Since when does leveling force you to learn your class? The same argument could be made about the decision to level through PvP. I can't count the number of new guildmates I've seen that leveled through RBGs and had no idea about basic class mechanics. A Disc priest who didn't understand Atonement, a Mage who had never even seen half of his spell book, and knew nothing of ports; a Prot pally who didn't even know what taunt meant. Bottom line is that people are going to play the game however the heck they feel like it, because they pay their sub. If they choose to learn to play their class well and join a raid guild, great. If they choose to barely know their class and focus on pet battles, awesome. Frankly I am more concerned about a bunch of elitists trying to hold everyone else up to their arbitrary standards, than I am about some random person boosting a toon to 90. Also, Blizz is a business. No matter how awesome they are to their fan base, they are still in this as much for profit as for love of the game. They are going to make whatever decisions they feel necessary to keep the game alive and profitable. If that means implementing something that is unpopular with the hardcore jerk-squad, well guess what...This kind of insane, aggressive elitism is exactly why I stopped raiding back in Cata. The constant griping, sniping and finger-pointing that goes on was just grating. It was like visiting a junior high school, only with less maturity, and less actual accountability. The game is much more enjoyable without having to listen to a bunch of sad, angry people who appear to to glean their modicum of self-worth from berating "baddies". If you care that much about how other people play a video game, and are convinced it will "break the game" and "make people bad", then please leave. The rest of us will be better off for it.
Not sure how I feel about people who have never played WoW starting straight away at 90 but for me personally this is great. I've been playing since ulduar patch and have 4 lvl 90 alliance toons and leveled/deleted many more part way. I've never played horde to cap level because of the immense grind of starting over at level 1 I just get bored with it. Based on my experience with console games in the past I and many of my friends would share saves and cartridges to try out a game and would be playing a maxed character or beaten game to see what its all about. If I really enjoyed it I'd usually start a new file and play through the full game. I can see where Blizz may be expecting this to happen and be a huge boost to player base. The scrubs who will put no effort in will usually weed themselves out anyway.Ultimately you gotta remember that blizz is running a business and their goal is to make profit. More players=more money even if all they get is that initial purchase and one month sub. IMO more money=better more polished game too so I'm more for all this than against it.
..... This game just hit a whole new level of stupid.I REALLY HOPE THAT BLIZZARD WILL GIVE THOSE WHO LEVEL OLD SCHOOL EXTRA PERKS AND RECOGNITION FOR NOT BUYING OUR WAY TO THE TOP.
So...does that mean that all alts of the 'free' 90's get the same perks there Auzie? Cause there isn't anything special about leveling.
C'mon guy n gals, a free level 90 is not a bad thing, the only reason to level a character from 1-90 is if your intrested in the actual lore, other than that all the older zones are just eye candy and will never give the same experience as we elitists had with that xpac. if they are not going to experience it like we did then why should they have to level thru something they are never going to appreciate.
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
You guys are yelling about this when we don't even know if this is a test for WoD or if they are actually going to sell them.My question to you is this: If 90 wasn't max level or even 10 levels below cap, we'll say 30 levels below cap, would you be yelling about "free" level 90's quite so hard? I have played since around the end of BC, me and my boyfriend grinded and grinded out the first 55 levels on our hunters just so we could make dk's at Wrath's launch. Then having to level through BC even though it was old content just to get to wrath and start on current content. I still remember the first epic I ever recieved. I still played my hunter, because I hated the dk, and the bow out of roic UK was the first purple I ever equipped. =) But you guys are missing the point. Sure buying a level 90 right now, isn't the best idea, however what if they became available at the end of WoD when we are getting ready to go up to level 105 -110. As they stated at Blizzcon, "We have expansions lined up like a bullets in a six shooter" Think back to when you just started playing.. if 100+ levels lay before you with no exp boosts or friends to help, would you have started playing at all? I probably wouldn't have.Also you have to keep in mind... if you have been through LFR at any point, you know that even without "free" level 90's there are people who already don't know how to play. Instead of shunning them, how about helping them, guiding them. If they are still idiots, then well that can't really be helped.
I am so excited by this. I have 5 going on 6 90's on my main Horde server. I don't play as often as I did in past expansions (Maybe 10 hours a week) but I still really enjoy playing. Now I am dusting off some old alliance characters that I haven't played since WotLk and even though there are some differences in the quests on ally side, I don't want to have to trudge through it all again and again. I KNOW how to play the classes, I already have a 90 that I play of the classes on the other faction. Between real life, a needy husband and everything else there is to worry about boosting a character with MY money makes my fun time a little easier.Strangely, when I was still a hardcore 40+ hour a week player and we'd talk about this, I HATED the idea.
I'm not happy about the purchased 90s either. But when you think about it, as long as they give one 90 with the WoD expansion, you could always just purchase another copy of WoW and expansion, attach it to your battle.net account, and get the 90 that way. So once the door is open giving a 90 with the expansion, putting it in the store seems completely logical.I personally wish they wouldn't give 90s out with WoD either, because it means they're giving up on the 1-89 game entirely, and want everybody to just start with WoD. I vastly prefer the XP adjustments they've made over the years. They're grasping desperately at any way to slow subscription growth without spending additional funds on making those 60-70 levels in TBC less grueling. It's a shame.
I don't understand why some people still cling to the old content full force and refuse to allow any breaks when it comes to leveling. Protip: 3 zones in Outland are useless, Northrend gets blown through in 4 hours, and Cata zones are half finished before moving on to the next. Hell, Elixir of Ancient Knowledge turns the game into private server mode and lets you get 85 within 24 hours played.This is simply sounding like "back in my day, we had to..." rants about the good ol' days when everything was a hunter weapon and attunement was great, etc. etc.
I personally think that the instant 90 boost could work, but they will need to restrict it. If they are going to give everyone a free 90 so be it, but don't let them buy more 90's unless they have a toon at level cap, or pass some sort of proving grounds. This way players will be forced to level some and learn the game before they can choose to just buy another toon. In reality you will only raid with 10-25 good players so if a player sucks you are not going to raid with them so it won't be that much of an issue. Being a wow vet I like the idea of being able to buy a 90 toon, because if I am working I would rather spend a X amount of dollars that I can make in a few hours or less rather than spending a couple days leveling one to max.
All of this just seems wrong to me. You're supposed to start off at level 1 and learn to play and grow as a player as you level. It's supposed to be the WORLD of Warcraft; you come in, bright-eyed and bushy tailed and raring to go on an adventure throughout Azeroth. Instead you pay an extra ten bucks and get shoved into a giant conflict on alternate Draenor as soon as buy the game. This, I think, is the mindset that keeps recent MMOs from getting as big as WoW: there's no charm to it. It just throws action and stats in your face as if it's the CoD of MMOs. Things need to start off slow and simple so that when things get BIG and EXCITING, it has more of an effect.It reminds me of a &*!@ty MMO called TERA. Within fifteen minutes you fight your first GIANT, EPIC BATTLE, which is just boring. You have AI support and the thing just wails at you and barely does any damage... but it's BIG AND EPIC! Pleeeeease. That's not what makes a good MMO good. It's supposed to feel like a real world that you have become a part of over time. Throwing new players into the thick of it will not be as good for Blizzard as the old method is: new players start off, and being exposed to players who are experiencing the newest content gets them hyped to reach max level. That's how it was for me in WotLK; I worked towards leveling so I could kill the LK and do raids. Not once did I wish I could just skip forward to it because it wouldn't feel as epic finally accomplishing it in the end. The game is so popular because it really feels like the WORLD of Warcraft. This kind of thing just makes it the GAME of Warcraft.
I see it from both sides. I do understand that BLizz wants people to enjoy the new content and for some leveling from 1-90 might not be an option. I, like some, have a full time job that includes overtime and to level from the beginning could take months or even a year. However I do understand that those that worked their way up would feel that this is a cheap marketing ploy. My vote.. is to let them get a level 90 character that is completely random generated.
Do we have an ETA on this feature? I can't wait for this. I have 6 max level toons and can't stand the thought of leveling another one. Also, 100 levels will seem insurmountable to a lot of new players. This will bring new life into the game.