Can WoW be beaten?
by Mike Schramm 
May 1st 2008 at 8:30PM
World of Warcraft is doing terrific lately, but if you believe the hype, there's trouble on the horizon, and it's coming in the form of two big MMOs: Age of Conan and Warhammer Online. Greg Howson of Britain's Guardian newspaper has a column online in which he examines WoW's grip on MMO gamers and the two big games it'll face this year.We'll leave the cross-MMO predictions to our great sister site Massively, but for their part, Blizzard says they're looking forward to a little competition in the MMO pool. Howson has J. Allen Brack, WoW's lead producer, saying that they're looking forward to playing the new games as well. And it's true -- real competition in this space might actually be a welcome thing to fans of all MMO games. Blizzard is working hard now, but they might actually be working harder if they had a competitor breathing down their necks.
Unfortunately for those who want to see that happen, it's going to be super hard for anyone to get near Blizzard's neck, much less near their game. As Lord of the Rings Online producer Ed Relf says to Howson, WoW is pretty much the iPod of the MMO space. It could just be that what Blizzard has done here -- bring an MMO to the forefront of gaming culture for an extended period of time -- is a deed that just can't be replicated, no matter how much money you put into making a game.
[Via Worldofwar.net]
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Blizzard, News items
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 6)
Badger May 1st 2008 8:45PM
I don't believe for a second that these two new challengers to the MMO "throne" will succeed in utterly replacing "Warcraft," which is already a critical and economic darling. Blizzard definitely knows how to make a good game with some serious staying power.
I do, however, agree with the sentiment that some new blood and competition would be very welcome. I just finished reading an article in this month's "PC Gamer" magazine (which featured more than a dozen full pages on "Warhammer" and "40K" settings - check it out if/when you can!), and it looks like Mythic has really gone the extra mile to incorporate suggestions from their fanbase and their player community. I have no idea what to expect from "Conan," but artistically, that particular title is definitely set an entire world apart from other titles on the market.
The two games to which I'm really looking forward (in the extremely long term) are "Guild Wars 2" and "Warhammer 40K Online," both of which look to be fun, challenging, well-designed titles that incorporate many of the heavy RP and PVP elements that have made "Warcraft" such a strong title.
Verit May 2nd 2008 10:59AM
The problem is time invested. I think they probably figure this into their development too, but it does take a fair amount of effort to make a WoW character good. The more effort you put in the least likely you'll want to drop the game for something else.
Blizzard has to make a serious mess of things, or these new mmo's have to be really really compelling before I'll drop all the "work" I've done on my Lvl 70 and switch.
Elystus May 1st 2008 9:15PM
Blizzard working hard? lol
Zali May 2nd 2008 3:47PM
Yes. They are. You obviously don't know how complex and complicated development is. Go ahead and give it a try some time. Sit down and come up with 20 unique story lines that all fit into a general theme of your own creation. Invent names and words and countries, general layout of land, never before seen animals and species. Come up with a thousand unique character names, and 1500 quests, both simple and complex. Make sure that the stories are interesting for people who are really into detail, but also interesting at a level that those who don't really focus on that also come away with an decent understanding of what they were just involved in.
Put it all on paper, with orginzational charts on how each one fits in with the ones around them, which ones are related, and which ones are just filler. Don't forget to make sure that it is all very simple and easy to understand. Oh, and don't forget to make it complex too, because some people like that. And easy, don't forget easy. And difficult. Some people like it more challenging.
Don't forget to line up some artists, some software developers, some graphics specialists, some voice over talent, some script writers, project managers, a sound studio, sound effects specialists, internet security specialists, network guys, desktop guys, finance guys, HR people, custodial staff, and on and on and on.
Yea. The people at Blizzard are working hard. Try taking a minute or two to just consider exactly how much work goes into designing five minutes of your play time and you might actually find yourself a little amazed that the product continues to be as good as it is.
Don't be such an ass.
rick gregory May 1st 2008 8:48PM
I think WoW will be hard to beat heads up... in the fantasy world, killing monsters category. But look at console gaming... It was all Xbox/PS... and then came along the Wii. A lot of people who would never want to play Halo, GTA etc are gaming on the Wii. Look at Guitar Hero and Rock Band... same thing. Just as FPS games for young guys isn't the only game for consoles, neither is WoW style fantasy the only MMO that can exist.
Treima May 1st 2008 9:12PM
The reason the Wii does so well is that it has taken gaming and simplified it so that someone who has never touched a controller for another system in their life can learn to play a game in just minutes without feeling like the part of the brain involved in hand-eye coordination is going to explode.
The reason WoW was able to finally slay then-reigning champion EverQuest was because it took EQ's model and simplified it so that someone who has no idea WTF they're doing can pick it up and be incredibly hooked in just a matter of minutes.
Your analogy is accurate, except WoW is not the XBox. WoW is the Wii, and these new games are the PS4 and the XBox 720.
rick gregory May 2nd 2008 2:47AM
hGames are more than hand/eye coordination and killing things. I see your point, but what I was getting at is that the Wii also made it simple to play a different KIND of game. It's not a simpler HALO etc, it's different and appeals to people who could care less about playing a soldier in an FPS etc.
AS long as game mine a narrow genre they'll stay relatively small... different games will appeal to different groups and those groups might not be mobile from game to game.
Ugkul May 1st 2008 10:22PM
> Your analogy is accurate, except WoW is not the XBox. WoW is the Wii, and these new games are the PS4 and the XBox 720.
Huh they're not even on the market yet. Look at Vanguard; the beta reviews for WAR were mediocre to horrid.
Both of these MMORPGs also seem quite male-oriented. They're definitely not going to pull the female audience from WOW, and I would think the target audience for them would go into fits if they tried to add certain content that was targeted at females. Imagine a children's week (or cute pets!) for Age of Conan.
Calybos May 2nd 2008 5:46PM
Exactly. Of course WoW can be 'beaten,' although probaby not in the fantasy-adventure genre.
But as soon as someone develops a really good Harry Potter MMO, watch out.
matt May 1st 2008 8:51PM
I don't know, but I answered a similar question for you: can WoW be eaten?
A: yes, but the results are unpleasant.
Tereth May 2nd 2008 7:16AM
This man understands the question that has been plaguing us for about three years now.
kaura May 1st 2008 8:54PM
Creative stimulus via economic incentives? Yes please! A little friendly competition is exactly what Blizzard needs to keep WoW ticking away (and spitting out gobs after gobs of sweet, sweet lucre) for a few more years.
Any complaints about WoW stagnating now may be juuuust a bit premature. Let's first see how their game dev team responds to proper competition, eh?
Treima May 1st 2008 8:57PM
Age of Conan is probably the best bet of the two big titles coming out, if you're trying to guess on a "WoW-killer". AoC is coming out very soon, at a time when WoW is starving for new content, and it will give defected WoW players anywhere from 9-12 months to get hooked before WotLK arrives.
WAR does not have that advantage, since it's coming out either close to or (more likely) JUST before WotLK.
Also, WAR has the big disadvantage of being, you know, an EA product. A lot of gamers distrust EA and you really can't blame them, given the publisher's reputation for sloppy games that play like betas. In an MMO, if you want to stand out from the crowd or in this case, take down a very deeply entrenched market dominator, you cannot afford to be sloppy.
What's my opinion? These two will make the MMO market interesting, but no regime change is at hand here. WoW will remain as the "champion" of online role-playing games.
BoneyD May 1st 2008 10:39PM
It's been pretty definitively stated by people like Mark Jacobs that EA was only to provide financial support to the development of WAR. They did not want to hinder an MMO developer of Mythics experience.
I don't think we'll see another Vanguard style launch with premature launches etc.
censorman May 2nd 2008 9:09AM
Man I wish you were right. Here's what is going to kill AoC.
- Women won't play. While not a huge market, AoC have entirely eliminated them from the equation with their opener and general Neanderthalian treatment of them.
- no one under 18 allowed. So much for the US. We both know a few kids will slip in, but again, with the 18+ stamp, they have eliminated 90% of WoW players.
- general reasons nothing beats wow. Like Mr. LoTRo said, it's the iPod. Doesn't matter that class balance is a joke, story is non-existent, content is tired and recycled, and art is dated. It's a trend.
I will be focusing on Conan for about 2 months. If they don't ship with a solid game, they are dead. Even if they do, because all my friends play WoW and I have a powerful killing machine in the game, again...give that up for a scrub in a new game?
darian May 2nd 2008 10:44AM
BoneD:
EA was involved in a similar capacity for Hellgate London, a game which is generally considered to have been a sloppy release. They might have had more influence in that case, but the take away remains "Don't count on it."
Naix May 2nd 2008 11:08AM
"...WoW players anywhere from 9-12 months to get hooked before WotLK arrives..."
Your joking right? WOtLK will be out in 6 months or less. Blizzard released BC right after Christmas and WotLK will follow suit. Once WotLK gets old maybe I will switch to another MMO but Blizzard has the funnest MMO every made right now. It's going to be hard to pull me, and my friends, away from Wow.
gundamxzero May 2nd 2008 11:47AM
War is not an EA product whatsoever, they are a publisher and have little if anything to do with development.
Rational May 1st 2008 9:20PM
WoW can not be beaten by any of the MMO's currently in development. However, these MMO's will be considered fabulous successes if any of them manage to garner even 10% of WoW's audience.
zymry May 1st 2008 9:27PM
Whether WoW gets beaten or not (and I don't think it will in the near future) The MMORPG genre has already won because of WoW. 10 million subscribers is unheard of, for most of those this will likely have been their first mmo. When they become disenfranchised with WoW they (and their social networks) will likely still play some MMO or another.
I think When WoW fails it will do so not because one game does everything better than WoW does but because different games bleed away it's niches.
WoW started off appealing to the masses by being casual friendly (and for the most part it still is) however it's focus has switched and it is now trying to please 4 groups of people In my opinion. The Casuals, The Raiders, The Pvpers, and the E-sporters (yes these are pvpers too but they are a strong subset of the pvp group). I believe that as games get released that more satisfactorily fill each niche that WoWs subscriber numbers will falter. Not because wow isn't an awesome game, or because any one game did it all better but because it is simply unfathomable that you can keep all 4 of those balls in the air at the same time.