WoW: Cataclysm Proves Too Tough For General Player-base
You would think that the last thing a developer would do after having a nice long talk regarding the acceptable difficulty of dungeons is to go ahead and make them easier; but Blizzard seems to think and act otherwise. Many have complained about how dungeons are far too hard these days (let alone perhaps the raids), and though the last expansion was notorious for it's difficulty (or lack thereof) Blizzard should still buckle and make the content 'more accessible' to the masses. Of course, by more accessible I mean easier. Naturally Blizzard let all the commotion build for a few weeks before issuing an official response, one which was a little surprising.
Ghostcrawler, Warcraft's most notable system designer, has taken it upon himself to sit down with the community and discuss the difference between 'impossible' and 'requires teamwork in order to complete'. For most, it's pretty clear that a particular level of skill is required to play any game, however those making the transition from Wrath of the Lich King - an expansion which literally required the use of no skills outside of 'heal' and 'damage' in most instances - are finding themselves hard pressed in this new World of Warcraft. Bosses require a basic understanding of how to not stand in the line of fire, where to move when the boss is attacking and how to properly conserve mana for healing. General baddies must be controlled appropriately, and handled as singularly and focused as possible. It's not difficult to do, it's just harder than simply slamming your face on the keyboard.
Yet keyboard-slammers have argued otherwise, and Ghostcrawler was there to set them back. He explained what makes a class truly unique: how a DPS's job should be to do more than simply hit things and how a healer and tank must work together in order to preserve mana and reduce damage. Class imbalances aside, he's absolutely right. Dungeons are in a great spot right now, they simply require a little coordination.
Then came the notes for the next patch, and again I'm reminded who is really pulling the strings around here. Bosses across the board will be doing less damage, losing abilities and, in some cases, losing health. Random encounters throughout various dungeons will be stripped of their strength in various degrees, regardless of the fact that it's very easy to avoid being hit by most (if not all) of these attacks. Perhaps I fail to see the logic here, but why even bother making a massive post regarding how teamwork and some proper equipment is all that's really needed when you're simply going to turn around and make everything easier anyway. Is this to chastise your playerbase, or simply make them feel dumb because you had to go down this road? I'm personally more inclined to believe that maybe the WoW community as a whole simply isn't ready for something challenging.
It feels to me like an MMO without challenge, coordination, and teamwork is really just a number generator. Perhaps this is secretly appealing to some, being able to claim that one's numbers are naturally the biggest and baddest around, but if that's the case why aren't these people sitting around playing Disgaea all day long instead? There will always be a percentage of any gaming community that simply cannot handle the intended mechanics, but in the case of WoW this percentage is almost overwhelming. If a game is challenging from the start, I always thought that the goal was to rise to the occasion instead of complaining that it cannot be done. Apparently, I've been doing it wrong.
This isn't to say that all of WoW's players feel like this. Certainly quite a few out there have been able to quest, dungeon, and raid with minimal difficulty. Where these mystery few have found the courage, dedication and teamwork to accomplish such a task could be in question here, but the fact remains that if these dungeons were so impossible how are people completing content? It's a silly question to ask because the answer is self evident: through trying, learning, and adapting. Concerning the future of WoW, it appears that such things may not even be necessary. The first round of content nerfs will be happening in a few weeks, and if Blizzards ability to buckle to the masses is any indication about the future, it's hard to say when it will stop. Naturally, class balances will make things feel a little different from patch to patch, but changes to the worlds monsters? Unnecessary really, and just further proof that WoW's unique playerbase is still very much 'casual'. By casual, I mean lazy.
