Why Other MMOs Don't Threaten My WoW

This week on the Blog Azeroth shared topic, Skaarjonic asks if other MMOs threaten WoW. Firstly I don't play all that much, maybe 8 hours a week, so there is still plenty to do in the game even now. For another game to take me away from WoW it would have to be more fun, simple as that.


For me, the fun factors in WoW are the abundance of quests for levelling, the interesting little touches such as easter eggs, the long quest chains with an epic feel, the list goes on. Making gold by messing with the auction house or getting a valuable rare drop is a fun sub game in its own right. All of these would have to be present in some way or another in a new game, or things which are even more fun, to make me want to switch.


Friends and cohorts also keep me stuck to WoW - the crazy vent chat during raids, the rich and amusing characters in the guild. They would have to move across to any new game for me to consider moving, or at least the ones I liked ;)


I used to play Starwars Galaxies which had a woeful questing system and had little to do beyond grinding in caves. My friends also played, so we stuck with it, until the WoW open beta came out. Suddenly the urge to log into Galaxies was replaced with a compulsion to explore this strange new place called Azeroth and, when the game was launched, we all ditched Galaxies and moved over.


So while I'm still having fun in WoW with friends, I can't be tempted anywhere else. If it stops being fun, or much more fun can be had elsewhere, we may all leave. With an expansion due soon and thus lots more fun to be had, I can't see that happening any time soon.