NYT on World of Warcraft

The New York Times (registration required) has a piece on Blizzard's World of Warcraft, discussing the game's popularity and high sales. The article also examines the design processes that go into the game, and the artistic outlook of the WoW live team. From the article: "From around a dark, windowless room, nine young men peered into the unfinished virtual interior of Karazhan, a haunted tower set in a forlorn mountain pass that will open later this year. 'As you can see, the architecture is a little ornate, a little Gothicky,' said Aaron Keller, a 29-year-old designer, gesturing to the 3-D model on the computer screen before him. 'We're thinking about turning these arches into horse heads.'

Comments

Medivh's Tower!

[Godai]

w00t! They must be talking about Medivh's Tower in Deadwind Pass! A lot of us old beta hands have been waiting to get in there. Given Medivh's prominence in the history of Azeroth, it promises to be an absolute bounty of Warcraftian lore!

Plus, Deadwind pass is just spooky. I mean, it just reeks with atmosphere =) How can the big instance in that not be cool?

Re:WoW, EQ2, DAoC, et al vs. IGE.com -- when?

[sgant]

Actually, I see this as the "next big thing" in litigation.

First we had the RIAA going after Napster and Kaaza and others...can still get .mp3's but it's no where near as easy as it was with Napster.

Now we have the MPAA going after P2P bittorrent sites...fight not as easy as it was with Napster...but they're still throwing out lawsuits as fast as their little junior associates can print them off.

Next I belive the game companies are going to not only go after pirated games (already been doing this to mediocre success) but also going after IGE type companies and game cheaters and hackers like on Steam.

Will it work...probably as well as the others have done...meaning making a small dent yet not really doing much.

Re:Graphics

[Chi Hsuan Men]

I did not pre-order this game as I had been completely put off by other MMORPG experiences, specifically DAoC, SWG, FFXI, and a free trial of AO. These games amounted (to me anyway) mindless grinds and felt more like work than anything else.

I was HEARING great things about WoW, but I was convincend that playing these other MMORPGs that I will feel the same way: suckered that I spent $50 on a game I hated after a week or two of playing.

So, I stayed away from WoW. I was hearing great things and was starting to cave in to the temptation of buying a copy. I was on the fence when I hear about the server issues due to player volume. When I finally decided I wanted to get the game, there were no copies to be found anywhere; however, a week later, a couple of copies appeared at Target, and I snapped them up.

For anyone who has played a MMORPG and liked the concept, but hated the gameplay, try WoW. You will love it. The only time I have felt like the game was a grind was because I actually was grinding my skills. The second I was tired of it, I just stopped, did a quest, and I was adventuring again.

This game is so good, it convinced two of my friends who are stalwart enemies of the pay-to-play MMORPG to start paying to play this game. If I was a movie producer, I would call the game a "MMORPG Morrowind", but even better than that.

I have experienced MINOR server outage problems; however, I do have a 9-5 job and have other hobbies besides gaming, so it's possible I don't experience the issues as much as "hardcore" players.

I cannot say enough good things about this game. It is the best RPG I have played since Baldur's Gate II. I never thought the MMORPG could be done this well.