Kotaku 
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Denver, 6:13 PM
Fri Nov 20
53 posts in the last 24 hours
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11/17/09
I lost a few friends to WoW.
WoW: Not Even Once! #research
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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
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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
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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
11/03/09
WoW is a horribly addicting game - skeletons or not. WoW in china has been especially bad with gamers starving themselves and to the point where there have been "mmo rehab" centers all over the place. Granted, WoW isn't the only contributing cause, but I do think it's one of the biggest. #worldofwarcraft
11/03/09
People should be allowed to do what they want, with their time. They can live or die with the consequences, at least they get to decide. #worldofwarcraft
11/04/09
I mean, I hear kids are learning multiplication tables when they're like 4? I was still learning to wipe my own ass when I was 4 (sometimes still can't do it).
Isn't that the theory we got going on with Japan? Their social structure is so intense a lot of the men are somewhat.. despondent?
I don't know. But I'm thinkin' the issue goes beyond WoW. WoW is just the most attractive, easy, and cheap escape.
Again I swear to God if someone takes offense and calls me a racist uneducated bastard I hope you get mauled by a bear. A bear with swords. And lasers.
Also feel free to tell me what it's like in mainland China! #worldofwarcraft
11/04/09
11/04/09
If I had any bears to spare, I would send them to join your army. I've been in Japan for a while now though and I need every blasted bear I can get my hands on to keep the Lucky Star lynch mobs from coming after me. #worldofwarcraft
11/03/09
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11/03/09
And this issue here isn't that people are looking for life fulfillment in WoW. It's a game. Most people are aware of that. This is just the Chinese gov't wanting control, and more money (read: bribes) #worldofwarcraft
11/03/09
11/03/09
wow this is one of the most ignorant comments I've seen on kotaku in quite some time. What do you know about China besides what Fox news feeds you? #worldofwarcraft
11/03/09
What on earth is with the random "Fox News" reference? It's not like they deserve to be the scapegoat of all that is wrong with journalism. And what does Fox News have to do with China (never mind the World of Warcraft issue) ? #worldofwarcraft
11/03/09
Truly narrow minded to think that anyone who disagrees with you has had their thoughts fed to them. It's like the old adage, "Think for yourself!" when they really mean "Think like me!".
But, to answer your question more directly, Fox News is owned by Rupert Murdoch, who owns the contracts to both Hu Jintao and Bobby Koticks' souls. #worldofwarcraft
11/03/09
11/04/09
Either way, I just hate when people decide to ignore the message for the messenger, even if the message is logical. You know? #worldofwarcraft
11/04/09
Your statement about the message and the messenger is a good one, but I'd like to think the best way to go about things is to do proper research (i.e. read up from different sources, including slanted ones), because then you'll know fully what the long term repercussions or benefits are of the things you are crusading against (or for).
The fact is, no news outlet, no matter how biased, is inherently good or bad. What turns them good or bad (and thus causes the general perception) is that certain people take the information they're fed without considering the implications or the background. Similarly, people who are against these outlets respond in a similar way, which I find ignorant and unfortunate.
So much bigotry and misunderstanding can be dispelled if more people would think for themselves rather than be told what to think and 'go with the flow,' as it were. #worldofwarcraft
11/03/09
11/03/09
though while my country doesnt outright outlaw foreign films. we do our best to dissuade people from watching them. we even begin remaking some the year they are released and act like they are new films. we dont want to lose our film industry. and people in my country get mad when they think of losing their job to someone overseas. this seems similar to both of those aspects of my culture imo. #worldofwarcraft
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11/03/09
Yeah it's what Japan has been doing since the beginning of time.
Also back to home grown products China has absolute tons of RPGs. MMO and single player.
What country are you from? #worldofwarcraft
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10/10/09
Why does this stuff only come out when another MMO is stomping a mud hold into WoW. Suspicious I say... Now think about it, When Warhammer released Mila Kunis was talking WoW, WoW, WoW.. Now she doesn't say crap about it (maybe Blizzard stopped paying her). But think about it every month a major MMO releases something like this comes out for WoW.
Look back at the games, Age of Connan, Warhammer, Aion etc. And on each and every month of one of those months some super hot model of a girl comes forth to say she plays WoW. Hate to say it but its way too suspicious, And its not below Blizzard to use such tactics to keep horny males playing WoW. Because Blizzard has paid some stars both male & female in the past to say they played WoW for ads. This is looks to be more of an underground type of advertising mostly done by company evangelist to increase sales/keep users of a product....
10/10/09
I think it's just an excuse to show BOOBS (!!!).
10/10/09
If you think this has no relevance to anything, you fail to realise that Kotaku is the equivalent of a gossip rag for gamers.
...and I love it to bits.