Why World of Warcraft Made It Big

Gamasutra offers an analysis by “online game expert” Michael Zenke concerning the reasons behind World of Warcraft’s massive success.

If you had to pin me down, and forced out of me the #1 reason for WoW’s success, it would all come down to one simple word: fun. I’m not talking about some sort of elusive concept here; not the pursuit of fun or the idea of fun, but the real deal. World of Warcraft was one of the very first MMOs that you could hop right into and have fun — right away.

Ten seconds after entering the world you’ve got your first quest. A minute after that you’re in combat for the first time. Combat in World of Warcraft is simple, clean, and well-explained. Every step you take in your first hour of play is right down the path toward fun. There are no barriers, no insane design decisions, no hoops you have to jump through — WoW lets you have fun, right away.

This newbie experience philosophy extends all the way up to the heights of endgame play. Certainly no one is going to explain to you how to complete an end-level raid dungeon; there’s no tooltip for that. But raids, guilds, groups, they’re all put on the path toward the goal of fun. Endgame play is just like the newbie experience, only more so — low barriers, constant feedback that you’re making the right choice, enjoyable rewards.