It’s consciously designed to keep the player subscribed, but it ruins the game. Expansions have always been intertwined with grindy systems, but I’ve managed to avoid them, as the rewards (cosmetics and stronger gear) were never worth selling my soul (and time).Īll of these systems are in service of Blizzard’s business model. This wouldn’t be too bad if Renown was easily attainable, but players have to wait for weekly quests to be refreshed to gain more of the currency.Īdmittedly, the way I engage with World of Warcraft is not ordinary: I do the newest expansion with one character, complete all the quests available, explore the new areas, do each dungeon and raid at least once, and then stop playing the game until it receives new content. Each Covenant has a series of quests that push the narrative forward, but progression through them is locked behind this system. However, these unlockables aren’t just cosmetic items. And through a Renown currency, rewards are unlocked as players deepen their connection with them. It’s to ensure they log back in every once in a while to claim their rewards, and when the structure ensures they only get the best gear after doing this for months, Blizzard guarantees more monthly subscription time from those addicted.Ĭovenants were introduced in Shadowlands, each of which offer unique abilities to those who join. If the success of World of Warcraft wasn’t intrinsically linked to mechanics that trap the player, the developers would have no reason to structure the game’s foundation around a grind.ĭaily and weekly quests time-gate players to prevent them from making too much progress at once. Shadowland’s time-gated endgame, repetitive daily quests, and grindy currencies can all be attributed to this business model. Blizzard Entertainment needs to keep players invested enough to retain a steady flow of monthly subscriptions. Instead, World of Warcraft’s business model seeps into the quality of the game itself. Yet after having spent so much money, it doesn’t feel like I’m engaging with a premium product. You could grind anywhere between 150,000-200,000 of in-game gold to acquire a month’s worth of play time, but this is as arduous as it is time-consuming. But outside of putting it off for a short while, there’s no reasonable way to bypass this cost. Those who want to avoid this subscription can engage with a free trial up to level 20 or purchase the Epic Edition of Shadowlands for $80, which provides 30 days of game time. Jumping back into World of Warcraft is nowhere near as simple, as it’s always coupled with the $180 I spend yearly on my account. I purchased it once for $60, and if I want to revisit it, I can just jump back in. The same can be said for Dark Souls, another one of my favorite games ever. This is a game I revisit yearly and with the inclusion of incredible community mods, the experience could last a lifetime. When I bought Minecraft in 2010, I spent around $15.
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