If you’ve been playing World of Warcraft at all consistently over the last two years, you’ve probably noticed a drift toward more casual play. By this, I mean that there are fun things to do at all levels, without the need to spend many hours or days to achieve anything. The idea behind this drift seems to be to attract and retain more casual players, people who can’t or won’t put in the amount of time and energy a hard-core player will. Considering how many people now play the game, this strategy has clearly worked to get people involved. But some people have been asking if having lots of casual players is good for the game itself, as well as for the hard-core players. Here’s a breakdown of the situation.

The Positive Side of the Casual Trend

Probably the best thing about the more casual style of play is that it causes Blizzard to make sure to add lots of fun things to the game.. Achievements, reduced requirements for getting mounts, lower XP requirements to get to the higher level content and a slew of events held throughout the year all add a lot of depth and detail to the World of Warcraft universe and for hardcore players who spend large blocks of time repeatedly playing through the same content over and over trying to earn that new epic shield, pair of spaulder, it keeps you from getting stuck in a rut and adds some depth to your gaming days. After all, life isn’t one dimensional. Why should your game be?

The Cons of Casual Style Play

The biggest problem with including so much stuff for casual gamers is resources. Since Blizzard is putting a lot of energy into Achievement and the like, they have fewer resources to work on things like raiding content for the hard-core players. Surprisingly, the highest level raid for Level 80 players is significantly easier than the top raids for Level 70. Raid sizes are now 10 and 25 men as well. The top-end Players who reached Level 80 days after the expansion came out are left with PvP or Achievement grinding if they want something to do as they wait for the higher end raids that will eventually come to the game.

What Casual Means for World of Warcraft

While there are drawbacks as well as benefits, I think attracting casual gamers to World of Warcraft is good for the players, the game, and Blizzard in the end. Remember that Blizzard needs profits to stay in business, and more players means more income. With increased income Blizzard also has the resources to keep developing new content for all levels of player. It might seem like the faithful are getting shortchanged, but if you want Blizzard to keep developing new game content, it’s the price we need to pay to keep the game alive and healthy.

Are you interested in staying up with the trends in WoW, whether toward casual gaming or anything else? If that sounds like you, you should find out more about the Warcraft Formula, a continually current guide to all things WoW. This Warcraft Formula review gives you all the details.