I have noticed some buzz on various sites regarding the possibility of a version of World of Warcraft for the iPad. There was also an April fool's fake news post about this on the gaming site Curse. Since this is being discussed on others forums I believe it is worth examining whether or not this is feasible or desirable.
My own opinion is that this could be possible with a version of WoW optimized for the iPad and that the gaming experience would be at least as good as other gaming apps using the iPhone OS. Content would need to be scaled down to avoid hogging up too much space on the iPad and graphics quality would be similarly reduced to maintain playable framerates.
There would be some novelty in using the touch interface to interact with the game if done well. Obviously it may take a bit more time to react and moving around could be more difficult using your fingers. On the other hand it could also be a lot of fun touching the display to use the action bars.
Cutting down content is not necessarily all bad as it could provide the opportunity to indulge in the retro pleasure of playing a game similar to the original version of WoW prior to the expansions. Adding a few quests and some other content unique to the iPad might make it worth checking out even for some hard core gamers addicted to mods and high end hardware.
Servers would decidedly have to be iPad only so as to keep the experience even among players in groups as well as have content appropriate for the device. This could actually be an opportunity for improving the social environment in the game. Anybody with the app and an active account should have access to the game. An identical hardware and software environment as well as its inherent limitations means that some of the elitism common among hard core players of the current game may be less common in this version. A more friendly and helpful social environment could make this a healthy niche product.
Most people who already play WoW would probably continue to primarily play the full version but a considerable number of new players might add this app and many existing players would at least buy the app out of curiosity if they own an iPad. I think it is a project worthy of serious consideration.
What do you think?
My own opinion is that this could be possible with a version of WoW optimized for the iPad and that the gaming experience would be at least as good as other gaming apps using the iPhone OS. Content would need to be scaled down to avoid hogging up too much space on the iPad and graphics quality would be similarly reduced to maintain playable framerates.
There would be some novelty in using the touch interface to interact with the game if done well. Obviously it may take a bit more time to react and moving around could be more difficult using your fingers. On the other hand it could also be a lot of fun touching the display to use the action bars.
Cutting down content is not necessarily all bad as it could provide the opportunity to indulge in the retro pleasure of playing a game similar to the original version of WoW prior to the expansions. Adding a few quests and some other content unique to the iPad might make it worth checking out even for some hard core gamers addicted to mods and high end hardware.
Servers would decidedly have to be iPad only so as to keep the experience even among players in groups as well as have content appropriate for the device. This could actually be an opportunity for improving the social environment in the game. Anybody with the app and an active account should have access to the game. An identical hardware and software environment as well as its inherent limitations means that some of the elitism common among hard core players of the current game may be less common in this version. A more friendly and helpful social environment could make this a healthy niche product.
Most people who already play WoW would probably continue to primarily play the full version but a considerable number of new players might add this app and many existing players would at least buy the app out of curiosity if they own an iPad. I think it is a project worthy of serious consideration.
What do you think?
