Okay, everybody has heard of this game and I mean EVERYBODY. Well, everybody with access to the internet or a television or some form of media advertising. Anyway, so, it’s a good game and I used to play for a while, got a level 60 Tauren Warrior to show for it. But then one day when my subscription ran out I couldn’t be bothered to buy another ‘gamer’s card’ and I haven’t played since. I’ve been thinking about getting back into it for a while but never got around to it, it’s mainly a money thing, I mean I have so many other, more important things to spend money on like, alcohol … and drugs. When I finish school and get a steady job and credit card I will most likely take up playing again but anyway…
Awww, wook at the bunny wabbit.
So there two kinds of people in this world, those who play WoW and those who don’t. And then you have all your subgroups within the two main ones. Within the ‘people who play WoW’ group you have the hardcore Koreans who spend every waking hour of their life dedicated to WoW and only stop to waffle down some microwave cookery or piss in a coke can (true story), and then you have the more casual players (like myself) who play for a couple of hours a day and have a great time playing a fun game with some friends (if your questing in a group or raiding).
And in the ‘people who don’t play WoW’ there are those who don’t play because they just don’t play video games and those who aren’t into MMOGs and those who don’t play solely because they want to hate the game on principle of it being the most popular game in the world and they somehow think that they will be cooler if they abstain. It’s these types of people who really piss me off, I mean, they just simply refuse to play the game because of all the other people who get addicted. I also hate those people who go onto Gamespot and rate it 1 and then go on some ramble about how it’s the worst game ever because ‘it destroyed my life and my girlfriend broke up with me and it’s all a mess now because of WoW’. WRONG, it’s not WoWs fault, it’s yours buddy!
It also pains me to see those videos of people deleting their characters because they are addicted and they need to stop. Not only are you destroying hundreds of hours of work but you are severing all the social connections you have made with that character. Trust me, after playing a game for so long you do make some pretty good friends, and these people go and destroy all of that, all because of a stupid addiction. There are plenty of other ways to help your addiction, you could use the parental controls for your account, you could uninstall WoW, you could simply let your subscription run out. There are heaps of other options other than destroying all that you’ve worked towards. Geuhhh…
So, why was WoW such a popular game? What made it so great? Well, the simple answer to that is that is was a very accessible game, it appealed to a very large audience. It was also very user friendly and was very easy to pick up and play and yet still had enough complexity to make it difficult to master. The world is large and very diverse, there are different monsters and scenery everywhere you go so the game never gets old. Last and I feel most importantly: It doesn’t take itself too seriously; the graphics are cartoony and the gameplay is fun, bright and colourful.
So, if you haven’t played WoW before I suggest you at least give it a go, it didn’t become the worlds most popular game for no reason. If you don’t want to spend $20 or so on a game you can download the full client and a free 20 day trial at www.warcraft.com.
Some people love it, some people hate it, but you never know until you play it.
