was just thinking about the direction of the most recent expansions and how in some cases the over-arching themes may still be mature or have some semblance "adult seriousness" ... the portrayal of the story, the direction of it and even the character development have been increasingly more kid-friendly. being that it is a video game and it's a fantasy setting and MMO kind of game, does WoW need to fully go PG in order to thrive? does it need to cater towards the age of demographic of, let's say, 8 - 13, primarily?
in essence, much similar to motion picture ratings and tv show ratings, remove heavy images of gore, remove swearing, remove sexually explicit imagery and even the implied variations of those things. to write more over the top/cartoony stories or characters (like how Bwonsamdi is portrayed) but with hints of seriousness.
my thoughts on it:
- it's much easier to catch the imagination of children/younger people in a fantasy MMO setting than it is for the majority of young adult/adult players.
-it is easier for children/younger people generally to not be so cynical towards the direction of the story/lore as well as the flow of balance of the game/classes/game systems.
now personally I do --not-- think Blizz needs to make WoW go full "PG" and they can afford to still cater to a more mature demographic of players ... yet it just feels like that is the ultimate direction of to take the game the other way.
in light of speculative news about Activision being balls deep in Blizz's creative process and dictating what to and what not do, i could imagine the best course of action is to target that younger demographic who are using their allowance money (or just mom and dad's credit card) to pay for this game per month, buy cool and funny things off the Blizz Store, and keep them engaged for years to come... whereas the more cynical and realistic thinking young adult/adult has no problem spending their money on another product/game.
i can't be the only one who feels this way? maybe i am.