinating to dig around in. I’m firmly convinced that, like an economy, a game needs a healthy “middle class” of people who are happily mucking around in the world, happy and even excited with exploring, stories and mid-level rewards. (BRK’s “100 feathers” quest made me smile in that regard. I think the goodwill generated thereby is exactly the thing that needs to be tapped into by design.) These are the people that carry the weight of making WoW an actual “world”, and a fun place to spend time.

They may or may not have raiding ambitions, they may be casual or hardcore, whatever… but they are happy to be “alive” in the world, puttering around with a little hunting, a little farming, a little crafting, a little mini-raiding, or all of the above. They make the world more interesting for everyone else. We need those players, and we need them to feel wanted (important and appreciated), rewarded, and happy just doing what they do. (And not feel like second-class citizens because of the “endgame” and LeetLoot mentality.) Some players do that anyways, but if the game design encouraged that, it would be a much better world.

Two, I really like the core concept of a “shadow” game experience, and the idea of “expanding horizontally”. The lore of WoW is ripe for deep storytelling, but so much of it is just a “road to raiding” these days. In line with that, I like the ideas to make unique items spawn only in “Dragonflight” (but be usable at various times). I love the idea of “background” quests, that play with alternate storylines, or stories that manipulate things behind the scenes. It’s especially enticing if there’s some sense of peril; that if a mission fails, Bad Things can (and do) happen. That sense of consequence is something that can lend emotional heft to quests. Even if it’s some sort of “time fracture” instance or something that plays like Groundhog Day (or is a layered experience, even), there’s a lot that can be done to make the WORLD of WoW more interesting, or more accurately, to poke around in an already interesting world.

Three, I like the concept of making an “auto scale” for high-end players to step back into areas, but be appropriately balanced. This could serve as a “mentoring” system, it could serve as an introduction to the current “endgame”, and it could just allow players to step back in time and enjoy any new midlevel content. At the same time, I understand the impetus for making a new “faction”; it’s a fresh start, and a way to make the new parallel content feel more unique and allow it to stand on its own, rather than as a sort of red-headed stepchild/farming ground. Perhaps a bit of both would be a good thing. I’m afraid I don’t know enough about the game to think out all the ramifications of both sides of this concept.

Short story long, I really like the ideas rattling around here, especially as they can go a long way toward revitalizing the midgame. I think that’s very important for the health of WoW, economically, socially, and for the long-term commercial viability of the game. (Whether or not Blizzard wants WoW to last for a long time is up for debate, I suppose.) I love the Ender’s Shadow/Quantum Leap shadow story/story fixer concept.

And, well… even seeing that spark of excitement at the very idea of revitalizing the world of WoW makes me think that it’s something well worth investing time and energy pondering on. I think Blizzard would be well-advised to tap into that interest. Thanks for taking my comment and running with it in the spirit intended, BBB. (And for taking it farther and in more interesting directions than I was thinking of. That’s the beauty of a world rich with lore, and the people who are interested in it.)

I actually don’t think this is a big issue, however. People who enjoy solo content have plenty to do: PvP, dailies, professions, and as many alts as they can handle. Honestly, I think that the ease of leveling, and therefore the ease of creating alts, provides enough content for the majority of solo players. For those whom it doesn’t, it still gets them to play for a number of months before switching games, which they would likely do anyway if they aren’t into the social aspects of the game.

On an old Mud I used to play, you could do something very like this by choice. The experience system was that you lost 50% of your TNL (to-next-level) every time you died until you passed your racial TNL. After that, there was a different modifier that would increase your TNL upon each subsequent death. That meant you could *stop* leveling at any point by choice just by dying repeatedly and getting your TNL into the hundreds of thousands. An exp debt like that could be worked off with ridiculous amounts of effort, but it would take a long time. People used it to twink out their level 50s to be able to help others with their last push to Hero at 51. ((Sort of like making a battleground twink, but with enough exp debt that they’d just never level out of the bracket))

Interesting idea, but I don’t think it helps out new players much. A new player isn’t going to want to play a toon that stops at 40. I guess they would benefit from the activity in the lower zones though – although there would be even more twinking and inflated prices for lower level items.

If this was implemented I think I would want my Dragonflight character be able to benefit my level 80 main. Maybe certain max level patterns/recipes/items/components only drop in the capped instances.

I know of one gentleman who has been playing since the game was first released. He somehow managed to avoid hitting level 60 on his highest leveled character until after The Burning Crusade was released. I saw him as recently at a month ago and he’d yet to have reached 70. And yet, he’s found the game enjoyable enough to continue playing, continue interacting with others, and organizing cross-realm events on the Feathermoon US roleplaying server.

You’ve got an interesting idea there, Triple-B, but I’m not sure if I like the idea of putting further constraints on people — even if they’re self-imposed. Instead, I think that people should continue to play the game as it appeals to them without realizing months down the road that they’ve made a mistake. Roleplaying fills that niche very well and I have no shame in admitting that I have characters with weeks — if not months! — of time-played and yet to have acquired their mounts!

But a good portion of the reason that I quit playing WoW was the seeming endless, somewhat repetitive climb through levels. By the time I hit 60 with a character I was BORED! And the idea of climbing another 10 levels just to get to the cool stuff was not enough of an enticement to continue.

I would love to see a layer to WoW where 40th (which isn’t all that difficult to hit) became a point where you could get into some really fun plot lines, instead of merely a rest stop on the way to 70.

I would seriously consider starting up again.