I seem to suffer from a form of WoW ADHD.

As interesting and appealing the idea of re-subbing is, when I think about it and remember my past WoW experience, it's a very deflating remembrance. It just seems to me that WoW is quite limited on what's going on.

I mean sure, there's up to level 80, item grinding, PvP, Arena and all that, but it all seems very monty hall-ish, and short sighted. You get to level 80, pretty easily I might add, and then that's about it. It turns into a very blah experience.

And I know that you get quite an entertainment deal for 15 bucks for unlimited use monthly, but when it comes to an MMO I require more depth than that, and unfortunately, the MMO market is saturated with redundant formula MMO's.

So, I am just wondering, for you devoted WoW players, what keeps you logging in?

Simple answer:
 

This: http://www.wow.com/2009/06/18/pvp-qanda-with-blizzards-cory-stockton/

And Blizzard just keeps adding things to the game every new life cycle.

Even Mark Jacobs said it would take 100 million dollars to create something remotely competitve.

And that the biggest hurdle was the ever growing number of choices and controlled content growth.

That was MJ btw: the man who said it nevertheless could be done ....

Just stop making threads to vomit all over this game and play some stuff.

Using 4 letter words for Wow and Blizzard  ("blah") is so passé and old hat these days. Go after the Wow copies that didn't make the grade instead.

I think the OP wanted a normal human answer. Not a company-like memo.

Wish I could give you an answer to your question OP, but I fear that I've lost my appetite on WoW some time ago. What did get me back was the great story behind the new expansion and some of my friends still playing on my old server.

I havent played since burning crusade, but my guess is two things -

1) Working so much for something it would feel like they are giving up alot if they leave the game.

2) They have made friends over the years so other games feel empty.

For me is trying out as many class as possible. Warrior is my main, 2nd toon is lock but only reach levl 65. Both horde. Now im rerolling on the alliance side and a pally. Just to see the other side of the story and also their area like darkshore etc...

Never know that pally is so easy to play compare to war, and maybe when i reach 80 with it i will re-roll a shammy.

Another problem is apart from WoW i cant find another game that's more entertaining. The rest is just a wanabe so might as well play the original...

Not a bad idea, I've never actually played horde in all this years, lol.

How many games have gone live in the last three years and have not completely flopped? Ok thats rhetorical, but the answer is the quick version of why I played wow for so long. Polished gameplay doesnt seem to get the respect its due these days, which is probably why so many developers dont care if they go live with crap now.

Im also confused with the OP saying that the game after max level is "blah" suggesting that you didnt really play the game after that or attempt any of the achievements. My experience is really the opposite, since the game is so max level focused its pretty rare now to find lower level groups that are not being carried by a max level character. Since lower levels stopped regularly grouping the game in my opinion is "blah" and then level 80 happens (60,70,80,90, for those of you reading this post in a time machine), and then you play warcraft.

Originally posted by jevtyrn

How many games have gone live in the last three years and have not completely flopped?

Not really. The answer is:

• Tabula rasa &
• The matrix online

Every other game can still be experienced if somebody wants to make an account.

Originally posted by Xasapis

Originally posted by jevtyrn

How many games have gone live in the last three years and have not completely flopped?

 

Not really. The answer is:

• Tabula rasa &
• The matrix online

Every other game can still be experienced if somebody wants to make an account.

 Considering your answers and assuming your a person of average intelligence, you answered my question opposite of how I worded it. I asked for the ones that still maintain decent subs. I'll give it to you that our points on a "flop" are understandably different. I consider it any game that has completely fallen off the radar. Age of Conan and Warhammer Online are games like this, both new games with tremendous hype. Both crashed in popularity as soon as they went live. Dungeons and Dragons Online, released in 2006, just announced a free to play option. I would not consider this great news in the eyes of a developer. On top of these titles, I really just cant think of ANY good MMOs released in the last three years. So again if someone could just make a shortlist of recent titles that are fun and polished games, i would actually be thankful.

Also, because I am a jerk, The Matrix Online went live in 2005 so it really doesnt fall in the category of my question.

LOTRO and EVE for certain. I wouldn't dismiss WAR and AoC as well, they don't have the subscriptions that the hype would suggest, but people are still having fun with them (which is all that matters).

I think we're derailing the OP topic though, so we'd better stop ;)

At the moment I'm not looking for a game that is not a second job, WoW is casual and I can play for a few hours and relax . I like the classes in WoW. Some of the other games I've played the classes didn't feel right, there was always something missing.

EDIT: Now it make sense!!

Originally posted by Xasapis

LOTRO and EVE for certain. I wouldn't dismiss WAR and AoC as well, they don't have the subscriptions that the hype would suggest, but people are still having fun with them (which is all that matters).

I think we're derailing the OP topic though, so we'd better stop ;)

The man asked you for games that were huge successes and didn't fail to deliver in the last ... 3 years. EVE was launched more than 5 years ago and had a relaunch twice with the last one 3 months ago.

LOTRO stands at 170K subs (and it's confirmed by www.fire.com). War stands around 150K players and AOC around 100K. All can be traced tx to the huge sample of Xfire players 24/24 hours sampling. Just do the math. Always glad to have a certain counterweight to the commercial hype on vent by their makers.

-------> Let's face it Xas, being intellectual dishonest to yourself, ... will not bring you better games.

Each time a new mmorpg is launched, you keep dwelling the Wow forums to agitate.

It only stops each time for a few months when you go back to your RL friends in Wow.

-------> Ohh, there is an element why even Wow 'bored' people keep playing Wow: it is the only MMORPG they can discuss with friends in RL. (back on topic I guess)

I say it's because Blizzard as a GAME developper always adds decent new content and frankly very good new gaming options and ... I am supposed to be a company guy just because I lay my finger on well known facts and love the game I play for  4 years now?

Let's say I can analyse a situation without resorting to meaningless personal and very changing opinions.

Originally posted by Xasapis

LOTRO and EVE for certain. I wouldn't dismiss WAR and AoC as well, they don't have the subscriptions that the hype would suggest, but people are still having fun with them (which is all that matters).

I think we're derailing the OP topic though, so we'd better stop ;)

What kind of argument is this? I'm sure some people were having fun with horizons before it crashed and *certainly* people were having fun in AC2 before they took it down.

Just because there's some people having fun doesn't mean it's a sucessful game.

Well, at first I thought about not answering, since as I said earlier, I didn't want to derail the thread any further.

Then I realised that popularity is a valid reason for certain people to keep on playing games. (I was only stating earlier that the enjoyment derived from less popular games is not diminished for some people).

"Even Mark Jacobs said it would take 100 million dollars to create something remotely competitve."

Funny thing is, he wasn't including himself in that argument, he was talking about 'new' studio's other than blizzard and his own who wouldn't be able to compete on the same grounds as WoW without having to spend 100 million or so on it. 

He was expexting Mythic to be able to equal WoW easily with a much lower budget.

Painting themselves in the same corner as Blizzard was probably one of the silliest things they did, in retrospect. Well, apart from the 'Waiting on Warhammer' add perhaps :p

WOW is just a fun and easy game

I was planning to return to LOTRO this week, but I heard my kinship didn't exist anny more

and when I came back home from the store (because I planned to buy me a copy of Mom) I had bough a gamecard for wow ^^ lol, I went back to my old guild and I have to say I'm enjoying wow again

We're running some heroics, raids, argent tournament, ... I don't know :) there is always something to do!

To answer the OP's question, I play wow because it's easy to get into, it's easy to stay into, and I just enjoy the Warcraft universe.

I've been playing Warcraft games since Warcraft 2, and that lead me to play them all (I still have my copy of Warcraft 1...somewhere around here >.>). Overall, I like the Warcraft universe, as much as it barrows from others. 

Originally posted by SpyridonZ

I havent played since burning crusade, but my guess is two things -

1) Working so much for something it would feel like they are giving up alot if they leave the game.

2) They have made friends over the years so other games feel empty.

No, not true.  Based on your arguments, people should never have moved to WoW from EQ.

The cost of levelling an alt in EQ to 60 (the max when I left, and couple years before WoW comes out) is terrible.  The hell levels 30, 35, 40, 45, 49, 51-58 and then the hell of all hells 59.  Its a week's gameplay for half a bar.  And mind you, 1 death = half a day's effort down the drain.  The journey to 60, in WoW, even before the watering down, is just a month's easy work.

In EQ, friends are vital, your reputation is the game.  You can do nothing without your friends, you are dead if your name is tarnished.  In WoW, you have many friends, whom you join only if you want to.  You can PUG and do about half of the stuffs without any worries.  With so many people doing the same level, /2 lfg for XYZ quest and you are ready set go in 5 minutes.  In EQ, good luck spamming at the zone entrance.

By your theory, no one should leave EQ for WoW, but fact is, almost the entire EQ community left for WoW.

To directly answer your question OP, It's almost as though I love WoW for the micro aspects of it's gameplay, and not the macro aspects of it that define it as being an MMORPG.

To elaborate, I frankly don't enjoy the lore, the community is lacking and immature, and the artistic direction is marginally stomachable at best, but WoW has what Blizzard masterfully adds to all of it's games, fantastic gameplay.

That being said, I've yet to come across another MMO that has such responsive controls, and offers such an amazing degree of interaction with your opponents and enemy NPCs via a masterful battlesytem. This makes for fun questing and instancing, and a the possibility for a potentially explosive pvp system. It's a game I can enjoy like one would enjoy Call of Duty; I typically log on for a few hours, do battlegrounds and Arena's, and log off happy and fulfilled.

It doesn't have the expansive depth and story telling aspects you'de find in a game like FFXI, but it's remarkably entertaining for what it is. You could say it's a bad MMO by traditional standards, and I wouldn't disagree with that in any way, but in a broader sense,  it's a very strong game, with the same familiar gameplay as is present in Blizzard's seminal favorites like Starcraft and Diablo.

Originally posted by Tarkovsky

That being said, I've yet to come across another MMO that has such responsive controls, and offers such an amazing degree of interaction with your opponents and enemy NPCs via a masterful battlesytem. This makes for fun questing and instancing, and a the possibility for a potentially explosive pvp system. It's a game I can enjoy like one would enjoy Call of Duty; I typically log on for a few hours, do battlegrounds and Arena's, and log off happy and fulfilled.

This is OP.

In fact it's more explosive than FPS. :))))

I guess I keep coming back because there's simply so many things to do in the game. Even after playing for several years. For example, here's what I did last night.

Log on at 6.30 in time for the scheduled Ulduar 25 raid.
I do the daily cookery quest whilst the raid is being organised.
Not enough people were online, so it was turned into Ulduar 10.
I didn't get selected for the now smaller raid. No worries. I'm guaranteed a place the next day, and have plenty else to do.

Log onto my Warlock alt. Spend a couple of hours playing him, completing all the quests in the Howling Fjord and move to Dragonblight. He dings 73. I take him to Ironforge for training. Also spend a little time at the auction house, selling loot from his adventures and a few enchanting materials.

Logged back to my main

Try to do the daily PvP quest (Alterac Valley). It turns into a huge old style slog between SH and Stormpike, and whilst I'd often try to run the lines and break the deadlock in those conditions, today I decided to just HK farm. We lost the game, but I came out with some stupidly good stats (something like 55 killing blows, only 5 deaths). Old style AV suits hunters.

Answer a call in LFG and join a group for the Vault of Archavon 25. It's a semi-pug, with the core being made up of members of Congregate, our servers main guild for high end arena on the alliance side. VoA 25 is cleared quickly, and I topped the damage meters.

Have another try at AV. Get half way through the game before I realise I was stupid, and had entered with PvE gear and spec. Achieved very little apart from capping Iceblood Tower. Was ganked by a shadow priest before I swapped into PvP gear. Embarrassing. Ho hum. Still, we won the game, so my daily was completed.

Decided to work on my fishing, which I'm generally crap at. I do the quest that used to be required for 225 skill, but now gives a new, better, fishing rod. Whilst doing it, I see that the seasonal bonfire quests are now available again. Blizzard must have reset them. I pick up a few, and decide to continue on another night, since they're a great source of money. I collect 2 easy achievements (100 fish and fish from a school).

Tonight I get to go to Ulduar. Hopefully Thorim will drop those shoulders I'm after.

I hate to admit it, but Blizzard didn't screw the pooch with Wrath. Another 10 levels is BS and always will be in my opinion, but this time, my level 70 epics aren't replaced by level 71 Quest greens. Northrend is nicely detailed, has good music, has NPC vs. NPC combat (which I think makes the world feel much more alive), has cooler armor, has a variety of races, and has very good central story. I want to fight the Scourge more than the Legion, even though the model for Ghouls is still ridiculous and dorky. Have you seen how they run? Jeez... but I digress.

I came back and checked WotLK out, and now I resubbed. Right now, I'm just focusing on getting to 80 so I can start raiding again. Right now, what's keeping me playing is Northrend. We'll see if that changes at 80 or not (that will depend on the raid quality or PvP activeness for me).

 I'd say most I know stay for the people, pvp, or raiding.  Really theres not much more to offer in anything else in the market, however if you havent tried other mmos...and hug WoW till the end, I feel sorry for you.

I put in my four years and don't regret it, but really the raiding atmosphere became stagnant so I quit :/  waiting almost 6 months for content (after clearing expansion content in a month) is kinda rough (note I dont consider achievements viable content, take it as you will).

WoW isnt the best nor the worst, but its very easy to have fun with a group of people in...so for most its worth sticking on with :) I'd reccommend everyone keep trying new mmos and find your niche...if WoW is it, so be it...But personally I'm always looking for something new & interesting, they all have something fun to offer.

Sidebar:  Getting a good job and stepping away after being well into WoW, retrospection (as stated before) really destroys the love for most (me, my fiancee, and at least 2 RLs i've played with agree).  Its easy mode mentality direction is great for numbers, but not so great for those who had fun in the past...only so many alts & grinds before you just get plain ol' bored.

I actually quit when i heard they were lowering the mount reuiremet to lvl 20.  I remember way back before BC when max level players would look for BLUE items because epic items were so rare.    now before I quite I had a  "If its not purple I don't want it" attitude (excluding trinkets because there are some that are blue and just pwn... like the WotLK Alchemist Stones)

I log in simply to chat to my mates lol, it's a bit expensive to use it as an MSN... I do some raiding with them, some dailys but not much more, I am logged about 2-3 hrs a day now....getting bored....or too old.....I don't know really.......I just know I keep paying and loggin in :P