WoW - The Game That Seized the Globe

The New York Times reports on the global appeal of World of Warcraft. An unmitigated success world-wide, the article examines why the title's U.S. roots haven't stopped it from succeeding abroad. From the article: "Perhaps more than pop music or Hollywood blockbusters, even the top video games traditionally have been limited in their appeal to the specific regional culture that produced them. For example the well-known series Grand Theft Auto, with its scenes of glamorized urban American violence, has been tremendously popular in the United States but has largely failed to resonate in Asia and in many parts of Europe. Meanwhile many Japanese games, with their distinctively cutesy anime visual style, often fall flat in North America. One of the main reasons Western software companies of all kinds have had difficulty in Asia is that piracy is still rampant across the region. Games like World of Warcraft circumvent that problem by giving the software away free and then charging for the game service, either hourly or monthly." Keep in mind that distribution and access rates are different in Asia than they are here in the states. The majority of WoW players pay an hourly fee, and didn't have to buy the box.

Instance whoring at level 60

Once you hit 60... What's the point... Honestly.

Scholo Scholo Strat Strat LBRS Scholo Strat UBRS Strat LBRS Strat Scholo Scholo Strat UBRS BRD Strat Scholo BRD (MC Attunement) Scholo Strat AQ20 MC BWL ZG MC MC BWL ZG AQ40 Scholo (maybe)

Repeat ad infinitum. It got boring for me after about the 15th Scholo run.

Apollo

which of course it never did.

Re:Instance whoring at level 60

No, the quests don't get more varied. That's why the jab is that there are only three (or so) types of quests. It's literally true.

Find. Loot. Kill. Report back.

    That holds true for 99.9% of MMORPGs out there. I honestly still don't know what people find so appealing about them.

Re:Instance whoring at level 60

Sleep. Eat. Fuck. Tell your friends about it.

Exactly. Isn't life chore enough chore?

My peeve is that those games turn awfully quickly into chores - where you spend time with them not because it's fun, but only because you have to. There's a (fake) sense of accomplishment. That people like this and feel okay about paying for the privilege just blows my mind.

By the way, all of the above holds true for fucking aswell - i just happen to find it healthier! ;)

Re:Instance whoring at level 60

You are trivializing the idea of the game. Anything can be trivialized to the point where it seems pointless.

Videos in general:
It's an environment that I can interact with using my computer. There are normally tasks that I have to complete, and once it's all over, I haven't accomplished anything in Real Life.

Computers in general:
I used input devices (ie: keyboard and mouse) to interact with a program someone else wrote.

Life:
Wake up every day, eat, work, sleep, and repeat. Looking at life without taking in account the details of what goes on; it is a fairly trivial process.

Just because you didn't enjoy the type of entertainment that the game was providing doesn't mean it is pointless. Video games are a form of entertainment to help us relax and enjoy ourselves. If you don't enjoy, or stopped enjoying, a video game, you can replace it with another. Or you can go read a book, or rob a bank... something that entertains you.

Re:Instance whoring at level 60

I wish I had mod points to give you. This is a fantastic answer to the people who whine about not liking WoW, and who wonder why we like playing it so much.

Personally, I don't do many quests these days. If I do any, they are usually related to the instance that I'm at the appropriate level to run. I spend my time running that instance, usually with people I've played with before but sometimes in PUGs. We try out different tactics, mix up the group makeup (e.g. try it without a main healer, try it with 3 mages, etc) to challenge ourselves. I also enjoy trying out the different combinations of race and class, exploring the different abilities and play styles.

Sure the hunting/gathering quests can be boring, but there's so much more to do - the game is so much more than the quests.

Re:Instance whoring at level 60

Are you defined by what you think of yourself or how others perceive you? Do you really think because you died with a gross income in your life of 10 million dollars, you will be remembered more than someone that only made $500,000 through their entire life? Are you going to have a book written about it? And even if you did, does that make a difference now, if you would be dead when it is written?

I could be spending my time helping less fortunate people, or maybe working on an Open Source program that would benefit thousands of people. I may receive praise for such things, but what does this really do?

I think it's really a matter of what you want to do with your life. Do you care that in 20 years, you can look back and be like "Wow, I designed this amazing program that filled a need for 100,000 people." You will have this memory to satisfy yourself. You will be able to tell stories and brag about doing something "productive" for society.

Or, in 20 years, you can look back at the time when you played only video games. You can remember you had fun doing it, but did not accomplish anything with your life. You will have the memories of those games still, and the fun that you can while playing them.

Though it's not the same thing, I played one MMO for 12 months pretty hard-core. I stopped playing that game about 3 years ago. I can look back at the time I see some things where it hurt my social life. But at the same time, there were parts of the game that really provided pure fun and entertainment. You could say I get a warm-fuzzy thinking about the events and things that went on it the game. Not so much the facets of the game, but the people I interacted with in the game.

Some people feel that they have to help others, and do things beneficial to society, so they can be defined by society as being a productive member. And the only way they can satisfy themselves is to think that what they've done with their lives has made a difference (no matter if it really did or not).

Just because you think something is wrong, doesn't mean it is. Even if laws say that something is wrong, doesn't mean it is. I feel that psychology hasn't fully caught up with the concepts of MMOs, so they tend to be compared to drugs or other bad addictions.

Some work has been done to study the MMO trend, but it will be years before we can really know the effects it has on the world. It will be interesting to see how research projects like The Daedalus Project [nickyee.com] pan out over the coming years.

WoW fits both markets

MMO's are huge in Asia. Games like Lineage have been hitting huge numbers (not WoW numbers, but not far off) for awhile now.

Warcraft and Blizzard are 2 of the biggest names in gaming in the US.

The combination hits a sweet spot for both markets.

p.s. when is someone going to make a Grand Theft Auto MMORPG!!!

What Oh What is WOW?

Never played the game. So much for a game that seized the globe.

Re:What Oh What is WOW?

McDonalds gets a lot of customers. Windows has a lot of users. Lots of people went to watch War of the Worlds.

Popularity is about marketing and dumbing down, not quality.

Re:What Oh What is WOW?

Retention is a function of quality. Exposure is a function of marketing. If I'm exposed to a quality product, I'm more likely to become their asset. If World of Warcraft weren't a) fun, b) distracting, c) amusing, I wouldn't be playing it still after over two years.

Re:What Oh What is WOW?

Soap has also siezed the globe. The fact you don't use it, doesn't affect that statement.

Sad to see this a success.

While I congratulate the developers for creating a game that keeps money pouring in at a rate to make the oil companies proud; I am sad to see subscription based games survive.

Everquest (afaik) started the trend and now with WOW pullings in Millions of $ each month, I know that it won't go away. I watch my friends throw money at all these games, one in particular had active accounts in: City of Heroes, WOW, and Everquest all at the same time! He let me try his account (in an attempt to get me hooked) and while the game and MMORPG aspect was fun, I dind't think it was worth the monthly fees.

So now, I stick to classics and Mame. I will never pay a monthly fee for a game.

Re:Sad to see this a success.

I am sad to see subscription based games survive. Everquest (afaik) started the trend...

You missed the early nineties, when people payed by the hour, and in some cases by the minute, to play games like Legends of Kesmai. People ran up bills, some as high as hundreds and even thousands of dollars per month.

$15/month is a steal compared to that.

Even more, your average (non-MMO) gamer probably buys one boxed game a month, at least -- which runs about $50, these days.

Again, $15/month is a steal.

There are very few services out there that give you "All you can eat" for $15. And most of these games feature regular content updates -- so you're getting a little more than just the privalege of playing, for your money.

Running an MMO costs money. Constantly producing more content does too.

Re:Sad to see this a success.

They do but only in the high end game. Basically unless you are a heavy raider almost nothing has been released since launch top extend your game. There are a few faction based options which are poorly thought out and boring as hell. And of course there are the battlegrounds which may or may not interest you. Of course the PVP ladder means that unless you are a hardcore player you won't ever get the shiny purples from PVPing.
In terms of content added since launch at no extra cost the list I am aware of goes something like:

Mauradon (5 player instance)
Dire Maul (3 5 player instances)
Molten Core (40 player instance)
Black Wing Lair (40 player instance)
Zul Gurub (20 player instance)
Ahn Quiraj (world event, 20 player instance, 40 player instance)
Naxxramas (40 player instance)
Various holiday event quests (Halloween, Xmas, Chinese New Year, Valentines day)
3 PVP Battlegrounds
Revamped map, new quest lines and faction options in Silithus
Several Dragons on the world map suitable for raid killing
New world PVP options
Darkmoon Faire
Additional quests in Feralas, Hinterlands and Searing Gorge mid-level zones
And a bunch of smaller tweaks, revamps etc.

All in all, compared to other MMOs it is a decent chunk of new content. Unfortunately for the last few patches the majority of additions have focused on the high end raider or PVP player.

Re:Sad to see this a success.

"I will never pay a monthly fee for a game."

Enjoy your no gaming future gramps...

On the plus side I pay way less for game subscriptions than i do for the cable tv that i used to subscribe to, the weekly movies I used to go to...

It is cheap

Instead of going to a movie once a month, play a MMO. Or, instead of going out to eat once or twice, play a MMO. A music CD will cost you about the same...

$15 doesn't buy much nowadays in the entertainment world, a whole months worth of entertainment for $15 is a deal! (And if you play Everquest 1 year is $100! Less than $10 a month.)

Slashdot finally learning to cash in...

...on the millions of U.S. WoW players unleashed on the internet when WoW is down for maintenance. gg Blizz *cough* Zonk.

Link & Thoughts

Sorry for the karma whoring but here's an RSS link to the site that doesn't require registration [nytimes.com] and the no-ads no pictures version [nytimes.com].

Pretend you're a news feed or printer and you too can read stories without inhibiting log-ins or advertisements!

Now, for my two cents, I like WoW. But I loved Star Wars Galaxies pre-CU. I had two accounts in that game. It had this special kind of social aspect to it where people were dependent on even the most mundane professions. On top of that, you could level by dancing in a cantina all day, simply chatting with people. The fighting classes had to come in to relieve fatigue and wounds. It was a great system that, in my opinion, could have been more popular than WoW.

In WoW, fighting is the only thing that gains prestige. All the best weapons are looted, there is no dependence on non-fighting classes nor is there such a thing. I think that if anything is going to surpass WoW at this point, it has to be something that so far out there that it's not even well defined yet.

One thing is sure, it needs to accomodate both fighting classes and socializing classes and keep them equally important.

Error in article text

Games like World of Warcraft circumvent that problem by giving the software away free and then charging for the game service, either hourly or monthly."

Unless my memory failed me, I do remember paying 49.99$ for WoW. There is no free software given away.

Re:Error in article text

You are not chinese.

WoW has different pricing model in some parts of Asia.

Another WoW article 'stubbed' on the front page?

Oh, it must be Tuesday Morning [google.com].

Free software?

Games like World of Warcraft circumvent that problem by giving the software away free and then charging for the game service, either hourly or monthly.

They don't give the software away for free (like they should). They make you buy it just like any other game. When the expansion comes out, they'll make everyone buy that, too.

Current adoption?

Yeah, we all know WoW is a huge hit, but I'm curious...now that there is a very significant portion of their player base who is level 60...and many players have become disallusioned with the grind that is on par with EQ, does anybody have any numbers regarding their current new subscriber rate?

The reason I ask is that when WoW first took off, they had a large number of new players constantly joining the game...but I have a hunch that they are starting to approach their plateau as the game matures and new games come out. Yes, the expansion will help, but its primary customers will be existing players, not new ones.

Anybody have any figures as to what games new players are flocking towards these days?

The Game that Seized My Time

I just recently quit wow... I mean, I didn't full on cancel my account or delete my character, so it's still there should I ever wish to go back... But I did uninstall and plan on keeping away from it, at least for a while.

You know what did me in though? /played

Thanks to the glory that is mathematics, I found out that on average, I played for three hours a day. Worst part about averages, I don't even play on the weekdays that much (which means very VERY loaded weekends).

What a waste. Three hours of my life. Every single day! I could be learning how to juggle or searching for a significant other or reading a book or hacking! Something!

If you're like me... On the verge of quitting... And trying to look for that extra push... Look at /played. Find out for yourself what large, large portion of your life you're throwing away at this game.

Don't get me wrong, it's a great game, and I loved playing it. But it's a lot. Moderation, please.

PS - I just bought Civ 4 (crack for crystal, I know). I don't get it.

Re:The Game that Seized My Time

I recently canceled my WoW account although my /played realy wasn't the influence that did it, it was the people. When I quit EQ it was really the same thing.

The problem with WoW and EQ for me was the people I found myself hanging around with in game. Once you reach max level and get into the 'end game' making progress takes longer and longer at each step. Eventually you find yourself in a position where the only people really progressing in the game are basically no-life losers whose lives revolve around the game. I quit after an MC raid when people were comparing /played times.

So, maybe I'm wrong about /played not ending things for me, but it wasn't mine it was the people I was hanging around with. I have ONE level 60 char who I shared with my cousin while I leveled up and between us we had just over half the amount of time on our character as the next closest person on the raid. I also happen to know that most of those people have multiple level 60 characters as their alternate characters are on the guild roster. I had always felt like a bit of an oddball in my guild, never really grasping why people would get so worked up over every little thing - well I guess when it's all you do then playing WoW becomes very important.

I don't have a problem with people playing WoW all day if that's their thing, anymore than I have a problem with people watching television all day. In fact, I think if you are going to sit on your ass that much you are probably better off playing just about any computer game instead of watching TV. I don't hang around people who watch TV all day either though.

I'd love it if I could keep playing the game, but the problem with all MMORPGS is this: most of the people with the who achieve the greatest end game accomplishments are the ones who do the least with their real lives. I don't hang around a bunch of do nothing no life losers in the real world and I don't want to do it online.

Re:The Game that Seized My Time

Save yourself the money and stop payment, at least; your account and characters are never deleted. I cancelled payment for about a year then went back, picked up right where I left off for a couple months.

It really has taken siezed the world

WoW really has seized not only the MMO world, but the gaming world. The fact that WoW is still in the news almost 2 full years since going gold is the biggest feat. For a game that is 2 years old with a _pending_ expansion to still get as much press and hype is truly remarkable.

Also, to look at it from a different angle. When Blizzard can mask the disastrous news of Ghost pretty much having the plug pulled with piles of good news about WoW numbers, that is also a feat. Ghost was a huge project for Blizzard and would have hailed their return to console games. It not being released is huge as it was in production for several years. They even acquired a company because of Ghost!

Though the game suffered from some obstacles that Blizzard has not had to deal with it was still a major blow. The success of Halo made them change directions, pushing back times. Those times then landed in the middle of the next gen battle, which made developing for either systems hard at the time. Also, they are determined to get Battle.net into the console multiplayer world which has surely ruffled some feathers around the console world.

Got off topic a little, but still it goes to the point tha when the overwhelming good news can all but cover up the bad news of Ghost being canned-- That is big statement to the might WoW carries in the gaming world.

NY Times Journalists Don't Get it

Did anyone see the picture of a screen showing what they claimed to be WOW? It was Starcraft! Hmm, I wonder if anyone in that office has even played WOW... They probably did a stock photo search for Blizzard and got that picture and probably thought Blizzard didn't exist before WOW came out so ofcourse the picture has got to be of WOW. Clueless journalists...

Wrong.

Grand Theft Auto was not produced in the USA, it was produced in Scotland.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Theft_Auto_(ser ies) [wikipedia.org]
Grand Theft Auto (GTA) is a computer and video game series created and primarily developed by Scottish developer Rockstar North

In other news....

Headline: WoW still dominates MMORPG market. Nothing else to write about. Game journalists thinking of getting real jobs.

Meanwhile, in the real world...

There exists, somewhere, a list of every current WoW subscriber. This list is also known as the "People not to hire because they'll sit and browse WoW forums all day at work." list.

WoW saves me money!

To all those complaining about subscription fees in gaming - I hear ya. In the good old days, I swore I'd never pay for a game - I just downloaded them all from IRC. Then they got "good enough" that I started paying for the ones I felt were worth it - and swore that I'd never pay subscription fees. Then WoW came along and I tried it - now I'm paying subscription fees and swearing I'll never buy into episodic content...wonder what game will finally make me decide episodic content is worth it.

Anyway, here's something to consider. I save money because I play WoW - no joke. WoW is so fun and engaging and has new things for me to experience every time I sit down and play it...to such a degree, that I really don't play other games. I canceled my GameFly subscription, I don't buy games anymore - haven't bought a console in ages. I spend less money on games per year with my subscription to WoW than I did without it. I'll get to a point with WoW where I'm tired with it, and want to go back to my other games - but for right now, a subscription-based game is a money-saver for this gamer.

WoW !== Whip'em Out Wednesday

That's the game that SHOWS your "globes". Easily confused.

Wow....

Its adicting... way more so then most other MMO's I think for it's simplicity. The expansion is coming around the corner. They're addressing a lot of issue players have had with the game as it currently is. One of the biggest things is shortening the number of people needed for end game content. Originally to do anything signifigant beyond hitting 60 you had to get 40 people together. Now that number will be down to 25. Also with the level cap going to 70 existing 40 man content will be 20-25 manable.

Some of it's biggest problems:

* Lag.. it's a huge problem though they're working on it slowly.

* PvP. The honor system is setup such that some people actually go 6-8 hours or more a day, 7 days a week to make rank. This can get very unhealthy. They're addressing that with the expansion by removing the existing honor system and making it more people friendly.

* PvP survivability. Right now a decked out character can pretty much kill a person so quick that healing isn't an option. You basicly have level 60 characters running around with gear that should be for people 60+. Highest I think is around level 90 gear that only requires 60. One side of the coin says anyone can get it if they put the time in, other side is not everyone has the time. Either way it's easy for pick up groups to get totally steamrolled. Some are calling for normaling damage more so things arn't as whacked out as can be. The other thing is its neat to one shot someone but after a while that can get boring and you want something more challenging.

* Healers.. right now there's a signifigant lack of healers or high healer rotation. Thats most likely typical with any MMO. Who wants to stare at peoples health bars and fill them all day, every day? Very few. They need to set the end game class gear so for healers so it's not just good at the PvE but also PvP. Yeah you got huge healing bonuses but if your not damaging someone it's kinda prolonging the inevitable. A lot of people say, "Oh great, another heal set to grind for. Whoopie." and burn out.

* Epic gear isn't so epic anymore. Its to the point where gear thats suposed to be rare is actually everywhere practiclly. Take a walk through each factions heavly populated cities and you'd have a hard time not seeing druids that look like moose or deer with their suits. Warriors that look like pin cushions or axe heads. Still to some extent that can be a good thing in that more people get to see end game content to some degree.

* Customization.. you can't dye or paint your armor. It's as it always will be till you get a new piece. You also can't change your hair style or color. There are a lot of choices but your looking at static ones mostly.

* Twinking, botting, gold farming, it's all in there.

Some of it's biggest benefits...

* $15/month unlimited access gets you on any server with like 8 character slots per server. Server types range from PvP, PvE, RP, and RP-PVP.

* Little things. You don't just have epic dragons to slay, you have a wandering faire that travels between two factions cities. Fishing contests in neutral towns, some other factions hold festivals like the Lunar Festival from the druids common faction. These events have some nifty quests and rewards that are neat outside of the regular grind.

* RP... yes AAARRRPEEEE! There seems to be a very health RP community on the RP servers. You definatly have your share of arse-hats, catgirl and vampire wannabe's but it's there. Some people actually post some great stories and content about their characters. Why bother when you have PnP D&D, etc? Why not? You actually get to meet more people outside of your neck of the woods and get to hear some great stories and you don't have to give up the PnP D&D, etc.

* Cow people.. tell me it's not cool to be a cow, especially a cow with a big gun. You get to be part of the secret cow level. It's a playable race inspite of them telling you there is no cow level. ;)

There's a lot of other pro's and co

NY Times Paper

The online version of the article is missing a picture and caption that the paper version had. The paper version had a picture of Starcraft with the caption: "In World of Warcraft, thousands of players can simultaneously occupy one of the hundreds of virtual universes online. Players can explore on their own or team up with others for the more difficult challenges."

Oops.

Some observations

Firstly, this statement is incorrect:
    "The majority of WoW players pay an hourly fee, and didn't have to buy the box."

The majority of WoW players pay a MONTHLY fee and HAD to buy the box for $40-$60 retail.

About the what's the point when you hit (insert maximum level here):

This view always comes up in any online game. Ding 60, now what? Uh, WoW, like any other online game has plenty of content designed just for level 60 players. There is better gear to get, raids with big bosses to kill and there's always the Hoarde (or Alliance) to kill. There's plenty to do! It's not just about grinding your way to the top level. If that's all you view the game as, you're missing the whole point of a persistent character style game.

In WoW, it's very common for a 60 to help out lowbies. Either run them through a dungeon they can't get a group for or help guide them through dangerous PvP territory, help them wrap up a few quests real quick or get a little better equip. It takes little time, the 60 is usually capable of doing all the work themselves and it gives a nice leg up for the struggling lowbie. It's a gesture of good will and I find it encouraging that, despite having a reputation for potty mouthed kids, there are many who won't go out of their way to gank you or who will spend 40 minutes or so helping out a stranger just for the heck of it.

You get out of a game what you put in. I've always been able to find things of interest to do when others burned out long ago. Sure there are days where I feel like there's nothing I feel like doing so I don't log in, but then that allows me to do other things outside the game (novel concept).

One problem with RPGs is they're designed to keep you playing forever. This protects the revenue stream of the publisher. To do this, they make things take a long time to do so that you're always working on something. I'd be perfectly happy playing the game, slaying the dragon and saving the princess and then taking a short break of a month or two before some new content came out. Only the cheapest of people will cancel their $15/mo for that period and it's not like I wouldn't log in and do some smaller things or help friends during that interim period. But instead, these games are designed so that even the most hardcore gamer will have to put in months to slay that dragon and save that princess. Someone working full time would spend years trying to get to the same point.

WoW is better at this than others but it still takes too long to get stuff done, IMO. A 12hr/week player should be able to do all the raids, dragon slaying and princess boinking. The first company to get this and deliver in a game that can deliver content at an adequate rate to keep the game moving forward is going to make WoW look like a minor player, at least if they do a good job with the background and mechanics/etc.

The next 5-10 years will be interesting to see how the genre develops...

Dodged That One!!

Fortunately for me I got my MMORPG fever taken care of when EQ was big.

Well

I would never pay a monthly fee for a game, because: a) I'm already paying for my internet connection. b) There are cheaper ways to entertain myself.

Never played it;I am waiting for Star Trek Online.

I never considered playing WoW because not only I don't like the fantasy/medieval setting...but I am holding my breath for Star Trek Online...

HMP.

Whenever I get that MMO itch, I just play Kingdom of Loathing. :P

haha

I read this article in the NY Times in the morning. They had a picture of someone playing Starcraft and labeled it as WoW. haha

One more thing about WoW...

I realize how much of a customer base WoW has but their site is regularly down every tuesday during the maintenance time. That time usualy lasts most of the day. They are very lucky because I think most companies would loose customers if their sites were down regularly one day every week like Blizzards WoW site.

The global appeal of World of Warcraft?!

I have yet to find a Japanese guy (and I'm working in an IT company in Tokyo) that knows about WoW. The only MMORPG they know about - *if* they are into games - is Final Fantasy XI. But we all know that Japan is another planet so "global" is still not enough ... Waiting for WoW to have "galactic appeal"...

Seems worth it to me

I would have to say I dont mind paying the $15 a month, I used to stay away from the MMO's because of that reason but then i tried Guild Wars and WoW, man I am hooked, i couldnt stick with Guild Wars and as you may know it is now free. I used to play games on XBox GameCube all those things and was buying a new game very mounth because of how fast i would beat them, that was about $50 every month. Now with WoW for the small price Im paying I get and Update roughly every month. Now with an expansion coming out Im trying even harder to lvl my char so i can try the new stuff. Aside from that I have seen all the people that complain about blizzard and how the servers are slow, and Im ussually one of the people compaining, but do you know how hard it is to keep that many servers and updates running that smoothly. WoW is obviously doing something right because i dont think i have ever seen an advertisment for them and if I didnt play Warcraft3 I might not have known about it. When I get home however I find it fun to sit at the computer and while talking to my freinds over Vent kill them in the game. Like others have said if you dont like it read a book or stop complaining about the $15 a month and go buy a game for $50. As for me i could never get into a book and so i will stick with this, I might sound dumb when I feel I acomplished something and yell I GOT LVL 60! but i think it sounds better than, I FINISHED READING HARRY POTTER!

At least get the facts right..

even the top video games traditionally have been limited in their appeal to the specific regional culture that produced them. For example the well-known series Grand Theft Auto, with its scenes of glamorized urban American violence, has been tremendously popular in the United States but has largely failed to resonate in Asia and in many parts of Europe

That's a nice theory, shame GTA is made by a Scottish company, Rockstar North(formally DMA Design Limited).

oh ffs - lazy lazy article

"or example the well-known series Grand Theft Auto, with its scenes of glamorized urban American violence, has been tremendously popular in the United States but has largely failed to resonate in Asia and in many parts of Europe."

Would that be Grand Theft Auto, the game (every single version of which) has been made in the UK (a part of Europe).

Re:Software given away for free?

My thoughts exactly. I was just recently considering a second account to assist in alliance-horde item transfers, and to help with some reputation grinding. Rather than allowing me just make a second subscription, I was appall to find out that I was expected to pay another $40 to get an activation key. There are no discounts because it is a second account. The scary thing is, if WoW is so successful in its current setup, imagine how much more success it would have if you could just download the software for free (as the article suggests). It makes you wonder what Blizzard's marketing department is thinking, when they're making millions a month, does the initial $40 really add that much to the bottom line (keeping in mind that they don't get all $40 either, some would go to distributors and retailers)?

Re:eq2 vs wow

Not everyone thinks "realistic" graphics are nice and pretty. I was so sick of seeing that in every MMOG (eq,swg,eq2, matrix online..ect)that was coming out. They all looked the same and they mostly played the same too. WoW doesn't look like any of them, and since they blow away every other MMOG now I would say most of the playing population agrees, and is to the game's credit.