I played WoW for years, and I'm completely burned out on it.  I can't stand it and will never play it again.

That doesn't mean I'm going to start trolling the forums whining and complaining about it.  I just want something new.  Whether the game has changed, or my tastes have changed, doesn't really matter.  The game doesn't hold the appeal that it once did.

WoW is obviously immensely popular, but that doesn't make it "the best".  Titanic has made more money than any movie, but how many of us would classify it as "the best".  WoW is able to entertain a large audience.  Let them keep doing that, and get on with your life, find another game.

Unfortunately for me, there's nothing on the market that does offer what I'm looking for.  I'm holding out for several upcoming releases, however, and I'm hoping that one of them will be "the one".

 As to WoW's stellar success, it was the first mmo that I personally played, and I fell in love with it.

Since then, I've played EVE, WAR, AoC, and the trials for several others (ff11, swg, ddo, eq2)

The one thing that wow did better than all of these was the user interface (Eve's and WARs wasnt bad though). For instance though: WARs UI was good everywhere except its crafting - of course that could have been a result of their crafting system feeling tacked on. Nothing in WoW ever felt "tacked on" it all felt natural. The crafting was the best I've currently experienced in a game.

You could also only spend a relatively little time, and feel like you "accomplished" something for the day (in b4 accomplishment in a video game comments).

Someone earlier in this thread also mentioned that WoW had something to offer for everyone. I completely agree. I played to be a tank and real world pvp (none of that anymore sadly), my roomate plays to raid as a healer, my girlfriend played just to collect pets and do cooking side quests, etc. No other (recent) game has covered all the ground points like WoW did.

Everyone shit's on WoW for how the game has evolved, but really no other game has learned the lessons that are to be taught by WoW's success - A clean (stable) UI, A solid chat system (dont get me started on AoC's), and a game in which the animations follow the action (WAR and AoC the actions would sometimes deley, and WAR's in fact would stop you from doing actions later).

This kinda makes me want to renew my subscription... Damn you!

WoW is successful because it transormed itself from a game (ie. pre-BC) to a piece of social networking software where everyone gets the same rewards.  Then you can all stand around the mailbox for hours admiring your epix that are no longer special because everyone and their dog has them while spamming the trade channel with Chuck Norris and UR mother jokes.  Grind your achievements so you can send out your wowarmory link to friends so they can monitor you uberness.  Wait, you aren't uber because everything is so easy in the game now.

I quit the game twice.  Right before BC launch.  And right before WotLK launch.  I think it's going to stick this time.  LOL!

The main reason most people still play the game is because their friends play it.  Not because it's new, refreshing, and exciting like it was pre-BC.  I don't view WoW as a "game" anymore to be honest.

Originally posted by Zorndorf

It is not the best for you? Who cares?

 

 

 

This is a discussion MMORPG forum!

Due to 11 million people I don't have the right to voice my opinion.

In a forum all based on Opinion. What you as a poster thinks is all that matters.

Gtfo! if you can;t handle that shit and have a decent discussion. Those sub numbers mean ass to me.

Why is WoW popular?

1. Marketing.

How many people played / are playing WoW as their first MMO?  How many other MMOs are on TV with Mr. T, that small dude from Austin Powers, and Ozzy?

Why is wow the success it is?

1) Timing. The other MMOs on the market were getting dated. Broadband was becoming more available. Stuff like that.

2) Low System reqs.

3) It was polished enough to be playable.

4) Known IP

5) Known company

6) Soloable

7) Fun gameplay (for most, people, anyway... and yes I can understand how you might find the game boring)

8) Grew by word of mouth and free trails. (The TV ads didn't come until later)

I sure other factors that helped it's success... but it wasn't any one thing, but a lot little things.

everybody was hooked by the time the Xpacs hit.

 

Originally posted by GoldenDog

Why is WoW popular?

 

1. Marketing.

 

How many people played / are playing WoW as their first MMO?  How many other MMOs are on TV with Mr. T, that small dude from Austin Powers, and Ozzy?

ah those were after it was a major success. Sure help they now... but not back in it's 1st year.

One thing that helped was that they had a well-advertised Open Beta period for a week or two before the game went live. A lot of people, including myself, gave the game a whirl during that time and ended up subscribing.

I've noticed that a lot of subscription games nowadays don't have an Open Beta, and they wait a couple months before offering a free trial. So, even if the game is good it's a virtual ghost town by the time people get to try it out.

WoW is a success because Blizzard had a huge following before even uttering the word "MMO". All the growth after launch happened for various reasons (many of them stated in this thread), but the main point is --

Blizzard had a huge fanbase coming into WoW, and were able to bring ALOT of new people to the genre. More than any other previous MMO.

Originally posted by Ilvaldyr

It's because they provide the most varied game experience in the genre.

There is PvE, both casual and hardcore.
There is PvP, both casual and hardcore.
There is crafting and resource gathering.
There are 10 character slots for the alt-o-holic.
There are achievements for the completionist.
There is open RvR (on PvP servers)
There is Roleplaying (on RP servers)

Most players aren't one-dimensional .. I play on an RP-PvP server in a PvE guild, have 4 x level 80s and spent 3 hours today working on achievements. I can see how "hardcore" PvE/PvP players can burn out, but for those of us who enjoy multiple facets of MMOGs, it's pretty hard to get bored when there are so many options available.

The only types of MMORPG players that WoW doesn't directly support are the minorities like the Permadeath, Sandbox and FFA looting crowds, and they are largely insignificant when one is taking them into account as a percentage.

Combine all that with accessible system requirements, regular updates/expansions, a low learning curve, and then consider that no other game has managed to offer all of the above.

It's really no suprise that WoW continues to dominate the genre.

Actually, you nailed it pretty well.  WOW does all of the above and does them average to good.

What it doesn't really do is many of them at the excellent level, due to the compromises that have to be made to appeal to such a broad base.   Trouble is, if a game is excellent at PVP, it usually has to suffer in some other areas, such as PVE.

The people who dislike WOW are looking for excellence in some key areas, such as in depth crafting, persistent world, meaningful (i.e. strong  penalties) for PVP, and dislike the game (or come to weary of it) because it cannot deliver excellence in those areas.

The average player (and bulk of the player base) is not looking for crafting that requires a PHD in Design to excel, and Blizzard realized this and provided the game that these players wanted.

I enjoyed WOW myself for a time, but the lack of depth and excellence (or outright misses)  in some areas made me tire of it.

Still, I enjoyed it for 18 months and have no regrets. 

(well, maybe for some of those 2 am raids I did during work nights, but..whatever)

Originally posted by lornphoenix

 

ah those were after it was a major success. Sure help they now... but not back in it's 1st year.

I'm pretty sure they went back in time and planted them.  Didn't you notice how well Ozzy could talk?  There's no way we can understand him now, so that was ozzy back when he still had some speech function. 

We're debating success which is a function of longitivity.  The question isn't can you get a bunch of people at release, but can you retain them and how are they doing it?  Aren't you moar compelled to go back and replay an MMO you see an ad for that states *new* material?

 I like how the article did a great job summing up WOW's strengths -- and then the thread STILL manages to have clueless people trying to define why WOW succeeded.

Really the only big things the article missed were "Established IP", and "Proven Track Record".  Pulling in a good chunk of fanbase from another genre was a great kickstart for them.

Originally posted by spikers14

WoW is a success because Blizzard had a huge following before even uttering the word "MMO". All the growth after launch happened for various reasons (many of them stated in this thread), but the main point is --

Blizzard had a huge fanbase coming into WoW, and were able to bring ALOT of new people to the genre. More than any other previous MMO.

 

If that were the case, than Star Wars, LOTR, and The Matrix would be 10x popular than WoW as those all had much bigger fanbases than the Warcraft games ever enjoyed.

Originally posted by Ilvaldyr

It's because they provide the most varied game experience in the genre.

There is PvE, both casual and hardcore.
There is PvP, both casual and hardcore.
There is crafting and resource gathering.
There are 10 character slots for the alt-o-holic.
There are achievements for the completionist.
There is open RvR (on PvP servers)
There is Roleplaying (on RP servers)

Most players aren't one-dimensional .. I play on an RP-PvP server in a PvE guild, have 4 x level 80s and spent 3 hours today working on achievements. I can see how "hardcore" PvE/PvP players can burn out, but for those of us who enjoy multiple facets of MMOGs, it's pretty hard to get bored when there are so many options available.

The only types of MMORPG players that WoW doesn't directly support are the minorities like the Permadeath, Sandbox and FFA looting crowds, and they are largely insignificant when one is taking them into account as a percentage.

Combine all that with accessible system requirements, regular updates/expansions, a low learning curve, and then consider that no other game has managed to offer all of the above.

It's really no suprise that WoW continues to dominate the genre.

Good post and good points.

Originally posted by Axehilt

 I like how the article did a great job summing up WOW's strengths -- and then the thread STILL manages to have clueless people trying to define why WOW succeeded.

Since you're so willing to follow the author's opinion blindly tell me, what are their credentials that make them any more informed than one of us with years of experience?

Originally posted by Groucho

Originally posted by spikers14

WoW is a success because Blizzard had a huge following before even uttering the word "MMO". All the growth after launch happened for various reasons (many of them stated in this thread), but the main point is --

Blizzard had a huge fanbase coming into WoW, and were able to bring ALOT of new people to the genre. More than any other previous MMO.

 

 

If that were the case, than Star Wars, LOTR, and The Matrix would be 10x popular than WoW as those all had much bigger fanbases than the Warcraft games ever enjoyed.

But the Warcraft fans were all GAMERS.  They already played games a lot so were more likely to hear about and play WoW.  I bet you most star wars fans have never even heard of SWG.

Originally posted by BwanaKuu

Originally posted by Groucho

Originally posted by spikers14

WoW is a success because Blizzard had a huge following before even uttering the word "MMO". All the growth after launch happened for various reasons (many of them stated in this thread), but the main point is --

Blizzard had a huge fanbase coming into WoW, and were able to bring ALOT of new people to the genre. More than any other previous MMO.

 

 

If that were the case, than Star Wars, LOTR, and The Matrix would be 10x popular than WoW as those all had much bigger fanbases than the Warcraft games ever enjoyed.

 

But the Warcraft fans were all GAMERS.  They already played games a lot so were more likely to hear about and play WoW.  I bet you most star wars fans have never even heard of SWG.

But if WOW sucked, all those fans would've CREAMED Blizzard for making a %$^#& game.  Think about it.  All the critics would've torn Blizzard a new one as well for not meeting their expectations.   Imagine the field day the mags would've had;)  "BLIZZARD attempts to make a MMO and FAILS.  They should stick to strategy games..." 

People just don't play games they don't like.  If its fun they play.  If its not, they don't.  Pretty simple really.  Look at SWG.  Every gamer on the planet loves Starwars.  Same with LOTR.  You'd be hardpressed to find someone who didn't love the movies or books.  Why didn't millions of people play those MMOs?   Because they weren't as much fun.  

WoW is causal gaming.

some parts are still light hard, but the most ist causal.

Honestly, I don't know anything but if I have to make a quess.

The two biggest reasons to me seem to be the casual aspect, those 8 Million players out of the 11 million are probably people who just don't care and want to play something that they can actually get something done I suppose, and don't feel like looking into MMORPGs / etc.

The #1 reason I think is as mentioned earlier... Accessability. Anyone from any personality can come and have a goal. And for light players, there's rewards that serve well. I played the game both light, and hardcore for a few months each after 3 years of Player Vs. Player, and when I was playing lightliy, I loved how you could not have to do so much and get good rewards.

All in all I think it's the accessability to "non-hardcore" players if you will. A lot of people hate blizzard for this but they're the ones with the 10+ Million subscriber base.

Originally posted by Dreamagram

And once again, I recommend BioWare's Walton On Making MMOs Post-World of Warcraft. A very interesting read, especially considering what project he's working on at the moment. ;-) (To save some a quick search... SW:TOR.)

Thanks for this post. This is a dam good article.