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What does WoW do better then its competition?

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  • MyownGodMyownGod Member UncommonPosts: 205
    Originally posted by Asariasha

    They are pioneers of the onlinegaming industry. Blizzard simply took the chance when the onlinegaming industry started to evolve into a serious and profitable market - or better let's say. The market already was there. It just waited for someone to find it.

    WoW was the first MMO that was professional marketed over all available channels (print, online, tv). It was a totally new concept for the broad masses and thatfor easily enthused thousands of customers. Beyond that ... WoW has solid graphics, game design and is fun to play. A big plus was the fresh unused playerbase. Only a hand full of experienced EQ1/DAoC/Lineage veterans disliked the game. However, the majority of the new customers loved this new experience. 

    What Asariasha saying is that WoW is alive because obviously the serious marketting technique and is appealing to new gamers, those who have experienced so much more, for them the game is dead. As much as I try to go back into WoW, I just can't! I crave so much more in a game, a freedom to do what you wish to do, a 2nd world where you can express your self and make your own story and this is influenced when I started to touch Vanguard SOH and Ultima Online. I'm just referring to sandbox mmo :P Looking forward for Arche Age.

  • NephelaiNephelai Member UncommonPosts: 185

    There are only two survivors in business - leaders or fast followers. Everyone else fails.

     

    EQ was the leader and WoW was the fast follower who eventually became the leader. Every other MMO that comes now is a slow follower and will never become a leader unless they offer something SIGNIFICANTLY different to over balance the time most players have invested in WoW.

     

    The main reason it is still so popular is the followers were too slow and could only manage essentially the same.

     

    There is literally millions of players trying every new MMO looking for that next SIGNIFICANT change and the company that delivers it will pull subs from WoW like no tomorrow. I'm not sure what it is but I know its not more variations of the same.

     

    There is one other possibility I see in that so many free to play games similar to WoW are released that they all chip away at WoW 250K subs at a time.

     

     

  • sportsfansportsfan Member Posts: 431
    Originally posted by azzamasin

    While I am no longer playing WoW (quit 2 months after Cataclysm launched) it does a few things really well. 

    1. Ease of use, the ability to pick up and play is huge and everything makes logical sense.
    2. The big one, the COMBAT.  Not a fan of Tab Target combat but their animations and smoothness of transitioning from 1 combat animation to the next is huge.  In fact most MMO's have a forced animation lock mechanism (forcing 1 combat animation to finish before the next 1 starts) but WoW does not.  This is big for immersion and sheer reliability.
    3. Polish and production quality.  Everything works, and works well!
     
    Other then that, not much else for me but if every studio took those 3 core tenants and implemented them in every game we would have a much greater and immersive genre to play.

    Last post. Gotta go to work.

    That's not a WOW specific, but a Blizzard angle I guess.

    Ease of use, fluid and polish.

    I already look forward to play Hearthstone. The IPad world is FULL of garbage and amateurish Apps. Apart from Ticket to Ride I didn't see one game with these qualities. So I am curious for the IPad game more than ever.

    (sorry off topic).

  • bubalubabubaluba Member Posts: 434
    Smooth combat, epic raids on enemy cities, huge huge lands, warcraft lore, music, 1000 of achivements, so many battlegrounds, every single class feel different and exct...... In fact wow is in everything better
  • RelGnRelGn Member Posts: 494

    I think it's their engine that maintains high framerates on big battles.

    While rift and some other games are good to play their engine it's so bad optimized that when a lot of things going on screen the game plays at ridiculous 20 or less fps.

    So for me wow wins because it has atmosphere smart graphics in new areas because the old ones are just rediculous and of course nice music..

    But wow it's too old that there is no need to go back.

    Im currently playing marvel heroes and it's fun for what i want right now.

    image
  • SethiusXSethiusX Member Posts: 171
    Originally posted by Muke
    Originally posted by SethiusX

    But, WoW does not strain a PC like many other MMO's do, mostly because the graphics are lower polygon (they still look great due to the art style), but also because Blizzard makes a lot of effort to optimize their engine.

    That and it was easily accessible in playability, where at the time in EQ2 I had to tone down my graphics to medium or even low as the game would be asking too much of my hardware WOW ran smooth because of the simplier engine.

    They said they were doing more updates regarding characters, is there any info or footage about their work in progress?

     

    I don't know if their is any footage yet, I don't think so, but I saw a screenshot of a new model for Garrosh (NOT just the Sha infested one that is circulating, but also a new model for his default orc skin) which some people speculate may be a sign of what is to come for the new Orc model. I can't find the shot right now though... saw it on reddit I think.

    Also, I have a trinket now that turns me into a Troll warrior for 20 seconds every minute or so (strength buff), and the new troll model it is using looks awesome imo. If the new trolls look like this, I wouldn't be too depressed. You have to see the animations in game, so cool. I'm not able to log in right now and get shots of it, but this is the screenshot from wowhead:

    Zandalari Troll model that my character can turn into during combat:

    http://i.imgur.com/C2RGBKy.png

    Old Troll model for comparison:

    http://i.imgur.com/gJmEq8t.png

    Big improvement? I think so... but will the new models look like this or better? I hope so.

  • strangiato2112strangiato2112 Member CommonPosts: 1,538
    Originally posted by brackatcha

    The question was answered well previously in this thread...they captured mass by being in the right place at the right time with the product with the most mass appeal at the time. They then reinvested in the product, released timely content updates and voila!

    What do they do better now than other MMOs....

    1) Graphics - dated, defintely not a positive for this game anymore..even the art style, at this point, has become old and tiremsome.

    2) Questing - sorry, many other MMOS do this better with dynamic events or deeper story arcs

    3) Character Developlment - Skill Tree = at one time a very strong feature..now it has been dumbed down beyond any real consideration

    4) Leveling - eh, I can't think of any reason that leveling in WoW is more captivating than other MMOs

    5) End-game - not knocking WoW's end game..but I definitely don't think theirs is any better than the standard MMO released today. WoW does offer a lot of options at end-game; none of them particularly captivating however.

    6) Combat- they probably have the smoothest combat/animations of any MMO..so yes an argument that they do this better is justified.

    7) LFG Tool - some view this as a negative, I dont. WoW has the best LFG tool out there.

    I am not a WoW hater..I recently quit after getting two toons to 90 and realizing I just didnt want to spend my limited gaming hours doing the same crap I have done for years in this game; it is now old and stale and there really is not a fix for that.

     

    1. disagree about the art style.  Jade Forest is a great looking zone regardless of how low tech the graphics may be.

    2. While I agree that WoW is sorely lacking stuff on the scale of EQ2's heritage quests, its standard questing is the best in the business.  there are plenty of great story arcs to be had (for instance see Storm Peaks in wotlk) and it has tons of humor (although they love their poop jokes too much).  

    3.  Agree.  Ghostcrawler is 100% correct when he says the new system gives more real choice than Wrath/Cata did.  but that doesnt mean its as engaging (and Vanilla/tBC had tons of real choice)

    4.  Because the 1-60 content is EXTREMELY entertaining, and the dungeon queues are short even for dps (and give great exp the first time through).  61-85 can be a bit of a drag as the zones slow down a bit then but for the first time through its still great if you dig questing and if you like dungeons you have tons of those too.

    5.  I dont like what its become, I am sick of the currency grind and WoW desperately needs an AA system.  However this is a genre wide problem and I cant think of a game with a better endgame at this point.

    6.  agreed

    7.  I like the fact they are trying to have content beyond the LFD tool with heroic scenarios and challenge mode dungeons.  they havent hit it right yet, but theyll get there.  they are trying to have the best of both worlds.  And like it or not, anyone who says WoW doesnt innovate is immediately discredited because WoW invented the LFD tool.

     

    You arent wrong about it being a bit stale now, and they are at least trying to change that.  but they cant make mass changes because they still have a LOT of people that enjoy what they are doing.

    Im expecting in a month or two we'll get an expansion 6 announcement, due out Jan/Feb 2014 with details at Blizzcon and Im *very* curious to see what they will do.  With less time between expansions they will have people's attention.  They have a chance to gain those lost subs back if they put back in some kind of character customization beyond the talents and make another burning legion expansion.  Also, guild halls.  

  • KyleranKyleran Member LegendaryPosts: 43,435
    It was featured in South Park

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    "I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant

    Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm

    Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV

    Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™

    "This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon






  • trinixtrinix Member UncommonPosts: 51
    It all depends on your point of view of course, but wow destroyed MMO's imho. Not day one, they did vanilla great, but are people really saying cross server is good? Fine everyone can have their own opinion, but really.
     
    I'll explain why I think it's bad. The whole point of a MMO, at least back in the days of EQ was to make a name on your server. People were invited over other people to join a group, you had friend lists with people who you would ask to join your group before you'd ask other people and most importantly if you were a not so nice guy people would not invite you to groups. Reputation was everything and in a group based game, you could delete your character, because if you couldn't find groups, you couldn't do anything.
     
    Now with WoW, you saw the rise of the instagrat culture. No talking rushing through a dungeon and leaving after the dungeon was done, or worst, leaving when they had there 1 item they were looking for. Worst, people who would take an item not for their class, while the person the whole group was formed for to get that item was left in the cold. 
     
    With cross server this is worst. At least with only on your own server you could ignore people, tell people to ignore someone and go on your merry way and never join them again. This person wouldn't be isolated like EQ, but at least your friends wouldn't join him soon.
     
    And let's not forget looking for raid. I'm sorry, but that's the worst thing that came to the MMO market. I don't understand why they just don't hand you gear, because that's really what happens. Dumbing down strats and giving free buffs if you die, it's just pure and simple a gear run.
     
    Biggest game, NO. Not even close. EQ2 has more real estate than WoW. Vanguard launched with more than WoW and it's first expansion, just content never got delivered or it would have been the biggest in the market. I could add more games, but you get the idea. Oh let's name the classic too, EQ has more content and more real estate than WoW.
     
    questing in wow is okay, phasing helps tell the story better, but it's a boring click to win system still. Look at the secret world. They are telling a story and having puzzles and a fair share of killing to help questing. SWToR has a great way to use the quests to tell the story, with boring kill quests. WoW does nothing for quests except for facing and farms are the worst. Semi-instanced world changes are not world changes. Look at Arche Age, if something happens, everyone sees it, you can't just build a farm on the same spot for 2m subs, you have to buy your own land and do things in the real world, where everyone can capture your stuff, attack you, or stuff.
     
    I can keep going on about wow, but they did a lot good, but they did make it a game that everyone can play and never have to worry about others. A lot of people like it, so it's fine. But not because 8-10M play it, I want to play it. I played it for a year, enjoyed it and hated it. I liked the community, hated the guild intrigue, hated the dungeons and eventually hated the graphics when I got back, man only the original EQ gnomes are worst than the WoW gnomes, but both are hard to look at.
  • caremuchlesscaremuchless Member Posts: 603
    Originally posted by Muke
    Originally posted by Tutu2
    8 years running and it still overshadows it competition significantly. Other MMOs improve certain aspects of the "WoW clone" yet what is it that makes WoW so enduring and keeps people coming back? 

    Only overshadowing the competition in sub numbers and probably annual profits, content-wise and progress-wise they have been overtaken by a number of other mmos long ago.

     

    What makes ppl come back to this game is it's addictive, and easy to get into.

    Very smart design by Blizzard.

    Content wise who overshadows WoW

     

    I call bullshit. Prove it.

    image

  • trinixtrinix Member UncommonPosts: 51
    Originally posted by caremuchless
    Originally posted by Muke
    Originally posted by Tutu2
    8 years running and it still overshadows it competition significantly. Other MMOs improve certain aspects of the "WoW clone" yet what is it that makes WoW so enduring and keeps people coming back? 

    Only overshadowing the competition in sub numbers and probably annual profits, content-wise and progress-wise they have been overtaken by a number of other mmos long ago.

     

    What makes ppl come back to this game is it's addictive, and easy to get into.

    Very smart design by Blizzard.

    Content wise who overshadows WoW

     

    I call bullshit. Prove it.

    Everquest and Everquest 2 have more content than WoW hands down. There are more that offer more things in general, or something like that, but those two are clearly beating WoW on content. 

    Subs well no, but someone also said that wow has more subs than all games combined, which can't be true at all and is false as well.

  • Mors.MagneMors.Magne Member UncommonPosts: 1,549
    Originally posted by trinix
    Originally posted by caremuchless
    Originally posted by Muke
    Originally posted by Tutu2
    8 years running and it still overshadows it competition significantly. Other MMOs improve certain aspects of the "WoW clone" yet what is it that makes WoW so enduring and keeps people coming back? 

    Only overshadowing the competition in sub numbers and probably annual profits, content-wise and progress-wise they have been overtaken by a number of other mmos long ago.

     

    What makes ppl come back to this game is it's addictive, and easy to get into.

    Very smart design by Blizzard.

    Content wise who overshadows WoW

     

    I call bullshit. Prove it.

    Everquest and Everquest 2 have more content than WoW hands down. There are more that offer more things in general, or something like that, but those two are clearly beating WoW on content. 

    Subs well no, but someone also said that wow has more subs than all games combined, which can't be true at all and is false as well.

    Discussing which themepark has the most content is an irrelevant argument. This is because they are all rather similar. 

  • simmihisimmihi Member UncommonPosts: 709

    Compared to its competition, WoW offers...

    - leveling diversity in the form of more zones to level in, You do not have to do the same quests again when leveling a new character

    - a great level of customization, in the form of add-ons (many great add-ons make your life easier)

    - very responsive and fluent combat

    - probably more than double the endgame content of any competitor's

    - a large community (not a great one, but you'll always find people to play with on a high load server)

    - varied difficulty content, from ultra-casual to hardcore

    For most people that's enough. Most of the gamers i know are not looking for "realistic graphics" and "active-combat elements" and stuff like that - they're looking for a place where you can have fun, play with others, see lots of places, bosses, events, rewards etc.

  • NadiaNadia Member UncommonPosts: 11,798
    Originally posted by korent1991

    to be honest... only thing they do better are - PC requirments. You can run that game on a toaster :D

    everything else they have now is just the result of living on the fame of past.

    along w having easier PC requirements and being the most polished mmo

     

    Blizzard had an established fanbase in the millions from their past games

    - Warcraft 1, 2, 3

    - Diablo 1, 2

     

    Guiness World Records claimed Diablo2 was the most popular PC game in the world back in 2000

     

    to me, WOW has always seemed like a Diablo MMO but with Warcraft lore

     

    Blizzard earned their reputation

    but Blizzard had millions of fans, years before WOW, that would play any Blizzard game

  • steamtanksteamtank Member UncommonPosts: 391

    Vanilla WoW was liquid sex

    it ran great on lots of machines

    it LOOKED like warcraft (sure it should have been 3 factions)

    you had things to achieve... players to look up to, rivalries on your server. People knew who you were

    classes actually played differently from one another... balance was more a PvE thing

    PvP was for the lulz,  and pride... 14 hour AV matches

    You had to maintain status in PvP (once that was added)

    Epic loot mattered

     

     

     

    listening to the casual consumers turned it into a golden turd that is slowly flushing itself down the toilet

  • liva98989liva98989 Member UncommonPosts: 252
    I say the cloth/armor variety, no game have really implied as many set of cloth or weapons. This all gives you the option to look unique.

    image

    image
  • DrakynnDrakynn Member Posts: 2,030
    Originally posted by steamtank

    Vanilla WoW was liquid sex

    it ran great on lots of machines

    it LOOKED like warcraft (sure it should have been 3 factions)

    you had things to achieve... players to look up to, rivalries on your server. People knew who you were

    classes actually played differently from one another... balance was more a PvE thing

    PvP was for the lulz,  and pride... 14 hour AV matches

    You had to maintain status in PvP (once that was added)

    Epic loot mattered

     

     

     

    listening to the casual consumers turned it into a golden turd that is slowly flushing itself down the toilet

    screw AV and any other battleground marathon South Shore V Tarren Mill sessions on PvP servers was the height of WoW PvP battlegrounds and then Arenas killed any real MMO PvP  in WoW.

  • NadiaNadia Member UncommonPosts: 11,798
    Originally posted by liva98989
    I say the cloth/armor variety, no game have really implied as many set of cloth or weapons. This all gives you the option to look unique.

    Everquest had a rich variety of weapons

     

    EQ cloth armor for int casters was lacking

  • sodade21sodade21 Member UncommonPosts: 349

    1] It was one of the first that got the whole thempark players.

    2) since then most players are afraid to become again noobs and loose their prestiges in other games,

    3) most people return because they have old friends that they are there..and always wanna feel the reunite feeling

    4) Game Raid Mechanics. love it or hate it thats what keep them.

    5)ADDONS !!! you can make the ui and how the gameplay works as u wish.

    6)Little convinces here and there.

    7)they have already estabieshed world system and they can react faster on problems and new contents..while everyone else try to fix bugs and cannot keep up with playerbase wishes.

    8)everyone compare wow content after almost 10 years in the bizz not with the vanilla. (No new game can compete with almost 10 years of offencive development.)

    9) Great adverisment. People tent to wanna go where the most are.. so they go to wow cause that 10mil player base sound a great place to invest your time for the long run.

    10)most peoples first good mmo was WoW so they go back to check new things and for nostalgia. works everytime with me.

    11)also they got something for the casual and hardcore player. and they have very versatile grind. and they know how to put they carrot on the stick and make you wanna go grind everyday to get the best gear or anything else they offer. They know how to motivate you to log back and grind/play all day. time vs reward = perfect and they tune it all the time accordingly to player base. (GW2 simply has many little things for casuals but nothing to motivate you to log back and to something that counts,specially for the hardcore players.)

  • ThaVampThaVamp Member Posts: 48

    For me it's mostly the amount of friends who used to play it. I played a few other MMO's I really liked, but there were not enough of my friends playing or they quit after a short time.

    Also it did something completely different at the time of release. Or at least something I never played. So it stayed interesting foor a looong time. Today I don't really play anymore. It's more of the same and most of my friends quit.

     

  • MaliceMalice Member UncommonPosts: 9

    Gawd i wish it would just die so people would not compare everything to it ,there were games before it that were better and there will be better games after it,you just have to open your mind

     

  • Mors.MagneMors.Magne Member UncommonPosts: 1,549
    Originally posted by Malice

    Gawd i wish it would just die so people would not compare everything to it ,there were games before it that were better and there will be better games after it,you just have to open your mind

     

    Give me an example.

     

    For example, WoW has pet battles. No other MMORPG has anything like that.

  • daltaniousdaltanious Member UncommonPosts: 2,381
    Originally posted by Tutu2
    8 years running and it still overshadows it competition significantly. Other MMOs improve certain aspects of the "WoW clone" yet what is it that makes WoW so enduring and keeps people coming back? 

    In general they did (and do) everything better than competition. Period. Only thing that they ruined completely at least for me were 5man's with Cata. At that time stopped, just leveled my full set of alts then waiting new expansion. Best for endgame now for me is Swtor. And for this two i'm willing to drop all the rest if I had to. :-))

  • trinixtrinix Member UncommonPosts: 51
    Originally posted by daltanious
    Originally posted by Tutu2
    8 years running and it still overshadows it competition significantly. Other MMOs improve certain aspects of the "WoW clone" yet what is it that makes WoW so enduring and keeps people coming back? 

    In general they did (and do) everything better than competition. Period. Only thing that they ruined completely at least for me were 5man's with Cata. At that time stopped, just leveled my full set of alts then waiting new expansion. Best for endgame now for me is Swtor. And for this two i'm willing to drop all the rest if I had to. :-))

    We can argue about sales figures, number of subs and everything like that, but better is not equal to anything wow has accomplished for the whole player base.

    A lot of oldschool gamers hate WoW. Some of them played MMO's for the social aspect and that has been ruined with cross server everything. Some looked at it as a world rather than a game, they have nothing to look forward to in WoW. WoW destroys it's own lore to balance things out or just so people get what they want.

    I'm not arguing WoW is succesful, they are one of the most succesful and well almost only p2p game left in the market. But fun, better, stuff like that, it's all up to everyone to decide what they want to play and why. Games shouldn't try to be for everyone. Look at Eve, always going strong, p2p and while not succesful as WoW, the niche market they wanted, they hold strong.

  • daltaniousdaltanious Member UncommonPosts: 2,381
    Originally posted by trinix
    Originally posted by daltanious
    Originally posted by Tutu2
    8 years running and it still overshadows it competition significantly. Other MMOs improve certain aspects of the "WoW clone" yet what is it that makes WoW so enduring and keeps people coming back? 

    In general they did (and do) everything better than competition. Period. Only thing that they ruined completely at least for me were 5man's with Cata. At that time stopped, just leveled my full set of alts then waiting new expansion. Best for endgame now for me is Swtor. And for this two i'm willing to drop all the rest if I had to. :-))

    We can argue about sales figures, number of subs and everything like that, but better is not equal to anything wow has accomplished for the whole player base.

    A lot of oldschool gamers hate WoW. Some of them played MMO's for the social aspect and that has been ruined with cross server everything. Some looked at it as a world rather than a game, they have nothing to look forward to in WoW. WoW destroys it's own lore to balance things out or just so people get what they want.

    I'm not arguing WoW is succesful, they are one of the most succesful and well almost only p2p game left in the market. But fun, better, stuff like that, it's all up to everyone to decide what they want to play and why. Games shouldn't try to be for everyone. Look at Eve, always going strong, p2p and while not succesful as WoW, the niche market they wanted, they hold strong.

    Well. usually ALL comes down to money, no matter what. So is obvious EVERY game want to please to more then few 100 players.

    I'm 51 and played alot ... can consider myself as oldschool gamer (starting even before Prince of persia 2D :-). I love wow and i do not miss at all any of his predecessors. Like I will never miss WASD replaced by most natural and effective way of mouse for moving avatars. And I will never miss my old cars without ABS, clima, ... etc. :-) That was ONCE. Today is another day.

    About always present and durable "argument" complain about "socialising". Socialising - IMO - does not belong behind keyboard and monitor. Who think so should be born like me in era without computers, console and barely with tv. Kids were at that time REALLY socializing.

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