World of Warcraft

I tried out World of Warcraft yesterday, just to see what the hype is all about. It is a good thing that Blizzard is offering 10-day free trial for this game, just for people like me to see if they like the game, before they commit to paying a monthly subscription to play.

Now I know what is so addictive about this game, and why it is the success that it is. Compared to CRPGs like Neverwinter Nights, the learning curve for WoW is much easier, and survivability at the lower levels is not as challenging. And when players can survive, they find the game more interesting (yes, it is had to find a game interesting if you keep dying and have to role up new characters). Couple that with the various quests available in the game to keep new players occupied as they explore the world and learn along the way. Plus, having the option to talk to people and group up makes it a more social game, compared to those that log on to servers capable of handling only up to a certain number of concurrent players.

In a way, those who play MUDs (like Forgotten Kingdoms) will enjoy this, since it brings the elements of MUDs (combat and social aspects) and add in fancy graphics. You get to learn skills, level up and improve in stats, talk to people, kill monsters, loot and sell, make items, etc. The only downside of this game is the subscription. It is based on monthly subscription, rather than time spent online. Which is advantageous to the addict (who may be playing hours each day) but puts the casual gamer (who plays an hour or two every few days) at a disadvantage. Maybe Blizzard should look into offering two types of subscription plans, the monthly plan now, as well as a pay-as-you-play type of plan for the casual gamer.

WoWWiki, an excellent source of information