Exploding-Planet.com

As you might of noticed, I have been even longer between posting than normal (although that is usually a long time anyway) and obviously as you might have guessed I have been playing World of Warcraft.

I often ask myself why I am still playing it, why even did I start in the first place. It consumes large amounts of time, I curse not having enough free time outside of WoW, and what do I get out of it? A high level character in a digital world on a server somewhere in Europe. Not only that but I pay for the privilege. So why do I?

This time, instead of just leaving an open ended question, I shall attempt to answer why.

The reason I started playing this particular MMORPG, was mainly because it was made by Blizzard and is based in the Warcraft universe which I had become aquainted with through playing Warcraft 3 (which I played because it was made by Blizzard). This reason alone doesn't always mean it would be a good game but it's a very good start.

The reason I even considered playing a MMORPG in the first place is because of Dark Age of Camelot. A good while back at university, from my Tribes 2 clan at the time, I got a link to try the European beta for DAoC . Had no idea what a MMORPG would be like, so decided to give it a try. GwieF was also interested because of his Tribes 2 clan trying it (no, they were not the same clans).

After playing it for a week or so, we got so totally hooked, it was like a classic single player RPG, but in a persistent world where other players were running around doing what were. There was something very appealing about exploring this massive world, alone or with friends (or essentially complete strangers) and facing threats together.

One of the things I enjoyed the most was helping other players, often going out of my way to help someone. For no reward at all. While the eventual goal in these games is to make more in-game money and increase in level, the reason I do this is so I can help more people, more often. Of course this begs the question, why are the players I am helping even playing the game =)

So after taking part in the actual release of DAoC, where on the opening weekend we played for an insane amount of time without sleep, we were hooked on MMORPGS. However it didn't last too long and I soon moved on. It had gotten too slow to advance and most other people I had got to know advanced too quickly beyond me. At this point in time I wondered why I bothered playing it so much at all.

Several MMORPGS later and WoW finally was finished and released in Europe. This particular game takes what I liked about DAoc and slaps it in a world that is a joy to explore and intereact with. Intereaction with other players from around the world, sharing our experiences of the world with others, helping others enjoy the game more, fighting epic battles against hordes of enemies and humongous giants, trying to make in-game money through buying and selling, questing for that glowing wand of death and of course having fun doing it all.

I can't say for sure that I will be playing it in 6 months time, but I can say for sure I will be paying for it in 6 months time (I chose the 6 month subscription without a second thought).

P.S. I will post screenshots of my antics soon, when I get around to sorting through them all!