WoW devs defends The War Within leveling changes as ‘minimal’ after player outrage

In response to a flood of community criticism over changes to the leveling system in The War Within, World of Warcraft developers Blizzard has declared the impact on time will be “minimal” as it looks to reassure frustrated players.

The surprise expansion adjustments, first announced in an official post on Aug. 29, were made to address WoW players entering the new content with powerful gear from the Dragonflight expansion. Community manager Kaivax explained a hotfix would increase the difficulty of enemies, particularly for those at level 70, to bring the combat duration in line with the game’s typical pacing. This bold decision didn’t sit well with many in the WoW community and was quickly lambasted across social media and forums.

Players took to Reddit to express their frustration, with one fan summing up the overwhelming sentiment by saying, “It’s absolutely asinine to arbitrarily slow things down for people who are already behind the curve due to the late release.” The timing of the changes also have many incensed, especially given Epic Edition buyers who got early access managed to dodge these very unpopular adjustments.

Blizzard has tried to alleviate these concerns by explaining that the new War Within leveling adjustments are designed to make the difficulty curve “more gradual.” The developers emphasized that players starting with basic gear would still find leveling manageable and would quickly obtain better equipment. Still, if you’re entering without max-level Dragonflight gear, it’ll be a bit tougher. For players at level 78 or higher, combat should feel unchanged, maintaining a consistent experience for higher-level content.

Despite these assurances, scepticism remains. Other disgruntled WoW players declared it was “nothing new” for Blizzard to make sudden changes like this. Most pointed to how “out of whack” balance will be now, and how “pay-to-win” early access became.

For now, the community can do naught but watch as Blizzard navigates balancing player satisfaction and fairness. Whether the adjustments truly result in a “minimal” remains to be seen, but the controversy has undoubtedly angered fans.