Is WoW popular because it is fantasy?
by David Bowers 
Dec 23rd 2007 at 1:30PM
The question sparks an interesting discussion which I encourage you to read. It certainly makes me think about WoW in a new light. Suppose we imagine that Blizzard had made a different decision about which franchise to develop into their first MMO: would World of Starcraft have been as popular as World of Warcraft is today if its gameplay was more or less just as good, or is the science fiction environment inherently less appealing to the masses than fantasy?
To me, it makes sense that Blizzard chose the Warcraft franchise over Starcraft (or even Diablo for that matter), not just because it is fantasy, and certainly not just because it draws on elements of Tolkien's literature, but because it draws on a wider range of mythic elements, contains more layers of conflict, and generally provides a greater diversity of opportunities for a new gamer to find something he or she likes in it. What's your opinion?
Filed under: Lore
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
red Feb 15th 2008 10:53AM
your overlooking game play. how would you design a worlds of starcraft? sci-fi almost has to be a fps twitch based game. its bad enough wondering how the hell some one survived being hit by my giant axe, put you can say that it's representational of the thrust and parry of 'swordplay'. yet its hard to say that of hitting someone with my .50 cal. you get dead if i hit you on the leg, hydrologic shock for the win!
twitch is unfortunately less engaging game play for none-dedicated groups, and who whats to train in a video game? and if you do, you will want to be able to use a wide array of tricks that would be a pain to program and a nightmare to put in a ui. next you have the technical limitations, that every one has to see the same thing the same way at the same time. the holes in walls have to be the same shape, in the same place, without having the disengaging feature of 'pre-cut' cookie cutter holes. that is high bandwith. keeping track of all the individual rounds in the air in real time, that can clog a router. then you have to program the npc's, how do you make them life like? how do you keep them from having perfect aim/sight? but not make them total 'tards
then the social aspect. in fantasy/history we feel a sense of might is right. we can wander off in to the woods and gank what we find, because who is going to arrest us for trespassing? how could we be recognized? sci-fi we think of big brother, cameras everywhere tracking us. in sci-fi we are expected to be tolerant of other races. even in warcraft chat racism is frowned upon. yet in fantasy we can kill people based largely or solely on race. that an orc? kill it! gnome? punting time! its a pain to wright a story for every one you want to kill, hard to make the 'bad guys' all distinguishable on sight.
fantasy is just an easier game to design and implement in an engaging way.
also, we where all raised on it. all the fairy tails and fables where closer to fantasy than sci-fi
Marsh Dec 23rd 2007 1:45PM
The lord of the rings had just come out. The movies inspired me to read the books. And the extended DVDs gave me an appreciation for Tolkien. It played a part in why I liked WoW. There was lots of similarties. Dwarves in a mountain city. Orcs. Elves. I'm not a fan of all the sci fi crap that was in this expansion.
Zaldor Dec 23rd 2007 1:55PM
I would actually prefer Sci-fi to fantasy. I choose WoW because of the gameplay. If Blizzard ever makes World of Starcraft, I'd switch in a heartbeat.
Jasperwind Dec 23rd 2007 2:07PM
Fantasy definitely does it for me. I may not have gotten into WoW as much if I didn't play DnD back in the day. WoW is an escape from the toils of reality that games like CS and Halo can't provide (for me anyway). I love the idea of mystical places where magic is common place. It is not the quests that I like. I am a programmer and I've had "daily quests" and long, drawn out "quests" since I graduated college. I do however love group play, especially dungeons.
Baluki Dec 23rd 2007 2:32PM
I think that right now, Fantasy is more acceptable to the general public. Part of it could be the perceived decline of some major sci-fi franchises (Star Trek and Star Wars come to mind). But mostly, it's the current popularity of fantasy in books and movies and TV, such as Harry Potter, Chronicles of Narnia, Lord of the Rings, Gold Compass, Eragon, and so on.
Personally, I'm more of a Sci-Fi guy. But the two genres are actually far more alike than they are different.
Nicora Dec 23rd 2007 2:41PM
I've always been a fantasy fan, before I ever even knew about thing like Lord of the Rings and WoW. So for me, it's just all the things I like finally becoming popular.
What I think it is that appeals to people (other than being able to play with your friends) is that you can be a 'hero' or a 'villain' and be able to develop a character. Or maybe I'm wrong and it's just me.
Pingmeister Dec 23rd 2007 3:05PM
While I was never hardcore into Dungeons and Dragons growing up (I got kicked out of a group when they realized I was naming all of my characters after household appliances) I think that genre still has a "magical" pull on most game players.
My favorite areas in WoW will always be forests and caves for that very reason.
Derick Dec 23rd 2007 3:09PM
If you take another step back and look at how the stories we like, science fiction or fantasy, always stray out of our world, you'll notice that what we might like is the freedom that the other societies bring us.
In these worlds, it's alright to attack someone openly and use everything at your power to defeat them.
It's a complete counter culture where things are wildly dangerous, but at the same time, ultimately forgiving. You aren't held accountable for your actions, and things that would seem haneous and sociopathic in our world are commonplace.
I guess it's just more comfortable for people to look back at a slightly more primitive society as this chaotic dueling world than forward into the science fiction realm.
Chelon Dec 23rd 2007 5:14PM
I definitely love the 'Tolkienesque' aspects of WoW as well as the contemporary look and attitude.
However, since I play Horde, on recently watching 'The Two Towers', I was rooting for the orcs.
Dunwich Dec 23rd 2007 5:44PM
I'm a sci-fi man, but since I can't stand Starcraft, I doubt I'd play a Galaxy of Starcraft short of it coming packaged with a free small European country and a swimming pool full of butterscotch Angel Delight. I've plenty of sci-fi settings to choose from, and Starcraft is currently hanging out with the movie incarnation of Starship Troopers. If I were to have a sci-fi MMORPG, I'd sooner play one based on Warhammer 40k.
I enjoy Warcraft because it's pretty light-hearted, and has a healthy amount of humour. It's when it tries (And IMO fails) to be epic high fantasy I start to lose interest. So no, I don't think it's because it's Fantasy is automatically wins. It's because it's an easy game to pick up and run with, addictive and has enough humour to keep you rolling along, whereas grim and gritty, serious games would leave you cold and rather bored.
So no, I don't think it's somehow better because it's Fantasy. I think it's better because it's simply easier to work with, and more amusing to develop.
Matt Dec 23rd 2007 6:20PM
The developers did do a whole lot of stuff to leave funny little easter eggs here and there...but what makes wow special for ALOT of people is the LORE behiend the warcraft series, and though some of that has been skewed by the who dranei thing, it still has its epic story behiend it....
bugmaster Dec 23rd 2007 6:13PM
why the fantasy genre is more appealing then sci fi is a very simple question to answer
it is because most fantasy are based on times where everything was much "simpler" then things are today, therefore people have a much easier time to understand whats going on in a fantasy world.
furthermore there is much more "romance", if u can call it that, in picking up a sword or bow and arrow to crush ur enemies then there is in picking up a blaster or phaser or whatever we may use in the upcomming millenia
this is why i think fantasy gets people more heated up then sci fi does, cause sci fi is more for those peope that like to dream of the future and not everyone has the imagination for that
theRaptor Dec 23rd 2007 6:31PM
Walk into any book store, observe that the "fantasy/sci-fi" section is 80% fantasy books.
I would also make a point here that things like Star Wars are *not* sci-fi. Having the trappings of technology does not make a fantasy story into sci-fi.
Hoggersbud Dec 23rd 2007 11:10PM
I think it's because Fantasy is relatively easy to get into. Science Fiction (and note the SW comment above) is a challenge, meant to make you think. Fantasy just presents the story and entertains.
Tyael Dec 23rd 2007 11:51PM
@11: I agree, Fantasy is simply romantic and sends the player (or reader for that matter) back to a simpler and more primal era in which emotions and actions were much more pure. Whereas in a genre like Sci-Fi, you are really just building on what is already known, there is no escapism in logging into what is just a "glorified present" no matter how far into the future it may be.
Not to mention the feeling of pure adrenaline which comes from the epic-ness of taking on a huge dragon with nothing more than might and magic rather than simple science.
Anyhow, thats just a bit of my opinion. Also, it saddens me to think that people are comparing most fantasy to Tolkien, while it was a good story it is not by any means the best of the fantasy genre (note: this is just my opinion =P).
Daneras Dec 24th 2007 12:57AM
I do agree with what most has been said, swords and shields are a part that is way more exciting than futuristic creations for the fact that feels more heroic. Also its a main reason why i am excited about WotlK, outlands was ok for what it is but i would like to see wow back to its roots dealing with ancient civilizations, dragon aspects, old gods, undeads and so on which is a major part of its lore and that is what WotlK will do.
Voidrunner Dec 24th 2007 6:00AM
I dunno... of the 3 major Blizzard IPs, Warcraft was always my least favorite... to tell you the truth, I'd rather be zerging people as an actual zergling in World of Starcraft... or doing some Bael runs in World of Diablo, but WoW is still the best mmo on the market, as it stands.
Tryst Dec 24th 2007 12:02PM
I think the genres are somewhat attractive because most people generally feel that the stuff they do in daily life doesn't "matter" in the long run. In LOTR and sci-fi based stories, what the characters do matters within their universe practically immediately. Their presence has an affect on the world around them, whereas it's pretty easy to always feel like just one of the crowd in real life. Most of our lives are fairly safe and it's exciting to be part of something where you can take a risk - albeit a pixelated risk with no long-term effects - and have it pay off or not. It's difficult to find a way in real life to have that kind of affect on anything. Additionally, I think the mmorpg concept allows people to control their lives more than real life. It's certainly that way for me. Even if it's as simple as not wanting to do a quest or raid. There's very few things in real life that I can just decide that I simply don't want to do and then not do with very little consequence.
I haven't totally thought this through but I think the game design of WoW itself is fulfilling the basic emotional needs of some people. I'm not saying all, but I think using the fantasy genre is an avenue that appeals to many people because of these reasons.