Change of Heart: World of Warcraft

I recently picked up World of Warcraft; I figured it was about time I played it on my own time and my own account (before this I had only played on friend's accounts and characters). (Server: Tanaris | Character: Zaggoth) This game is a work of art and one of the most well done games I have played. Sure, the graphics are a bit dated, but the gameplay is solid and it's one of the best selling, if not best selling, Massive Multiplayer Online games. [Source]

I've been fan of the Warcraft franchise since Warcraft 2. I more or less grew up on that game, along with Blizzard's other amazing titles. I didn't really enjoy Warcraft 3, as I feel like the 3D, along with substantial gameplay changes, kind of branched off and ruined the atmosphere, style, and fun that Warcraft 2 had always brought me.

I more or less ignored that title until WoW came along. I looked for a bit, heard a lot about it, tried it a few times, never really found it very interesting in the short times I spent playing it. I actually wrote it off as an "addict's game", a game that ruined souls and corrupted gamers. I would like to retract those statements. By all means there are people who play the game excessively, but in moderation (read: playing for the same amount of time I play any other game), it's a great escape from the real world. Whether or not using games as an escape from reality is a good thing is a discussion for some other time.

World of Warcraft has some key points that I want to highlight in this little article.

Play the Role YOU Want to Play
Many games force the player into a specific role, with the excuse "but that's who the character is". The good games don't do this. Sure, they have dialogue, scripted events, and various other things to keep the story's character the same person throughout, but what you do in the game should never be set in stone. A good example of this is an RPG where the main character is a magic user, thus forcing the player to always use magic.

World of Warcraft doesn't do this. Not only may you choose your allegiance (Alliance / Horde) each side also has unique races giving every one a distinct look and style of the character they want to be. OK, so this isn't so different from most MMORPGs. What WoW does is expand on the core things most MMORPGs have, and executes them beautifully and without difficulty for the players. Next you choose your class. Myself, I'm a paladin. I'm a group player who heals teammates, takes most the damage when possible, and supports the main fighters in close up combat. Whereas other players can be the ranged mages, the hunter with a pet, the dark magic warlock with a demonic minion, the stealthy rogue, or the close up warrior who really takes the brunt of just about everything. Again, this isn't so unique to any MMORPGs.

The game features professions. This is where the game becomes unique. Players can choose a couple professions, in other words, jobs you can do. These are things such as mining, blacksmithing, fishing, cooking, tailoring, leatherworking, and so on. This allows players to really be the character they want to be. You can spend most of your time in the game collecting minerals and selling them to players with the blacksmith profession in order for them to create armor for players. Some players play the Auction House (a place for players to put items up for sale) just as someone would play the stock market. Some merely play for the quests, or the main storyline throughout.

Rewards
Most games have rewards, be they small things, such as periodic, expected upgrades, or just winning the game against an opponent. WoW holds very obvious rewards; loot (new gear), money, and fame. These are fairly obvious and concrete in almost every RPG. What makes World of Warcraft so addictive and fun is the random reward system it also holds. Some things are predictable; you can bet almost every kill will yield a fairly average amount of money for you to take, or a quest clearly outlines it's rewards before you decide to accept it. Occasionally, though, players will loot a body of an enemy and find a great piece of armor. Or in the case of the mining profession, sometimes a mining vein will yield extra or rare minerals you don't usually find. This kind of reward system keeps players coming back time and time again.

The potential downfall to this system is that players don't get rare things often enough to find the time spent worth what they receive. Blizzard has tuned this beautifully to get the right amount of rarity in rewards.

Community
Not only does Blizzard roll out frequent updates based on user feedback, they also run a spectacular website with some very in-depth systems tied into the game, allowing players to represent themselves on the website as they would in the game.

On top of that, the in-game community is very strong. It's simple and easy to manage your friends list, invite people to a group (up to 5 players working together to complete quests and such, again another example of choice; some people play the game completely solo), and start a player guild.

Built-in community features create a very strong fan-base.

Art and Theme
World of Warcraft has consistency in it's art style, that you can be sure of. No matter where you go in the game, there is always a specific theme playing out, specific areas with unique, unified color pallets, and a massive diversity of non-player characters and dialog. The game really brings the world of the Warcraft series to life. There are many times I get a wave of nostalgia when I see a building that I recall from my days of playing Warcraft 2. Though the graphics, as I mentioned, are outdated, the game is gorgeous. I was considering another category called "Seamlessness", but I can just cover that here. The world is truly seamless and loading zones are encountered only between continents and in specific instance-based dungeons. The world seems huge. Granted, this can also be it's downfall. Oftentimes the world is so large that it's tedious to travel. Luckily about the time you get truly tired of this, Blizzard has given players methods of getting places much quicker, such as the ability to ride 'mounts' (horses and the like), payed transport via boats and flying gryphon services, and some teleportation abilities for the magic-related classes.

While I won't go into detail on the gameplay itself, the game really brings together something that all the other MMOs I've experienced have been lacking. There's this idea that MMOs must break the mold and innovate in such a way that they lose the core elements that make a truly great game.

I'm very impressed with this game and I hope one day Sandswept can bring in something as great to players. The great games are not generally built by creating new, never before seen elements, but refining the old ones (the tried and true) to the point of giving the player an easy to learn experience, a mysterious world with fairly concrete rules, and something they can truly "feel", rather than merely "play".'