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Why is WoW the most popular?
jmoneys
Member Posts: 3
Hey guys I have been playing a lot of MMORPGs (WoW, Aion, RuneScape) lately and I am trying to decide why WoW is the most popular. I decided that WoW is the best because of three main incentives to the game. I think the social aspect, achievement aspect, and immersion aspect draw one to play WoW, rather than other MMOs.
Social: Amount of players to chat with and of course teamwork (RAIDS!!!)
Achievement: Competition and Progress throughout the game.
Immersion: Story-line. Never ending. Customization options.
Do you guys think there are other things that draw one to play WoW, rather than other MMOs? Just curious. Lemme know what you guys think.
Comments
I would have to disagree. The social part more then half the people in chat are idiots, no point for achievements but a time sink and now with underachiever I can link any achievement as done. Customization options? There are none at all, everyone looks the same at level 80 and now with hairloom items people from 1-80 also look the same.
I think people play it because its simple, easy to do anything and many computers can run it fine.
That is absolutely true, but the most important fact about the success ow WoW is the fact that it is a social movement more than a game now. The "I tell a friend, that tells two friends that tells two friends ect'" explains WoW and most of the other social internet sites.
Because it was developed by Blizzard. Blizzard has been making CRPG’s and RTS’s for years, they had a lot of fans. They released WoW and got their fans to play, so they got almost 7 million subs the first year. 85% were not mmo players, and wont play any other mmo’s except maybe in passing as they wait for then next content driven expansion for WoW made by Blizzard. Next Blizzard game, it’ll get the same amount of players, their fan base.
M59, UO, EQ1, WWIIOL, PS, EnB, SL, SWG. MoM, EQ2, AO, SB, CoH, LOTRO, WoW, DDO+ f2p's, Demos & indie alpha's.
WoW came about at the perfect time in mmo history, very few mmos were out. The game had bugs at the start but they were taken care of faster than EQ2. WoW also had better coding than any other at time of release, making it run on lesser computers, Everquest 2 is still a coding mess. With less competition Blizzard was able to retain players while fixing bugs, Blizzard had time to re invest because people would stick with it. Now days people will not give a game a chance. Back then cost were cheaper, for server time, and Dev's, so that helped.
So with all of the above, the kids picked this game in their schools to make it their new fad.
This is how it is !
Except that does not account for the sudden influx of players. All the other mmo's have just as many subs as they did before WoW. We just traded off for other games as many of the older games screwed up by revamping to become newbie friendly, dumbed down, too WoW like. Most that play WoW are not from the existing mmo community, but many vets tried it, and then dumped it. It's not a perfect storm, just a freak of nature, or really a Blizzard fandom game for Blizzard players.
M59, UO, EQ1, WWIIOL, PS, EnB, SL, SWG. MoM, EQ2, AO, SB, CoH, LOTRO, WoW, DDO+ f2p's, Demos & indie alpha's.
its not popuplar its just happen that people always talk about it so they think its popular.
I think there are a few reasons why it became popular and why it remains popular.
When breaking down the components on why it became popular you have to look at all the components behind Blizzard, any one of these missing would probably have made WoW a less popular game. You had hype from all the Blizzard and warcraft fans. You had a game that can run on most systems of the time. The game had a small amount of bugs compared to other PC games at the time. The gameplay was more feature rich then other mmos at the time with lots of quests and crafting. The game was also easy to get into and easy to break down. It was alot more simplified and attracted more then mathmeticians and statistic crunchers.
On its continued success you have to look at their business model. They continue to update the game not only with recolored mobs and content, but also with new gameplay. Most games do not add upon the gameplay which is something that sets WoW apart. The other thing is it has a relatively high amount of recycling players. Most people know someone who has played WoW. It also carries with it a legacy of 6 years of updates so no one can really copy their model and succeed. Finally you do have the celebrity effect with William Shatner, Mr. T, and Vern Troyer.
I would say the best places to make an mmo more popular then WoW is in the pricing model and PVP. Both of which WoW lacks. Another area is in the action of gameplay.