Breakfast Topic: WoW's influence
by Eliah Hecht 
Jan 2nd 2007 at 8:00AM
People are always talking about WoW as the 800-pound gorilla of the current gaming world (or at least the MMO sub-world). I don't have much non-WoW MMO experience, so I don't know where WoW innovated or where it just took/refined standard genre tropes. I do know that WoW must be making a big splash in the economic side of the gaming industry, with its massive legions of subscribers. I remember reading a while back about some game developers saying WoW was bad for the business because a lot of people were just playing WoW and not buying other games, and there may be something to that; I, for one, would almost certainly have bought a Wii by now if it wasn't for WoW.What have you observed WoW's influence to be, good or bad, artistic or economic, in the gaming industry? What further influences do you predict it will have?
Filed under: Breakfast Topics, Features
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Trollyboy Jan 2nd 2007 8:18AM
Well, I for one wouldn't be playing games at all if not for WoW. I wasn't a gamer to begin with and only got sucked in cos my GF started to play it. I'd still be sitting on my recording pc with my guitar in my hand.
So WoW has brought at least one non-gamer into the light (well, darkness, I rolled horde). Because of this, I'll probably look into more/different MMO's in the future.
Greg Jan 2nd 2007 8:25AM
Well, I had been away from MMORPGs for quite a long while and it was a work colleague that got me into WOW. For a long time I had been playing single player, normal PC games or console games.
I guess I don't spend any more time playing computer games now than I ever did before, except instead of a variety of games it is now nearly always WOW.
So I suppose, in my case, the comment about WOW affecting the rest of the games industry is true.
DÖT Jan 2nd 2007 8:27AM
I stopped playing all other games because of WoW. I got rid of my xbox and I don't have any idea where my Game Cube is but I am okay with that. WoW is the only game, lately, that can hold my attention. Until Fable 2 comes out for the PC or there is a new Star Wars Knight of the Old Republic I won't be playing anything else...good thing TBC hits in exactly 2 weeks because I was even getting bored with WoW.
Hypothalamus Jan 2nd 2007 8:31AM
From what I have read over the past couple of years, WoW redefined what the gaming industry though possible for MMORPGs. Before WoW, this genre of game was assumed to have a limited possible audience since no previous game ever had more than 750k to 1 million subscribers. Now that WoW has hit 7 million, that ceiling has been shattered and the gaming industry now sees MMORPGs in an entirely different light. The monthly revenues alone ($100 million) must be a source of great envy to Blizzard's competitors and I'd guess this is spurring on development of equally ambitious games.
In terms of my buying habits, I have cut way back on game buying since WoW. I guess I was averaging a console and PC game a month back before WoW. In the past 2 years, I bought one PC game (Civ IV) and perhaps 5 XBox 360 games. So bad for the industry? Yes and No. The immense success of WoW will stimulate designers to be more ambitious in their plans for MMORPGs, but I'd agree that WoW has led to decreased spending on other games by WoW subscribers (not that the industry is hurting for revenues).
Galipan Jan 2nd 2007 8:34AM
In the past I pkayed RuneScape (I know, the horror) and it was my first MMO experience. However, over the years I have become a more devoted gamer, not only limiting myself to WoW or Computers, but to consoles and portables as well.
I try to find a balance between WoW and my other games, and I have found that the best way to do that is to play WoW "casually" and play my other games on a regular basis. Meaning that when I get a new game, I beat it, and then focus on WoW again.
Starth Jan 2nd 2007 8:48AM
I see a good and bad side to WoW.It's good for the reason that it will force other games (MMOs) to match or better it with content,game play,and over all feel in order to pull as many people as it can to them.
On the bad side it has stumped alot of games and sales of games as the huge fanbase will not buy as many or any games at all so that it might keep playing WoW.But in the end it all comes down to one thing....make something better!!!
andy Jan 2nd 2007 8:52AM
i used to play cs 1.6, cs:s, halo and c&c.
now i play wow.
rec Jan 2nd 2007 8:53AM
before wow i used to be an avid xbox live gamer, every day for hours upon hours, playing the likes of rainbow six, pgr, halo et al.
since i took the plunge and purchased wow after my brother got it, i haven't played on xbox live at all. this is even after purchasing an xbox360 and still paying for live subscription.
i find that console games no longer hold my attention due to the singularity of them. with wow, you have the social aspect as well, but with the likes of splinter cell and halo, it's pretty much every man for himself, regardless of whether they are on the same team or not.
i like wow for the social aspect, more so than the quests or the games. i find i log myself into msn and wow at the same time to talk to friends, and then maybe do an instance at the same time, or maybe just stand around in ironforge and just chat or mess about.
maybe it should have been wow's catchphrase rather than the zune - World of Warcraft: Welcome to the Social.
:P
Evan Jan 2nd 2007 8:56AM
I personally havnt bought a single game since wow came into my life which was almost a year ago from now. feb. 12th. i was tempted to get the newest final fantasy but decided not to because i wouldnt have enough time to play it. so i would say its holding a lot of downsides for the gaming industry. i dont have, and dont plan on getting a next gen system because of wow. just computer upgrades and maybe a new comp in a year or two.
michel Jan 2nd 2007 9:11AM
I didn't play computer videogames at all for years (not time to buy and play games after games)
wow was a comeback to videogame because it seemed fun, nice, complex and very rich.
Of course I knew the warcraft games. I didn't play videogames but I liked them.
SeiferTim Jan 2nd 2007 9:10AM
I used to hate all MMOs before WoW. Every one of my friends would go on and on about some awesome online game, and I would try it out only to hate it long before the free trial was up. I heard about WoW from a couple of different people, but hadn't given it much thought until I picked up Warcraft III. I loved Starcraft and Diablo II, and since I never played any of the other Warcraft Games, I was not sure what to expect, but after playing non-stop through the campaign, and then starting on the Frozen Throne, I decided that I had to see more of Azeroth. Went to the store, picked up WoW, and have been playing ever since. I've always been a single player/console kind of guy, and in fact, WoW is the only game I play online at all.
Inaraserra Jan 2nd 2007 9:14AM
I think its probably hurting a lot of other companies at the moment - but I very much doubt they'll go out of business because of it.
One thing it is doing is enticing non-gamers into the fold. In the long run, that will be good for the industry, when other companies produce stuff that can compete with WoW.
As for me? I don't think it's made much of an impact. I've spent the past week trying to find a store around here thats not sold out of the Wii - and I imagine the Wii will hold my attention just as equally as the Burning Crusade.
Ocead Jan 2nd 2007 9:44AM
I have been gaming online since Quake 1 was in beta. Before that I played doom via modem. I can honestly say that WoW prevented me from spending between $200 and $400 on other video game purchases in 2006. There is a long list of games I didn't even bother trying last year because WoW was satisfying.
The good news about this for me is, most of the games I didn't spend $50 each for, turned out to suck. Video game makers are going to have to really work on the quality of their game play design when you have a product as superior and massively accessible as WoW is to compete with. I'm no WoW fanboy. I'm one of those people who will gladly move on to the next best game when it comes along. In 2006, no such game was released. Let's see how '07 turns out.
Oceas Jan 4th 2007 5:34PM
I have been gaming online since Quake 1 was in beta. Before that I played doom via modem. I can honestly say that WoW prevented me from spending between $200 and $400 on other video game purchases in 2006. There is a long list of games I didn't even bother trying last year because WoW was satisfying.
The good news about this for me is, most of the games I didn't spend $50 each for, turned out to suck. Video game makers are going to have to really work on the quality of their game play design when you have a product as superior and massively accessible as WoW is to compete with. I'm no WoW fanboy. I'm one of those people who will gladly move on to the next best game when it comes along. In 2006, no such game was released. Let's see how '07 turns out.
andy Jan 2nd 2007 9:58AM
Ocead said: "The good news about this for me is, most of the games I didn't spend $50 each for, turned out to suck. Video game makers are going to have to really work on the quality of their game play design when you have a product as superior and massively accessible as WoW is to compete with. I'm no WoW fanboy. I'm one of those people who will gladly move on to the next best game when it comes along. In 2006, no such game was released. Let's see how '07 turns out."
here here!
Vlad Jan 2nd 2007 10:10AM
Well WOW is obviously good for the industry, alot of people out there would be playing computer games at all if WOW wasnt around. I had no interest in MMORPG before WOW and I dont plan an playing any other.
But still WOW is soo dominating, its gonna be hard for a competitor to take subscriptions from WOW, who really would abondon there character to play another game, that game has to be superior to that subscriber that a hard thing to do.
Now Blizzard will have more money to spend in future developpement, the new content will probably be amazing in the months ahead. Blizzard already had the best ressources in the industries and the gap will only grow bigger. The competitor were never able to match blizzard in the RTS world, Starcraft (a 1998 game!) and Warcraft 3 are still in the best games RTS out there.
That said WOW isnt the only game out there, take Guildwars, its PVP system is alot better. WOW doesnt have the best gaming experience for everthing, but as a package its probably the most interesting one.
kastia Jan 2nd 2007 11:05AM
It seems that a large number of WoW players began their "career" as a result of a friend or significant other. I, for one, was never a gamer (short of Commander Keen and Solitaire) before I started dating my now-husband. He got me involved in the original Warcraft, Half-Life/Counter Strike, etc. and - on launch - was almost entirely responsible for the development of my WoW addiction.
I'm sure it has been said before but, based on the number of players that claim their gaming begins (and, in some ways, ends) with WoW due to a relationship of some kind, I can't help but notice the similarity between WoW "pushers" and drug dealers. Care for a trial account? The first toon is free... ;)
Mat Jan 2nd 2007 12:40PM
I know someone already kind of mentioned this, but the social aspect of WoW has had a gigantic influence. True, mics and vent existed before WoW, but post-wow you're seeing things like the Mii Community in the Wii, which I'm sure Nintendo will add more interactivity to.
Gaming companies have started to take notice that people don't want to just be able to play the games with their friends, they want to be able to talk too.
hamsammich Jan 2nd 2007 1:33PM
I've been an avid gamer since about 1983 (or, whenever the Intellivision came out), and have loved most genres of games since then. The one thing that stands out, at least to me, about World of Warcraft is its ability to hold me captive for so long.
Never before has a game held my attention for this long. Normally, I'll play a game for a few months and be done with it. Heck, I played Battlefield 2 and Rainbow Six: Raven Shield for about 8 months, and I thought those were the end-all/be-all of my gaming experience when I was playing them.
I've been playing WoW since the beta, and I've looked forward to playing it every single day since then. I would say that I'm not alone, and that in itself is a testament to what an overall influence the game has made on society.
I know many, many people in the same boat I'm in. We love to play WoW for a plethora of reasons. We love to talk to one another, quest with one another, and there is, of course, THE LOOT!
Game on.
Joel Jan 2nd 2007 1:55PM
I had a Xbox360 premium which I was playing until the prices dropped on PCs. Once my old PC broke, and it was right time to buy a new PC, I sold my Xbox360 to one of my co-workers. Now, all I play is WoW and I have no regrets. I have been wanting to play this game since it came out of beta, but never had access to a decent PC that could run it till now.