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Why did WoW succeed?
Ariste
Member Posts: 39
Why did World of Warcraft succeed?
I think this is an important question to ask, because WoW has, in many ways, come to define and direct the MMORPG genre. Since its release, we've seen game after game try to emulate it and replicate its success. So far, none have succeeded. And so, insofar as WoW has been a guiding force for the genre for the better part of a decade, I think it's important that we understand what factors have contributed to its success - and, equally importantly, which factors haven't.
In a post here, I mentioned something that I think is important to realize. For a huge portion of the MMO population, WoW was an introduction to the genre. Prior to WoW, MMOs were restricted largely to relatively hardcore gamers. There were a couple of reasons for this.
First, games like UO and EQ simply didn't have the exposure that WoW had at release. WoW had a massive fanbase for years before releasing, simply because it carried the enormous draw of the existing Warcraft franchise. This acted like a couple of years of good press and word of mouth, and gave WoW a huge amount of free hype.
Second, WoW simply worked. You could practically run it on a toaster, and once you were in, it was generally smooth as silk (with the exception of the immediate post-launch looting problems and such). This made the game infinitely accessible to a whole demographic that simply couldn't play other MMOs due to high system requirements.
The upshot of all of this is that WoW became the first experience for many gamers in the MMO genre. And, as I argue here, players are very likely to fall in love with their first MMO because MMOs are so unique and open. In other words, I think a large part of WoW's success has very little to do with the game itself, and a lot to do with factors surrounding the game.
This implies that all of the developers trying to emulate WoW may be misguided. The WoW model worked for WoW, but it's unlikely that it will work again and to the same extent for anyone else. Instead, developers should focus on innovating and coming up with ways not to compete with WoW directly. The next big MMO isn't going to be a WoW clone. It's going to be something new, something that will make us feel like we're playing MMOs again for the first time.
What do you think? What contributed (and didn't contribute) to WoW's success? What lessons should developers take from WoW, and what parts of it should they avoid?
Comments
They were lucky in their timing, had a really good advertising campaign, an IP known from previous games, a reputation as a good game maker, quite a bit of content and mostly working game mechanics.
Now most everyone who's on the internet knows someone who plays wow.
F2P/P2P excellent thread.
http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/282517/F2P-An-Engineers-perspective.html
They where the first to spam their BETA everywhere.
Every **** where
Or wheren't you there?
I think you are looking at the WoW sucess through rose colored glasses. I still remember when it was 'heckled' as a failure, because it did not cater to the hardcore crowd.
The simple truth is this. They were at the right place, at the right time, witht he right product. If WoW were to launch today, it would just be another game, and nothing special. The same would have been true, if it had launched a few years earlier.
Blizzard got lucky (even they admit it) in the fact that they launched a game targetted for an audience that was untapped, with a product that was still unproven. The first 'big' MMORPG was Everquest. The fact that they hit 300k users changed the gaming industry, and set the pace for everything after that.
Everquest 2 was destined to be the 'sucesor' to EQ (and it was expected that EQ would die when EQ2 launched). However, Blizzard launched a MMORG at the same time, and it wasnt seen as a huge threat... because it didnt primarily appeal to the 'established' EQ MMORP market.
The comparable in todays market is Farmville. It a combination of the right place, time and product. It appeals to an untapped market. It changes the gaming industrty because of its sucess.
It is worthwhile to point out that UO had a long standing fanbase prior to its release as well. The ultima series is one of the most acclaimed franchises of all time. Also, as someone who loved the original warcraft it did not influence my decision to try WoW. In fact I tried WoW solely because of the hype and thought it was bad from the beginning.
I only came back to it a month later because it was "more fun" to play the same MMO as everyone else. I think that's one of the big factors. WoW opened up MMOs to new gamers and the "hardcore" gamers suddenly got a rush of new fodder. That's why it appealed to everyone.
I believe the success of WoW will be trumped again someday by a similar design (maybe even from Blizzard).
They have something for everyone. Hardcore, casuals, PvP, PvE, semi-casuals, crafters etc.
The whole "level up to get to the content" idea works surprisingly well here. A lot of other games try it, but they simply lack the content to stay true to the idea.
1) Released in a very polished state.
2) Could run on practically any computer rig available.
3) Was based on an extremely sucessful IP
4) Positive word of mouth from players
5) Recieved universal praise from all the major gaming news sites
6) Slick marketing add campaign (Mr. T, Ozzy and other Celebrity endorsements)
7) Became a Pop Cultural Phenomenon (South Park Episode, major televison News and Print outlets even covered the game)
When future historians write about the pop culture during the 1st decade of 21st centrury and the explosive growth of online interactive entertainment, WOW and Zynga games are what they'll be refering to not Call of Duty, Everquest, SWG or Ultima Online.
i second this
Like people have said, timing was a big part of it. There were not a lot of alternatives at the time and the ones that were out there made WoW look amazing graphics wise. Also don't underestimate the power of advertising. They got their name out there and still do. I don't see Mr. T and Ozzy advertising EQ2 or any other game for that matter, but Bizzard has no problem paying them to do commercials. Great ads= more interest = future subscribers or if nothing else increased market awareness.
Wow didn't succeed actually
That's like comparing someone rich to someone wealthy
We need a new word
Better game, more options, better polished for the vast majority of paying subscribers.
The others tried and and still try and they don't come close. It's not even a question of inches but miles.
Rest is forum talk of whiners. You can whine 30.000 pages but it will not change anything at all.
This should not be a mystery. Any answer other than "all of the above, and then some" is shortsighted.
I'm trying to remember a quote, probably a PT barnum quote about it never being a mistake to assume your audience is dumber than it appears to be.
I'm not actually calling WOW or its players dumb -- in fact I reject the whole "elitist" argument about WOW being a bad thing because its players are lazy, etc.
But prior MMOs were complicated and harsh -- great for experienced gamers but not "noob friendly". WOW significantly lowered that barrier to entry by making their world "carebear". It was a good move on their part. I'm firmly of the opinion that UO and EQ1-style harshness only "worked" because there wasn't a triple-A alternative product that didn't put its players through all that grinding and harsh death penalties.
Aiming for that untapped market, plus good (lucky) timing, plus a polished product that (mostly) just worked -- I'm sure a huge number of psychologists, MBAs and economists are writing masters or phd dissertations on how everything went spectacularly *right* for blizzard.
So everyone's eating baked potatos cooked at 250 degrees, happily waiting the 4 hours for delicious potatoey goodness. Blizzard comes along with french fries ready in 5 minutes. Naturally, people say "might not be as satisfying as a baker, but they're ready NOW and I want them." Hate on Blizz all you want, it doesn't change the fact that from a business perspective they did the right things at the right times and got rewarded appropriately.
Players need to change their playstyle, actually try to get involved with a new game and treath a new game as a new game cause in my opinion a WoW Clone is only seen by people who just do the same thing they do in WoW, which I believe is the `click quest : run to X spot and repeat` so yeah that might when playing games in this genre that way that they all are WoW Clones. But mainly due to people´s playstyle, not so much due to the games itself. Once that is realized we might see games for what they are instead of comparing limited playstyle that people push onto themselfs,
you nailed it my friend
Polish and good gameplay (despite what most people on this forum would say).
"If all you can say is... "It's awful, it's not innovative, it's ugly, it's blah.." Then you're an unimaginative and unpolished excuse for human life" -eburn
Right time, right place
WoW did not come out as a polished product. It has been polished over the years. It had its fair share of growing pains, mainly because of its huge inistial starting population.
Still, IMO WoW = Easy Mode.
And that is what a lot of players who have played previous games in the past feel. Not saying it is not a good game. Not saying it is not popular. Not saying that everyone who likes it is a moron or noob or idiot.
Just saying that it takes away any need to actuallly do anything other than go through the motions and pretend you are playing a game by following the script they have provided you and the path to take with some branches to play with and PvP in an area.
If that sentence made yur eyes bleed then you know how I feel about WoW.
Gotta go, work callin
Say hello, To the things you've left behind. They are more a part of your life now that you can't touch them.
Where's all of the above option in your poll? WoW succeeded because it did just about everything right from marketing & system requirement outstide the game, to gameplay & content inside the game. You don't have to like WoW to acknowledge their success and admire how they did it.
EQ1-AC1-DAOC-FFXI-L2-EQ2-WoW-DDO-GW-LoTR-VG-WAR-GW2-ESO
Yep, and from a business standpoint it could be done again. However, whereas other companies get the marketing, product placement, advertising, "gimmicks" and "features" and all the other crap right, they all fail to understand the very basic needs of the playerbase. They always fail to get the very foundation of a typical PVE/PVP MMO right. Consequently they piss off a portion of their playerbase because not ALL of the very basic playstyle elements that people expect are there. Thus the product spends months or perhaps years playing "catch up". By which time its too late.
Elements such as:
Minimum pc spec requirements should be pretty low.
Reasonable performance, especially at the lowest spec level.
Enough quest content for ALL PVE levels.
World story arc, long quest chains and sub plots (the player should be part of the overall story, but not BE the story).
Intuitive UI that is famliar but useful.
Diverse itemisation, that is actually noticable between "levels" and makes items desirable, with different "rarity" categories. Desirable items should be spread around the gameworld too, not just locked in one or two dungeons.
Enough activities to keep the AVERAGE player (4 hours per day) occupied for longer than 1 month. Thus encouraging players to subscribe after the first free month.
Foundation for a PVP system (perhaps even with the potential to offer consensual open world pvp ) at launch.
Foundation for a crafting / economic synergy (not necessarily complex in the beginning, but should be design so that if can be made more complex later on).
At least one raid dungeon at end game to start with (or with 2 months after launch)
The gameworld should have more than just a handful of adventure "zones" (thus promoting the use of mounts and exploration) whilst giving the feeling of an actual complete virtual gameworld (even if the gameworld consists of a "patchwork" of adjacent zones which the player can "see" into from an adjacent one).
Clear distinction between the classes and the different roles they can perform.
Encouragements to partake in all of the different playstyles without neglecting any of them (solo, group, raid, pvp)
A diverse and dynamic faction system which links into ALL of the different playstyles (especially important to enrich the "end game")
A travel system in the game. Maybe even include a *little* "quick" travel, but not too much to completely eliminate the need for things like mounts and other forms of travel.
The above are just some typical examples of the basic elements that many of the more recent MMO's failed to deliver on at launch. Consequently the whole product suffered because they were missing. Whilst in some cases the developers lost a lot of time trying to address the issues after launch, in others the developers didn't even bother to address them. Consequently, in both cases, the product lost a lot of customers.
Top 10 Most Misused Words in MMO's
I have always felt it had to do with several things. One that had a huge impact on my friends was the fact that they did not have to buy a new rig to run it. We played EQ and our machines were great for that but when EQ2 went live our machines didn't run it good at all. I made a choice to upgrade but many couldn't afford to so along comes this game that is new and there is no need to buy a new video card or new rig and factor in that after years of playing EQ and its endless meaningless grind and SOEs much discussed lack of caring what their customers asked for, they simply started playing WoW.
The cartoonish graphics appealed to the teenagers that were looking for something to play. These kept playing and now they are in their early 20s or so and all they have to compare to is the simplistic gameplay and lack of: 1) any grind, 2) a real death penalty, 3) long travel, etc etc etc.
That gameplay also appealed to those that never could stand the pointles grind of games such as EQ so when WoW came out and focused on the CASUAL guy that plays a few hours a week, they had a game that they could play and get the same gear that those that play until they pass out, so it was right up their ally.
So, kids, casual gamers, and those that didn't want to or couldn't afford to upgrade were given a game that appealed to them in some way and bam, now it's huge and other gaming companies have looked at it and thought hmm, all we have to do is make the game simple with good graphics and players will run to us in droves! What they haven't done is to produce games with substance, storylines, atmosphere, and oh my god, a game that actually works at release vice using players desperate for something better than WoW to pay to beta test their POS.
Just my thoughts, not that they are worth a wooden nickle.
because of the name is my opinion. It sounds way cooler to be playing World of Warcraft then the nerdier names of Everquest, Dark age of Camelot, Vanguard saga of heroes, and its the Warcraft IP. So there is millions of people who know what warcraft is so even if u know nothing of mmos u can read or see hmm world of warcraft whats the buzz around this game i know warcraft hmm let me try it out. BAM sucked in!!! Could of been the same for any of the mmos that were out at the time this one just spread by word of mouth faster then the others and stuck
It's funny seeing people comment that have NO IDEA what they are talking about.
To say WoW was carebear, easymode, noob, dumbed down, for i want it now crowd, clearly never played WoW classic.
Despite whatever the game holds now, back then there were some serious grinds with rep and lvling. Dungeons were fairly difficult. Some of the dungeons closer to 60 were simply HUGE. Please don't pretend like raiding through progression doing 40 man raids was easy. I'm sure good people shaved good years off their lives handling 40 people with A.D.D.
The PvP system? It wasn't just afking in AV (a BG which could have taken 3-4 hours back then). I'm sure most of the people playing WoW today haven't even seen the summons there.
Have they watered it all down now? Completely, but there are still hardmodes and Arenas for the people seeking the greatest challenges. They're being smart about it and offering something for everyone. That's why they continue to succeed.
you arnt completely true yourself m8.
indeed was was not carebear easymode and dumbed down. that is what it has become. Due to casualism... i agree with you on the raiding part. thank god i never head to lead a raid and just do my job
wich was taking hits from ugly things.
your wrong about AV tho. Yes people today probaply never seen the summons but i have to correct u on the 3-4 hour thing. Back then AV used to take 2 full days or more (ive actually been in one AV and then log of and joined again the next day). It was a clash of 40 people trying to force eachother to the other side of the map. You did not ignore eachother like you do now. You fought on the middle of a road 40 people against 40 people. pushing back and forth.
for the most part tho WoW's succes is quit easy to explain in 2 words. Blizzard and Warcraft, that's all there is too it.
If you look at the MMO-community before WoW it was pretty smal but a fun enviroment to be in you helped eachother troughout the games because dying was a sin. (specially in everquest. a death there would mean you have just wasted 2 full days of grindign exp) so therefor you looked out for eachother even as complete strangers.
Anyway back on topic WoW releases. It's from Blizzard one of the better gaming company's around, and its from the warcraft franshise wich has ALOT of fans wich never even touched an MMO but went to play WoW because of those 2 reasons
Because its a pretty good game on all levels with solid management and advertising to back it up ...and oh the competition BLOWS
WoW succeeded for a few rather simple reasons.
First was the low system specs. With a wider range of PC's able to play the game, you had a larger playerbase to draw from. This was a drastic change from EQ2, which came out around the same time. Sony was pushing for higher-end graphics, they even bragged that at the time no PC could run EQ2 on all max settings. So (probably) those that couldn't meet the specs for EQ2 (and others) tried out WoW instead.
Secondly, WoW came out only a year after WC3 The Frozen Throne. As essentially a direct "sequel" to the RTS game, people had a familiarity with the lore already. Last 2 years they had been playing WC3 and now could jump into that genre again in a more intimate fashion. Warcraft fever was still going at the time.
Finally early on the game was very casual friendly. Remember back in 2004 games like EQ 1/2 pretty much discouraged solo or small group play. Since you wouldn't have to spend several hours raiding to get 1 bracer of uberness, more people stayed with the game rather than burning out from raiding or quitting in frustrating from lack of non-raid content.
mods.
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