The first set of changes that we made to OctoWow is the separation of the server realms into Hardcore (HC) and non-HC or normal PVE realms. This decision was not an easy one to make, mostly because it required the making of many smaller, tougher decisions. In this post we hope to explain our thought process and reasoning behind the decisions that we did make.
The macro decision to separate the realms was an easy one. It is something the community has requested for a long time but due to issues with splitting an existing realm, Turtle Wow was never able to deliver on this request. We feel that separating the player base in this way helps to increase immersion in the game and reduce anti-social patterns of gameplay that can arise when a game world shares players with such different restrictions.
One of the primary anti-social patterns that this prevents is the possibility of HC toons being griefed by normal toons. While this was a rare occurrence on Turtle Wow, it absolutely did happen, and I am sure any Inferno Raider has a story of a friend being griefed in the open world while fighting for mob tags, or AFKing in a safe area. There are also a few economic issues that this change solves such as HC toons being pushed out of certain open world farms for the fear of griefing (*cough* Hyjal Bright Dreamshard farms).
Each design decision that this forced us to make is worth talking about in its own right. We have compiled some of the more impactful ones below.
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Is it really Hardcore if your character doesn't get deleted when they die?
The ability to transfer dead Hardcore characters to the normal realm was perhaps the most contentious topic the team discussed. It is one with complex psychological underpinnings around how humans view reward and accomplishment, and we have no psychologists on the team (that we are aware of
). In light of that we decided to view this issue from a perspective of what will make for the healthiest community, both on the HC and non-HC realms.From the experience of the team, the average Turtle Wow player has a preference of HC or non-HC playstyles. Very rarely will players split their time between the two. A common occurrence amongst the hardcore community was a player new to the server who wanted to make their first lvl 60 immortal, but would then quickly re-roll another hardcore toon (or stop playing altogether) as soon as they got their immortal lvl 60.
This change allows those players to try out the Inferno Challenge if they wish without the fear that they will regret that decision. Allowing HC curious and new players to try the game mode with less risk undoubtedly has an effect on the way the game feels, however it is our belief that this is outweighed by the addition of many more players to group with on the HC realm. Those players who already know that they want to play HC (and only HC) would likely agree that a toon on a different server may as well be a dead toon.
From the perspective of the normal realm, this change opens the doors to hundreds of new characters joining the realm at all levels. While previously anyone who died in HC would be starting from scratch, now they have an incentive to join the normal realm instead. On average we expect not much to change from the perspective of a non-HC player from this change, but encourage community discussion and are open to feedback about any issues that may arise!
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What is the point of a Hardcore only server if there is no auction house? Are we really still doing the 5+- thing?
Well one of our largest development priorities when thinking about changes to this server is retaining and improving immersion. We believe that Azeroth is at its best when you blend into the game, and feel as if you are traversing, exploring, and gathering in a real world.
When there is a healthy auction house in place, every non-soulbound item that you find may as well just be instantly converted into gold. Need some leather for a recipe you want to craft? Don't bother fishing it up or asking your guild if anyone has any. No need to bug the druid you saw on the boat to see if they have any spare. Just buy it from the AH! Find a rare world drop? No need to find a buyer for it the AH will find it for you!
We feel that the auction house undermines so many social and community bonds that are formed through trade. Not allowing an auction house mitigates that, and creates a healthy and diverse economy.
As for the 5 level limit on grouping and trading, this is another thing that we feel adds to the immersion, and was one of Turtle Wow's better contributions to the game mode. Of course trade chains are still possible, and we will not be removing them, but we feel this limitation makes leveling alts much more immersive.
The one aspect of the 5 level limit that did bother us was the multiboxing/multi account strategy that emerged. This feels very anti-immersive and to combat this we took a two pronged approach. First we enabled the mailing of in game items between players who are within 5 levels of each other. Second we tightened our account sign ups so that it is more difficult to acquire multiple accounts.
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Why not transfer players instantly when they die to the normal realm?
We feel that making the decision to leave the Hardcore realm should not be a default one. We are also wary of people treating the HC realm as the default for new characters when they have no real desire to play the game in that way. This solves both of these issues by requiring a time investment, a journey really, to the other realm. We hope to in the future add more content to flesh out this journey in a more interesting way, but for now that journey is simply a ghost walk all the way to the Dark Portal. Upon entering the portal your character will be seamlessly migrated to the other realm.
Another benefit we receive from not instantly transferring dead toons, is that players can now linger in the world if they were taken too soon. When a HC character in Turtle Wow suffered a tragic fate, they were shut off from the world around them, forced back to Elwynn and even chat restricted until lvl 10 again. Our change allows dead HC players to watch the world from the afterlife, communicate with those close to them, debrief on what happened, or just shit talk in barrens general chat. It is our belief that this will help increase immersion in this world, and hopefully even open up some new role playing opportunities!
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Death Reviews? Sounds like GM's will just revive themselves and their friends!
During the Beta test of our server, we expect there to be unforeseen issues, however we do not want to dis-incentivize players from playing HC during this time. Because of this we will be enabling a system of HC death reviews. For the time being, all HC death appeals will need to be made via GM ticket on the deceased character or through an email to OctoWow@proton.me if a recording is required. There are instances where GM's can verify a death was due to a bug without a recording (through detailed server side logs) however in the case that the logs do not reveal the issue, a recording will be required.
Recommendation: all HC players run OBS in the background to record the last 5 minutes of their play session if their system can support that (OBS is pretty lightweight).
Back to the original issue of abuse of this system, we are aware that is a possibility and it is not something that we take lightly. To resurrect a character that died in a just way undermines the integrity of the entire community and their accomplishments.
Our long term solution to this is to have a dedicated page on the website where users may submit death appeal of HC characters, and a dedicated public forum topic where all successful appeals are automatically posted. The forum posts will contain:
- All evidence submitted for the appeal
- All conversations that take place in the appeal process
- A short explanation of the reasoning of the GM who granted the appeal
There will be measures put in place to prevent the abuse of this system, the details of which have yet to be determined. We will be paying close attention to the attitude around this system, and have not shelved the idea of removing the system entirely if it becomes an issue. This is the path that we currently believe to be the best path forward at this time though.
Of course we welcome any and all criticisms and opinions on the above changes, and look forward to hearing what you all think below in the replies!
