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WoW is the Best Thing to Happen to the MMO Business/Community.
fisherc
Member Posts: 134
It is my humble belief that WoW is the best thing to happen to the MMO Business/Community.
WoW is an easy game to get into with little to no complexity so you don't have to be used to MMO's to play it. Heck, you dont even have to be able to figure out anything to play because it's so user friendly and tells you exactly where you need to go and what you need to do. Anyone can get into WoW: your Mom, your Grandma, Your Little Sister Sally maybe even your dog if you trained it well enough(That would be awesome). It's also a HUGE name from a previous series and it attracts people who would normally not pay monthly fees for video games and gets them used to paying monthly fees for a game. So it's bringing new people into the market that wouldn't have played before it's release.
However the simplicity of WoW is a two sided sword, yes it's very simple, easy to get into and user friendly. But players who are always looking for more, get tired of this simplicity and the novelty of the title wears off to them.
What's this? They've become hooked on the idea of playing with thousands of other people on the same server. They are hooked on MMO's. They begin their journey to find their perfect MMO, and they persist until they find it. Meanwhile, the shallow waters of WoW retain the kiddies and leet dudes like a sponge absorbs bacteria into it's it's fibers.
This... is why WoW is the Best Thing to Happen to the MMO Busines/Community
-Fisherc
Comments
Ya know, as much as I hated WoW, you're right. People I didn't think would even own a computer were into that game. It's a good first step. And once they're hooked, they can never get away (bwahahaha...)
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Exactly
i play many mmorpg's and wow would be far from the best
I personally believe that WoW is one of the WORST things to happen to the entire industry as a whole. WoW's unprecidented success pretty much cements the notion that cookie-cutter style MMORPGs are grounds for an instant hit to developers. Let's face it, WoW isn't exactly innovative. It has its desirable traits (pleasant graphics, smooth gameplay), but it pretty much follows the same recipe as EverQues: Kill monster, level up, kill harder monster, level up, repeat. I've seen this setup a million times before in other commercial MMORPGs. I think that probably the number one reason WoW is such a success is not its gameplay, but because of it is part of a compelling and popular franchise that has proven popular in the past.
Other developers and producers will look at the success of WoW and think "so that's what the masses want. You heard 'em, folks! Lets give them more of what they want!" And before you know it, the market will be saturated with WoW clones, similar to the events after Everquest (hell, WoW is an EQ clone). WoW's success gives developers very little motivation to innovate, and innovation is something the industry desperately needs.
But that's not what everyone is looking for...
This is where smaller game companies like CCP get their niche market covered
It actually leads to more innovation because profit seekers are trying to all grab out of the big bucket. But there are many small buckets with less people taking from them.
notice he said that wow is the best thing to happen to the business side and the community side
I like killing lots of monsters and I like killing lots of player characters. If I wanted to play lots of sports or play a game that simulated real life I would get Madden or the Sims.
Killing monsters and leveling up isn't a clone of Everquest, its a clone of a freaking RPG.
I don't understand why people want to watch the avatar take a crap or check the mail.
I totally agree...WoW is a great thing for the MMO industry as a whole. It may have canabalized some other MMOs but it has brought in at least as many new players too. It may not be the greatest game, but it has done a lot of streamlining and improving of the genre.
The key is that when the current WoW player base have exhausted WoW's potential then they will begin to look for new, and in most cases, more advanced versions of the system. This can only lead to more and better development projects (already being seen by the huge number of new betas and planned games); what is important is that the majority of the fan base selects the MMOs that mean an improvement on the genre and REJECT the clones...in this way the evolution of MMOs will continue and we will all end up with a much better gaming experience...
(And my master plan will be complete...mwahahah mwahahahaahahaha...hehe j/k)
I would say that WoW did great for the business side of MMORPG's, by luring people in with simplicity and then once their hooked, give them more simplicity...
The community side of MMORPG's were both hurt and helped. It was cool to meet people I played games with back in the day, Runescape EQ ect., it really brought a lot of people from different games to one game. But then WoW was flooded with little punks and chinese farmers. So, now I have to go through an application process just to get into a group, "Do you speak English? Good, have you/do you plan on stealing any phat epic loots? Great! Now just urinate in this cup and you've got the group!"
When all is said and done, at the end of the month, Blizzard still has my money, and probobly will for a long time
Erm cough cough MC.Truth is only difference as regards time commitment is when you levelling from 1-60.Yes levelling in EQ1 took forever while WoW takes much less time .
However,WoW is like EQ1 at 60.It is very loot based.In short more so because EQ1 was pve only.In WoW a vast majority are on the pvp server.
So there is a mad rush to own the best gear .Just grinding rep in BG,grinding cash for epic mounts,trying to sloooowly climb the honor system or raiding MC to get your equipment sorted is very very time consuming.
I've played plenty of RPGs that are a hundred times more captivating than WoW. WoW isn't so much an RPG as it is a "button clicking simulator". The extent of combat is literally clicking buttons in sequence, over and over again until level 60. Not to say this isn't like most RPGs, RPGs tend to focus more on character development than pure action. Unfortunately with WoW, there isn't any room for character developement; the entire game revolves around collecting lewtz and killing monsters in an endless grind cycle. There's pretty much nothing else do to (except PvP, which is pretty pointless at this point in the game).
Part of what makes the MMORPG great is its potential for entire online communities to form. The best parts of playing an MMO is interacting with your fellow players, and using the virtual world around you to accomplish wonderful things. In WoW, it's all there for you already, all you have to do is grind through it. If I wanted to play a button clicking simulator, I'd go and play with my freaking microwave.
If WoW's content can keep you interested for more than a week, you've got to be a real trooper.
From my experience with WoW, most of the content is pretty much blocked off unless you can devote 6 to 8 hours a day to playing. Leveling, especially at higher levels, can be painfully repetitive and slow, and organizing a guild for a raid encounter can take hours (not to mention the several hours spent going through the instance!). Casual players seem to be the ones that work their way up to level 40, have trouble scrounging up the required gold for a mount, and eventually become painfully frustrated with their lack of progress and quit before they reach level 60. These players simply don't have the time or the means to dedicate themselves to interacting with their guild, grinding for gear, and running through instances. I found it nearly impossible to get involved with any aspect of the game; I desired to play casually and got nowhere. I eventually quit in disgust before I was even able to experience the high end content, which most of the gameplay resides.
Basically, there is no such thing as WoW in moderation. Most people get sucked in and play for hours and hours at a time, and those that don't are wasting their money.
WoW was good for the community but if u think about it its not the best mmo to start of with. It is very diffrent to most mmos that i have played as well as the monthly is high. Meaning if they didnt like it they might not be inclind to try other games.
But most of my mates play it but they just got over runescape and there 16 so....
Thats saying something.....
Anyway I am playing GW at the moment and i think that it is probably one of the better games to get started with as it encourages people and community.
WoW is great, its made mmorpgs a more fashionable genre to play. Meaning other more real mmorpgs will gain more popularity.
As a professional gamer whose played from the ranges of all sorts of genres of games...and someone who has played over 100s of MMOs since first playing the UO back when I was a elementary schooler...( <--- yes I was very fast into the MMO community...I was a game pain is what they describe in korea a young adult like me)
I have to say...WoW is by far no where near what it's hyped about.
The point of the fact that Blizzard made it already gets them a hand-full of fan-boys. Besides, I've played too many MMOs to know that there are so much in so many MMOs.
The thing is...I still haven't seen a MMO with all the ingredients from other MMOs placed in one.
WoW just brought the attention of most gamers because it's something that can be casual, and not just a hand-full of people are the godliest people in a server.
I get the point that everyone who plays "wants" to feel top-tier and not "should" be, but that's one concept the game took away.
You see lvl "60s" all around you...the only thing different may be the equipments and race...all you have in game are 60s, 60s, 60s. That takes one concept of competitiveness away. Of course you can all argue that there are other means to competitiveness and I will admit that. But the lvl cap "is" one concept the game took away...
Now talking about depth...I won't get into that because, if there is certain depth in WoW, then there are certain depths to the game that is misssing in comparison to other MMOs.
One last thing wsad...who still brags about wsad? Blizzard didn't even invent wsad for MMOs. RFonline came out before WoW, and it had wsad. You could also side-step, walk-backwards, with wsad in RFonline, not to mention jump (although the jump was useless). Just happend to be that people are either stupid or laziness that they prefer just hacking away at mobs, when they could totally change the keyboard interface into 3 types.
THe point I'm getting at here? wsad existed long before WoW, but some people were either dumb to not notice and all these fanboys had to glorify Blizzard.
In conclusion...I think WoW is currently the better MMO out in the market...but it isn't something that was totally auspiring. I'm a damn die-hard korean StarCraft fan, I have nothing against Blizzard, cause if they made a SC MMO I'd play it even if it sucked...(cause I would be a StarCraft fanboy). But I'm just sick and tired of people in their own way making WoW an eminent game more than what it actually is.
And fanboys~ plz...wsad isn't Blizzard invention...-_-a
GRIND sucks? You wanna be max level in a month?
Since when did society award easy-goers and lazy-fools?
MAKES ME PHOBIC OF STUPIDITY!
Like everything, World of Warcraft's immense popularity has both positive and negative implications.
The fact that it got your mom, or your wife, or your dog into MMos certainly can't hurt the industry...
Can it?
http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20041103/bartle_pfv.htm
Richard Bartle is smarter than you. Read what he has to say.
He doesn't say explicitly that popularity is bad for the industry. But who would have said that about music, 30 years ago?
-----------------------------
Listen Asmodeeus, seven years ago, Ultima Online didn't even have those pathetic "quests" that you refer to or those "professions" of ninja, samurai, necromancer, and paladin. Nor did it have any of the neon crap, or bug mounts. It didn't even have any "combat moves." You turned on attack and jousted with simplistic swings. It was a better game then. if you can't guess why then just uninstall the thing and move along. - Crabby
Good point! I fully agree with you
This isn't what the thread is about. You won't find too many "hyping" WoW here, it's just a discussion on what WoW has done for the MMO Business/Community.
Plus, I was playing games with wsad since...oh...probably before you were born
(funny thing is, I always remap it to qwes...cause that's a whole lot more sensible and easy to use). The only games that ARE a problem are those that don't let you remap your keys...and, esp bad, those that force you to use mouse clicks on the ground! yuk!
Oops, wrong thread.
I thought it was another fan boy thread. :P
Didn't really read thread starters post ' 0 ' ;;
Anyways...give me a break...wsad for MMORPGs couldn't have existed beofre I was born xD.
THe first UO appeared for the Mac like 16-19 years ago...I dun really remember. I'm not talking about any UO that existed in recent years...I'm talking the very first Mac version that looked like Atari graphics.
GRIND sucks? You wanna be max level in a month?
Since when did society award easy-goers and lazy-fools?
MAKES ME PHOBIC OF STUPIDITY!