I'll go ahead and do devil's advocate since I'm waiting for my pizza in the oven lol... But its actually a really easy answer granted your not fan-boying it and being honest. Its "EZ mode" if:

1- You've played since the early haydays and seen things gradually "dumbed down".

2- They assume everyone is a casual gamer and grinding is non~existent with an emphasis on the end gear with everyone wearing the same thing where everything ends up being "do A-B-C and your done". 

3- It has a very minimal learning curve even with PvP in contrast to other games that were released at the same time. Usually EvE online is typically bought up as the prime example of "learning curve" for a known title on this site at least.

4- The implementation of game new features instead of either not using them or using them as 3rd party can be argued to be like a gold handicap; it helps make a less skilled player seem not as useless and make a really skilled player even better but generally everyone benefits.

5- Since there is more of an emphasis on the end game content versus the exploration and lore of the game, it means everyone just does the former and not the latter (or majority at least) thereby making it the rehashed stuff. Nothing really challenging or what not. Its just the same old stuff. 

6- Like cata, it seems in order to get players to stick around stuff becomes "more accessible" and "less challenging". 

Not saying this is an absolute or such but hey I'm bored and thought I'd take a crack at it. 

Modern day WoW is super easy, leveling wise, it's sickening. I mean the only hard time I had leveling after Cataclysm is this Murloc quest in Elwynn forest, where only if you are alone and not a super easy leveling class like Paladin, than easily 5 murlocs could start attacking you and kill you.

However, even during Wotlk it was just as easy as every other MMO. I mean there is literally zero MMO's that I would say take brain power, strategy, tactics or skill, especially compared to the most simplest single player games. Even Eve, which is said to be the hardest MMO, is super easy, I mean "leveling" is 100% easier than WoWs and the combat is simpler than WoWs in my opinion. If the economic stuff wasn't a tiny bit difficult than the game would easily be considered EZ mode for MMO's. 

Seriously, people say it's for kids and beginner mmo players, but there is no modern MMO that really is much more difficult that says you are no longer a kid, no longer a beginner.

Originally posted by elocke

Originally posted by Homitu

Originally posted by sevitoth

Originally posted by Zeppelin4

It's quite simple for me. The outdoor leveling content has been dumbed down a lot and gear stats have gone the other direction. They didn't stop there they made leveling exp go faster then the content your playing turning quests in the zone green and grey before you even finish the zone.

The combination of the two has made the outdoor pve just a time sink to end game with zero challenge. This is what killed wow for me for I love to play alts. What a waste of resources on the 1-60 content for the revamp in Cata. 

To answer your question when my brother's nine year old daughter can level in Wow with ease that is the main reason (there is more)  I feel Wow is EZ mode. This would have never happen at launch.

This. What's the point in completely re-doing the old lands if you are just going to level through it so fast you only get to see a portion of the re-made zones? Blizzard should have removed the faster leveling from the old lands when they re-made it.

Alternatively, players constantly complain that certain MMOs are too linear, providing only one questing path through the same zones.  You must quest through the same zones every time you make a new alt.  WoW features 6 completely distinct level 1-60 quest paths, 3 for alliance + 3 for horde.  So which is it?  Should every new character see all content every single time they level an alt, or should the games provide a variety of leveling paths?

Yeah, that argument cracks me up.  For me, WoW's way of doing it is the ONLY way to do it hehe, and we'll see more of that in SWTOR and GW2, if I read their features correctly.  This is a good thing. 

Well, for me if you're making new alts on a regular basis, then the content is probably too easy.

For me its all about the journey, and not about the destination.  So call me old school, but I want it to be challenging to level up, to take time and real thought to minimize my downtime and when I do reach level cap (however far down the road that is) it is a real acheivement that many will not be able to accomplish.

WOW is not that game.  I'm not going to argue that the raid content or high level arena PVP isn't competitive (though not really offering the same experience of RVR back in DAOC's glory years) but it surely is, (my guild had almost cleared AQ 40 back in vanilla WOW) but the rest of the game is clearly designed for casual game players like yourself and many others.

Remember, what some folks call tedious others call a challenge.

MMOs in general are designed to not be difficult, or hard. I've not seen any mechanic other than players basically failing to pay attention that makes things difficult.

There's a lot of things; someone said progression and that's the big part of it. What you need and how you get it is completely laid out for you and it's just a matter of investing time (as opposed to investing skill) to obtain it.

The King is a natural born leader and in WoW and a few other games it wasn't hard to round up a team to take down the "new" and "improved" content from these games as it came about. Despite me having grew tired of a lot of the raid mechanics years ago.

The talent trees, the combonation of abilities, the gear sets laid out for you; the most difficult part of the game is trying to figure out your optimal key pressing sequence. 

Even then with all the addons making questiong speedy, trading speedy, and honestly NO MMO has crafting. At best they have assemblage- and it stinks.

Themepark MMOs, even with their PVP content, are easy games in general. Honestly Super Mario Bros. 8-3 has a higher "think / react / achieve" difficulty rating than anything in WoW; or any other MMO for that matter where the players have no control over their progression.

Originally posted by elocke

Originally posted by Homitu

Originally posted by sevitoth

Originally posted by Zeppelin4

It's quite simple for me. The outdoor leveling content has been dumbed down a lot and gear stats have gone the other direction. They didn't stop there they made leveling exp go faster then the content your playing turning quests in the zone green and grey before you even finish the zone.

The combination of the two has made the outdoor pve just a time sink to end game with zero challenge. This is what killed wow for me for I love to play alts. What a waste of resources on the 1-60 content for the revamp in Cata. 

To answer your question when my brother's nine year old daughter can level in Wow with ease that is the main reason (there is more)  I feel Wow is EZ mode. This would have never happen at launch.

This. What's the point in completely re-doing the old lands if you are just going to level through it so fast you only get to see a portion of the re-made zones? Blizzard should have removed the faster leveling from the old lands when they re-made it.

Alternatively, players constantly complain that certain MMOs are too linear, providing only one questing path through the same zones.  You must quest through the same zones every time you make a new alt.  WoW features 6 completely distinct level 1-60 quest paths, 3 for alliance + 3 for horde.  So which is it?  Should every new character see all content every single time they level an alt, or should the games provide a variety of leveling paths?

Yeah, that argument cracks me up.  For me, WoW's way of doing it is the ONLY way to do it hehe, and we'll see more of that in SWTOR and GW2, if I read their features correctly.  This is a good thing. 

Your getting away from your OP. I showed you why Wow is EZ mode today for me and you go off on multi path ways to level. Wow has dumbed down the the leveling experience from vanilla to what we have today. If I were to rate the leveling challenge in vanilla on a 1 to 10 scale I would give it a solid 7 compared to a 1 today. That is why it's EZ mode for me.

Originally posted by sdeleon515

I'll go ahead and do devil's advocate since I'm waiting for my pizza in the oven lol... But its actually a really easy answer granted your not fan-boying it and being honest. Its "EZ mode" if:

1- You've played since the early haydays and seen things gradually "dumbed down".

2- They assume everyone is a casual gamer and grinding is non~existent with an emphasis on the end gear with everyone wearing the same thing where everything ends up being "do A-B-C and your done". 

3- It has a very minimal learning curve even with PvP in contrast to other games that were released at the same time. Usually EvE online is typically bought up as the prime example of "learning curve" for a known title on this site at least.

4- The implementation of game new features instead of either not using them or using them as 3rd party can be argued to be like a gold handicap; it helps make a less skilled player seem not as useless and make a really skilled player even better but generally everyone benefits.

5- Since there is more of an emphasis on the end game content versus the exploration and lore of the game, it means everyone just does the former and not the latter (or majority at least) thereby making it the rehashed stuff. Nothing really challenging or what not. Its just the same old stuff. 

6- Like cata, it seems in order to get players to stick around stuff becomes "more accessible" and "less challenging". 

 

Not saying this is an absolute or such but hey I'm bored and thought I'd take a crack at it. 

1. I am not playing presently, but I have played Cata some and played tons during "Vanilla". I  liked that they have reduced the grinds and made it easier for new players to get exposed to the game and get themselves up to a lvl where they can venture with their friends faster. MMO's were always supposed to be a community and the difference between new and old players in most MMO's has always been a very vast one lvl wise.

2. This itemization is an issue I completely agree with. I miss the days of games like AC or AO where you could tailor your character to fit your playstyle and still be quite effective.

3. PvP is a harsh subject for me on this game as it has always had less to do with skill that it did class, macros, specialty UI's, enchantments, and armor. 

4. Agreed. The problem,though, is that without the handicap it costs Blizzard money, resources, and their reputation to fix the problems after the fact. Anyone who has gamed with multiple companies in the last 10 years or more can cite at least one company they would never give another dime to. More often than not, due to an issue that was mishandled or not handled at all.

5. That's indicitive of the "race" that makes people cite how easy or not a game is.. They compare MMO's to console games typically without meaning to. DCUO is a great example...The devs never meant for any player to spend time grinding levels, but to experience the content from each mentor with different characters sprinkled in with co-ops and pvp. Yet, you still had players complain (loudly) about how easy it was to lvl up and how there was no challenge. All other negative aspects of the game aside, it was apparent that many just didn't (don't ) "get it".

6. The heroic and raid encounters I saw in Cata had folks whining about it being too hard in droves. Reminded me of what you found in Vanilla in raids like original MC or ZG back when they were relevant.

First, I would like to disagree that EVE is just as easy as WoW.  Skill progression in EVE, IMO, is more realistic.  Which seems more involved therefore immersive.  By more reaslistic, I mean, in real life, it takes time to learn new things.  A long time.  As far as combat...  If you get killed in WoW, so what!  In EVE, you risk losing your ship and everything on it.  Plus, risk losing skill points if your clone isn't up to date.

Anyway, back to topic.  I think "EZ Mode" is a veteran term used to express displeasure in the current generation of games.  For instance, I'm a DAoC vet and I can't stand the PvP in WoW.  In DAoC, a group was all but required to compete in the frontiers.  Everyone has their role.  Tanks, DPS, Buffing healer, healing healer etc were all required.  In WoW PvP, there really is no dedicated role.  Everyone just jumps in and tries to survive.  Rinse and repeat...  and repeat... and repeat...  Granted, the PvP isn't necessarily easier...  Just requires much less thought.

Soooo..  Play UO, DAoC, EQ1, Ashron's Call and then play WoW again...  Then there may be a chance at better understanding the phrase.

three2six

http://www.soundcloud.com/three2six

WoW used to be difficult. I played since Vanilla and it was considerably more difficult. WotLK and Cata really dumbed it down for blizzards profit.(1-2 mil of hardcore subs, or 12 mil subs of who cares what type of player?) The game is just too faceroll now. Not to mention that it is so damn hard to find good and dedicated guild members for your 4 night a week raid. Many people you find at 80 just started playing a month ago and don't know what they're doing(Why don't I get xp in a raid?!). Well over half of them don't know a basic rule of raiding. Stay out of the fire. Better yet, stay out of the bad stuff. 

The reason you probably haven't downed end game raid content while it was considered progressional content because of the people who read forums and agree with all the hardcores who ragequit and then stop trying to do well and read mechanics and watch videos because they think they're better than the game all of the sudden.(Then they proceed to blame the raid and not themselves. Don't get the people who do spend an hour or 2 before raid and rage when you wipe mixed up with the others. They're doing something right.) As with any good MMO, it should challege your skill and your mind. It is here that WoW is slowly degenerating.

Originally posted by threetwosix
Soooo..  Play UO, DAoC, EQ1, Ashron's Call and then play WoW again...  Then there may be a chance at better understanding the phrase.

I've played all of those and every single one annoyed me to no end with their frustrating WORK like mechanics and clunky controls/UIs. 

For me, WoW took the best of some of those games, namely EQ1, and just made it FUN and less of a hassle.  I want to come home, hop into a game and have a blast doing whatever.  Not go back to the days pre-WoW when I was playing SWG and FFXI and I came home from work to....more work.

Different strokes for different folks, I guess.  Some of us want to "live" in an alternate world.  We want to become our toon.  Rise and fall with their accomplishments.  We want to feel accomplished when we win a difficult battle or embarrassed when we lose.  In WoW, it feels more like, "Whatever".  Get to the top?  You look just like every single other person that has made it there.  In MMOs like DAoC or AC, you bought (or crafted) your own armor and used dyes and/or enamels to color it the way you want.  Then you crafted or paid someone to embue whichever stats you wanted.  Everyone was different.  You were unigue.  Almost noone was exactly the same.

WoW is fun, yes.  But it's very basic.  Just my very humble opinion.

three2six

http://www.soundcloud.com/three2six

The slight talking about how wow is EZ mode is a simple answer. The OP must be on an incredibly crappy server if he cant pug 85 raids, and that's how wow is EZ mode. Blizzard dumbs down their raids when they release new content, all 85 heroics have been dumbed down to EZ mode, all 85 Raids other then firelands has been dumbed down to EZ mode, and then on top of all that you can get raiding loot from badges you get from heroics so, que up a random heroic get thrown into a pug and bam you get badges that get you top tier gear. Now sure firelands is semi hard, and require you to have a compantant group to get threw it, but it was beat on the PTR before it was even out, sure by the top raiding guilds in the world but once they go off and make a guide (and that's another problem, there is no random effects you can EZ mode guide it threw every fight every pull) most guilds will be out their capable of doing it.

Sure heroic raids add in extra effects, but not enough to keep people out of it in the first weeks of being out. If you don't want that get your self a full set of pvp gear in less then 3 days of work, most classes can do fine in pvp gear doing pve. And its not like you need to actually do anything you can jump around on your mount in AV and get the honor you need. This is why wow is EZ mode. On top of that it takes less then a week to get to 85, no death effects other then miner armor damage that you have to pay off with gold if you don't have 15k gold after a week of being 85 your prob doing it wrong.

This is why wow is EZ mode. Sure it plays well for the casual gamer, and that's what blizzard has focused on for the last 4+ years. Its what drove me away from the game, its just too easy to do things there no challenge left in the game. you watch a you tube video of a boss fight and you can do it. I have done everything in that game That I could think of, Main tanked, Off tanked, Main Heals, DPS, Holy PVP, DPS PVP Ive seen all the end game content up to 85. I have rare mounts that no longer exist in the game. I have gear that was taken out of the game, I have closed to max factions. The few things that I didn't get were lore master achievement Pre cata, and that's honestly only because I didn't want to do starting level quest on high level toons. I did all this while maintaining a 40+ hr week job, 2 kids and a wife.

This game is built for a causal style of game play. As I have gotten older, I want to go back to the days of Ever quest where, you went to the plain of death and the demi god would come out and instantly kill 7-10 of your raid members, didnt matter who just a random 7-10 people insta died. Not meny games give you this type of random game play.

EDIT: Sorry for the wall of text when I posted the site was all messed up looking all white on black with code all over it idk. haha.

WALL OF TEXT>>>EYES>>>>MY EYES.....

Originally posted by shadylurker

I never found the pvp in wow easy, its highly competitive.

Mouth-breather 1 : "Lawlz, I 2 shot joo!"

Mouth-breather 2: "Grrr"

Mouth-breather 1: "Umadbro? I am teh skillz!"

Originally posted by Karnage69

Originally posted by shadylurker

I never found the pvp in wow easy, its highly competitive.

 

 

Mouth-breather 1 : "Lawlz, I 2 shot joo!"

Mouth-breather 2: "Grrr"

Mouth-breather 1: "Umadbro? I am teh skillz!"

Except now it's more like:

"Lawlz, I 10 shot joo!"

"N3g.  I feel fantastic and I'm still alive."

"Wate wat?"

"Rouge has healz n00b."

The fact that the latest add for Wow is specifically saying 'PUG Friendly Raids' sums up the situation rather well I would think.

No MMo is harder or easier than another. I have been playing them for 10 years and the only difficuly I have found is in terms of the time invested and the penalties associated with screwing up.

WOW, to me, is no harder than EQ or DAOC (pve) except that I do not have to invest as much time to get something done.

I have played a lot of MMOs, and WoW most definitely had the most 'EZ Mode' end game. Up until I played Rift and spammed one button that is.

WoWs latest expansion made the dungeons 'slightly' harder than before, mostly due to limiting healers, and everyone jumped up and down saying it was too hard and that they were rage quitting.

The problem is that most games are dumbing down themselves to compete with WoW accessibility. Only two games at the moment that have a moderate challenge would be Age of Conan godslayer mode dungeons and T4 raids and Everquest 2 hard mode raids.

It doesn't matter if its easy or hard, it is the loss of community that stopped me subscribing (before the latest expansion). 

It's easy-mode because of a bunch of reason.

- the game is catered towards casuals and those who need "simplistic" combat and gameflow

- you have no risk of losing items when you die

- your hand is held throughout the game in regards to quests and skilling up

And on and on and on and on. I played WoW before Battlegrounds came out, and I will never go back to a game like WoW (read: most of the MMO genre) ever again.

I'll never leave the sandbox genre ever again. Themeparks almost completely destroyed this genre, thank god for the developers who still are willing to take chances.

Originally posted by elocke

Again, where is the EZ mode?  In the leveling?  Really?  I've played games where leveling was "hardcore", EQ, FFXI, VG and frankly, I'd rather do it WoW's way then any other.  Leveling should be fun not work.  It should let your learn you class not make you scream in frustration and log off because you lost a level after dying.  So for leveling, if that's EZ mode, than please, give me more.  But other than the leveling game....what is really considered EZ mode?

 Well the leveling is not just EZ mode, it is so easy that you level out of an area before you can experience all the quests and explore the game to its fullest.

If there would be an "/xp off" switch, I would use it half of the time.

If you wan't to do some instances inbetween leveling it gets even worse.

And I am not talking about the different areas for the same level, I talk about 1 area of a given level.

So rolling an alt does not really help here.

Leveling used to mean at least something, and you could do some instances, all of the quests and still fight yellow/green mobs. Now you get to grey in no time.

WoW leveling used to be not hard, now it really is easy mode, so easy that there is no challenge whatsoever.

I find this a real shame, because I really like what Blizzard has done with the questing after TBC ( WotLK and Cata ) : phasing, cutscenes, vehicles, humor, all in all it is a really nice package imho, add some instances to the mix and you have a really nice variaty and alot of content.

But like I said, when I am halfway an area I am fighting green or grey mobs, no challenge at all.

I guess you can blame me that I do not like to skip the content.