The Secret of WoW
- Thread starter Shamus Young
- Start date
Is the secret to feed WoW players double bacon cheezeburgers until they die from lack of excersize and cholesterol?
Great read, unfortunately I think the soonest WoW killer will be Blizzard's next MMO.
Indeed, I think any MMO with the commands /dance001 - /dance999 will have a good chance of becoming a WoW killer.CantFaketheFunk said:
And the semi-naked female characters.
Summed up the main features rather well. It's the balance and the mix of all these that add up to the overall quality, though it'll need enough strength in them to make the cut too.
Game designs can be really rather complex, mmo's especially because you need to hold the players interest in the long term and not just for 20 hours after they buy it.
Summed up the main features rather well. It's the balance and the mix of all these that add up to the overall quality, though it'll need enough strength in them to make the cut too.
Game designs can be really rather complex, mmo's especially because you need to hold the players interest in the long term and not just for 20 hours after they buy it.
...A DDR MMO will be the next wow killerStarStruckStrumpets said:
There will always be min-max builds. But, say, in my current raid guild, we have Druids of all three specs - Feral, Balance, Resto - filling raid roles, and even within them, specced to do things. My Resto build is for raid healing, one of my guildies' is focused on main tank healing, etc. It's nowhere near as cut and dry as it was back in Classic where it was "Ok, Druids go Resto to innervate the Priests who are all Holy."Abedeus said:
good general points. I think the bug one is particularly important. 6-7years ago you could get away with releasing ur game with bugs, because the competition wasnt there. Now it is, & if your game isnt playable, you wont get the benefit of the doubt anymore.
Most important, to me at least, is that when considering who your subscribers will be, its not a recipe for longterm success to say "existing WoW players." MMOs require alot of investment in time, energy, & money. People can spend years developing their characters; & hedging your games profitability on convincing a large number of people to permanently migrate from one MMO to another is not smart.
Indeed, creating the "next WoW" itself is a poor basis to build an MMO on. If people want to play WoW, they'll play WoW. A successful MMO needs to offer what makes an MMO good (which you listed), but when given the choice between WoW & WoWclone, most will go with WoW.
Most important, to me at least, is that when considering who your subscribers will be, its not a recipe for longterm success to say "existing WoW players." MMOs require alot of investment in time, energy, & money. People can spend years developing their characters; & hedging your games profitability on convincing a large number of people to permanently migrate from one MMO to another is not smart.
Indeed, creating the "next WoW" itself is a poor basis to build an MMO on. If people want to play WoW, they'll play WoW. A successful MMO needs to offer what makes an MMO good (which you listed), but when given the choice between WoW & WoWclone, most will go with WoW.
With all due respect and acknowledging that you've laid out exactly what WoW does right and what makes it fun, your article sounds more like a strategy for failure rather than success. Someone who comes into Blizzard's territory with a plan to make a game that is "just like WoW, but better" is going to be fighting a losing battle from day 1, because Blizzard's head start is going to be too much. Consumers looking at the WoW vs. this hypothetical RPG are going to notice that WoW has a larger player base, more content, and is priced to move.
Of course, what I'm saying is that you've actually described how to make a WoW killer, but the foundation of the strategy, attempting to take Blizzard's subscriber base, is unstable and likely to collapse into a big money sink.
Of course, what I'm saying is that you've actually described how to make a WoW killer, but the foundation of the strategy, attempting to take Blizzard's subscriber base, is unstable and likely to collapse into a big money sink.
All good points, but that still didnt keep me from getting bored with it.
When it comes down to it I would rather just pay out a one time fee for a different game each time than a continual fee for a game that does not change(or changes very little) over years and years.
But MMOs are obviously not my style so take that opinion with an ocean's full of salt.
When it comes down to it I would rather just pay out a one time fee for a different game each time than a continual fee for a game that does not change(or changes very little) over years and years.
But MMOs are obviously not my style so take that opinion with an ocean's full of salt.
shamus... only level 40? and a hunter?
oh well, you apparently have better things to do.
You made a decent list of the things that WoW does right, but you missed a big one (probably because you reached level 40), but Raiding is a huge part of why WoW works. When they do something right, it clicks, and is wonderful. The feeling of accomplishment in first completing a raid is unlike anything in the world of gaming. It used to be a luxury thing, getting into a raid group, back in the early days of WoW, but it's a common thing at high level play these days to get into a raid. Raiding is an accessible, and still challenging gameplay device that is pivotal to WoW's success.
Also, Wow's complete embrace of the Achievement system has lead to another layer of "things to do". Sure, you could always kill Booty Bay goblins to get your red pirate's hat... but now, you get an achievement, and the title Bloodsail Admiral. More people might consider doing that for the title, and the achievement points, then those who thought before that making the goblins hate your guts wasn't worth a red pirate hat. Add achievements to raids, and World First achievements, and you have yourself an addictive spiral of success and Win.
Like someone above said though, if a game were to try to do everything that WoW does, but better, they will ultimately fail. It's best for them to try something new, take some queues from WoW, but try to innovate. They'll probably fail at that too, and in the end, if it's good, WoW will steal it, but you might find enough success to make it worth your while.
Another thing to do is go an entirely different route - changing the setting of a WoW clone can entirely change the game, and make success a possibility. Having it based in the real world, or in a futuristic setting, or something even crazier will work better then another fantasy roleplaying game - you can't beat WoW at the MMO race with a fantasy RPG. Not right now.
oh well, you apparently have better things to do.
You made a decent list of the things that WoW does right, but you missed a big one (probably because you reached level 40), but Raiding is a huge part of why WoW works. When they do something right, it clicks, and is wonderful. The feeling of accomplishment in first completing a raid is unlike anything in the world of gaming. It used to be a luxury thing, getting into a raid group, back in the early days of WoW, but it's a common thing at high level play these days to get into a raid. Raiding is an accessible, and still challenging gameplay device that is pivotal to WoW's success.
Also, Wow's complete embrace of the Achievement system has lead to another layer of "things to do". Sure, you could always kill Booty Bay goblins to get your red pirate's hat... but now, you get an achievement, and the title Bloodsail Admiral. More people might consider doing that for the title, and the achievement points, then those who thought before that making the goblins hate your guts wasn't worth a red pirate hat. Add achievements to raids, and World First achievements, and you have yourself an addictive spiral of success and Win.
Like someone above said though, if a game were to try to do everything that WoW does, but better, they will ultimately fail. It's best for them to try something new, take some queues from WoW, but try to innovate. They'll probably fail at that too, and in the end, if it's good, WoW will steal it, but you might find enough success to make it worth your while.
Another thing to do is go an entirely different route - changing the setting of a WoW clone can entirely change the game, and make success a possibility. Having it based in the real world, or in a futuristic setting, or something even crazier will work better then another fantasy roleplaying game - you can't beat WoW at the MMO race with a fantasy RPG. Not right now.
How about not having the same enemies you see at level 1 you see at level 70 just a different color?
I love your articles, as well as your website.
Keep them coming.
BTW. Please try to update the stories of your previous DnD sessions in your website, I really liked the ones I found but never got to read newer ones, and certainly nothing after 4e got here.
Keep them coming.
BTW. Please try to update the stories of your previous DnD sessions in your website, I really liked the ones I found but never got to read newer ones, and certainly nothing after 4e got here.
You'll never crush WoW in terms of popularity even if you do destroy it in general terms of gameplay and balance (for the latter not exactly difficult just don't have Paladin-esque "I pwn all" classes for idiots). People will just go with the devil they know.
