Blizzard have made some great world events and some really bad ones. So I thought I would detail what (based on my opinions as well as those in other blogs and guild discussion) are the good and the bad points of these events.
Good
Achievements/rewards
The introduction of achievements made world events a great deal more satisfying. However this makes obvious the world events that do not have achievements and leaves them slightly hollow. Having some sort of reward to work towards is also good, I am a big fan of the mounts, titles and other fun items that are slowly filling up my bank space.
Special bosses
I love special world event bosses, this was a great introduction and I hope more are added and updated for each year. Something that would be really interesting would be the addition special bosses, similar to Prince Tenris Mirkblood in Karazhan for the introduction of Wrath, every now and again. I’m sure there are a few instances in Northrend that could house an extra boss when required.
Fun daily quests
Daily quests sit hand in glove with a token based reward system. Despite a couple of small bugs I really enjoyed the Brewfest quests, groups of us would complete them together each evening before heading off to Black Rock Depth to lay some Smack Down on the Dark Irons.
Token based rewards
As mentioned below having rewards based on a Random Number Generator(RNG) is not fun! So the introduction of rewards that are purchased with tokens acquired during the event is a great way to go.
Available to all levels
Okay so every part of a world event doesn’t need to be available to all levels but it is good when newer players can still participate. Winterveil is a good example of this, lower characters can still get some of the presents and complete many of the quests.
Bad
Random Number Generator
Tasks or rewards that involve random drops are no fun at all. This is especially the case for short events where your opportunities to acquire said item are limited. A great example is the recent “Love is in the Air” festival. Instead of having each item be randomly included in a gift of adoration why not have different type of NPCs give you different things as a gift. So for example male guards give you Love Rockets and female guards Love Fools, male food vendors give you a Bag of Candies and female give you a Box of Chocolates. As mentioned above, for rewards, a token based system when you receive token for completing tasks is a much better. I’m all for having power items have low drop rates but when there is a limited time frame it just gets frustrating.
Long travel for short task
There is nothing worse than having to travel to a far off zone to complete a task that takes all of 5 seconds. So although I enjoyed traveling around the world for the “Honor your Elders” achievements having to go all the way to the end of Maraudon for one of the elders as very annoying.
Imposed participation
People shouldn’t have to participate in world events, I believe this was the mistake of the Zombie Invasion (well one of them). There should always be an opt out, especially in major cities where most people just want to do their auctions in peace. If for story purposes a city needs to be involved then limiting the event to only one city for each faction would mean people can escape to other locations if they needs to.
Opportunities for griefing
I play on a PvP server but there is a difference between PvP and griefing. If a world event allows a level 80 to kill a level 10 over and over then that level 10 player is going to be a bit upset.
Overall I think that World Events are slowly improving. It is nice to have a purpose in world events, a reason to complete quests that is storyline or reward based. Hopefully some of the annoying RNG tasks will be removed as events are revisited. It would also be good to see some of the rare items have their drop rates improved or be acquired with tokens. Probably the most important thing will be to have events with special instanced bosses updated to the new level cap of 80.
Images thanks to Wowhead and World of Warcraft Blogger.
Monday, February 16, 2009
World Events - The Good and the Bad
Monday, October 27, 2008
I have done a bit of forum reading, apparently we can expect a conclusion to this event pretty soon. There is a lot of fuss on Blizzards Official Forums, I would go so far as to say it’s the worst I have seen it. However there is light at the end of the tunnel, apparently both the King of Stormwind and Thrall have disappeared. and before the king left he talks about a powerful holy weapon. Happenings are a foot.
Read Full ArticleI can only hope...
Presently I have a very narky and slightly QQ post sitting in my blog post drafts. At the moment the Zombie Invasion world event is causing me a lot of frustration. But there is a reason that I haven’t posted my angry article. I am trusting Blizzard to take this event somewhere good and quickly. The concept is solid, plagued grain is a nice reflection of what happened in Stratholme and the undead slowly taking over the world. But from this we need a climatic conclusion.
Hints are coming that the Alliance (and I suppose the Horde too) are working to retaliate. Elfarol posted an interesting transmission from a Gnomish Wireless Unit and Wow Insider has a few hints from faction leaders. Hopefully Blizzard will pull this off and there will be an epic conclusion which kicks Wrath off with a bang and swamps out the frustrations insured by rampant ganking zombies.
EDIT: People are getting really annoyed now, apparently there have been a lot of complaints in guild chat. Perhaps I should post my QQ article anyway.
Friday, October 24, 2008
The Evil Dead!
Although I have not entered the world for a day or so, word is out that Arthas is making his move against the Alliance and Horde. Diseased creates of wheat have arrived around Azeroth those who catch the infection form them will, unless cured, turn into a zombie. Thankfully the Argent Dawn have healers in the major cities who can cure you of this horrific disease but it will only be a matter of time before even they are turned.
I plan to form a party of defenders to help contain this menace, concern remains that although Ironarm is tough and has a resistance to disease he will be turned by shear weight of numbers. We can only hope that a powerful force will appear and assist us as it appears that the zombies are getting stronger.
Roleplay aside, this could be an interesting and at the same time a very annoying event. I will need to investigate which NPCs can be infected and whether that will make them hostile. Hopefully the placement of Agent Dawn forces will help to mitigate this and ensure the game remains fun. Should the Auctioneers, Innkeepers and quest givers get turned life could get quite frustrating. The fact that people are complaining that paladins, priests and shaman are cleansing them surprises me. As far as I can see the main reason people want to be zombies is to attack others and cause havoc. Dispelling the disease seems like a great way to stop them from doing that.
Should you wish to join me, in the defense against the zombie infestation, then have a look at the guide on Wow Insider for some tips on staying alive. We will NEVER give up we will NEVER surrender! For the LIGHT!
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