That's kinda funny when you think about that.
WoW - 11.5 million players
EVE - 300 thousand players
Boy I feel sorry for the rest of the competitors.
I see WoW and EVE in those flash ads on Gamespot everytime I go there. I remeber seeing LotRO with ring thing spinning in the beginning. But haven't seen that Ad in ages. I guess those two are like the ones who can actually afford the spot. lol
2p-gamesIm sure lots of MMOs besides those 2 are making money. Im just saying that WoW kinda takes a pretty large part of the pie. I dont know how copies many EVE online sold and at what price, but after 6 years they have 300 k subscribers presently which actually beat the newer Warhammer (whom analysts believe is on decline).
http://www.homelessgamers.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=120:eve-online-now-has-more-subscribers-than-warhammer&catid=25
All I know is when I go to game sites for info, I often see spaceships flying about and Id imagine that costs some good money to have that kind of ad campaign. So whether its by people who have 1 account or 5, they make good money. And others still buy time and trade it to others for currency over and over again (which is kind of unfair imho). But this opens up a different type of playing option as well which I guess makes it unique.
Honestly I think the EVE world is pretty darn empty for its potential size, even in prime time. But it still lags like mad when you have 100 vs 100 in one area.
Well, I would guess its the artistry they put into it. The music is orchestrated. Not like those cheesy medieval mandolin sounding games. Even though the graphics is not exemplary and is sort of dated, the setting and the creativity they put into it makes it immersive and novel. If you have good speakers its even better.
The world is flexible and they make up the stories and environment. They dont have to stick to copyrighted lore like LotR. Its often not too serious and has some humor in it. And there is variety as well to suit different tastes.
But most importantly, they put a lot of effort into balancing the game and economy. Unlike other games which often has some power build for a long time, they nerf things left and right. And they even change things that arent messed up just to give the whole game a different dynamic.
The technology is pretty good too as it often seems fairly smooth compared to other games. Its easy to play, yet has elements for the hard-core. It caters to both casual and the enthusiast. People make all sorts of interfaces for it.
Perhaps another thing they do that is important to some people is that they moderate fairly strictly. You can curse someone out just a little and be reported and banned for a few hours to life after a few too many warnings.
And Blizzard has a reputation and award winning tracks.
I dont play it anymore, but after experiencing it, I would definitely be able to see why its so successful. All I have to say is that if you havent played it, this is the game to try out.
And you can join this thread in this forum on WoW that has gone on for like 461 posts! LOL
Yo, that's not even the end of it. My guild used to schedule a Saturday and Sunday with "backup/reserve" players for 1 dungeon. And the raid was like 12 hours and we still didn't make it to the end! That's not even counting the "preparations" some of us had to do during the week. We actually rehearsed things and when they down a boss and clear that area, they would switch some ppl out and teleport other people into the area and rehearse things before the mobs respawn. LOL It was like a job after a while.
Yo, that's not even the end of it. My guild used to schedule a Saturday and Sunday with "backup/reserve" players for 1 dungeon. And the raid was like 12 hours and we still didn't make it to the end! That's not even counting the "preparations" some of us had to do during the week. We actually rehearsed things and when they down a boss and clear that area, they would switch some ppl out and teleport other people into the area and rehearse things before the mobs respawn. LOL It was like a job after a while.
). Blizzard has tried to change things such that specific classes / specs are not required for a successful instance run (other than having enough tanks and healers). Blizzard has also implemented dual specs where your character can take two specs and easily change between them (note: there is a level requirement and it cost 1k gold to get the dual spec ability). What all this means is that you don't need a guild group / guild raid group to do the instances (with the exception of the latest WotLK raid instance). PuGs (pick up groups) are now easy to form and can easily do the content. With a PuG, you aren't constrained to be on at a certain time or stay on. WoW is much more casual then it used to be.It sounds like you played awhile ago and WoW has changed a lot since then (I went through the same thing years ago on MC and BWL runs
In WotLK, most of the 5 man instances (both normal and heroic difficulty) can be done in little more then an hour (assuming limited wipes) (VH takes 25 minutes or so)). A 10/25 OS raid takes about 1/2 hour. A 10/25 Naxx run takes hours but in a PuG you can leave when you want.
