WoW: Could 11 Million People be Wrong?

[Owly]

Just thought i'd voice my opinion....
I'm a WoW player..*audience gasp* and I actually really enjoy it. I acknowledge that it can be a grind in the earlier levels (complete with quests such as 'I happen to have misplaced my ogre toenail clippings *enter adventurers*') but past level 60, things really do start to get interesting. It only takes a week or two (casually gaming, not serious addiction) to get to that point, and after it the quests become more varied, the scenery more beautiful and magnificent (especially in Northrend, the latest expansion).
Perhaps it is a little costly...but for a game that has given me so many hours of enjoyment compared to other 10 hour games....it's worth it.

 

[scotth266]

I find a great deal of newer players grow to hate the game because they don't truly play it. It's a sad fact that majority of the player base is of a higher level, so for a social game many players see it as pure grind, which the game really isn't. There is so much to do in WoW, so many ways to play, that no one person can ever fully explore the full range of options. Between the professions, the many different battlegrounds and arenas for PvP and the utter ocean of PvE content, any person who is given the right opportunities is bound to find something they enjoy. It's a shame, and a problem Blizzard needs to address, that the current low-density population in the starting areas is giving so many players the wrong impression.

On another note, keep in mind when calculating the cost of WoW that the time spent playing is often allocated leisure time, rather than time detracted from more financially profitable options. It may equate to over a grand in terms of man-hours, but it's unlikely those hours would have been spent on work anyway. if not, then WoW is the least of your problems.

If anyone wants to give WoW a shot and see the better side of it, i'm always eager to help never players whenever I can, as well as some other players that frequent the Escapist. You're right to get bored with the game you're playing, but that game probably isn't really WoW.

Unless you're a filthy Alliance.

Joe, you... you're not Alliance?! YOU FILTHY HORDE!

Don't worry, the rest of this post will be pun-free.

I attempted to play WoW a long time back, at the insistance of half my dorm that I was missing one of the most awesome things known to man. Right off the bat, I noticed something: many of the Horde races are unappealing to the eyes. The only class that didn't look OFF to me somehow were the Blood Elves, which were no doubt included into the Horde for that very reason: to attract players who didn't want to play the "ugly" classes.

I thus decided to go as a Alliance Night Elf Druid. While I normally hate Elves in general, the Druid just looked too fun to pass up. I leaped into the game with a friend to find...

The game was BORING, for the exact reasons that you have listed. The start of the game is nothing but "Kill ten X, Bring me five Y" repeated ad naseum, and that drove me away like a spear being poked in my direction. The real issue I draw with WoW is that all the things you mention aren't what the player sees when he starts: all he sees is an endless ocean of grind.

If the game started a little better, perhaps I might have been willing to continue playing, but I gave up after my first day because the game's start just wasn't interesting.

 

[OnTheRocks]

I play WoW, but I have to agree.
For me, it just gets boring after a while. The quests are boring, and there are so few raids when you are low lvl.
I got to lvl 30 recently, but I think I´m gonna take a break. A long one.
I just got Morrowind, so I´ll certainly have a decent game to play meanwhile. That game rules.

Couldn't stand Morrowind for the same reason I didn't like WoW. It offended my sensibilities that I could get killed by rats and had to "put time in" to get to the fun parts.

I have a rule: if a game feels like work, I don't play that game. I have a job, I work enough already.

And yes, 11 Million people can be wrong. Just because something is popular doesn't mean it's good. As evidence: Transformers 2, Crocs, National Socialism.

 

[stabnex]

Only the Alliance players. So yes, about 9 million people are wrong.

 

[Syntax Error]

Snip

Well, that's some list of fun stuff you can do. But what I meant in that post is that, say, if your character specializes in crafting, you could be able to reach the fun stuff by crafting alone. Or there could be some other end game for the crafter types.

And a game need not be excellent in order for it to be addictive. Part of the appeal of MMO's is seeing your character start out naked (not literally) and watch him progress into a cooler, more powerful version, complete with badass armor.

 

[dodo1331]

SWG Pre-NGE was one of the best games I have EVER played, and was better than WoW will ever be. I've played WoW, and I stopped at Level 43 because I got tired of grinding. The grind was never tedious in SWG due to a town called MO, where players would join up in groups and hunt down creature lairs. There were 30-something classes, and each one was unique. Oh, and did I mention you could mix and match skills from ALL OF THOSE PROFESSIONS? Everyone could have their own profession and still be pretty combat viable. Making items was actually FUN.

The only tedious 'grind' there was in that game was becoming Jedi, and that's only because.. Well, you're a jedi. When I saw an Imperial Jedi and a Rebel Jedi fighting it out, it was awesome. Their lightsaber animations were AMAZING. Here's a video showing some of it:


I kind went off on a rant here, but I miss the game a lot. Hoping for SW:TOR to bring that back.

EDIT 1: I don't know how to make it so you can view videos on the Escapist without going to the link, so if there's a problem with that can someone tell me so I can change it?

EDIT 2: Someone told me how to do it. Thanks to them.

 

[Yokai]

Can't argue with this. I think if Blizzard had taken the concept of WoW but developed it as a single-player RPG it would have been a much better game. It could have Diablo II-style multiplayer where a half dozen people play the game at a time. Had they done this, I have a feeling it would have prevented the destruction of the fourth wall, made the quests more interesting, and make class balance a slightly less important issue. Plus, then it could have a real story and would be able to continue the Warcraft storyline with out dragging it into an alley and beating it over the head with a discontinuity stick, then tying it up and leaving it to die. But that's just my opinion.
I wouldn't say 11 million people are "wrong", though, the game does have its merits. I will say that the people who play the game like it's a job, just trying to get to 80 and get the best gear, are wrong. They're not playing the game right and enjoying what little immersiveness it has left.

 

[Merteg]

I played World of Warcraft for about a month and found it to be a HORRIBLE game.

 

[Sevre]

11 million Murlocs you mean. Although I'm fairly sure people will get bored of picking up cheetah livers soon.

 

[NeutralDrow]

No. From what you seem to be asking, 11 million people can't be wrong. If 11 million people plus me find the thing fun, it's not a bad game.

 

[TheFacelessOne]

I agree with this...I don't know what to call it.

I did the trial a few times, but while doing a quest that I've already done three times, I asked the question, "What is the point of this?"

So, I retreated and went back to Guild Wars. I prefer that, honestly. There's less of those "Kill (Insert Monster) and bring me back X number of (Insert Item obtained from that Monster Only)."

Though I will admit WoW is the most in-depth and largest MMO created yet.

 

[la-le-lu-li-lo]

Maybe not wrong, per se, everyone has their own likes & dislikes.

I personally don't get the whole WoW thing. Never appealed to me in the least.

 

[quack35]

What's your point, exactly?

 

[Gotham Soul]

What I was planning on saying has already been aptly said by many people above me.

Really, I don't get the purpose behind your rant. The people who play it will be indifferent towards your opinion, and the people who don't will agree with you. WoW is the giant of the MMORPG industry. For as long as WoW is at the top of the market, nothing will be "better" than it.

Bark at the bigger dog all you want. The effort was superfluous at best.

 

[boholikeu]

Sony is actually trying to address this issue in EQ by making lower levels go faster and opening a server where you start at level 51 instead of level 1. Seems like small things, but if you pulled the faster leveling thing in WoW, higher level players would flip.

The higher level characters would probably flip, but I'm pretty sure that very few of them would cancel their accounts over it. Besides, even if they did the influx of new characters would more than make up for it.

Seriously, I wouldn't be surprised if WoW started offering a "start your character at level 55" option soon.

 

[zlic]

Well it's just the biggest virtual kindergarten in the world. Stuff your kids in WoW and you might have a chance to have *** with your wife Other uses - unlikely...

 

[Mr.Pandah]

I find a great deal of newer players grow to hate the game because they don't truly play it. It's a sad fact that majority of the player base is of a higher level, so for a social game many players see it as pure grind, which the game really isn't. There is so much to do in WoW, so many ways to play, that no one person can ever fully explore the full range of options. Between the professions, the many different battlegrounds and arenas for PvP and the utter ocean of PvE content, any person who is given the right opportunities is bound to find something they enjoy. It's a shame, and a problem Blizzard needs to address, that the current low-density population in the starting areas is giving so many players the wrong impression.

On another note, keep in mind when calculating the cost of WoW that the time spent playing is often allocated leisure time, rather than time detracted from more financially profitable options. It may equate to over a grand in terms of man-hours, but it's unlikely those hours would have been spent on work anyway. if not, then WoW is the least of your problems.

If anyone wants to give WoW a shot and see the better side of it, i'm always eager to help never players whenever I can, as well as some other players that frequent the Escapist. You're right to get bored with the game you're playing, but that game probably isn't really WoW.

Unless you're a filthy Alliance.

So Joe...wanna hit me up with a buddy acount so I can get a rogue to 60 quickly? I've always wanted a rogue...I have an 80 warrior right now on Mal'Ganis, but I'm already bored of it. I want mah rogue!

 

[Jenkins]

I find a great deal of newer players grow to hate the game because they don't truly play it. It's a sad fact that majority of the player base is of a higher level, so for a social game many players see it as pure grind, which the game really isn't. There is so much to do in WoW, so many ways to play, that no one person can ever fully explore the full range of options. Between the professions, the many different battlegrounds and arenas for PvP and the utter ocean of PvE content, any person who is given the right opportunities is bound to find something they enjoy. It's a shame, and a problem Blizzard needs to address, that the current low-density population in the starting areas is giving so many players the wrong impression.

On another note, keep in mind when calculating the cost of WoW that the time spent playing is often allocated leisure time, rather than time detracted from more financially profitable options. It may equate to over a grand in terms of man-hours, but it's unlikely those hours would have been spent on work anyway. if not, then WoW is the least of your problems.

If anyone wants to give WoW a shot and see the better side of it, i'm always eager to help never players whenever I can, as well as some other players that frequent the Escapist. You're right to get bored with the game you're playing, but that game probably isn't really WoW.

Unless you're a filthy Alliance.

iv played since release, gotten 2 80's, a 70, and played alot of my friends 80's

I have done everything I can do in the game until I quit >.>

 

[LaBambaMan]

I never understood non-sandbox MMO's, really. I have no problem with the concept behind the MMORPG, but the execution is something that always irked me.

For example: there's a free MMORPG called "Voyage Century Online", and it's damn good. It takes place during the age of sail and you can do pretty much anything. When I had it on my desktop at my old house I was a member of a player run merchant group, and we actually worked together to get money and buy better ships. We also worked closely with a player run group of mercenaries who would escort our ships if we were making a longer and more dangerous journey(like from Egypt to London). And it was fun, mostly because I never had to worry about the story or being a hero. I could go from port to port buying and selling goods, head back to Athens(my home port) and buy a better boat, or get a better crew, or buy better guns. There wasn't really a feeling of grind, as experience could be earned in more ways than "Go here, kill that". Sure you could go into the wilderness outside the ports and kill animals, but you didn't have to.

The problem with games like WoW is that they only give you one way to gain experience, annoying little fetch quests and the like.

Oh, and one more thing: VCO had no "dance" option so there were less 13 year old idiots dancing in the streets for no reason.

 

[Seydaman]

eh..i think lotro is better