Earlier this week, rumors started to spread about a level squish coming to World of Warcraft. They began when a Reddit user posted screenshots of an official Blizzard survey that asked: “Are you aware that the maximum level of 120 will be reduced in the future?” It turns out that most players didn’t know and it raises some questions.
Why Does The Level Cap Need Reducing?
Back when the game was first released, the level cap was 60. Since then, each new expansion has raised it by either 5 or 10 levels, meaning the cap has now doubled.
This means that leveling can seem like a daunting prospect. After all, 120 levels sound very time-consuming. One can only assume that this is the main reason why Blizzard is looking at lowering that number.
While many players have leveled slowly due to the extra levels added with each passing expansion, there will always be new players who need to start from the beginning. There are also those who may wish to change classes, factions, or realms. The game is constantly full of people leveling characters, so bringing the level down will, presumably, make that process seem less daunting.
Why Not Just Continue To Reduce The Experience Needed Per Level?
This is the question that I personally cannot understand. As the game has grown, Blizzard has continually reduced the amount of experience needed to level. It is now far quicker to level than ever before and it continues to get easier. Each new expansion reduces the amount of experience needed to reach the level cap for the previous one.
The difference between leveling in the original game compared to now was highlighted by the World of Warcraft Classic beta. Players who had never played the original game were shocked at how long the leveling process took, with many assuming it was a bug.
You can also tell how much easier it is to level by the fact that the leveling process now allows you to storm through content, barely touching many of the quests available. In fact, whole zones can be left unexplored as the leveling process flies by. So, why the need to reduce the numbers?
How Will A Level Squish Affect The Game?
Previous squishes have been focused on health pools and damage, as well as item levels. These were done as Blizzard tried to get a handle on the insane numbers involved.
As new content was released, the increased health pools and dps figures that accompanied it were becoming massive, and the numbers were beginning to lose all meaning. Squishing them simply allowed everything to become more sensible again.
The squish did not have any other effects.
Health pools, item levels, and damage were all scaled down together, allowing the core gameplay experience to remain the same. This has been done several times now as the game has progressed.
It is assumed that a level squish would be the same. It should simply be a way of making the level cap seem like a more reachable figure.
Accessing End Game Content Faster
A big factor in deciding to perform a level squish must surely be to help newcomers feel like they could access end game content faster. However, we already have a system in place that allows this to happen - character boosts.
Newer expansions have come with a free character boost. This allows you to boost either a new or existing character up to the level cap of the previous content. This means that anyone purchasing the latest expansion, Battle for Azeroth, also gets a free level 110 character with no need to level.
It should be noted, however, that character boosts come with their own pros and cons. While it’s great to be able to jump straight into new content, the leveling process teaches you a lot about your class. Finding yourself at almost max level with no armor and no clue about what to do isn’t an experience for the faint-hearted.
A Role-Playing And Learning Experience
World of Warcraft is at heart a role-playing game and the leveling process is a huge aspect of that. In an effort to get people to end game, Blizzard might be losing sight of this.
As you level, you learn about your class and the world around you. Exploring and questing is a huge part of the game, and one that many players experience over and over for enjoyment. There shouldn’t be such a push to reduce the experience so that it players can simply run through the game in the fastest time possible.
Leveling should be rewarding, and a level cap of 120 helps with that in my opinion. It still feels like a huge achievement to get there and that’s an experience I want to keep. While Blizzard will tell us that reducing the level doesn’t diminish this experience, if this true then why is there a need for it in the first place?
For most players, the level cap isn’t an issue as far as I’m aware. The number is high, but it’s not insanely high, unlike my pre-squish dps meter.
While I see the need to reduce numbers for damage and health pools - after all, they were running into the millions - I simply cannot get behind a level squish. It just feels unnecessary.
A Plea To Blizzard
Leveling is a core part of the game experience and it’s already such a short one these days. It feels like more and more of that experience is being erased as the expansions are introduced. Reducing the levels just feels like an unnecessary and detrimental extra step towards erasing the early game experience.
I worked hard for the 120 levels that I’ve gained on several different characters. Please don’t take them away.
While I know they won’t be truly gone, the thought of seeing those numbers reduced fills me with sadness. I can cope with Blizzard messing with levels and dps, we just hope it doesn’t mess with the level cap.
