Computer Game Evaluation:World of Warcraft

Dustin Kelley

CIS 487

Fall 2005

Basic Information

Type of Game: MMORPG Price: $49.99 purchase, $15/month subscription Launch Date: 11/22/04 ESRB Rating: Teen (13+) Platforms: PC & Mac

Game Title: Company & Author:

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 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 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 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 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 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