GamesMMOWorld of WarcraftWorld of Warcraft: The War WithinWoW massively buffs rewards for its anniversary event a week after its release—which would be the fourth time in a year it’s had to do similarWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
GamesMMOWorld of WarcraftWorld of Warcraft: The War WithinWoW massively buffs rewards for its anniversary event a week after its release—which would be the fourth time in a year it’s had to do similarWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Blizzard)
World of Warcraft’s released a limited-time event with stingy rewards and has, after community backlash, massively buffed the rate at which those rewards are doled out—if that sounds familiar to you, it’s because Blizzard’s now done it four times in the past year.
First off, there was Plunderstorm, a limited-time event whicheventually eased up on its grind. Then there wasMists of Pandaria: Remix, a limited-time event whicheventually eased up on its grind. Then there was the pre-patch event before The War Within, which eased up on its grind, butrather quickly, rather than eventually—and now we’re here once more. A limited-time World of Warcraft event has eased up on its grind. Time is a flat circle.
Theanniversary eventdrew anger for being stingy with its rewards because, for some unknowable reason, players aren’t able to unlock daily sources of bronze celebration tokens (with which they’ll grab rewards from the event) without earning 100 of them from weekly sources first, which would have (originally) taken the better half of a month. This would usually be the part where I theorise as to why Blizzard would do this, but I’ve, uh—I’ve genuinely got nothing, I’m scratching my head so hard that I’ve unlocked a new tier of baldness. Don’t worry, Blizzard released a$90 dinosaurin the store, though!
As mentioned, this marks the fourth occasion in which Blizzard has low-balled the rewards for their events—which I do think are a good thing, on the whole—and sheepishly fixed them immediately after. And, look, I do sort of get it. WoW players can be piranha-like in their ability to swarm into any event, grind it out, and run away with the rewards—the Gulp Frog extinctionof ‘24 taught me that much.
Why indeed. And, listen—balancing these things is hard. I’m certain it’s more of an art than a science. But there’s also a reason why the people putting these events together are paid a salary to design them. If making an MMO was easy, everybody would be doing it (they aren’t, and it makes me sad). I can only hope Blizzard gets its act together the next go around, because I’m running out of ways to phrase “things were bad, now they’re good”.
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