Somebody educate me

[Bardock]

What exactly is the fascination with World of Warcraft? I've never played the game in my life, but I've heard people ramble on about it enough to have some idea of what it's like. Personally, I don't see the draw. Why is it so addicting?

[Zangya]

I played it for a little while. It didn't exactly tickle my fancy. So I suppose we're in the same boat -- but at least you know you have someone else on the 'not obsessed with World of Warcraft' side. It's basically like here, except, well... you get to move around and there's no writing besides chatspeak.

[Krillin]

Same reason why a friend of mine got bored with MGS4 and I consider it my favorite game ever. Different tastes.

[Saz]

I don't really get it either. Okay I only got to try it out for an hour or so, when I downloaded the trial version, but from what I saw, the gameplay was pretty tedious and the quests were repetitive. I didn't see enough in it to make me want to get the game.

I would guess one of the reasons it is so popular, is because it's like a whole other world that people can get lost in, and the social element too, being able to make friends, create/join a clan, ect.

[Bardock]

Same reason why a friend of mine got bored with MGS4 and I consider it my favorite game ever. Different tastes.

Yeah, but what exactly are those tastes?

[Krillin]

The MMORPG genre? I guess the feeling of display-able accomplishment for work-involved.

It's a world in which screw-ups and shit in this one doesn't translate. It's a world in which it's possible to kill things that don't exist. Philosophically/psychologically, there are a number of draws.

[Reijin]

I'd say the accomplishment part is fine, any MMO. What you need to do is listed out clearly, and unlike real life, you know exactly what you are getting from said actions and whether its worth your time, and then you can show it to people. I enjoy the games, but I won't argue that part of the draw boils down to that feeling of accomplishment (beating bosses, etc). However, the same is true of the feeling you get when finally beating the FFVII weapons, or clearing every ending of Chrono Trigger. Its all in what you find yourself interested in doing.

I'd say part of what MMOs have going for them is that most of them have so much variety in HOW you can play the game, that almost anyone can now find SOME part that attracts them and they enjoy, whether it be getting to 70 and then competing to see all the top tier content, whether it be rerolling and trying every single different combination just because its easier and quicker to do that then "the boring long grind", whether it be collect different holiday items and pets and run around showing them off alongside your impressive collection of extremely rare "Hey look what I went and got!" items, or even if its just to get on and pvp for hours on end at any bracket (they all play differently, and I see a lot of people judge classes based on the first 20-30 levels when the classes play nothing like that at 70). Some just like to get on and mindlessly go kill shit and run around mining things just to sell on the Auction House while mostly just being on to enjoy chatting with other friends in the game. Sometimes its just a stress relief where you can almost always find someone else messing up just enough to make your day seem not so bad.

Number of reasons, and I used to hate MMOs. Even though I played them, but couldn't get hooked and didn't see the big deal. Finally City of Heroes was something I greatly enjoyed, being fantastic for the most casual newcomers, and then in WoW I really wanted to try out the top end content, since the game is highly solo-able to the top levels, unlike most other games, so you aren't just sitting around the entire day looking for a group.

[Pink Underoo]

Community is the biggest drawing point of any MMO. So, you're wasting your life playing a game, but you're doing it with a bunch of other people. Among MMO's, WoW is the current most-popular flavor, so it becomes a spiral that feeds itself.

[Reijin]

Well, you have to really ask yourself. Are you in any way being less sociable to be sitting at home in your PANTESE and playing a game in which you are talking to people, or by going out to the bars and hanging out with friends there? In both ways you are doing what the other considers a complete waste of money, and in both ways you are doing something the other finds completely monotonous, boring, and repetitive, with no purpose behind it. And yet you are both having a good time.

[Belle Hibiki]

Well, you have to really ask yourself. Are you in any way being less sociable to be sitting at home in your PANTESE and playing a game in which you are talking to people, or by going out to the bars and hanging out with friends there? In both ways you are doing what the other considers a complete waste of money, and in both ways you are doing something the other finds completely monotonous, boring, and repetitive, with no purpose behind it. And yet you are both having a good time.

With one crucial difference:

There can be hot girls at the bar.

[Reijin]

With one crucial difference:

There can be hot girls at the bar.

Topless blood/night elves dancing on a mailbox.

Don't tell me they aren't the same in different worlds. You can not post on a DBZ rpg website and convince me of this.

Anyways, dual monitor, porn on the other monitor, better than some fat bud light drinking bitch at a bar.

Though the ones sneaking in with fake IDs are kinda cute. For sars carriers.

[Bra]

ERRBUDDY LOVES GRRIIIIIINNNNNND!

Har har har.

I hate MMOs. <3

EDIT: Also SARS is just the flu with some more oomph. Stop bringing it up. =(

[Orion]

With one crucial difference:

There can be hot girls at the bar.

That only matters if you're hard up.

[Super Buu]

MMOs are about one thing, and it's something that sustains an entire medium - dickwaving. I mean shit, look at Xbox Live; achievement points do absolutely nothing, but there are people will play games they hate if it means getting more of them.

It's like a fraternity, always trying to prove yourself to your guild and one-up the opposing guild. It's an opportunity for players to revel in the jocktastic competitiveness that most nerds would have missed out on. Except in WoW, you don't need skill or talent - you just need to spend more time at the computer than your rivals.

That's where the addiction comes from. 'Respect' in WoW - level, guild rank, gear - basically comes down to how much you play the game. If you don't play it much, you won't have fun, if you play it a lot, it'll be more fun because you're ahead of everyone else.

It's all fun and games until you start feeling that creeping obligation to play more (usually because your guildmates need you to run instances and turn up regularly to raids and shit) and that's when you've got to get the hell out of there.