Quote Originally Posted by Traab View Post
Heh, I already do stuff like that, and seerow, I think its obvious that we just dont agree on this so ill just leave it at this. I know there is harder content at the end game. I acknowledge that fully. My problem is the rest of the game has been made way too easy. There is no challenge to the game outside of this end game stuff.
And why should the beginning of the game be very difficult? How many players would stick around if their very first experiences with the game were dying and having to run back to their body repeatedly? And yes, everything up until you hit the endgame is "the beginning of the game".

I think the problem is more with your mindset than WoW's design philosophy. You seem to think that leveling should be a challenge in its own right. That is not the case in WoW, and because of that you claim the game as a whole is too easy. What you miss is that the real progression isn't the number beside your name saying what level you are, but rather what content you work on once you hit the endgame. Nothing before that is too difficult, and there is no reason for it to be. You may call leveling when it is easy a waste of time, but for the majority of people I know, its their main interest in the game explicitly because they -don't- want difficult content. And the people who do want difficult content? They consider the level grind just part of the price of entrance to the real game, something to blow through then ignore from that point on.

WoW's current design lets them have their cake and eat it too. You want a system that regresses to a state that appeals to an extreme minority simply because you feel things have gotten too dumbed down and easy while ignoring everything that has been put into the game to appease people who want challenging content.

And really, the biggest complaint you have (mounts becoming faster/cheaper) isn't even something that makes the game easier. It just makes it less annoying. Oh my god you don't have to waste a half hour running, and can instead fly there in 5 minutes! I fail to see how that made leveling any easier, unless you are defining ease in terms of speed of leveling... in which case have you gone past 85? It's a 30+ hour grind to get from 85 to 90, even with the fastest mounts available.