10 Things Blizzard Want You To Forget

9. Battle Of Azeroth Makes World Of Warcraft A "Games Of Service"

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Blizzard

World Of Warcraft has done what many MMORPGs have failed to do, stay relevant. This is thanks to repeated expansions that pushed the boat out with new content that provided both ample activities for casual players as well as epic raids and end-game activities for the hardcore fans.

Battle Of Azeroth tried to innovate further by implementing a "games of service" style content distribution, as is the current video game zeitgeist. The issue is that World Of Warcraft is an institution, with a player base that has been populating the world for 16 years.

Introducing new game modes, such as Warfront, behind a timed-release didn't appeal to most of WoW's fanbase. Having a key mode only accessible once a month put unnecessary time pressure on casual fans, whilst keeping the daily player twiddling their thumbs until the new loot pool is available to them.

This became even more annoying when paired with the new Azerite Armour system, which inadvertently slowed progression and restricted the types of armour you could wear. These sandbox changes, designed for a totally different type of game, tried to squeeze every inch of content out of this new expansion. All it did instead was frustrate the fans the content was designed for.

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Watcher of old films. Player of many games. Lover of all sports. Pretentious on most music. Useless at physical tasks.