Is WoW still a MMORPG?

[Nnyco]

Go back to your classic forum and shitpost there.

[Nokami]

The Answer is yes, now go back to playing classic instead of posting here.

[Nynax]

Oh shit, yes, more like a ARPG, i wonder, did it start with MoP? Hmmm... grindy ARPGs is super popular in Asia, did activision here force the game to better please the asian market? Maybe.

Not at all, you can track the changes made with every expansion.

BC: add new spells, balance more classes
Wrath: add more cool spells, balance remaining specs.
Cata: 80 lvls of talent trees is getting ridiculous, let's rethink this. also, add cool spells. balance specs.
MoP: ok, we can't just add cool spells every expansion, we should try to clean this up to make room for cool new MoP spells. Non hybrid specs are all starting to feel the same too, we should expand differences. and balance specs.
WoD: MoP worked pretty well, people liked the specs thing! let's improve on that more + revamp talents for cool new WoD spells.
Legion: People STILL loving the specs differences! 100% double down on that (unfortunately they did a lot of this with pruning)
BFA: .........we might have gone a bit too far with the specs thing, now it feels like this game has 30 limited classes. instead of 10 robust ones.

+ add to all that, 14 years of general improvements in tuning gameplay and removing clunkiness. Updates to stats, GCD timing, interactions between ability rotations. Retail priority rotations force you to play the game, where older 1-2-3-repeat rotations could be 1-button macroed.

[Omedon]

It is still an MMORPG, it’s just adapted to an era where “OOOH THOSE ARE OTHER PEOPLE LOGGED IN TO THE SAME WORLD” is no longer novel or a selling point. We’re so oversaturated with online interconnectivity that it’s no wonder that the most competitive, older online games have adapted in their later iterations to give us breathing room, independence and a sense of “soloing in parallel” and “playing together... but from over there.”

The options for hyper-interdependent gameplay will and should always be present, but the idea of “I need to make friends to progress at all” can’t be the core of a modern game because the modern gamer is often burned the hell out from networking outside the game.

[Khaza-R]

Modern WoW is an ARPG, there's no question about it. Even Vanilla straddled the border between an ARPG and classical RPG. But I think what really exasperates the rift between the two is modern systems like WQs, Mythic +, and sharding shift the gaming experience from an immersive one to a highly synthetic one.

[MoanaLisa]

Since everything is instanced and the world is smaller then 1/3 of Kalimdor it sure doesn't feel like an mmo.

Interact? Cant remember last time I interacted with someone, enter a m+ group without saying a word count? Might aswell be bots playing.

You teleport from one place to another, thats what you do.

It's a much-diminished RPG from what it was. For that matter it wasn't really that much of a traditional RPG to start with. But it still qualifies. The MMO part is a given.

To take the 3 points above:

• Everything is not instanced. For instance: Kalimdor.
• If you don't interact with people that's on you. It's OK to not interact if that's your preference but don't complain about it.
• People still run, ride a mount or fly from one place to another. Teleports exist too but that's not the only way to get around this not-instanced world, or expansion zone.

[rrayy]

I would agree with you, but stats show otherwise.
The fact that the game around wotlk/cata had 12 million subs and now around 1 million. Something went wrong.

Proof of that one million stat.Oh rioght, you made it up because Blizzard doesb't report the number anymore. So, your post is null and void.

- - - Updated - - -

Classic is, BFA is not.

Wrong. BFA absolutely is an MMORPG. It has been demonstrated over and over in this thread.

[FelPlague]

It lacks some of the criteria to be considered a mmo.
From wiki.

Massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) are a combination of role-playing video games and massively multiplayer online games in which a very large number of players interact with one another within a virtual world.

It can be discusses. Since everything is instanced and the world is smaller then 1/3 of Kalimdor it sure doesn't feel like an mmo.
Interact? Cant remember last time I interacted with someone, enter a m+ group without saying a word count? Might aswell be bots playing.

You teleport from one place to another, thats what you do.

It's so stupid that I can't even see guild mates standing next to me if we're not in party. I have to group up with my guild mates in order to trade them or inspect them even if we stand next to eachother.

1. no, not everything is instanced, also any game where you can do ANYTHING with up to 40 people is massivly multiplayer. battlefield is a MMOFPS, as is planetside.
2. No the world is not smaller then 1/3rd of kalimdor, wtf you talking about
3. just because you dont have friends and sit afk in a corner does not mean the rest of us do not... I have been playing classic for over 24 hours now, level 33. i have done 3 dungeon runs where less then 10 words were said, and many quests where not a single word but "hi" and "bye" were said
4. you do not teleport form one place to another
5. yes you can see guild mates standing next to you if your not in a party... wtf you talking about... yes SOMETIMES you end up on different shards, but its not EVERY time.


your bias is showing, showing so bad it might get you arrested.

- - - Updated - - -

I would agree with you, but stats show otherwise.
The fact that the game around wotlk/cata had 12 million subs and now around 1 million.

Source?
or you just gunna make up random numbers.
here to counter your made up number with no backing.


wow has 12 million subs. and now has 120 million subs, meaning a 1000% increase.



there, and my claim has just as much merit as yours.

[d00mh4cker]

It's a much-diminished RPG from what it was. For that matter it wasn't really that much of a traditional RPG to start with. But it still qualifies. The MMO part is a given.

To take the 3 points above:

• Everything is not instanced. For instance: Kalimdor.
• If you don't interact with people that's on you. It's OK to not interact if that's your preference but don't complain about it.
• People still run, ride a mount or fly from one place to another. Teleports exist too but that's not the only way to get around this not-instanced world, or expansion zone.

Why should one go to Kalimdor? I mean, i can stand next to my friend in Zuldazar, we're both on the same realm, same guild etc but I cant see him, we acutally have to invite eachother to a party to be able to trade or inspect. It's a joke.

Teleports used to be a mage thing, now you have:

Hearthstone with extremely low CD.
2nd hearthstone to dalaran.
Flight whizzle.

If you hearth to dalaran, there is a portal to orgrimmar, you enter a room with a trillion more portals.

When there actually is some traveling (world quests, sigh) you actually might see some people but they are 90% in air, dropping down to one shot that mob and then up again.

LFR - instant teleport.
Normal dungeon - instant teleport.
Heroic dungeon - instant teleport.
Mythic dungeons - meeting stones. ( 2 ppl actually have to travel to dungeon ).

Arena - instant teleport.
BGs - instant teleport.

If you at the end of the dungeon actually have CD on your hearthstones ( impossible ). You automatically portal back when you leave the party.


We have this big beautiful world but 95% of it is just useless. It's not as bad as in WoD with gararison but close.

[rrayy]

Why should one go to Kalimdor? I mean, i can stand next to my friend in Zuldazar, we're both on the same realm, same guild etc but I cant see him, we acutally have to invite eachother to a party to be able to trade or inspect. It's a joke.

Teleports used to be a mage thing, now you have:

Hearthstone with extremely low CD.
2nd hearthstone to dalaran.
Flight whizzle.

If you hearth to dalaran, there is a portal to orgrimmar, you enter a room with a trillion more portals.

When there actually is some traveling (world quests, sigh) you actually might see some people but they are 90% in air, dropping down to one shot that mob and then up again.

LFR - instant teleport.
Normal dungeon - instant teleport.
Heroic dungeon - instant teleport.
Mythic dungeons - meeting stones. ( 2 ppl actually have to travel to dungeon ).

Arena - instant teleport.
BGs - instant teleport.

If you at the end of the dungeon actually have CD on your hearthstones ( impossible ). You automatically portal back when you leave the party.


We have this big beautiful world but 95% of it is just useless. It's not as bad as in WoD with gararison but close.

Because riding zepplins and going AFK while on an FP is so much more of an RPG. smh.

[MoanaLisa]

We have this big beautiful world but 95% of it is just useless.

I agree that Blizzard is making a mistake by not utilizing the world as well as they might. But it's there. If you wander through it, there are characters there doing things. Look, you don't get to classify the entire game as "Not-an-MMORPG" just because you don't use all of it, interact with other players, or take teleports everywhere.

[Fred Skinner]

Currently i would guess WoW mainly is a queueing up game for those who try classic.

"Oh, i am on place 12.133 already! Steady progress!"

[Lochton]

Yes, by the given designation, it is still an MMORPG. Is this topic really needed yearly?

[Cassidin]

It lacks some of the criteria to be considered a mmo.
From wiki.

Massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) are a combination of role-playing video games and massively multiplayer online games in which a very large number of players interact with one another within a virtual world.

It can be discusses. Since everything is instanced and the world is smaller then 1/3 of Kalimdor it sure doesn't feel like an mmo.
Interact? Cant remember last time I interacted with someone, enter a m+ group without saying a word count? Might aswell be bots playing.

You teleport from one place to another, thats what you do.

It's so stupid that I can't even see guild mates standing next to me if we're not in party. I have to group up with my guild mates in order to trade them or inspect them even if we stand next to eachother.

Personally I would call wow an MMO - but not specifically an MMORPG. Story has become (IMO) insignificant in the most part (outside of the novels) and apart from the few RPers on RP servers - I do not think that WoW lives up to the idea of an RPG. Your opinion may vary but that is mine.

[Tharkkun]

It lacks some of the criteria to be considered a mmo.
From wiki.

Massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) are a combination of role-playing video games and massively multiplayer online games in which a very large number of players interact with one another within a virtual world.

It can be discusses. Since everything is instanced and the world is smaller then 1/3 of Kalimdor it sure doesn't feel like an mmo.
Interact? Cant remember last time I interacted with someone, enter a m+ group without saying a word count? Might aswell be bots playing.

You teleport from one place to another, thats what you do.

It's so stupid that I can't even see guild mates standing next to me if we're not in party. I have to group up with my guild mates in order to trade them or inspect them even if we stand next to eachother.

Just because you dont put in the effort in to interact with others doesn't negate the fact that this game is a RPG, massive and multiplayer. Socialization is on the players shoulders.

[unbound]

It would be difficult to clearly say that WoW is not an MMORPG anymore. It is certainly and objectively less of an MMORPG than it was at the beginning.

Blizz has certainly dismantled much of what made WoW a great MMORPG, focusing on the MMO and slowly eliminating many elements of the RPG.

As for the MMO elements, that too has been reduced; although I think the OP was being a bit too hyperbolic in that description.

Unfortunately, the line is too blurry and even the notion of MMORPG too broad to clearly state where that line may be.

[Lanfall]

Oh shit, yes, more like a ARPG, i wonder, did it start with MoP? Hmmm... grindy ARPGs is super popular in Asia, did activision here force the game to better please the asian market? Maybe.

It's nothing like an ARPG. Go play Tera, or Neverwinter or any other ARPG then come back and tell us.

ARPG's can be MMORPG's as well.....regardless of your weird translation of what an MMO actually is...

[Loeko]

It is still a RPG. However, it is a really bad one. The actual WoW is the equivalent of starting a D&D campaign at level 25 but still face enemies level 1. You can enjoy the story, the art, the action, but outside of the 1% content that are mythic raids, there's no meaningful progression, no challenge, no need to work together to achieve something, nothing requiring you to use the potential of your class. It is still a great game but in reality, calling it a MMOH&S or an Action MMO with a few limited RPG features would be far more appropriate.

[HitRefresh]

It lacks some of the criteria to be considered a mmo.
From wiki.

Massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) are a combination of role-playing video games and massively multiplayer online games in which a very large number of players interact with one another within a virtual world.

It can be discusses. Since everything is instanced and the world is smaller then 1/3 of Kalimdor it sure doesn't feel like an mmo.
Interact? Cant remember last time I interacted with someone, enter a m+ group without saying a word count? Might aswell be bots playing.

You teleport from one place to another, thats what you do.

It's so stupid that I can't even see guild mates standing next to me if we're not in party. I have to group up with my guild mates in order to trade them or inspect them even if we stand next to eachother.

I don't think so.

Just playing Classic WoW shows how much different it is being in the world. The way people interact with each other is so vastly different. A lot of things were removed for "convenience", and all those little choices ended up changing the game a lot over time.

Mechanically it feels like abilities are just "rotations" now, where you pretty much click whatever is going to bring up your DPS the most. It used to be that your abilities had a little more to them than just doing additional damage, one example being Heroic Strike which was on Next Attack, which changes the way you think about whether you should spend your rage on it or another ability depending on your swing timing. Now to the point of that, players actually used abilities in conjunction with each other, things like Polymorph were a lot more important and so forth. Now it's like you kind of just blow through everything by doing damage and no one is going to care about what the other 4 (or more) players are doing because it doesn't really matter as long as they're doing enough damage and healing. Basically it's like everyone is playing single player but we see each other and it doesn't matter.

Furthermore, transmogging removes the importance of visually seeing someone's gear.

As you said, you don't really travel anywhere so it makes the size of the world pretty irrelevant. Also, all the areas that do exist that make the world so huge are all irrelevant after you've leveled through them. And if you're leveling it's probably a drag anyway because leveling isn't even making you think at all. I can just kill everything mindlessly, I get new abilities automatically as I level, and I don't really learn about how they work in an actual situation because everything's so easy it doesn't matter how I use it. Whereas playing Classic I'm more concerned about things like reducing the enemy's attack speed because I'd rather not die. Not to mention it sucks when I die, so I don't want to die even more than I do in retail.

[Kithelle]

Yes it is.