Is Blizzard Going Overboard With Casual Content?

Since the release of Midnight, players have been introduced to an enormous amount of new content that has had little to no impact on player power. While solo content, such as Delves, Nightmare Prey Hunts, and the more recently introduced Ritual Sites, provides ways for solo players to experience challenging content and progress their characters, there has also been a plethora of bloat content that Blizzard has attempted to justify by including collection rewards.

Myth Crests From Ritual Sites in 12.0.7

Story content, such as The Arcantina or the upcoming chapters of Lorewalking, gives players a sense of world-building and provides context for current story beats. However, other recent content has either been released extremely under-cooked, out of place, or seemingly just for the sake of filling up the patch with more content.

Decor Duels might be the best example of a game mode that players should be able to enjoy, but was rushed out the door in such a poor state, that it leaves much to be desired. "Prop Hunt" is a popular game mode that has been successfully adapted into many mainstream games, including Call of Duty. So, why does Decor Duel feel so bland and broken by comparison?

Blizzard, what is this UI?

Another new piece of content introduced in Patch 12.0.5, Abyss Anglers, is also full of bugs and seemingly pointless. This activity has players go on dives to collect treasures and fish that reward Abyss Pearls that can be spent on Dive Suit Upgrades, so that players can go on more dives and collect more treasure and fish. Outside of unlocking a few transmogs, a Pet, and some Housing Decor, is this activity supposed to be fun, or is it just another way for Blizzard to have players spend minutes in-game?

This is fine.

That may sound like a bit of a jaded take, but when it comes down to it, Blizzard is a company that makes money from players who subscribe to their content. If the content takes more time to complete, Blizzard makes more money. Instead of creating high-quality content that players can actually enjoy, Blizzard is incentivized to create time-sink content that advances their player engagement metrics. Is that the reason why we're receiving rushed, 8-week content cycles with little to no meaningful content?

Blizzard could have learned from the Dastardly Duos and Plunderstorm experiences that just because players will play content because there are rewards attached, that doesn't make the content worthwhile. When content is released in a bugged state and carelessly implemented, that breeds frustration and ill will. Oversaturating the game with insignificant content and recolored rewards is overwhelming and leads to a sense of being lost. A game that is made for everyone is made for no one.

As a part of this filler content, players are also flooded with filler currencies, which only exist for the sole purpose of unlocking cosmetic rewards. The amount of optional content and seemingly worthless currency provided by these activities makes it quite apparent why new players have difficulty engaging with World of Warcraft for more than two weeks.

When players are set in a whirlwind of low-quality activities whose sole purpose is to waste their time, their primary response is usually well, that wasn't very fun. If a customer has spent time and money on an activity that is meant to be enjoyable, and they've only found that they've wasted their limited resources, why would they choose to continue?

Blizzard Apologizes for Patch 12.0.5

While Blizzard has acknowledged that the recently released Patch 12.0.5 was not up to their standard, we hope that they will stick to their word to do better.

What do you think of the pacing of Midnight and all of the new content that has been released with this expansion? Let us know your thoughts in the comments down below.