#1 - June 18, 2013, 9:03 p.m.
Time and time again the waves of new players come in and they cry and complain that the game is too hard and that they don't understand this mechanic and they can't comprehend this or that game feature (cause google is so hard to use guys, right?). And instead of blizzard implementing ways to teach these incompetent people how to play their game, they just water everything down. Oh that raid to hard for you? Let's nerf their damage and HP by 50%. People complaining that the classes are unbalanced? Well lets turn them all into the same homogenized versions of each other. Oh green fire quest too challenging even though it was meant for players that excel in their abilities as a warlock? Ahhh what the heck! We will nerf that too!
So anyways.. What needs to be done about this? When did Blizzard decide that making the game easier was a better idea then teaching players how to play their game? And how can we get them to stop dumbing the game down for people who just do not even try to be good at the game?
I am sure most of you have heard of Egoraptor or watched some of his cartoons. But he also has a series called Sequelitis in which he talks about the aspects of video games and their sequels. He says some extremely smart and relevant things about this subject. You should check out this video if you haven't already (Vewer discretion is advised).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FpigqfcvlM
Every game developer (ESPECIALLY BLIZZARDS!) should watch this short little video and take notes. WoW is not the only game that has catered to the idiots of our society. Many games, especially more recent games have fallen into this rut of playing the game out for you. Every little item is highlighted for you, arrows point you everywhere you have to go, plot lines are spelled out for you in black and white, all of the thinking is done for you and all you have to do is press the buttons it tells you to, near zero effort. In WoW you can literally level a character to 15 and then use the LFG/LFR system to get to level 90, full epic, and clear all the boss content without doing ANY damage. Granted you will have to go unnoticed by other players in your LFG/LFR groups, but most of the time you have an impatient tank who just doesn't care cause they are doing 60-70% of the damage anyway, or people just don't care to wait to kick you. Or you are just surrounded by people as oblivious as you? And the cycle continues and the people learn NOTHING!
Blizzard needs to take the hint and start implementing quests or reward systems that teach players how to do their rotations and learn boss mechanics. There needs to be a motivation to be good! Oh you did over 100k damage in LFR? You get a little extra gold or a slightly better chance at loot! Oh you got though that boss fight without getting hit by major boss mechanics that would one shot you in regular or heroic mode? Okay well you have proved yourself and get a pet for avoiding fire! You could even have some sort NPC that offers you training and shows you how to rotate your moves and when to pop your cool downs. Something, anything, just stop making the game easier.
No more making the game easier because people are to lazy to forge themselves into good players. No more hand out epics! No more easy 100% solo-able game! No more boring straight forward content that any idiot can do without even using half their brain.
Bring back the challenge! Bring back the excitement and the satisfaction of completing something that requires skill and coordination instead of pressing a button and dying but getting loot and achievements anyway. If people suck, then teach them how to be good instead of building the game around morons with no motivation.
TL;DR- Stop making the game easier for bad players and teach them how to play instead!
EDIT:
I am also aware that they are releasing the Prooving Grounds which allows players to test their mettle and show off their skill their class has to offer. But the problem with this is that it isn't mandatory. Who is to say that half the mediocre players will even use or know about this system? How can you be sure people will learn their rotations and what gems and enchants to use? And how will it stop them from leeching off good players? I think that the Prooving Grounds should work like you are being "keyed". If you are able to obtain a certain rank in the PG (Prooving Grounds) then harder content will be unlocked. As you work your way up you unlock LFR then Normal raids and then Heroics. Also it would work as a litmus test for players so good players can more easily tell the players with skill from the players without.
