Kaplan Interview 2005

#0 - March 14, 2008, 7:30 p.m.
Blizzard Post
Saw this posted in raids forum and thought it was interesting how this philosophy has taken a 180 as the company has expanded over the years.

Q u o t e:
Q. Why not just let casual players get rewards comparable to those from raids?

A. It would be almost impossible for us to do, and this is a philosophical decision. We need to put a structure in place for players where they feel that if they do more difficult encounters, they'll get rewarded for it. As soon as we give more equal rewards across the board, for a lot of players it will diminish the accomplishment of killing something like Nefarian. My favorite times in the development cycle are when there are encounters that are close to being defeated but have not yet been beaten. It really creates a sense of awe among the players that there is something big and truly dangerous in the world. But it would be very disappointing if the items found on Nefarian were the same thing you could get in your nightly Stratholme run. [Stratholme is a much easier five-person dungeon.]


http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/28/sports/othersports/28vide.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2
#3 - March 14, 2008, 7:42 p.m.
Blizzard Post
But it would be very disappointing if the items found on [Kil'Jaeden] were the same thing you could get in your nightly [Magister's Terrace] run. [Magister's Terrace is a much easier five-person dungeon.]

We still are working to reward players for their accomplishments but pointing to nothing specifically, yes, there are things that can change during a three year cycle of development.
#25 - March 14, 2008, 7:56 p.m.
Blizzard Post
Q u o t e:


nice completely avoiding everything with "yes things change"

no reason why, no plans, nothing. just "things change"

great.


There wasn't a question in the original post, I was just commenting on it and pointing out some similarities from 2005 to patch 2.4 in 2008.

As for your questions, the reason why would be to improve the game. And top end PvP and PvE players continue to have access to some of the best items in the game, so I'd say we have no plans to change that.