Yep. Happens to me a lot. Because doing the requirements for this or that achievement which is already described in my achievement statistic (where to do what) is extremely unsatisfying. Especially the current ideas they had, like doing this or that boss in this or that silly way… not really creative.

I knew Northrend before I even was there. Websites, Interviews, leaked and intentionally released content… I soaked it up. Many years before we would not have had a Naxx strategy guide with map and loot before release…

But there were some spots I did not know and some surprises in the Storm Peaks and the Howling Fjord. I found some odd things that I did not expect.

But that was it. Back to championing the very same dungeon again and doing dailies every day… oh well.

I was an Explorer in Ultima Online. This is probably what always drives me away from WoW after a while.

Thanks for your thorough analysis. I must admit it makes me a bit sad. I am not a fan of either Kaplan or Chilton, you are probably right about the missing “explorer” in their team.

When WoW was being created, some of the feedback that was given was, “please, for the love of all that is holy, give us content.” I was one of the supplicants. Granted, this was concurrent with the dumbing down of SWG and DAOC, and a decade after a very large shift in the gaming population demographic, thanks to the affordability and availability of suitable PCs for all, but it was exhausting to work all day, take care of our family, and then try to do something with the lush and beautiful landscape of an entirely content-barren world. We asked for more.

There can be no doubt that Blizzard made huge strides in injecting quests, lore and storylines into the MMO scene with WoW. They have created a new form of MMO and it’s been a triumph to say the least. However, that has come at a cost: a lack of freedom for players who feel compelled and directed toward being the “hero” of every questgiver with a gold exclamation mark above their head. Players are now essentially “acting” in predetermined scripts created by the quest writers as they move from questhub to questhub.

For some that kind of existence in a MMO is enough; for me it is not. I suppose it’s akin to how some people view travel to faraway lands. Some prefer to sit in the comfort of tour buses and get shuttled around and view the sights while others prefer a more unstructured and unscripted sense of discovery in their travels.

I believe Blizzard has swung the pendulum too far in the other direction with their quest directed MMO formula. And I hope that at some point MMO companies will consider giving players more freedom to actually interact with their virtual worlds in more meaningful ways.

Don’t blame the game. Blame the players.

I blame both but the game deserves the most blame because the designers and developers set the tone and the expectations for the players. And yes — I blame our current modern culture for much of this as well. Go to the official Blizzard forums and see the Frankenstein they have created with this new breed of selfish, spoiled and stupid player. It’s an obscenity to say the least.

When I first started playing MMO’s many years ago I would frequently meet doctors, lawyers, teachers and other people from all walks of life. You could actually carry on an intelligent conversation back in those days. Sadly no longer as the demographic for “successful” MMOs like WoW has plunged into the gutter of the worst pedestrian elements of society. Perhaps this is the curse of MMOs going mainstream.

All I want is better MMOs. MMOs the engage us. MMOs that inspire us. MMOs that make us laugh. MMOs that make us cry. Of course you need content but it should never replace the stories and memories that we should be making for ourselves.

Thanks for the good comments ChicGeek!

My husband and I have been gamers since D&D, online since the days of BBS, and we enjoy exploring new worlds. He is EAKS, and I am ASEK, but we are both very well rounded players. I read your comments about Raph Koster and I was a bit flabbergasted. I understand his “player driven content” model and was at a panel where he presented it. And while it sounds great on paper, it requires a LOT of upkeep on the invested player’s part and does nothing to entertain the uninvested player. In other words, all you get is tired model players and bored PKs.

When WoW was being created, some of the feedback that was given was, “please, for the love of all that is holy, give us content.” I was one of the supplicants. Granted, this was concurrent with the dumbing down of SWG and DAOC, and a decade after a very large shift in the gaming population demographic, thanks to the affordability and availability of suitable PCs for all, but it was exhausting to work all day, take care of our family, and then try to do something with the lush and beautiful landscape of an entirely content-barren world. We asked for more.

Given the success of their previous titles, Blizzard was happy to cater to the segment that wanted content, and given their marketing acumen and experience, they scaled it to the Least Common Denominator (an IQ greater than room temp). Make the game too difficult, and they lose the income needed to keep the game going. Spend too much time putting in gems for us dilettantes and admirers of the crafted world, and they run out of money to keep the mob happy. That’s one reason why there’s so much left unfinished.

I can’t even call it the folly of catering to youth, because I have encountered a LOT of people in their 20s and 30s who can’t seem to comprehend that it’s better to explore and die than to read a blog and win. They can’t even spell blog, so why would I expect an epiphany of self-affirmation through personal achievement?

Don’t blame the game. Blame the players.

I agree that Blizzard has left many areas unrealized as far as adding in content for explorers. There are many structures scattered throughout that are strangely empty. It’s as you say, the devs almost forgot to finish fleshing out many places.

As far as heart wrenching quests go, I’d rank the series involving EPL’s Pamela Redpath way up there. That one just about had me in tears the first time I did it, and when Alts came through I’d do it again, even though I’d told myself not to, and it still breaks your heart if you’re foolish enough to read the quest text and not just hit Accept as fast as you can.

Blizzard did an amazing job with WoW but even now, years later, it’s still not finished. A dedicated Explorer can still find areas where Devs have just slapped down rocks or sealed off Towers, where maybe there was meant to be something, but nobody ever had the time to get around to it.

On my Hunter I frequently exploited Eyes of the Beast to send my Pet into areas otherwise inaccessible to Players, well, inaccessible with a Warlock Friend Fearing you through the door into Old Ironforge

The Wetlands farm above Menthil Harbor is one such example. At the very least the Devs could have put one single quest there for the determined Explorer, who survived the drop down the waterfall, but no. Nothing but a couple of guards. Pointless, other than being able to say “I visited the Ironforge Airport and didn’t even get a lousy t-short”.

It’s like they built the world as fast as they could, then rushed it to release (which they probably did) but never, ever got around to actually finishing it.

So if Blizzard wants to reward exploring and socializing it would only work by rewarding things archievers and killers are not interested in. Something like titles, special non-combat equip of only small but special advantage a.s.o. . If anything better were given the archievers would get frustrated because it would not fit into their system and understanding of the game. I am not liking their way of playing but I can understand their view. Sometimes I think adding exploring and socializing as a profitable part of the game would be as logical for them like adding a singing contest to a game of football and let the winner have an extra score.

So as an explorer and socializer atm you have to take it as it is and simply continue by the sake of your fun. Actually I do not explore and socialize for gain but for fun. Ok, I miss the rewards such as finding a secret spot or passage but still I find many nice landscapes a.s.o. And there are some quests needing social skills at least – especially class quests such as “Dreadsteed of Xoroth”. As the reward is thought too low for the efforts by most players you have be very diplomatic to even find some players helping you doing them.

Conspiracy, what conspiracy?

@Garumoo: I agree with your point about WoW being a good thing for the industry in that it has broadened the subscriber MMO base. We can only hope that as players grow out of WoW they will crave deeper and more satisfying MMO experience that hopefully will include more content for non-achievers.

@Tesh: I too think it’s too late for WoW to inteject more pure exploration content. I suppose they could do it and create a special team that goes around and implements it but Blizzard seems intent on placating their core audience right now. Although they did do a great job in Wrath of the Lich King with Dalaran which gives me hope that the talented team of designers and artists at Blizzard *could* do it if they were given the budget.

@Aimedshot: Thanks for wading through my long article! I agree that the number of Blizzard announcements for WoW are getting a bit excessive. WoW certainly is a big business right now and I’m sure that constant promotion of ingame content is being driven by the marketing department which of course is driven by Activision and the shareholders. What they don’t understand is that releasing so much spoiler information has a detrimental effect on the enjoyment of the game.

@Explorer: I think the danger of WoW is that it’s essentially spoiled many players with regard to giving them certain expectations about quests. Many players feel that quests need to be easy to find, easy to understand and completable within a short period of time. I think the introduction of so-called “daily quests” have been a part of the problem here. They’ve trained players to see quests as a transaction: player invests time and receives money in return.
The result is that quests feel more like a mundane job then they do a special traditional quest i.e. Holy Grail, Fountain of Youth, etc.