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World of Warcraft Launches
The last major MMOG launch of the year hits retail stores today. World of Warcraft finally goes live after years of debate, development, and a more than six month Beta test. The usual suspects have details on the game, with Gamespot already having details on upcoming content and Gamespy laying out personal experiences from the test and interviews with the developers.
I got the opportunity to play WoW in the open beta. I've played many MMOs at least to some degree so I know the genre well. In the case of EQ, I played for 3.5 years.
After playing several different race/class combinations in WoW, I came to the conclusion that it's a completely derivitive work in every way but the artistry of the graphics. There is nothing new in this game. Everything I did in EQ 5 years ago is pretty much replicated in some fashion in WoW. Sure, skills are handled differently but not in any new or interesting way that hasn't been done before. There's tons of quests but all the ones I've seen were fedex style or gofer style quests. The game plays well and it functioned pretty flawlessly for the limited amount of time the open beta ran. My only complaint was that it was a bit laggy.
Presuming I didn't care it was completely derivitive and bereft of any real creativity, it has one glaring flaw: at least for the time being, you can only join servers that are in the region you live in. Apparently this was done for performance reasons. I guess Blizzard doesn't care that guilds from other MMOs might be interested in switching to WoW and that those guilds might be composed of people from all over the country or even the world. Frankly, this is the stupidest thing I've ever heard of being done in an MMO. It immediately writes the game off for thousands of people.
Maybe I expected more of Blizzard than a well executed rehash of what's already been done many times before but I've always liked Blizzard games...until now. Apparently, the people who made Blizzard great are the ones who left the company or perhaps they lost their soul when they sold out to a large multinational conglomerate. Either way it's really sad.
Any man who afflicts the human race with ideas must be prepared to see them misunderstood. -- H. L. Mencken
No you gotta take out $50 to buy it (no idea why) PLUS $15 so you can play it. Which makes it about a $35 'savings'. Not to mention every month there is at LEAST 1 new expansion you'll have to buy to be able to compete with everyone, so that's another $30 - $40. Now you're in the hole. Not only that, but you've spent so damn much money on it, you figure you better use every waking hour you have on it, and even some hours you should be sleeping or possibly socializing. Welcome to the world of a sheeple.
You've been so suckered by the game company that you're little more than a virtual crack addict, throwing money at them constantly to keep your virtual crack in good supply. Notice how it doesn't start out like that, but YOU talk yourself into becoming that way, with a little nudge from the game company...
Its a bit scary if you ask me.
You're nothing; like me.
"Why can MSFT pull off XBox Live for 50 bucks a year, but the MMOG guys can't do it for much less than 20 bucks a month?
XBL no doubt sucks more bandwidth and does a shitload of backend work."
Xbox Live has very few dedicated servers. Most of what Live does is matchmaking (the Xboxes themselves host the games).
MMORPGs need to have a ton of dedicated servers, run by a full-time networking team, on ALL the time. When servers are down on an MMORPG, there's no game, period.
A long time, in this instance, means 30 days. Each time I pay, I get to play for 30 days. So if I still want to play after a couple of years, I'll have paid $360 for a game that is only good for 30 days.
Equals about 2.5 meals at McDonalds
Yeah, right. Like I'd do that in the first place.
2 trips to the movies
Four bucks. In a real theater. With comfortable seats. Dumpster-O-Popcorn, a buck fifty.
Of course DVD "rentals" are "free".
I saved nice amounts of money on single player games. I used to buy one or two single player games a month, now, not one.
I found a few games five or six years ago that entertainingly offer infinite replay value and have strong communities that keep them up to date. One of them supports internet play with a direct connection so I'm not even dependant on company servers for that one.
I don't have time to buy new games. I'm too busy having fun.
Look, if it's worth it to you I'm not going to gainsay that. It's your money. I honestly don't care if you burn it and I'm not trying to say that you should spend your money as I spend mine. Spend it as you will, but there are those of us who can stretch a dollar a long, long way, and have just as much, or even more fun out of it.
It may look "cheap as it gets" to you, but that doesn't stop it from looking damned expensive to us, because it actually gets a damned sight cheaper.
KFG
The risks for creating an MMO are gigantic compared
It's not as "gigantic" a risk as you state. No company will take a "gigantic" risk.
Also, considering Blizzard past history of good quality games, it's very doubtful that marketers would ever consider WOW a "risk" (because Blizzard does make incredibly good games ALL the time.)
you're talking about companies spending 10 - 20 million dollars to develop the thing
Well..your argument is not good enough, Half-life2 costed 40M$ and the retail price is roughly the same as WOW, with no other extra cost. Let's face it: Blizzard did a great business move since- They have a player base that WILL buy WOW no matter the cost
- They WILL be successful since they always are because this company is serious about creating good quality stuff and is known for that
- They already had the expertise in-house to create WOW
So basically, they are going to make more profit then ever just by capitalizing on their experience.And guys, I hate business managers, but THAT is a business that is run by clever people!
For 15 dollars, a giant troll hand better come out of my DVD rom drive and jack me off.
1) Your analysis is based on bad assumptions so your result is way off. 2) You're a sick bastard for fucking a horse.
To whom it may concern:
There were several posts and FAQ answers concerning billing and
payment methods for WoW. PayPal was one of the options often
mentioned, along with prepaid game cards, and credit cards. With no
prepaid game cards available until the third of December, and PayPal
NOT being an option at the time of this email- I am a naturally
frustrated customer. Blizzard has always been very fair corporation to
me, and I would appreciate a non-misleading update on the availability
of alternative billing methods. I realize that credit cards are in
Blizzard's best interest, but repeatedly stating that alternative
methods for payment would be available, but not come through on that
promise, is frustrating to me as not only an avid Blizzard fan, and as
a consumer. Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
-William A. Morrison
HwaguyGmail.com [@ removed]
(XXX) XXX-XXXX [phone # removed]
Why not just buy Warcraft III/TFT for $50, and let the fans make up mods for free? Why not, gasp, play it online and not pay a monthly fee?
When some company makes a MMORPG without a monthly fee, I'll bite. Until then, there's weeks where I go without gaming and have a life.
-- Political fascism requires a Fuhrer.
While WoW does look a very, very, nice game, I will not be able to play it when it hit the stores over here in England, as I quite simply can't afford it. I don't like the pay-to-play idea; I don't like pure MMORPGs without the option to play them single player; and I certainly don't like the way that MMORPGs monthly fees have gone up in a fashion directly proportional to the number of polygons and textures the game uses.
I don't like pay-to-play as I kind of think it's equivalent to haliburton overcharging the Iraqi's for their own oil- you've already bought a box for £60 (Or $60, but I'm willing to bet the numbers will be the same when it comes out over here); and while I perfectly understand that bandwidth is not cheap, if Google can make some insane profit out of text-based advertising, would it really be to hard for Blizard to put a text based add - or full banner possibly - in the lobby/lounge/insert name here. The £60 could cover production of the game and infrastructure, the ads could pay their server's ISP fees, and replace the switches that blow out under the strain.
I don't like MMORPGs personally because I have an addictive personality, and spend all my waking hours infront of my boxes of radiation anyway; and I also don't like the fact that they greatly discriminate against those with higher pings or no bandwidth. What happens if a 56k user (Not by choice, like I've been up till recently) gets disconnected when saving, or moving somewhere on a server? What happens if you end up killing your character via lag? And what happens in 3 years time when WoW is £5.99 in a bargin bin somewhere, and you're the only character online in the whole of fâerun/insert fantasy world here?
I much prefer the NWN system of multiplayer; free, and a great and well thought-out addition to a great game. It has the flexibility of WoW (Okay, not in-game and you have to write modules on the Evil OS (©), but hey) as well as a cracking, long single player.
Would it really be so hard for blizzard to have written a single player mode for WoW; have a modular ad-on system, or at the very least give the option of playing offline, with the same stock NPCs present that we all know are in the online game?
My UID is prime. Is yours?
I read through this thread and I dont think I saw anything regarding this but how about a pay per play system? Pay 15 bucks to start and that would get you 30 days. To make it simple just charge 50 cents if you sign on 'that' day. So for me if I only play 3 days a week. Im only playing 6 bucks a month. I dont think this would take away from profits too much but would bring in many many more people. What do you think?
Am i the only person in the entire world who thinks that EQ2 blows WoW completely out of the water?
Initially i wasn't even that bothered about EQ2 and went for the open beta on WoW. After 3 days of playing it i felt something last felt when i was playing City of Heroes: Complete Boredom.
I normally play mmo's with a friend but as i was a troll and he was a dwarf we started miles away with no chance of meeting up until we were both much higher levels. Also the death process and running around as a spirit annoyed the hell out of me. If you had died trying to kill that uber boss you had to run back to find your body, then run back to your camp to get your equipment mended, then run back to the boss, fight for 5 seconds and die, repeat...
Maybe i didn't explore the game properly but it just didn't hold my immediate attention like i wanted it to.
Everquest 2 on the other hand, i enjoyed right from the start. The graphics have the be the best i've ever seen on an MMO. Whereas WoW was cartoony and bright EQ2's are detailed and dark. When you fought mob's who were clearly giving you an old-school beating you actually stood a good chance of surviving when you ran away.
Also you really don't need a hefty machine to run it like people are saying, it worked fine on my second machine which is a gut-busting 1.2GHz.
The crafting is a complete game in itself for those people (like myself) who like to make everything. The fact that you can lvl and branch out as an artisan seperate to your fighting profession just doubles the fun. If you get bored of running around fighting npc's, you can go craft yourself some new armour/spells/weapons/etc... And you don't need to rely on ANYONE to be able to do it.
Obviously i am but one person but if anyone asked my opinion i would heartily recommend EQ2 over WoW for a more fulfilling MMO experience.
One more thing that makes EQ2 a richer experience: npc's with VOICES!!! It's amazing how much difference that actually makes...