WoW and the hate towards it

[gibboss28]

Now this thread isn't going to be one of those "Why all the hate threads" Its just be pondering something that has been bugging me for a while.

As a long time WoW player (Played on and off since the start and unless Wrath of the Lich King is a huge disappointment I don't see that changing any time soon) I've noticed quite a bit of hate towards it, most of which is deserved due to the grind aspect of the game which I do agree with.

But theres a bit I've been trying to understand the logic of. The hate which comes with the saying 'I don't like what it has done to me/my friends/a persons social life' or something similar. Now obviously this is something I don't understand but why is the medium getting blamed?

As far as I know when WoW is installed it doesn't possess the chair by your computer to cause it to electrocute you if you don't play WoW for enough hours a week or anything like that. it is simply a game. Nothing else, nothing more.

Yeah there has been some nut jobs playing the game who have taken it way to seriously for their own good and done nothing to help get rid of its reputation of a soul consuming game. But even then you could have put a different game in front of them and you would have probably got the same outcome.

I was having a conversation with a friend about this and he said it could be the endgame raids. Well thats all well and good and while the raids that make up the endgame do ask for a quite a few hours to play but even then blizzard have come up with a nifty little tool. Once you kill a boss you are saved to that particular raid which incidentally resets at the same time each week so you have a total of 7 days to finish that raid.

You've also got some obviously witty people who call the game 'World of Warcrack' and other such witty slogans to make the game sound a drug addiction. And to those people i do request one thing: go do some stand up comedy, you'll do the profession some good I'm sure of it.

 

[Conscience]

will i dont "hate" WoW iv played it for 3 1/2 years naw and to me it the stame shit over and over agin endgame raind arnt 20-40 man like they use to and its all about the gear now

 

[[email protected]]

That post above needs some serious editing right there!

 

[Brett Alex]

As far as I know when WoW is installed it doesn't possess the chair by your computer to cause it to electrocute you if you don't play WoW for enough hours a week or anything like that. it is simply a game. Nothing else, nothing more.

I dispute that claim. The amount of times I've been given electric shocks for not running Mags is in the high 20's.

You've also got some obviously witty people who call the game 'World of Warcrack' and other such witty slogans to make the game sound a drug addiction. And to those people i do request one thing: go do some stand up comedy, you'll do the profession some good I'm sure of it.

I personally think "World of War-CRAP hahaha!" is much wittier.

On a more serious note I don't think I think the idea of addiction comes from the fact that you actually have to spend a lot of time on it to get good. Some games you'll be naturally good at, some you'll learn faster than other people, but to keep getting better at WoW you need to keep playing it. Any idiot can run Kara for example, I've done it in greens and blues with Youtube strategies for preparation and done better (caused more damage, no wipes, no CC breaks) than people in half epics. But, because of that, if they have more time and money than me, which they often do, those people will keep running Kara poorly, then start running ZA poorly, while running Heroics and Gruuls poorly and eventually (if there in a good guild) they'll be up to SSC or TK at the least, just because they have enough time to put into it. Are they a more skillful player than me? No. Are they very focused players? No. But they could beat my character and they have better raid progression than me because of the time they've spent on it, and for some people, time is a very easy commodity to spend. Thats why its addictive and why people 'hate' it.

 

[Fronken]

That post above needs some serious editing right there!

yes, the grammar is kinda bad, but his point is very valid, i used to play WoW as well, and it used to be a Great game, but as stated before, its turning into something else, that aint as much fun

 

[zirnitra]

I'm the later part of saying I don't like what it does to people. one thing you should understand, Blizzard wants your money. now a regular game only gets money from the money you pay when you buy the disc. WOW is paid for by subscription now how do they keep people paying for this game? They create it to be addictive so you keep paying. now if we look at this out of context. a large corporation that makes money buy getting it's customers mostly children addicted to it's product. sounds pretty fucking evil! theirs a WoW Rehab clinic in Holland now.

and all in all I pity the people who get a phone call like "hey so and so is having a party tonight should be good, are you coming?" "umm..nah I'm gunna pretend to mine all weekend" for god's sake it's target market is 13-25's that's the peak time of your life and when your old you are going to look back on this time with a feeling of nothing but regret. I was addicted to an MMORPG for 3 years and a few times a week I get an urge to play it but know I must not if I want to have a fulfilling life.

 

[Blejk]

You are right mate its just a game. If there is someone to blame for the phenomenon of no-life players its the no-life players themselves.

If it wasn't wow it would be some other game or some other ridiculously time wasting activity. Not that wow is a time wasting activity, on the contrary It is good fun and occasionally you can make new friends.

However there is a fine line between enjoying the game ,as its meant to be enjoyed, and wasting countless hours of your life in front of your PC. People often cross that line but that's no reason to blame WoW.

 

[Janus Vesta]

I don't see the point. You play for years but you get your level capped at 70. Why? If people could keep improving it would be cool but I don't see the point in endless grinding just to have nothing to do (from what I've seen most of the gameplay is grinding).

 

[A29inchbeefstick]

will i dont "hate" WoW iv played it for 3 1/2 years naw and to me it the stame shit over and over agin endgame raind arnt 20-40 man like they use to and its all about the gear now

I pray to god you are not from a English speaking country...

 

[BurnoutPriest]

You are right mate its just a game. If there is someone to blame for the phenomenon of no-life players its the no-life players themselves.

I'll have to disagree with you there. If the problem is that some people with no lives are playing this game, then why haven't I seen an intervention group for any other video game? I don't care if the game actually creates social outcasts or if it just attracts them like flies, the fact is that the game is tailor made to hook certain types of people and never let them go. Unlike other games where addictions are usually isolated cases, WoW is notorious for its addiction. I've seen friends who have done away with their future just to play WoW for an hour or two more each day. Not to mention, over 50% of the time playing the game is simply travel. Seriously, go record your time on that.

 

[hooblabla6262]

I think a lot of you are missing the big picture of what WoW is. It wasn't meant to be some addictive game that would have everyone constantly glued to their computers. As long as you are subscribed they are making money off you, even if you are not playing.

World of Warcraft is a big game and, especialy for its size, a very flawless game. Did you ever stop to wonder that maybe your friends would rather play WoW and chat with people on WoW than hang out with you because it's funner? Or maybe that because of its size they play it for longer than most games which they would easily sit infront of their TVs for hours on end?

Me and my friends have played WoW on and off since the release. I run kara from time to time, and a friend of mine is running BlackTemple as I write this. We also go out, go to parties, play basketball every now and then. So if we have played Wow and are not addicts, are we some how immune to this allure you speak of? Or are the people who get addicted all weak minded?

 

[Souplex]

*Does a line of blow* Man: Congratulations, you have reached level five, here is a yellow straw and a slightly longer line of blow. Me: But I just did a whole buncha blow! Man: At level 6 you get a purple straw. Me: Purple? Sweet! *Begins doing longer line of blow* Man: Be sure to check out our crystal meth expansion coming later this year.

MMOs, they are a hell of a drug.

 

[Fatalis67]

I don't get how people can become addicted to WoW, I tried the demo and I honestly couldn't play it for more than 30 minutes, it was that awful. Why is it that I just click the enemy and then it does the rest of the fighting for me? The only input I have is clicking the monster and then pressing the "2" key a few times. WoW is an awful game in every aspect.

 

[Syndicate Savage]

It 'was' extremely fun. Making friends, joining a guild, doing instances, but after 70 it just...kinda died. My CPU was too crappy to fully run Kz and BT without lag, and it just got old doing nothing but PvP. I've retired from WoW, due to the sheer repetitiveness it turns in to.

 

[Gamer137]

I dont hate it. I played it for about 1.5 years, toke a break, then Burning Crusade came out and I played for about another 8 months before finally leaving. It just got too boring, but every game falls under that curse eventually. I hate solo-play. Even most of my leveling up was done by playing dungions. I never really solo quested. Once I hit 60 and eventually 70, end-game raiding and PvP were the only two aspects I enjoyed. However, PvP is dominated by whoever has the best gear. So I got tired of it. Raiding was a different story. The trash mobs were very boring, but the bosses made up for it. The problem was that I could never get into a stable guild. Every guild I could get into would shutdown within a few months, and all the stable guilds had VERY high gear requierments, which I could never meet because no new guilds would stay open. If guilds were stable, I may still be playing. I never got to experience any raids other then MC, ZG, and Kara. It was very fun while it lasted though.

 

[Yan-Yan]

I tried it, didn't care for it, and really found it to be lack luster in actual enjoyment. I also prefer the nickname "World of Walking", as that was my major gripe. Want to go adventure? Better strap on your carrot on a stick and get hiking! It'll be 30 minutes before you get to a spot where the adventure happens!

And heaven help you if you and a couple friends want to play together, but pick different races from the start. You're hosed on meeting up without some seriously long walks or the outside help of others. And seriously, playing with a friend who has already been playing is no better. You're basically being leveled up by them, because you can't face what they're facing, and if they face what you would face it would be a joke.

The game was interesting to me for a bit. But really it was lacking in areas that I feel make or break an MMO.

 

[Jindrax]

What ??? WoW is nothing but addictive !
You start you lvl your like:hey cool
you lvl again : oh new skills ill test these out then ill do somthing else
You lvl while messing about : sweet ill just lvl again to see the new skills

now youre hooked ! you follow this pattern till you hit 70 when you do its all about new gear !
when i had a go at WoW i dint see the point ? no story like ? no direction ? nothing but i still got hooked for a week or so till lvl 43

so whoever said its not addictive is just blind or ignorant ( no offence )

-Jindrax

 

[Yx0que]

I recently started playing WoW and I only see one problem with it. There is very little skill involved. From what I've seen anyway. But it's fun to play with a friend so that's what I do.

 

[Squarewave]

I wish I could find a link or remember the name of it, but there's a term for a psychological effect that kicks in when presented with a random chance for a reward. Basically when you win something by random chance, in the case of wow its an armor drop, a critical hit or in the case of slot machines, money; the brain gets stimulated in a way that becomes addictive.

In a nut shell people become addicted to MMOs and some other games for the same reason people become addicted to gambling. Winning triggers a positive response strong enough to want to feel it again even after many failed chances. sense MMOs provide lots and lots of chances to win it can overwhelm some people; Every swing has a chance to crit, every kill has a chance to drop something good