How WoW Changed the World
by Mike D'Anna 
Mar 21st 2006 at 8:00AM
You know that feeling you get when you come
across an old Atari game that you used to spend hours playing as a kid & wonder how in the world you ever enjoyed
something that primitive? It's hard to believe that in just a few short years, we'll probably be looking at WoW &
other games of its generation the same way...but we will...and I'll feel even older then than I do already...On that note, however, the guys over at PointlessWasteofTime.com have written a really great article on 10 Ways that MMORPG's Will Change the Future that, aside from being really entertaining, contains some fascinating facts & some speculation that really makes you think just how much impact these games are having on our society. Check it out over at their website.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Virtual selves, Odds and ends, News items
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
scarymage Mar 21st 2006 10:23AM
Ugh. This person is obviously young and not very good at this sort of things.
1) Everyone will look like a Greek god or goddess
Has this guy seen the undead or horde side of WoW?
2) All will play in the same virtual world.
You have your Night Elf in my Sims Online Game
or you have your Car Salesman raiding MC! Don't think so.
3) Someone will go to jail for stealing a Bonebiter.
Doesn't Bonebiter bind? As long as there is a 'game' in MMORPG, juries and legislatures will laugh at these lawyers. I think our jails are full enough.
Bob Smith, CRIME: Stole 40 virtual gold
SENTENCE: 20 years
Might make an interesting CSI episode though.
4) You'll meet someone who plays an MMORPG for a living.
Maybe. As MMORPGs become more photorealistic and thus more mainstream, the value of in-game items will be tied to the demand, aka population size.
5) They'll take the "G" out of "MMORPG."
Maybe, but I thought this article was about MMORPGs not future computer interactivity.
6) You will find yourself momentarily forgetting whether you're in the real or virtual world.
I think some people already forget about RL while playing WoW. But one of the goals of entertainment in general is to achieve a perfect sense of escapism. I remember watching the Thin Red Line, ok movie, but it REALLY made you feel like you were on the front lines.
7) You'll meet a couple who have been married for years and have never seen each other's real-life faces.
This is the author's big mistake. I would imagine this author hasn't had many relationships and DEFINITELY hasn't been married. Marriage is many things but the most important is companionship - gotta be there. I could possibly see this happening in very isolated incidents (stranger things happen) but I couldn't see it as common. Like the illustration though.
8. There will be a branch of government to rule the virtual world.
Wouldn't surprise me if the government steps in eventually (hey it it is the government!), but this will take a long time.
9. There will be a whole class of wealthy people without a dime to their name.
This person's base assumption is incorrect. There are WAY too many people who don't want to sit at a computer all day, never mind live a virtual life. And most people understand online wealth doesn't usually equate with real wealth.
'most manufacturing and farming and manual labor will be done with robots at this point'
Not for a long time, robotics has a long way to go still.
10. The rise of the metaverse will go almost completely unopposed.
The author show his true colors here by his use of terms like 'friction-free homogeny' and 'meat interaction'. This is a bit scary. As much as I like interacting with my guildmates, I have still have very good RL friends. Spending quality time with them is NOT 'meat interaction'. I find the term a bit disturbing in fact.
I know some of this article was tongue in cheek, especially considering it is from www.pointlesswasteoftime.com but its still a interesting WoW-related discussion. I just think the author lacks insight.
scott Mar 21st 2006 10:44AM
It's funny you should say that. I already feel that WoW is looking dated. That probably has something to do with having bought an xbox 360 recently. Games like kameo made me start thinking that WoW is really going to need some graphical improvements soon.
Even just a better lighting engine and bump-mapped textures would do wonders for WoW, which now is starting to look very cardboard to me compared to other games that are coming out.
Hopefully Blizzard realizes that games like this need to keep up graphically with other titles that will come out in the future instead of thinking it can rest of its current graphical laurels for the years to come.
It's a lot cheaper to revamp a lighting engine and add bump mapped textures than it is to create a whole new MMORPG becuase the last one you made failed to keep up with the competition.
WoW has no competition now, but it's not going to stay that way forever.