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WOW, the McDonalds of the mmorpg world
MassivePvP
Member Posts: 32
World of Warcraft. 7.5 Million accounts now. The very basic, simple and no consequences for death or being stupid mmo. Tons of kiddies. Lots of really inmature kiddies. Popularity so insane that this game box really should have Ronald McDonald on the cover with his thumbs up. Maybe for the upcoming expansion, they could even give a free kiddie meal coupon at McDonalds with the purchase. Yay. Then they could sell even more.
This game looks from the numbers to be hauling in over ONE BILLION US dollars per year now. How is that for insanity? That is a LOT of money! Think about it. That's over a thousand millions. That's hard, cold cash and most of that is pure profit for Blizzard. Hell, atleast McDonalds has a LOT more overhead costs then Blizzard with WOW. McDonalds has to buy locations around the world, they need to pay tens of thousands of employees to work around the clock, they need to buy tons of bread and potatoes and beef.
McDonalds. WoW. Really very much the same when you stop and think about it. Both are really cute. They both appeal to young and old alike. McDonalds has simple menus to read. WoW has very simple hotbars to read and use. Both are used in the hundreds of thousands each and every day. Both are very addicting.
I have a stand alone mom and pop hamburger joint in my home town. They actually grill real hamburger meat that they form in their kitchen as opposed to the pre-formed factory packaged patties at McDonalds. The local burger place uses fresh LOCAL vegetables like lettuce and hand sliced tomatoes and onions. The buns are baked in their own kitchen from a home-made recipe. The fries are hand cut and rinsed just before being cooked. The difference between my hometown local burger joint and the McDonalds is like night and day. The quality and care given at my hometown joint blows the McDonalds care and quality away so much it's not even funny. My hometown burger joint is downtown off of the beaten path just a little. The McDonalds sits flashing it's neon sign 24/7 right by the only major intererstate crossing through my town. I'd guess that McDonalds probably sells about 100 times the volume of meals that my hometown joint does.
Listening to all the WoW fanbois on this site scream how WoW is the greatest mmo ever made is about like listening to my 3 year old throw a tantrum screaming he doesn't want to go to the mom and pop burger joint, but wants to go to McDonalds instead and get their wonderful kiddie toy. It's really no different.
WoW is a good game for what it was made for. Just as McDonalds is good at a quick, fast, cheap meal to fill up an empy spot in your stomach. Both are very simple, very basic, and aiked at the masses of the population, esepcially targeting the kids. They know that kids will sweet talk their parents into going where they want.
MMOs like Ultima Online, Everquest, Asheron's Call, EvE online, and Saga of Ryzom are like the mom and pop joint in my hometown. Only a small fraction of the customers. But the quality found in each just blows the doors away off of the depth and challenge found in a simple game like WoW.
You WoW fanbois can argue till you are blue in the face at how much better WoW is then the classics that still run strong today. You can point at the numbers and neon signs of McDonalds which is pretty much the same as the pretty graphics found in WoW. I don't care. And neither does anyone who knows the difference between a REAL high quality mmo and one just made pretty, simple, and quickly to attract the kids and the masses.
Hmmm, actual flame broiled burger with local fresh beef cooked with care on home-madce bread with fresh local vegetables and freshly cut home style fries -or- soy filled cheap pre-formed patties put on bulk purchased cheap buns with factory packaged vegetables and factory frozen fries??
I know which one I want. And it isn't the massively popular option. The same goes with my mmo selection.
Comments
I sleep with a pillow under my gun.
So what your saying is you don't like WoW and because of that, your not playing it? OK, that sounds fair, I certainly hope your enjoying whatever it is your playing.
Now... do you think you could ever possibly stop calling people who might enjoy WoW for what it is fanbois and kiddies or putting it down in ridiculous, fasicious ways?
Important Information regarding Posting and You
I don't think your analogy has any merit to it. I am not going into detail on this, but comparing a slab of ground beef slapped between two buns to an MMO is apple's and oranges to say the least.
There was an editorial on this site a few weeks back talking about why WoW is so popular. One of the reasons was "easy to learn, hard to master". This couldn't be more true.
And before you go thinking I am just a fanboi, I have an Eve account in good standing. I love Eve, and I love what CCP has done with it. I am just a few agent missions from getting my first battleship, but lately I have been spending a lot of time in WoW.
Just like the apples and oranges, Eve is a sandbox, WoW is not, as it stands, the general population prefers the gaming model WoW offers.
You can sit here and hate all you want, nothing is going to change the fact that blizzard has made the most successful MMO to date. Were the innovative? the answer is no. THey took existing mechanics and married them into a very polished piece of software that many could enjoy regardless of hardware, hardcorenesss, or noobness to the genre.
QFE, totally agree.
Lots of haters, and Blizzard hasn't exactly done anything to deserve it, unlike SOE. Blizzard made a game and has held true to their player base. Dont like it? Go away.
I agree...i used to play WoW and reading what the OP posted was like an insult to me.
Oh what can i say? Sorry I like WoW? Who made you God and said that I must agree with the fact that WoW is low quality? (which it isnt IMO, basic, but not low quality).
Insulted.
attention for more than a year, but it lacked what it lacks for most
people. end game content. WoW (to me) made a hunter what it
should have been. It felt like you were firing those arrows, not
pressing a button imagining what it would look like.
Don't get me wrong though, I'll never say that WoW was better than the
classics still running today. That's just my opinion however, and I'll
never force it upon anyone. I do agree though with your comparison. WoW
did leave me feeling like I ate a mcdonalds meal rather than a nicely
cooked one. I don't play WoW anymore, but I still have the urges to
jump back on and talk to everyone, ride my ZG raptor around IF, having
my chat flooded with /tells of 'why are you on a horde mount'...
But when it comes down to it, and I'm faced with my mcdonalds WoW urge,
I'll simply hug my lil froglok warrior in everquest 1 and get a nicely
cooked meal to feel all warm and comfy inside.
The analogy is overused, but it really fits with WoW. I didn't get the employee part of it though.
The fact is that WoW is a simple game for people that don't like dealing with anything challenging , good for a little while, and McDonalds is the same thing.
In War - Victory.
In Peace - Vigilance.
In Death - Sacrifice.
Despite what so many of you say, My analogy is a very accurate one and is explained very well. I know some of you are so into your level 60 paladin hitting the same uber hotkey repeatedly and doing the 4 millionth "go kill X creature and come back to me" quest that you fail to see the reality of my analogy.
You guys keep ordering Pizza Hut and buying Mountain Dew as you all sit on your pathetic arses getting fat as you play a mindless, unchallegning mmo and think that because it is so popular.. they you are actually "cool" and that you are actually doing something constructive. Ignore the facts that WoW IS a simple game, that WoW is a faddish game, and that WoW is about 1% as complex and deep a game as a real classic game like "Asherons Call". And I really don't give a rats ass that Turbines Asheron's Call has so few numbers. If you'll pull your heads out of your Azeroth steamed poop shooters long enough to actually think about it, you'll easily see that you are missing out on a lot of depth, challenge, and actual gameplay when you compare WoW to any of the old mmo classics.
To argue that McDonalds is better food then quality home cooked food or that WoW is the best mmo ever is utterly ridiculous.. and you all know it. Go stuff your mouths with some more McDonalds french fries and spare me your reasoning as how WoW is so great will ya?
Also, I would agree whole heartedly with the OP and his comparison. To disagree with his statements and comparisons is simply to look away from facts and truth. McDonalds is not great food. It is however mega popuar. WoW is not by any stretch of the imagination a great game. It is a well-oiled mega popular mmo however. But this doesn't make it deep, challenging or the best ever. Well said, OP.
- Zaxx
The hate for WoW is absolutely amazing. If people hate it so much, Blizzard definitely must have done something right.
And, for the record, Mr. OP, I am also an EVE veteran. Played it for 2.5 years. Great game. EVE and WoW are totally different. Doesn't mean WoW is a bad game because it isn't like EVE/Ryzom/EQ/UO, etc.
You're well entitled to your opinion, but forcing it on others as if it is self-evident truth is ... ironically, very immature of you.
I dont see the game as simple either.
Easier on your eyes, better controlls , and much cleaner and easier modified interface than other mmorpg but not simpler no.
It all comes down to how much time you need and have to reach the endgame in an mmorpg.
Doesnt matter if its ao,eq1,eq2,swg,eve
Anyway doesnt mater what you play ,nobody deserves to be ridicouled for playing a game they like..
-Semper ubi sub ubi!
always wear underwear
WoW polarizes people so much with the two opposite camps of people who play WoW and won't hear criticism about it and people who hate WoW and it's success. I think if you remove all the emotion, you could really boil it down to WoW is a good game which has achieved it's objectives very well of broadening the appeal of mmorpgs whilst at the same time retaining the Blizzard emphasis of fun. But at the same time it does this it sacrifices some of the qualities of other mmorpgs which old mmorpgers may prefer for example roleplaying, depth, community, world-emphasis and hardcoreness. Also, I think there is a certain irrational fear that some of the qualiities of older mmorpgs will be forgotten in light of the success' of WoW.
"Because it's easier to nitpick something than to be constructive." -roach5000
An excellent summary, i think.
Jesus Christ...Was it really necessary, nay, was it worth
it to write a 713 word essay about the same idiotic comparison that's been
made countless times before? Seriously, the effort you put into this thing
doesn't validate your personal preference anymore then the "kiddies"
you condescend to. It's unoriginal, it's worn out, and it's blatantly bullshit.
Why write it?
And come on! Ultima online had it's day, it was a good game but it's respected
in the same way the fucking Founding Fathers of America are... It's a relic for
Christ's sake! Everquest was a boring piece of shit when it came out and it's a
boring piece of shit today, right alongside every other MMO Sony has *EVER*
made. Asheron's Call barely exists today, and its sequel doesn't exist at all.
There's a message in that. Eve Online I'll gladly agree with you on, it's a
better game, yes, but it's a different kind of game. The two can not reasonably
be compared by any stretch of the imagination. Saga of Ryzom never impressed
me, and it still feels pretty ragged and somehow incomplete today. WoW is
easily the better, more polished game and it was from the start.
Like it or not, WoW deserves the success it has gained. Say what you want about
the player base, but it's more diverse then games like Eve's will ever be
and the reason ain't the kiddies.
Your preferences are your own. You're entitled to them and no one is forcing
you to pay Blizzard $15 a month or tying you to a fucking chair to play their
game. If you have a problem with people who think differently, I humbly suggest
that you go fuck yourself. You're crossing a line here.
How do you kill that which has no life?