Napster Founder Crafting WoW Community

Gamespot reports on Napster founder Shawn Fanning's newest project: an online community for MMOG players called Rupture. He's initially, sensibly, targeting World of Warcraft players with what's being described as 'MySpace for Azeroth'. From the article: "The [service] will pull data directly from WOW and publish stats and information on a personalized page. Gamers will also be able to instant message while playing, as well as track the progress of their guilds and organize playing time with their online buddies. Rupture will rely on ads for revenue and also focus on exchanging info on gamers' real lives, should they have one. WOW is the first game on the plate for Rupture, but no other titles have yet been mentioned. "

Re:

[Broken scope]

Well part of it is the fact that guilds need an out og game way to organize. Most succeful guilds have a forum and other things that pull stats from the game. However those site take alot of work and this will make it easier for a guilds to organize. Also it gives a better way to check on the guild besides logging in.

So...

[jhembruff]

...he's applying the social networking concept to people who have no social lives!

Brilliant!

Re:

[sumdumass]

They don't nhave a social life because not to many people publicly admit to their fantisy. This lets them do just that. Think reshaping social interaction for the impared. kind of like wheelchair ramps at intersection crosswalks.

facesofwow

[Aurisor]

This has already been done to an extent.

http://www.facesofwow.com/gallery/index.php [facesofwow.com]

Honestly, I don't see the need for a WOW social networking site, since the players are already incredibly well-connected (vent, aim, wow forums, in-game chat). I think the only appeal is figuring out which players on the server are hot chicks and helping them finish quests. =)

Actually..

[beldraen]

What I am surprised that hasn't happened is a WoW based dating site. Despite the myth, plenty of people who play have lives; however, plenty of us are also very busy between work, school, etc. I am long past any interest in bars nor people who ask, "what's an online game?" It's funny that people don't think twice about picking up chicks at bars, concerts, etc, but you're a wacko if you want to find someone who enjoys your entertainment on a computer.

On a side note, it's also noteworthy that while online

Re:

[TomHandy]

Maybe I'm crazy, but I could swear I remember seeing a WoW dating site recently (it seemed to make the rounds of the various gaming blogs, etc.). I can't remember if it turned out to be a joke or not, but I do remember the obvious comments about it, and in particular the male:female ratio.

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[tawhaki]

Recently as in "while reading TFA"? It mentions "World of Datecraft".

Re:

[lenroc]

Recently as in "while reading TFA"? It mentions "World of Datecraft".

Come on... that's implying that people actually read TFA!

I know I haven't!

Re:Actually.. actually you should maybe read TFA?

[ArcticCelt]

From TFA:
This isn't the first online community site planned around World of Warcraft. In July, an online dating site titled "World of Datecraft" invited night elves and others to mingle and find matches for some offline romance. The site has since been taken down.

Yawn

[Anonymous Coward]

Shawn had his 15 minutes. It's always sad watching these one-hit wonders desperately trying to hold on.

Difference?

[Lord_Dweomer]

So uh...what is different about this from other community sites for WoW? Why should I switch? Ok, so it has in-game IM...that COULD be useful as long as it doesn't clutter things and provides more functionality than the current whisper or guild chat system. But honestly I think he's entering a market that is WAY too crowded and that is sensible enough to recognize this for what it is, another jumping on the "me too" gryphon.

Echo

[Rapter09]

I'm pretty much agreeing with everyone here. What's the pull? Gamers have always been notoriously well-connected to each other. Those who aren't really "gamers" get connected if they need to get connected. If they don't know how they have geek\nerd friends that know everything that can get them hooked up. Gamers have Ventrillo, Teamspeak, World of WarCraft in-game chat, guild forums on their own individual websites - if you can't get your own domain you can get a free PHP board or something akin to it. Ther

I smell moolah!

[UnRDJ]

1. Wait until this becomes somewhat populat 2. DMCA 3. Profit! No question marks needed.

Yes, the market for this is allready full

[helot50]

http://www.mycharacterspace.com/ [mycharacterspace.com] http://www.gamerpics.com/ [gamerpics.com] http://www.warcraftsocial.com/ [warcraftsocial.com] and there are plenty of sites that can gather your character info as well. http://wow.allakhazam.com/ [allakhazam.com] http://www.thottbot.com/ [thottbot.com] http://ctprofiles.net/ [ctprofiles.net] http://www.wowguru.com/db/profiles/ [wowguru.com] http://www.wowrankings.com/ [wowrankings.com] theres more out there.

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[xtmno4]

Man that was frustrating in FFXI. You are playing along just fine, then accidentally alt-tab to the desktop. POL says it no longer has focus and disconnects. By the time you log back in and get playing again, you have wasted 5 minutes, and probably have died and lost a good chunk of exp...