#0 - Jan. 15, 2008, 11:48 a.m.
Thanks for that - that's just what 95% of your customers really needed - another progression for the 'I have no life except my computer' players, with little in the way of thought for the rest of us - a measly 5-man and another faction - whose rewards (if on a par with the other factions) won't be worth spit to the average guildy running Kara and Gruul's.
If another commercial organisation put most of it's effort into pleasing such a small % of its client base it would be laughed at. Fortunately Blizzard are working in an effective monopoly arena (sic) - as no other MMO has the same level of coverage and therefore market viability - at the moment....
The fact is however that Blizzard are facing tough competition this year - perhaps they ought to wake up?
Make FAR more content for the vast majority of your paying customers! Put in more 10 man raids at about Gruul's level and revise the loot drops in heroics - they are laughable until final bosses. Heroics are just Void crystal and Badge farms now - and even then - some are avoided completely because of the relative difficulty of them is huge - compare Steam Vaults to Black Morass as an example.... and these are aimed at people in 115 blues looking for an upgrade? BM heroic with blues - it's laughable! Also - doing heroics and getting level 68 BLUES from heroic bosses is a joke.
Yes the Badge Vendor expansion helped, but they don't offer enough choice by far.
ZA was supposed to help - but it is wikedly difficult and considering my guild are about middle of the curve - with Kara and Gruul's on farm, why should we not be able to get passed the first boss in ZA - never mind do the timed events.
Frankly why should we continue to play a game which caters for the very small and yet most vocal minority (after all - changes to the game matter far more to people who live in it, than the rest of us).
Estimates vary, but some survey websites seem to indicate less than 3% of your paying customers will see the inside of the Sunwell with any chance of killing a boss.
From ANY perspective that is ridiculous service provision - the rest of us are paying the same money and expect the same level of service. Whenever (and you started doing this with Naxx) you add MORE for the minority and less for the majority you fail to market yourselves - add to this the woefully bad 'class balancing' of the past and the fact it has continued with major changes for OVER THREE YEARS is a further failure. Will your next attempt at class balance be any good? ... only time will tell, but I think you know what my prediction would be.
I am an average player of the game - and as such I am in the VAST majority. Give ME more choice and more attention or I will go elsewhere as my options open up this year - then after the bucket of egg lands on your face and you realise you can't keep WoW running with 5% of your revenue you will realise you should have listened to US - your middle of the bell-curve, average and overwhelming majority of paying clients.
... enough said I think