Stretching the Internet: World of Warcraft
I’ve been a WoW player for some time now, and I’ll try my best to touch surficially how it uses internet in it’s fullest extent to maintain such a loyal fanbase.
1) Internet Banking:
Inconvenience can turn away many a loyal gamer. By having secure internet banking system, with a click of the button, anywhere in the world, you can continue playing your game! In addition, with just a single payment, you have everything the game has to offer you, no gimmicks. This is in stark contrast to many free-to-play MMORPGs (i.e. Maplestory, Ragnarok Online) which give gaming preferences to gamers who purchase in-game products.
2) No-Shop system
While many games are still hinging on the DVD/Blue-Ray-and-install system, Blizzard introduced a system where anybody with an internet connection can buy the game and download it from anywhere in the world! The accessibility of the game is a big draw to people who are unable to purchase games locally.
3) Patches
Patching is a gaming term where the developer will update the game via internet, frequently introducing new concepts and products into the game itself. With this, the game is constantly evolving, on many occasions according to gamer’s preferences.
While WoW most likely isn’t the end of gaming development, it’s uncharacteristically long life-span of popularity for a 21st century game holds many lessons we can learn from.
