It's mainly popular because of publicity and it just keeps getting popular because it's popular.
Also not every WoW player is an internet savy forum poster...A large amount of them don't even know what EVE, Warhammer or Lineage is.
.
WoW players have decided that Eve, AoC and other games are less fun.
.
You can't keep a good game down. WoW spread by word of mouth. If the games you mentioned were any good, they would spread by word of mouth.
.
All these games have free trials.
You'd be surprised how many WOW players I've met that have no knowledge of any MMORPG outside of WOW, and frankly most of them don't even care.
It's like when Street Fighter II first hit the Arcades. My god everyone was playing that game wherever they could find it. It amazed me how many convenient stores and grocery stores were home to a SF2 machine. It really was a phenomenon at the time.
A lot of these people didn't go to Arcades at all before and ceased to go after the party settled. I think WOW will prove to be similar in the end.
I think too many people on this site overestimate the average gamer's (let alone WOW player's) knowledge of the genre.
"Mr. Rothstein, your people never will understand... the way it works out here. You're all just our guests. But you act like you're at home. Let me tell you something, partner. You ain't home. But that's where we're gonna send you if it harelips the governor." - Pat Webb
Because they hit at the right time and place and their primary audience aren't previous MMO players, they're normal Joe Blow watching TV and seeing their advertising.
Seems to me EQ2 launched just a few days ahead of WOW, so the "right time and right place" argument does not wash. If it did, then EQ2 would be the giant.
They keep bringing people in from the outside rather than trying for the jaded MMO audience that hangs around forums like this one.
Their game is easy to learn, easy to pick up and get something done in a short amount of time, it's polished and constantly growing and changing.
This part is true.
Most of their audience isn't even aware other MMOs even exist, the entire MMO world for them is WoW.
It's a damn good tactic that has worked wonderfully.
WOW is a simple, polished, accessible game. That about sums up its success.
Because they hit at the right time and place and their primary audience aren't previous MMO players, they're normal Joe Blow watching TV and seeing their advertising.
Seems to me EQ2 launched just a few days ahead of WOW, so the "right time and right place" argument does not wash. If it did, then EQ2 would be the giant.
They keep bringing people in from the outside rather than trying for the jaded MMO audience that hangs around forums like this one.
Their game is easy to learn, easy to pick up and get something done in a short amount of time, it's polished and constantly growing and changing.
This part is true.
Most of their audience isn't even aware other MMOs even exist, the entire MMO world for them is WoW.
It's a damn good tactic that has worked wonderfully.
WOW is a simple, polished, accessible game. That about sums up its success.
Yeah, EQ launched before WoW, but you all really underestimate the popularity of the Warcraft RTS series and the fact that alot of people attracted to WoW had never played an MMO before... The people who would have been initially attracted to EQ2 would be the EQ1 and UO players. So yes the right time and place argument is valid though it does need an addendum to be 100% correct.. Right time, Right place, Right IP.
"If I'd asked my customers what they wanted, they'd have said a faster horse." - Henry Ford
Seems to me EQ2 launched just a few days ahead of WOW, so the "right time and right place" argument does not wash. If it did, then EQ2 would be the giant.
Well, yes but EQ2 was at launch really buggy with not much content. It took 3 expansions for it to be acceptable. In early 2004 had Wow a lot more talking for it.
A lot of Wows success was due to it's timing, EQ was old and lost many players and no other game had taken them. If Wow had changed place with LOTRO things could have been very different (if they both launched in the same shape).
LOTRO had really bad timing and launched in the time known as "Rise of Wow".
Timing is just one of the things. Wow is easy to learn and master, have art and graphics that many people like, any computer can run it and bugs are few. Blizzard are also good with PR and had many fans since Diablo and Starcraft.
I say that the timing is once again right now for a new large MMO. My guess is that we will see a new star rising next year.
1. You can sign in and go, you don't need other people to play all the time. You don't have to sit around waiting to do things.
2. Blizzards marketing, outside of FFXI's release I can't recall seeing commercials for any other MMO on random stations that don't even have anything to do with video games. There are still WoW commercials and the game has been out for years now.
3. It is for the older generation of gamers as well as the younger. Face it, most of the MMO world that was around before WoW are now in their 20-40s and have careers, they can't spend 16hrs a day on a game anymore. WoW doesn't require all your time.
My question is: With over 350 MMORPGs in the marketplace (some of-which are free-to-play) why does WoW hold on so well to its subscription based players. It far exceeds anyone else, what's wrong with diversifying once in a while?
Because people are stupid and will play overhyped crap over good quality games based simply on whether or not it has PvP and huge raids.
LotRO, IMO, KILLS every other MMO on the market in terms of storyline, gameplay, and exploration alone. Plus, if you're an RPer like me, it has the best RP comminity in the entire MMO market, as well as what''s generally understood to be the best, most tight-knit, asshattery-free community. I have no idea how WoW stays alive some days, then I remember who plays WoW and who plays LotRO and I'm thankful that the WoW players haven't come over.
imo wow will die once cataclysm hits it will be the same old grind just a new scenery. i been playing wow sens beta and now i have a beta key for cataclysm i doubt i will even test it out i am looking forward to diablo 3.
DEATH TO WOW!!!!!!!
and for some1 to say wow don't take up all your time ROFL try leveling from 1-80 now and days 1 month + at 12 hours aday wow steals life's and will do so forever intill some1 stops them + with all the gold spam and lvl spam and grown men buying accounts for $500.00+ it just cracks me up sometimes.
Wow is the easiest game to play! You can play it with a calculator, if people thing the mojority of users have a top notch computer they are sadly mistaken, most people still use a single core, built in graphics card, , no sound card, a small harddrive, maybe 2 gb of memmory, and windows xp or vista, this will not run AOC or WAR or EQ2 or even Lotro, youcan run eve but most people hate that game( to spacey, not enough action, to much thinking) not my opinion i like eve. Wow has very smooth gameplay and easy to use UI . Everything is easy and that is what the masses want. Wow draws more of the console crowd then anyone, nuff said
Wow is the easiest game to play! You can play it with a calculator, if people thing the mojority of users have a top notch computer they are sadly mistaken, most people still use a single core, built in graphics card, , no sound card, a small harddrive, maybe 2 gb of memmory, and windows xp or vista, this will not run AOC or WAR or EQ2 or even Lotro, youcan run eve but most people hate that game( to spacey, not enough action, to much thinking) not my opinion i like eve. Wow has very smooth gameplay and easy to use UI . Everything is easy and that is what the masses want. Wow draws more of the console crowd then anyone, nuff said
There's nothing wrong with playing consoles. I'm a hardcore, multi-platform gamer. A game is a game regardless of platform, and I want to play them.
Easy: look at 10 friends, they would have at least 8 different "favorite" games. If they find out they cannot agree to play any of these together, they will find 9 "secound choices". But in the long run they will find "wow is acceptable for all". It is an "acceptable source of addiction" for most, not an "excellent game for some".
WoW (and Diablo) influenced things even outside of the MMO industry:
WoW is fun. Is it the best MMO out there, no. But it's simple enough to have a wide appeal immediately when you play. There isn't a hard learning curve for any class either. There is enough to do to keep busy - pve or pvp.
Also, when Bliizard releases an Expansion or major patch it's generally very polished and ready to play vs some of the past few years MMO's that you feel ike you're Beta testing after release.
WoW is fun. Is it the best MMO out there, no. But it's simple enough to have a wide appeal immediately when you play. There isn't a hard learning curve for any class either. There is enough to do to keep busy - pve or pvp.
Also, when Bliizard releases an Expansion or major patch it's generally very polished and ready to play vs some of the past few years MMO's that you feel ike you're Beta testing after release.
I wouldn't say this... And i think Cataclysm will be "missed opportunity".
My opinion: many people liked the Warcraft series, and Warcraft 3 was awesome. This made the transition into the 'World' of Warcraft easier. Then, Blizzard did what they do best: take others ideas, and do it better/polished, and then maybe add a wrinkle here and there.
Love it or hate it, it did many things better than anyone else. Also, I think there is a huge crowd who is loyal to Blizzard because of the amazing games in Diablo, Starcraft, and Warcraft, and the fact they STILL support them even though those games hardly make them ANY money anymore. I mean look at Halo 2 for example - plenty of people still played it, even though it was old - but they shut it down. Starcraft or Diablo fix? Hop right in.
I am a pretty solid Blizzard fan, but thats mainly for Diablo/Starcraft. But WoW was great for awhile too (I played it for 3 years, no other MMO has kept me past a few months except DAoC).
Aoc? DDO? LOTRO? 3 of the most greately worldsfull of their own unique lore , to place your hopes upon to have great medieval fantasy adventures were screwed. Each for their own reasons. Aoc needed more work before launch and better programers that actually play games and focus on gameplay instead of grafix, Ddo fully instanced NO PVP, Lotro NO PVP and a bad version of wow copy.Hell i dont know what these ppl were thinking...
I will echo many others response in that they have a very loyal following from diablo and their rts games. Blizzard has always done one thing very very well: Take others' ideas, simplify them, and polish them. Compared to most games out there WoW does have exceptionally smooth gameplay, the animations are far more fluid than just about any other mmo, the system requirements lend to broader range of system support than any other mmo, and they have one helluva good marketing department.
It's not some big sercret. It's not because wow players are stupid and mindless as this tiny minority of forum goers would like you to believe; wow player or not, if a person doesn't enjoy a game, they won't play it. I know a lot of these forums users won't agree with that because thier just the most smartest, hardcore, and talented group of gamers in the world that can tap into the cognition of every mmo-er that ever existed, but meh.
The bottom line is you can jump in the game and actually participate in it. It's low grind, fast pace, and asccessible. A lot of people liek that they can just login and start having fun. Some people rather have that long term progression, and thats good too, but its not a reason to look down and spit on 8 million people who are just playing a game that they enjoy.
But their are a lot of negatives about wow that i agree with like adding a cash shop, its age, its community, becoming too single player esque(is that a word? lol)
The ability to be casual and hardcore is good. The bad thing is all these games that try to emulate wow's sucess. I like themepark but thats mainly because it'ts the only formula that has been polished. I enjoy sandbox loads more in thoery, the problem is, it hasnt been implemented yet. Eve would probably be the exception to that, as it is a very good game, but the space factor puts it into the niche category. Just look at darkfall; it has amazing potential. But the game is plagued with "long term progression" aka manditory and intimidating grind just so you can be on a equal palying field.
I would love a game that doesn't have skill,level, health, and "i hit you for more numbers" progression, but instead actualy skill based progression(as in talent and gaming ability) Imagine jumping in and not having to grind so you can hit for 30 instead of 20. Instead you progress through the game to get more wealth, to conquer with your guild, to get more rare and valuable weapons/armor/ mounts ect, to takeover land, to gain poltical influence. Just think, a new palyer enters the game and has no armor/weapons, so he still couldn't be one shotting 1 year vets who have a strong and power armor/weapon, but once he got some decent stuff he could actually compete in warfare. The more established clans would still dominate because they have buid up more technological advancements,larger keeps, more fortified walls, more advanced cannons,catpults, more accurate (cross)bows ect. Like a midevil sandbox that was actually sandbox.
But i digress, sorry for the wall... i went on a tanget lol
I actually played WoW for a week and have no idea where the "there's no grind" arguement comes from. There was way more grind than on any other MMO I've played.
He is in that same crappy guild to this day with my toons that are all UNDERGEARED now.
WOW will never ever be the way it was and should be. It really really fell off the edge after TBC.
1) Is your main concern is about itemization on your toons vs. having fun? (not to mention you gave the characters away!)
2) The game has alot of good content (it is the players that makes it a little bit too annoying, but I have to agree that vanilla WoW had its better glory days.)
If we started to analyze "what type of players" instead of what content it have, you'd be damn sure to find a fat red line
1'st time mmoers, average home-living lads/ladies during their early teen years, etc... (We have all been there!!.. remember meridian or ultima online back in the 90's?)
(But why are they picking WoW over other f2p games or others for that matter? - Because its easy to play, and as already stated.. you have the option to be either a frantic gear loony OR casually lvl your toon in a slowmotionalisticalytastic way. Its the DIVERSITY the game offers that makes it have so darn many subs.)
Its not a bad game.. its just that it have a little bit of everything your inner geek would like to take a bit on..
Personally I aint playing it! But even I have been stuck in its tendons.. AND! I had a blast of time.
I think then the general consensus can agree that whether you like WoW or not Blizzard have been extremely effective at identifying the key aspects of a popular MMO such as ease of use, playability and accessibility. They have provided a game, which is mainstream because it takes into consideration the broader audience. This might justify their monthly subscription rate, but can anyone think how, in the future, Blizzard could still create a revenue stream without subscription. For example, micro-transactions or in-game advertising etc... or would this compromise a well tailored game too much?
IMO, it's because it is easier compared to other MMO's, that you can log in and get something done in 30 mins-1 hour, almost any computer can play it, and the crazy ad campaign Blizzard had and is doing for it.
Which crazy ad campaign might that be? I'm trying to keep up with a lot of MMO marketing right now and at times I need a little direction. What's so particular about the advert that enables it to draw in a larger audience? Also this issue of the casual use of WoW compared to other MMOs could you maybe specify which ones you had in mind?
The top MMOs at the moment aren't MMORPGs. They're F2P casual MMOs. Zynga is at the top right now, and they used Facebook and Myspace to propel themselves to the top. This brings me to the main point up next...
...Blizzard did the same thing that Zynga did years ago: a free social network propelled WoW to the top.
Now, you might be thinking, "What social network?"
Battle.net of course. They had MILLIONS of people online from all over the world just chatting away, not even playing one of their games. Blizzard's marketing guy is a genius because they're about to merge Battle.net with another large social network: Facebook
No other MMORPG developer will match Blizzard because no other MMORPG developer seems to understand the power of social networking. There have been some talk about how SW: TOR or FFXIV are strong contenders against WoW, but they won't even sustain 1 million subscribers 6 months after their launch. BioWare's social networking site is hilariously bad. Square Enix's playonline.com had a lot of potential in the mid 2000s, but they left that goldmine to rot.
This is just your own opinion and hardly makes it correct. I appraise these other companies for monitoring thier chat channels to make sure the kids, etc, etc, are not mis-using them for thier own purposes. (Games like Fallen Earth monitor quite often and I love it!)
When a company makes a game, I highly doubt they are making it to be a World of Warcraft killer like you and so many of your kind seem to think. Honestly, I'm pretty sick and tired of all of the kids thinking that World of Warcraft is the best game on the market.. For kids maybe it is, not for someone who doesn't want the easy way out. And as for any other game not holding more than a million subs after 6 months? Keep dreaming pal.. You're quite delusional if you don't think any of these other new games will be not able to hold those type of numbers. Final Fantasy XI has 2 million people that play it last time I checked. And these are not people that need to buy 3 to 7 accounts to make a game seem bigger in it's subs than it actually is. So, until you can get off your Wow wagon and think two-sided instead of one, you and the rest of your kind will never enjoy those others games that are out there. Than again, your kind likes it easy and wants everything handed to them. A sad thing when noone wants to actually work for gear or have to invest actual game time to really achieve something in a game. (Honestly, I'm actually glad too, I get to enjoy these others games without hearing the kids, etc, etc, type of crap in trade or general chat).
P.S- Oh, I wasn't picking on you in general, i was simply posting my own opinion like you did yours. So let's try to keep this clean and not child like
It's also one of the easiest games to get hacked on. Trust me on that. I got hacked and before ppl accuse me of sharing my info, you'd be wrong. The only good thing about it was they paid for it, not me.
I haven't played it in months. It's the biggest grind fest EVER. You can't play alone. Gotta group up. So if you like grinding and grouping up you'll love it.
Isn't it amazing what an ad campaign can do on tv channels for children. That's why it's popular. Nothing more to it.
Comments
Free tokens you win in game that can be redeemed at stip clubs for virgins?
It's better to lurk in forums and be thought a fool...than to endlessly "Quote" and remove all doubts.
You'd be surprised how many WOW players I've met that have no knowledge of any MMORPG outside of WOW, and frankly most of them don't even care.
It's like when Street Fighter II first hit the Arcades. My god everyone was playing that game wherever they could find it. It amazed me how many convenient stores and grocery stores were home to a SF2 machine. It really was a phenomenon at the time.
A lot of these people didn't go to Arcades at all before and ceased to go after the party settled. I think WOW will prove to be similar in the end.
I think too many people on this site overestimate the average gamer's (let alone WOW player's) knowledge of the genre.
"Mr. Rothstein, your people never will understand... the way it works out here. You're all just our guests. But you act like you're at home. Let me tell you something, partner. You ain't home. But that's where we're gonna send you if it harelips the governor." - Pat Webb
And this weekend is double tokens for all you kiddies who have never kissed a girl.
It's better to lurk in forums and be thought a fool...than to endlessly "Quote" and remove all doubts.
Yeah, EQ launched before WoW, but you all really underestimate the popularity of the Warcraft RTS series and the fact that alot of people attracted to WoW had never played an MMO before... The people who would have been initially attracted to EQ2 would be the EQ1 and UO players. So yes the right time and place argument is valid though it does need an addendum to be 100% correct.. Right time, Right place, Right IP.
"If I'd asked my customers what they wanted, they'd have said a faster horse." - Henry Ford
Well, yes but EQ2 was at launch really buggy with not much content. It took 3 expansions for it to be acceptable. In early 2004 had Wow a lot more talking for it.
A lot of Wows success was due to it's timing, EQ was old and lost many players and no other game had taken them. If Wow had changed place with LOTRO things could have been very different (if they both launched in the same shape).
LOTRO had really bad timing and launched in the time known as "Rise of Wow".
Timing is just one of the things. Wow is easy to learn and master, have art and graphics that many people like, any computer can run it and bugs are few. Blizzard are also good with PR and had many fans since Diablo and Starcraft.
I say that the timing is once again right now for a new large MMO. My guess is that we will see a new star rising next year.
My thoughts on why WoW is a success...
1. You can sign in and go, you don't need other people to play all the time. You don't have to sit around waiting to do things.
2. Blizzards marketing, outside of FFXI's release I can't recall seeing commercials for any other MMO on random stations that don't even have anything to do with video games. There are still WoW commercials and the game has been out for years now.
3. It is for the older generation of gamers as well as the younger. Face it, most of the MMO world that was around before WoW are now in their 20-40s and have careers, they can't spend 16hrs a day on a game anymore. WoW doesn't require all your time.
Because people are stupid and will play overhyped crap over good quality games based simply on whether or not it has PvP and huge raids.
LotRO, IMO, KILLS every other MMO on the market in terms of storyline, gameplay, and exploration alone. Plus, if you're an RPer like me, it has the best RP comminity in the entire MMO market, as well as what''s generally understood to be the best, most tight-knit, asshattery-free community. I have no idea how WoW stays alive some days, then I remember who plays WoW and who plays LotRO and I'm thankful that the WoW players haven't come over.
imo wow will die once cataclysm hits it will be the same old grind just a new scenery. i been playing wow sens beta and now i have a beta key for cataclysm i doubt i will even test it out i am looking forward to diablo 3.
DEATH TO WOW!!!!!!!
and for some1 to say wow don't take up all your time ROFL try leveling from 1-80 now and days 1 month + at 12 hours aday wow steals life's and will do so forever intill some1 stops them + with all the gold spam and lvl spam and grown men buying accounts for $500.00+ it just cracks me up sometimes.
Wow is the easiest game to play! You can play it with a calculator, if people thing the mojority of users have a top notch computer they are sadly mistaken, most people still use a single core, built in graphics card, , no sound card, a small harddrive, maybe 2 gb of memmory, and windows xp or vista, this will not run AOC or WAR or EQ2 or even Lotro, youcan run eve but most people hate that game( to spacey, not enough action, to much thinking) not my opinion i like eve. Wow has very smooth gameplay and easy to use UI . Everything is easy and that is what the masses want. Wow draws more of the console crowd then anyone, nuff said
There's nothing wrong with playing consoles. I'm a hardcore, multi-platform gamer. A game is a game regardless of platform, and I want to play them.
Easy: look at 10 friends, they would have at least 8 different "favorite" games. If they find out they cannot agree to play any of these together, they will find 9 "secound choices". But in the long run they will find "wow is acceptable for all". It is an "acceptable source of addiction" for most, not an "excellent game for some".
WoW (and Diablo) influenced things even outside of the MMO industry:
http://forum.enerla.net/content/226-builds-characters.html
Check my home page for gaming related articles
WoW is fun. Is it the best MMO out there, no. But it's simple enough to have a wide appeal immediately when you play. There isn't a hard learning curve for any class either. There is enough to do to keep busy - pve or pvp.
Also, when Bliizard releases an Expansion or major patch it's generally very polished and ready to play vs some of the past few years MMO's that you feel ike you're Beta testing after release.
Proud member of Hammerfist Clan Gaming Community.
Currently playing: RIFT, EQ2, WoW, LoTRO
Retired: Warhammer, AoC, EQ
Waiting: SWToR & GW2
I wouldn't say this... And i think Cataclysm will be "missed opportunity".
Check my home page for gaming related articles
My opinion: many people liked the Warcraft series, and Warcraft 3 was awesome. This made the transition into the 'World' of Warcraft easier. Then, Blizzard did what they do best: take others ideas, and do it better/polished, and then maybe add a wrinkle here and there.
Love it or hate it, it did many things better than anyone else. Also, I think there is a huge crowd who is loyal to Blizzard because of the amazing games in Diablo, Starcraft, and Warcraft, and the fact they STILL support them even though those games hardly make them ANY money anymore. I mean look at Halo 2 for example - plenty of people still played it, even though it was old - but they shut it down. Starcraft or Diablo fix? Hop right in.
I am a pretty solid Blizzard fan, but thats mainly for Diablo/Starcraft. But WoW was great for awhile too (I played it for 3 years, no other MMO has kept me past a few months except DAoC).
The answer is quite obvious my friend.
CAUSE ALL THE OTHER DEVELOPERS ARE RETARDS!
Aoc? DDO? LOTRO? 3 of the most greately worldsfull of their own unique lore , to place your hopes upon to have great medieval fantasy adventures were screwed. Each for their own reasons. Aoc needed more work before launch and better programers that actually play games and focus on gameplay instead of grafix, Ddo fully instanced NO PVP, Lotro NO PVP and a bad version of wow copy.Hell i dont know what these ppl were thinking...
I will echo many others response in that they have a very loyal following from diablo and their rts games. Blizzard has always done one thing very very well: Take others' ideas, simplify them, and polish them. Compared to most games out there WoW does have exceptionally smooth gameplay, the animations are far more fluid than just about any other mmo, the system requirements lend to broader range of system support than any other mmo, and they have one helluva good marketing department.
http://www.speedtest.net/result/7300033012
It's not some big sercret. It's not because wow players are stupid and mindless as this tiny minority of forum goers would like you to believe; wow player or not, if a person doesn't enjoy a game, they won't play it. I know a lot of these forums users won't agree with that because thier just the most smartest, hardcore, and talented group of gamers in the world that can tap into the cognition of every mmo-er that ever existed, but meh.
The bottom line is you can jump in the game and actually participate in it. It's low grind, fast pace, and asccessible. A lot of people liek that they can just login and start having fun. Some people rather have that long term progression, and thats good too, but its not a reason to look down and spit on 8 million people who are just playing a game that they enjoy.
But their are a lot of negatives about wow that i agree with like adding a cash shop, its age, its community, becoming too single player esque(is that a word? lol)
The ability to be casual and hardcore is good. The bad thing is all these games that try to emulate wow's sucess. I like themepark but thats mainly because it'ts the only formula that has been polished. I enjoy sandbox loads more in thoery, the problem is, it hasnt been implemented yet. Eve would probably be the exception to that, as it is a very good game, but the space factor puts it into the niche category. Just look at darkfall; it has amazing potential. But the game is plagued with "long term progression" aka manditory and intimidating grind just so you can be on a equal palying field.
I would love a game that doesn't have skill,level, health, and "i hit you for more numbers" progression, but instead actualy skill based progression(as in talent and gaming ability) Imagine jumping in and not having to grind so you can hit for 30 instead of 20. Instead you progress through the game to get more wealth, to conquer with your guild, to get more rare and valuable weapons/armor/ mounts ect, to takeover land, to gain poltical influence. Just think, a new palyer enters the game and has no armor/weapons, so he still couldn't be one shotting 1 year vets who have a strong and power armor/weapon, but once he got some decent stuff he could actually compete in warfare. The more established clans would still dominate because they have buid up more technological advancements,larger keeps, more fortified walls, more advanced cannons,catpults, more accurate (cross)bows ect. Like a midevil sandbox that was actually sandbox.
But i digress, sorry for the wall... i went on a tanget lol
I actually played WoW for a week and have no idea where the "there's no grind" arguement comes from. There was way more grind than on any other MMO I've played.
1) Is your main concern is about itemization on your toons vs. having fun? (not to mention you gave the characters away!)
2) The game has alot of good content (it is the players that makes it a little bit too annoying, but I have to agree that vanilla WoW had its better glory days.)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Why so many are playing it?!
If we started to analyze "what type of players" instead of what content it have, you'd be damn sure to find a fat red line
1'st time mmoers, average home-living lads/ladies during their early teen years, etc... (We have all been there!!.. remember meridian or ultima online back in the 90's?)
(But why are they picking WoW over other f2p games or others for that matter? - Because its easy to play, and as already stated.. you have the option to be either a frantic gear loony OR casually lvl your toon in a slowmotionalisticalytastic way. Its the DIVERSITY the game offers that makes it have so darn many subs.)
Its not a bad game.. its just that it have a little bit of everything your inner geek would like to take a bit on..
Personally I aint playing it! But even I have been stuck in its tendons.. AND! I had a blast of time.
I think then the general consensus can agree that whether you like WoW or not Blizzard have been extremely effective at identifying the key aspects of a popular MMO such as ease of use, playability and accessibility. They have provided a game, which is mainstream because it takes into consideration the broader audience. This might justify their monthly subscription rate, but can anyone think how, in the future, Blizzard could still create a revenue stream without subscription. For example, micro-transactions or in-game advertising etc... or would this compromise a well tailored game too much?
Matt Harris
Sorry, see below.
Matt Harris
Which crazy ad campaign might that be? I'm trying to keep up with a lot of MMO marketing right now and at times I need a little direction. What's so particular about the advert that enables it to draw in a larger audience? Also this issue of the casual use of WoW compared to other MMOs could you maybe specify which ones you had in mind?
Thanks for the post! Cheers!
Matt Harris
This is just your own opinion and hardly makes it correct. I appraise these other companies for monitoring thier chat channels to make sure the kids, etc, etc, are not mis-using them for thier own purposes. (Games like Fallen Earth monitor quite often and I love it!)
When a company makes a game, I highly doubt they are making it to be a World of Warcraft killer like you and so many of your kind seem to think. Honestly, I'm pretty sick and tired of all of the kids thinking that World of Warcraft is the best game on the market.. For kids maybe it is, not for someone who doesn't want the easy way out. And as for any other game not holding more than a million subs after 6 months? Keep dreaming pal.. You're quite delusional if you don't think any of these other new games will be not able to hold those type of numbers. Final Fantasy XI has 2 million people that play it last time I checked. And these are not people that need to buy 3 to 7 accounts to make a game seem bigger in it's subs than it actually is. So, until you can get off your Wow wagon and think two-sided instead of one, you and the rest of your kind will never enjoy those others games that are out there. Than again, your kind likes it easy and wants everything handed to them. A sad thing when noone wants to actually work for gear or have to invest actual game time to really achieve something in a game. (Honestly, I'm actually glad too, I get to enjoy these others games without hearing the kids, etc, etc, type of crap in trade or general chat).
P.S- Oh, I wasn't picking on you in general, i was simply posting my own opinion like you did yours. So let's try to keep this clean and not child like
It's also one of the easiest games to get hacked on. Trust me on that. I got hacked and before ppl accuse me of sharing my info, you'd be wrong. The only good thing about it was they paid for it, not me.
I haven't played it in months. It's the biggest grind fest EVER. You can't play alone. Gotta group up. So if you like grinding and grouping up you'll love it.
Isn't it amazing what an ad campaign can do on tv channels for children. That's why it's popular. Nothing more to it.