World of Warcraft: Cataclysm – interview

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World of Warcraft: Cataclysm – interview

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By Greg Howson.
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"A talk to designers Dave Kosak and Greg Street about cursed Worgen, axe battles and how quests tug at the heartstrings"

Cataclysm has just launched and designers Dave Kosak and Greg Street speak about the game and how they plan to attract new and lapsed players. They also explain which class is best for new players and how they get the balance right between satisfying hardcore players and more casual fans.

What are the main new features of Cataclysm and what can a new player expect?
DK: We recently released a new content patch which really smoothed out the levelling process. So for new players there will be a much quicker and smoother entry into the game. We want to make sure the game is fun from the first five minutes. This is all live in the game now. For Cataclysm itself we have some new features. So we have two new races – Goblin and Worgen – and five new levels. We have a new trade skill called archaeology where players can go and dig up artefacts. We now have guild achievements so that players can level their guild and also ranked battlegrounds.
GS: You can now fly around in the old world too. Fans have been asking for this for a long time and it took a lot of jiggering behind the scenes to make that possible.

What was the thinking behind the huge changes made to the original game?
DK: We have learned so much in the five years since launch, especially around the start of the game. We have learned how to guide players around content and always give a clear indication of what they need to do.
GS: If you play the content in (the last expansion pack) Lich King it was really dynamic and exciting. But if you went back and played the original game it was clear that the older content simply wasn't as exciting. It felt years older. Cataclysm gives us the opportunity to apply the new technology and ideas to the old game. Level 1-60 seems like a new game now and obviously this is what new players will see when they first login.

Were you worried about ruining people's memories and nostalgia of the original world?
DK: That love of the original world is key to the Cataclysm. If you now go to a village and see that it is destroyed you get really emotional affected. Likewise with the factions. We changed some of the familiar maps so that now your old favourite town may have been burnt by the Alliance or taken over by the Horde. It really ups your level of engagement seeing the changes made to places that you love.

Will this change the dynamic between Horde and Alliance?
DK: If they didn't hate each other before they will now! Some of the quests really tug at the heartstrings.

How have you changed the way that new players first experience World of Warcraft?
GS: When we looked at focus groups or data we found that some new players didn't even accept a quest when they started playing the game. They would just go round killing monsters without realising that you need to do quests to get rewards. So we have learned to really put things on rails at the start of the game. We want players to feel heroic from early on now too. The player must feel that they are important early on.

When do players really start getting hooked or engaged into WoW? Level 5, 10?
DK: Normally if players stick around for more than hour then they play longer. We've done focus groups and once players get used to combat and how the camera works they soon start engaging with the game. I started playing WoW with my friends and we know players who play with friends tend to play longer and stick around. We definitely play up the social side.

How do you get balance between hardcore and more casual players.
DK: It's simple to learn and harder to master. We want new players to pick things up but don't want more experienced players getting bored. We offer tons of content. We have four or five continents now of content. There are lots of different ways to play, Some people use WoW as a social network to stay in touch with friends. Others play the auction house. Some are focussed on the end game, others on pvp (player vs player).
GS: There are a lot of different ways to play. If you want to play for 30 minutes a week you can always do the quests. If you want to be challenged then there are some really difficult raids and other challenges for the more experienced player.

How do stop time spent being more important than skill in a game like WoW?
DK: We try to add a number of different elements to the dungeons so that players are not simply doing the metronome-style of play – pressing button 1, 2 and 3 constantly. We ask them to different things. To move out of the dragons fire on the ground for example.

How important is the story to Warcraft?
GS: We've developed a lot more gameplay tools to advance the story. You can really see the impact of what you are doing in the game world. We try and make places more dynamic. A few years ago you would have a town and there would be monsters roaming around outside. The player would go and kill these monsters and then go back into the town. Now you are more likely to have monsters swarming and attacking the town and you will need to fight them off. If your action in the game is telling the story then it sucks players in. You start to care what happens. We try to make the conflict between Horde and Alliance really come alive. We've got a whole lot smarter in doing this kind of story element over the last few years and that's why it is great to take these skills and apply them to the old world.

Was driving the story through player actions one of the biggest developments since the original game?

DK: We certainly learned a lot about how to tell a story and we are now much much better at doing it.

What was the thinking behind the new races?

GS: We spent a lot of time working on the starting zones for the Goblins and Worgens. The 15 or so levels really give the player an insight into the story of these races. Players will learn that Goblins are fleeing their homeland while the Worgen have this terrible curse that causes them to become werewolves. We expect a lot of players to roll new characters in either or both of these two new races.

What about vehicles – will we see more use of them in Cataclysm?

GS: They are one of our relatively new tools. We experimented with them in (the last expansion pack) Lich King and worked out where they would work and where they wouldn't. We learnt how not to abuse the tool. So in Cataclysm you see a lot of vehicles but generally used more smartly.

Can time-short or lapsed players compete in things like PvP (player vs player) or do you have to spend a serious amount of time getting the right armour and weapons to stand a chance?

DK: One of the nice things about PvP is that we reward players for just taking part. You earn a little bit each time you play and if you stick with it for a short wile then you will be able to upgrade your gear and stand a better chance of succeeding.
GS: We try and have content for all skill levels. With pvp it is pretty easy to get points. All you need to do is participate in the battlegrounds with a team and you will get reward. If you are not very good you can still get rewards. Hardcore players will go to the arena and really hone their skills.
DK: A year or so ago we launched a feature called Dungeon Finder which enables you to easily group up with friends to do a dungeon. Even though that feature has been out for a while we really expect it to come into its own in Cataclysm. Lower level players who may have skipped over level 15 dungeons on old characters – because it was too much hassle to find a team – will find it much easier now to find a dungeon and finish the story.

What class would you recommend to new players?
GS: We try to make the classes all pretty similar in terms of ease of play. Hunter is a popular class with new players as you have a pet that does a lot of fighting for you while you stand back and fire your bow. The warrior too is one of the most popular classes for new players to pick up but it always used to be really complicated. It was easy to play warrior badly as a new player. So we've revamped that over the years and now the warrior delivers much more how new players may expect. So you now dive into battle with your axe and start beating on enemies.

What would be success for Cataclysm?

GS: I'd love to see Cataclysm bring back lapsed players. They would enjoy the familiar but new content.
DK: I want to see new players come in and stay around. Cataclysm has really refreshed the world and we can't wait for players to get started.
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