MMOGology: I lost a friend to WAR
by Marc Nottke 
Oct 6th 2008 at 3:30PM
Filed under: World of Warcraft, Culture, New titles, Warhammer Online, Opinion, MMOGology
Last week I wrote about Blizzard's Recruit-a-Friend program and my experience leveling through World of Warcraft with triple XP. The Recruit-a-Friend program is a seemingly brilliant strategy on Blizzard's part. In addition to recruiting new players, it also serves as way of keeping existing players occupied while waiting for Wrath of the Lich King; players that might otherwise divert their attention to Warhammer: Age of Reckoning. Who can resist the allure of triple XP, right? My friend Rob couldn't and for a while we enjoyed the rush of leveling as fast as we could. But the thrill of light-speed-leveling wasn't enough to hold his attention for long. It was still the same content we'd run through time after time. An astute reader of mine, Jeromai, left the following comment about my last article, "There's a sidelong danger to power-leveling fast. All the content you once enjoyed as content now becomes a means to an end. It's a headlong race right towards the burnout phase of a game." Jeromai couldn't have been more right.
I logged into WoW a few nights ago, ready to blast through another level or two with my friend. He never showed. A few days later I called him up and realized I'd lost him to WAR.
The only question now is, will he stay with WAR? I haven't yet sampled the apparent joy that is Warhammer. I've heard the public quest system is fun and that you can jump right into RvR from the beginning of the game. The dark humor and lore are also big appeals for fans of the franchise. Warhammer sounds like it has the makings of a great MMOG. Of course, one of the deciding factors in choosing which games we play has to do with whether our friends are playing too.
Rob and our friend Josh were both huge fans of Mythic's Dark Age of Camelot. They loved the world RvR and they were fortunate enough to make friends in a guild of fun, like-minded players. Many of those Camelot players have migrated to WAR and it appears that some semblance of their old guild is reforming. In my opinion, social ties are one of the strongest factors that bind us to our game of choice. We play MMOGs because we love video games, but also because we love playing with our friends (and occasionally beating the crap out of them).
I can only imagine Rob leaving WAR if the mid-level and end-level content isn't yet fully realized. If the game becomes a huge grind, a bore, and it just isn't fun to play anymore, he and Josh may eventually migrate back to WoW. WoW definitely has a fully realized end-game, but we've already experienced much of what WoW's end game has to offer. Unless WAR really starts to blow, I think he'll be there for a good while – probably long after Wrath of the Lich King. So in this case, it seems like Recruit-a-Friend either backfired for Blizzard, or just wasn't a sweet enough deal. Regardless of what Blizzard does, they're going to loose at least some players to Warhammer (and other games).
I may try Warhammer at some point, but I'm not planning on picking up another MMOG subscription just yet. I've already got active accounts with WoW and Lord of the Rings Online – not to mention occasionally dabbling in freebies like Dungeon Runners. I feel too invested in my current games to abandon them and start new with another MMOG. Until Wrath is out, it's back to Middle-earth for me. I've been enjoying LOTRO's bonus XP and Harvestmath festivals over the weekend, as well as the lore that's deeper than any other MMOG out there.
Leveling up in Wrath and experiencing new content without my bud Rob will stink. I guess I could wait around until he's done with WAR, but ... I'm way too excited for Wrath. Are any of you in the same boat? Are you or your friends trying out new games while others stay behind in the old world?
MMOGology [mŏg-ol-uh-jee] – noun – The study of massively multiplayer online games via the slightly warped perspective of Marc Nottke.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Abriael said on 3:46PM 10-06-2008
hopefully many others will follow your friend's example.
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BRHJunior said on 3:55PM 10-06-2008
It was this exact social aspect that was the reason I left WoW. I had a guild of good friends that I enjoyed playing the game with. When that guild started to part ways, I started to not find the game fun anymore. At some point in a game's lifespan I believe it is the social aspect that keeps you playing, and not the actual content. I believe that is where WoW is currently.
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Gemski said on 5:16PM 10-06-2008
I already have friends/guildies in WAR going back to WoW. Many waiting on Wrath.
It is making me debate how long my commitment will be now...
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Gemski said on 5:09PM 10-06-2008
I already have friends/guildies in WAR going back to WoW. Many waiting on Wrath.
It is making me debate how long my commitment will be now...
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Maniac said on 4:11AM 10-07-2008
My wife has lost me to WAR for now, she is still running Kara in WOW, we used to play together a lot so it kinda makes me sad... and torn.
I have 5 lvl 70s and a lot of history with WOW so I will play WAR for now and try WOTLK when it comes out and make a judgement call at the time.
It's really tough because I'm really, really enjoying WAR.
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MightyIdle said on 5:50PM 10-06-2008
"I feel too invested in my current games to abandon them and start new with another MMOG."
I hear this a lot. People refusing to leave WoW because they have an 'investment' in it. It's a game and the investment is fun. Why not try something new that may be even more fun? The sad thing is, I hear this from folks that also state they are bored with WoW but they refuse to leave.
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Caledas said on 7:09PM 10-06-2008
I've left and returned to WoW so many times now I've lost count. But, the fact remains that lately anytime I log in I'm still a lvl 70 and I've still already done all those other quests more than a dozen times. I just can't push myself to roll another character to 70 no matter how fast they make the leveling. I'm sure I'll return for Wrath and take myself to 80 and then I'll cancel again and wait for the next expansion.
In the meantime I have a lifetime sub with LOTRO (great idea that) and I'm always advancing my skills in EVE.
LOTRO gets to keep me because I don't even have to think about my subscription and like you said the lore is plenty deep.
EVE will surely have me for a long while if for no other reason than they can come out with new skills long before I'm even close.
It wouldn't matter how many friends I have in a game if all the content is been there, killed that.
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ScytheNoire said on 7:46PM 10-06-2008
There is nothing Blizzard could do with WoW that would lure me back to it. I'm done with it. Forever.
I'll give their next MMO a look if it fixes a lot of their problems, but WoW holds nothing on WAR for me. WAR is fun, something I can't remember the last time I had in WoW.
Only reason WoW has so many subscribers still, all the people who have friends playing it. It takes a lot to break off and say you are doing something new, and those who want to join can.
You might want to play Wrath first though, because chances are, once you play WAR, you won't be going back to WoW.
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The Claw said on 10:54PM 10-06-2008
"chances are, once you play WAR, you won't be going back to WoW"
Funny thing is, I cancelled my WoW account months ago, and a few weeks of WAR sent me heading straight back there. Playing WAR, I'd sometimes say "hey, that's a neat idea", or "ooh, interesting design decision", but it wasn't until I fired up WoW again that I said "damn, this game is flat-out FUN to play".
possum said on 1:21AM 10-07-2008
Silly story, folks will play what they want to play. i have never lost a friend to a game, that is simply inconceivable..............
I will be waiting on the following in an mmo:
No levels
No itemization (really)
Group when you want to (without consequence)
Epic quests for 1 or 100
Cafting system that can be as complicated as you want it to be.
Scalable dungeons for 1 or 100
Thousands of choices for character look/feel
Scalable all world PvP (if i get paid i will elaborate more)
(grin) To bad none of the companies thought that one up, and sad they cant use it.
Skill pool, selectable by anyone, in any configuration, quest or money based to change initial set. hundreds of skills/effects, make them the way you want.
Death penalties based on your fame/infamy/length of time between deaths.
Consequence (kill all those bunny rabbits...something is bound to happen) just a humerous example.
Dungeons in both epic scale and regular will have hundreds of different scenarios. And they are scalable.
Finite resources resulting in an actual economy, hmm do i see trouble?
And a few more more minute details i wont go into, but i think before this mmo comes out we will be living on other planets.
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Vorgaak said on 3:03AM 10-07-2008
My guild got a first kill on Archimonde tonight. My pulse was pounding for the last 20% of his health. It was an amazing and fun experience--with 24 other people that I have battled beside for weeks to months to years. Thats why I still play wow.
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Dan said on 6:15AM 10-07-2008
You should be happy for your friend Rob. The bottom line is that there are two types of MMO players, those who enjoy PvP (RvR in War), and those who enjoy PvE. Your friend enjoyed DAoC, so he is obviously an RvR'er. Those of us who like RvR are only impressed by running Kara ONCE, not however many times it takes for a person or guild to get some upgraded gear. To us, War blows WoW out of the park. Even the casual scenarios are fun in War,and the Open RvR is a big rush. I haven't had as much fun with a video game since I was addicted to 8v8 RvR in Camelot. So, be happy for your friend that he has found a game that is more enjoyable for him than WoW.
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Tinwhisker said on 9:35AM 10-07-2008
I have friends I play(ed) with in WoW for a long time that were excited as they could be for WAR. When WAR debuted, some left for good and some came running back. Same thing with AoC.
The biggest reason is friends, most people would play a game they hate if their friends were doing it. And it goes both ways; friends can hold you to WoW or friends can drag you along to WAR.
Another big reason is playstyle.
The other reason to leave is burnout. If you progress through everything too quickly, you may burnout. Or if you can't progress at all you may burn out as well. Killed KJ back in May? You may be burning out. Still can't get past Kara? You are probably burning out.
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ketch said on 9:58AM 10-07-2008
I know exactly what the whole burnout theory is about. I've been trying to level a priest for ages, left him waiting in the wetlands, didn't even bother taking him to the inn and left it for 2 months. Then I got my hands on WAR, I played it during the pre-release week when I preordered and before my 30 day subscription even started I paid my £9 and jumped back into WoW and started levelling that priest again, I guess I just needed a little kick. However its not all that great, despite being back playing it just doesn't give me the same buzz it gave me 3 years ago.
I've played since 2005 and I've not once had a level 60 character and still not a 70. I've lost interest, the community is gone and the expansions have killed what was once a great game.
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Jack said on 10:21AM 10-07-2008
WoW is it for me at the moment I have a rule the not allow me to join a new mmo till it is a year old.
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EpsilonOrion said on 12:24PM 10-07-2008
The reason why I can't do that is I don't like to be left behind.
I am currently still playing WOW. I am actually in the middle of trying out the Recruit a Friend system (2 months so far) on a new server with other friends. It has helped me get multiple lvl 60/70s after having got other lvl 70s on another server. Then with WotLK coming out, I have quite a bit to look forward to. BUT.........
Then I look at WAR and see a very interesting looking game. I want to try it out but fear it being a waste of time and money (since there is not a trial yet). At the same time, I don't mind leaving WOW for a game that is fun and that I can get a leg up.
I came to WOW years after it came out and found myself way behind everyone else. It took me forever to catch up and Burning Crusade was the only thing that finally allowed me to fully catch up. If WAR is the next game to play and my friends are going over there, then waiting a year and getting further behind is impossible.
Alas, I am still playing WOW and am awaiting some people to tell me exactly what makes WAR worth leaving WOW (not just the words RvR).
Jack said on 12:44PM 10-07-2008
I still think the "left behind" part is not a big deal. Sure when you start playing the new MMO where you friends already are max out. It will not take you long to get there also.
Your friends may help you with "gold" and group quests and maybe even run you true a instant or 2. They are stuck in the game at the moment like there is only endgame at the max level and in WoW its mosty raiding or PVP BG/arena and may get bored with being 70 so they make alts and have to start over from the start.
And if you start playing a game one year later they will be more players on the server so you can new friends. Lets bugs, better addons and interfaces. More content (give or take) and best of all more fun.
Tallens said on 4:14AM 10-08-2008
I've played WoW for 3½ year now, Early Beta - back then all my friends where playing EQ and SWG,and I said I'd never ever play an MMO....
.. but I gave WoW a chance, gave it a look, and suddenly I was hooked, I spread the influence to my friends and said .."you gotta try this..."
.. When Warhammer came out, I was like, I gotta try this, It can only be better than AoC and LotrO (who really lacked an propper feel about it - it was to pwetty), WAR isn't pwetty, its a little harsh around the edges, though it lacks the blood splatter of AoC it has a charme...
What is more interresting is that they actually managed to make leveling fun, I know this sounds really wierd coming from WoW, but leveling is _fun_ I have NO idea about the engame raiding system and stuff like that, since WAR is slightly not there yet. It's an entrely another way to level, there is virtually no standstill - (except the annoyingly low amount of flightpaths to chapter camps... ) which means you jump from a Quest to a Public Quest, to a RvR Scenerio, witin a few minutes, and when you're done you return back to what you where doing, it's absolutely brilliant. (I dont know if that's how it was in the other game I didn't play) ... I dont even remember feeling this being as fun as the first time I leveled up in WoW, the only think that really frustrated me in WoW was the _time used vs reward gained_ you can spend aeons of time in wow without having a feeling of anything "done"... sure you level, but in WAR it's renown, influence, chapters, rvr fights, XP, new skills on almost every level, Morale bonuses, Fort sieges and more... in WoW it's just kill this, do that ...
so.. the real question will be, will WAR kill my WoW part?...so far it's doing just that, the thrill in WAR is alluring, much more than AoC ever was, or LotRO with is heavy lore could pull off... Sure WAR has problems (did I mention the flight paths?) but so do all new games, and those of you who played WoW in the early days will nod and say "people who started when tbc came have nooo idea" ... Thre are some class balancing issues, Order vs Destruction issues, som Scenarios that favors one side more than the other and so on... but then again there are room for improvement which is okey.
Will I return with WotLK ?.. yes I will I've pre-ordered my 2 copies (Ihave 2 accounts) already and I'm awaiting the expansion wth annoyed eagerness, cus I know.... that the leveling in WoW will be - dont even know how to say this nice - !#!"#!"#!"!¤! - sure there'l be a lot of pwetty lore and landscape, but it needs to be more than fragging awesome to make up for a leveling system which is close to dying of cancer... (sorry no offence to people with cancer it's not even funny)....
Play what you want and how you want, and find others who like you wants to do it like that... and you're come a long way to waste your time with others - in a good way :D
//Tallens'out
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Billhelm said on 4:04PM 10-11-2008
My only dilemma is how I make time for both WAR and WoW. While they are both MMO's and share many common elements, WoW is clearly superior in PVE and WAR in PVP.
I think I'll be able to play both, but WAR is probably gonna take a backseat while I level to 80 in WoW.
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