WoW Leveling

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A new World of Warcraftlevel cap is almost
an inevitability when a new expansion is forthcoming. So as soon as the
announcement was made at BlizzCon 2011 that there would be a new
expansion released in the not so distant future, myself and thousands
of players just like me knew exactly what was coming next; the dreaded
raise in the leveling cap. This new leveling cap will successfully
bring players from level 85 to level 90, and while this increase is
significantly less than the 10 level additions seen in the first few
WoW expansions, we can’t help but wonder if these extra five
levels are just way to much.

The answer to this question is
not an easy one, and will probably vary depending on what portion of
the current player base you are talking to. Some players love dinging a
new level and take personal pride in reaching the new WoW leveling cap,
in this case level 90. Others aren’t so fond of the WoW
leveling process, in fact they might even hate everything about it from
the constant grind, to the replacement of hard earned gear by crappy
quest greens. Whatever the case may be WoW leveling just
doesn‘t appeal to everybody.

As for me, I’m
somewhere in the middle, while I do get some satisfaction out of the
leveling process I really don’t feel like continuously
raising the WoW leveling cap adds any real value to the game and as
such is not a necessity. That’s right I said it, Blizzard
doesn’t *need* to raise the leveling cap with every
expansion. In fact constantly raising the leveling cap seems to me to
be a desperate attempt to do one of two things; increase the length of
time it takes players to get through the current expansion or satisfy
those who need the illusion of “clear progression”
through leveling. Sadly neither one of these reasons, in my mind at
least, are good arguments for raising the current WoW leveling cap.

Now, now, put out those torches
and set down the pitchforks, there is no reason to form an angry mob
before I explain myself. Raising the WoW leveling cap simply to
lengthen the amount of time players spend on an expansion is folly.
Because of Blizzard’s fear of the dreaded grind, they have
made leveling so easy most toddlers could probably perform the feat. So
its safe to say that casual players can easily complete the feat in a
few weeks at most, while hardcore players can finish leveling within a
few days. With this in mind raising the WoW leveling cap to increase
longevity of an expansion seems silly
indeed.

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Could
WoW do without the increase in level cap Mists of Pandaria will bring?

The second reason given for a
WoW leveling cap increase is a little harder to write off. Its true
that increasing the leveling cap will not only give add a clear
progression path to the game but also allows Blizzard developers to do
things like raise monster difficulty, add new spells, and inflate gear,
but all of these things can also be achieved by taking alternate routes
of advancement with no leveling cap increase needed, such as fleshing
out the things we already have in the game.

Besides these reasons listed
above I also see increasing the WoW leveling cap as a rather negative
method of progression, especially when constantly done, as it has been
in every WoW expansion, and Blizzard should too as it tends to be
detrimental to Blizzard’s ultimate goal; gaining and keeping
players. What player wants to join a game where the max level is
nearing 100 and knowing that number is only going to go up? While WoW
leveling has been trivialized thus far, as a new player looking in
there may be a feeling of hopelessness, that it will never be possible
to catch up, and if you do you will be so far behind on gear that no
one will want you anyhow.

Adding additional levels to the
game also tends to create a huge level disparity. Slower leveling
players will be separated from their faster leveling counterparts and
while this may seem like a small problem, it can hit hard especially in
a guild setting. Inside a guild the faster leveling players will be
forced to wait around for their slower leveling guild mates, or replace
them which can lead to many hard feelings. In fact if the tension
created is enough it may very well rip the guild apart which as we all
know is no bueno.

I say enough is enough
Blizzard, sit back and let us enjoy the current content and spice it up
by adding to what we already have instead of overloading us with brand
new content that almost immediately makes the old content, some of
which players never get to experience, obsolete. With no big boss lurking in wait to destroy Azoeroth there is no better time to do this. So
lets see some new content, spells, and maybe some more revamping of old
content without forcing us to level up all over again.

How do you feel about
increasing the WoW leveling cap? Share your thoughts in the comments
section below!