The game came out in 2004 and was leaps and bounds beyond anything else that was currently on the market to many people. There's a reason the genre began to to clone WoW and not EQ.
This is an interesting point, especially in light of the fact that in my opinion nothing new has really come out since WoW's release that is truly better at doing the whole themepark thing. Another good quest-based themepark, in my opinion, is EQ2 though it is just a tad older than WoW.
GW2 is the only game I thought was really quite good for what it did since WoW's release, but it is still not as engaging as either EQ2 or WoW to me. All of the other themeparks I have tried have fallen way short.
Which is why I should confine my future endeavors with WoW to thoughts only! :-)
The problem is that WoW changed a lot since it's original conception in 2004. It started as a more accessible and graphically superior version of EverQuest in an almost seemless world. Then when subscriptions began peaking around the transition between BC & WotLK, Blizzard got this wonderful idea that to keep their game growing they needed to make general content ultra casual friendly, with endgame progressively targeting a more casual playerbase. Then subscriptions topped at ~ 12 million worldwide (including China) and began tanking downward in around 2011.
The dumbed down casual version of WoW is but a shell of the artistic mastery & great pastime it once was. It's not even from an elitist point of view. Very little is challenging now, and dungeons are so streamlined it's rediculous. Look at BRS, LBRS / UBRS, Dire Maul, Karazan, and Ulduarr if you want to see how much effort Blizzard "USED" to put into their work.
So alas, to your own statement, WoW isn't that bad when I think about it ... and to keep it a great game, in my memories is where it should stay. :P
I don't understand peoples issue with wow's graphics they aren't that bad, I find them much better then alot of other games ive tried like lotro and warhammer. They are way better them champions online.
I actually perfer wows stylized graphics to more realistic graphics. Plus wow plays easy and i love to quest in it. I don't care if people hate wow thats there choice.
I don't really care if wow innovated anything or not. What they did do though was perfect. The everquest style game and make it mainstream Something no other mmo has managed to do.
If u dont like themeparks fine. I don't like sandbox games. Thats just me
That said the graphics in wow aren't anywhere near as bad as people say. They just don't like the stylized graphics in general and rage on and on about that.
Also to blame wow as most wow haters do for what other devs choose to do in copying wow is stupid. As its not wows fault devs choose to try to make wow 2 and fail miserably while never inventing anything new.
A huge part of mmorpg's (or at least it used to be) is immersion. If you think about it from that angle you might start to understand why people have issues with WoW's cartoony graphics.
Eye of the beholder.
I find WoW's graphics way more immersive than those of EVE even though EVE is supposed to have 'better' graphics. The cartoony graphics are perfect for immersing me in a low fantasy setting.
Wow's "graphics" is a style choice they chose based off of their art style and direction from Warcraft 3 and allowed them to expand with technology. The low polygon count on their models and props freed up assets that allowed them to have smoother animation and more responsive client/server interaction. They basically went with gameplay first, then "graphics" which is what a lot of people still use as a warcry on these forums.
Comments
This is an interesting point, especially in light of the fact that in my opinion nothing new has really come out since WoW's release that is truly better at doing the whole themepark thing. Another good quest-based themepark, in my opinion, is EQ2 though it is just a tad older than WoW.
GW2 is the only game I thought was really quite good for what it did since WoW's release, but it is still not as engaging as either EQ2 or WoW to me. All of the other themeparks I have tried have fallen way short.
Playing MUDs and MMOs since 1994.
WoW isn't that bad when I think about it.
Which is why I should confine my future endeavors with WoW to thoughts only! :-)
The problem is that WoW changed a lot since it's original conception in 2004. It started as a more accessible and graphically superior version of EverQuest in an almost seemless world. Then when subscriptions began peaking around the transition between BC & WotLK, Blizzard got this wonderful idea that to keep their game growing they needed to make general content ultra casual friendly, with endgame progressively targeting a more casual playerbase. Then subscriptions topped at ~ 12 million worldwide (including China) and began tanking downward in around 2011.
The dumbed down casual version of WoW is but a shell of the artistic mastery & great pastime it once was. It's not even from an elitist point of view. Very little is challenging now, and dungeons are so streamlined it's rediculous. Look at BRS, LBRS / UBRS, Dire Maul, Karazan, and Ulduarr if you want to see how much effort Blizzard "USED" to put into their work.
So alas, to your own statement, WoW isn't that bad when I think about it ... and to keep it a great game, in my memories is where it should stay. :P
Want a nice understanding of life? Try Spirit Science: "The Human History"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8NNHmV3QPw&feature=plcp
Recognize the voice? Yep sounds like Penny Arcade's Extra Credits.
Wow's "graphics" is a style choice they chose based off of their art style and direction from Warcraft 3 and allowed them to expand with technology. The low polygon count on their models and props freed up assets that allowed them to have smoother animation and more responsive client/server interaction. They basically went with gameplay first, then "graphics" which is what a lot of people still use as a warcry on these forums.
"If I offended you, you needed it" -Corey Taylor
It introduced the blight that is tupperware pvp.