Why WoW stopped being "WOW!"

I think it all began when I was in Terokkar Forest grinding basilisks for leather (for the uninitiated, this is not a sexual innuendo, "to grind" is an MMO term for farming, or continually killing a mob, or monster, for a certain item...it is as interesting as it sounds). At that point, one of my guildmates said over our guild chat that he had found some [Kaldorei Windchimes] during his archeological searching. I believe the conversation went something like this (paraphrased, of course):

Him: Woo! [Kaldorei Windchimes]

Someone else: Awesome! Grats!

Him: Thanks.

Me: What do they do?

Him: They're windchimes, what do you think they do?

Me: ...they make sound?

Him: Yup.

Me: That seems kind of pointless.

Him: Who cares? The whole game is pointless.

Now, as I said, this is almost criminally paraphrased. I'm sure much of what my guildmate said was lost...but to me, this is essentially what the brief interlude, and the two hour discussion that followed, amounted to: WoW is a timesink. It is no longer concerned with substance, with impressing, with WOWing its player base. All it is is sparkle and tinkle, hollow and meaningless vanity items hiding behind blue and purple names...all it is is "good enough."

I have played World of Warcraft for six years. From launch until today, with only two brief breaks, one when I was banished to Wisconsin and did not have the internet, and another when I decided to cancel my subscription for awhile (a couple month break that ended with me returning and being drafted into a guild raid that artificially lengthened my stay long after the game ceased being interesting). So it stands to reason that I believe WoW is a solid game. However, I do not believe that it is a good game anymore. This is a fairly controvertial topic, and one that I have met with a great deal of resistance on during my many attempts to convince others. However, I realized that I was trying to convince people that WoW is no longer great (and indeed, probably no longer /deserves/ to be the top-selling MMO on the market)...while playing WoW. It rather undermined my point somewhat.

Now, once again it bears repeating: I do not think WoW is a bad game. I have greatly enjoyed my six years with it. While I no longer enjoy it nearly as much as I used to (even sitting here trying to decide if I still actually enjoy it, I can't come up with an answer), I still think it's a solid, well-designed game. Those who still enjoy it are entirely justified. However, I feel that those who have grudges with the game, like I do, are entirely justified as well...however, problems truly arise when we try to quit.

Think about where you've lived during your life. Pick a place you've lived for a decade or more. I'll bet you made a few friends. Probably more than a few. Now, think about what it would be like (or was like) to leave that place. This analogy works even better if the place you're thinking about was (or you can imagine it being) somewhere pretty awful. Maybe the weather was bad, maybe it had bad pollution or your apartment/home was in disrepair. I'll bet you'd still have a hard time saying you were happy to (or would be happy to) leave it. This is essentially how I feel about World of Warcraft. I have made many excellent friends, many of whom I have met in person outside of WoW, many of whom I will remain (or hope to remain) good friends with long after I have left WoW. However, this creates a sort of...artificial tether for me, and I believe most of the people who play the game. We're afraid to leave because we think once we do leave, we will sever these ties irrevocably. Worse yet, we believe that it will be difficult, impossible even, to reestablish these ties in another game. It's too much trouble. So why bother trying? So, even long after the game has lost all of its luster, I believe many of us (or maybe it's just me...) stay, loathing the game itself, but loving the people we associate with.

I won't go into some cheesy friendship message here and say how a true friend, no matter how you made them, is one that will stick with you even when you're gone (whoops, I just did say it), but I will say it's a rather unfortunate state of affairs for the gaming industry. I personally know several MMOs that have failed because WoW controls the market...otherwise fine MMOs broken because people were unwilling to give them a chance, unwilling to leave their safety blanket and their good friends to make new friends and find a new game they can genuinely enjoy. In most cases, it's not that these games are bad, it's that A) they are unpolished, as most MMOs are (though we tend to remember with rose-colored glasses, WoW really wasn't that much when it first came out), and B) people aren't willing to give them a fair shake before they go running back to WoW.

I am leaving WoW, and I'll explain why. It's a rather simple reason, really: I no longer believe WoW is the best game on the market. But also, perhaps closer to the point, I do not believe it is the game that it could, nay, should be. I believe it has appeal (perhaps to me and me alone) only in the social bonds you form in the game, which, admittedly, is a good thing for an MMO to have. However, I've felt like the game's innovation, from a company that has shown to be one of the most innovative in the market, has fallen flat. The updates to the game, such as they are, are a parade of raid content (admittedly spectacluar stuff, but it's still only one type of gameplay) with the occasional "dungeons" thrown in when the current raid gear simply won't cut it for what they have planned. While I suppose this works pretty well for what WoW is trying to be, I don't think this is enough to base a game that is the biggest time sink in the history of mankind on. By the end of the last expansion, I was playing the game once a week for the raid content alone. And during the raids, if it weren't for the comical and amusing banter of my guildmates, I would have been bored stiff--or even worse, annoyed by the more quirky and difficult raid bosses. And what was the point? What was the grand reason for raiding? To get gear so you can raid more. Ironically, the end-game raid for this expansion, Ice Crown Citadel, was only there to get better gear so you could finish Ice Crown Citadel...since there was no major raid after that and the new expansion, Cataclysm, would make most of this gear moot. This endless cycle of raiding so you can get more gear so you can raid more just no longer appeals to me.

Ok, some of you might argue that that's the point of the game, to which I concede the point. But for me, that is simply not enough. I would like to emphasize this again: FOR ME, that is not enough. Paying $15 a month for one day a week of questionable enjoyment (questionable because I could, and hope to continue to, enjoy time with friends for free), while not a horrible value, just isn't worth it in my mind. So I am left with, admittedly clever, raid content that eventually will always grow stagnant and boring, which I plod through for better gear with which I can see the next batch of raid content that I can plod through for better gear with which I can see the next batch of raid content that I can plod through...

Once again, I can't call WoW a bad game. But in my opinion it is not the game it could be and I think the real beef I have right now is that there is absolutely no reason it is not the game it could be. What does it need to make it fresh again? I don't know. I'm not a game designer. I can say when /I/ feel it needs: better character models, more customization options to make my character feel unique and special (I went over this a bit in my previous blog, about how City of Heroes and Champions Online's character customization puts you immediately in the right mindset, bonding with your character so as to allow you to better cope with the MMO drudgery), player/guild housing, etc. Player housing in particular is an interesting concept that I really think Blizzard needs to revisit. Allowing its players another timesink, collecting trinkets to decorate our houses with, new crafting professions (carpenter?) and recipes to make kitch for our houses, etc, would add another layer of the game that I know that for me, personally, would rekindle my desire to play...for a time. And therein lies the rub, my friends. Most games are required, in order to continue keeping their players engaged, to continue to innovate. City of Heroes constantly puts out new power sets, powers, costume pieces, as well as their architect system that allows players to come up with their own quest content...they continue to push the envelope because they /have to/. And all of this is on top of releasing what are equivalent to WoW's raids and dungeon content. Since World of Warcraft has been on the top of the heap for so long, Blizzard really just has to kick back and continue giving the lowest common denomonator what they came to see while those of us who keep hoping for more are constantly left disappointed. As I said before, Blizzard is one of the most innovative game developers out there, but they are stagnating simply by virtue of the fact that no one is challenging them to be better. They don't have to be better. They just have to stay good enough to make sure not to completely alienate and chase away its player base. Of course there is also the issue that people are completely crazy when it comes to the slightest change and anything they do outside the norm may chase people away...so maybe it's that they have no reason /to/ innovate and every reason not to. I don't know. What I do know is this: expecting them to change their tune while continuing to subscribe to their service is both hypocritical and against all that silly free market capitalism I'm so fond of. I can speak with my wallet and me and my $15 a month are going elsewhere.

What do I hope to accomplish with this little rant? Nothing, really. Believe it or not I am really not trying to encourage a mass exodus away from WoW. If people still genuinely enjoy it, then I am happy for them. Nor do I expect anyone from Blizzard to read this and have a grand epiphany and change how they operate. That simply is not going to happen. No, I suppose my point is simply to give voice to my major grievances with a game that I once enjoyed but feel has slipped into stagnation, to explain to those I have come to love why I will no longer be playing the game that they still (apparently) love. Perhaps I hope some kindred spirit will read this and say to themselves, "Hey, I feel the same way," to which they will gain the courage with which to follow my example...but I hardly think myself that profound. No, I think in the end I am only engaging in my favorite pasttime of listening to myself speak (write, whatever) and airing some grievances to clear my head. I would leave those of you brave enough to follow this rant through to its conclusion with this: do what you love and what you enjoy. If you enjoy WoW, continue playing it with my blessing...but do not be afraid to leave it if it is no longer the game it used to be, if it has failed to keep up with the market (as I believe it has), or even if you feel it is not the game it should be (also as I believe it has). Gather emails of the people you have come to call friends so you can keep in touch with them and KEEP IN TOUCH WITH THEM. Internet friendships are only hollow and meaningless if you let them be. There is no reason you can't keep in touch with these people. And who knows? Maybe someday you will meet again in World of Warcraft 2.

...Heaven help us all.

MMO NO MORE!

I usually don't bother with blogs. Aside from the fact that it's an extremely silly word that sounds like it belongs in some no-talent ripoff of Tolkien ("and Blog the troll laid waste to the countryside!"), I generally have issues with anything I am expected to update regularly. My brain seems hard-wired to shut down whenever I am expected to do something at set, pre-determined intervals, from blogs to social networking updates, and even games like World of Warcraft where those fiendish devils at Blizzard implement time sinks necessary to get the best stuff (I say thee nay!). But lately, something has tweaked me just right that I've decided to put all my reluctance on hold and write this, and that is the recent surge of MMOs that has swept the gaming community like the long awaited eleventh plague of Egypt.

Let me start with a disclaimer: I have nothing against the MMO model. They're huge time/money sinks, but honestly, what in video gaming isn't? The whole industry is based on eating up our money and time for entertainment and it has provided us with countless hours of enjoyment (and poverty). Besides that, the innovations that came along with the MMO genre way back in the day with games like UO and Everquest certainly brought a lot of good things to the table (and some bad things too, of course, many of which we're unable to shake off no matter how hard we try). My problem with MMOs can be traced to one entity: World of Warcraft. I am a six-year veteran of WoW and, while not a hardcore WoWer by any stretch of the imagination, I have seen most of the content and I like to think I know what I'm doing within its core framework, even if I get most of my information from aforementioned hardcore WoWers who eat, sleep, breathe, and piss WoW every day. So no, I do not hate WoW. There may have even been a time (long-since passed) in which I loved WoW. But I do hate what WoW has done and continues to do to the market. Ever since Blizzard implemented their magnum opus and made roughly enough money to buy a third of the Earth's landmass, every other no-talent, no-vision video game hack has seen this and said "...hey, we could be making that kind of scratch too!" and has tried to cash in on the trend. This. Has. Got. To. Stop. Not only has it created an endless parade of WoW knockoffs, which by their very nature will never be as good as the thing they are trying to knock off, it has also created an endless parade of MMORPGs, some good, most mediocre or awful.

Like I said before, I have nothing against MMORPGs, but it seems like everything is moving to a massively multiplayer singularity these days. Otherwise talented developers and studios are sinking countless man hours and funding into creating the next WoW-killing bullet (none of which will actually kill WoW because that would require people to leave WoW in order to give an otherwise worthy game a chance...and it's been proven that this will never happen) when they could be making games that are actually going to innovate the medium...or at least be mildly successful and interesting. And meanwhile, Blizzard is sitting in this comfortable position of making (conservatively) eight digits a month without having to do anything. There are two major issues I have with this. The obvious one, of course, is that other gaming companies could be making games that actually matter (which may sound somewhat haughty, but look at all the games that have come along and tried to kill WoW...how many of them actually "matter" anymore?). The second issue I have, which is further from the point but still bears mention, is that Blizzard is a fine gaming company, arguably one of the best, but we don't get to see any of their much touted innovation because, lately, all they've been doing is coasting on easy street releasing a parade of endless sameity that does absolutely nothing to push forward their own game, let alone gaming in general. Compare, say, World of Warcraft to City of Heroes, another game I have a love-hate relationship with dating back to its launch. When City of Heroes was introducing a parade of colorful and creative innovations to character customization, power reskinning, user-driven content, a robust crafting system, etc, etc, what was WoW doing? Releasing raid after raid, tweaking minutia in their grossly unbalanced PvP (never base a game around both PvP AND PvE. One will always, invariably ruin the other and the endless hours spent trying to balance both could be used for much better things), and otherwise doing nothing to innovate their own game. WoW is based on a solid concept and there is nothing wrong with the core game, but City of Heroes was, at its launch, actually pretty crappy. In the years since its launch, however, it has become a powerful, enjoyable, and innovative entry in the genre. But since nothing has challenged the Goliath that is World of Warcraft, Blizzard has absolutely no need to either innovate or challenge their game because anything they add will risk alienating the millions of people who subscribe (since every time they change something the forums alight with flame and hatred). Newness is to a WoWer what water is to the Wicked Witch of the West. So Blizzard does more of the same and continues to get millions upon millions of dollars of our money. And while Cataclysm added a bright and shiny new coat of paint to the original model...it's still really just the same old barn underneath.

Anyways, this is off topic. While I see no reason that MMOs should no longer be produced, doing so in order to cash in on Wold of Warcraft's popularity/ridiculous profit margin is the wrong reason to do it. Games should be created because there's a unique concept to introduce, not because money is flowing into Blizzard like a river to the ocean. Besides that, the MMO is just one of a number of genres that sell well. I, personally, eat up anything made by Bioware, and Bethesda's Fallout games have convinced me to give them another try after the abysmal atrocity that is Oblivion...so why can't we have more RPGs like these? Of course there is the problem of MMOs producing consistent money via monthly fees, and that is certainly appealing I'm sure...but really, when you run the risk of the project floundering completely because no one is going to leave WoW for anything less than the second coming of Jesus (in video game form, of course), is the potential profit actually that much higher than producing a hit game like Mass Effect or Fallout? Again, I say thee nay!

Let's take a look at one upcoming and relatively unknown title (unknown as in we don't know anything about it, not that it's being ignored or that no one has heard of it): X-Men Destiny. We know distressingly little about this title. I say distressingly because I am forced to wait with a mix of reluctance, apathy, and breathless anticipation because I do not know what this game will be. Will it be the next in the X-Men: Legends line (which, of course, continued into Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, so this is unlikely)? Will it be a whacky FPS? A fighting game (unlikely because of the recent release of Marvel vs. Capcom 3, of course)? An RPG? The much more likely scenario is this: it'll be another damned MMO like the endless stream of other MMOs trying to take on WoW. This game was initially announced while DC Universe Online hype was high, and given the fact that Marvel was attempting to create an MMO (which failed), I have to, have to, believe they are chomping at the bit to get back into that market and get a nice, fat, tasty share of the profits. If this is the case, I will be very distressed for the state of the gaming industry (to say nothing of my disappointment in Marvel) because here is a perfect chance to create something new and interesting. Look again at City of Heroes and its own little dysfunctional family of offshoots: Champions Online and DC Universe Online.The appeal of and strength of these games (I've not played the latter but I'll give it the benefit of the doubt and lump it in this family as well) is their peerless character customization. The gameplay (of CoH and CO...again, I have not played DCU) is relatively straightforward and uncreative, but the fact that you spend hours in the character creation screen making sure that emblem is just the right shade of red to stand out, making sure that cape is the perfect shape to accent the character's fiery aura, etc, really gets you building a raport, an attachment, to your character...whether you know it or not. I believe it is this and little else that carries these games because, besides the superpowers, what is it that causes superheroes to stand out? Their costumes, their backstories, their colorful appearances and quirky personalities. To quote a very wise game critic, Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw: "Combat is never going to be unique again." While I don't necessarily believe this (and actually tend to think Yahtzee meant it more as hyperbole), there is a mote of truth buried in his statement. Every game needs to have something special to help it stand out. They're all going to have combat these days, but a game that is JUST combat is going to be boring, while a game with mediocre combat but something else to help it stand out (Amnesia: The Dark Descent anyone?) will probably end up being fairly entertaining--hinging on what else helps it stand out, of course. This is my major issue with WoW these days (to return to that poor, dead horse). It's all about the fighting. The core gameplay is good, as I mentioned before, but there's really nothing else there. The character customization is abysmally anemic, there are no vanity options (player housing, costume design, whatever), they introduced archaeology, but really it just stands as a needlessly obtuse way to get more equipment to use to beat people up. Equipment that will be replaced in short order as they continue releasing raid after raid. I believe the CoH and CO character creation tools are a great "something else" to base their games on and, in City of Heroes' case, is almost certainly the reason why the game's survived as long as it has in a genre that is notorious for cannibalism (that and the aforementioned constant innovation, of course). Moreover, I see absolutely no reason why these character creation tools cannot be incorporated into a single player game to accomplish the same goals, particularly in a superhero game like X-Men Destiny. Sure, you wouldn't be showing off your colorful costume and unique (or not so unique sometimes) character to other real people (unless it was locally or remotely multiplayer), but it could really start a single-player game off on the right foot, getting you invested in your protagonist in a way that a game that utilizes an already established character (like every other X-Men game under the sun) couldn't hope to accomplish. Is it harder to plan, write, and design a game not knowing what sort of character the player will create? Hell yes it is. But isn't it worth the work? I like to think so. Look at Bioware games, specifically Dragons Age: Origins.

So I guess in the end my little rant here turns into something of a plea to the gaming industry. Back off the MMO model for awhile. We have a ton to choose from, none of which will ever make as much money as WoW. Or, if you must create an MMO, be clever about it. Go the free to play route like Lord of the Rings Online and Dungeons and Dragons Online and let people buy the content they want. That way they won't have to choose between your game and World of Warcraft (because, admit it to yourself, they will always choose World of Warcraft...they didn't spend six years making friends in that game just to leave it for an untested new release that may flop in a month because no one left WoW for an untested new release that may flop in a month). And, if people like your game, which they have invested comparatively little money into trying out, you may find yourself with a tidy little profit despite it all. Because let's face it, gamers are nothing if not masochists who hate having money.