Ruined My Life

World of Warcraft and It’s Miss at PvP Combat

Blogged in MMORPGs, Games by Matt on Friday May 26, 2006

Note: This is part one out of a series of articles, titled “PvP Combat, Release Dates, Innovation and MMORPGs; A Death Sentence“, covering some of the aspects and short falls that I feel numerous MMORPGs have been plagued by.

The debate whether game developers rush products to achieve an optimal release date has always been a hot bed for discussion, however in MMORPGs it seems skipping some small yet vital additions to the game can make or break your release. Back in later 2004 we saw two should be giants going head to head, World of Warcraft and Everquest 2.

When World of Warcraft was announced the gaming community was sucked up in a cyclone of press and hype. Could Blizzard deliver a MMORPG that would catch on with the hardcore gamers as well as with the more casual players, in this case the Blizzard audience Warcraft and Diablo, while staying true to it’s roots of being a highly polished titled developed by Blizzard? The buzz from the closed beta of World of Warcraft was one of a highly refined MMORPG experience even in it’s infants stages, however there was still that group of players who cried for balance before release. Everquest 2 was in development head to head with World of Warcraft. As the two were developed, the open beta/stress tests were fast approaching.

World of Warcraft, Blizzard’s amazing entrance to the MMORPG Scene.

As the beta test (or Open Stress Test) for World of Warcraft carried on, Sony Online Entertainment announced they would be releasing Everquest 2 in the middle of Novemeber 2004, almost 6 months ahead of the expected release date. Was SOE feeling the dragon of World of Warcraft breathing down the neck of its lovechild Everquest 2? The majority sure seem to think so.

Was World of Warcraft that much better of a game? In my opinion, which is shared by millions of others, yes! When playing Everquest 2 in comparison to World of Warcraft it was as if you were playing a sloppy, poorly executed upgrade of Everquest. Others may argue that Everquest 2 was everything Everquest is, in my opinion it was two steps backwards in terms of innovation. Perhaps the most non-suprising fact is that Blizzard came into the market on their first attempt and made it’s self known as “The MMORPG Developer.”

The ill-fated SOE lovechild, Everquest 2

What exactly made World of Warcraft “The MMORPG to Own?” Blizzard brought its hugely successful Warcraft franchise to the MMORPG playing field and executed its direction and style to perfection. The story, the look, the style, the feel of Warcraft were all, right there in a ever changing MMORPG world. The game may not have been the prettiest graphics ever, but the art style in which they were done was perhaps the most awe-inspiring part of World of Warcraft. As great as World of Warcraft is in it’s PvE elements, it falls severly on it’s back when it comes to PvP.

People are impatient creatures, we don’t like to wait!

As World of Warcraft was being “stress-tested” the community was told time and time again that an organized PvP Combat System would be added. However, as time carried on player’s realized the system would not see the light of day untill well after the initial release date. Some players will argue that MMORPGs are all about joining forces to battle armies of nasties, while there is a large, and very vocal group that want the blood of other players. Who can really blame them anyways? Sinking twenty days or more in to your “ultimate character” just to battle critters isn’t very fulfilling, instead being able to see how your character stands up to other players is where it’s at.

Pvp Combat in World of Warcraft

Exactly how did World of Warcraft fail in the terms of PvP Combat? First of all, the World of Warcraft PvP battleground titled “Alterac Valley” was one of the most poorly executed additions to an MMORPG that I have seen. The concept behind AV is unique, maybe even novel idea. Allowing players to join a ever changing battlefield that not only uses PvP elements, but also incorporated PvE quests in order to achieve your goals. Remember, this was the PvP experience that Blizzard had been developing since before release of World of Warcraft. The aspect of having to complete PvE tasks while trying to battle other players is strange indeed, and the reception of Alterac Valley was perhaps a bit cold.

To top the frustrations off of trying to complete PvE taskes in a PvP environment, was the fact that to enter Alterac Valley, players would sometimes have to wait in a queue line for at time hours. When you want to kill, you don’t want wait.

With a little more solid planning and execution, Blizzard could have made the PvP experience in World of Warcraft up to the caliber of it’s PvE gameplay, however perhaps constrained by release dates or player input, Blizzard failed to deliver quality PvP combat to it’s player base.

Read Part 2: Guild Wars: Breaking Away the MMORPG Subscription Fee

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