Readers of Warcraft blogs are certainly aware of what is happening in WoW. We all use an assortment of online information outlets and do our own research. The fact that we are so interested in WoW that we spend time researching it, reading about it, and writing about it separates us from the general population of Azeroth. We know everything. (just kidding, of course)
But we only account for a very tiny fraction of the WoW player base. There are players who do not keep up with “current events” in WoW. Heck, there are still players who don’t know about Thottbot or Wowhead.
How many of the millions of subscribers had no idea there was a patch coming today? I’m not talking about new subscribers – I am asking about people who have been playing for a while. How many level 70 players will hear about the new badge rewards for the first time in Trade channel chatter? How many times will someone mention Magister’s Terrace, and get a response of “what?”
These are unanswerable questions, of course. But I am curious just the same.
Certainly, reading WOWInsider is not required to be a successful Warcraft player. For many players, they only think about WoW when they log into the game. How is this new content being conveyed to that player base? How would someone find out about the new fishing dailies and crafting patterns if they didn’t read WoW-related web sites? Is it Blizzard’s responsibility to lead players by the nose to the new content? Should Guild officers inform their guildies? Is word-of-mouth sufficient?
Again – these are rhetorical questions. But since my mother has recently started playing it has made me much more aware of the player who is “in the dark.” I can’t tell you how many times she has asked me a question, and when I gave her the answer she replied with “how was I supposed to know to do that?”
This isn’t simply limited to the very casual, or to new players. This past week I have done Kara, Gruuls, and many heroics. From chatting with folks during these runs, perhaps half the *raiders* in guild know anything more than “there is a patch coming”, and one or two details – which are often wrong.
Perhaps 1 in 5 actually know what they want off the new badge vendor.
Perhaps 2 in 5 know that there is a new 5-man, new 25-man, *and* new daily-packed land containing them.
Many think that patch day is “starting arena season 4″, and want to know “so.. what happens to the S1 and S2 gear?”
The most common knowledge is that addons are going to break. What changes are causing the problems? Not many go that far.
New pvp dailies? Fishing daily? Subtle class changes? Major interface changes? New title? New Faction? Tons of the profession items?
No. Most couldn’t describe any of these changes.
That’s not to say that no-one knows – there are several who do follow the blogs, and are already planning ahead.. it is just that they are the minority.
Most folks simply hear bits of details on vent, or in guild chat.
This isn’t really so different that anything else. When doing new raid content, there are those who spend lots of time studying the new fights, but the vast majority simply read the summaries that I put up, and perhaps follow a link or two.
It falls to the minority to educate the majority in both cases.
It’s amazing to think about the days when I was that player who had no idea that a new patch was coming until I logged in and saw the downloader. Yet even with all the content online, I still manage to feel like I’m often out-of-the-loop myself! The resources are amazing, though, and I would agree that we have an opportunity to educate the majority — because I really believe it enriches the game experience. As it is, I’m itching to log on and experience life with the new patch! Great post…
I use to be one of those “In The Dark” players. I didn’t find WowInsider until 2 days after I hit 70 on my first toon. *smack* was what I did as soon as I started reading it, as I realized how much of an invaluable resource it is. Since then I check wowInsider and other Rogue content related blogs for the latest information and have been looking forward to this patch since the first rumors started.