Nerfs in World of Warcraft - boon and bane

First of all: It's interesting that the word often used for "n00bs" offending is also a synonym for "blessing". But ok, that's not the point.

The topic is simple: Whenever content gets easier huge discussions start across chats and forums around the world. The ones that think that progression should be hard work and the others saying that progression means nothing - content means everything. Yes, nerfs have two sides. Let's take a close look...

The Boon:

Nerfs open the content gate, they inspire people to group more often and lower frustration level to a point at which more people are able to experience together new worlds. Like StarTrek, discovering new frontiers. But without the Klingon speech. Sadly...

Never forget the fact that progression provides a good feeling, something like "Hey, we do it, horray!"

Also true: When an item reset comes then old content gets nerfed, too. In item-centered MMOs a new tier set is similar to a huge nerf. But item resets take a while and so people do not have to wait for them to enter zones and get new updates, making it easier to come into heroic modes.

The Bane:

The content we're talking about is withing a single-digit-range. We are not talking about 50% or 25% or 10%. The rest of the game is still easy enough and playable, perhaps not that interesting, but still there. Also the actual content will be still there when new levels and items come into play.

And really: progression? What progression feeling is like when you get to kill a boss after a couple of wipes (as most bosses still need a good amount of dance knowledge beside of DPS and heal peaks) when you know you just killed a nerfed version of a boss?

Heroics almost get no nerfs which means that people doing the same content over and over never learn the perfect dance. This means that every nerf enlarges the gap between normals and heroics. This is like giving the poor people some money to prevent them to go to school, while the rich guys send their children to school and hold their line.

The Conclusion:
I still don't know if nerfs are the best answer. But to be honest: There is no real progression through the whole WoW. Everyone has the possibility to take a break for one year, come back, get the best gear while the other one has some more mounts and pets or any other achievements. For one group of people this might be great - but for the other side this is frustrating. But with this awareness it's much easier to accept nerfs. They are inevitable.

On the other hand it's much more difficult for devs to know the exact "difficulty level" for zones as people could get used to that concept and avoid doing raids until the first nerfs are released as it's a long term tradition of Blizz to nerf content down.

Well, in the end people have to decide for themselves if they want to wait or not.

I personally think that I will wait. That's pure "imho"