World of Warcraft

Originally posted by Pappy13

I got tired of seeing that "other" thread so I'm starting a new one.  If you like the game, feel free to post your comments here instead of in that "other" thread. :)

1)  Everyone can play it.  You don't need a new PC to play it, you don't even need a new graphics card and you can still get a decent framerate.

2)  It works.  I don't crash to desktop.  The quests can all be completed.  If I actually have an issue like accidentally giving a bind on pickup item to the wrong person in Kara or accidentally deleting the wrong character, I can open a ticket and it will be fixed usually within an hour or 2.

3)  It's kept up to date.  Patches come out every month or 2 that add additional content, update the interface, add new features, etc.  Every couple years a new expansion comes out with a bunch of new content, new races, new classes, new professions, new skills etc.

4)  Servers are always active.  Everytime I log in there's tons of people in game.  I have a list of about 20 friends and there's almost always somebody playing.  I put stuff up on the AH and within 48 hours it's sold.  If I need something, I can search the AH and find it.

5)  It's complete.  For PvE there's role playing, questing, raiding, professions, trading and reputation rewards.  For PvP there's battlegrounds, dueling, arenas, world PvP and tournament play.

6)  It's user friendly.  I can play alone or in a group up equally well and both offer great rewards.  There are no harsh penalties for getting killed which means I don't spend a bunch of time trying to reacquire something I've already acquired.  Leveling up doesn't take a lot of time so I always feel like I'm progressing even if I can only spend a couple hours a week playing.

7)  It's fun.  Lots of little extra's are added like holidays, world events, the faire, and a fishing tournament.

8)  It's beautiful.  Whether you are 5 or 75 you can appreciate a world filled with knights, damsels in distress, dragons, sorcerers, magic, dark castles, earie graveyards, majestic mountains, breathtaking waterfalls, zeppelin rides, vast oceans, etc.

9)  It's addicting.  Whether you are just a casual player or a hard core raider it will keep you entertained for hours and keep you wanting to come back for more.

10) It's cheap.  It costs about the same to play WoW for a month that it does to go see a 2 hour movie, buy a soda and popcorn and pay for the gas there and back and I never have to leave the comfort of my own house.  For entertainment value it's hard to beat.
 

wow doesnt need any list showing why its good...
 

wow is above any mmo ever made so he doesnt need to come down humiliate himself making "why im good lists"

Yes WoW is great game, but there is just one bad thing about it: its commercial. For me WoW is like pop music  - almost any other P2P game is more valuable even not so polished.

Originally posted by SignusM 

You haven't named a single feature that wasn't in just about every MMO before and after WoW, nothing special there. And you mentioned performance like 3 times.

Sure, most games have PvP for example, but is the PvP in EQ2 really worth mentioning compared to WoW?  Blizzard did so many things 'right' in their game which is why you can list things that are indeed in many games, but collectively don't deliver. 

A game doesn't need a huge list of innovations and unique features to be done well or done better than the majority of games on the market.  Esepcially when you consider that it does almost all of the items on a list of features better -collectively- than any other game. 

Originally posted by SignusM

You haven't named a single feature that wasn't in just about every MMO before and after WoW, nothing special there. And you mentioned performance like 3 times.

Well you kinda missed the point.  Someone else had posted a list of reasons why they thought WoW sucked, so I decided to post a list of reasons of why I think WoW doesn't suck.  I didn't say these things made WoW better than any other MMO, only that it didn't suck.  It was never meant to be a comparison of WoW to all other MMO's and show why it's superior, that's something that you and a few others have read into it because of your biased feelings toward WoW.  You come here looking for something to shoot down and as soon as you see a positive post you instantly begin to shoot it down without even considering what the post is about.  I'm sorry that you can't read a single positive thing about WoW without feeling compelled to argue with it. 

I only mentioned performance once so your attempt to undermine my post was a poor attempt at that.

12 reasons/lessons for others by Gordon Walton, co-studio director at BioWare Austin: (simplified)

1. Learn from others (i.e. use what works, change or scrap what doesn't)
2. Low system specs - available for everyone
3. Polish - WoW worked well from the start, especially compared to other MMOGs
4. Solo friendly
5. Simple and intuitive user interface
6. Content, content and more content
7. Strong (and versatile) PvP
8. Tune for the regular players, not the hardcore players
9. Don't promise stuff to keep people hanging (e.g. Blizzard doesn't give ETAs or look many patches ahead)
10. Few and distinct (but all good) choices
11. Gentle learning curve
12. It's Blizzard

Now, several of the points above will likely have some people go "no f*ing way WoW did/does that well". I encourage those people to go tell Mr. Walton - who surely has no more experience than you in game development and analysis - how mistaken he is, so he can make sure BioWare's MMOG doesn't fail (you) the way WoW did. ;-)

Originally posted by Dreamagram

12 reasons/lessons for others by Gordon Walton, co-studio director at BioWare Austin: (simplified)

1. Learn from others (i.e. use what works, change or scrap what doesn't)
2. Low system specs - available for everyone
3. Polish - WoW worked well from the start, especially compared to other MMOGs
4. Solo friendly
5. Simple and intuitive user interface
6. Content, content and more content
7. Strong (and versatile) PvP
8. Tune for the regular players, not the hardcore players
9. Don't promise stuff to keep people hanging (e.g. Blizzard doesn't give ETAs or look many patches ahead)
10. Few and distinct (but all good) choices
11. Gentle learning curve
12. It's Blizzard

Now, several of the points above will likely have some people go "no f*ing way WoW did/does that well". I encourage those people to go tell Mr. Walton - who surely has no more experience than you in game development and analysis - how mistaken he is, so he can make sure BioWare's MMOG doesn't fail (you) the way WoW did. ;-)

Very nicely done, however I'd change one thing.  12 I think should more rightfully say something like brand name counts.  If you release something less than stellar, you might not just be sacrificing the success of that piece of software, but also the next piece of software you put out.  People remember and are unwilling to take another chance with your software, so get it right the first time, no matter what it costs.
 

Originally posted by Dreamagram

12 reasons/lessons for others by Gordon Walton, co-studio director at BioWare Austin: (simplified)

1. Learn from others (i.e. use what works, change or scrap what doesn't)
2. Low system specs - available for everyone
3. Polish - WoW worked well from the start, especially compared to other MMOGs
4. Solo friendly
5. Simple and intuitive user interface
6. Content, content and more content
7. Strong (and versatile) PvP
8. Tune for the regular players, not the hardcore players
9. Don't promise stuff to keep people hanging (e.g. Blizzard doesn't give ETAs or look many patches ahead)
10. Few and distinct (but all good) choices
11. Gentle learning curve
12. It's Blizzard

Now, several of the points above will likely have some people go "no f*ing way WoW did/does that well". I encourage those people to go tell Mr. Walton - who surely has no more experience than you in game development and analysis - how mistaken he is, so he can make sure BioWare's MMOG doesn't fail (you) the way WoW did. ;-)

That's a very good list right there. Never heard of Gordon Walton in the gaming industry until I saw this post but it seems he does know what he's doing when it comes to making a successful MMOG (at least for what they're planning with their new MMOG).

Originally posted by Dreamagram

12 reasons/lessons for others by Gordon Walton, co-studio director at BioWare Austin: (simplified)

1. Learn from others (i.e. use what works, change or scrap what doesn't)
2. Low system specs - available for everyone
3. Polish - WoW worked well from the start, especially compared to other MMOGs
4. Solo friendly
5. Simple and intuitive user interface
6. Content, content and more content
7. Strong (and versatile) PvP
8. Tune for the regular players, not the hardcore players
9. Don't promise stuff to keep people hanging (e.g. Blizzard doesn't give ETAs or look many patches ahead)
10. Few and distinct (but all good) choices
11. Gentle learning curve
12. It's Blizzard

Now, several of the points above will likely have some people go "no f*ing way WoW did/does that well". I encourage those people to go tell Mr. Walton - who surely has no more experience than you in game development and analysis - how mistaken he is, so he can make sure BioWare's MMOG doesn't fail (you) the way WoW did. ;-)

I agree with those except #3, I don't think WoW was very polished at the start, even compared to other games, and if I could ask Mr. Walton I would but I don't see that happening.  In any case if you just take the point as "make the game polished from the start" than i like all 12.

Yet even if you think that WoW was polished from the start that really isin't a positive point about the game. That's like saying "WoW is a good game because the level 60 raids are really fun." That's a true point in my opinion but no one does level 60 raids and if they do it isin't the same as pre BC. That point and the point about WoW being polished from the get go are both pretty irrelevant in that no one is going to change their opinion on WoW or go and play WoW because of how the game performed years ago.

It's a good point for