WoW Factor is Eliot Lefebvre’s column on an MMO you’ve probably never heard of: World of Warcraft. [Follow this column’s RSS feed]
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WoW Factor: Why WoW Classic players are mad about the Burning Crusade character boost
I'm not going to lie to anyone here: When the World of Warcraft: Classic team first announced the idea that you could boost a...
WoW Factor: We’re waiting how long for Shadowlands’ patch 9.1, now?
So it looks like World of Warcraft's next patch is going up for testing on the week of April 12th. What the heck is happening? At...
WoW Factor: Why aren’t we getting more customization options in Shadowlands?
You might be surprised that I haven't written a piece in WoW Factor yet about the BlizzConline announcement that we would get no new...
WoW Factor: The long wait for patch 9.1 in World of Warcraft
We don't yet have a date for patch 9.1, but considering that patch 9.0.5 just released recently and the patch isn't even up on...
WoW Factor: Will most WoW Classic players genuinely move on to The Burning Crusade?
So as much praise as I had for the WoW Classic side of the World of Warcraft equation last week, there's something that was interesting as...
WoW Factor: WoW Classic is doing everything right in the wake of BlizzCon
In the wake of BlizzConline 2021, I have some criticisms about the WoW Classic presentation. Specifically, the first part of the panel about The Burning Crusade...
WoW Factor: The return of Valor is far from valorous
This week's announcement that World of Warcraft will be bringing Valor back as a currency piqued my immediate interest, especially when we're not that...
WoW Factor: What I want to hear from World of Warcraft during BlizzConline
So hey, BlizzConline is coming up very soon, and that means more announcements about World of Warcraft! Within a fairly narrow lineup of possible bits...
WoW Factor: The pros and cons of deterministic gear systems
One of the big changes that's hit World of Warcraft over the years is in regard to deterministic gear systems. In the original launch version...
WoW Factor: Does Blizzard have a messaging problem or a message problem?
A recent post over at Kaylriene's blog got me originally thinking about this one. The original posting here is actually about a different issue...
WoW Factor: The Shadowlands gameplay loop problem
A friend and I were discussing World of Warcraft the other night, which is something we do fairly often. This is especially relevant for me...
WoW Factor: Oh no, not the Sylvanas redemption arc
All right. So. Apparently people wanted to know my response to the new cinematic mined out from within World of Warcraft. Cool. That's easy. My...
WoW Factor: The strange diegetics of the Shadowlands
So hey, everyone may be totally immortal right now in World of Warcraft. That seems like a thing we should examine now, huh?
I freely admit...
WoW Factor: The five paths forward for WoW Classic
Throughout its lifespan, WoW Classic has had an interesting relationship with the future. Not just because it is and always was an explicitly back-looking piece...
First Impressions of World of Warcraft: Shadowlands, part three: Influences and summation
One of the things that I generally like to avoid doing is comparing World of Warcraft to other MMOs on the market. Even as we've...
First impressions of World of Warcraft: Shadowlands, part two: Endgame experience
Once you get to max level in World of Warcraft, the game changes. This should not be a surprise, as it has been the...
First Impressions of World of Warcraft: Shadowlands, part one: Story and leveling
In a lot of ways, the problem with talking about World of Warcraft is the same problem when you try to talk about The...
WoW Factor: A wild theory for World of Warcraft’s Shadowlands
I don't have quite as much as I would have expected to say about Shadowlands so close to its launch. Part of that is, of...
WoW Factor: Does Blizzard even know what it wants World of Warcraft to be now?
Let's start by pre-empting someone who feels very clever. Yes, I hear you muttering "profitable" as an answer. That isn't accurate; that's answering what...
Why I Play: Exploring World of Warcraft as a free-to-play game
A few weeks back, the Massively OP staff discussed, among other things, whether World of Warcraft's leveling revamp coupled with its continued endless free...