Quote Originally Posted by 'Duese',index.php?page=Thread&postID=209495#post20 9495
Shame on Blizzard for listening to the whiners.
I don't feel that this is a case of Blizzard listening to whiners. You are correct in that there are people who will demand that the game become so easy as to be unplayable, but I think Blizzard ignores them and uses a more practical approach to game changes. I really think it's just a case of too little use of the lower level content because people want to get to the end game, so the practical approach is to make it easier to zoom through it.

I remember when they announced that once WotLK shipped, the timed ZA run would no longer yield the bear mount as a reward (I think that was it, anyway). Players howled in protest, because they weren't good enough to get it done at 70 and envisioned getting it cheap and easy at 80. I don't think Blizzard wants to cheapen the sense of accomplishment as much as they feel that the game starts at the end level and they want to keep the overall 1-to-max curve about the same.

Currently I'm leveling my team via quests and not in a particular rush, as I have no concrete plans for them aside from eventually getting to 80. I typically see one or two people in any of the zones I am in. And the few times that I've seen a "group" it is either a level 80 power-questing some low level guildies, or another multi-boxer using his high level to drag his auto-follow lowbie around. I honestly think that the faster a new player gets past that stage, the better the odds that he will continue to play. Otherwise he flames out in his early 30s because all of his quests are orange or red or "X players required" because there's no one to run instances with for filler exp. Solo exp grinding isn't as bad in WoW as in other games, but I figure it would kill the fun for a new player.