Hardcore WoW - Yay or Nay?

[Deleted]

If WoW became super hardcore, not early Cataclysm hardcore, but REALLY hardcore. I mean attunements for raids and dungeons. A typical mob being able to actually kill a player 1v1. Epic gear only being available in raids/top-tier pvp, blues only available in dungeons/mid-tier pvp, and greens being the standard for a normal player. Legendaries being reserved for something like the top 0.5%. Quests being challenging with Blizzard actively encouraging grouping more often. Classes with rotations that call for more skill but with a higher reward when very skilled. In essence shit DPS if you suck, but infinitely amazing DPS depending on your skill.

Gold being more difficult to come by and professions taking much longer to level but with more powerful rewards. With the earlier dungeons in the attunement system being easier but the later ones becoming increasingly difficult, culminating in the end boss of the expansion that not everyone gets to see. A much more compelling and rewarding PvP experience, with a focus on making WoW a legitimate e-sport.

And in general, just creating a community that does not reward bads or encourage being a scrub. A community where every players performance in a dungeon counts, and where accountability is much higher. A community where people strive towards a goal and work hard to reach it. A community built on competition and dedication. With all of this starting with Blizzard themselves encouraging the community of yester-year. A return to the essence of WoW.

-Would you like a much more hardcore WoW like this?
-Would this be a smart business move for Blizzard to make, or would it backfire?
-Would the positive word-of-mouth/reviews resulting from this be enough to spark an influx of returning players?
-Is it possible that the subscriber influx would come after some time when the community readjusts, and not necessarily immediately?

[Frumpy Frumpy Frak]

I would LOVE* this.

*By love I mean hate.

[Adlen]

I dont care if WoW became more hard-core or easier

The thing that pisses me off is that Blizzard continues to fuck with difficulty after shit has already been released

[Yunru]

Well there was a ironman thingy not so long ago (wich we could call a mini hardcore mode).

[Deleted]

If it came into effect now, World of Warcraft would die off.

Despite what many may think, the casual player base is the majority, and while casual doesn't mean bad, it does mean they don't have the time to put into the game to overcome the challenges you've detailed.

I think it would be cool personally, but I see it being a totally World of Warcraft killing move.

[Deleted]

I think this would work very well, both critically and financially. The problem is that Blizzard knee-jerk reacts too much. When subscribers go down at first as the baddies run away, like at the start of Cata, then Blizzard will want to nerf things back. However, word of mouth takes time. Any real change takes time. It takes a full expansion to "re-learn" the WoW community.

It took the whole of WotLK to turn the community into whining baddies. It will take another full expansion to fix them. Not just one patch....

[Deleted]

How about a healthy middle ground... like in TBC! (HA!!)

[Deleted]

Yes, give me another shadow lab heroic and attunements. Let there be that "one guy" you recognise by name wandering Stormwind or Orgrimmar because he's decked out in gear you would never be able to get. Let there be wipes, let there be nubs crying and let the golden age of WoW return.

[Deleted]

What you are suggesting could as well kill half the subs of WoW. I'm all in for something harder than t13, (t11 not nerfed comes to mind) but to go as hardcore as you want, no thanks, no matter how much I like the challenge I prefer to have a L-I-F-E. Simple. I would love everything to be cata hardcore if not slightly more hardcore but still give a lot of people the opportunity to enjoy the game, the way you want the game to be, 10% will be enjoying the game while the rest will be bored most of the time or do something they don't like. What you suggest is not hardcore, it's elitist.

[Lysah]

Sounds a lot more like classic WoW.

I'd be all for this.

[McNeil]

The difficulty in TBC was fine. Having 1 typical mob strong enough win 1v1 is a bad idea, because if you pull accidently 1 mob mroe you'll whipe.

I'd love a hardcore WoW, but most of the playerbase these days want to be lazy and still get free epics

[Howard Moon]

It would be fun for some people, but not for Bli$$$ard, unfortunately.

[Necrolepsy]

I think we're so desensitised to difficulty at this point that it'd take us way out of our comfort zone.

[Hanto]

Well there was a ironman thingy not so long ago (wich we could call a mini hardcore mode).

Wouldn't the ironman thing be considered a super hardcore? 0 deaths, no green or higher gear, not allowed to trade, do dungeons, etc? I'd consider this much more difficult than the proposed hardcore.

[lopk]

Well there was a ironman thingy not so long ago (wich we could call a mini hardcore mode).

Sure, it was hard. But I really don't see how fun it is doing everything with no gear. You're forcing the difficulty and that's a no no.

I would love this, but it'd be a terrible move for WoW.

[Deleted]

I think this would work very well, both critically and financially. The problem is that Blizzard knee-jerk reacts too much. When subscribers go down at first as the baddies run away, like at the start of Cata, then Blizzard will want to nerf things back. However, word of mouth takes time. Any real change takes time. It takes a full expansion to "re-learn" the WoW community.

It took the whole of WotLK to turn the community into whining baddies. It will take another full expansion to fix them. Not just one patch....

Totally agree. At the start of Cataclysm, I had more fun then I've ever had in World of Warcraft. The bosses were enjoyable to fight against, and I said the exact same thing to my whole guild.

+ 1

[Mammoon]

While I am sure people on MMO-champ will like this, it isn't necessary.

They don't need to shun the casual players, but they also don't need to spit in the face of the more hardcore audience.

They need to have max level content for casuals to do, but also have max level challenging content for the hardcore audience that does give certain rewards only obtainable from heroic modes... And then instead of constantly nerfing it to the ground, they need to push the casual audience towards getting better, or show them how cool it would be if they actually tried hard enough to obtain those rewards.

Dear Blizzard, not everyone on the server has to full clear the current raid tier on Heroic mode before you can release another patch or expansion. It is ok if only the better guilds can do it, and that will push the other guilds on the server to try to get better and compete (if that is there thing, there are also plenty of guilds that just want to full clear on normal, and Blizzard doesn't need to nerf everything so that these normal mode guilds can full clear everything on heroic as well).

[Deleted]

I would like some of it, sure. but the vast majority wouldn't. and Blizzard certainly would never do something like this. they'd lose a lot of money that way.

you said it yourself, only 0.5% to see specifics. that's 99.5% that are pretty likely to be pissed they dont get to see it.

[Deleted]

The difficulty in TBC was fine. Having 1 typical mob strong enough win 1v1 is a bad idea, because if you pull accidently 1 mob mroe you'll whipe.

I see nothing wrong with this. You see those CC skills on your action bar? Use them.

[Sackman]

What you are suggesting could as well kill half the subs of WoW. I'm all in for something harder than t13, (t11 not nerfed comes to mind) but to go as hardcore as you want, no thanks, no matter how much I like the challenge I prefer to have a L-I-F-E. Simple. I would love everything to be cata hardcore if not slightly more hardcore but still give a lot of people the opportunity to enjoy the game, the way you want the game to be, 10% will be enjoying the game while the rest will be bored most of the time or do something they don't like. What you suggest is not hardcore, it's elitist.

You can't play wow and have a L-I-F-E no matter if it's casual or hardcore. Sorry, this derogatory term is saved for those who can say it without riposte such as this.