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World Of Warcraft Crushing PC Game Industry?
simoniker writes "Age of Empires co-creator and Iron Lore co-founder Brian Sullivan has been discussing his studio's first game, Titan Quest, but along the way has openly wondered whether World Of Warcraft's success is part of the reason for the decline of the PC retail game market. Sullivan commented: 'For retail PC games, I think the biggest problem is World of Warcraft... It is such a compelling MMO game that it sucks up a lot of money and time that would normally be spent on other retail PC games.' Does WoW's growth actually mean that PC games in other non-MMO genres may sell fewer copies?"
competition (countable and uncountable; plural competitions)
1. (uncountable) the action of competing
The competition for this job is strong.
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I was going to RTFA, but I have a wow raid in a few minutes, so like, whatever.
I've barely had time for a life, let alone other video games. That reminds me, guess I'd better cancel that XBox Live account so I can funnel the subscription fee into next month's WOW fee....
-- I'm not a pessimist, I'm a realist. It's not my fault that life sucks so much. --
A girl that plays video games? Impossible!!! *runs and hides*
A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing.
I was swept up into the WoW phenomenon for about a year, but once I hit 60 I learned that the end game wasn't really my thing.
I'm impressed you were playing video games at 59. It gives me one more thing to look forward to when I get old.
-Charles
Learning HOW to think is more important than learning WHAT to think.
You say that as if people only have time to smoke crack. I personally have never smoked it so I'm not sure what it is like, but I've certainly tried multiple drugs during a week before. Smoking hash one day and mary jane another or even crystal meth another. Why does crack have to be described like it is some massive life-sucking force that drains all your resources, time, and energy? I think people are overreacting just a bit.. it's just a drug.
I'm too busy playing Civilization 4 to play WoW!
The Blaster Master Fighting for Truth, Justice, and Evil Pie since 1979
The GP isn't a girl. "Rebecca" is just the name of his female WoW character.
1/ Rip off Diablo 2
2/ ?
3/ No profit
4/ Blame MMO by same company
Blessed are the 1337, for they shall pwn the earth.
While I'm not a huge player of WoW; I do play that /other/ MMO.
The one that takes place in that huge room with the blue ceiling? Man, the lighting effects in that one are so grating, and it's filled with gold-farmers who aren't willing to socialize.
If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
successful company I founded two years ago (second largest in the country)
Ah, so you live on Sealand?
Random and weird software I've written.
learn2play kthxbye
Sincerely, Blizzard
A lot of people seem to think playing WoW a lot is a waste of time, but you know what's worse? Arguing on /. about whether playing WoW a lot is a waste of time.
I will say, first off, I have a somewhat bitter and biased view towards MMOs - or at least their companies and dev teams. I love them to death, but I am also a since-launch Star Wars Galaxies veteran, and, well, you get my drift.
Now, I play World of Warcraft. I wouldn't have picked it at all, save the fact that many of my friends and boyfriend migrated there before SWG's demise. While I still regard the game to be the inspiration for SWG's "enhancements" (and wouldn't play it should I not know anyone who is already established on it) it is, without a doubt, a very well done game. This is why it draws millions of people to play it. While it lacks the 'sandbox' feel of galaxies and, from what I hear, EVE online, it is a solid game which can be both obsessed over or played casually. People complain about the lack of things to do after end-game, and the 'long grind' in WoW, but I can't see why. Yes, it is often just a quest to get the shiniest item and sitting around watching those Night Elf girls dance while waiting for a raid, but that's why it should be played in moderation, the way I look at it. Those who devote some time away from Azeroth can draw other people in from real life, people who they probably would have a better time playing with, and still interact with in real life.
But that's just my experience. As far as WoW killing the market - well, just make a better game. It's called competition. No amount of whining is going to make Blizzard pity you and release crappy content.
If you train your skills for a while and join a good corp in 0.0, you can make ISK quick ratting with other people. Once you can afford a BS, you can make ISK quick. I've made over 100 Mil in a day ratting in 0.0 with no faction or officer spawns. Regardless, even a one day old player can be a decent tackler in a good PVP corp. Brand new miners are staples of many Empire mining corps. It takes very little ISK and skills to fly a hauler. While I'd take PVP over those any day of the week, I know many people who are quite content in those roles.
Someone save me from this sanity.
I can't play Titan's quest for more than 15 minutes without the game crashing. But I'm sure that's not contributing to the lack of sales...
You can get 15 minutes of fame, but you can go down in history for infamy.