So Blizzard is doing something pretty controversial with the whole boosted level 90 for Warlords of Draenor. Currently, it might even be out prior to Warlords of Draenor as it’s being tested in the PTR as of patch 5.4.7 and is part of the in-game store. What’s more interesting is the loads of typical complaints from people calling it p2w. Right now, I find it intensely amusing to see this backlash in the rise of the paid model but I want to examine this situation a little more.
As always there’s an overreaction from a part of the World of Warcraft community on the instant level 90 boost. It’s a really weird reaction since leveling seems to be the aspect of the game that most people hate with a great deal of passion. Part of the problem is the repetitive nature of redoing content. For someone like myself for instance who has seen the horde side at least 11 times over, the leveling process can, indeed, become tiresome quickly.
Not only is leveling tiresome after a few times, it’s extremely time consumptive. Which is why Blizzard probably considered the incentive of this instant level 90 deal so that people at current content level can hopefully re-engage friends who might be tempted to come back or perhaps for those who want to try their hand at a new class without putting the hours of grinding through levels which can take anywhere between a few days to weeks depending on the individual’s schedule.
Despite the fact that the target really doesn’t involve other people, various sour members of the community have somehow once again internalized the issue and made it seem like it affects them. It’s really bizarre. One of the main arguments involves how there will be “tons of noobs once again.” I recall when one of the scroll of resurrections went out how people blamed the influx of instants 80s which caused failures in LFR (might’ve been around Cataclysm). These people bemoaned how these instant 80s had no clue whatsoever how to handle their class, which disrupted “their game.”
The thing is that I feel that argument is pretty hollow and has no ground. As we have seen with LFR, the issue has not been about people with instant 80’s or 90’s not knowing their class but that the lack of control and accountability have caused turmoil in LFR. You’re simply always going to have sociopaths in this game as long as Blizzard let’s them exist and that aspect is completely independent of the instant level 90 mechanism.
Second, I find that even if you leveled to 80, 90, 100 or whatever on your own, the end game has almost no relevance to your leveling process. The way the content currently is created in World of Warcraft is horribly skewed in terms of skill level. Most people who level on average do so independently. High end content requires cooperation and a different play style compared to the leveling process. The thing is that you can easily get by playing horribly wrong leveling but never realize it until you start participating in end game content; you’ll have to relearn everything no matter what, making this argument completely moot.
Some people call it p2w which I think is a complete misnomer and really makes little sense. What are you winning? There is no real contests here. It’s not like you’re given all your gear and achievements for raid progression nor arenas, nor even realm first. So what makes this model a “winning” model in the first place?
But here’s what I really feel people mean in these situations. I feel that the people who are against this model are in fact really poor or those who probably spend far too much time in the game and that everything in this game is their life. That’s why they feel insulted. Those who don’t have the money are jealous that others can save on time through making a few easy purchases, which is a luxury. The others, who probably spend excessive amounts of time in the game, end up taking every little thing that doesn’t bend in their direction far too personally. The problem with these people is that they don’t know anything outside of this game. The way they play this game is the way the world revolves because it’s the only thing that they think they can control.
Unfortunately, these people feel that everyone has to spend the same amount of time to do anything as they do to “earn” anything in the game. As with anything, it’s just a game no matter how you cut it. If you take how other people around the world handle the game this personally, you probably have some serious mental issues. As in you probably should seek professional help and have someone close your account for around a year so you can try something new in life. I’m dead serious.
The game should just be an outlet for having fun and advancing one’s own goals inside of the game. If that means cutting down on the amount of time to do something else, that shouldn’t be a major issue. If all you want to do is extend your immersion inside of the game, then you really have a major issue in your life and priorities.
For myself, I love the idea of being able to have ways to expedite certain aspects of the game. I have no issue being able to purchase an instant level 90. I already put my time into 11 90s. So does that make me a hideous creature for just wanting a level 90 on the alliance side to play with other friends who only have alliance toons? Why should I pay to not only transfer my toons to a different server but do a faction change as well? Having that instant 90 saves me a tremendous amount of grief, especially now that I’m working again and cannot put in that effort. But I do have the money so it balances out in the end.
Either way, I find the whole situation completely irrational and the usual suspects overdramatizing a non-issue. This isn’t a p2w situation. It’s more about “time is money, friend.” But I believe those who can’t comprehend this notion just never had money but only have too much time on their hands.