Breakfast Topic: How Would You Improve Leveling in WoW?
There has been much debate about whether the streamlined leveling is beneficial to the player’s experience in the World of Warcraft.
For the new player, it’s a double-edged sword. Yes, you can level faster to catch up with your friends, however, the new player may be missing out on the repetitious play that allows the player to learn their character’s abilities.
If you join a level 25 guild (in the current system) that has all the guild perks, your leveling will go much faster than a player who doesn’t join a high-end guild.
Add to that the benefit of Bind on Battle.net Account gear and the leveling experience becomes a cake-walk according to veteran WoW players. I’ll even add to this mix a good Leveling Guide and some dungeons and the new player will find themselves doing less than half of the quest that were picked up in their current zone.
I, however, am of the school of thought that new players should get as much time as possible learning how to effectively play their characters. New players should be required to level a base character (level one) to at least mid-range on the current leveling scale.
But what about the veteran player? I (like a lot of current players) have numerous alts. Rolling a new alt every time I want to learn how a different class plays is not a good time! (once you get past level 60)
NOTE: Now I know Blizzard HATES the use of the word “HERO CLASS,” but they did use it in the beginning with Wrath of the Lich King, right?
I’m not suggesting a “HERO CLASS” per se. I’m suggesting a subscriber option that would be similar to how Death Knights start out in the game.
This option (obviously) would be available to the veteran player. And let’s make it only available to a player that has leveled a character to level cap. This means you must have an account that you have leveled a character from level one to level cap. (level 85 currently)
I would even entertain a requirement to have a certain expansion or charge a small fee for this option!
This would open up an option to create alternate characters that will start at level 55 with a mount and armor equivalent to level 65 or 70 content.
A veteran player would then be able to create characters that would be available to Raid in a relatively short period of time. This would help with the drop off of players during slow months like the summer months. No longer would you have to scourer the Looking for Guild Tool, or spamming capital city and trade chat for appropriate classes.
It would also allow diversity in guild groups as guild members would have access to the three roles needed for raiding. Need a different healer type? Chances are that someone in the guild will be able to have that class available in a short period of time.
The Rusty Shield 