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World of Warcraft (WoW) is an enormous game that has become more popular than anyone could have expected, including the creators themselves, Blizzard Entertainment. It has created its own staple in history, by becoming the number one most sold PC game in history.
On top of becoming the best selling PC game ever, WoW has completely revamped the gaming audience for massive multiplayer online (MMO) games single handedly. Before WoW, the MMO genre was primarily built of teenage to mid twenty year old men, since WoWs success, it has pushed the previous limits, and now, men, women, and children of all ages partake in playing WoW, allowing for a huge expansion of community style.
Even people who don't normally play games have become WoW players. Very often the game is spread by word of mouth, a friend got into it so they try it, and wind up playing it as a permanent past time, and the word spreads. It’s like a wildfire really, and even after two years, it's still spreading. One student actually did a test for a school project, and the results showed that nearly 20% of people who actually play WoW on a normal basis have had little experience with gaming prior to WoW, and thats saying something.
Even women, who are not normally a targeted audience for games, have become addicted to WoW. Most have started trying it out because again, a friend, boyfriend, or someone of that nature has played it, and recommended they try it out, however a large sum of them have also decided to try it out for themselves. Since WoWs release, nearly a third of the MMO games are female players, and roughly half of them admit that WoW was the starting point in their online careers.
On top of that, WoW has created a social appeal to people in relationships of all types. Nearly 50% of people playing WoW are playing with a friend, family member, or romantic partner. Children play with friends down the street, parents play with their children, brothers even play together in the same house. WoW has somehow managed to create the want to battle it out with mythic demons with your family and friends; it's no longer a single person’s mission to play and make friends online, but to create online coalitions with real life friends.
One reason many people believe WoW was so successful is the amount of free trials available. During the development, Blizzard released Beta Tests to allow people to try the game out, even after it was released to the public, you were (and still are, might I add) able to download a ten day free trial, allowing you to play in the same realm as the monthly subscribers, to allow you to try out the game, which is often how they hook people to play, the idea of trying out a free game that is ranked on the top boards for so long is very appealing, and it's hard to say no to something like that.
World of Warcraft is a title that has done the impossible, opened doors where people once thought was a dying market, thinking that nothing new could be brought to it. WoW has not only proven those people wrong, but has proven that the MMO market is alive and kicking, and has proven time and time again with releases of expansions to the game, that there’s no sign of it letting up.
On top of becoming the best selling PC game ever, WoW has completely revamped the gaming audience for massive multiplayer online (MMO) games single handedly. Before WoW, the MMO genre was primarily built of teenage to mid twenty year old men, since WoWs success, it has pushed the previous limits, and now, men, women, and children of all ages partake in playing WoW, allowing for a huge expansion of community style.
Even people who don't normally play games have become WoW players. Very often the game is spread by word of mouth, a friend got into it so they try it, and wind up playing it as a permanent past time, and the word spreads. It’s like a wildfire really, and even after two years, it's still spreading. One student actually did a test for a school project, and the results showed that nearly 20% of people who actually play WoW on a normal basis have had little experience with gaming prior to WoW, and thats saying something.
Even women, who are not normally a targeted audience for games, have become addicted to WoW. Most have started trying it out because again, a friend, boyfriend, or someone of that nature has played it, and recommended they try it out, however a large sum of them have also decided to try it out for themselves. Since WoWs release, nearly a third of the MMO games are female players, and roughly half of them admit that WoW was the starting point in their online careers.
On top of that, WoW has created a social appeal to people in relationships of all types. Nearly 50% of people playing WoW are playing with a friend, family member, or romantic partner. Children play with friends down the street, parents play with their children, brothers even play together in the same house. WoW has somehow managed to create the want to battle it out with mythic demons with your family and friends; it's no longer a single person’s mission to play and make friends online, but to create online coalitions with real life friends.
One reason many people believe WoW was so successful is the amount of free trials available. During the development, Blizzard released Beta Tests to allow people to try the game out, even after it was released to the public, you were (and still are, might I add) able to download a ten day free trial, allowing you to play in the same realm as the monthly subscribers, to allow you to try out the game, which is often how they hook people to play, the idea of trying out a free game that is ranked on the top boards for so long is very appealing, and it's hard to say no to something like that.
World of Warcraft is a title that has done the impossible, opened doors where people once thought was a dying market, thinking that nothing new could be brought to it. WoW has not only proven those people wrong, but has proven that the MMO market is alive and kicking, and has proven time and time again with releases of expansions to the game, that there’s no sign of it letting up.