CambriaRising
Member
World of Warcraft, Evidently.
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How does World of Warcraft do it?
- Thread starter Measley
- Start date
World of Warcraft, Evidently.
I put a ridiculous number of hours into Diablo 3, so I got my money's worth and some. In the days where you can pay $60 for a 10 hour game, putting in close to 50 was way worth it. I still haven't beaten Nightmare or even gotten my first 60. The AH and just exploring has eaten up all my time. Also, I never beat Diablo 2. So the fact that I beat this one was a feat for me. I guess I just don't understand how the Annual Pass could not be considered a good value if someone was going to play WoW anyway.
TheChewyWaffles
Member
Holiday 2001 - Fellowship of the Ring
Holiday 2002 - The Two Towers
Holiday 2003 - The Return of the King
Holiday 2004 - No LOTR; Fantasy-themed World of Warcraft fills the void
Coincidence? Personally, I don't think so. That doesn't mean it would have been a continued success if it had sucked, but I think it got the benefit of filling in a gap for a lot of people that was left in 2004 for fantasy-based escapsim.
Holiday 2002 - The Two Towers
Holiday 2003 - The Return of the King
Holiday 2004 - No LOTR; Fantasy-themed World of Warcraft fills the void
Coincidence? Personally, I don't think so. That doesn't mean it would have been a continued success if it had sucked, but I think it got the benefit of filling in a gap for a lot of people that was left in 2004 for fantasy-based escapsim.
I think there are a few dozen different reasons why WoW is still the most popular subscription based MMO on the planet by a large fucking mile. Personally I feel like a large part of the reason was, as others have said - it was brilliant timing. The stars were aligned for game like WoW to come along.
It came from Blizzard, a well known and trusted name in the PC gaming community. It was an extension of Warcraft, one of the flagship IP's of the platform with a wide user-base. It was noob-friendly - which MMO's were notorious for not being up to that point. They eliminated a lot of the headaches that people associated with the genre. It had a friendly, inviting and unique art style.
And you what? The Lord of the Rings trilogy had wrapped up the prior year and fantasy was big again, so that probably helped a little. Again, it was just the perfect timing on Blizzard's part.
Yep, this. Even Tod Howard said that he believes that part of the reason Oblivion became such a resounding success for Bethesda was because of The Lord of the Rings films popularizing fantasy again.
As for keeping those players, some people have invested so much damn time into WoW that abandoning all that and moving to a new MMO and starting over completely from scratch just isn't appealing to a lot of players.
It came from Blizzard, a well known and trusted name in the PC gaming community. It was an extension of Warcraft, one of the flagship IP's of the platform with a wide user-base. It was noob-friendly - which MMO's were notorious for not being up to that point. They eliminated a lot of the headaches that people associated with the genre. It had a friendly, inviting and unique art style.
And you what? The Lord of the Rings trilogy had wrapped up the prior year and fantasy was big again, so that probably helped a little. Again, it was just the perfect timing on Blizzard's part.
Yep, this. Even Tod Howard said that he believes that part of the reason Oblivion became such a resounding success for Bethesda was because of The Lord of the Rings films popularizing fantasy again.
As for keeping those players, some people have invested so much damn time into WoW that abandoning all that and moving to a new MMO and starting over completely from scratch just isn't appealing to a lot of players.
PinkCrayon
Member
Because these clones aren't even clones, they are scary looking failed clones with missing limbs, deformed facial features, ect.
Unfortunately no game can even do what WoW does, let alone do it better. I think the ES MMO will be the last big push into the space until Titan.
Unfortunately no game can even do what WoW does, let alone do it better. I think the ES MMO will be the last big push into the space until Titan.
It was a really good game, and somehow managed to come just at the right time. It's a bit stagnant at this point for some people, definitely, but Blizzard has simply had the best, most supported game in town for a while.
And some of it is inertia like someone else said. I know of plenty of friends and family who still enjoy the game, but part of why they're still subscribed and don't switch is because their friends and family don't switch and they've invested so much into WoW already with multiple characters, raiding guilds, etc.
I'm actually excited for Mists. Haven't played in at least a year, but I'll be resubbing when that comes out to at least try it.
It's hard for me to believe that we won't ever see another MMO be that dominant, though I think it'll be hard to exactly replicate what WoW has done because the whole subscription model seems to be in major decline.
I'm insanely curious to see what Project Titan is. Not only because there's probably a good chance that it'll be a fun game, but because I'm wondering if Blizzard will look to evolve their MMO business model beyond WoW's.
And some of it is inertia like someone else said. I know of plenty of friends and family who still enjoy the game, but part of why they're still subscribed and don't switch is because their friends and family don't switch and they've invested so much into WoW already with multiple characters, raiding guilds, etc.
I'm actually excited for Mists. Haven't played in at least a year, but I'll be resubbing when that comes out to at least try it.
It's hard for me to believe that we won't ever see another MMO be that dominant, though I think it'll be hard to exactly replicate what WoW has done because the whole subscription model seems to be in major decline.
I'm insanely curious to see what Project Titan is. Not only because there's probably a good chance that it'll be a fun game, but because I'm wondering if Blizzard will look to evolve their MMO business model beyond WoW's.
Brofist
Member
That might explain why it was popular in 2004. But even then I wouldn't be so sure. Blizzard already had a strong fanbase of their own games lore at that point. Don't think they needed to ride the LotR hype.
Brofist
Member
Please explain how they swindled people, I'd love to hear.
TheContact
Member
How do they do it? Have you played WoW? Then have you tried SWTOR? Blizzard always does a fantastic job of making games have a very fluid -feel- to them. SWTOR feels very...stiff.
Shining Sunshine
Banned
It's 10 million because of the Diablo scam.
Now everyone is stuck on one year of terrible gaming.
Now everyone is stuck on one year of terrible gaming.
I agree with this.
Without major innovation, and I mean MAJOR innovation, MMOs have reached the maximum number of people that are interested in playing this type of game. The market for a new MMO just isn't there unless you are bringing something completely fresh to the table and not another swords-and-sorcery clone.
I think you need to learn what a scam is.
SatelliteOfLove
Member
The Four Overlooked Truths of WoW's Runaway Success:
Rock-solid gameplay with strong feedback. Far too many MMOs before or since felt like you were running thru waist-high mud with a character that cared more for prancing mannerisms than fighting.
Expansive, truly immersive world from the get-go; the first thing any player new to the game sees, Blizz fan or not.
Can be played on some weak rigs, as they didn't waste resources both in development or on client rigs making realistic graphics that will look like ass in 2 years instead of 8.
Created opportunity for play and success instead of seeing them as mistakes to let that happen. (Granted, they're guilty of the opposite sin now, but hey).
Free year with Diablo III, free characters, double reporting Chinese players and keeping activity numbers on the downlow can't hurt, either.
Rock-solid gameplay with strong feedback. Far too many MMOs before or since felt like you were running thru waist-high mud with a character that cared more for prancing mannerisms than fighting.
Expansive, truly immersive world from the get-go; the first thing any player new to the game sees, Blizz fan or not.
Can be played on some weak rigs, as they didn't waste resources both in development or on client rigs making realistic graphics that will look like ass in 2 years instead of 8.
Created opportunity for play and success instead of seeing them as mistakes to let that happen. (Granted, they're guilty of the opposite sin now, but hey).
Free year with Diablo III, free characters, double reporting Chinese players and keeping activity numbers on the downlow can't hurt, either.
LunaticHigh
Member
People love to hate on WoW, but to this day, I would say it's probably in the top 5 games ever created. It's masterfully designed, and really was one of the biggest steps forward in social/online gaming the world has ever seen. The level of polish, dedication and support for the product is staggering.
Blizzard deserve every bit of success they get for that game, and the groves of developers that sought to steal some of the light by copying them have only one fate, to be dwarfed by the level and quality of content blizzard provides, and if they are not happy with following behind in blizzards shadows, they need to differentiate themselves and create a new product in the online game play space.
Nobody, and I mean nobody, is ever going to topple blizzard for what they do. The investment required to create a game that can rival World of Warcraft is unthinkable. They need to do what blizzard did, take the genre a step forward, instead of sideways.
Blizzard deserve every bit of success they get for that game, and the groves of developers that sought to steal some of the light by copying them have only one fate, to be dwarfed by the level and quality of content blizzard provides, and if they are not happy with following behind in blizzards shadows, they need to differentiate themselves and create a new product in the online game play space.
Nobody, and I mean nobody, is ever going to topple blizzard for what they do. The investment required to create a game that can rival World of Warcraft is unthinkable. They need to do what blizzard did, take the genre a step forward, instead of sideways.
Brawndo Addict
Banned
For a huge number of players, WOW was also the first MMO they had ever played. So there's this nostalgic element to it where people will always look back fondly on it because of the unique experience of playing an MMO for the first time. So even if another MMO comes out and is functionally equivalent in quality, it still can't match the original experience. For those players, everything will always be just another WOW clone that can't seem to match their memories of how fun it was, because nothing can be as fun as that first time.
Brofist
Member
Yeah the use of swindled and scam in this topic Is making me wonder if people understand the meaning of those words.
uh you realize WoW has been losing subs and only stopped the bleeding through the annual pass/d3 deal?
WoW Servers are deathly empty. Their actual account activity is much lower than their subs.
Those subs include China pay per hour players, which they count as individual subs by each unique login. But even those have dropped off.
Shit is not peachy keen for anyone in the MMO world, including Blizzard.
WoW Servers are deathly empty. Their actual account activity is much lower than their subs.
Those subs include China pay per hour players, which they count as individual subs by each unique login. But even those have dropped off.
Shit is not peachy keen for anyone in the MMO world, including Blizzard.
LunaticHigh
Member
WoW Servers are deathly empty? If anything, they need more servers, since many are so crowded you can barely move in towns.
Not at all, like it was posted above only about 1 million people signed up for that (last time blizz talked about it)
Honestly I still believe the main reason they didn't lose subs this quarter is because they finally implemented the raid finder. People not playing the game will never understand how insane that thing is. You can find groups for raids at like 3 in the morning, fairly easily.
One of the biggest problems with WoW was people quitting a few months into a new patch or whatever after doing what they felt they could they do in terms of gear. The raid finder completely gets around this by allowing anyone to raid at a very easy difficulty and get some of the best items in the game. People use it like crazy.
Another great thing about WoW is how they keep updating even the old parts of the games. They completely redid the 1-60 leveling experience. All new quests, updated zones, new stories. It was fantastic. It's literally a brand new game compared to what it was at launch. That constant polish is why new MMOs can't compete. SWTOR wasn't trying to match what WoW is today, they were trying to match what it was 7 years ago, and they still couldn't do that.
I would consider seeing three people while out leveling 1-40 to be pretty empty. To double check, I took an 80 out into Hyjal and saw one other player there while questing through Hyjal. People hang out in towns and cities, but activity is way down. My friends list was never online.
My res scroll experience was a sad statement on the game right now. You have the devotees sitting in instance Q's and everything else is rather barren.
SatelliteOfLove
Member
*cough*
You're being sarcastic right? WoW is a ghost town at the moment
They're doing a number of things in Mists to combat these problems, up to and including dynamic cross-realm zones based on player counts. If it works how they say it will, you'll never see an empty zone again.
Yeah, I almost brought up the cross-realm zones, but figured someone else would. It's a very clever way of accomplishing the same goal as server mergers without the bad PR of server mergers. If they pull it off, it should populate zones again.
I don't know about the servers that you're on, but the ones I play on are full of activity. Unlike Star Wars where there's hardly anyone even on the fleet. I understand some low pop servers have problems with balancing which is causing people to move to other servers, but that's a different issue altogether.
Mainly accessibility.
Other MMOs build and maintain huge walls of entry that it seems like they are actively trying to prevent you from playing the game.
WoW has broken down these walls in almost every area of the game from leveling, questing, dungeons, raids and PvP.
The other factor is that Blizzard is not afraid to admit their mistakes.
Other MMOs would rather endlessly iterate on failed systems and features wasting tons of time and effort on something that will never work.
Blizzard will admit when something isnt working or fun and change it or if its just not salvageable remove it.
Other MMOs build and maintain huge walls of entry that it seems like they are actively trying to prevent you from playing the game.
WoW has broken down these walls in almost every area of the game from leveling, questing, dungeons, raids and PvP.
The other factor is that Blizzard is not afraid to admit their mistakes.
Other MMOs would rather endlessly iterate on failed systems and features wasting tons of time and effort on something that will never work.
Blizzard will admit when something isnt working or fun and change it or if its just not salvageable remove it.
LAUGHTREY
Modesty becomes a woman
The amount of money they get just snowballs into more and more content, WoW players won't agree with me, but the amount of stuff they push out for the game is amazing compared to other MMOs.
That, and the fact they know what they're doing (relatively speaking, I'm sure it's a mystery to them as well) and can keep doing what they're doing and keep that vice-grip over the player-base.
That, and the fact they know what they're doing (relatively speaking, I'm sure it's a mystery to them as well) and can keep doing what they're doing and keep that vice-grip over the player-base.
Well, to be honest, I hated leveling in Cataclysm. It was a crappy linear experience and ultimately I only leveled 2 characters to 85. I have no desire to level more. This will change once Mists comes out because they went back to a fun leveling experience and it's something I can deal with. I know plenty of people who quit playing because leveling was such a pain in the ass in the Cataclysm zones. So it doesn't surprise me in the least that people aren't out there leveling.
Conciliator
Banned
Another reason why WOW is still successful versus the pretenders to the throne is that they now have 7 years of new features and added content. No new MMO can compete with the amount of content that WOW has, because nobody can develop an MMO for a goddamn decade before releasing it. I don't play MMOs anymore(was never that into them), but I think for guys who got TOR, the reaction to that has to be "This is like WOW with way less content but with voice acting." Which is not nearly good enough. But what are they going to do? They can't keep up with that unless that have years and years to add content, and they can't get the money to do that unless people who are expecting years and years of content will pay them. They might have tried making something that's actually original and unique, and if it was good they'd have something to offer than WOW doesn't have.
What they really should have done is not make the thing.
The game is timeless after everything is said and done. It's rock solid, polished, incredibly stable and there's ton of content after years of work on it.
No mmorpg will be able to replicate it's success anytime soon. Blizzard came at the right place, time and with the game that people wanted and as a bonus: they actually executed and delivered a great game. It's crazy how I can come back after a couple of years and get into the groove of things as naturally as I breathe.
Not only that, all the little details that Blizzard implemented in the game proved themselves over time such as: seamless world where you do not watch a load screen from zone to zone, jumping,falling and flying all over the place, swimming and ocean floor, etc. The fact that you could also explore every nook and cranny of the world gave it an illusion of being a sandbox game even if it's a themepark mmorpg. In contrast, SWTOR has been accused of being too linear and restrictive with all the invisible walls. Both are themepark mmo, but one allow more freedom in term of leveling and exploration and it's not the one in which you can't swim. I think this is worth repeating. WoW's success usually gets attributed solely to good timing and/or strong (MMO) innovations/gameplay, but damn, the art in this game is rather majestic too. The world is extremely, EXTREMELY endearing. The characters, music, art direction, everything. Azeroth is a beautiful place to be. That has to count for something.
Psychoward
Banned
Polish and content mainly.
FieryBalrog
Member
You saw three people while leveling 1-40 in an 8 year old game?
Surprised?
I'm not saying things are perfectly fine, certain servers ARE very empty and WoW could stand to shed a good 20% of its Western servers through merges. It depends on the server, though. My server, Kil'Jaeden, is incredibly, incredibly active. Aslo, everyone sits in town because Blizzard fucked up their design with Cata and gave no reason to ever leave Stormwind as your main hub because everything can be queued and portaled from there.
The dearth of leveling population is on EVERY server though, because the game is freaking 8 years old. I guess that's why they are going with the cross-realm zones for MoP to fill out leveling zones.
FieryBalrog
Member
Also, who doesn't get a little bit of nostalgia from things like this.
Much of why I love WoW is the music and sights and sounds of the zones that I have invested many years into. And yeah, both the art and sound design are fantastic.
SO beautiful. Can't comprehend people having music off the first time through new zones. Fuck.
Thanks for linking this. Got goosebumps listening to this.
It is pretty awful and has been for a while. You just queue up for stuff nowadays while you afk in a major city, the living world aspect is gone for the most part since you'll just be teleported to instances and what not.
I'm pretty glad I was there when it launched and even before that in the beta. Yeah the itemization was quite poor, you had to read the quest-log and leveling was a grind compared to the streamlined cata version but damn it was a great game. The playerbase has changed so much over the years the vanilla wow would never work anymore.
I still enjoying questing (except in Outlands). I don't mind going at them mostly solo since pretty much every zone I went through once Cata launched (which was the last time I leveled up a character) had its own story and everything has been made pretty painless and way more convenient by Blizzard.
And I dig Battlegrounds, so being able to level up some with those is cool. Whenever I'm sick of quests, I would just jump in there with some friends for a few games.
But I won't disagree that a lot of the magic from being out in the world and exploring/questing in vanilla WoW is long gone. Just a way different game today, and like you mentioned a different player base.
And trying to get to Stormwind with my friends and my brother at like level 3 for some reason, all while being chased by mobs and random Horde. And then limping into the massive front gates, but being greeted with this when we finally made it. Glorious.
[/intenseWoWnostalgia]
And I dig Battlegrounds, so being able to level up some with those is cool. Whenever I'm sick of quests, I would just jump in there with some friends for a few games.
But I won't disagree that a lot of the magic from being out in the world and exploring/questing in vanilla WoW is long gone. Just a way different game today, and like you mentioned a different player base.
Shit man...I still remember my first character, human warrior, questing in Elwynn. Such great music.
And trying to get to Stormwind with my friends and my brother at like level 3 for some reason, all while being chased by mobs and random Horde. And then limping into the massive front gates, but being greeted with this when we finally made it. Glorious.
[/intenseWoWnostalgia]
No clue. To be honest though, I don't think even Blizzard anticipated what would happen to the game either though. It's a one-time, freak of nature occurrence with literally all the right elements being there at exactly the right time.
Quite literally the perfect storm. Not to mention the staggering amount of content, updates, and ease of play with friends. They've got the game down to a science now.
Quite literally the perfect storm. Not to mention the staggering amount of content, updates, and ease of play with friends. They've got the game down to a science now.
Fudgepuppy
Banned
I think there is a limit to how long you can play a game, no matter how good it is.
WoWs dropping userbase might just be because many old users looked at their playtime and felt it was too much.
8 years, that amounts to a lot of play-time.
Also, MMO-fatigue.
WoWs dropping userbase might just be because many old users looked at their playtime and felt it was too much.
8 years, that amounts to a lot of play-time.
Also, MMO-fatigue.
FieryBalrog
Member
People say this about many of Blizzard's games
Starcraft - the perfect storm to take over Korea
Diablo - the perfect storm to take over RPGs
WoW- the perfect storm to take over MMOs
It ain't just perfect storms at this point. They can't always recapture the PERFECT storm, but even when they don't quite get there, they get mighty close (SC2)
It wasn't first.
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