Once upon a time, there was a hugely successful MMORPG. It was bigger than the biggest thing EVAH (and then some) yet everyone could play it the way they wanted. Roleplayers happily co-existed with hardcore PvP-ers, pet collectors happily quaffed Bottles of Pinot Noir with the Ancients, who would sit with a mug of Rhapsody Malt and reminisce about the Old Days, when the best XP came from 5 mans and resistance gear was relevant.
One day the word was spread; the Ultimate Old World encounter was being revamped. The Ancient players shook their heads, remembering
What Happened to Naxx, and returned to their Old World farming, muttering about recycling gone mad. The Newbies, glistening in their Coliseum Epics and frantically writing their Guild Applications for the Server First institutions, didn't really care either: as long as there was a Hard Mode they would be happy. Everyone else raised a glass of their beverage of choice to the Game Makers, coveted the 310% flying mount, and joined LFG in anticipation.
The encounter was a huge success: lots of new shiny epics for the vast majority, the mount to show off for the chosen few, and Achievements for all. But the seeds of discontent were already germinating: the Raiders were unhappy that they weren't getting new models of gear, that the fights they'd long since learnt were being altered and somehow degraded, as if doing them the first time had no importance any more. The Ancients had lost another chance to travel the Old World and indulge in nostalgia, to play out the Epic battles of old, to collect trophies that although old and outdated still had an importance for them. The Newbies were frustrated not simply at the multiple rejections they got from the Server First guilds, but that these new encounters were simply rehashes of old ones. They craved more new shiny things, more new experiences.
The Pet Collectors were annoyed the Whelp didn't come in seven colours.
The game makers however saw a golden opportunity to extend their MMORPG's life with very little effort on their part. They'd seen the Ancients in Ironforge showing of their old tier sets, the looks of admiration they'd get from others. This way they could recycle ALL the old content by simply changing it's colour and sticking some more stats on it. By adding a mount and a rare pet drop, the whole of Azeroth could be re-invented as 'new' and the vast majority of people would never notice... but there was a problem. Many of the Ancients, those who wore their Loremaster colours with pride, knew all the connections between the areas and the instances and the quests, would notice that the game makers were quietly removing key strands of lore and explorative questing that they started their online lives with. Maybe if they took the time to explain all this, that the old content was being 'streamlined' and 'augmented' the Ancients would understand. After all, they were as important a part of the player base as the Casual Raiders and the Hardcore and the Collectors.
However, it was just easier to remove the content and ignore the whiners. It worked well for everything else.
As each new patch was introduced, Old Content mysteriously disappeared. Continents were subtly redrawn, quests quietly removed. The majority still drank in the Inns and didn't really care: as long as the loot was Epic, the mounts were fast and blocked up entrances to Instances, and the rare items were coveted, they were happy. One by one however the Ancients began to vanish too, and the original history of the MMORPG became diluted and distorted. Webpages remained with hints of what had once been, but people forgot the URL's, too busy to refresh as they were joining LFG for 25 man Blackrock Depths.
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I hope this isn't what's about to happen, but it could be. I'd like to think the game I first joined (and that will be 5 years old this year) is not deliberately destroying it's own heritage for the sake of instant gratification.
I'd really like to think I'm going to be proved wrong, but I can't help thinking I won't be :(
Labels: 3.2.2, fiction
: L80 : P
