This is what I think is the most hilarious thing: game nerds come to a website and call other people losers for playing a different game. Hmm... The obvious irony there really does make me laugh.

FACT: Comparing one game to another is pointless unless you are deciding which one to buy. I will play mine, you play yours.

FACT: OMG people can turn it off and walk away!

FACT: Ignorance, stupidity, and/or retardation are the main causes for that one guy who always says, "You losers have no life!" Yet, at the same time, if he aint playing the exact same game as you while he says this, he is probably on a video game site trashing someone else's opinion and passion for video games.

FACT: If WoW weren't so good, why is everyone trying to immitate it? You not liking something does NOT invalidate a multi-million player base nor does it signify some type of higher status you may think you have. And, all the while, you're probably playing a game that I don't like. But, since I am not a hypocrite, I could give a **** less.

FACT: Really? No life for playing a MMO? Dude...yer on a game website. Arguing about games.

Good argument points there. I think that, in the end, community is what makes the game for one and not another. Personally, I hate the WoW community. I feel like i'm in a kindergarten. Fact, my wife says that a few students in her class (grade 3) plays the game. Says a lot lol.

Wrong. WoW offers everything all previous MMOs didn't to a larger market. Now instead of 100 players spending 3 hours to kill a boss in FFXI, they don't need to spend all that time and could actually participate in life.

WoW is just easier on the schedule because it is realistically impossible for someone to put in nonstop hours to get to max level in 2-3 years. No one would play a game that is a constant grind fest with no direction.

LOTRO is going to dominate, you can almost feel the rumble of the lord of the rings fanbase ready to attack : )

i like WoW because i can solo on it if i want and just play it every now & then.

Ebonyflame I do agree with you.. Thats WoW's strenght in my opinion the simplicity yet depth to it.. But the fact still remains there is 0 challenge in the game. Death is basically a corpse run and at best 3g repair (always laugh when people complaina bout this of all things, when comparing to other MMOs).. The ease also brings people who as politely as possible are horrible at the game to highest level possible and sitll be horrible. Not just that but it attracts alot of the jerks who nomrally would never play a MMO.. With this in mind we can see why ALOT of people think WoW has one of the worse communities. In the end with the lack of challenge the only thing that game can offer you is a time sink where the only challenge is some how fitting the increasing requirements into your schedule.

I disagree with you skemaal. It may be easier a game to play than the others but it does notmake it any less challenging for the obvious casual gamers that the game has targeted. You and I as old school gamers of various systems may like our games to have a little challenge but not all gamers are created equal. I think it was wise for the gameplay to be as simple as possible because not every game experience should require understanding of D&D 3rd edition rules, expert map reading abilities, etc. SOmetimes, just getting down into a game with ease can be rewarding. If the games difficulty intimidates a young gamer or a casual gamer, then that is one less subscription per month a MMO sells. And the fewer sales, the fewer updates as nobody wants to make games for free. I find myself these days gravitating towards simpler games as I have grown tired of the constant challenge.

LordRaidenT is right. WoW is simply a dumb down version of all MMOs before it. Look at the reviews for games like Vanguard. All of them will say that its frustrating hard. Wait a minute...thats point to make your game play worthwhile...even for the casual gamer. Like anything else in life, people got lazy even in Video games....sad.

Guild wars for the win!

are you kidding me? people who play WoW could care less about timesinks, they r in the lifestyle 24/7................ thats all they do think or talk WoW WoW WoW. WoW is too boring and simplistic for most of us gamers out there. we seek challenge and compeition. not sissyplay.

Honestly speaking, I don't think WOW ruined the genre, WOW made MMORPG's accessible enough and interesting enough in terms of polish and small details to where casual gamers picked it up in droves.

And it let all sorts of people have such a high quality experience with such little monotonous grind and time-sinks (relative to other MMORPG's that is) that when people tried playing and comparing other MMORPG's to it, they just couldn't get into them because those other MMORPG's were both inferior in polish and accessibility, and had far more irritating timesinks that made gameplay comparatively much less fun.

In essence: they didn't want to put up with all the BS other MMORPG's foisted on them after they had a relatively BS-free experience with WOW.

No more MMorpgs its getting old now. How about something new like getting a new MMOFPS released or MMOSH. Something other than MMORPGs.

WoW is destroying all other MMO's not by being the best, but by being the easiest and most attractive to all the n00bs out there, it has killed the MMO genre, WoW changed the meaning of "MMO" from "Massive Multiplayer Online Game" to "Lifestyle" MMO's are no longer considered games because of this murderous game and it should be punished. I encourage everyone to join all of the Anti-WoW websites out there to show your support in better gaming for all. Gaming like EQ brought us untill they released PoP and killed it.

Yes Earth and Beyond is gone but last I knew AO is still going strong and its free to play. It added in game advertising as a way to pay the bills.

If i'm not mistaken... to the "has any MMORPG ever closed?" Earth and Beyond and Anarchy Online are two of the bigger ones that i know closed up. The only MMORPG that i used to play (when i had the time) was Eve-Online. And I'm happy to say that it's NOTHING like wow, or any other MMORPG that's out there. And i hope they stay like that.

DAOC is a tired relic on the road to extinction, no patch or campaign is going to save it. It has squandered all of the good will and enthusiasm of its user base and replaced it with bitterness and resentment. In the book of MMO history, it will exist only as a footnote under "how to screw up your operation with poor planning and execution".

Like everyone says, WoW ruined this game. It is the sad truth

WoW blows...and it ruins every other mmo because they all have the urge to be just like WoW and begin to share code and features in a way that's totally degrading to the user experience. SOE is one of those 'fall in line' groups. They made SWG into a WoW clone (a horribly done travesty....especially considering the dedicated following the original version of the game now has on the internet) and apparently did the same to EQ2. Companies will do well to realize that we can't all play WoW forever - and not everyone wants to play WoW at all. WoW has great success partially because no other developer has the balls to make an original title and stick with it....there's not much to choose from if you're an MMO junkie.

I haven't played an MMORPG since I beta tested LOTR online, but my last subscription was to EQ 2. I don't get whats so special about World of Warcraft thats better then EQ 2, but I only played Warcraft for a month so its not my place to say anything about it.

Wow has sucked in 2 ways for me...1, it caused me to play it too much and 2, it ruined EQ2 imo....They changed so much to make it more wowlike....sigh....WoW is evil. Maybe I'll renew my eq2 subscription...

Sader287 "I think gamespot is very bias when it comes to MMo's. Theres a huge fanfare, complete with at least a 3 page article + interviews on gamespot .com whenever WoW gets patched yet other great MMo's get a measly few paragraphs."

Jeez, I wonder why...oh yea, WOW has 8 million CURRENT subscribers and has a following that dwarfs all other MMO's combined. Other MMO's do get the amount of coverage they deserve on Gamespot but if website traffic is driven by a more popular game then guess what will get more coverage? Asking that Gamespot give equal coverage to a game that is much lower in sales & critical acclaim is like asking that a Double A baseball team get the same Sportscenter coverage as the Yankees...

EQ2 is really underestimated. After WOW knocked it all over the park, they totally revamped it to make it more fun and casual-friendly and full of content, and they keep adding improvements. That said, I don't think anything is capable of knocking WOW of its perch, although I'm eyeballing Warhammer Online because it looks really fun.

All I know is that grind-focused MMO's with high monthly fees are quickly going the way of the dinosaur. People are just fed up with them, and they've gotten smart enough to realize it's just a scam.

MMOs are great, but i think too much is going on at the same time, i dont know which game to get... lol

wow is still by far the best mmorpg imo.
Only warhammer online has a chance to stand against it.

I did the switch from WoW to EQ2 ( half year ago) and Im happy with my choice. WoW is great, untill you bored with it. Lineage and DAoC, well, everyone with their teast.

Glad to see EQ 2 going strong. I had a great time with that game when I played it.

Has any MMO ever pulled the plug?

WoW is not casual. You can't make the same progress playing in and out as someone with the best items.

Nicely said Coldfire. I couldnt agree more.

Gamespot is showing love to the other MMOs by having articles exactly like these released. WoW just gets more in depth stuff because there is a MUCH higher demand for WoW than there is for all 3 of these MMOs combined.

I can honestly say I'm annoyed by it. It's like saying "Oh, here's some books that are recently being released for those people who aren't spending day and night watching television."

Yeah, I played WoW. It was okay. It was kinda boring, but it was okay on some points. It's just annoying to see it professed by GameSpot wherever you turn as "This is the MMO you should be playing. Period." and neglect you if you *are* playing something else.

I'm happy with WoW for now. Though I would like to try some other MMO's sometime. Maybe EQ2 or FFXI or GW2.
------------------------------ Only try FFXI if you have plenty of time to spare. That game is awesome but will suck your life away in a way that WoW could only imagine.

I think gamespot is very bias when it comes to MMo's. Theres a huge fanfare, complete with at least a 3 page article + interviews on gamespot .com whenever WoW gets patched yet other great MMo's get a measly few paragraphs. Please gamespot show some love to the other great MMo's out there. I would love to see an article on Guild Wars: Eye of the North and Guild Wars 2.

WoW is a casual MMO ... genius ... i would rather not lose my life trying to get that exclusive Blue earing of doom from said monster by waiting in line in a pvp enabled dungeon for 12 days just to get slayed whilst attempting to kill said monster. I get on wow a few hours a week and actally ENJOY playing instead of "hardcoring" it... maybe thats why everyone likes WoW. A casual MMO is a good mmo because its .... casual...

I used to love DAoC but I can't go back to it now

@Rockin_MixMasta

I laugh when people bash WoW, because Blizzard is still bringing in roughly $13 per account, per month. Multiplied by 8 million and guess who is laughing now

Wow is just more "casual" then any other mmorpg out there. TThe mechanics are for "everyone" rather then for "the hardcore" luike most others. Thats why WoW has so many users despite it being an "ok" game.

I'm happy with WoW for now. Though I would like to try some other MMO's sometime. Maybe EQ2 or FFXI or GW2.

I think it's hilarious when people try to bash WoW on message boards and such. I am all for the writers making cracks in it because, to be honest, I find them witty myself. But when you get these nubs to the MMO Universe coming on and saying "wow sucks". It just brings a sparkle to my eye. Because no matter how terrible they may say it is, I know I love playing it any chance I can

Find a better MMO, so I can say it sucks.

LOTRO sucked IMO i played the beta... it was really.. crappy reminded me of bad korean MMORPGs. . and no, i don't like WoW so don't call me a troll or what ever, just wait till you play it your self.

umm, cool i guess?

I thought the OB started tomorrow for pre-orders? And April 6th for those of us that signed up on GameSpot?

Can't wait for Lotro's Open Beta tomorrow.

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cool i guess

right on...... LOTRO is going to be an awesome switch away from WoW : ). Looking forward to it!

Those games are old!!! Not EQ2 but its dead anyway LOTRO FTW!!!