Further Stat Changes in Cataclysm

Whether it is for the right reasons or the wrong ones, World of Warcraft has become a common name for increasing accessibility in the gaming industry.

The upcoming expansion pack "Cataclysm" will be seeing further revisions to the way the game is played and how we look at the "best" gear for our characters.

The most visible change will be the implementation of a new statistic: Mastery. This stat is built to try and force players into using their armor type, or gear that was originally designed for their class. Players are given free stats for using the correct gear type.

Another big change is that more stats are being grouped, one of the most important to me is seeing that intellect and spell power are being merged into one.

In Cataclysm, instead of players gaining gear with spell power, they will aim for gear with intellect which will give the both spell power, and intellect from the singular statistic.

Although these are only a few of the many changes in Cataclysm, I for one, despise them. When I play an MMO, one of the things I enjoy the most is sitting down and thinking about how to improve upon my character.

This requires me to think about which stats I go for first, how I will increase other stats while I focus on one, and other important elements on my character.

This further simplification of gear makes me wonder if making the game more accessible is going to far? I personally believe it is boring to have too few things to aim for.

In another few years could it be so simplified there are only three stats? One for tanks, one for DPS, and one for healers?

Do you feel World of Warcraft is becoming too straight forward?