TBC Classic Boosts and You
If the boost to 58 for one toon per account breaks the Classic element of Classic WoW then players broke this element themselves shortly after Classics launch. But it’s not their fault.
Through buying in-game boosts from other players with gold players are just trying to speed along the part of the game they don’t enjoy as much, a lengthy leveling process, to get to the part they do enjoy, end-game raiding & PvP on multiple toons. With Blizzard’s history of not implementing desired quality of life changes into the game until the last moment, and usually at a real-money price, the solution of in-game boosts currently makes sense for this issue.
In Classic WoW the game was created so the leveling experience is the game, it has been clearly stated boosting will never be implemented in Classic Vanilla because of this. Blizzard will be Blizzard tho and sometimes feel they can do what they want. Is there a point when players reject this model during TBC Classic’s release and want more of the features they desire? What about in future WoW Classic releases?
Based on trends it is clear players want to level multiple alts to experience end-game content like raiding and PvP, but they do not all have time to spend on the long and lengthy leveling experience each time. Players assume this quality of life issue will not be addressed in Vanilla Classic like it was in retail with heirlooms, so they found a way to speed up alt leveling in Vanilla Classic. By paying other players gold for in-game level boosting via dungeon spam.
At the end of the day, certain players will still be mad about choices Blizzard and boosters make either way. Even when these experiences don’t directly affect them. I ignore these people because there will always be someone upset about a minor detail in-game, so why bother? What I can’t ignore is Blizzard correcting an in-game quality of life issue with an out-of-game solution that costs real money, level 58 boosts.
I have boosted multiple characters on retail WoW over the years. Some Blizzard gave me as a promotion, one I paid for so I could quickly play with a friend. Each boost I took did not affect my in-game experience and I don’t think it affected other people’s experience, no one ever told me such.
So I could not help but notice on multiple WoW forums I follow that people were solely blaming the level 58 boost for problems like botting, gold farmers, and inexperienced players in their groups. I felt this was said in retaliation to Blizzard only providing an out-of-game solution to this prominent in-game issue because I feel these symptoms of botting and gold farming already occur in-game.
Below is the current info we have on level 58 boosts in TBC Classic so far.
- You will start in 1 of 3 cities at 58, you will be halfway to 59 XP wise with full rested XP.
- You will do quests where you get a 60% mount, a weapon, and an intro to talent points.
- Players start with 25 gold and no professions, they will be wearing greens tailored to their class.
- Only 1 boost will be allowed per account, it will cost but we don’t know how much yet.
- You can not boost Blood Elf’s or Draenei, it is unclear if this will change.
It doesn’t seem this boost will add to the farming & botting symptoms any more than they already do but some say this will still ruin TBC Classic. To these people, I say these farming and botting symptoms have already occurred and the players caused it. But it’s not their fault. This occurred because Blizzard focused on the original spirit of classic, the leveling, and did not focus on the quality of life changes players are after.
This is kind of expected and not necessarily all Blizzard’s fault because players said they wanted the Classic experience revived. While slowly leveling to 60 IS the Classic experience it seems most players were after the Classic leveling experience once, then quickly leveling alts to experience the end game on various toons.
This is what WoW classic production manager Patrick Dawson has to say about the paid level boost in TBC Classic “The boost is really meant to be a way to play with your friends, it’s not meant to be a way to avoid leveling. The’s part of what classic is meant to be — all those levels you earned matter.”
But won’t that classic leveling experience remain on Classic Vanilla servers after TBC Classics release? It has is been made clear by Blizzard boosts will never be implemented in Vanilla Classic. Why should this quality of life upgrade in regards to more swiftly leveling an alt not be implemented in TBC Classic?
TBC had a gameplay emphasis that was different than Vanilla and this should be noted when rolling out TBC Classic. While there were not yet paid boosts or heirloom items in TBC to help with leveling alts; I feel TBC was when players showed they enjoyed WoW’s end game content more than its leveling experience. This has proven true in every release of WoW since where players emphasized end-game raiding and PvP on multiple toons and not a lengthy leveling process.
Players don’t want as much of a leveling grind on alts and they don’t want botting and gold farming which happens either way. Because of this shouldn’t an in-game solution to this quality of life issue be implemented?
The players are the ones who pay per month and they have made it clear if Blizzard doesn’t provide an in-game boosting solution they will create one. I feel this is why dungeon spam boosting is so prevalent in Vanilla Classic. Players are not against boosting and many pay in-game for bosts. I feel most players are against the idea that the only solution to ‘I have limited time to play but want to quickly level alts and experience the end game’ in TBC Classic is paying real money for a boost.
In retail, we had heirlooms. Many diehards were upset at heirlooms inclusion at 80, but was it really that bad? After being implemented for over a decade players continue to level alts with heirloom items with no major repercussions. I know when my alts used heirloom items it was never an issue to myself or other players in-game.
In the same vein that heirlooms became accepted I hope players become more accepting of boosting behavior, especially if it does not affect them, I also suggest Blizzard listens to in-game quality of life changes players want and implement them in a reasonable time.
However Bizzard does it, WoW’s players want a game that is designed to help them experience the content they are after in TBC Classic, not hinder them in doing so.
What do you think, are you for boosts or against them? Kinda agree with me or think I’m a total newb whos wrong? Let me know how you feel about this issue in the comments below, on Twitter @biddlesan, or my live streams at twitch.tv/biddybaybee
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