I gotta tell ya. I was PUMPED about the idea of creating a gnome monk. This was going to be the selling point for a player like me. I figured, no matter what else was happening to the game, I could be grateful that the denizens of Azeroth would have to respect my short legs in Mists.
It is not to be.
Mists reminds us that the current design team hasn’t learned the lessons from the days of yore. Perhaps they haven’t been with the game very long, who knows. What’s known is that Mists is failing in the same areas that previous development acknowledged and fixed. They are remaking mistakes they’ve already addressed in the past. The current state of beta is mind-boggling both in what it offers and what it pretends to offer.
The New Experience
It is said, time and again, by every voice ever raised in praise of WoW, that it succeeds very well at accessibility and polish. Today I tell you, it’s becoming a weak spot and a place where they are failing in a big way. Ever since the crossover from accessibility to triviality, those currently making the game have long forgotten what it is to be approachable and to be trivial to the point of pointlessness. The game is increasingly patronizing.
So, I make my GenericPanda0127 and login to the game. I have a quest completed as soon as the screen appears. I merely have to turn it in for 10xp …for logging in. Neat, I guess.
The next quest is to put on some handwraps, ostensibly to begin training as a monk. It turns out I’m right and as soon as I put on the handwraps I turn in the quest to be handed a 3rd quest in which I must now go punch some bags. At this point, I’m still reading quest text because I want to get a feel for the narrative.
While showing my newbie monk prowess on the training bags, an NPC trainee says something to the tune of ”you’re moves are so great! I hope I can be as good as you!” …at which point I decided I absolutely had no desire to continue reading quest text nor even to do quests. I figured I’d just do the quest and forget about reading it. It’s pretty clear to me at this point that I’m too good for this content, afterall all the NPCs seem to think so. I’m even thinking “why am I doing this?” Just give the player 10 levels and a tutorial video and call it a day.
The fifth quest was the straw that broke the proverbial camel’s back. I must carry this flame to a special shrine on the roof of the temple and burn it. Except, to complete the quest one must click the shrine. And since 1000 monks are all trying to click the shrine, almost none of us are able to complete the quest.
This is one of those lessons from Azeroth Gaming Past that was learned and has currently been unlearned. It’s even the dumbest design for a quest they’ve used in a long while. It’s not a good mechanic in the first place, let alone put into a starter zone which is and will be crawling with pandas for the first month of release. An 8 year old game should know better, especially since this has already been encountered in previous iterations. What have they learned all these years (other than to count to 10 million)?
Not able to complete the quest I decide, screw questing. I head off to take screenshots and have a look at the new art direction for Pandaria. I’m not all that optimistic at this point in my adventure, but I figure Blizzard doesn’t usually do too terrible in the art department so this should be worthwhile.
Pandaria is too bright. Like Super Mario Brothers too bright. A friend of mine who hasn’t played the beta asked a good question: “Bright like Hellfire Peninsula?” to which I said no, but good point. There have been quite a few brightly colored zones in Azeroth Gaming Past which didn’t come off quite so childish and out of sync with the general feel of the Warcraft universe. Pandaria’s color scheme reminded me *specifically* of Super Mario 64 for the Nintendo 64.
I take some screenshots anyway. Despite the kiddie feel of the zone I decide it still doesn’t look bad. It just doesn’t look like anything Warcraft. The mountains are steeped with rice paddies, rivers are bridged with quaint wooden bridges, and all buildings give off the Chinese Temple aura. I found no quest giver who was designed for me, the veteran player and I even learned that new Pandas are locked into the newbie zone until they reach a certain level (possibly 9 or 10). That’s right. Unless you’re the proper level, you cannot walk outside of the beginner area. I didn’t think it a beta restriction because beyond the gate there were plenty of level 10s doing quests. I know because I found a way around the gate by swimming to a waterfall and jumping to the other side. Whether there was an alternative road, I didn’t find one. What I do know is the main road was blocked for all but the level 10 Pandas. And that means it was blocked with intent.
There’s no precedent for players being barred from exploring outside of a starter zone in WoW or any other MMO I’ve played. This is quite possibly a first.
I ended my adventure at level 2 having spent a little under an hour exploring the newbie zone. Here’s what I learned:
The game is patronizing.
I don’t mean that in a snooty way. I mean that in the purest sense of the term. The player is reminded at every turn they’re so awesome, they should do petty quests because …you should quest (???)! Before I hit level 2 I was praised incessantly by quest givers and nearby NPCs. The colors screamed “I’m Marty, and I’m 5 years old”. I was locked into the newbie area with no recourse but to grind mobs that won’t attack me or do quests that challenge my ability to click an object faster than the other 1000 monks (I suppose it’s akin to catching flies with chopsticks, amirite?).
Most importantly, I’m not a newbie to this game. Pandas are new, monks are new, but I, the player, am not new. I’m a veteran. What’s in Pandaria for me?
I found that there’s nothing there for me. No advanced quest giver to say “hey, you’ve been around the block right? Here’s a real challenge!” No option to refuse the triviality and move on to something that’s actually engaging. I found that Blizzard has so blindly, with such powerful tunnel vision, created a game in which it *only* caters to new players; those who have never played World of Warcraft before (which can’t be that many people after 10 million). Only newbies. There was nothing there for the veteran to say “OMG THIS IS AWESOME!”. This was the most patronizing thing of all, to find that the game had forgotten players like me even existed. The newbie zones are designed to entertain those who have never played World of Warcraft and holds no intrigue for others. I’m not sure what newbie would be impressed with this anyway, but I’m sure they exist.
For those of us who have done it, we are asked to endure another bland, childish newbie experience which isn’t much different from my first day at Northshire Abbey or the Valley of Trials (except those didn’t feel targetted at children). Eight years, and the game offers no new experiences in the newest zones for veteran players. Nothing.
My experience with Mists of Panderia beta so far has lead me to decide I shouldn’t buy it. The game isn’t targeted at players such as myself. It’s not that the whole Panda theme didn’t give strong hints of this at the outset. I just always try to reserve final judgement until I see for myself. And nothing that I’ve seen makes me believe that Blizzard is targetting veteran players or long-time Azerothlings. And it’s not that many veterans won’t be pleased or entertained by this insulting experience. The new Pandaria completely assumes the player is dumb as a rock, even to the point that you are literally given experience for logging in. While there is such a thing as assuming a person doesn’t know something specific, there’s also such a thing as assuming a person can decide for themselves whether to leave the new starter area.
That final point indicates a total break down of design ability. Design is all about creative solutions, and the most elegant solution this team could find to keep players interested in staying within the newbie zone, or convincing them through creative means that there’s great danger beyond that wall, thereby persuading them to stay and learn how best to face those challenges by remaining in lowbie land and learning from engaging, interesting, fun quests …they just locked you into a village. This is a total breakdown of design integrity and since I don’t know all the staff I can’t be sure this isn’t just incompetence.
I guess this is part 1, strike 1. I will write some feedback on the level 85-90 experience and will likely do so from the point of view of the Hunter, a class I’ve been with a long time and can therefore appreciate the changes to come. Stay tuned. Until then, here’s some screenshots of Mario 64, err …Mists of Pandaria starter area.
Suspension of Disbelief