NEWS: In the World of Warcraft ...

Remember the days when being a video game freak meant that you didn't want to socialize and interact with other people? The single player experience is becoming a thing of the past. We anti-social loners need games to play in our dark apartments too you know.

Wow is way too much like playing with a barbie and begging your mother to buy you the latest outfits for me.

/ignore

Because, diet as you might, you just can't fit into Barbie's dresses?

Ahahaha, good one Chet

So, one person out of 1,000 in the entire world plays WoW? Seems low until you realize that number includes all of India, Africa, Russia, South America....

shame wow sucks compared to eve online.

thats right!! playing eve right now. just nipped on SG while my buddys are docked

This comes up all the time, but I'm curious: What makes Warcraft such a draw? I've never played and I'm only nominally interested in video games. It's an rpg, correct? Basically like Final Fantasy or any other RPG. I'm not attacking, and I have nothing against WOW or anyone who plays it. I just don't get why it is so big.

The game is a treadmill.

With my Swift Zulian Tiger in tow, I am on my way out of World of Warcraft. I had a great time over the year I played, but it's time for me to concentrate on other areas of my life now...

I wonder how much my warlock could sell for on EBay...? Muahuahaha!

Whoo, world of warcraft mentioned on SG.

Tarin
60 Human Warrior
Stormrage

I just wish everyone who plays WoW was first required to play Warcraft 3 and Frozen Throne. I'm sick of all the idiots.

word!

/agree

Well, like any other RPG, the goal is to level and acquire better gear while you complete increasing difficult quests and monsters. Where it gets addictive is that instead of computer controlled party members, your party is composed of real people, and you can help each other. Also, and this is the secret, there is the "bigger dick" contest. The aspect of comparing yourself to other players is truly addictive, even in a light sense. "Look at my bad self with my rare sword and awesome armor." It somehow becomes more consequential when you're looking at other, real people's characters. Especially when one of them bests you, or pulls ahead of you in level. Within hours of the first time you play the game you'll see some Level 60 ride by on his Epic mount, with armor that looks like the gods themselves forged it and a sword about eight feet long that has fucking lightning bolts shooting out of it, and then you look at your Level 4 in his hobo clothes and fucking stick for a weapon, and you're like.... I wanna be that guy.

The main difference between World of Warcraft (like many other Blizzard products) and the others is that the whole package is so well done. It's basically polished perfection in terms of the current form of fantasy MMORPGs. Any future competitor is either going to have to do something new and radical or just not compete in the fantasy turf.

I have friends on there that I've never met in real life who I've become so close to that, when I didn't play for a week or so, they emailed me with their home phone # wanting me to call them and let them know I was okay. And I did.

And to be honest, there's a bit of momentum to it at this point. Everyone plays World of Warcraft because... everyone plays World of Warcraft.

[Edited on Jun 02, 2006 by Keith]

Grrr, all thos eejits playing Warcraft 3 who never played Warcraft 2...

Well... statistically. In actuality, though, it's probobly more like 6:1000 in America, Canada, and Europe, and .025:1000 in the rest of the world.

Also, "noobcaketry"... my new favorite word.

neither do i. at it's core it's a copy of everquest. nothing original really. to it's credit i actually got my character higher in level than i did in EQ before i got bored with the repition. maybe some day they will actually capture what it's like to roleplay and put it into an online game. until then i bristle at the phrase "online RPG" becasue it isn't.

if you treat it as a mechanical process of leveling, acquiring gear, raiding, and such? yes, it's like many RPG's out there.

if you treat as a rich fantasy world that is in some ways more complicated and interesting than tolkien's work, it's one of a kind.