What lies beyond WoW? Part VI: In the End
How could you make a mass multi-player online role playing game (MMORPG) better than the World of Warcraft? Other than superficial improvements, such as graphics, I don’t know what you could do better. Personally, If I were going to attempt to create a new experience for an online RPG, I’d think really hard about getting rid of the Tank/Healer/Nuker format. That concept has been embraced by ever online RPG game. Luckily, in WoW you don’t have to follow that format unless you do Instances or Raids. I never bothered with Instances and Raids in WoW till I was level 60. Even then, I rarely did them. WoW is probably the most casual friendly MMO you’ll find. When you hear about people playing WoW obsessively it’s not because you are forced to do this, it’s just that addictive. Unlike most games, WoW constantly rewards you. They do it just to keep a smile on your face, but not too much to bore you. Personally, I found WoW very easy to play.
Unfortunately, once you reach level 70, the game is over for someone who has no interest in Instances or Raids. Your choice is to continue to do quests you passed up for gold. They added a bunch of quests which are repeatable daily, but after doing those for a month you get bored of them. So now what? I wished once you turned level 70 they gave you a cut scene and let you watch credits. I feel like the game needs closure. I found it very depressing. I feel like for 2 years I was on this amazing adventure, then one day it abruptly stopped. I had quit many MMOs but the thought of deleting my WoW character, almost makes me sick. I have raised this alter ego of mine. I am proud of him. WoW is also the first online game I ever reached the level cap in. I enjoy showing my character to other people as a child would when they finish a finger painting. Where in the child’s heart, this is a masterpiece yet to anyone else the image is quite hard to make out. I’d be really upset right now if it weren’t for the reassurance that the expansion pack is just around the corner.
From my experiences, playing online games made me feel like either the developers were my enemies or the other players were. With WoW, there is such a balance of achievement and challenge, I felt like no one was my enemy. It’s not a fluke that WoW has roughly 10 million active accounts. So how can other developers top this? If you are reading and hoping I’d give the answer, I’m sorry to disappoint you. In the end, I ask this question quite literally; What lies beyond the World of Warcraft?
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