MMO Weekly: World of Warcraft Players With No Interest in Cataclysm

08 Dec 2010 at 14:40:48 by Jeff Hollis

Hello there, my fellow sojourners in the various virtual universes, and welcome to this week's edition of MMO Weekly.  In this week's adventure, we'll explore the one subject on every MMO gamers' mind:  WoW's latest expansion, Cataclysm.

This isn't meant to be coverage of Cataclysm's launch, or of the various new features of this latest offereing from Blizzard.  Instead, I want to explore a little, soon-to-be forgotten subset of WoW players:  those that aren't interested in Cataclysm. 

I have to say, right up front, that Cataclysm is destined to be a fantastic, full featured expansion.  Also, there is no doubt in my mind that this expansion will sell millions of copies, and that players will sing its praises for some time to come.  There is no reasonable way to really criticize this product, and I'm not trying to do that.

What I want to explore are the players that have little or no interest in Cataclysm.  I personally know a number of people who have been heavily involved (i.e., addicted?) with WoW in years past, and many of them already have their expansion in their hot little hands.  Oddly, many of them also do not, and they have no intention of picking Cataclysm up.  I call these the jaded WoWers, or JWs.  Why are these MMO fans feeling so blasé?  The reasons are various. 

Over the past few months, here's what I've gleaned from their various comments and opinions.  Mind you, there are recurring concepts in many of these reasons, and several of them involve only subtle differences.  Also, because many of these folks have a vague sense of dissatisfaction with Cataclysm, asking them to clearly define what they like and don't like is a lot like asking someone “Why do you like that apple pie, but not the other one?”  Some of these things are hard to put your finger on. 

WoW is a grade A game, but I'm just bored with it. 

Many of the people I've spoken with readily admit that WoW is a great game.  However, they have indulged in so much WoW, they feel kind of, well, meh about the idea of playing any longer.  Mind you, many of these folks have several level 80 characters, but haven't logged on to play in weeks, if not months.  They've played a lot, and they're just not that into WoW any more.

This is something of a vague stance, but for these veteran WoWers, the expansion just isn't stimulating enough to make them log in again.  It's ok, they're not critical of it, but Cataclysm just doesn't excite them.

Vanilla with a new coat of paint is still vanilla.

One of the big selling points of Cataclysm is that many of the old “vanilla” zones have been upgraded, so players will enjoy leveling up a new character.  However, having several level 80 characters means that you've experienced this content before, and even though it's now enhanced and upgraded, some players just aren't drawn in by this idea. 

To these folks, the emphasis on revitalizing the old world is an odd thing to do in an expansion.  For these folks, an expansion should be full of new zones, new dungeons, and new adventures.  This expansion is half full of those things, and half full of repainted vanilla content, and this idea isn't for everyone.  

There are no new classes for me to play (“I've seen this all before” edition). 

If players had a new experience on tap – say, playing the game as a ninja, or a monk, or a bard – they might have been tempted to level up a new toon.  For them, this would have been the big hook.   However, some have opined that since WoW doesn't offer them any new classes to play, the revitalized content isn't enough to make them want to put in all the work necessary to get to 85.

There are no new classes for me to play (“You want me to pay retail for that?” edition). 

This actually comes up a lot.  When one considers the history of the genre, Blizzard really stands out in this respect, and it may be their biggest, and most obvious mistake.  Other MMOs have made a point of including at least one, and often two, new classes to play with many expansions.  Blizzard has included one new class to play in a total of three expansions.  Mind you, this means one new class in six years.  If you cut your teeth playing WoW, this may not be a big deal, but it appears that veterans of other MMOs find this to be off-putting.  This $40 expansion without new classes seems, to these vets, to be a gimped, half-baked expansion.    

There are no new classes for me to play (“You want me to level up ANOTHER druid?” edition).

Personally, I've had three top level toons.  I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, but I know a number of people that have somewhere between five and eight.  In emphasizing the remaking of the old world, and the idea that players will want to level up a new character, Blizz is asking these people to play another druid/paladin/shaman/hunter all the way up to the level cap, even though they've done that already once (or more).  In a nutshell, some players feel that this expansion leaves these admitted alt-aholics behind. 

[The common theme for the above three examples is obvious.  For some, new classes is simply the big hook; for others, it gives them an excuse to level up a new character; and for others, it makes an expansion that is admittedly light on end-game content a better value.  Certainly, these things aren't important to everyone, but for some players, this is critical.]

There is no alternate advancement. 

In prior MMOs, several kinds of alternate advancement was offered to top-tier players.  Although this took different forms, players could essentially earn alternate experience points after reaching the level cap.  These alternate experience points could then be spent on unlockable new talents, new skills that opened up for players, or on some wildly different abilities.  This really customized player characters in a very profound way.  This means that two protection warriors could be quite different from one another (one opting for an increased run speed ability, enhanced hit points, and improved blocking skill, while another chose skills that enhanced her fire resistance, gave her a throwing skill that stunned opponents, and a truly superlative first aid skill).  This kind of thing has given developers some very innovative ways to express their creativity, and simultaneously allowed players to express their individuality. 

A very vague concept of alternate advancement was considered when Cataclysm was first announced, but was scrapped some time thereafter.  For some folks, this concept is extremely interesting, and its loss was genuinely felt. 

I'm just bored with this franchise, and I want something different. 

This is, perhaps, the most common thing I hear.  WoW's a great game, these players say, but it's six years old.  I want to play something that's new.  Equally important, I want to play something that just isn't WoW. 

I've tried to pin folks down on this, and their responses tend to be rather vague.  They aren't opposed to playing another fantasy MMO, since a new game will involve different races, classes, factions, zones, NPCs, story, etc.  However, many mention wanting to play something more substantially different, like a sci-fi, steampunk, or alt-universe MMO.  Again, these responses tend to be a bit vague, so even the players themselves aren't clear on exactly what they are hoping for. 

And with that, it's time to wrap up this week's edition of MMO Weekly.  If you found this scribble-fest enlightening, infuriating, or somewhere in between, please say so in the comments.  Your insights are both appreciated and welcome.  For now, ciao!

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