Computer Game Evaluation: World of Warcraft Dustin Kelley CIS 487 Fall 2005

Basic Information Game Title: Company & Author: Minimum Requirements: Type of Game: MMORPG Price: $49.99 purchase, $15/month subscription Launch Date: 11/22/04 ESRB Rating: Teen (13+) Platforms: PC & Mac Minimum Requirements: 800 MHz CPU 256 MB RAM 32 MB 3D Graphics Card 5 GB hard drive space DirectX 9.0c 56k modem w/ internet Recommended: 1.6 GHz CPU 512 MB RAM 64 MB 3D Graphics Card Cable/DSL internet

Installation 4 CDs Easy installation, automated and prompts when to insert next CD Patches and upgrades are automatically downloaded and installed when game is started May take a few hours total Writes nearly 5 GB to your hard drive CD not required while playing

Quick Overview Game must be played online only Standard RPG elements (leveling, experience, etc.) Real-time, action-oriented rather than turn-based Many different options when creating your character, each giving the player a new experience Two factions: Alliance & Horde Choose male or female Eight races to choose from Alliance: Dwarves, Gnomes, Humans, Night Elves Horde: Orcs, Undead, Tauren, Trolls Nine classes total, with eight in each faction, Druid, Hunter, Mage, Paladin (Alliance only), Priest, Rogue, Shaman (Horde only), Warlock, Warrior Well-balanced; each have their own advantages/disadvantages Each faction has 3 different starting locations

Storyline Alliance vs. Horde ceasefire Still warfare through in-game run-ins Each race is fighting for their place in the world of Azeroth Each race has an introduction video describing its role in the world Storyline is driven at will by the player through quests

Player’s Role Immerse yourself into the fantasy world of Azeroth to take on the role and live the life of your chosen race & class When grouping with other players, each class has it’s own role(s), such as tanking (keeping mobs from attacking other members), healing group members, etc.

User Interface Simple and easy to learn Actions, attacks, and other items are accessed through buttons on the action bar located at the bottom of the screen Top row of keys, 1 through =, may be assigned to actions for quick access “Smart mouse” cursor changes as different object types are hovered over, and mouse-click actions are changed as well By default, character movement controlled by mouse, ASDW keys, or arrow keys All keys and actions are fully customizable Custom UI mods are available for download, or may be created by the user

User Interface

Game Play Player can choose different styles of play at any time Questing Accept and complete a quest for an NPC for rewards (money, items, experience) Leads player to new areas Grinding Kill mobs just to gain experience Farming Gathering materials or items needed for various reasons Killing certain mobs hoping for a particular dropped item Instances Dungeons usually attempted with a group Individually spawned for your own group only (no other players encountered inside) Rare item drops Battlegrounds Groups of each faction compete in Player-vs-Player (PvP) instances

Game Play (cont’d) Non-linear progression Gain experience by questing or fighting Level up your character to learn new skills, get better items, become more powerful Level 60 is the cap Make friends by grouping with others, or joining a guild Many later battles require groups Guild members can be very helpful when learning the game Learn professions to make useful items for yourself, or to sell/trade to other players

Scoring Experience points Leveling your character, skills, talents, etc. PvP rankings Honor points Guild rankings Territory reputation

Artwork Landscapes Characters Beautifully designed Wide variety of vast areas to explore Characters Easily distinguishable races Each new piece of armor or weapon equipped changes the look of your character accordingly

Sound & Music Background music Realistic nature sounds Changes accordingly with new locations Not always on, but kicks in at just the right times Realistic nature sounds Birds chirping, crickets at night, etc. Unique sounds for the many different actions/events keep you more aware of what’s going on Different enemy types have distinguishable sounds/voices Never seem overly repetitive

Special Features Game is always growing as patches and updates are released New instances & battlegrounds New items Choose server (PvP or not) Multiple race/class combinations Auction House (in-game eBay)

Manual Over 200 pages Well-organized Very helpful to new players Explains quite a bit about the game’s many different features Not completely necessary to read, as there is an optional in-game alert system to tell you about new situations

Bugs Not currently aware of any New patches are occasionally released by Blizzard to fix bugs found, add new features, etc.

Game Review The Good The Bad Countless hours of play Always find new milestones to work toward Always something to do, even after you reach 60 Extremely high replayability due to the many character options Encourages grouping with other players Open-ended: you decide what you want to do next The Bad Very addicting Game doesn’t end Some quests get repetitive Kill [blah], bring me [blah] Could consume your life if you’re not careful Subscription cost ends up being ~ $180/year

Game Review (cont’d) Comparison Audience Design Mistakes? First MMORPG I’ve played Therefore, no other games I can compare it to Audience The Teen rating seems suitable Competence Ability to handle complex situations Design Mistakes? I think not

Summary Overall strengths Overall weaknesses Funativity: very high Player choices affect how game is played Enormous world to discover Huge amount of information to learn Overall weaknesses Subscription costs Game has no “ending” or “final boss” No ultimate goal Hinders the feeling of completeness you get from beating a game

Summary (cont’d) Is the game worth purchasing? Yes, very much so The subscription cost is not too bad Always being updated Very high fun/cost ratio How could it be improved? Add a balance system that doesn’t cause over-crowding of one faction on a server Overall game is improved with every patch release