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: The smart World of Warcraft stuff from BlizzCon
Let's get something out of the way first and foremost. I am not going to count Warcraft III: Reforged as a smart thing for...
WoW Factor: The dumb World of Warcraft stuff from BlizzCon
It's easy to just think of this year's BlizzCon as having dumb stuff on display for Diablo, but let's be real here - there were...
BlizzCon 2018: What the heck happened?
Every year, I cover BlizzCon for Massively Overpowered. This is not new information; you've all seen my liveblogs running every year for quite some...
WoW Factor: When long-term progress in World of Warcraft isn’t
"When even the vanishingly tiny playerbase of your game that you've been catering to for years is getting tired... what's going to happen to your game?"
WoW Factor: We’re all farming Nature Resistance gear now
First and foremost, I'd like to note that I am writing these columns consecutively and immediately, so all I can do is hope that...
WoW Factor: Examining excitement, accomplishment, and elitism in Battle for Azeroth
It's been a while, and for good reason. But now that we're nearly three months into Battle for Azeroth, the World of Warcraft community...
First impressions of World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth, part 4: Conclusions
Part four covers expansion odds and ends plus the conclusion to our series: the problem with Azerite, progression, and why the expansion isn't bad, just weakly executed.
First impressions of World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth, part 3: Narrative
Part three covers expansion story: narrative design, the text, the intended emotional reaction, good vs. evil, comparisons to Wrathgate, and how the game's cinematic presentation is let down by its plot.
First impressions of World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth, part 2: Content
Part two covers expansion content: the storyline, the new zones, the War Campaign, questing, rewards, Inscription, professions, dungeons, and environments.
First impressions of World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth, part 1: Mechanics
Part one covers chiefly the expansion's mechanics: the basics of leveling, the Heart of Azeroth, level scaling, Azerite powers, combat, spec changes, War Mode, and the campaign.
WoW Factor: World of Warcraft’s market saturation and the pull of vague memories
Here's something a little different: Usually, before I write a World of Warcraft column (or any column), my assumptions and data are pretty firm...
WoW Factor: There’s no fixing this Battle for Azeroth story
Let's be totally clear about something: There is no twist waiting for this World of Warcraft story. It doesn't exist. There's no way that...
WoW Factor: Dissecting the dumb plan in World of Warcraft’s War of Thorns
There's a lot to be upset about with the World of Warcraft Battle for Azeroth prepatch. There's stuff that just doesn't feel good any more...
WoW Factor: World of Warcraft’s Battle for Azeroth feels like Cataclysm all over again
It took me a long time to identify what felt off about World of Warcraft's upcoming expansion. Something was definitely bothering me, but the...
WoW Factor: Things that actually worry me about Battle for Azeroth
The Battle for Azeroth beta is here, at long last, and it feels like it might have come a little early in the process....
WoW Factor: Speculative classes for the future of WoW
If Allied Races show us anything, it's that World of Warcraft is really in no danger of running out of new races to throw...
WoW Factor: Updating data in the wake of Battle for Azeroth’s release announcement
Hooray, we have a release date for World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth instead of just a release window! And contrary to what many...
WoW Factor: Allied races and a dearth of class choices
Last week, we got confirmation that Kul Tiran Humans and Mag'har Orcs are coming to the Allied Race roster for World of Warcraft: Battle...
WoW Factor: The Kul Tiran Druid ‘problem’ in World of Warcraft
One of the important things to note about World of Warcraft lore is that it's never been static. It will retcon itself six ways...
WoW Factor: Examining the composition of the Horde
Last week, we looked at the composition of the Alliance in World of Warcraft. This week, we're looking at the Horde. Makes sense, doesn't...
