Yeah, I think the title says it all. The patch wasn’t so awesome but not even too bad.

Tobold did a good work to summarize some of the changes, keeping a positive approach. The fact is that this patch added many little fixes and features that are helping the game overall. The linked auction houses, the shared Trade and LFG channels, the multiple queues for the BGs, till the smaller things, like the loot on the slimes (even if I would have liked the loot to be specialized for each mob type, instead of just enabled/disabled. They could be used for the new oils, for example).

If we want to rant there’s PLENTY to rant about and what I wrote about AQ still reflects accurately my point of view. So why the title? Because I was wrong with the “tone”. Actually it wasn’t directly my fault, but a reaction to the threads on the forums I was following. I had to defend my opinions and this brought to radicalize my position and underline those “mistakes”. But my point of view was originally quite simple (if you read the thread you’ll see why I started to counterattack).

The point is that the event is mostly an experiment. Easily doable and that probably didn’t require an insane amount of work. I have already noted some of the relevant points that are both at the base of my “rant” and the fact that the event itself isn’t too bad: “Again, it doesn’t add anything to the game, it doesn’t contribute with anything.”

The fundaments of the “rant” are that this type of mechanic is one that fits perfectly in the recent discussion about the levels on Raph’s blog. We have pointed out all the problems. In this case the mechanic doesn’t add anything worthwhile to the game. A new player joining now just wouldn’t see this mass grind as something that “adds” to the game. It doesn’t fit a specific function within it, it isn’t motivated. As I said, it’s a “void”. In this void Blizzard put a “myth” (the lore, server wide effort etc.. all ideal values), but it’s still a void that offers only the “gameplay” of the “carrot on a stick” (factional rewards and general advancement) and of a lottery (the random items) that can work only for the players already deeply involved. Then it affects other parts of the game, like the impact on the economy, the resource gathering and so on.

From a side the grind is absolutely optional. It doesn’t really impose itself on you. This is actually the very first mechanic that is truly shared and not directly mandatory. You can choose your reasons to join as you can just continue to play the game as if nothing changed. This was my first reaction. It wasn’t a rant. It was just a doubt. Why the players would care about this? I didn’t join the grind but I put in my own server tracker, messing with the code and updating it frequently. It is sort of exciting and refreshing, so it involved me even if I wasn’t interested in the grind. I’m part of it, dedicating to it my time and writing about it even if I have other things to write about.

Let’s focus on the roots. As I said this doesn’t add anything to the game because it remains a void. It works only if you are already absorbed. But isn’t this exactly the purpose? This event is designed to be “used” and forgotten. It isn’t a new mechanic added to the game, it isn’t a new cumulative feature. It’s transitory, to serve its purpose (a medicine for the economy, an effective cockblock for content and catass players) and then leave the game. It (hopefully) didn’t require too much work to be set-up, so it probably wasn’t a waste of resources that could have been spent to add something more relevant and elaborate. The fact that the grind is “validated” only if you are already a player, already deeply involved in the game, is also coherent with it’s purpose: it’s a retention mechanic for the players already in, not a feature to attract new ones.

Which is probably Blizzard’s first priority: retain those 5-millions of players they already have. We could argue whether there are better ways to do this or not. But, as I said, if you want to rant there’s always plenty to rant. Which is also why this genre is so interesting if you have the possibility to work within.

Finally, a last note. If this event went “right” and opened up so many interesting side-effects, it’s also because of the players. If this mechanic was applied to another game, the results would have been different and not as widespread. This again because right now Blizzard has the power of the mass-market, the power to influence directly the players. The power to define where the value is and convince all the players to move in that direction. This content is self-validated, not only self-excused. This is the most important mechanic here.

I define “self-excused” the carrot-on-a-stick. The motivation to do something not because you actually enjoy it (the journey), but because of the reward (the carrot/drug/stimulus). Then there’s another pattern joining this one: the self-validation. The carrot-on-a-stick works only if the player validates it. If the player thinks that the game isn’t appealing and not worth the time, the carrot-on-a-stick can even be the hugest ever, but it won’t work. The players play games obviously because they enjoy them. Then, AFTER this happens, you can add the carrots and keep them going. So these carrots are more retention mechanics than reasons why you play a game. And here the “self-validation” plugs in. Or the mass-market. In WoW you enter a large community that goes beyond the genre and the internet. It’s mass culture, you join a shared myth, not just a game with a strictly defined play session. The game continues beyond that play sessions.

As I wrote in that comment, you play and feel the motivation to play because everyone plays as well. This happened recently even with Eve, so it’s not something new. We can call this the word-of-mouth but this definition is limited to understand it. I call it “self-validation“. Once the initial pact between the player and the game is made, and so strong in the case of WoW, the game gains the possibility to impose its own values on the players. This is why we hear stories about these games messing with the real life of people. They self-validate till the point that the game has the priority over what you decide for yourself, it’s the game that plays you. And it’s the game to define exactly what you “value”.

This is why when you breach the mass market you become “untouchable”. Your (devs) mistakes will be forgiven, partly because the success of the game is undeniable and the /rimshot that just makes you shut up. And partly because the players are your “robots”. They’ll swallow everything and will love it. You won the possibility to decide what they’ll like and, right now, the community has a huge tolerance to broken design. They’ll scream like hell if the server goes down and you take the drug from them, but they are ready to accept whatever the game is going to offer. The communities will shape themselves around the content. At least till the “charm” will remain so strong.

So yes. The patch was so much better than my expectations. But from my point of view this was due to the community and the sheer power of influence that the game has right now.

/end of navel gazing