Embracing the Cataclysm

World of Warcraft is getting old.

Correction: World of Warcraft is old. In just a few months, it will be celebrating its 5th anniversary. It seems like only yesterday I first hit that character creation button and began exploring the vast continents of Azeroth and Kalimdor. With 40 zones between the two there was plenty to explore... but the lack of end-game content had my fellow players and I fiending for an expansion well before The Burning Crusade was released.

But as the existing zones were rendered largely obsolete, the game seemed to feel smaller. As if with the introduction of Outland you were being stuck into a small corner of the game world. It, along with WotLK, was a batch of content stacked on top of what was already there - separate rather than integrated. By expanding the game in this fashion, Blizzard failed to create the experience of playing in an ever-changing environment. After all the events and encounters that transpired over the last 5 years of WoW, should the original continents look (and operate) almost identical to how they did when you first hit that button?

This "stacking" of content that I speak of goes beyond the zones themselves. I wrote an article months ago as I lost interest and quit the game about how in WotLK Blizzard failed to change how we fundamentally played WoW. While TBC at least introduced the Arena system, WotLK simply added new features and more of what we already had. I was not surprised when I grew tired of the game within the first few months. The game did not need new content - it needed a facelift. Instead, Blizzard chose to take the safe route. Yes, safe. Like all humans, WoW players are adverse to change (perhaps even moreso). Even the slightest alteration brings about cries of ______ from the WoW community - regardless of its impact. For better or for worse, we are drawn to familiarity. An expansion that builds upon, but doesn't change, the status quo is a sure thing for Blizzard. On the other hand, an expansion that shakes this up is destined to be met with some opposition.

"The Horde finally conquered Southshore."

The Horde reading this statement likely saw it as a symbolic victory and a welcome change. The Alliance reading it probably saw an unfounded and arbitrary decision. But I - an unbiased observer with no account or factional allegiance - see it as one of the first big indications that Azeroth might actually be the dynamic world that an MMORPG is meant to be. More importantly, it looks to me as if Blizzard recognizes that their game has grown stagnant. Serennia contends in a recent article that the changes proposed by Blizzard are too ambitious. I respectfully disagree. These changes are necessary - we don't need a new batch of content to prolonge the life of this game for those who are satisfied with the status quo, we need an infusion of life into a game that has fallen out of favour with the many who once loved it.

Blizzard created a great game 5 years ago with a lush history and vivid game world. Never was this game as fun as it was then, when it felt new in its entirety. It was a mistake for Blizzard to abandon that world they created, along with the story they developed there - moving forward without ever looking back. Cataclysm represents an opportunity for them to appeal to those players whose hearts remain in the snow of Dun Morogh and great expanses of the Barrens. By working with the familiar, they might just be developing their first real expansion. **** balance... I for one would relish the opportunity to play this game outside of my comfort zone. Hmm... this might just be work reclaiming my account for.

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