Lord British likes WoW
by Paul Sherrard 
May 3rd 2007 at 4:20PM
Well, okay, maybe he doesn't *like* it like it, but Richard Garriott (aka Lord British) certainly appreciates the existence of the World of Warcraft. In an article I came across over at the WoW Vault on IGN, the creator of the Ultima series, and the Ultima Online MMO, discusses his feelings on the juggernaut that is WoW.
The article quotes an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, where Garriott states, "We commonly get the question, is World of Warcraft a big competitor that might hurt our sales? It really turns out to be quite the opposite." He then goes on to comment that MMO players typically will only play a game or two at a time, but then move on after a year.
I've been happily playing WoW since February of 2004, so I'm into my third year of the game, and nothing else has caught my eye in the MMO market. There are a couple of games on the horizon, but of the folks I'm playing WoW with, the majority have been around from the get-go. Are we just crotchety old-timers who won't admit that the average player only sticks around for a year?
Is what Lord British says true? Did any of you ditch other MMO's to come to WoW, or have you ditched WoW for other MMO's after playing for a year?
Filed under: Odds and ends, News items
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Franchi May 3rd 2007 4:23PM
Dunno, I just bought the game right before BC came out and thus far, still love it. And never played any other MMO before no basis for comparision for me at least, what about others? WHY is Wow such a juggernaut as it was so eloquently put?
FireStar May 3rd 2007 4:29PM
Started a month after wow was released. I ditched wow for about 8 months after i got my first character to level 60. went back to ffxi. later i came back. I used to switch around a lot because of the particular gameplay style (i.e. controls and whatnot).
Theheretic May 3rd 2007 4:34PM
@1 It's a juggernaut because it has the largest player base of all the MMOs clocking in at over 8 million active subscriptions.
As for the post, I think Lord British is just trying to save face. I've been playing this game since patch 1.2 and although I've toyed around with other MMOs none of them have held a candle to WoW. So I continue to play WoW. Maybe ppl leave other MMOs after a year but most of the people i know that play this game have been around about as long if not longer than I have.
FireStar May 3rd 2007 4:31PM
@1. It's because wow emcompasses the most liked parts of MMOs. I've played UO, EQ, FFXI, and this, and it has every part that i liked about the other ones. I'm sure others will comment about the specifics.
jstrand25 May 3rd 2007 4:35PM
I starting playing in dec of 06 but only cause I avoided wow simply cause of college and social life. Now that I am done with school and set with the girlfriend. I devote a lot of my free time to WOW, I have had to experience the allie side of it all and then turned to the horde knowing that was my calling and guilds seem to help each other more in the red. I can honestly say I dont see myself stopping wow I have times where I will not play a couple days and then I live in the game if I am alone for the weekend. I truly do love this game it is a great outlet for those of us who do not have the time for other things.
SeiferTim May 3rd 2007 4:35PM
I started playing WoW only very, very reluctantly. I normally HATE MMO games of any genre, and it was only after I player all the way through Warcraft III (+expansion), and heard from several people that it was "actually, very good", I decided to give it a try... this month marks my Second year playing, and although I have attempted to branch out into other MMOs, I usually can't stand playing any of them for more than an hour. Not one upcoming MMO game that I've seen has even piqued my interest, so I don't see myself jumping the WoW ship any time in the near future.
Quoi May 3rd 2007 5:28PM
The reason WoW is a juggernaut is because it has a low initial learning curve, yet still maintains a good challenge. That, coupled with it's rich universe and ability to look great on almost any system have created a huge gaming phenomenon.
Preebs May 3rd 2007 4:49PM
I played Lineage 1 for over 3 years. Left it for Lineage 2 and stuck with that for a month. Then came to WoW this past August. Haven't left since, and don't plan on it either.
Metaphyzxx May 3rd 2007 4:51PM
I'd just started the test period of Eq2 when I decided to try WoW, one account stayed open, one didnt...
Funny thing, I remember around launch, EQ players were pretty sure that WoW was going to be smacked around, and on paper, it seemed like it should. But WoW had that je no se quais... that fun factor that EQ lacked... Me, I just found it more appreciative when I died at a low level, it was against a ferocious looking wolf.. not a rat.
Devilmachine May 4th 2007 5:45PM
I ditched Ragnarok Online to play WoW, tried to get into GuildWars at one point, but that didn't last very long.
I've only picked up a couple other games since becoming addicted to WoW, Oblivion and C&C 3.
dontfront May 3rd 2007 5:10PM
UO ftw. UO will always be the best mmo in my mind. Nothing can beat the pvp system (pre-trammel/felucca)
I was really reluctant to play wow, because I knew I get addicted to MMOs very easily. However, a group of friends convinced me and we all rolled alliance. Played that for a year, then I rerolled horde.
Trucking on every since.
Theadrick May 3rd 2007 5:27PM
I had played EQ for around 5 years before WoW came out. I ditched EQ literally the day before WoW was released, and have never looked back.
Since then I have tried LoTR Online (I was in closed beta), and Vanguard, but neither one of them drew me into the world like WoW has. Sure I have taken a few breaks, but WoW is the game for me for the forseeable future.
Both the Conan and Warhammer MMORPGs look interesting, but not ground breaking... I'm sure I will try them out but not sure they will take me away from WoW permanently.
Keystone May 8th 2007 10:32AM
I still play UO to this day, and it's been 10+ years.
I don't think I'll get 10 years of play from WoW, but I'm enjoying it for the momement.
Yippster May 3rd 2007 5:50PM
Definitions of juggernaut on the Web:
* a massive inexorable force that seems to crush everything in its way
Hahaha yes, the dude is kidding himself, maybe he just says that because most players of his crappy games jump ship after a year.
jcgooch May 3rd 2007 5:51PM
I initially came to WoW because I had played the other games in the Warcraft universe before and was interested to see how the MMO version would work out. I stayed, and eventually quit playing SWG, because I was tired of all the bugs. A large part of the allure of WoW for me is that it is simply a much more polished game. Sure, there are bugs, but the game isn't riddled with them.
Rey May 3rd 2007 6:24PM
Started with
UO 2001, 2002
NWN 2003
Coh 2004
NWN/MXO/GW 2005
NWN/GW 2006
WoW 2007
during that time ive also tested many othr MMO's (WoW from release - 1 month, Auto Assault, Dungeon Runners)...
So yea, i do fall into the 1 year and move on category.
Junzim May 3rd 2007 7:08PM
I figure there are 3 types of MMORPG. Each typified by its progenitor:
UO Type MMORPGS:
UO MMORPGS focus upon a persistent world which is changed and altered by players (Housing, Cities, Nations, Sieges etc) typically these games have thriving player economies and have no 'end game' content - the content is provided by fellow users.
This type was subscribed to by Shadowbane (which had basically NO non player made content) and by the forthcoming Darkfall Online (infinite development time). AC had some aspects with the way players tended to enforce control over territory outside of the tighter-contolled DAoC means. These MMORPGS are notoriously hard to build and almost impossibly complex- UO was a massive undertaking on a truly ridiculous scale - the vision involved in its creation was staggering.
Then there's the EQ type MMO:
This type has a world which a player cannot effect. It is basically a standard RPG but with thousands of simultaneous players. Typically it has tight, scripted endgame encounters. At the end of the day, the world never changes but the player enjoys his game with his friends.
World of Warcraft and Vanguard (which has some UO-type elements) are examples of this type of game. World of Warcraft quite simply got the balance dead on which is why it destroyed AC2, EQ2 and pretty much every game released in its wake. It is the ultimate EQ style 'read only' game.
The third type is the DAoC style game:
DAoC style MMORPGs have the 'read only' aspects of EQ but allow players to take and hold territory. Although the territory reverts or ultimately doesn't change much over time, it does provide an endgame centered around PvP and RvR (realm vs realm) combat. UO implemented RvR with its Faction System but it arrived too late to have a great impact.
Warhammer Online is very much built in the DAoC style (unsurprising since it's made by Mythic). Players have an impact on the world but in a way which is tightly constrained by the metagame (Nodes, fortresses and the like).
Ultimately, almost anyone who played UO will express a preference for the UO type MMO - people who haven't don't understand what all the fuss was about. However the impossible complexity of such systems along with their unproven marketability (remember UO at is peak had only hundreds of thousands of users) make the choice to create an EQ (or now, WoW) clone a bit of a no-brainer for most developers.
Richard Garriot had it right at the start in my opinion, he just didn't have the technology to deliver. Whether he'll return to a Read/Write gameworld ideal after Tabula Rasa (which sits in the DAoC type) remains to be seen. I can only hope.
Until then, for me it's WoW then WAR then... Darkfall?
Pingmeister May 3rd 2007 8:07PM
I am an older gamer and for me his statement is true. Very true.
I joined WoW (abandoning Dark Age of Camelot) because my friends were going crazy over WoW. Of the 15 or 20 friends whose guild I joined there are 4 of us still playing.
Most moved on to Lord of the Rings or just stopped playing MMOs.
Just as I stayed WAY too long with DAoC I can foresee many more years of WoW for me.
Ammon Lauritzen May 3rd 2007 8:12PM
There are numerous studies that back up LB's statements here (not that they were made at his request or anything - but he reads the research as much as anyone in the industry).
People form a very strong attachment to their absolute first MMO - whether that be a MUD or FFXI or WoW.
They are more likely to stick around with their first MMO than with future games. Once you hop, you're very unlikely to have nearly as much tolerance for the future games. Especially if they do something "wrong" when compared to how your initial experiences trained you to expect.
As far as people who don't stick around their first MMO for more than a year or two? Two things.
First, MUDs aside, it's not that old of a genre. I mean, at the absolute most, you could have stuck it out with something like UO for about 10 years now.
Unfortunately, graphical MMO's don't age very gracefully, either. And unless the developers produce new content faster than players consume it, people will eventually become bored and examine the newer kid on the block. And once they hop the first time, it's all over.
Laurens Holst May 4th 2007 1:00AM
I used to play EVE a lot but I don’t so much now I play WoW. However, I still got my subscription and keep my skills training and play it casually every now and then. When I get to level 70 in WoW I think I’ll stick around for a bit to get the final bits out of it and then cancel my WoW subscription and get Vanguard or Guild Wars 2 or whatever’s out and interesting by then.
I don’t really know though why with MMORPGs it’s so relatively common that people play the same game for years on end. I mean, surely at some point that ‘kill 10^2 of this’ or ‘grind that for days for rep’ grows really really tiresome :).
On consoles I like RPGs a lot, and especially after starting playing WoW I really appreciate that they have a solid story with a beginning and an end, and that what you do actually has some influence on the worlds. It’s a shame when it ends, but then you can dive into a new world ^_^.
~Grauw