http://blog.games.yahoo.com/blog/153-six-years-on-why-is-world-of-warcraft-so-enduring


Looking back over the fifteen-year history of online role-playing games, one thing's obvious: World of Warcraft changed everything. Releasing in 2004 to massive acclaim, it doubled the size of the massively-multiplayer market in just a year, forced many of its competitors to release their games for free to compete, and even made television history along the way.


It's hard to believe developer Blizzard's massive MMO has been with us for more than six years -- and while it was a big hit at its 2004 launch, its real success has been in the gradual (and continuing) growth of its subscriber base over the intervening years. Next month, it launches its third expansion -- Cataclysm -- which will dramatically reshape the game's world and is predicted by just about everyone to be the year's best-selling computer game.


A week might be a long time in politics, and the high-tech world of video games moves nearly as fast. Major consoles can typically expect about a five-year run before being superseded. Six years qualifies as several lifetimes, at least. World of Warcraft has weathered huge, seismic shifts in the market forces that drive the games industry; it has survived everything from the coming of the casual-friendly Wii and Nintendo DS to the more recent explosion of the online shooter genre among young males. And yet Warcraft continues to grow, topping the 12 million subscriber mark in early October.


Blizzard's ranks have expanded along with the game: as of last September, it employed nearly 5,000 people around the world. Even the recent economic downturn couldn't stymie its rise; it cannily merged with mega-publishers Activision and Vivendi in a series of intricate deals that preserved its management independence. Not only are all three Blizzard co-founders still with the firm, they all carry top-level development credits on World of Warcraft.


With that experience come the smart decisions that keep fans paying the game's $15 monthly subscription. Most six-year-old games look hopelessly dated, and although Warcraft's starting to look a little shabby 'round the edges, its cartoony ethos leans more on talented artists than flashy special effects, keeping it from aging as badly as its peers. And since it was built to run on a mid-range PC six years ago, it's a breeze for just about any reasonably modern computer to play.


Like a TV show laying down plot threads for a planned spin-off, Blizzard is already working to invest its players in Cataclysm's forthcoming launch. Strolling around its cities, you'll see doomsayers prophesying the apocalypse it'll introduce. New quest lines (for all players, experienced and casual) are already acquainting players with its storyline concepts. Whether you buy the expansion or not -- it's not compulsory, though most players will likely pick it up -- the world's still going to be shattered, and you're going to be a part of it.


Building compelling storylines like these isn't easy for an online role-playing game. Players are used to being the heroes -- but how do you build a story with 12 million individual stars? Fortunately, Warcraft's rich history (it was a successful series of strategy games long before online RPGs were invented) means there's a wealth of background characters and themes for the game's writers to draw on -- and plenty of super-committed fans who'll call them on even the slightest of slip-ups.


Warcraft's real success, though, hasn't been in engaging these hardcore gamers. Instead, it provides an experience that just about anyone can sit down and learn in a few half-hour sessions, regardless of previous experience. The Blizzard brand -- in the same way as Apple's, say, or that of Bejeweled creator Popcap -- means user-interfaces that are easy to learn and satisfying to use, and you can see that same philosophy echoed across nearly two decades of Blizzard hits. Little in World of Warcraft was innovative upon its release; much of its concepts were familiar to players of early MMOs like Everquest and Ultima Online. But Warcraft simply did them better.


So how long can it stay on top? Nothing lasts forever, and although the game's total subscription figures indeed continue to creep ever higher, its growth is widely thought to be a result of increased uptake in newer Asian markets -- a phenomenon which may mask declines in more lucrative Western territories. Warcraft's days are inevitably numbered, and the famously-secretive (and largely leak-proof) Blizzard is well known to be working on its next online world.


It won't be another Warcraft game, though. In fact, it's set to be the company's first original project in over a decade. Described by Blizzard reps as "next-gen" and "casual-friendly," rumor has it being anything from a massive sci-fi shooter to a social game inspired by the likes of Farmville.


Don't expect to hear more about it for at least a year. Blizzard's attention to detail -- and its deep pockets, courtesy of six years of vast Warcraft profits -- means the company isn't in any rush. Whatever the game ends up being, it'll be out when it's done, and Warcraft players don't seem to be in any hurry to move on.

 

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Blizzard is well known to be working on its next online world.

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I"m still wondering what it will be.

6 years of other MMOs that are total crap =)

It's sad that Eve online is the only other MMO (at least that I can think of) that has had steady increases in subscribers, but on a several orders of magnitude smaller scale.

 

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I think it is going to be very interesting to see Blizzard try and topple its own giant. I'm not saying they'll be completing with itself, but will the next Blizzard MMO last six years? Will the next Blizzard MMO reach 12 million? I'm as skeptical as I am hopeful.

 

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"Warcraft's real success, though, hasn't been in engaging these hardcore gamers. Instead, it provides an experience that just about anyone can sit down and learn in a few half-hour sessions"


which is why any kind of CC or challenge will be nerfed to nothing shortly after Cata comes out.

 

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You could write books on why WoW succeeds, but for me, it all boils down to the fact that it is fun and I know people here who keep playing, so it keeps me playing.

 

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They revamp the game because subs were dropping. Smart move as it will take the old content and refresh it. Along with making the game even easier to play, not in content wise but as in easy ie fun. The truth is people these days want to complete something, not to fail doing it. Blizzard has always been great at adapting quickly. This is why they stay on top year after year. There arent any developers out there that can compete with WoW. Blizzard has a huge team of pro's working on the game. They know what players want. If something isnt working right they change it. You're not playing a buggy beta with WoW.

 

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At BlizzCon they said they'd be annoucning something about it in 2012. Can't remember who said it but it was on the stream and I tweeted about it...

http://twitter.com/WoWVault/status/28532003797

Shoulda put a name to it. Ah well. 20/20 hindsight ^_^

 

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~Rill
Food and fun!
http://afkdinner.blogspot.com/
http://www.rillsmenu.com/

with 12 million subscribers, that's probably the reason for a lot of people

 

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Snowball effect is huge. Sometimes things take on a life of their own and grow, even if something else is just as good, that is where the interest lies.

Despite all the things you can nitpick too, Blizzard makes quality stuff (4.0.1 is still giving my a lot of grief) but in the end it always gets fixed. Accessibility is huge too, like that article and so many that came before have pointed out. We could pretend Age of Conan was good (I know--lol--dont taze me, its a hypothetical), and its easy to understand why it still wouldn't be successful. Its one thing to shell 50 big ones for a game plus a sub, but a whole different thing entirely to have to upgrade your PC to buy a game that might just be marginally better.

 

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