Earlier this month, syncaine at Hardcore Casual suggested that because World of Warcraft (WoW) is a well-regarded PvE game, that Blizzard should have increased the level max beyond 80. The argument is that since the leveling game is where people tend to have the most fun because of questing options, and since characters at the level cap are forced to grind away for gear by running the same content over and over again, that a longer leveling game would make sense. We happen to agree with this sentiment, and don’t quite understand why Blizzard, with their enormous income and staff potential, couldn’t simply give gamers both a longer leveling experience and a comprehensive raiding game.
Let’s assume for a moment that Blizzard did need to justify doing both, however. The simple solution would be to sell every expansion as two expansions, though released simultaneously, else the second shortly after the first. Let us explain.
The core WoW game, and every base expansion, would consist of a linear leveling experience. These expansions would be just like every other expansion, only there wouldn’t be any content that requires more than a basic five-player party. In other words, no raiding content, and no Battlegrounds. Many players would be content with this, since these are not subjects they involve themselves in, while the more hardcore gamers would be happy to shell out more money for additional gaming options.
By splitting up the end-game from the core leveling game, Blizzard can make more money to justify additional development. In other words, the extra income can be put towards creating more leveling content, as well as more extensive raiding and PvP options. We’re not convinced that Blizzard needs this additional level of income in order to produce this kind of supplementary content, but this proposal would at least counter the argument that Blizzard’s current distribution platform limits the content they can produce from a monetary perspective.