World of Warcraft: The great homewrecker
November 23rd, 2004 is the day that the most successful Massively Multi-player Online Role-Playing Game (or MMORPG) hit stores and changed the market forever. World of Warcraft turns five years old today.
The progress of MMOs can be roughly chronicled in terms of before World of Warcraft (or WoW) and after WoW. Up until this game hit the market, the dominant MMO, Sony Online Entertainment's EverQuest made headlines for its addicting gameplay, and its then record holding feat of attracting over 450, 000 subscribers. It also garnered the first criticisms for its addictive nature and garnered the nickname "EverCrack" for the way its gameplay lured certain players into giving up relationships and other real life concerns for the sake of playing.
However, when World of Warcraft debuted in 2004, it rapidly destroyed all previous claims to the #1 spot. It was an instant critical hit amongst the experienced MMO players for its polished, if uninnovative gameplay, it held the lure of a known intellectual property in the form of Blizzard's popular Warcraft real-time strategy series, and it quickly introduced mainstream culture to the addictive nature of MMOs, with some going so far as to call WoW the next "Golf" in terms of social penetration and networking possibilities. It became one of the first subscription based MMOs to have over one million, five million and 10 million subscribers. The game is still going strong, and shows no signs of relinquishing its crown anytime soon.
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