When I was younger I had the opportunity to watch my brother and his friends play Advance Dungeons & Dragons almost every weekend. Now they wouldn't let me play because I would do things like cast magic missile at my companions and generally ruined everyone's game. Most of my role playing memories didn't take place till I was an adult. Battletech and Mechwarrior on the tabletop and Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale on the PC. As good as the last 2 were they could never compare to the first 2 when you factor in the "Playing with Friends" nature of tabletop gaming. Computer RPGS needed a shot in the arm. The Diablo series from Blizzard was a major step in the right direction. Fun, simple gameplay merged with an amazing multiplayer and loot system that, to this day, has only been bested by another Blizzard game. Of course I'm talking about World of Warcraft (WOW).
When it comes to talking to people about were WOW fits in the massively multiplayer online role playing games (MMORPG) genre I usually take this approach. Ultima Online was first, Everquest set the standard, and World of Warcraft is the most successful. These 3 game represent the father, the son, and the holy spirit of MMORPG's. This article is about WOW and its hold over people, let dig into the game and see why this game is so popular.
WOW has its own holy trinity that describes its success. First there is story, second is loot, and third is the endgame. If you open the World of Warcraft manual you will find the last 42 pages dedicated to the back story of the Warcraft universe. This has been the case in every Warcraft release from Orcs & Humans to The Frozen Throne. The RTS Warcraft series is notable here because of certain monuments in WOW namely the memorial to the orc Grom Hellscream are directly related to events that took place in Warcraft 3. To someone who grew up playing these games that is special. It seems that the story writers at Blizzard Entertainment has an important tale to tell. Hundreds of thousands line of text permeate the whole world. Long deep quest lines form the backbone of a system of storytelling. In fact I would venture to say that World of Warcraft has more in common with an old school adventure game that typical MMORPG's. Just because WOW has an epic history dosen't mean people care about it. Take for instance my failed attempt at starting a guild named "Doomhammers Legacy". I was a level 55 orc shaman at that time and I thought the name rang true to the past Warcraft games and the story of Orgrim Doomhammer. Anyone I asked to join would ask me who is Doomhammer? And what is his legacy? I tried to explain but to no avail. Needless to say the guild didn't get formed but my wife whose in the guild "Walmart Security" has many members who are happy with their guild name. I just wanted to show respect to the storyline that birthed the game we all play.
An awesome storyline and quest system means nothing if there wasn't any cool loot to go with it. The stuff you get from mob drops or quest rewards vary wildly depending on your level. This is the one lesson Blizzard took from Diablo. Just when you are starting to get bored with the whole process you get a cool rare piece of armor or a new staff with magical resistances on it. It's the carrot on a stick and we're the mule. Don't feel like doing quests? Just PVP then. You'll get cool rewards and items for that. I can't stress the importance of this. Tiered Dungeon Sets, Arena sets, and Raid sets are the Holy Grail of loot. You have to work hard play well with other members of your guild and know how to play your class to get this stuff. There are other kinds of loot that make this game fun but they are in no way useful to your character. I'm talking about achievements.Achievements deserve their own paragraph because this reason over any other is the reason "I" still play WOW. Achievements are little awards you get for completing certain task like opening up all of your map in a given zone or completing a number of quests. Usually any quest or gaming I do is associated with a certain achievement. There is another type of achievement called Feat of Strength and that is things like received a special pet celebrating WOW's 4 year anniversary. My special Feats of Strength are owning both Burning Crusade and Litch King Collectors Editions. Trust me, if I had an extra $2,000 lying around I would also have the original World of Warcraft Collectors Edition on my list.
The final piece of the puzzle in World of Warcraft's success is its toughest challenge, and one that I haven't experienced yet. That is the "end game". The end game is what you do when you've maxed out your characters level and talents. Raiding Horde or Alliance territory is always fun. PVP battlegrounds and arena at the top level is also a challenging experience. Running "Heroic Dungeons" also can provide much in the way of rewarding the top level players. But even after that content will in time get stale. Luckily Blizzard releases content updates on a regular basis. the 3.2 patch should be going up shortly. This adds a new "Instance" and a slew of tweaks to a already rock solid formula.
This article is more geared as simple overview of why I like World of Warcraft. There are many other players of "other" MMO's in the world that say that World of Warcraft dose not deserve its stasis as a top tier MMO because its not " hardcore" enough. To those people I would ask, What is hardcore? If by hardcore you mean unintuitive controls, camera, and game play. Then the majority of mmos are "hardcore". I on the other hand take the Pacman approach in viewing WOW's hardcore nature. Pacman is an easy game. You play it because its easy. But how many people have ever beaten it. Few to be sure. Why? Because it is hardcore. WOW is in the same boat. In my humble opinion simplicity is the most hardcore element of gaming. Just something to ponder while your waiting for your healer to arrive so you can run Molten Core.
If anyone on the Fizzcrank server wants to help form a guild called "Doomhammers Legacy" give Garim a shout out there. Thanks.
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