In this Week’s WoW Factor, Reza Lackey explores the good and bad things that come along with Flying in Azeroth. Read on for a good history lesson, and a trip down memory lane.
One of the most compelling aspects of MMOs is the exploration and sense of discovery as you adventure through the world. With the recent announcement of no flying mounts in the new 5.2 zones, the debate of flying mounts and their use has reheated. While flying mounts offer tremendous convenience, I would argue that they also detract from the overall fun and experience of adventuring – perhaps giving a player too much power when exploring new content.
Read the rest of Reza’s The WoW Factor: The Power of Flight.
World of Warcraft : Why Blizzard Won’t Do Full Open-Tagging
In an interview over at GameSpy, Blizzard’s lead content designer Ion Hazzikostas explains why Blizzard hasn’t adopted the full open-tagging feature for World of Warcraft.
Open tagging, which has been popularized by high-profile MMOs such as RIFT and Guild Wars 2, refers to the ability to earn kill credit and experience simply for doing X% of damage to an enemy, regardless of whether or not you first tagged it. In World of Warcraft, the first player to tag an enemy gets full experience and credit, though Blizzard has made some exceptions recently for named quest targets and world bosses (tagged by your own faction).
“Part of the concern with open, free-for-all, open-tapping is that a lot of the game becomes more about tapping everything and tagging everything a little bit, especially when other players have already tapped them” he said. “Thirty seconds later, your quest completes because the other people killed them all. That’s not an ideal way to feel like you’re engaging in combat.”
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