Kyoji, since you didn't write that, could you please provide an original link? Authors deserve credit. There are some who agree and that is their right, but it's clear with this new expansion as well as the research that Blizzard has done, that the vast majority of players ARE casual and cannot dedicate the kind of time that a few think the game deserves. When only 2% of players actually got far enough to see Illidan, isn't it hard for Blizzard to justify all that time, money, and resources into end game content? Most people have commitments outside the online world that they simply don't have time to grind 12 hours a day. They just want to jump in for a few hours and have some fun. It shouldn't have to be another job. This is why WoW is so successful. They GET it. The other MMO developers need to figure this out and find the right balance. So you guys can QQ all you want about games being too easy, too focused on the social element, or not hardcore pvp enough, and I DO agree with you in some respects. But in the end games have to be made for a majority or they simply won't be economically feasible.
I would never say that what WoW does is wrong, and what they are trying to do they do well, I would just like a few other games that can break away from that idea and survive or do well. Things I would like to see in an mmo would be... PVP, being able to gank who ever and what not, some looting possible. Less consequences for remaking a new character, in WoW once you hit the max lvl they should offer something so you don't have to grind back up to 80. Uh, maybe some good arena pvp. I know wow has this, but the problem is that the game is based around balancing to PVE and then having pvp on the side, so it doesn't work out too well. GW did it really well for when I played.
The only reason why that number is so low 2% is because WOW's player base is huge. I'll say it again and I will continue to say it Blizzard got lucky with WOW and they know it. Anyone with a brain knows it. When the game first came out there was minimal hype nowhere near millions of subscribers but over time it sold because of word of mouth. I don't understand how the relation between devoting time in a game and having fun while playing = success. People like to devote time to games when they are fun otehrwise we wouldn't be playing them. WOW isn't successful because you can play for 15 mins and get a lot of thigns done. Sure you run aa quest but you could do that with anyone MMO. Like many MMOs you have to put in work to get things done. WOW is successful because anyone with a PC can play it and its community helped it a grow. There wasn't and probably there still isn't anything in the game that makes people go WOW.
Just because Blizzard is good at making money doesn't mean I have to like their product. Hell crack dealers do a great job of making money giving people what they want, I sure don't have to approve of it, like it, or agree with it.
There is enough in WoW to make a lot of people go "WOW" and that's why the game was able to grow by word of mouth. If most of the people who played WoW early on thought it sucked, then they could have word-of-mouth tanked it just like what happened to the MMOs that are tanking right now. I've said it before--it's not for everyone, and that's fine. No MMO can be all things to all people. WoW is kind of the pop music of MMOs, and that's OK. Just because it's "radio friendly" doesn't always mean it's evil, but it's fine if you prefer to listen to the less popular artists as well.
Great and original point here Shoji =3 I listen to GOA Trance, does that make me a Diablo II/Stepmania player?
I don't consider the game evil at all. Even though the game is popular doesn't mean its a quality product. Since we are doing comparsions WOW is like winning the a highschool popularity contest the hoi pollio flock but your fame is short lived. That was a bad analogy just die WOW die !!!! PS: Don't misunderstand me I played the game for a over a year. That was after quitting when the game initally launched. Its just sad to see the after effect of the games launch. All developers who are releasing games are trying to be like Blizzard and those who don't fail.
Solitaire is like the most popular online game and I don't view it as particularly innovative or amazing game. WoW was pretty ok for what it was but outside of the addicting ability of the raiding grind there wasn't anything in that game for me besides the social factor. As soon as my friends started quitting and raiding lost its luster the game was dead to me. There was just no substance to that game for me outside of those two factors.
Sorry, but Fergie's clearly not as good as WoW. She's only sold ~7 million copies of The Dutchess worldwide. WoW has over 11.5 million current subscribers and even more copies sold to people who don't currently subscribe, putting it in best selling albums of all time range. Its player base constitutes ~62% of the current MMORPG players. Fergie only wishes she had ~62% of all albums being sold today. Yeah, bad analogy since WoW's in its 4th year and bigger than ever. It's going to be a while before the popularity fades...clearly longer than high school. Anyway, WoW doesn't have to die--you just don't have to play it. Don't even stress over it. Find and support something you like and tell your friends about it.
I fully agree with you Nishua. I refuse to play WoW because i am tired of the game. I wanted something different. I hoped that there was a MMO to compete with WoW. It doesn't really exist yet. I bought WAR believing the PvP would be cool. It had potential with the collision detection. They had the right idea. They just left out the world PvP. It was a joke. Scenario's were decent, but didn't have a whole lot of interest. It's infancy is apparent and I wish them success. I think if it survives long enough they could have a better game than WoW. Unfortunatley as you mentioned they imitated WoW so closely that I didn't want to play it anymore. I was hoping for something else. Not sure exactly what, but something else. Some day they will make the game. Hoping for a Planet Side 2 ish type game. At least something on that scale with a very close look at tactical combat and variety.
I love your standpoint on WAR Nishua, because you played Warhammer since beta, and into release to understand exactly how the game works. Good for you.. What you fail to realize, is that WAR did not taint the market, it is because WoW set SUCH a high standard, that every MMO maker out there wants to BE WoW or Kill WoW.. It more than likely will not happen until Blizzard kills it with a new MMO. Besides, no one could hardly run AoC, with WoW you could have a 10 year old PC and sitll play it decently. So please, do not take a dump on another game, because you are frustrated with WoW. WAR has done nothing but try and be a good game. It is not going for King of the MMO's, it is trying to be a fresh game for the MMO market that is not the usual PvE dungeon raiding that WoW is.