World of Warcraft is an amazing game, at least for veteran players. For newcomers, it is almost impossible to fit in. As the player base ages, Blizzard is planning how to solve the problem of fresh blood in Azeroth.
Recently, Holly Longdale, VP and Executive Producer of Warcraft, and Maria Hamilton, Associate Director of Games, talked about the past, present, and future of World of Warcraft.
Blizzard's previous focus was on veteran players
Holly Longdale admits that over the years, Blizzard's focus has revolved around retaining existing players and maintaining the current version of the game's content.
"We looked at the data between different players. For new players entering World of Warcraft, look at how their exits are. Then I was surprised to see that the dropout rate of new players was very high, and they felt that there was no sense of immersion and fun in the game, which we didn't think about at all before because we were focused on retaining existing players. ”
"There are a lot of challenges in terms of how to keep new players. One of the biggest ones is how do we tell a 20-year story? ”
Isle of Exiles exacerbates the sense of disconnection among new players
"I think Isle of Exiles is a very controversial design, and when new players are born here, there is a lot less sense of substitution for the race, and it gives you very little background information about your place in World of Warcraft. There's no real introduction to your race, makeup, or what the land of Azeroth is like. Previously, each race had its own unique starting area, complete with introductory cutscenes, as well as several mission areas dedicated to the race and backstory. If you're the Forsaken, you'll be resurrected in the graveyard and travel through several desolate forests ravaged by plagues before entering the wider world. If you're an orc, you'll brave the Valley of Trials and enter the sun-drenched prairies surrounding the infamous Crossroads. The elves have discovered their enchanted forests, while humans defend their lands from threats from the jungles to the south and dangerous volcanoes to the north. ”
Faction clashes are confusing for new players
Another point is that the current alliance tribe is not like before, the current alliance tribe is in a truce, you can not only close the field PVP, but even play with players in the opposing camp, which was completely unworkable in the past, and new players will be very confused, what is for the alliance for the tribe, as if the camp struggle of Warcraft seems to be nothing more than that.
"I don't think we want to get out of this camp at all," Maria stressed, "and I think it's important. We've pretty much decided on the story and content after Battle for the Center of the Earth – we'll dive into some of them and see how we can tweak the Faction Clash issue, but the core idea is more about friends being able to play together. ”
"We want to make sure that these stories do still show the tension [between the tribe and the alliance], and that there is certainly more potential for that tension, right? We've seen some stories of the Forsaken and the Gilneth people lately. They cooperate when necessary, but not because they love each other and in the end they always go their separate ways and remain friendly. You know, individuals may be friendly, but there may not be factions. ”
What will Blizzard do?
Maria Hamilton points out that in Battle for the Center of the Earth, new players will be directed to the Isle of Exiles and then appear in Dragon Age instead of Battle for Azeroth. Given that Battle for Azeroth takes place in the middle of a major storyline saga, Dragon Age's standalone story and more modern content should provide players with a better experience than Battle for Azeroth. Age of the Dragons is essentially a new beginning after a short time jump, and should serve as a better entry point.
However, I don't think this is enough for new players, as Exile's Island and Dragon Age can't and won't replace the feeling of traveling through the Silver Pines or Twilight Forest for the first time. But it's really hard to tell new players about the 20-year history of Warcraft, maybe it might be more useful to continue trying to make Warcraft movies or TV series?
Why do you think Warcraft is so short of new players, and what can be done to attract and retain new players for Warcraft?