Gaming Signal: WoW: Casual Corner

WoW: Casual Corner

To my friends and family, I'm a hardcore PC gamer. I play something nearly every day, and I enjoy many different types of games from Titan Quest to Flight Simulator X to Lego Star Wars. But in the game World of Warcraft, I'm a casual gamer. Despite how many hours I put into the game per week (never really counted) or how many level 70 characters I have (I have two - a Druid and a Warlock) I'm not in one of the hardcore guilds. I'd like to start a series looking at how to help the casual gamer get the most out of this game, and see where it takes us.

I don't have to plan my life around the raid schedule, nor do I have to put up with leaders who want me to spec a certain way or limit my participation based on my class. That's just not for me. I play to have fun with friends, and bunch of rules around who can play what isn't conducive to that, in my opinion. My guild couldn't get 10 level 70's together for a raid if we wanted to right now. We have a slew of people in the mid-60's working up, but they are as far from Karazhan today as we were from Blackwing Lair before The Burning Crusade. I believe that my group is in the majority. But if you were to read the forums and the blogs, you'd believe that everybody is running Karazhan and heroic instances. That just isn't the case. Now I don't mean to imply that everybody who is doing that is hardcore - they aren't, but they are still in the minority.

I also don't care a tremendous amount what others do. If you are decked out in Tier 4 raid gear already then that's great for you. It doesn't impact me much, and that's a good thing. But don't come on to the forums or blogs and make it sound like most of the players have your problems. They just don't.

For the casual players, Outlands is amazing. The level of items you get when you first get in are a great leveler. It instantly brought players up to the level of about Tier 2 raid gear (not quite, but close.) To me that was liberating. It meant I got to see how my classes played out for players who were in that gear and see what they had been enjoying. It also showed me how gear-dependent the game is (and that's overall a bad thing, but that's for another column.) Blizzard made items available via simple quests (both group and solo) that had a great wow factor and got all the players to feel good about the rewards they got for the time they invested. I can't state it enough - Blizzard got so many things right for the casual gamer in The Burning Crusade.

For example, take a look at the instance opportunities. There are a bunch of 5-man dungeons for folks to enjoy. There is even a key quest series and progression for 5-mans that allows the small and casual guilds a great time. The instances are fun - with unique and interesting bosses that get everybody a chance to see what previously had only been in the big instances. How cool can you get? It's content for everybody no matter the amount of time you can devote to the game.

I'm going to try to write-up tips for casual gamers every so often both to make the hardcore aware of what every else faces as well as give a voice to the less-vocal: the casual gamer.

I don't know Scott. You fit somewhere in between "Casual" and "Deep Blue".

You have a casual play style, but you sir are a gaming machine. I have tried to do nothing in WoW but quest for XP but I just can't even come close to the rapid leveling you seem to be able to pull off and still have time for your wife/kids.

Maybe my dedication is waning? Who knows, but all I know is that I can't seem to make it to the high levels in a MMO lately.

I'm hoping that Warhammer Online will rekindle my inner MMO gamer. PvP seems to bring that out in me.

I do understand what you are saying though, and I'm glad WoW doesn't force the player to be UBER geared up to experience the high end of the game.

Posted by Trent on Monday March 19, 2007 at 11:11 AM

There are probably 3 or 4 classifications of WoW player.

There are the true casual gamers who can put between 2-8 hours per week into the game. They like the social atmosphere, but don't mind soloing as the primary method of play. I know lots of people like this. Nothing wrong with it at all.

There are the power gamers - I count myself in this category. I can put lots of time in but it's not on a set schedule or predictable. Some weeks I can be seen in-game every night, some weeks I end up doing other things (cub scouts, movies, etc.) The power gamer reads web sites and forums and cares about maximizing their game.

There are also the hardcore gamers - the ones who can put in time for raids 4 nights a week plus either Saturday or Sunday. I did a survey of the raiding schedule for the 'high end' guilds on my server, and almost all of them have a set schedule of Mon-Thu raids plus an event on Saturday and Sunday. To maintain membership, you are expected to be there 3 of the 4 nights and 1 of the two weekend days. And not only do these guilds have plenty of members, they thrive. Lots of people want to put this kind of time into the game.

If I didn't have a wife/kids, I'd probably be one of the hardcore. But honestly, I'm glad I'm not.

Posted by Scott on Tuesday March 20, 2007 at 8:12 AM