New WoW Expansion Just Announced: Post on Slashdot
Hey all, I wanted to repost what I brought up on Slashdot, alongside what seems to be a conversation on whether casual gamers will stand a chance against the Wrath of the Lich King.
What these Liches want from a Naga?
I’m going to be blunt this time: I’m skeptical. Here’s my reply to their ongoing discussion:
The primary motivator for sticking with a game is social bonding.
Coming soon, WoW, now over 2 years old, is going to have serious competition with this Christmas’ new MMO releases, and they know that losing too many key players would mean a rank 8 hemorrhage on their player base.
So they’re giving us a lot to do.
It’s the model that we’ve had all along. It focuses on grinds, and sometimes it can really seem like this style of MMO misses the mark for content which people can enjoy. At least, enjoy with an amount of time which is socially acceptable. I mean, how sustainable is the gamer lifestyle, really? Apart from what we call “game addiction,” looking at things like diet, nutrition and exercise with heavy gamers makes me think that we need to demand something which won’t kill us, because I swear to god, a plate DPS class? GTFO, I can’t resist that.
I also bring up my upcoming Gamasutra article, which I had really expected to be released by now. The full discussion thread can be found here: Wrath of the Lich King Officially Announced.
I’m extremely curious to hear any of your comments on Casual gaming in WoW, but also on that tipping point whereupon an MMO might start to purge players.
