Why is WOW so popular

[Danial]

Right this topic is only really going to contain 3 groups of people, the
"Twitcy FPS fans that don't get why anyone would want to play a pussy elf when you can be David D McStrong guy with his trusty chainsaw gun (a chain saw that fires guns) in Halo Clone number 2213"
"Bitter Everquest/FF11 players that don't seem to understand that some people don't find spending 19 hours with 140 people trying to down a boss 'Fun' and are usually so massively far up there own behind that the are technically Damien Hirst artwork" and
"Psycho crazy WOW fanboys, that will, rarther than simply argue, switch to pointless anger and hate the second anyone dares mention there are other MMOs"


Sadly these 3 block out the normal well argued points from Non MMO/EQ or FF11/WOW players, it always seems to happen.

If you want my opinion, its good marketing mixed with a constant improvable of the game style/world, no real fear of admitting they were wrong and changing accordingly and lastly a wonderful Pratchet sense of humour and fun running though every thing they do.

 

[Amnestic]

Night Elves.

Blood Elves.

Teenage boys.

According to this survey [http://www.nickyee.com/daedalus/archives/001365.php], the average age (as of 2008) is about 28. Not conclusive by any means, I would guess that only Blizzard has that data and even then it relies on people not lying to them but considering the adult:under 18 ratio of my guild, I'd say it's not far off.

 

[Reveras]

Well when I re-rolled my huntard another mate rolled himself a shammy and we are now on the road to succes xD. The game is fun, past lvl 30 when u start to enter heavily populated zones where u can go wreck other players faces. >Horde on Sylvannas, Codebreaker in game name, pm me if u're bored xD<

 

[AllLagNoFrag]

I dont find WoW addictive or appealing BUT, I do see how it can be. I have got steam friends that have played it for 52 hours straight (almost). If you allow it, the game does grow on you and you inevitably become addicted to it. Why? Because it is fun.

Yes, I do realise I am pretty much saying what others have in front but, Im trying to state that I do not find it addictive but, can see how it can be.

 

[pSY'oniK]

I, as a person who has enjoyed a large variety of MMO's during the years but who still likes the challenge of a 1v1 Warcraft 3 ladder match (and Starcraft 2 nowadays), can say it's fun. I quested and raided my char to 70 back in the day (WotLK wasn't out yet) and can safely say I had lots of fun playing it. It's not getting the lvl ups, it's not grinding to get your epic gear but more of how you get there and what you do in one of the largest worlds ever created in gaming. All of this might sound like the stuff blizz is feeding everyone in their adds but that is because it's all true. Fun ain't really there in the first few levels where players are still trying to get the hang of things but believe me, it's all there and a lot more. As earlier stated, I myself ain't a big fan of MMO's and WoW doesn't bring anything world changing new to the genre but it polishes and brings all other elements to it's prime form. Try it for a month or so with a couple of friends and you'll know what I mean.

 

[Amnestic]

Well when I re-rolled my huntard another mate rolled himself a shammy and we are now on the road to succes xD. The game is fun, past lvl 30 when u start to enter heavily populated zones where u can go wreck other players faces. >Horde on Sylvannas, Codebreaker in game name, pm me if u're bored xD<

Might want to note whether you're EU or NA as well.

/Ex-player
//Aggramar EU for life.

 

[Reveras]

Eu, ex-Aggramar and Ravenholdt player, now Sylvannas because we wanted a new start and I never played a hunter.

 

[AnnihilaSean]

Well, think about how long you'll play your average game and how much you spend on it. For example, I bought AC2 for £40, played it for 2 weeks, never looked at it again. Then I had to spend another £40 on something else. So really, the £10 a month for WoW isn't that much.

 

[Doc Theta Sigma]

I'll have been playing for a year next week... And I really do enjoy it. A few of my close friends play it, we raid together and such. Then again I'm on Argent Dawn, a roleplay server so that's an extra thing for me to do.

 

[Amnestic]

Well, think about how long you'll play your average game and how much you spend on it. For example, I bought AC2 for £40, played it for 2 weeks, never looked at it again. Then I had to spend another £40 on something else. So really, the £10 a month for WoW isn't that much.

£8.99/month
£25.17/3 months (£8.39/month)
£46.14/6 months (£7.69/month)

I think game time cards are variably priced depending on where you buy them, so I can't give an estimate on that.

 

[Danial]

Well, think about how long you'll play your average game and how much you spend on it. For example, I bought AC2 for £40, played it for 2 weeks, never looked at it again. Then I had to spend another £40 on something else. So really, the £10 a month for WoW isn't that much.

£8.99/month
£25.17/3 months (£8.39/month)
£46.14/6 months (£7.69/month)

I think game time cards are variably priced depending on where you buy them, so I can't give an estimate on that.

You can usualy shop around for the cards and find some quite cheap, I mannaged a £12 2 month card once.

 

[Hgame]

Blizzard digitised heroin, nuff said

 

[Grady]

World of Warcraft was the first MMO I ever played that didn't penalize you 5 hours of grinding, tedious work every time you make a minor mistake and die. After that it just kinda stuck with me.

 

[Ghostkai]

Because its fun?

Thread over. Nothing more needs to be said.

Yup, gg guys... gg.

It's fun guys, might not be your idea of fun, but that's what it is, that's why it works, that's why it's popular.

 

[Evil Earlgrey]

It is so simple that it hurts me to answer this question.
WoW satisfies a specific demand in an extremely well designed way. People who have that specific demand are very very happy with it. People who dont have it find it boring.
As you find it boring you might consider yourself not the average grind-happy-level-up-addicted-gotta-get-the-next-reward-hungry-gamer. But many people are and that is why WoW is the dominating (dark) force in the MMORPG market.

But even if you dont like those kinds of games WoW is interesting just because it is so perfectly well designed. If you work in the gameindustry, especially in gamedesign (like myself), then WoW is a pure bible of knowledge on how to make it better than 98% of the other games out there. I really starts with the simplest things like how much better it is to click a button to cast a spell in WoW compared to almost any other MMORPG. I could go on for hours on how well it is designed. Of course it is not perfect. There are quite a few flaws. But compared to everything else it is lightyears ahead.