Blizz support video from YouTube WTF

[jstanthr]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yyK-GGvnbQ&feature=player_embedded#

Seen this linked from mmo-champ and after watching it i was dumbstruck, When i see shit like this it ALMOST makes me want to quit playing. They have dumbed things down so far it is unreal. This is just my own personal opinion.

[JohnGabriel]

No worries, the next big WoW killer MMORPG is already up.

http://www.hellokittyonline.com/

I once was tempted to try and multibox it (because nobody else is) but too embarrassed to sign up and play it. But now maybe its ok.

[Jafula]

Thanks for linking!

If by dumbed things down, you mean made the user interface so much more usable, then yay for dumbing things down! Blizz must dumb more things down! I am the eternal noob who always needs help. I really appreciate the explanation of the different types of achievements (cos I'm lazy and don't read Blizz forums much).

[Khatovar]

It's a tutorial, they're meant to be as simple to follow as possible. I should know, I've written tons of them in my lifetime. Rule number 1 of writing a tutorial is never overestimate the brain capacity of others.

[zenga]

Rule number 1 of writing a tutorial is never overestimate the brain capacity of others.

A few months back I introduced an ex gf to wow. She is early 30s, has played games for the past 10y (from shooters over 2D muds, to puzzle games) and holds a university degree. I wouldn't say she has a lack of brain capacity the way I know her. Either way, I tried to explain the very basics of wow and it felt like mission impossible. It starts with the chat: i start to talk to her in whispers and in group, but she can only /say. We arrive in orgrimmar, my chat is very organized with all different tabs, and general/trade chat goes so fast that she has to scroll back all the time and misses 90% of what I say. Then I try to explain the way that you have to talk to your trainer to learn abilities, armor types, all the sites you have to use like wowhead, addons that make your life much easier, talent specs, what dungeons are. That you have to drag spells to your action bar, what a general cool down is. That you actually have to use spells, that you just can't melee a mob down. What pvp & pve is, ... and so on and so on. Oh and that starting out with a tank was a really bad idea because she would get shit on by other players, while she liked the idea of shielding her peers in an instance.

At that point I realized that WoW is far from an 'easy' game to begin with, despite popular belief. It takes actually a lot of adapting and a steep learning curve to get past the basic knowledge to start playing. My theory is that the average wow players is actually very knowledgeable, which is totally different from most of the other games I've played (non mmo's). And for people that don't read websites, follow the updates, this video is actually golden. I think the tone could be a bit different, but blizzard just decided to use another style (hence why they insist on getting feedback).

[leroyreborn]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yyK-GGvnbQ&feature=player_embedded#

Seen this linked from mmo-champ and after watching it i was dumbstruck, When i see shit like this it ALMOST makes me want to quit playing. They have dumbed things down so far it is unreal. This is just my own personal opinion.

I see it as a way for them to cut down on the "noobie" tickets the gm have to go through. I mean is really any different that the instruction book you get with the games. still have to take the time to learn the informations that's being giving to you.

[Khatovar]

A few months back I introduced an ex gf to wow. She is early 30s, has played games for the past 10y (from shooters over 2D muds, to puzzle games) and holds a university degree. I wouldn't say she has a lack of brain capacity the way I know her. Either way, I tried to explain the very basics of wow and it felt like mission impossible.

Yup, it's not a matter of stupidity, it's a matter of how people are wired. I was in advanced classes for my entire education. Yet I took and failed algebra twice, and I still don't get it. With a lot of effort, I could probably get by, but I don't have the inherent capacity to understand math. When you're doing something like a tutorial, you cannot assume your audience has any understanding of what you consider basic concepts or things you just accept and give no thought to.

When I write up a tutorial, I always imagine a 2 year old over one shoulder going "Why? Why? Why? But Why?" and a 92 year old over my other one going "How? How? How? Ok, but how?"

[Blubber]

I actually like it, watched it while executing my morning routine. This kind of stuff doesn't dumb down wow, Blizzard caving in to the demands of dumb people dumbs down wow :).

[Palee]

I liked it, can't wait for MoP!

[valkry]

I did chem and physics for a BA in engineering as well as calc math (basically the hardest math available) yet I can NOT understand electrical circuits, at all. And yea, when I first started wow years ago i was a noob. I had no idea about maxing rotations or stacking stats. I just turned up at raids and pressed buttons. It was only later that I started getting into the real nitty gritty of the game.

It is definitely overwhelming for a brand new player. But we have been playing this game for years, the game should only be catered for us and not for new players (anyone else think that just sounds dumb?).

On a serious note, that video has not detracted from my enjoyment/play style of the game what so ever. Leave it be

[MiRai]

Pffft...

I picked this game up and was a badass from day one. Still am.

Tutorial shmutorial.

[kate]

For the people complaining that this tutorial is too dumbed down, I wonder how many of them asked some questions that were either considered incredibly simple or already quite well answered in the FAQs on this very forum, or could have been immediately answered via google?

Even more to the point, it's good to have tutorials in WoW (and I really wish there were many, many more about basic game mechanics) because there are so many people who play the game who don't understand even the most basic aspects of the game. Dead simple tutorials like "this is a taunt, here's how to use it" or "this is a debuff, and this is a dispell, here's how to use them" or "this is a big puddle of burning shadowy-fiery death, you don't want to stand in it" would be quite useful to direct people to.

[Toned]

Pffft...

I picked this game up and was a badass from day one. Still am.

Tutorial shmutorial.

We're a rare breed.

[thefunk]

for me, this thread sums up 3 fundamental human traits.
1 - I'm better than you and therefore need to remind you every second of the day that I'm better than you.
2 - I don't want people to have an easier time of it than I had when I was a young lad. (Sadly, this came true with my cousin, where, given the opportunity to go to a first class school paid for by an uncle, his dad refused saying "if state school was good enough for me, it's good enough for him").
3 - Mirai knows more about hardware than me.

[Oatboat]

show him your hardware... he'll rate it for you.

[jstanthr]

i wasn't complaining on what they said, it was the way they said it. but as always this was taken as "me saying im smarter than you" in which i never meant that at all. i guess once again, i've been shown that i might as well keep shit to myself instead of posting my opinions here.

[zenga]

i've been shown that i might as well keep shit to myself instead of posting my opinions here.
Only if you can't deal with opposing opinions after opening a discussion yourself.

None attacked you, at most they disagreed. Funk just described a fairly accurate observation. But he is into pilosophy after all (he once posted a pic of his office with playmates on the wall and weed tools on the table).

[JohnGabriel]

In my nostalgic opinion Warcraft 2 was the greatest game of all time. A bunch of friends used to all bring their computers over and we would have Warcraft 2 parties, where we'd eat pizza and drink soda while staying up the entire weekend playing Warcraft 2.

What were we talking about? Oh yeah. Warcraft 2 had lots of features but it also had a really dumbed down beginner quest line. I think the first scenario you had to build a single farm, second scenario 3 farms and a town hall, and so on.

This made sure everyone knew how to play the game, at least the basics, and could have fun. WoW probably better keep doing that, since with RaF and SoR there are lots of high level toons running around and the owner has no idea how to play it.

[Ughmahedhurtz]

for me, this thread sums up 3 fundamental human traits.
1 - I'm better than you and therefore need to remind you every second of the day that I'm better than you.
2 - I don't want people to have an easier time of it than I had when I was a young lad. (Sadly, this came true with my cousin, where, given the opportunity to go to a first class school paid for by an uncle, his dad refused saying "if state school was good enough for me, it's good enough for him").
3 - Mirai knows more about hardware than me.
I'm presuming the first two were serious and the third was tongue-in-cheek? If so, what comments herein led you to these observations?

[roddo]

It was at a pretty low level. watched it with my wife, and she's never played, even she said it was designed for those a bit slow on the uptake.