World of Warcraft fans/players, why is it so popular/addicti

Thu Feb 14, 2008 3:47 am

Deltron

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I'm having this discussion on another board and with some friends and I thought I'd ask some of my fellow Ace Attorney'ers too. Anyway, what we're discussing is how and why WoW became such a massive success. I'm still amazed that WoW took the whole MMORPG world by storm...I still don't understand how it's so addicting, and what makes it stand out from other MMORPGs. I'm not really a big MMORPG fan to begin with, so that may be the problem, but I've played a few (PSO, EverQuest, Elder Scrolls, Maple Story, to name a few), and I never got addicted, but rather go bored fairly quickly. I don't see the enjoyment of endless item collecting and level/class grinding. So yeah, fans/players, could you break it down for me? I'm just really curious on the WoW phenomenon.

"Roads? Where we're going, we don't need roads." -Doc

Re: World of Warcraft fans/players, why is it so popular/addicti

Thu Feb 14, 2008 4:13 am

Xero Wright

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Massive over-rated same-old-same-old grind shit.

Personally, the only MMORPG I ever liked was Runescape, back in the old days when it was actually the best out there. Of course, if it wasn't coded in Java, a lot more people would like it. (Graphic gripers.)

Proud supporter of Phoenix/Iris, past, present and future

Thank you Elriel! :D

Re: World of Warcraft fans/players, why is it so popular/addicti

Thu Feb 14, 2008 10:07 pm

PouchedRat

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Well, I tend to latch onto MMO's for years and years, in fact I STILL keep getting urges to go back to Ultima Online, but WoW draws me back in (especially since my entire family and fiance's family plays it).

I dunno, though. What drew me to UO was the fact that you could do literally ANYTHING you wanted, dye your armor any color, have whatever little pet you thought was neat, design your own houses/castles, and skills? Well let's just say one of my characters was a chef/carpenter/mage, and another was a tamer/warrior... and I combined as many weird skills together as possible and somehow would make them work.

I do love WoW though.

Re: World of Warcraft fans/players, why is it so popular/addicti

Fri Feb 15, 2008 12:17 am

Velotican

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The game itself is pretty average, though polished. The bit people keep coming back for is the people you play alongside. If you don't play WoW with a nice group of people, it'll get old real fast. This is coming from someone who until not too long ago ran his own WoW guild, so I have firsthand experience of how good (and how bad) things can get playing WoW. :)

Does we even do these things anymore?

Re: World of Warcraft fans/players, why is it so popular/addicti

Fri Feb 15, 2008 7:50 pm

Tinker

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Because it's probably the best on the MMORPG market (SOMEWHAT catering to players, etc.), but it's not like they have loads of competition. And hey, if you play it with friends, it's just fun.

Re: World of Warcraft fans/players, why is it so popular/addicti

Fri Feb 15, 2008 9:09 pm

Julius

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It isn't slow and tedious like other MMOs, progress goes at a reasonable rate, and you get to see many interesting and varied areas. Also, I've gotten to meet many great people. (STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM PvP SERVERS!)

This one's by Elriel! Can't thank you enough!

Re: World of Warcraft fans/players, why is it so popular/addicti

Fri Feb 15, 2008 10:54 pm

Lord Seth

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Easy answer as to why it's addicting. People find it fun...and it doesn't end.

Let me explain. Have you ever read through a book almost nonstop because you liked it so much? That's being addicted. But once you reach the end of the book, you're done. Sure, maybe you'd reread it, but the addiction is gone. Same thing with computer and video games; they may be long, but even if you're "addicted" you'll be finished with them at some point. I may have spent 8 hours a day playing Tales of Symphonia (it was during winter break!) for a while, but that tapered off when I finished it.

MMORPGs, however, have no such end. You can't "win" it. Therefore, the "addiction" goes on and on and on, potentially indefinitely.

Re: World of Warcraft fans/players, why is it so popular/addicti

Sat Feb 16, 2008 8:14 am

Xero Wright

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Lord Seth wrote:

Easy answer as to why it's addicting. People find it fun...and it doesn't end.

Let me explain. Have you ever read through a book almost nonstop because you liked it so much? That's being addicted. But once you reach the end of the book, you're done. Sure, maybe you'd reread it, but the addiction is gone. Same thing with computer and video games; they may be long, but even if you're "addicted" you'll be finished with them at some point. I may have spent 8 hours a day playing Tales of Symphonia (it was during winter break!) for a while, but that tapered off when I finished it.

MMORPGs, however, have no such end. You can't "win" it. Therefore, the "addiction" goes on and on and on, potentially indefinitely.

One sidenote to that, though: no matter how addicted you may get to a game, that addiction WILL fade away when you play it long enough. So there is no 'indefinite addiction', because of that, plus eventually something will come out that will divert your attention, and thus your addiction will fade.

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Thank you Elriel! :D

Re: World of Warcraft fans/players, why is it so popular/addicti

Sat Feb 16, 2008 8:49 am

Mr. Bear Jew

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Xero Wright wrote:

One sidenote to that, though: no matter how addicted you may get to a game, that addiction WILL fade away when you play it long enough. So there is no 'indefinite addiction', because of that, plus eventually something will come out that will divert your attention, and thus your addiction will fade.

Explains why I've been playing Elite Beat Agents for hundreds of hours and still haven't gotten tired of it.

Re: World of Warcraft fans/players, why is it so popular/addicti

Sat Feb 16, 2008 9:01 am

Tinker

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Well, it's not the game that's addicting, it's the people you play it with. You mostly come back for them - if WoW was just a freaking huge RPG, people would be done after a while.