well, as a non-addicted WoW player (how else do you think i visit this forums), i noticed how many WoW players became addicted, so what do you think is the most addictive element of World of Warcraft?
hmm...the ability for players to get a meaningful amount of play done in 1-2 hours? I'd assume it's that, seeing as 2/3 the kids at my boarding school play it, and we get a max of 2 hours of free time a night.
For no life nerds to hopefully meet the girl of their dreams over the intrawebz. For others, its basically addicting becuase of the things you can do? I honestly always hated it.
Because at pretty much whatever level you are, whatever the area....There's almost always a higher level you could get, better gear you can make/loot...There's always that sense of "If I just work a bit harder"
Raiding. I'd be willing to bet that the majority of addicted players are hardcore raiders. There're so many raids to do, all reset weekly, and new content is always being released. When players aren't raiding, they're usually farming reagents to craft X-resistant gear, reputation to get better recipes or items, money to buy or cut gems, etc, etc. Not to mention that when they're raiding, even if the item they're waiting for does actually drop, which it doesn't always, there's always the chance that someone else might win it. That said, PVP's pretty competitive, so in order to stay on top, you'd have to play a fair bit. However with PVP, you can just hop on anytime and play, whereas raiding requires large groups and strict schedules. Then there's the fact that doing PVP gives you the stuff to buy better PVP gear, which isn't the case with raiding where everyone's always waiting for one drop. I don't reckon the if-I-just-work-a-bit-harder sense is much of an issue, because every game has that sense. Personally, I enjoy just levelling. I don't power level and I don't have tonnes of 60s and 70s, but I reckon it's a lot more enjoyable than always having to find a raid and coming top of the DPS meter or having to compete against over-geared addicts in PVP.
Hmmm, I could never become addicted to the game especially with the lack of depth in group strategy it's all very basic and the only time you can really get defeated is if someone isn't working as a team or you don't have good enough gear. The former seems to happen a lot with the community base of WoW but I would like it to offer other challenges that are more entertaining and less irrating than that. I think Fenix nailed it on why it is so addictive and also there is the fact it is very simple and easy to learn and get into.
There's actually a heck of a lot of strategy and teamwork required in end-game raiding, as well as battlegrounds and arena. It's pretty diverse, even with such restricted class roles. In early instances and group quests, it's pretty generic, just a tank, healer and DPS, but they're able to do a heck of a lot more in larger end-game instances, because not only are the players more experienced and they have full access to all their abilities as well as free reign over their talent tree, but they're able to do more because it's end-game. Having some of the stuff they have in early instances just wouldn't work at all. I still don't reckon that sense of if-I-just-work-a-bit-harder is much of a contributor, because it's nothing unique to World of WarCraft. There are certainly games that don't have it, but plenty of games do have it and they're not all addictive.
I agree with Itza except that the same strats are recycled especially within a guild. I hate WoW but have played. I gave it a chance. I think the majority of people become addicted because they have RL or internet friends that they play the game with. It's fun for them. And as everyone you know plays you gotta keep up in level and gear otherwise you can't really play with them anymore.
Well around here it's mostly because I live in a town with 54,000 people, which in America is very minuscule. There's nothing to do (not an exaggeration). So playing WoW is a logical escape. That unreachable goal of "winning WoW" is what I think addicts 75% of the players that play it. Or they want to feel like they're a part of something, that's why raiding is so popular.
PVP could definitely also be considered as being the unreachable goal or 'winning WoW', so I don't think that component's confined to raiding. In my opinion it's just that raiding requires so much more dedication and commitment.
I've played in high-end raids and seen other people play in it but I still don't think it requires that much in-depth stratgey other than work as a team with good enough gear and you'll win. In other MMORPGS I've played EVERY fight was like a high-end raid in WoW and it was more difficult at times too. I mean I could watch TV while running a high end raid in WoW or even go afk for a bit and still win... so it really wasn't that engaging, I'm not saying the game can't be challenging just that the battle system, grouping system, and even the raiding system wasn't all that engaging for me.
I'd definitely say it does. Raids always stop and go over the fight for at the very least a few minutes before starting, making sure every knows what their role is, positioning, and what to do at each phase. If someone isn't doing it properly, depending on their role, you wipe. Watching TV's understandable, as it doesn't even require any attention, but if you were able to go AFK for a bit and still win, then you were simply being carried by the other members of your raid. For example, with Karazhan, about half the people who run it would probably be undergeared, just out for the drops and their first badges, but the other half would be overgeared, needing to farm badges for resistance gear, gems, Primal Nethers, and the like.
