johng Blog

This is an interesting, yet speculative, article about how World of Warcraft is harming the sales of other PC games. I have got to agree with this largely due to the number of people I hear talking about it and the amount of time they seem to be playing it for. It’s the level grind, the possibility of new content and the exploration that keeps people playing.

Several years ago when Diablo 2 came out I played it to death and was solidly addicted to it for a least a few weeks. But at one point while playing I suddenly had a realisation that I was doing the same thing over and over again just to level up, get the next weapon and see the next dungeon. That was the exposure of the game’s mechanic and it’s the point at which many people stop playing as I did.

The mechanic I was so addicted to in Diablo is also the same in WOW but is hidden away beneath the layers of exploration and multiplayer. As players realise this for themselves and strip these elements away in their own minds they are left with a shallow game they no longer want to play or pay for.
Is WOW hurting the PC games market in the short term? Of course. Will it affect it long term? Apart from the clones and greater number of MMOs definately not.