Musings on WoW and gaming in general
Tuesday, December 4th, 2007 - 3:08pm
Something disturbing, almost sinister, has been happening with my gaming habits as of late. I have become a monogamous gamer. As such, I offer up the following bold statement: World of Warcraft is the best game ever developed.
I will try to back this statement up but I will not use the generally accepted methods of evaluating a game's design. I am on my lunch hour and simply don't have time to enter into a discussion about leveling, crafting, raiding, grinding, socializing and other game mechanics. Instead, I intend to justify my statement on a more visceral, emotional level.
I recently purchased The Orange Box. HL 2 Episode 2: 1 hour of gameplay; Portal: 3 hours. TF2: 1 hour.
I recently purchased Hellgate: London. 10 hours of gameplay.
I recently was accepted into Pirates of the Burning Sea Beta: 2 hours of gameply.
I asked myself the other day why I had no interest in these other games that I had been looking forward to for so long. I already knew the answer: World of Warcraft is too damned fun to waste my time playing other games. Here is a game I purchased 3 years ago and I am still playing it today on an almost daily basis. Now, I will freely admit that I have not been faithful to my mistress for all three years. I rarely finish a game. I do not have an addictive personality and it is rare for any one hobby to hold my attention for any lenght of time.
In fact, I cancelled my first subscription to WoW after only two months. I had ground my shiny new Dwarf Hunter up to level 43 and the grind finally got to me. One day I logged off and didn't log back on for almost a year and a half. The next stint lasted about 6 months last year. The new battlegrounds, the overall improvements to the game and the camaraderie I found within the GWJ Alliance guild provided me with as much entertainment as I had ever received from a game before. Then somehow, right before The Burning Crusade expansion was released, I logged out with my Priest at level 59 and didn't log back in for about six months.
So here I sit, having resubscribed for a good six months now and having more fun playing a game that any one man has a right to have ... and I ask myself why is this game so damned good? For me, the answer is simple: On a purely emotional level, no game can offer what World of Warcraft can.
There is something wholly satisfying about hearing screams of base joy from 10 people you have never met on Ventrillo after downing a boss you have been working on for weeks on end. These acheivements require the sort of teamwork that you rarely see outside of organized sports.
You feel at home when you log on after a hard day at work and see 25 or 30 guildmates online, all working towards some nefarious goal involving the death of countless misunderstood and underappreciated minions of evil.
It is hard not to crack a smile when you hear CrazyIvan make the emphatic statement "Take that Bitch!" after killing off the last standing opponent in an arena match.
It is hard not to laugh when Dhalvid screams "Ohhh Hell Yeah!" after downing a boss.
I could go on and on but I think you get the point. There is no doubt that World of Warcraft is a well designed game. But it is far from the only well designed game out there. That is not what makes it great. What makes it truly great is that it is both easy to play and difficult to master, accessible yet demanding ... and through this provides the player with a framework to make it so much more. If you are unwilling or unable to experience the team and social aspects of World of Warcraft, you may not understand or agree with what I am saying.
Maybe a game like WoW isn't for everyone but I guess I have become a blathering fanboy. I'm sure someday I will again get bored of the grind and hang up my cloak ... but each time I re-up the game just gets better and provides a more satisfying gaming experience.
Sorry Orange Box. Maybe someday you will get some love too.
I think I saw Elysium online the other night..
muhahaha!
Aint nothing new about the world order..it's been playing since the day they put George Washington on a quarter
85's face the truth you're too dumb.
http://www.myspace.com/armyofthepharaohs
Hear hear!
/raise_glass
You did...he tried to make it low key, but that didn't last long.
That which does not kill you, still hurts like Hell. - Anonymous Soldier
None of us is as dumb as ALL of us. - Anonymous Staff Officer
Veni, Vici, Ridebam, Discedebam - "I came, I saw, I laughed, I left"
I see your points but there is one weakness.
Would you be as enamored with the game if not for an active guild of like minded people?
Of all the games you mentioned, I think perhaps only Hellgate London has enough depth and has a worthwhile solitary experience. Its definitely good enough to help me maintain my clean break from WoW of 5 months.
On the flip side of the coin though, WoW is good enough to retain a thriving casual guild for 3 years.
Being fangoriously devoured by a gelatinous monster.
nahh..the whole point of an MMORPG is to play online with other people..remove that aspect of the game and whats the point? Besides theres a TON of stuff in WoW thats completely solo friendly so your never forced to group.
Aint nothing new about the world order..it's been playing since the day they put George Washington on a quarter
85's face the truth you're too dumb.
http://www.myspace.com/armyofthepharaohs
Gah!
Aint nothing new about the world order..it's been playing since the day they put George Washington on a quarter
85's face the truth you're too dumb.
http://www.myspace.com/armyofthepharaohs
Same here, Cope. I haven't even bought Halo 3 yet. Can't remember the last time I played a console game.
For me, it's entirely the social aspect. There is a ton to do, but I wouldn't do it without our guild; I'd play something else.
- Legion, taking "keeping it in the family" to a whole new level.
Xbox Live: Fedaykin98
Quote:
- Legion, taking "keeping it in the family" to a whole new level.
Xbox Live: Fedaykin98
Never mind.
Nice post Copingsaw. I had a very similar experience: Bought game on release -> Played alot, but quit after 4 months due to time commitment -> Took year off -> came back for several months -> Took a month break before BC -> played BC for 6months and this past summer have not played since.
I agree with Guru that having a group of similar people there helps to stay with the game and have the "best game ever" feel to a game. My personality is that I enjoy activities better when I am doing them with one or more person.
On the subject of the GWJ Alliance, I have been considering jumping back into the game and have convinced myself that rolling a new Alliance character would not be a bad thing (I was always Horde). The 2.3 experience-boost patch made the prospect of starting over as GWJ Alliance more appealing. If I indeed caught up to the level 70s are the raiders so far ahead of everyone that it would be hard to not come with a pre-made character transfer to get involved? I see several posts on the MMO boards about guild events.
Xbox Live: Kolbo21 /// PSN: KolboGWJ
Steam Community: Kolbo
WoW Blackhand Alliance: Klobben
I love my clan mates to death, and i still keep my account active so i can go there and visit and keep up on whats going on, but i just got frustrated with the way the game was laid out and get more enjoyment with other games.
Gamer Tag: Rantyr
/e steps up to the mic. My name is Bounce and I've been wow-free for 10 months now. Every trip to walmart is a struggle to not buy the damn battlechest and load it up again. My marriage is more importat than wow of course and because of that alone I have stayed away. I have to agree that since WOW I have found much much less enjoyment in any game I have played since. Guild wars while fun for a while just wasn't even close, TF2 was fun but I suck. The rest or orange box was great util I beat them all. Neverwinter nights 2 was also great until I finished it... now I'm at a point where I'm gameless (well playing NWN2 again) and I step into stores and see the WOW box calling me. Must resist!
WOW: Bounce
Kolbo - Itsnotwater just re-rolled with us a couple months ago and he's already caught up. Come on in!
- Legion, taking "keeping it in the family" to a whole new level.
Xbox Live: Fedaykin98
Quote:
- Legion, taking "keeping it in the family" to a whole new level.
Xbox Live: Fedaykin98
I imagined this portion being read from a card you always have to carry around with you since you kicked your WoW addiction.
I'm confused you don't have the game again, yet, because it seems like you just convinced yourself to buy it again.
Give into the dark side!
This should help
Xbox Live: Kolbo21 /// PSN: KolboGWJ
Steam Community: Kolbo
WoW Blackhand Alliance: Klobben
The best game ever is the game I happen to be playing right now.
Whatever that happens to be at the time.
Your Quote Here!
I agree with Cope's post, and extend the same kind of appeal to X-Box Live for many of the same reasons.
Both appeal to me because of the community I have in each.
A chime from a 40k widow: As a gamer widow I have spent the last 12 (nearly 13 years) trying to explain to friends and coworkers why I am able to laugh when they ask what my hubby and I are doing over the weekend and I reply "Well he has a 40k tourney on Friday, a steady WFRG on saturday and I think StarFleet Battles on sunday". That is until this year. Sure I have played a few PS2 games with my beloved, and yes I will admit to sitting around a table with a bunch of sweaty men happily explaining why it is possible for me to roll that well, but I haven't enjoyed any game that he has sucked me into as much as this one. Maybe its because I didn't have to extend our renter's insurance to cover another set of minatures or have to buy the lastest edition of a Player's Guide. Maybe its because I am not arguing with a GM over the possiblity of an action while he is trying desperatly to get a glimpse of my cleavage (Terase can attest to the frequency of that
). Alas, it is mostly because of the social interaction. Sure I am still in the role of the helpful older woman who has been there, done that for many of the gentlemen in my husband's guild. Then when I am tired of beating my head against the keyboard cause one of them just doesn't get that the cheerleader they are chasing is not going to be the one they are chasing next year, I can come to GWJ and have adult interaction outside of work. I can happily carve a path of destruction while having a detailed discussion over the merit of literature and politics.
And the number one bonus for this gamer widow is that I can actually be in the same room as my husband, playing the same game, helping each other, but far enough away as to quell that occassional desire to biff him upside the head. So in essence WoW has changed me from a Gamer Widow, sad and alone on a saturday night, to a happy fellow gamer.
*Bandolique (70 Combat Rogue)
*Amara (70 Fire Mage)
*Zeus the Good Luck Dog making the Lords of Kara/SSC/TK cry whenever he is around
Hats off Cope...very nice job.
I do have to agree with your bold statement about WOW being the best game ever developed. Blizzard has done a masterful job of creating a game where there are no bounds or limits and everyone can play the game they want to play. If solo content is your path to re-upping for another month....WOW has it. If the social aspect of guilds and end-game content is the way to keep you hooked...WOW has it.
The key to victory is to not suck as bad as the other side.
Boy moves out of his parents place at 19, expecting what all 19 year old men expect. Boy finds out he needs money to get that. Boy realizes he needs job, as do his two male roommate. Boy has no TV, no money for the bar, tuition payments are overdue, heat has been disconnected. Boy has enough money to keep electric bill alive (barely) and $15 left on the VISA. Boy buys DAoC along with his two roommates. Boy likes DAoC, Boy is now addicted to MMORPGs:
Here begins the story of Krindle
Basically DAoC died, and Boy needed a new MMORPG. Boy found WoW, Boy is very happy with WoW, since he can follow storyline, kill things, doesn't not lose xp on death, does not get ganked on a PvE server when leveling, and enjoys game. Boy is happy, WoW is good
Honestly, best money I ever spent. I used to have to spend $60 on a new PS/PS2 game when it came out and it kept me busy for like a week. TV costs too much and don't really have the time when I can get everything I want to see on the net. So, for entertainment, MMORPG = best bang for your buck. I now have my own condo, with electricity AND heat, and I save a bundle doing it. Depending on how much time you have, you can do a bunch of different stuff from a couple of quests, to arenas, to Kara and more. This boy is happy with WoW
Copingsaw wrote:
Super K - The "Anti-Wipe"
Even as a reformed WoW addict, I think I'd agree it's probably the single greatest game made.
There is nothing remotely comparable to the 18 months and hundreds (thousands?!) of hours I spent on that game. Certainly value for your entertainment dollar is damned hard to beat.
I started back when there were no realm transfers and so server first things actually meant something and were worth going after. A pile of us decided to re-roll on a new realm and see just how fast we could get things done. We planned, we worked hard, we knew what needed to be done. We completed the quest to start the War Effort for the AQ opening event on the 3rd week of the server (to much wailing about ruining the economy) and worked all the quest lines to get people attuned for Ony, keyed for MC & BWL and got down to business. Around the 6th week of the server we took down Rag, no other guild on the server had even begun MC. Two weeks later we were practicing the Nef encounter and running double Ony's with 15-20 people per group to get the scales we needed to make our Ony cloaks. I think somewhere around the 2 month mark we had enough cloaks and got the job done and focused on collecting bug parts for the AQ opening.
Now, rocking through MC & BWL in a guild of 50ish like minded people who are all rabidly working towards a common goal is quite satisfying, but being the guild that's responsible for opening the AQ gates was really something cool. After 2 weeks of farming bugs we had our first real setback. The person we were using to gain rep for the event flaked out and we started all over again from scratch. Somewhat resigned, we spent a couple more weeks squashing bugs. It started to get a bit nerve wracking as transfers became available and large guilds that had already cleared AQ started to land on our realm (leaving laggy overpopulated servers for our relatively virgin lands) and we worried that all our hard work would be taken away as some twat with the AQ stave would transfer to our realm and open the gates. Fortunately, we got to do the event ourselves and one of our guildies got his very own shiny black bug mount.
We lost a lot of motivation after paid transfers opened up and a lot of what we had accomplished on our realm felt a bit cheapened. However we went to work in AQ and spent a few months working our way to the Twin Emps. For months after that encounter I would flinch anytime a guildy cast Blizzard.
That was about the time Naxx opened up and we dove right in to that place. Naxx was so much better thought out then the trash infested annoyance festival that AQ was, plus the gear was pretty darn cool. There's a great deal of satisfaction in working with 40 people + spares on solving a new boss puzzle and a ton of joy in every hard fought first kill. Heck, I think the first time we took down Anub'Rekhan we were in combat for 25minutes - it was tense, every cycle someone would quietly say "focus" over vent and we'd keep working and working, chipping away at the bugger's health until the huge cheer of 40+ people over vent washed away all the tension and we eagerly checked the corpse for new purples!
Anyway, WoW can be so many different things, but for me it was all about the guild and spending hours and hours shooting the sh*t while we casually blew thru MC... heck we even made some challenges for ourselves, running MC with only 20 odd people, naked MC runs (no gear except for those sissy tanks) and speed runs through MC/BWL/AQ - there's something just frickin' fantastic about a well oiled machine that can blast through MC in hours with virtually no instruction from the raid leader, everyone just knows what to do and when to do it. I think our record was 4.5hrs to clear MC & BWL.
Then TBC's release got closer and closer, people started to realize there was little point in running Naxx anymore since quest gear was going to outshine our T3 gear. That plus the 25 man raid cap and all the painful grinds/keying quests, horribly broken content, focus on massive amounts of consumables sucked the joy out of raiding and we started losing 2 or 3 people a week, trying to backfill and eventually the remaining core people just got tired of it all and left. Ah well, it was tons of fun while it lasted!
XBL: MikeMac75
No, not at all. I would have quit a long time ago. The game is good on its own but, at least for me, I have discovered no game becomes a classic without social merits. All of my favorite games had a social aspect that heightened the experience: Quake2, Counterstrike, Diablo2. I quickly forget about the so-called great games that cannot provide this: Oblivion, BioShock, etc. In my opinion, WoW brings a whole new synergy to the combination of gaming and social interaction. When you are able to experience the game with a group of like-minded players, it shines like no other game ever developed.
Kolbo, I often wish I were hoard but I am not. I have accepted this sad fact long ago. There is no substitute for the guild that GWJ Alliance has become. For me it provides a gaming experience bar none. Yes, most of us run 70's but there are always up and comers and always those with alts. You may not always be able to find enough guildies with characters in the appropriate level range to run the lower level instances. You will, however, find plenty of guildies eager to help you with mats, supplies and their sword should you need it. There is not an elite player attitude in this guild that could discourage the lower level characters. All types and styles of play are welcome.
Very interesting story Mike, thanks for sharing.
I will say that despite the horrifying nightmares of PUG's in MMOs in general, WoW has a crucial mechanic going for it.
The fact that any class can duo with any other class and be much more than the sum of its parts is a tremendous accomplishment in game making.
And thus, it doesn't happen often, but when a random PUG of any size works, it is a one of a kind game experience. My PUG story of yore
Being fangoriously devoured by a gelatinous monster.
I've seen Elysium on several times. I find this hysterically funny in the wake of a front page article discussing his cold turkey quittage!
I think the strongest argument I can make for WoW is the fact that Bioshock is sitting on my shelf unopened, and I haven't even played Mass Effect long enough to get to the first conversation with the commander. Two games I've been looking forward to for a year are sitting untouched due to the pull that is WoW. The only times I really play things other than WoW are when I'm playing with my kids or when I'm disconnected.
I do agree about the guild. Even though I haven't gotten to a high enough level to play with folks on a consistent basis, just having guild chat makes the game more fun. Especially when I realize I'm about to die because I've spent too much time chatting.
Just realized that I'm posting rather than playing. What's wrong with me?
BHA: Kamyndra - 80 Prot Warrior, Tyraan - 68 Enhance Shaman, Selian - 61 Warlock, Rahodius - 60 Priest
Hear hear on the guild part.
I'm currently a reformed WoW addict mostly out of lack-of-choice, since the last two guilds I was in imploded and I haven't been able to find any new ones for me (and my seven alts) I like.
The game is well designed, sure, but without the good people to play with, it's boring as heck.
XBL: kilanash / PSN: kilanash / Steam Community
3 years later, I'm still enjoying WoW just as much.....actually, a lot more with the 2.3 patch changes.
In my experience, I've found casual guilds that A) Actually have a good number of people consistently on and B) Accomplish quite a bit are not too common. The GWJ alliance guild is one of the better fits I've seen yet! /salute
"There's too much blood in my caffeine system..."
BHA - Cuanos/Crowlie/Kasparov
Yea though I have walked through the valley of the shadow of death I shall fear no evil because it will kill the clothies first
Terase - lvl 70 balance druid
Elorin - lvl 70 frost mage
Teriine - early 30s marksmen hunter
Terrion - early 20's warri
My name is Grumpicus and 2.5 years of WoW turned me into a social gamer.
Admittedly, I'm not playing WoW right now, but I'll re-up when WotLK comes out. I quit to move to Austin and planned to use the time away (from WoW) to whittle down "The Stack" but that hasn't quite worked out. Instead, I find myself playing the latest multiplayer games (currently COD4, though I'm a very average-at-best FPS'er) that I used to ignore before playing WoW. At least my 360 isn't whining (as much) anymore.
I must admit, though, that meeting Souldaddy's guild (of Austin locals only) has tempted me to come back "prematurely" a time or two.
Edit: Also note that, were I Alliance, I probably would have transferred to Blackhand long ago but, unfortunately, I now get violently ill at the sight of humans and night elves so re-rolling isn't an option.
Xfire|XBL
gr.umpic.us|grumpicus.com
Commissioner, GWJFFL|GWJFFL2
WoW certainly is one of the best bangs for my buck I've played in the last few years. I'd say only FFXI beats it out on that end.
But the most enjoyable overall? Personally, I've seen the dark side of WoW a bit too much to make that claim myself, although things are looking up.
Coldstream wrote:
Whoa, an AnimeJ sighting! Holy carp!
Don't worry, Grump, many of us on Blackhand know in our hearts that Horde > Alliance.
- Legion, taking "keeping it in the family" to a whole new level.
Xbox Live: Fedaykin98
Quote:
- Legion, taking "keeping it in the family" to a whole new level.
Xbox Live: Fedaykin98
Man, is that ever true for me as well. Lately I've had the WoW shakes (as my friends and I call it, aka the urge to sign up again), so I've been thinking about this a lot.
I was a hardcore single player gamer until WoW. Heck, even my first months in WoW were all solo. But now, I rarely play a game without some social aspect to it (ironically, even if I'm not still very social). I'm no longer play WoW (although if I had a good guild, I'd probably would, and sorry BHA, I'm horde as well), but once I quit there I couldn't get back into single player gaming for more than a couple nights at a time. My theory goes that since I have 2 kids (5 years and 2), my social outlets have declined tremendously, so I seek some semblance of that when I fire up the box after the tykes visit the sandman. I do wish my former WoW friends were on XBL, though.
My other theory about the hook of WoW over everything I played at that point is that it seems that all the progression I get in a single player game is wasted, because once the game is over, the character and all its glory is trapped in the ending. So WoW's biggest fault (no ending) is also a great asset. Any effort to improve my WoW character will not be erased. I'm not saying that it's healthy, but it is a marvelous hook.
Xbox Live: Stilgar Black