world of warcraft

WoW Number One Due to Lack of Competition

For the past seven years, World of Warcraft has ruled the MMORPG scene. I know as I have played off and on since beta. I took “WoW breaks” and it seemed I would return again and again when I grew bored of whatever MMO I was playing at the time. It’s a great game despite what some haters will say but even I, a longtime fan, grew bored of it. I wanted something new, something different, something more… but I still loved many of the things that made WoW so great.  Some people believe that WoW has survived for so long because it has not had any real competition. Although I love many things about the game, I have to agree on this. I’ve tried many other MMOs, including nearly every free-to-play MMORPG I could find to download to my computer and none of them had the total package that…

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Compare/Contrast SWTOR to other recent MMOs

Everyone’s talking about SWTOR and if it’s going to be any good as well as how it compares to other recent MMOs. You’ve heard all of the comparisons to WoW. We’ve heard all of those a million times, it seems but World of Warcraft is not the only game it’s being compared to. One Reddit user did a write-up on how it compares to other MMOs of today in terms of gameplay, zones and maps and more. Here’s a sampling: Leveling is slow-paced. You have to do fairly significant travel and quests for each level in comparison to WoW and WHO. Quests stayed consistent through 20 levels. ll quests are accepted via cutscene and voice over, with various conversation options that add more dialog before eventually getting to the accept or deny dialog. (Dragon Age) The UI is nothing special and doesn’t appear to be customizable. The user puts both…

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SWTOR to Model WoW for Launch Strategy

The delay in SWTOR launch is based in part off of Blizzard’s launch of World of Warcraft. Gamasutra explains in an article with quotes from the Citi 2011 Tech Conference. SWTOR has an intended launch with a strong focus on the initial player base. They would rather limit this number and give better service to a smaller demographic than try to reach too many people at once, this diluting the experience overall for everyone. “”We’ve actually studied WoW pretty carefully,” CFO Eric Brown said at the Citi 2011 Tech Conference on Wednesday. “”We spent a lot of time studying the first twelve months or so of WoW, and just to be clear here, when they initially launched, they did not launch in dual geographies. They went North America only.”” Gamasutra covers more from Brown on the topic: “”We really want to make sure that the first group of users into…

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SWTOR vs. WoW – How They’re Similar, and How They’re Not (Infographic)

We often compare SWTOR With World of Warcraft. Some might ague that this is wrong as it is two different games in two different settings. While I agree with that argument, it’s only fair to say that World of Warcraft is the dominating MMORPG in the world and there for the only game to compare against when we talk new MMO’s, and there is no question that these two games will come head-to-head in the MMO battle of the decade. Gamefront.com has put together this chart showing some prevalent features and which of the two titles possess them. Check it out:

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How the Launch of SWTOR Could affect WoW

Should WoW be concerned that the launch of SWTOR is rapidly approaching? According to Tenton Hammer, World of Warcraft has lost 300,000 players during their last quarter and the number of subscribers fell the quarter before that as well. Some may speculate that WoW is on the way out and SWTOR is on the way in but that’s unlikely. However, World of Warcraft may be in for some major changes to help keep players interested. Some of the players that have recently left WoW will more than likely begin playing The Old Republic when it’s released. However, for the gaming industry, having a variety of titles is what makes it thrive and no “one title” can rule MMOs. This has a lot to do with the fact that each MMO has its own “cult” or fan base that keeps it alive. WoW has its loyal fans that will never stray…

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IS SWTOR a WoW-killer?

There have been numerous reports and accusations that SWTOR is a WoW-killer. For many, it will be a good thing if it is. Some are tired of WoW and tired of WoW-clones. They’re looking for something new, something to make a big splash in the MMO scene and SWTOR claims to be it. This article on Product-Reviews.net takes a look at this notion and whether or not SWTOR will really be a WoW-killer. “Most gamers will agree that the notion of any such game being able to topple the might of Blizzard’s WoW will be like saying; the Mega Drive can compete with the PS3’s graphics. However, SWTOR has so much more to give gamers, more in fact than Wow, but there is still much more to consider. Gamerzitch has now weighed in on the argument saying that BioWare has developed a game that makes you feel important, but is…

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Blizzard Wish Success for Star Wars: The Old Republic

So it turns out Blizzard can not only produce a masterclass in MMOs, but also a masterclass in… class. Narrowly following comments by EA that World of Warcraft was in some respects like a shopping list, the Blizzard riposte was to wish their rivals well and remark on how a bigger pie means bigger slices for everyone, or something to that effect. Blizzard’s co-founder and Executive Vice President, Frank Pearce, tells MCV in an interview that, “This is a game that has an opportunity to grow the MMO market if done right and therefore is very important to the industry as a whole, not just EA. “We’ve talked about this internally and from our perspective we hope they make an enjoyable game because they’re going to bring in a lot of new players to the MMO genre, and those players’ idea of whether or not they like this type of…

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‘Star Wars’ vs. ‘World of Warcraft’ – the gauntlet is thrown

When it comes to “Star Wars: The Old Republic,” the folks at EA who are publishing the massively multiplayer online game clearly have their eyes on a very particular prize: “World of Warcraft” and its 12 million subscribers. EA wants those players to leave their online universe of orcs and elves for a new online universe filled with Sith and Jedi. And they seem to feel confident players are going to do so. And as “The Old Republic” launch nears, the game publisher seems to be stepping up the “WoW” vs. “Star” Wars” trash talk. In an interview with Industry Gamers this week, Frank Gibeau, head of EA Games, suggested that “WoW” is an aging game and that playing it can feel like tending to a “shopping list.” “When I play ‘World of Warcraft,’ you go and get your quests, and you go and do your quests, but it feels…

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Editorial: MMORPG standards?

World of Warcraft did not define any type of standard. Blizzard made an MMO that people love to play, and everyone feels they can capitalize off of that success by making inferior, or direct copy, clones. The main problem here is that people are afraid to try anything new, and how can you really blame them? It takes time and money, possibly more so than a regular game, and the chance of failure is higher than normal since the market is just so saturated with free to play MMO’s, the juggernaut, and a handful of fairly successful paid MMO’s. As I see it, there are three kinds of games with three unique objectives: Mindless fun- You play this because it’s a diversion. I played Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory because it was absurdly fun. Didn’t learn anything, didn’t accomplish anything, but I stalked enemies for hours fucking with their heads and…

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Greg Zeschuk: World of Warcraft established the MMO standards

Co founder of  BioWare Greg Zeschuk did a public Speaking at the DICE summit in Las Vegas yesterday. Here he confessed that World of warcraft has set the standards for any MMORPG. and that the developer’s own offering, Star Wars: The Old Republic, looks to it for “standards”. Furhtermore he doesn’t see SWTOR as a WoW-killer. The players will decide if SWTOR will become a succes: “It is a touchstone,” Zeschuk said of WoW, according to GamesIndustry. “It has established standards, it’s established how you play an MMO: “It is a touchstone,” Zeschuk told the audience. “It has established standards, it’s established how you play an MMO. Every MMO that comes out, I play and look at it. And if they break any of the WoW rules, in my book that’s pretty dumb. If you have established standards, WoW established them.” Zeschuk also admitted that it will be an “interesting challenge” to compete with…

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WoW Killer or WoW Failure?

Is there room for 2 incredibly powerful MMO’s on the market, can Star Wars: The old republic out shine World of Warcraft where every other MMO has failed to be #1? Maybe… It might be too late though, with WoW already being as big as it is. But we’ve seen game play after game play in anticipation for Sw:Tor to shine brightly in our hands making us the rulers of our own destiny with a lightsaber or Two. If Tor cannot succeed in drawing you in as promised with it’s epic story telling than we might see millions of dollars and hours just thrown away, but I’ve always had faith in the Bioware franchise ever since Balder’s Gate pretty much the only thing I do have faith in. “So where does that leave EA and BioWare Austin? Possibly up a creek given how much money has reportedly been poured into…

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