If WoW released today for the first time in it's current state...

[Vutar]

would it have still become so popular?

[Christan]

not sure about being 'so popular' but at this point there is an amazing amount of content, if leveling/raids were tiered 1 month at a time it would still be years worth of content.

[Evil Midnight Bomber]

Too many variables.

[MoanaLisa]

Probably not but that's the last thing you'll like about my answer. Sicari is correct, too many variables not least of which is I challenge you to imagine the history of the of the genre without it? Nonetheless, it's pretty clear by now that World of Warcraft was the right game in the right place at the right time. The state of the game--whatever that actually means--has less to do with it than you imagine.

[Deleted]

Too many variables.

The biggest one being Warcraft 3 releasing a few years prior to WOW.

[Lochton]

would it have still become so popular?

Doubtful, too much whine I would believe. Unlike the first version which had a ton of errors, but the time of the year was okay for it, and you expected errors.

[Al Gorefiend]

It would still do good, yes. Though if the last Warcraft was still 15 years ago interest in it would probably be dead. Though some new MMOs did fine at launch despite no background lore.

[Usernameforforums]

If i started playing ff14 first that would have been my main game instead of wow. Ff14 is almost as good as wow in terms of the raiding scene. I probably would have bought the starter/vanilla pack and played it for a month or two just as i did with ff14 last year. The amount of time and passion i have committed to wow is enough to keep me in the game. So if i started playing ff14 first that time and passion would have been there instead.

[McNeil]

Not even close as popular. The big reason that so many are still subbed today is because of their attachment to their characters, where they've put a lot of work into it and don't just want to abandon everything they've worked for. Thats why new MMORPG's won't get as succesful as they could've had. If all were lost and WoW is announcement as a whole new game, people would get turned off by its graphics and dated gameplay. Also it doesn't help that the leveling experience is so dull and easy, which would turn people away.

And this isn't a good era for MMORPG's, I'd even call it dying at this point. Not as bad as RTS though. MOBA and FPS are still dominating.

[Super Kami Dende]

No. It would die like any other MMO & Final Fantasy would be the King of MMO.

Which Final Fantasy? The original release which bombed and was seen as a incredibly horrible mess? Or the current version?

[Terahertz]

It would probably get horrible reviews due to the easy leveling experience and massive amounts of content being dead as soon as you pass certain levels.

[Ciddy]

Too many variables.

Yep, this. A lot of these MMOs that have come along over the years died pretty quickly because they couldn't compete with WoW. There were a lot of so-called "WoW killers" that didn't last long, because they just tried to copy WoW and failed at it. Without WoW, I feel like something else would've come along and grown to the giant that WoW currently is. As far as whether or not WoW in its current state would be able to compete with some well established game....hard to say.

[Reyzzz]

If casserole was invented today, would it become popular?

[tratra]

I think it would have the same fate as overwatch. I bought overwatch, played 10 days... never played again. I think that blizzard games nowadays are like that at least for me.

Wow has become very basic atm and its not as addicting as it used to be.

[Lilija]

Nope, regardless of its state. The market doesn't really want mmos as much as it used to 10 years ago.

[tratra]

Nope, regardless of its state. The market doesn't really want mmos as much as it used to 10 years ago.

IT DOES!

When I first started WOW the 1st day it came out in EU, I was sooooo in to it. And continued being into it, cause of the UNKNOWN factor. Mystery is always going to sell, and that was what wow was offering at the start even in TBC. Noone knew anything. I knew a person he was 50 level alliance and didn't even know what Ironforge was.... there was no information around anything. So anytime you logged in you would be wow i didn't knew that...

The game progressed and the internet, and now you know everything about an expansion or a game before it even comes out.

[Deleted]

no. it wouldn't have become popular. the main reason why wow can still maintain a playerbase is nostalgia and the hope that the game might go back to the good times. the game itself is a shell of its former self. everything is streamlined to death and there is no adventure in the game.

[Lilija]

IT DOES!

When I first started WOW the 1st day it came out in EU, I was sooooo in to it. And continued being into it, cause of the UNKNOWN factor. Mystery is always going to sell, and that was what wow was offering at the start even in TBC. Noone knew anything. I knew a person he was 50 level alliance and didn't even know what Ironforge was.... there was no information around anything. So anytime you logged in you would be wow i didn't knew that...

The game progressed and the internet, and now you know everything about an expansion or a game before it even comes out.

I am speaking about the market - not anyone's personal experience. Your personal experience is irrelevant in this discussion because each person who plays a video game does it for different reasons. Just to show you an example I got sucked into the game because I liked it's progression. I hated TBC but kept playing due to friends I've made. Prolly would have quit the game in WotLK if it didn't start to change and I love it more with each expansion. If the market was like me, there would be no need for other games because WoW would be everything people play. But guess what - it isn't.

[ComputerNerd]

If it weren't for wow then the market for MMO's would not be what it is now.
So it is impossible to answer.

[Demithio]

It would do well, but it would not have nearly the growth it did back in its day. It is however a very technically polished game which counts for a lot, regardless of whether who likes the game play or not.