World of Warcraft, Through the Patches
Yet Another Warlock Nerf has posted a great summary of the major patches. As the author, Horns, put it:
Can you imagine WoW today without daily quests? Without guild banks, flying mounts or Biscuits? Remember the days when warlock and hunter pets followed us on the ground while we were flying, when there weren’t any battlegrounds or arenas? When warlocks could beat rogues, when quest givers didn’t show up on our minimaps? When meeting stones served as a sort-of LFG tool, when I spoiled the entire post by giving you a summary at the beginning?
It’s a must-read for any WoW fan. He excluded class changes, calling them the least significant. (I agree with the approach for a different reason: I think they merit their own, in-depth post.) The post shows the difficulty of going head to head with WoW– look at what they’ve managed to add since release. But Blizzard’s learning process is also exposed, with several less-than-successful stabs at some thorny issues. (Does anyone use the in-game voice support? Or the LFG tool?)
One of my favorite things about MMOs is the exposed design process. Designers encounter the most exacting balance standards ever, in a post-release setting with thousands/millions of players, and we get to watch the successes and failures.