What is it about pixels on a screen that turn lives upside down? What is the magic that the wizards at Blizzard (oooh.. that rhymed) cast on 12 million Americans to turn an otherwise inconspicuous video game into a life changing event on a nightly basis?
Like many of you, I have found myself hooked on the euphoria that is World of Warcraft. As I recently began leveling to catch up to my guild (Cake or Death) I started contemplating the reason behind why this game has turned so many into gaming addicts.
Let’s take a step back into reality for a moment. Consider the following scenario:
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You enter the office. There is a note on your desk from your boss to see her when you get situated. Once you have eaten your bagel and glugged down the remainder of your health boosting coffee, you head into your bosses office to see what’s up. She smiles at you and hands you a stack of paperwork. “Take these to Mr. Delaney in accounting and then bring me back the results from last weeks audit”.
Ok, not too difficult - right? Well, Mr. Delaney happens to work three floors down in the depths of the office. So, you begin your quest to find Mr. Delaney. On your way down to the pit of despair … you run into a co-worker. Let’s call him Max. Max wants you to help him collate an important report that is due by 2PM that day. You like Max and you REALLY want to help but - what’s in it for you? He offers you lunch as a reward. Hm. Lunch or your boss’s praise (and perhaps bonus come Christmas time). You weigh your options and decide to come back to help Max later.
As you continue your quest to Mr. Delaney, you run into Mr. Pete, Ms. Kramer, Mr. Jones, Tasha, Kim and Regina (who all want to talk to you about their dates last night), The VP of Creative who has been meaning to talk to you, Paul, Gerry, Mr Chince and a maintance worker who is waving a mop in your face and shouting in some foreign language that you have never heard before.
By the time you get to the elevator you are loaded up with so much information you forgot what your initial quest was to begin with. Oh, and now you have a run in your stockings and your hair is mussed up. Looks like you’re going to have to stop at a bathroom to get that fixed before trying to remember what the whole point of the elevator was. What were these papers again!?
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So, now that you are all thoroughly frustrated I come to the reason behind this story. Playing WoW, on many days, is like a busy day at the office. I’m sure none of us were too keen on running errands for our bosses or parents and I’m pretty sure most of us don’t go out and kill harmless animals if told.
Then what is it about this virtual world that gets us so excited to do mundane tasks in exchange for virtual loot!
Blizzard has always been amazing at creating rewards that excite it’s players. From +20 frost helms to maces that will kill in one hit, it is usually the dangling carrot of these items that keeps the interest in such games fresh. On top of the rewards, it is also the consistent tweaking and upgrading of the worlds around us, the social aspect of being among friends and the genius of having a game with no true end game.
I think, for me, it comes down to the achievement aspect of the game. Having a list of quests to accomplish and watching that level bar rise upon each completion is a sense of accomplishment that I get from WoW. Feeling like I’m part of a family and something bigger than myself (although simply a game) is something that I feel reaches out to the core of many people and pulls us into this ever changing world.
Love it or hate it, the WORLD of WoW is one that has changed the landscape of gaming forever.
What are your thoughts on this game? Why do you or don’t you WoW and where do you see gaming (such as this) going in the future!
Once you go WoW…. is there room for anything else!?
March 4th, 2008 at 8:16 pm
I certainly love WoW, though in my opinion EQ2 is just as solid a game, if not more so. However, WoW is lower-end system friendlier, so I always have to resort to it as my first choice when booting up an MMGS.
I honestly can’t explain why people get addicted to MMGSs so badly. I love them, they are my favorite genre, but I can just as easily cancel for three months as I can stay in the game. However, the difference for me is that I am an online soloist.
I constantly hear the flawed argument that if I want to play solo, “just go play Oblivion”. The problem is that what I want out of a game like WoW is to be able to make things and sell them to other players (ruined by the power players/economy issues currently), or just be wandering along in the wilds and save a person inadvertently, then march along on my happy hero way.
What I *don’t* want is having people try to “force-group” with me (send a request without asking first- because then I have to log out, lie or come off like a mean person) or, when I do group “b tlkng lke ths, kk?” Every time I’ve grouped in an online game, it’s always about “go, go go!” and “more! more! more!” This is simply not how I play games. For instance- I’m genuinely surprised when I hit my next level- I never pay attention! Therefore, I’ve never experienced “level grinding” or “treadmilling”- those are states of mind, period. Every time I’ve grouped, people have A.) driven me crazy with terrible language skills, and YES that is important B.) rushed, rushed rushed! Half the time I’m start to loot something, or eat or drink my party-member is off attacking 7 more things, as if being in a group of two or three makes you invincible. These, by the way, are the same people who swear when your group (or more often just them) die, and pout until they quit.
As to loot, I can’t participate in that conversation. Since everything I have on me is either made or looted solo (I don’t accept ANYTHING free), I have what 99 percent of the players would consider crappy stuff. What I have fits the spirit of the game design, and doesn’t unbalance and ruin the game for others like twinks do, and it’s very rewarding- since I earned it all, even if it is “terrible”.
Of course, being a soloist means I’ve only been in like, two instances in my WoW life. (Deadmines and I think I ran through Gnomeregan once…)
The game is definitely fun and I can see where people get addicted- but I truly keep waiting for that “perfect” MMGS- where twinking is non-existant, soloists are treated on even par with social players, and actions are taken to keep immersion high- so you’re not running past Mr. Metallica in a fantasy world and listening to him jabber on about smoking pot and moshing. Some of us, while not role players, ARE trying to escape from reality!
I do think the MMGS genre is only going to continue to evolve and grow. After all, we’re only in its infancy… and as more people have faster cable connections, and the companies have better resources and knowledge to code more powerful engines with… well, some people say nothing will ever match WoW’s level of success.
I say give it a few more years, and something will come along that pulls in twice what WoW does.
March 4th, 2008 at 9:41 pm
Every time I’ve grouped, people have A.) driven me crazy with terrible language skills, and YES that is important B.) rushed, rushed rushed! Half the time I’m start to loot something, or eat or drink my party-member is off attacking 7 more things, as if being in a group of two or three makes you invincible. These, by the way, are the same people who swear when your group (or more often just them) die, and pout until they quit.
**Quoted for the M-Fing truth. and times 17,000 if it’s WC.
March 5th, 2008 at 9:48 am
CAKE OR DEATH?!
Cake, please!
I’m one of the few, the lucky WoW players who have narrowly escaped complete addiction. I played for a few months solid, every single day, and felt that same sort of satisfaction that you mentioned, Aktrez. But then I realized I was getting out of plans with friends and family to play, and, though I don’t mean to sound shallow, the true cincher was when I realized I had gained 8 pounds. It made me feel like I was wasting my life away, that I had grown sluggish and out of tune, and made me question what I was /actually/ accomplishing.
So I quit! I think I’m better for it.
March 5th, 2008 at 8:22 pm
I played WoW at one point. I got to 70, got epic’d out and had most of the bells and whistles. But then Blizzard came out with the next set, and I just didn’t find it as fun. Doing the same thing over and over, in the same way. Because it’s the “most efficient” just didn’t hold my interest any more. I had a great guild that made raiding very worthwhile, but I just didn’t have the time to put into it in one sitting. So I looked more seriously into pvp, and I just saw a sort of job. You were always acquiring more honor, or arena points. Just so you could a better item, with +1 more agi and +2 damage.
But it that wasn’t really the reason I quit. I quit because the game became too monotonous in my eyes. It’s true that nothing really changed all that much from lvl 1 - lvl 70, but they had enough customization and variety that you don’t really mind how you are doing just about the same thing with every 4th or 5th quest.
Also I might have just been on a bad server for the alliance, but in bg’s we had no confidence what-so-ever, we always had the attitude that we would lose. That the bg’s were set up so that the horde had the advantage. With this kind of thinking I don’t see how we could win.
But it was a good game while it lasted, I guess I just needed more friends to socialize with or something.
May 29th, 2009 at 1:13 pm
I liked this read! I can relate to 90% of it, if I was wearing stocking the world would have some issues. Keep up the good work! - Def
May 29th, 2009 at 1:15 pm
WoW has definitely made a huge impact on the gaming world there is no denying. As a former WoW player, I can understand the game’s appeal.
The main flaw of this game is what i like to call, the game of “Catch Up”.
Let’s say you and a friend decide to fire up WoW and quest together. One day you have to work, while the friend doesn’t, and his impatience leads him to quest without you. He now has more gold, equipment, and experience the next time you return.
It’s this part of the game that led me to quit, I just do not have the time to go through a dungeon multiple times for one piece of armor that will be inferior in a matter of weeks with a new patch. It is a never ending game…
This is why I quit and stick to console games, that maintain replay value in a similar way. There is no catching up on Gears of War…only headshots
May 29th, 2009 at 2:03 pm
There is room for other stuff, though it can be hard to find it For me especially
There are some good things about the game, and some incredibly horrible ones, mostly relating to other people (that disrespect other gamers)
As in the above post many on my server felt the bgs were weighted against them (horde always lost, alliance always won) the net effect was a lack of confidence and as stated above I also had a hard time believing we could win if people took that attitude. That negativity has crept into our raiding, and into almost every aspect of the game and it’s an extremely hard thing to keep at bay too
WoW has taught me a lot about people, not all of it good
People *can* come together and do extremely well but sometimes they can also let the wrong things get in the way and blind them to what’s good in a game
Right now I am struggling with this kind of issue in WoW in my own guild, I’m trying to fight off the same kind of negativity that undermines the battlegrounds in relation to our raids - it’s an extremely hard fight - and it feels like the people who are hopeful are losing
Whats worse, losing to people who are using an approach that’s inherently prejudiced against some people’s dedication and effort in how they’re evaluated
So on the one hand the accomplishment side has a lot of positives but on the other there is a dark side to WoW and the way some people approach it that isn’t healthy, or constructive or positive - which saddens me, and frustrates me
Having seen both the dark and light side of WoW and how people interact with the game, I much prefer the more positive and healthy approach to it, that builds teamwork and camarderie - that’s an excellent approach with a lot of positives worth being a part of. Extremely hard to maintain positivity in the game but a lot of fun when it can be kept light