I was watching TradeChat/Panzer’s recent video recapping some new changes for patch 5.4 and one of the more interesting notes was the discovery of Bind on Account Weapons. I did a little more investigating and the video has a link directed to an article where it was uncovered that Bind on Accounts Weapons were data mined. Right now, the way things are slated is that these weapons are slated for Flex, Normal and Heroic mode raids.
Now, this ticks me off a bit if the intention is if non-LFR raiders can access these items. I can see how they would incorporate them into the upcoming Flex raids as it provides another incentive to funnel people towards the Flex raiding system. Although it’s deemed alt-friendly, one could argue that this move might not necessarily be casual friendly (especially if casuals are associated with LFR as their primary source of raiding).
The thing for me about this move is that it’s too much like the Legendary Cloak boss being incorporated into the next patch where fewer people can get to certain aspects of the game. Moves like this I think have hurt Blizzard in the past in that they might be catering towards a certain group of players or attempting to force players to step it up a notch. While forcing people to step up their game play a notch has good intent, the reality is that it’s the same effect as having a hot party over in Beverly Hills or Hollywood where the doors are open to everyone. But once you get to that party, you find out that all the good looking girls only look at guys arriving in brand name cars, clothes and are part of some golf club.
I believe that it’s better not to even have that party if you let everyone know about it rather than putting it out there and cock teasing people. It’s a real turn off and quite discouraging knowing that you’ll never a chance because of circumstances. Sure, you can work all day and night to get to that position but at what sacrifice?
There will be people out there going, “Hey, you have to work in this world!” And yet herein lies the real issue. This is a game, a hobby, sometime you do in your spare time. You should be able to enjoy it in as many ways as possible. I just think that these are arbitrary walls that are being set up to funnel people towards a very specific experience.
The thing is that I think the casual player is far smarter than many people give them credit for. If they feel like they’re wasting precious time, they’ll quit. A lot of my friends and good players have abandoned the game for one reason or another. I think that the direction the game is going just constantly turns off too many people because of exclusivity.
Perhaps, Blizzard sees that World of Warcraft is dying and want to just aim for the only people willing to support it once the base population disappears. But that’s a sad thought considering that many people have put a great deal of effort and sacrifice into building the game up. I think that’s my real issue more than anything.