Just in case you missed the hilarious joke in the above title, I’ll repeat it regularly throughout the article. ‘WOW, really?’, you may well say. ‘Yes, I wowing will (wow)’, I reply.

In an interview with videogamer.com, a popular NHL Hockey blog, Blizzard’s Tom Chilton discusses how World of Warcraft will receive gradual graphical improvements, via annual expansions.

Annual expansions, you say? Gradual graphical improvements? It’s just LMA Manager 2004 all over again.

Ok, no it isn’t, but you get the idea.

Just hit the jump for all the wowtasticicious details.

When probed about a full graphical overhaul, Chilton replied saying

“It may never be necessary. It may be possible that just through constant iteration we’re able to keep the game looking fresh enough.”

Burning Crusade shipped with a few graphical enhancements, and with Wrath of the Lich King packing an increased view distance, some new shaders and improved shadows, Blizzard already seem to be putting their “iterative improvement” policy into work.

But what’s the reasoning behind this, I wonder?

“For us usability is a lot more important. We want to make sure that our game runs very well on low system specs.”

Ahh, that makes sense. To avoid alienating all but the most dedicated PC gamers (hello Crysis), Blizzard want to keep their graphics in line with the average PC’s graphical capabilities. I mean, they wouldn’t want to loose any of their 10 million subscribers would they?

Though I’m not an avid WoW player, I do occasionally dip my toes in the sea of no return that is World of Warcraft. Because I use a laptop that catches fire every time I boot up Pong, these gradual improvements are a welcome alternative to the complete graphic overhauls of the past, allowing me to actually play the game, rather than rushing to get a fire extinguisher every time I log in.

Finally, Chilton also clarified that while an annual expansion release for the popular MMO is the gold at the end of the rainbow, Blizzard may not actually get round to doing it for a few more years. *Sigh*. I guess we’ll just have to sit and wait.

So, for those of you who play WoW, what do you think of this news? Would you prefer a complete graphics redo with WoW 2, or does playing the original with gradual visual upgrades sound more appealing?

Just let us know in the comment box, maybe you can think of a reply that will completely wow us.

Source: videogamer