@melonpans: Yeah, totally. Escapism sucks. I mean, only WoW is a form of escapism, other video games are actually parallels of my real life and therefore don't fall into that category. #research
@DraconisXC: Ah, but I haven't lost any friends to other forms of video game escapism. I can still call them up and say "Let's go get some pizza and toss a frisbee around." And we will. And it is awesome.
Can't even call one of the WoW players anymore. If I want to talk to him, I'd have to make a WoW account just to do so. (And yeah, not doing that.) If I catch him when he's not playing WoW, it's always "but I've got a raid planned for tonight" or "I've already got plans to hang out with some friends in Org."
@Wizard: I went on vacation with a friend to Boston. Tons of stuff to do there (not counting Anime Boston which was going on at the time.) Half the time she was in the hotel room playing WoW with her boyfriend.
Warcraft 2 was actually a decent game for fun LAN parties where afterward you'd eat pizza together and talk about who kicked who's butt.
Now it's all obese people talking to their imaginary online friends.
@Wizard: So because you had some friends that play WoW and they became shut-ins, all WoW players must end up as shut-ins? Correlation does not imply causation.
I play WoW. I'm not a shut-in. In the last 4 years that I've played I've traveled to NYC, Austin, Huntsville, Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Hong Kong. I raid, 4 nights a week, and frequently cancel one in order to hang out with friends irl.
Point being, your experience does not define all experiences. I've known people that were more addicted to Counterstrike than most WoW players are addicted to their drug of choice.
@DraconisXC: That's the conclusion you jumped to. I was merely expressing my displeasure at WoW's addiction level and expressing something that happened to me. (And I'm sure it's a tale many can probably relate to.)
It was not meant to claim that ALL WoW players are shut-ins who abandon their friends to chat with friends on WoW all night. Or that WoW is the only game that people will spend hours upon hours playing, dropping everything else in their life.
The other thing that I'm wondering is given our community of Kotakuites, how many do we know are like you, someone who's willing to cancel a raid to hang out with friends in life, and how many do we know are like my friend, who's willing to cancel friends in real life to go raid? (Or even spend the night chatting in Org. Gahhh.)
I'm wondering which group is more common of people we Kotakuites know. (I figure in the grand scheme, people like you are far more common. WoW is not the diehard addiction many of us view it is. But...we're gamers who post on a gaming blog. Our slice of contact is probably a lot more specific.)
@TJH518: Oh I bet. I mean who REALLY needs 5 laptops going at once. If/When I build a sweet setup all I'm gonna have is 1 lappy and a flatscreen. I think that's all the average person needs. And havokjv is right. This IS overkill lol #research
I too wonder how far-reaching 'online game subscription' goes. I can know 6 people who have WoW subscriptions, but I also know about 8 or 9 older people who have subscriptions to game sites like Pogo, which are far from your standard MMO fare. #research
The Census bureau estimates the number of U.S. households roughly 115 Million. That means 16.2 million subscribers.
WoW can't be blamed for more than 5 million at best. WoW draws its numbers form a worldwide audience. Other MMOs do not break 200.000 really, at least in the U.S. alone.
That leaves Xbox Live as the last suspect for generating a large number of subscriptions. Roughly 14 million 360 sold in the U.S. and if you are willing to put the XBL Gold attach rate to roughly 50% , you are almost there. #research
now, does the calculate how many households run multiple game subscriptions? cause those crazy people like me, who have an EQ, EQ2 and City of Heroes subscription might be screwing with the numbers a bit. well, maybe not as much as those guys who 24-box a specific game, but still.
Only about 60% of American homes are connected to the internet... which mean a quarter of all internet connected homes have subscriptions to a MMO...
to be honestly though as impressive as these numbers are what I am really interested is how these statistics stack up against South Korea. They did after all invent the genre with Nexus. And with numbers like 90% of the country being connected with broadband if the same relativity holds up (with it wont since they are crazier about mmo over there) then that did be truly a scary percentage. #research
@(Starman) Starman: What I was thinking is I'd be more surprised to hear that there's enough of a difference between "14% of homes in general" and "14% of homes with the internet" that it had to be distinguished which was being talked about.
The internet is as basic as a refrigerator now. #research
@ThisCharmingMan: That's the only thing I see that would make it strange.
That, and it seems difficult to scavange in a world full of people...maybe there'd be a character limit, and EACH CHARACTER would have their own finds?
meaning, each character has every item ont he map available to collect, like in Fallout 3. Even if someone else got it, you can still get it, for your character. That way everybody can search for leftovers, there's no strangeness going on with respawning leftovers...
And then you can use raiders and enemies to get extra stuff. I think that would work nicely. #fallout
So this is alpha type stuff yeah? cos "eww icky icky" comes to mind.
Also this could bomb bad. I think many current Fallout fans will of come from Bethseda's crack at the IP and be expecting something that plays out like FO3.
But we'll see, but unless interplay have pulled in a fair few new elements from FO3, it's not gonna do so great.
I'm definitely keeping an eye on this game. Bioware makes some solid storylines, and it'd be nice to have a story-driven MMO with some real depth to it.
Sure, Bioware's never made an MMO before, but neither had Verant (Everquest) or Blizzard (WoW.) At least they have a very solid history in RPGs, and that goes a long way in my books.
For me, it'll mostly come down to how much grouping up is encouraged. I'm all for being able to solo stuff, but make grouping fun so people will want to do it. I'm far too much of a social MMO player (blasphemy, I know) to wait until endgame raiding to meet people.
The only downside is my wife isn't a fan of scifi games, so it'll be hard to convince her to play with me.
Plus I'll need new computers for us to play this on. Our 5 year old computers don't play much these days. #starwarstheoldrepublic
@Taggart6: I don't always drink beer, but when I do...: Not in the traditional sense. They use a cover system, just as the smugglers do, even having the ability to throw down an energy wall that they can duck behind. They're ability to call in an airstrike is a nice AOE effect. They'll even have spherical droid companions as a sort of pet to offer buffs to themselves, and possibly the team, as well as debuffs to the enemy. This is my class of choice, as it has been from the get-go. #starwarstheoldrepublic
I'm really looking forward to this game. 1. I love Bioware. 2. I enjoyed WoW but got rather sick of it. 3. I love Star Wars.
Though I still wish they would have focused on making a KoTOR 3 instead of this - ultimately, I'll take whatever they are willing to give. #starwarstheoldrepublic
11/17/09
I lost a few friends to WoW.
WoW: Not Even Once! #research
11/17/09
11/17/09
11/17/09
Can't even call one of the WoW players anymore. If I want to talk to him, I'd have to make a WoW account just to do so. (And yeah, not doing that.) If I catch him when he's not playing WoW, it's always "but I've got a raid planned for tonight" or "I've already got plans to hang out with some friends in Org."
...So yeahhh... #research
11/18/09
Warcraft 2 was actually a decent game for fun LAN parties where afterward you'd eat pizza together and talk about who kicked who's butt.
Now it's all obese people talking to their imaginary online friends.
11/18/09
I play WoW. I'm not a shut-in. In the last 4 years that I've played I've traveled to NYC, Austin, Huntsville, Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Hong Kong. I raid, 4 nights a week, and frequently cancel one in order to hang out with friends irl.
Point being, your experience does not define all experiences. I've known people that were more addicted to Counterstrike than most WoW players are addicted to their drug of choice.
11/18/09
It was not meant to claim that ALL WoW players are shut-ins who abandon their friends to chat with friends on WoW all night. Or that WoW is the only game that people will spend hours upon hours playing, dropping everything else in their life.
The other thing that I'm wondering is given our community of Kotakuites, how many do we know are like you, someone who's willing to cancel a raid to hang out with friends in life, and how many do we know are like my friend, who's willing to cancel friends in real life to go raid? (Or even spend the night chatting in Org. Gahhh.)
I'm wondering which group is more common of people we Kotakuites know. (I figure in the grand scheme, people like you are far more common. WoW is not the diehard addiction many of us view it is. But...we're gamers who post on a gaming blog. Our slice of contact is probably a lot more specific.)
11/17/09
11/17/09
11/17/09
11/17/09
11/17/09
11/17/09
WoW can't be blamed for more than 5 million at best. WoW draws its numbers form a worldwide audience. Other MMOs do not break 200.000 really, at least in the U.S. alone.
That leaves Xbox Live as the last suspect for generating a large number of subscriptions. Roughly 14 million 360 sold in the U.S. and if you are willing to put the XBL Gold attach rate to roughly 50% , you are almost there. #research
11/17/09
11/17/09
Then again, the methodology of the research (publisher reported numbers or actual surveys) is still up in the air, so... #research
11/17/09
Honestly, if that was true, I'd be much more shocked that 14% aren't connected to the internet. :O #research
11/17/09
11/17/09
Only about 60% of American homes are connected to the internet... which mean a quarter of all internet connected homes have subscriptions to a MMO...
to be honestly though as impressive as these numbers are what I am really interested is how these statistics stack up against South Korea. They did after all invent the genre with Nexus. And with numbers like 90% of the country being connected with broadband if the same relativity holds up (with it wont since they are crazier about mmo over there) then that did be truly a scary percentage. #research
11/17/09
The internet is as basic as a refrigerator now. #research
11/13/09
11/13/09
Hehe -- so are we in a "chicken-and-egg" situation now? #fallout
11/13/09
11/13/09
11/13/09
Though there should be a player limit to servers to keep it wastelandy. Instead of a wasteland....covered with people. :|
11/13/09
11/13/09
That, and it seems difficult to scavange in a world full of people...maybe there'd be a character limit, and EACH CHARACTER would have their own finds?
meaning, each character has every item ont he map available to collect, like in Fallout 3. Even if someone else got it, you can still get it, for your character. That way everybody can search for leftovers, there's no strangeness going on with respawning leftovers...
And then you can use raiders and enemies to get extra stuff. I think that would work nicely. #fallout
11/13/09
11/13/09
Also this could bomb bad. I think many current Fallout fans will of come from Bethseda's crack at the IP and be expecting something that plays out like FO3.
But we'll see, but unless interplay have pulled in a fair few new elements from FO3, it's not gonna do so great.
11/13/09
Sure, Bioware's never made an MMO before, but neither had Verant (Everquest) or Blizzard (WoW.) At least they have a very solid history in RPGs, and that goes a long way in my books.
For me, it'll mostly come down to how much grouping up is encouraged. I'm all for being able to solo stuff, but make grouping fun so people will want to do it. I'm far too much of a social MMO player (blasphemy, I know) to wait until endgame raiding to meet people.
The only downside is my wife isn't a fan of scifi games, so it'll be hard to convince her to play with me.
Plus I'll need new computers for us to play this on. Our 5 year old computers don't play much these days. #starwarstheoldrepublic
11/13/09
11/14/09
I need to find a way to spin it as a murderous ghost MMO set in a land with very hairy elves. #starwarstheoldrepublic
11/13/09
11/13/09
11/13/09
:) #starwarstheoldrepublic
11/13/09
Seems strangely familiar...why does he seem so familiar? Oh, right.
Joss Whedon is my master now. #starwarstheoldrepublic
11/13/09
Also the Operative didn't use a sniper rifle. #starwarstheoldrepublic
11/13/09
11/13/09
The character art seems rather generic as well... Shame.. #starwarstheoldrepublic
11/13/09
11/14/09
fuck it, the art sucks nonetheless #starwarstheoldrepublic
11/13/09
Though I still wish they would have focused on making a KoTOR 3 instead of this - ultimately, I'll take whatever they are willing to give. #starwarstheoldrepublic