World of Warcraft’s next expansion, Legion, could make world content relevant again.
Among all of the differentWorld of Warcraftexpansions,Warlords of Draenormight be the most instance-centric expansion weve ever seen.
Subscription numbers dont lie.
An MMORPG needs strong world content to remain relevant as an expansion ages.
World content ensures one very vital requirement is being met in an MMORPG: immersion.
Garrisons dont provide immersion because they dont quite mimic the wilds of Draenor.
They never change and can essentially be maintained from a smartphone app if the possibility existed.
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Will random folks help or wont they?
Will someone aggro the entire camp of orcs while running over?
Why are we killing all these demon things?
Who knows, but lets kill them again tomorrow!
isnt very interesting, nor conducive to immersion.
Theres very little replay factor in Tanaan or in any zone right now.
But, enough about the present.
More emphasis needs to be placed on the replayable, endgame-relevant world content layers ofWoW.
This is one reason whyThe Burning CrusadeandWrath of the Lich Kingwere both such strong expansions.
Players had oodles of group quests, normal quests, and dailies to partake in after hitting level cap.
Legionshould feature at least one fully-realized endgame zone at launch.
This was mistake number one withWoD.
Tanaan should have been included in the expansions launch.
Two endgame zones would be ideal since it would split up the population a bit.
Zone-wide dailies might be a good place to start.
Dailies that shift and create story as they unfold would be ideal.
Players should want to dive into the raid based on the quests they have done.
Better Flying
The whole debacle over flying inWarlords of Draenordid far more harm than good.
It was also frustrating not being able to enjoy Draenor from above after a certain points.
Flying innately helps content stay relevant longer by making traveling less of a chore.
Legionneeds to avoid this entire mess completely.
Frankly, Id prefer the first option.
Heres the thing thoughflying doesnt have to take away immersion.
World areas just need to be created to better support immersion when access to flying is granted.
Blizzard could achieve this in a myriad of ways.
Quest objectives could be more complex and require more than land and loot tactics.
Mob drops, kill requirements, or even exploration requirements (reaching certain checkpoints) could all help.
Jumping puzzles or tricky treasures could be indoors, inside caves, or in instances where flying isnt allowed.
Even the non-repeatable treasure system inWoWis best abused with a handy add-on.
Events or rare spawns with randomized locations help encourage exploration instead of add-ons and camp farming.
Announcing events gets players talking.
Running events gets players communicating.
Sure, exploring a map with true dynamic content is risky, but thats half the fun.
World content inWoWcould use a risk or two.
Risks bring players together.
Risky world content is also something that benefits all types of playersnot just the raiding crew or the solo-ers.
Well, except that ugly-looking bad guy.
Laura Hardgrave is a staff writer.
