Boy, if you aren’t into MMO housing, then last Thursday’s State of Azeroth video probably was nails-on-chalkboard for you. Heck, I love housing and what Blizzard has done here, and even I think the devs were hammering on that one particular system a little too much.
So yeah, the half-hour video was hardly balanced between the different versions and features of the game, which could be aggravating. Yet it was also informative, especially for those of us ready to jump into World of Warcraft: Midnight with both feet, anticipating the months ahead. Let’s talk about the roadmaps, the reveals, and the surprises!
It’s going to be a busy year
Stepping back to take a high-level overview of the full report, I find my overall impression of this video is that (a) Blizzard is pushing housing so dang hard right now, (b) the studio doesn’t want Classic to steal any of Midnight’s thunder, and (c) there’s so much coming in retail once the expansion launches.
I appreciate the detailed — if not dated — roadmap leading us through the next six or so patches. Blizzard said that it’s committed to doing the every-two-months cadence on releases, even if these patches aren’t all the major ones (only 12.1 is on the docket here).
We’ll have our hands full with Midnight’s release for a couple months, after which the patches start to add on to the next expansion cycle. There does seem to be a greater emphasis on raids this time around, including smaller one-boss ones, which is interesting.
It’s a nice array of activities, without too much downtime, which pings different playstyles. Sure, some people will suffer mightily trying to get it all done, but I think Blizzard is in the right here when it’s been saying these past few years that it wants to give its players a fun choice of content that appeals to them. Pick what you want to do and ignore the rest.
What surprises were here?
Above and beyond the expected announcements were a few (admittedly) mild surprises. I was intrigued by the reveal of mega-delves, aka labyrinths, that are coming in Patch 12.1.5. My first impression is that these felt a little like a raid that you complete over the course of several nights, nibbling away until it’s all done. The idea is both exciting and overwhelming, and I’m glad to see the delve system being iterated with this expansion.
Then there was the tease (including an image) of a new standalone mode such as the remixes or Plunderstorm. Blizzard was super-cagey about this — I’m betting it’ll be a BlizzCon reveal — but the late-year timing tells me that it’s in preparation for a lull in expansion interest. An intermission, if you will. The image looks suitably cataclysmic, but past that, I have no idea what this mode might entail.
The final and most mild of surprises was a new hide-and-seek activity where players disguise themselves as decor and plop down in some public space for their friends to find. It’s silly and no doubt infuriates the hardcore set, but those silly and fun activities help to strengthen social glue and give guilds things to do. I’m all for this.
Hey, did you hear about housing?
If you didn’t pick up on the drums of interior decoration from this video, the final cinematic was nothing but another commercial for the housing system. Admittedly, it was a cute and charming commercial done in a style that’s a lot more palpable than the abomination that was the Midnight cinematic, but this was more marketed toward newcomers than the Blizzard faithful.
We were promised a housing roadmap with this report, and while we didn’t get a graphic and a timeline, the leads did talk about what’s coming. And for housing fans, the future looks good, with features like housing pets, copy-and-paste functionality, increased decor limits, and import and export tools coming to the game… at some point.
I’m still a little shocked that Blizzard’s gone so hard on housing after years of belittling it. But I can also understand why the studio’s pushing this so much. It’s the tentpole feature of the expansion that has a widespread, cross-demographic appeal, and it speaks to the “cozy” trend that’s been all the rage in pop culture this decade.
Overall, this was a good report for retail players. It does make me wonder what Blizzard is holding back for BlizzCon, though. I think Update 12.2 info and The Last Titan reveal are the most likely candidates to take the stage at the show, and both of those would be welcome indeed.
War never changes, but World of Warcraft does, with almost two decades of history and a huge footprint in the MMORPG industry. Join MOP’s WoW fans for new installments of WoW Factor as they examine the enormous MMO, how it interacts with the larger world of online gaming, and what’s new in the worlds of Azeroth and Draenor.