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Anti-Aliased: Why leveling content is more important than endgame pt. 2
One of the comments last week complained that I was putting too much emphasis on the journey rather than the destination. Basically, the comment compared endgame to some sort of amazing weekend spa retreat in the Bahamas and leveling to the 30 minute long plane ride. Because, honestly, who cares about the journey, right? It's only one facet of the whole getaway. Let's take a look at that argument. "So why can't we put that type of fun into the entire game, rather than just one section?" Pretend, dear readers, that I've discovered a brand new land. A land filled with large breasted women, rivers of booze, and a zombie shooting range. I'll name this land Awesomesauce Island! Past that, I'll make sure that only one airport is built on the island and only one plane can reach that island. That plane, however, is a remake of the original Wright brother's aircraft except all the screws are loose, the pilot is blind, poisonous snakes are stuffed in your seat cushions, Samuel L. Jackson is banned from flying on the plane, and the in-flight movie is Paris Hilton's sex tape. Who cares about the destination again? Now you can see I'm phasing into the player side of things and beginning my argument as to why we should enjoy a better emphasis on leveling content -- because it's fun! There's something about endgame that people enjoy already. All of you have come to me with complaints the second I even put the word "endgame" in my articles. That means that you're having fun with it, and that's a good thing! So why can't we put that type of fun into the entire game, rather than just one section? It's akin to asking people to stab out their eyes with wooden spoons before they can ride the big roller coaster in the theme park. Painfully pointless. "Games are games because we enjoy the experience they provide." Games are games because we enjoy the experience they provide. The "endgame experience" should not be restricted to just the endgame, but the whole game. I'm not saying kill the lead up, or somehow make the entire game just like the endgame. What I'm saying is that I should be feeling the same levels of excitement and enjoyment as I progress towards the final destination. Every moment that I stay in your world, I should feel like I'm there to have a good time, not just kill 10 rats so you can pat me on the head and give me a sparkling new sword. Colin Brennan is the weekly writer of Anti-Aliased who knows people are going to half read this article and then complain about how he's an endgame hater. When he's not writing here for Massively, he's over running Epic Loot For All! with his insane friends. If you want to message him, send him an e-mail at colin.brennan AT weblogsinc DOT com.
The Care and Feeding of Warriors: What's not broke
The Care and Feeding of Warriors is our weekly foray into warriors. This week, we discuss good things about a class in World of Warcraft. I know, I was as shocked as you are, but it's apparently possible. Matthew Rossi seems to enjoy them a great deal. I was planning to talk about Warrior DPS specs this week, but then I saw yesterday's moviewatch and started thinking about class balance. Specifically, warriors and how they balance against other classes. The issues mentioned there... static threat vs rising DPS, shout duration, better tanking gear actually hurting your threat generation....pretty much work for me as issues. It would be nice if those got fixed. There are a few others that bug me, but watching the various lists of class woes made me realize that, basically, I love my warriors. What's so great about a warrior? Is it the thematic unity of a class that's all about the heavy armor and weapons, that doesn't use mana at all, that wades into the thick of combat and turns loose untrammeled martial expertise and inner fury? Is it the thrill of a 1k shield slam crit turning a mob back to face you? Is it managing to get that last big MS hit off on a warlock to drop him before dying yourself, knowing that you're not playing an escape class? When warriors use our fear we're doing it to buy a few more seconds to kill someone, not to run away. Warriors don't run away. We'll take the beating and come back for more. Is that what's so great about us?
