So I step away for a few short days and it seems like all hell breaks loose in World of Warcraft. Not only is there a ton of Mists of Pandaria information out there, people are actually getting beta invites. Of course in true Blizzard fashion, invites are not going quite the way everyone expected.
It seems that just like me everyone else who purchased the annual pass expected to be at the top of the MoP beta invite list. Oh how we were sadly mistaken. No dear friend, you may have played your hand but Blizzard never really showed us their cards did they?
As I write this I haven’t logged into my Battle Net account to see if the download is available. Who knows, I may be one of the lucky ones who will actually be in the beta. The way I see it there will be three real phases to this deal.
Phase 1: Beta testing.
Phase 2: Early access which is given the moniker “beta testing”
Phase 3: Everyone starts over at launch.
/end sermon
Okay now onto to other Mists of Pandaria doings. From what I can tell Blizzard has no real belief in the strength of the content being released in MoP. How do I know this? Two words Pokeymon – Farmville.
I know people see this blasphemy from both sides. Some love the idea of the new “mini-games” and some people despise it. Of course I hate the idea but not for the reasons you may think. As far as I can tell Blizzard has thrown in the towel when it comes to World of Warcraft. Now it is about one thing and one thing only, milk the existing player base for as much as they can for as long as they can.
What it all boils down to for me is Blizzard has now become the Microsoft of the MMO world. No real new ideas of their own so they highjack someone else’s and put their label on it. Yeah I went there, but you know it’s true. Pokeymon and Farmville IN THE WORLD OF WARCRAFT? Come on son.
I can tell you one thing for sure; the “Hardcore” crowd will use the “new mini-games” in their ages old argument. Now they really have something to point to when they claim that Blizzard is catering to casuals.
As for Tobolds claim that the “mini-games” help to open things up and make it the “world” of warcraft, I think he has a screw loose. All that has been accomplished here is Blizzard has made the micro-payment model of gaming obsolete. Instead of switching to micro-payments they are going to charge you $15.00 a month so you can log in to check your crops!
Hasn’t Blizzard been pretty clear on the fact that they are focusing on the casuals?? How else are they going to maintain the behemoth that is WoW?? I have been pleasantly surprised with the amount of honesty they have shown in this regard.
I agree at this point they are gonna keep throwing around little ideas to keep people subscribed until Titan comes out.
@ Blindseer – Blizzard has definitely been catering to those players that can’t devote 3-4 hours to raiding every night. But now with the addition of the mini-games they are hunting for a whole new type of casual player. Actually they are trying to cater to a completely different type of gamer.
Oh yeah, true dat. Welcome to ever growing group of players whom nobody actually caters to, except indies.
I will never re-sub any of the 3 wow accounts. I am actually on the fence about swtor, Debating on giving 1.2 a shot. I have no serious complaints about SW:TOR more than I am having a very hard time devoting to the guild, whether it is raiding or just being a part of the pvp group.
I am starting to think it is not so much as a finger pointing of “I do not like this or that” as more of a maybe the MMO itself has run its course for me personally.
Rocksmith on the other hand has been a blast.