Would you level character in hard mode?

[mindw0rk]

Among the biggest complains about current WoW is leveling which is so easy, you just never feel sense of danger. If Blizzard ever addresses this adding optional hard mode, would you choose it over default one?
This is how I see this hard mode: you can active it just like lock XP - speaking with NPC in Stormwind or Ironforge. Then all classic zones 1-60 become much harder, similar to vanilla experience. Common mobs become harder then current elites, elites become 5 times stronger, rares even more deadly and require group. Classic dungeons scale to similar difficulty like hardmode dungeons in Cata. Also all players playing this mode with be merged together from all servers, so it will be more active population.
You dont get any particular rewards for playing in hard mode, but you get achievement for completing leveling in it for every class.

[Statix]

Some classes wouldn't be able to deal with this. It's completely unfair.

No, leveling is already a pain.

[pmkaboo]

more damage/hp =/= difficulty

[Wishblade]

Nope.

Leveling is not something I really care for when the real fun starts at max level, to me anyway.

One could say that it might break up the story if I'm suddenly too overleveled for a zone, but if I care about the story then I'm just gonna finish the zone regardless before moving on. If not, I can always just come back later, no big deal.

I'd rather save the challenges for later. Then again, Hard modes are usually not my thing.

[Aeula]

No, tried levelling in vanilla and couldn't make it past 23 before being bored. It wasn't hard per say, but there were situations you could get into where you were basically fucked. Plus it was unnecessarily slow.

[Deleted]

You're a hero that killed Illidan, Arthas, Deathwing and other legendary monsters, why would you feel in danger when fighting a boar?

[Deleted]

Would rather have legacy servers......

Implementing this in todays azeroth is a bad idea, along with the way players play today.

[zephid]

I would. I hate easy leveling.

[Pull My Finger]

No, leveling shouldn't be "hard". It just shouldn't be trivial, and I'm actually shocked that any time this topic is brought up, so many people seem to not be able to think in the spectrum between the two extremes.

Leveling in a game like WoW is a continuous, progressive thing. It's flowy at its best and boring at its worst. The actual "art" in creating a good leveling experience is to keep up that continuous feel, where you just keep on going, zone after zone, level after level, and get a kick out of progressing your journey. When you look at WoW leveling and what it does in the moments where it feels best, you'll discover that it completely fits in the scheme of what that psychologist dude Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi describes as "Flow": http://www.gamasutra.com/view/featur...hology_of_.php

WoW leveling has to have a smooth continuity that's almost mesmerizing. It just goes on and on. For that to work, challenge-wise it has to sit in the exact spot between not being too trivial (which was the case in WoW for a while, but things are getting better now) and not being to stressful or punishing, because both scenarios prevent you from being "hooked" in an almost automatized way. If it's too easy, you can't really engage, it just bores the hell out the player. If it's too hard, the repetitive nature of the gameplay becomes just tedious and cumbersome, the satisfaction of that smooth perpetual motion that's so important for leveling completely grinds to a halt. 100 levels is just too much for something like that.

So the answer is that yes, in WoW, there was a phase where leveling clearly became WAY to trivial and WAY too easy and that completely killed the fun of it. But making it particularly challenging is a very mistaken kind of thinking, it's absolutely not the remedy for the problem. It's just not the right thing for that kind of content.

[mindw0rk]

You're a hero that killed Illidan, Arthas, Deathwing and other legendary monsters, why would you feel in danger when fighting a boar?

Your other characters are. Those starting fresh never dealt with anything except boars

[Alski]

I would like it, but it would have to be something more than just a damage/hp buff.

[grexly75]

Since the poll is really so one sided.. I go with Hell No option plain n simple that is..

[Aggrophobic]

Leveling was never hard, it just took time.
Leveling has also never been a part of the game I enjoyed.

No, I would not level in hard mode. The game is about endgame and I play "hard mode" there. It's enough.

[Alski]

Since the poll is really so one sided.. I go with Hell No option plain n simple that is..

If everyone was running head first into a brick wall would you do that too?

[grexly75]

If everyone was running head first into a brick wall would you do that too?

No I am not that stupid, I would rather end game be a challenge not the crappy leveling being a pain in the ass.. Leveling in and of itself is a pain in the ass making it harder to level only serves to piss people off, and thus leave the game.. If the OP thought this was a good idea they need a swift kick up the butt..

[Marston]

Depends. I would at least try it. I am all for it being optional though, as you said. But I wouldn't just buff everything, it should still reward the player. For example it could be scaling, a simple debuff on the player for example. Stuff like "Deal 10% less damage and take 10% more damage, but also get 5% more EXP from defeated enemies." Could be scaled up to whatever suits you. Maybe you like 100% more damage taken/less damage dealt and get 50% more exp from kills. Maybe you go so far as 200% taken/dealt and 100% EXP. Or even further.

Aside from that, the only real challenge would be grouping. What would happen if you group with someone who has a higher/lower buff than you or no buff at all? Change it so it goes down to the lowest level in the group? Each player retains his buff (which could be exploited in groups, so that would be a no go). What about dungeons?

But yeah, I would support this if it is optional and has some kind of reward. More kill EXP, higher drop rate, something to offset the increased difficulty.

[grexly75]

Actually if you want real hard mode then make it that if you die you have to start all over again with rolling another toon.. Then you will have your challenge, lets see how long people put up with that crap..

[Hey There Guys its Metro]

Well let's be clear. The people who complain about leveling being too easy are casuals. No serious player wants to waste time with that part of the game. The people complaining don't do anything difficult that's actually in the game, so there is no reason to qualify that as serious feedback.

However, what I WOULD like to see is a separate option where leveling can be balanced a bit more seriously and taken to a higher difficulty. There is something about that that seems attractive to me, but I would never do it on live servers with hundreds of clowns hopping around in heirlooms.

Honestly, I think we will see a big leveling reveal at the end of Legion going into 8.0.
It just seems logical with all the outside pressure of Classic.

[apples]

an actual hardmode where if you get hit by anything you die and your account is deleted?

or pussy hardmodes?

[jettzypher]

Sure. And while we're at it, let's add a hardcore mode as well, gated behind this increased difficulty. So then, not only is leveling harder, but if you die, it's permanent death for the character. Grexly knows what's up. *thumbs up*


If I could be serious for a moment, though... One thing that would help is if the zones all scaled (possibly a toggled ability for those that prefer it). This way, it's not possible to simply out-level any particular area, thus trivializing its content. This is something the devs did with the content in Legion. You can out-gear (in time), but you can't out level.