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Bottles of Mountain dew have begun flying off store shelves, as Hard-core gamers, and basement dwellers alike, have begun swooping into grocery stores all across the country! The reason? In anticipation of the midnight release of World of Warcrafts third expansion pack, Cataclysm of course!
Apparently, many WoW gamers have taken time off from work, and plan on staying up for a couple of days straight, so they can play through this expansion pack. Apparently, they never heard of taking your time and savoring something you enjoy.
Now, I am sure you all know what World of Warcraft is, unless of course you have been living under a rock without internet access for the past 7 years. So, I am not going to go into explaining what it is. Because you should know!
I don’t play WoW any more, so I am obviously not joining in the festivities. In fact, not only do I not play WoW anymore, but I honestly don’t know how the game can remain as popular as it is. Don’t get me wrong here people! I’m not saying the game is horrible, but what I am saying is the game is average! There’s nothing special about the game that other games don’t have! The only major plus for the game, is its simplicity. If you have never played an MMORPG, you could start playing WoW and not feel overwhelmed.
Here’s the thing though. The game get’s old. Sure, they release expansions, but what exactly is the point of the expansions? It’s the same stuff, with a different background. You will still find yourself fighting a monster, and collecting a number of their body parts. Sure, these monsters might be new, or they might be just recolored versions of old monster. You will then take these body parts to some person, who for some odd reason, wants to collect monster body parts, and in turn they will give you some experience and a piece of treasure.
You also of course get the level caps raised, so you can run around grinding on monster kills to get your level up, so you can get that next body part collecting quest being offered by that other person in the neighboring town!
After awhile, the routine get’s boring. For me, it took 3 years to realise that the game was boring as hell. They released their first expansion pack, and I admit it, I went for a midnight release! I was excited, I came home and started playing it, and then realised that I was doing the exact same crap I had spent the last 60 levels doing. So, I quit! I went checking out other MMORPGs, and discovered that all MMOs followed the same formula, however learned that many actually had entertaining stories, and offered more versatility in gameplay.
After discovering this, and moving on to better games, I asked myself why WoW continued to be so popular, and I never got an answer, until just right now. As I was writing this blog entry, the answer hit me! The reason WoW continues to be popular, is because it’s simple! Sure, it lacks depth, sure it lacks versatility and yea, it lacks a deep engrossing story, but it’s simple to play! Since the game is simple to begin playing, it attracts first time MMO gamers, who basically get their feet wet in this game, develop a character and then have spent so much time building this character up, that they don’t want to just let it go. So, when the next expansion comes out, they ignore the fact that it’s nothing new, and that’s it’s just the same old stuff repackaged in a shiny package.
I will admit though, the PvP in World of Warcraft, is the best I have experienced. No matter the MMO, none has come close to matching the balance and enjoyment that exists in World of Warcraft. Is PvP alone enough to warrant sticking through all the other crap? Maybe for some, but unfortunately it wasn’t enough for me to stick around.
Anyway, to all the people who continue to play WoW: Happy Cataclysm Eve!
Made in the Shaide 