The Hunting Lodge part deux.
Welcome back loyal hordies. This is part two of the immense interview between Achloryn and Brigwyn. I hope you enjoy reading this at least half as much as I enjoyed actually having this conversation. In case you missed it, part one of the interview can be found Here, and you should read it as well.
Achloryn: I wanna go back to something you brought up a while ago, if I may…
Brigwyn: sure shoot
A: You mentioned how, back in Vanilla, the raids required “strategy” and not just memorizing where to stand and when to move, (or mindless AOEing in the case of dungeons). Is there anything else you feel that the game is missing nowadays that it really had a handle on back then?
B: LOL yeah. there’s a ton of stuff I personally miss. But those are what Daewin (Brigwyn’s cohost on The Hunting Lodge) and others call my PawPaw Brig moments lol. The game changes that I miss are things that a majority of players even from Vanilla will probably say are okay that they’re gone. But there’s a few that I think are missed and in some ways take away from the “specialness”. For example. In Vanilla if you were bored and didn’t have anything to do. You’d start spamming /Gen /Trade and start setting up for World Bosses. Those were truly epic.
A: Yeah, i’m really sorry I missed those when they were relavent.
B: Haha. nothing like seeing just a ton of people from every level imaginable in several raid groups sometimes taking down and kiting a dragon
A: Even in BC, you rarely saw people going for Doom Lord Kazzak or Doomwalker
B: Yeah! Those types of things helped create a “community” feel on your sever. The other thing I think Blizz erred in removing were the random elites. These special “non-boss” bosses could spawn just about every/anywhere.
A: …and the nerfing of the existant ones, i’m sure.
B: Yeah! I was just going to say that. They were dang near impossible to kill. Especiall the Rare elites. And then you had “elites” outside of instances. What was good about these is it helped players learn how to develop “raid” skills outside of instances or raids. You had to kite, you HAD to maintain agro with your pet or you’d die and never succeed. Removing those set many zones on easy mode. For example, hardly anyone remembers that the ogres in STV were elites at one time.
A: Hah. I’ll admit, I didn’t even know that. But doesn’t that sort of take away from the fact that so much of this game can be done by yourself? I’m sure that’s something that does appeal to a lot of players.
B: But it’s an MMO-RPG right? And MMO stands for Massive MULTI-PLAYER Online. Again that brings me back to how the game has changed for the console players. See back in Vanilla there were several “basic” quests you were forced to group up on. Ask anyone from back in the day that tried to make the run through the wetlands at level, they’ll tell you the murlocs and the stealth crocolisks were He**: but you got to meet people, and help each other out. It was all fun. Today, it’s all about “powerlevel” to 80 and raid. People don’t even explore the world for the most part until AFTER they reach max level it seems.
A: Right, but by the same token, take Final Fantasy XI for example. One major complaint from people who played that game was that you couldn’t do anything by yourself. You had to group up for nearly every other quest. But, I suppose that’s more of that “impossible balance” you talked about earlier.
B: yeppers. And if I remember right. most players of FFXI were console right?
A: Yes, I would assume most of the FFXI players were console gamers, since that’s where the FF series made it’s popularity.
B: I do think it’s supposedly where Blizz got the idea of the Chocobo’s from. Err. I eman hawkstriders. (i’m still not entirely sure if he honestly meant to say chocobos the first time, or if it was a genuine slip-up) Right. so you had a bunch of players used to playing single player RPG or at most “fast pace arena/clan” based games and now put them in a world that was open and required you to play with people? Oh man. bad mix. OH! And I guess I should clear this up because a lot of people think I hate consoles or console players.I don’t. Honestly, their dedication and knowledge and talent for min/maxing is amazing. But their style is at a big juxtoposition with players like myself.
A: Hah. I never thought that, because like you said, a lot of Wow players now are former console players. Heck, I literally grew up on consoles.
B: HAHA! I do think that something Blizz might not have counted on at first with console players is how finicky they are. Console players are used to a playstyle of limited playhours per game. The only way to extend that is to add more content on a regular basis.
A: Yeah.. I think that’s extrememly apparent with the “flavor of the month” classes and specs and so forth. Blizz was blindsided by that, in spite of how much they might not wanna admit to it.
B: Exactly! They thought that the console players would have the “tenacity” of pc players but that’s just not the case. Console players play fast and furious to a definitive end. Then they move on.
A: Well I don’t think it’s that console players are any less tenacious. It’s just, like you said, they just underestimated the sheer min/maxing talent that some of them have. That’s tenacity, just in a different form.
B: Hmm. yeah. tenacity is the wrong word… what i meant was “willingness to play the same content over and over again. And with the Chinese market being under constant fire, it’s really must have scared the bejeebus out of them
A: Haha. That’s a different story altogether, I think.
(At this point my computer crapped out and I had to restart it. Thank god for IM archives)
B: So what I was saying is they had to think of a new revenue model b/c the console gamers were cycling out. They’ll by the gamecards and play until bored and then leave. That’s not what they want. Blizz wants the folks that pays 6mos or autosubscribe right? And the Asian and market is all about micro transactions. So now you see Blizz trying to appease both by creating “pixels” for sale. And by the results of the Sparkle Pony? I’d say it’s a huge success
A: Heh. That’s a very polarizing subject. Most people are either completely for the sparkle pony, or completely against it. Very few people fall in the middle of that debate.
B: yeah. I’m in the “I don’t care” area. It’s kinda stupid if you think about it. You don’t “Own” anything so basically you’re paying $25 for the “use” of an ingame item. No different really than a Pandaran Pet, or Trading card item. Honestly? I’d rather pay $25 for the sparkle pony than the going rate for the Spectral Tiger Mount
A: Right, but to be technical, you don’t really “own” anything that you’re paying $15 a month for either. And yes, the Spectral Mount is… obscenely expensive, and I just don’t get it. $25 I could understand, but $700 or whatever on ebay? Really?
B: see people feel they “own” the game b/c you have to pay for it in order to play. And they’re “okay” with subscribing to a service that keeps me playing each month. It’s all semantics but it’s how we justify the outrageous cost of $20/expansion + $15/mo lol
A: Right, and to an extent I can understand that, but as soon as you decide you’re done playing and stop paying that $15/mo, you don’t get anything tangible for your dedicated subscription.
B: right. but we’re used to that. buying something 100% virutal for $25 rubs many the wrong way. But to them I always ask, have you ever bought a loot card? b/c if you have and used it. then you’ve basically done the exact same thing. And honestly? The same thing goes for gold selling. To me it’s really all the same. It’s real dollars for in game pixels. None of it really matters b/c there’s always a way around it.
A: So you think Blizzard, by selling virtual items for real money, is in essence okaying gold selling?
B: Well let me put it this way.. What’s the difference between $25 for gold, $25 for loot codes, or $25 Sparkle pony? They’re all just stuff in the game that helps you play. Gold allows you to buy ingame stuff faster, Loot codes are special items, but they can also be “traded” for gold in game. The same can be said for any virtual good. Pets, etc.. Once I got the code. I can then “sell” it for the cash value or maybe a little less?
A: I honestly haven’t seen anyone selling sparkle pony codes, so I think it does sit a bit differently there. But of course, everyone’s mileage will probably vary.
B: well i’ve never been accused of thinking along the same lines as everyone else. I know my perspective is a bit skewed. But to me it’s all the same really. It’s cash for virtual goods. And as such, why not just open up the currency market inside the store and make it official. Anyone that’s known me knows that I’ve advocated for Blizzard to just sell gold from the store. And my guess is it’ll eventually happen. If for no other reason, b/c it’s a “cultural” norm in the asian market
A: If they did that, don’t you think Blizzard would lose a huge chunk of credibility with non-asian gamers, simply because they’ve been so staunchly against selling gold or weapons or anything of that nature?
B: oh. you mean like they’ll NEVER allow faction changes? or they’ll NEVER allow gender changes? or they’ll NEVER allow race changes? much less allow Faction+Gender+race+server changes to help hide a ninja’s trail?
A: Right, but do those things really affect gameplay as much as directly selling gold would?
B: Well put it this way… You have 1 guild right now that is comprised of over 5,000 members. If they all left their server at one time would the game play change? Or how about when a “raiding” guild leaves a competitive server for a low population one to just get “Firsts”? everything affects game play. Even the Sparkle poney. It’s BOA and you never have to buy a mount for any of your characters again. That’s a direct correlation then
A: I dunno. Does having a “server first” really affect the game play that much? What all does it get you except an achievement spam and a new title?
B: LOL! Tell that to those that want the “firsts” and recognition. But really what does gold get you? With everyone playing and manipulating the AH today on all the servers, is the economy “That” important? Most players today have alternate alts to keep their characters stacked. And if they don’t they’re gulid does.
A: I think the economy is more important in the grand scale of the game than a “server first” is
B: really? hmm.. Maybe b/c I’ve alwyas been “gold poor” i’ve never paid that much attention to it. But for me having more gold only meant buying more items. And that’s all we use gold for right? to buy more stuff? Firsts are “right of passage” they stick with you and can make your character/guild more valuable and marketable. that has a far more reaching impact than a few million gold. Also, if Blizz sold gold and made it something you could just get from their “official” store. Then you’d effectively put the spammers out of business.
A: But is it really that far reaching? We were just talking about how the community feeling isn’t there as much as it used to be within a server. Does making a guild more “marketable” really affect things that much when people can just go find another guild because they have a 6k gear score?
B: Oh sure it does. Once you get out of the middle of the bell curve and approach the top 10%. Guild Ranking is much more important. Remember these players have every class and prof covered and gold is only a “repair” cost it honestly doesn’t impact their day-to-day.
A: Right, but that top 10% of guilds may only consist of about 1% of the player base, wouldn’t you think?
B: I’d say more than 1% but yes, it’s a huge minority. But let’s put it this way. Out of the reported 11.5million players. I’d say easily less than 10% of those actually go out and read blogs/strats etc.. and care about firsts. But it’s those same <10% that controls how/where the game goes b/c of their activity and voice. Think Squeeky wheel gets the grease. And it’s those players that care about firsts and etc… so when you ask me the far reaching impact? I guess I look at it differently. Selling gold doesn’t scare me. impacting the direction of the game? that does. Now that doesn’t mean I approve of the gold sellers we have today. Those guys are should all be dragged out and have their “ears” clipped. If you know what I mean. lol
A: Hah. No arguement there. I don’t know that i’d agree with the <10% of the tops in the world being the only ones reading blogs and strats. Go to the wowhead forums sometime. They’ve got tons of people running the gamut from ICC hardmodes to “lol what’s ICC?”. People who want advice on how to improve are going to seek it out, without necessarily being the best of the best, so to speak.
B: check their “active member” numbers. I think you might be surprised. remember 10% is still 1.5 million people. Not hits. actual individuals. 1.5 million vocal players that are pretty active on almost all the major sites. we’re really a pretty small community when you think about it in the grand scheme of things. Read any forums and you’ll start to realize you’re always seeing the same names over and over again. It’s just the way it is. Always has been.
A: Well, yeah, you’re going to see some of the same names on a regular basis. But like myself for example. I consider myself “middle of the road” between casual and hardcore. I’m about 6/12 in ICC normal mode. I’d like to kill Arthas before Cataclsym goes live, but if I don’t, it’s no biggie really. But I am also trying to sorta, get myself out there among the community. Not because i’m a part of the creme de la creme, but because I think I have something to say that others want to hear.
B: Maybe this is more of the “old timer” mentality of being around the block too many times but have noticed in the grand scheme of things. Ask people what is more important to them indivually. The gold in their bank or the “progress” of their guild and they’ll typically say guild. That’s because gold is easy to get in game now, but progression isn’t. Which brings us back to your question. Is the game too easy? lol Not as easy as earning gold.
A: Don’t you love the way topics come full circle? lol.
B: And here I’ve rattled and rambled and never really talked about hunter stuff. I’m sorry..
A: LOL it’s fine. I was thinking about it earlier. I had this big old structured interview planned out, that probably would’ve taken 30 minutes, and here we’ve been talking for 2 1/2 hours or more. lol
B: oh man. I feel really bad. i’m not sure where your at or how late you are. but I’d be happy to answer your specific questions instead of my meanderings about the game. lol
A: Hahaha. No, it’s fine. This has been a lot of fun.
B: I truly understand how difficult structuring and interview is. Alright…. lol let’s get to it. then Don’t want those questions going to waste now do we. Trust me. If you don’t keep me on target I’ll just chase any squirrel running by
A: Don’t worry, i’ll find a way to splice this all together to make it look like it was completely planned that way.
B: okie doke..
Well, this is a great spot for the 2nd part of this interview to wrap up. As you can tell, I decided against “splicing” the interview except when absolutely necessary. This is pretty much the raw interview, nearly unedited, in sequence. I hope that I made these pieces small enough that your eyes aren’t ready to fall out from reading it. I really did try to find good, solid places to break the interview apart for digestable bits. Now, the conclusion. Hope you enjoy it!
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