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What percentage of WoW's success you believe is because of Warcraft RTS?

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  • OzmodanOzmodan Member EpicPosts: 9,726
    Great topic, @MMOExposed ;

    I have been thinking about this myself in the past.

    I think the RTS had an impact so huge that it can be considered as the main reason why WoW has become the most significant MMO to date.  

    The RTS series already had a large player base. In addition, it had a huge amount of high quality lore.

    I think these factors combined with the Blizzard brand caused that WoW attracted significantly higher number of players than the company anticipated. The fact that the game was actually very good facilitated its rise to the throne of online gaming at that time. 

    I think it could be true that of its current playerbase, probably not so many people know about the RTS. However, if it was not for the RTS, I think it is quite possible that WoW would have never become what it is.
    RTS players and MMO players are completely different player sets.  My guess is that most of the Wow players never played the rts game at all.
  • CrazKanukCrazKanuk Member EpicPosts: 6,130
    Kyleran said:
    I had played multiple Blizzard games prior to WOW including both Diablos, Starcraft and the first two RTS games. (never did play WC3, had burned out on the genre by then)

    So when I heard Blizz was making a MMORPG I had to try it based on their previous track record.

    Funny thing, while I enjoyed WOW at first, my experience in that game along with Starcraft 2 (and Diablo 2 really) now puts Blizz in the camp of Devs I won't buy games from.

    Not because they don't make good games, of course they do, but their designs don't mesh with my more eclectic tastes.

    I agree-ish. I actually love Blizzard and I enjoy their games and I think their reputation has a lot to do with their success. That being said, it's a continuous love/hate relationship. I sold *cough* I mean abandoned at least 2 accounts before settling on the one I've got now. Each of those previous times I was done, like "this is it, I'm never coming back. ", but like a moth to a flame, I haven't missed a single expansion. So now I just deactivate my account when I'm done, because I know I'll be back. 

    Crazkanuk

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  • TheocritusTheocritus Member LegendaryPosts: 9,739
    I played Warcraft 3 before WoW was even mentioned and thought it was garbage...it had 0 influence on my decision to play WoW....Other MMOs were a much greater influence than that terrible game.
  • cameltosiscameltosis Member LegendaryPosts: 3,703
    I take a very different view of WoWs success. 

    Whilst I have no doubt that previous warcraft games helped bring players to WoW, in my opinion their initial success came from 3 main sources:

    1) Advertising - For some reason people overlook this, but I still feel like WoW was the most advertised MMO in history. Having celebrities make funny adverts for your game hits home. It sticks in the mind. Exposure like this is, in my opinion, the overwhelming reason for its initial (and to a lesser degree, ongoing) success

    2) Game Design leading to Word of Mouth - love it or hate it, WoW was the most polished MMO of it's time and more specifically, it was designed to be accessible. WoW attracts millions via advertising, but the game still had to be good. So many of it's players were new to the genre, but WoW was designed to give them a good experience regardless. Early adopters told their friends, resulting in rapid increase in numbers. 

    3) Brand Awareness - I personally have never enjoyed Blizzards games but they have somehow managed to convince the gaming world that they deliver "good" games. They've always seemed too childish and lacking in depth for my personal tastes, but the opinion within the gaming community itself is generally positive. This helped convince gamers that WoW might be worth the effort. 



    Advertising really is the key though. Getting your product in front of as many faces as possible is really crucial, and Blizzard did an excellent job. 
  • IselinIselin Member LegendaryPosts: 18,719
    In the WOW pre-release hype phase? it had a lot to do with it. After the game launched? zero. It simply grew based on what it provided as an MMO not because of its RTS lore predecessors.
    "Social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak when they once only spoke at a bar after a glass of wine, without harming the community ... but now they have the same right to speak as a Nobel Prize winner. It's the invasion of the idiots”

    ― Umberto Eco

    “Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?” 
    ― CD PROJEKT RED

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