Rearticulating Rewards in WoW - Wordplay and the Discourse of Video Games - page 113

7 Rearticulating Rewards in WoW

At the second Blizzard Entertainment conference in 2007, the Lead Con-
tent Designer of World of Warcraft ( WoW ), Jef Kaplan, described recently
added player versus player (PvP) rewards as “welfare epics,” which set of a
fi restorm of controversy about the reward structure of WoW . 1 Kaplan, bet-
ter known by his screen name Tigole, was a prominent member of one of
the most notable raiding 2 guilds in EverQuest , Legacy of Steel, before join-
ing Blizzard. 3 At Blizzcon, Tigole argued that, in the new PvP and arena
system, players received epic loot regardless of whether or not they won or
lost the competitions in which they engaged. Instead of needing other play-
ers help to defeat monsters, the introduction of the new system rewarded
all players without a prerequisite of success or cooperation. Although the
comment appeared to be made in jest, the label stuck and redefi ned the dis-
course surrounding WoW 's reward system. Because most players who play
WoW do not raid, the changes to the PvP incentive structure were highly
anticipated, magnifying the reaction to Tigole's comments. Although the
response was made in jest, using wordplay indicates how Tigole may have
voiced an unusually clear perspective about how Blizzard changed WoW 's
reward structure in an ef ort to retain subscribers.
Tigole's background as a raider and prominence on the WoW design
team helped shape the focus of end-game activities in the game's approach
at launch. In accordance with his tastes, raiding was one of few play options
available to maximum level characters prior to The Burning Crusade expan-
sion. 4 Although WoW of ered a leveling experience that was much easier
than prior massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs), because leveling
in WoW could be completed solo; the game that shipped at launch of ered
almost exclusively group-based content to players when they reached the
level cap. One commentator assessed tensions among players as “almost
a blood feud” with casual players pitted against more serious players. 5 In
WoW , casual players typically play individually for short periods of time,
while more serious players play in groups for hours on end. The introduc-
tion of additional activities for end-game players started with The Burning
Crusade , which added a number of things for players to do both individu-
ally and in groups. 6 Equating PvP rewards with welfare tapped into the
simmering feud and provoked a wave of online responses about the state of
the end game in WoW .