Are MMO gamers after evolution of revolution? That’s the question facing developers and gamers alike as the MMO universe becomes increasingly crowded with new arrivals and updates of old favourites.
It almost goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway, that there’s a massive time investment in MMOs to get much out of them. Sure, they cost $80-100 to buy and $15-20 a month to subscribe to but it’s the time sink that makes choosing the correct one at the outset so important and the prospect of a new effort that makes it so hard for most people to switch.
Gameplayer has been taking a look at the virtual lie of the land, starting with today’s patriarch, World of Warcraft.
World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King
WoW’s persona must be currently drifting in a strange, but not unfamiliar, place. It’s floating around in tired but elated bewilderment somewhat akin to stage 5 of the Kael’Thas fight. The hard work is done, it’s triumphed over all adversity, there’s an awesome accomplishment under the belt but the repetition and grind is slowly and silently destroying souls, breaking guilds and driving people away.
Wow has offered virtually no new content in 15 months. Sure, there’s been a new and impressive raid instance and a cleverly concealed AQ-style grind to occupy our fingers but the active user base is growing plummeting if Blizzard’s tragic ‘Recruit a Friend’ is anything to go by.
I’ve been playing the WotLK beta for a few weeks now and it is of course definitely a case of evolution as opposed to revolution. On the plus side, the new Death Knight character is awesome with some cool new mechanics.
