World of warcraft the phenmonen

[gunsmithx]

Ok this isn't about the gameplay or patch notes or how cool shamans are.

 

This is about the fact that wow is an insane phenmonen. I was looking at the npd sales charts for pc games this month and wow has 3 of the top 20 spots 5 YEARS AFTER IT'S RELEASE! The game has around 13 million players right now and thats a number that has never once dipped down in the entire time it's been out. There's nothing like this at all in the history of gaming that I can think of(maybe some causal games?) the only thing I can think of is maybe tetris but even that didn't show up in sales charts for 5 years. Hell one of the meme's to come out of it made it to jeperody. I suppose I'm asking is what to make of this, even the most opimistic person at blizzard can't say they saw anything even remotely like this happening.

 

It also brings the question is wow just some outlier, that when you look at the mmo market you basicly have to remove wow because it's just so far removed from everything else both in terms of total sales and in terms of sheer staying power(eve might also have kept some steady growth but I'll have to look it up, some of the numbers are hard to find). EQ was a power house with what? maybe 500k at the top, eq2 never got that high(L2 in korea did reach 1 million there abouts), every single game that was supposed to be the wow killer have seen a good spike and then a down turn in the months following(all for various reasons many of which come down to testing time and polish) Aion might break this, in this market anyway, because it's had time to be polished in other markets and the next wow expansion isn't till mid next year.

 

You can also see the eb and flow to other mmo's based on it's expansions and patch releases(war lanuched right before lick king and saw a spike and then a dip as people returned to wow.)

 

What do you all think? Can this keep up? are we fools for saying it can't, will blizzard ever be able to get this good again or was it simply the right thing at the right time(or as Christopher Walken says, "You never know what sticks").

[Signal08]

WoW is very widely popular, and will always be. It is the options and variety of things that you can do that make it so. You have questing, battle grounds, instances, PVP between factions in their capital cities, and role play. Then, you have crafting professions and gathering professions, first aid, cooking, and fishing mastery. Then you have achievements, holiday festivities, and rare finds.

 

The world is huge, and getting bigger. New races thrown into the mix, new areas, new abilities... it will always continue to grow. The only thing that WoW will need to ever ravamp, isnt the gameplay, but the graphics (and its not really played for graphics). It set the standard that all new MMO's will have to meet or try to exceed. The new Star Wars one coming out slated next winter, looks great, but people are already saying that it is just WoW with better graphics and space minded play. If the space play lures 'that' many people away, just look for a Universe of Spacecraft of sorts to follow not long behind. I love Bioware, and I love Blizzard, so it will be interesting to see the clash.

 

I am not sure how many will turely leave WoW though. After leveling to 85, and with at least 1 if not 2 or more expansions still to come, I doubt a mass will jump shift after all that has been invested. I think at most, people will become dual players.

 

For now, the focus is WoW. So, what classes have peaked your interests?

 

I like the mage, for the wizard lore aspect alone, I've an 80 mage, but very much dislike his 'cloth kill me now' lack of armour. I will be the first to impliment mage-plate... somehow... I do like that I can cast a 7k crit hit, and I am not even halfway maxed on my spell power... though I only like that when I have a good healer, because clearly I become the main target after I cast a crit.

 

I like hunters, as I really feel like 2 players when you have a hunter. I was a lvl 27 and I killed Mor La'dim, a lvl 30 elite all buh muhself, and by myself I clearly mean with my pet (Black Ravager= awesome in armour and dps)

 

I like druids for their total versatility. Dual spec'ing for a druid is the most effective class to do so. You can tank, dps, or heal. Once my resto druid is of level, I will dual spec to DPS (cat) so I can kill and heal all in one character.

 

I am not that brushed up on shamans, paladins, rogues, or priests. I have dabbled in prot warrior and a warlock, but haven't gone very far with them.

[The NZA]

WoW is very widely popular, and will always be.

 

this is untrue of any entertainment product.

 

WoW has done many things to capture a somewhat bored generation, and has been very receptive to its patrons (some argue to a fault in regards to its addictive properties, but that's always been the goal with MMOs...this one just did the right things to go mainstream where Everquest and others didnt quite manage). there's a lot to be studied from it, but the one thing that stands out for me is Blizzard's efforts, almost contrary to many other PC gaming devs, to make sure it runs even on the crappiest notebook - by keeping requirements low (not saying you've the ideal framerate/textures, but it does work) you vastly expand your clientele here.

 

that said, while i usually respect my elitist PC-gaming brethren, seeing this game & its expansions consistently own the retail charts (thank god for steam) along with the sims expansions...hang your heads in shame, PC kids, and cling to your excellent indie gaming scene.

 

ps just to address argumentum ad populum - it's going to be a sadder day when facebook app Farmville passes WoW's #'s and the media gets to try its hand at defining what makes a "game".

[Signal08]

WoW the style, always will be... you literal bahstahd. Interacting with real players, in a diverse world, will always be popular gaming. WoW itself will fold up shop and grow to something else, but interactive gaming/mmo will always run the boards.