A hands-on preview of the World of Warcraft: Shadowlands pre-beta test details the expansion's endgame mechanic, and despite sounding off-putting at first, it's something that should offer fans an entirely new experience later this year. World of Warcraft: Shadowlands is the long-tenured MMORPG's next expansion, and it's one of the most extensive in terms of how it's changing the title's core gameplay functions.
Instead of dramatically reinventing the world of Azeroth the same way that World of Warcraft: Cataclysm did years ago, Shadowlands is aimed at adjusting the overall gameplay experience from when new players first jump into the title to when they're grinding endgame content with veterans. The biggest change coming to World of Warcraft: Shadowlands is the level squish, which will see the maximum level - currently 120 as of Battle for Azeroth - dropped all the way to 60. Halving the total levels required to hit the maximum on a given character will also dramatically impact how players progress through the game's story. That means more focus will be on questing through an entire zone's content and story rather than haphazardly navigating expansion areas that suit someone's current level.
Another big change is coming in the form of World of Warcraft: Shadowlands endgame, and a report from Polygon details how it looks in the pre-beta test. World of Warcraft: Shadowlands will bring players back to The Maw - think the deepest level of hell in terms of Warcraft lore - for its endgame grind, and it will constantly hammer players with debuffs as they're completing content. According to the preview, completing quests or performing actions tied to Shadowlands content evokes the ire of The Jailer, the antagonist of the expansion, and staying in The Maw for extended period of times ramps up debuffs to the point that it becomes extremely difficult to survive - until its downright impossible, which is when players will need to come back the next day.
The report also suggests, however, that the World of Warcraft: Shadowlands endgame grind is less frustrating than it sounds, and makes some insightful comments about how it plays. Apparently, these debuffs take time to build up, and they aren't often directly a hindrance to questing. The preview from Polygon also suggests there may be endgame upgrades that lessen or block debuffs from The Eye of the Jailer, which would make sense if late content requires hours of being in The Maw.
There's a lot of exploration to be done when it comes to World of Warcraft: Shadowlands endgame content, and it's unlikely fans will know enough about the experience and gameplay loops before beta at the earliest. While it sounds off-putting initially, there's a lot of potential in the Shadowlands endgame approach, and it will likely go a long way in establishing the expansion's environmental feel. Some of the recent criticism regarding World of Warcraft is about stagnancy and repetition, so shaking things up seems like a wise approach from Blizzard and could reinvigorate an endgame content grind system that was once the best of its genre.
World of Warcraft: Shadowlands releases in fall 2020 for PC and Mac.
Source: Polygon
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