In short, World of Warcraft has come the closest to killing the MMO Genre of ANY other MMO in history. And Im going to put forwards to you today why I think that it has done so.

Well, before WoW came along, MMOs had been inovative to a wide degree, trying out different styles of doing thigns in order to capture the largest audiences and thus get the largest amount of subscribers and thus the largest amount of monthly fees. This means that we did have some very innovative MMOs on the make. Shadowbane, Horizons, etc. Things moved forwards if at a slow pace.

What did WoW do for us. Well, at first it was great. It was a breath of fresh air. A game that the masses could play without even being a fan of the genre and play for hours on end and feel like they were part of the clique. Well, Im not gonna start to list the major problems of WoW *COUGH* Nothing but grind *COUGH*. But, its incredible success, has destroyed innovation in the MMO industry. Why? Because now every seeks to be the next mediocre, boring, bland, pointless, time sink that WoW was is and will be for many years to come.

As such, all the games that are being released now adays follow the same dull as ditch water formula that WoW does. Go here, kill XX number of these, come back, go to another place and do it again, come back....etc, etc. There is no innovation anymore in the MMO genre. No one wants to try something new. They want to be the next WoW because they know if they can pull that off and get even a fraction of WoWs brainwashed fans to play, then they are gonna make a fortune. In short...WoW has destroyed the want and need of MMO Developers to make quality, fun, entretaining and above all else, original MMOs and the whole genre is now stagnant as a result.

There, I said it. WoW is a vile game that is bringing the MMO industry to ruin. Dont know if you agree with me or not, but, I would love to know what people think.

Didn't read your entire post, but just to answer the poll: no. WoW is the most polished game out there with the most funds to back it up. I know that population doesn't mean everything, but to deny the fact that WoW hasn't contributed to the MMO genre, and to even go as far as saying it is detrimental to the MMO genre is insane.

In my opinion, thank god WoW game out. It pushes these new companies making MMOs to do something good. Just because a lot of MMO games coming out now are terrible doesn't mean its WoWs fault, it is the company's fault. If anything, WoW has made it so if MMO companies do something half-assed and push out a mediocre game, they fall flat on their face. It has raised the bar and has progressed the MMO genre at a much faster pace. I don't know an anology to use, but think of where our technology would be now if it didn't get the push of creating the internet, or a personal computer... etc.

You know what I mean.

I'd like to add that while right now games are kind of crappy in the MMO department, it is just this stale wind that we are getting until the companies start realizing (if they haven't already) that you can't push out unpolished games anymore. There are perfect examples: VG, AoC, WAR.

Aion fails in its own sense, but this isn't going to turn into an argument.

WoW didn't kill anything.

WoW's numbers killed the MMO Market and the fact that everyone wants those numbers, so instead of trying something new, they copy a game that's more about marketing than gameplay.

Although, I do think that WoW could have at least included some of the features they talked about in beta and early after release. It wouldn't have effected the numbers and would have made for a much better game.

WoW did not kill a thing. Only a Moron company would all the sudden stop their game in progress and make it more like WoW....Oh Muahahahaha Nevermind.

 I'm sure there is a small group out there that also thinks the internet should've stayed confusing and unintutive, a place only nerds and geeks can access.   Its the same people who want MMOs to go back in time to the 90s when most people hated them.   WOW brought in the masses.  The internet brought in the masses.  Sounds familiar right? 

Sticking to the format at hand, and completing the prompt of 'What WoW has done for the world of MMOs'...

- WoW has brought MMO gaming to the mainstream gaming spotlight.

- WoW has opened funding into the MMO genre.

- WoW has established a standard of polish that has hopefully been recognized by developpers as being 'the standard'. Any game with less polish has been rejected by the mass MMO playerbase. (Off-shoot of this being sooo many attempted copies of the game). Hopefully developpers have learned that 'the standard' of polish must be met, but without cloning the standard bearer.

- WoW has given goals for the casual and hardcore alike (the manner in which these mechanics are implimented I wholeheartedly disagree with, for multiple reasons on multiple levels, but the end result is the same).

- WoW promoted raiding to being something huge. Less over time, but the competition with 40mans between guilds, servers, worldwide and the level of tuning in BC (reference Sunwell) was unprecedented and has been unreplicated. EQ deserves mention here with their community-promoting raiding scheme- the design and the number of players in a raid.

There are more positives but my brain is fried. TGIF! I figured an objective post about what WoW has accomplished is due.

Edit: OP, hopefully you do realize that establishing any sort of pro/anti-WoW poll will always yield the same pro-WoW results, based on MMO playerbase ratios alone? ;) Enjoy your Friday all. Beers tonight in the Ballston district for anyone in the DC area.

All right... all right... but apart from better sanitation and medicine and education and irrigation and public health and roads and a freshwater system and baths and public order... what have the Romans ever done for us?!?

Wow would not dominate the market if even a few other companies had done their jobs and created decent games.  That is the problem  At some point you have to place blame on those who have actually failed and not pass the buck to those who did their job well.  

How about this for a title:

Why have so many companies failed to compete with WoW? 

Try answering that question and I think your perspective might change.

WoW did not kill the genre but it surely did influence it a bit in these years.

WoW's success made it so all other big companies are trying to emulate its success by using the same formula.  The market has been missing games that dared to be different for a few years now.  Only now we have a few independent game companies trying to put out different games with innovation that are trying to cater to a different niche.

Originally posted by Daffid011

Wow would not dominate the market if even a few other companies had done their jobs and created decent games.  That is the problem  At some point you have to place blame on those who have actually failed and not pass the buck to those who did their job well.  

 

How about this for a title:

Why have so many companies failed to compete with WoW? 

 

Try answering that question and I think your perspective might change.

 

because if i had to choose between the polished original and the attempted copy, i would choose the first option. the reason companies fail to compete with WoW is simply because they are unable to release a game that is (you can follow 2 roads)

1. As polished and complete as WoW

2. A brand new idea/concept that will attracts the masses

option 2 is least likely because i am sure blizzard with its gaming history has put funds in research. research in what type of actions will cause he body to produce endorphin and implement them in their game. i doubt investors that are putting moneyz into new companies are patient enough to wait for results before adding them to the game. instead they say do what WoW does and make it into "insert name" universe instead of Azeroth

the only game that may have a chance at this is CCP's EvE online. they are actually putting their moneyz in the latest technology and getting the BALLS to develop it. the new expansion, dust 514, incarna. all those are brand new concepts never before seen on MMORPG (ok maybe not dominion expansion but the rest yes) merging consoles and PC, in a unique way, adding space flight AND bipedal ambulation with live alliance/corp feeds. i dont see any other MMO trying to come up with a brand new concept. they come with different ways of applying the same concept (thinking aion with character flight, which is just the same difference as mount flight...

 their numbers are actually going up, granted their game is not meant for every one, thus will never have the WoW numbers. but then again, WoW was specifically marketed and designed with the goal of attracting everyone and their grandmothers.

what WoW has done, in my opinion, is created the largest daycare in the world. for 50cents a day you can keep your kids occupied for hours on end while you can concentrate on your work. (granted, health factors are detrimental)

what? WoW was awesome when it came out even tho that was like 7 years ago. Its not what WoW has done it is what everyone else has done because of WoW.

WoW WAS unique no matter how many people say otherwise. It was definitely the first to impliment a slew of questing and a relatively easy and painless leveling up system and it was the FIRST (if i remember correctly)to succesfully impliment instanced dungeons. It gave a lot of new ideas. Oh man I remember even being blow away because warriors could Charge... Nooooo other mmo even attempted that.

The problem is nobody wants to try something unique and everyone just copies because idiots will spend money on them anyways

Originally posted by cmar001 

The fact that it has been so successful as a result of clever marketing...and nothing else....is what has caused harm to the industry...cuz now everyone seems to think that medicore games are the new brilliant idea that will see teh genre move forwards...they simply arent...and this IS WoWs fault.

 

The FACT is that wow success is a result of marketing?  It is like I already know what you are going to say before you say it.

Please explain how so many other games failed that had massive marketing?  Warhammer, Conan.

If all it took for a bad game to be hugely successful is advertising, then everyone would be doing it.  Advertising will only get people to TRY your game.  It will not get them to stay and praise it via word of mouth to their friends.

 EQ2 released the same month that wow did.  It had plenty of advertising and hype.  So according to you it should be a massive success, but guess what?  EQ2 was merging servers within 12 months of release.  I guess you are wrong.

So if wow is so mediocre, what are all the other superior games?  Lets see what you have to offer in comparison. 

Originally posted by Squal'Zell

Originally posted by Daffid011

Wow would not dominate the market if even a few other companies had done their jobs and created decent games.  That is the problem  At some point you have to place blame on those who have actually failed and not pass the buck to those who did their job well.  

 

How about this for a title:

Why have so many companies failed to compete with WoW? 

 

Try answering that question and I think your perspective might change.

 

because if i had to choose between the polished original and the attempted copy, i would choose the first option. the reason companies fail to compete with WoW is simply because they are unable to release a game that is (you can follow 2 roads)

1. As polished and complete as WoW

2. A brand new idea/concept that will attracts the masses

 

Why do we blame blizzard for other companies inability to release new game concepts or at least a game on the same level of quality as wow? 

When did we start blaming the faults of many companies on the success of one? 

Originally posted by Karbonoid

All right... all right... but apart from better sanitation and medicine and education and irrigation and public health and roads and a freshwater system and baths and public order... what have the Romans ever done for us?!?

+1 Shrubbery and I'll toss in a fleshwound and a can of SPAM!

Originally posted by Karbonoid

All right... all right... but apart from better sanitation and medicine and education and irrigation and public health and roads and a freshwater system and baths and public order... what have the Romans ever done for us?!?

Xerxes: Brought peace!

Reg: (very angry, he's not having a good meeting at all) What!? Oh... (scornfully) Peace, yes... shut up!

They have ruined it for everyone.

GG

It was bringing all casual gamer to a wannbe mmo experience and make them think if they master that izi mode thing they must be pro in any mmorpg out there and if they not pro in that game it sucks then in wow it was BETTER.And when you think that wow does anything new to the genre i think then you believe too that bill gates was programing dos by himself :O

cmar001 you are completely correct, and I agree with you 100%. These people are not reading your post..only your title. I have been MMO gaming since the days of UO (p.s. woot Horizions! Hehe). And yes, because of WoW, the MMO community has been destroyed.

And this is why:
WoW set the bar for all new MMOs. They brought it to the mainstream. They made it marketable. Because of WoW, MMO's are no longer about the Game or the MMO Community....its about the Number of Accounts.

Its not about the game anymore...its about getting 10 million accounts. And that is why you'll see game after game being copied after WoW with no innovation. And those MMOs that actually TRY to be innovative will be met with cries and complaints because the community is not used to it! Resulting in patches to make it "more like WoW".

You can laugh....but its true.
World of Warcraft killed the MMO Community (and MMO Gaming).

OP is crazy. WoW saved PVE MMO when SoE almost killed it with the GoD expansion in EQ. Do you guys know anything.