At the end of the day, what kind of game is Warcraft? https://gamingcy.com/en-us
Massively multiplayer online (MMO) games are some of the biggest and best video games in the world. After the success of multiple games like Everquest and Ultima Online, there has been a demand for more new online games on a massive scale.
World of Warcraft game history traces back to 2004 when it first was released. Warcraft is the most popular MMORPG up to date, being the most popular game on top of that. The RTS games based in the Warcraft game universe brought the franchise success. Yet, with the release of Blizzard’s ambitious endeavor called WoW, no one really anticipated it being such a tremendous success.
It had over 10 million subscribers, which makes it the most subscribed to MMORPG in the world; it holds a Guinness World Record. It is also the highest-grossing video game of all time. This is such a popular online video game that even celebrities admit to playing it.
Mila Kunis is one celeb who admitted she was addicted to the game so much that she actually had to take a break from her computer for a while… It is one of the most addictive MMOs in the world, which is probably why it has so many subscribers. Once you become a WoW player there is no turning back.
Back in the old days
Early World of Warcraft was an innovation in itself. At Blizzard, a small company of 50 people was developing the game, adding more of the planned features, giving previews, building the world, and trying to create something playable for the eager fans to test.
They were stepping into unfamiliar territory for sure, but the passion carried them through it.
Reasons Why WoW Became so Popular
The World of Warcraft game is, no doubt, the most popular MMO in history up to date. But there are various reasons why it stood out from its peers at the time it was released.
- Free WoW Trial
WoW offered a month free trial to play the game. Currently, you can enjoy the limited version of the game up to level 20 without any time restrictions. This helps lure in new players to subscribe to the game. New players have a ton of content to enjoy for free, but it is still a mere morsel of the entire world as compared to when you pay for it.
- More forgiving than your regular MMORPG
Warcraft’s world is more friendly to players. It is its key feature to make the game elusively simple, yet hard to master.
The game had comparatively lower penalties. For example, if you die in the game, you only have to restart from the nearest graveyard as a ghost and then find your way back to your body to be resurrected, and you won’t suffer any experience penalty.
Other popular MMORPG when WoW was released were less forgiving and more punishing: when you died in the game of Everquest, you’d lose gear and experience points.
Some might argue that making the game easier would attract more casual players, and catering to those would result in losing the core, hardcore players. Yet it creates the mainstream appeal that will attract more people in the future.
- Advertisement campaigns
Blizzard have done many collaborations to advertise their game. Everyone knows about the WoW Southpark episode that was made back in 2006, titled Make Love, Not Warcraft.
On top of that, many celebrities have been known to recommend the game on TV. WoW had commercials with Mr. T, Jean Claude Van Damme and Verne Troyer. Getting celebs on your side creates an appeal to most people since they’re likely to recognise your product when someone famous recommends it.
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Warcraft evolves with the players, both hardcore and casual
With now 14 years under its belt, WoW is constantly evolving to make newcomers and veteran players feel welcomed. In other words, Blizzard tries its best to take care of everyone:
- New expansions added timely, from The Burning Crusade to Shadowlands, each of which adds new worlds and features.
- Patches that consistently fix the game and its bugs.
- Free trial
- Adding new raids for hardcore gamers.
- Ability to buy game time with in-game currency, i.e. the WOW Token
- Making it clear and simple for both new and returning players
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