covert.creations

There is no question that WoW’s “game formula” is :

(time devoted) == (success)

There are other subtle factors that also contribute to one’s success in the game, (such as knowing the various buffs/debuffs, aggro management, pre-knowledge of the content, or macro’ing your way to victory…) yes. But the absolute core is Time. We all know this. If you don’t spend huge amounts of time in the game, you aren’t getting anywhere.

So it was quite the day to have a guildmate turn to me in guildchat one day and say, “Kafka, you are a n00b.”. Hilarious, actually. Was it because my best piece of equipment was merely a pair of Shadowcraft gloves? Or that I didn’t have my Epic Mount yet? Yes, that could very well be.

I was part of online gaming when it didn’t even exist yet. Back in 1993, my friend digital and I used to rack up long-distance bills so that we could gun each other down for hours in Doom II. From the days of simple twitch gaming, to helping create one of the earliest online clans, to objectives-based team games, to gaming communities, to MMOs of all shapes and sizes, and even this blog, I’ve done everything there is to do in online gaming through the years.

So, no. I don’t think I’m a n00b.

But the comment struck me, and it had nothing to do with name-calling. What I really saw was this – that it was the purest evidence imaginable of the brilliance of WoW’s game design. How so?

• Its a game that even non-gamers can play
• Every aspect is molded to drive towards Time
• Non-twitch/click-based deterministic combat

Add these up, and what do you get?

Fools who delude themselves into thinking they have l33t skillz.

For the guys that spend 9 consecutive hours in the Molten Core doing the heal-tank dance, this is perfect. They are leet, because their time invested guarantees that they will be. I’m consistently in awe over how Bliz completely satisfied their design goals with WoW. Kudos to their team. Note that this doesn’t mean that the game itself is awe-inspiring. They realised their design, and the design is perfect for a subscription game (not to mention the sheer amount of polish).

And a big LOL out to “Ticktock” from PG. Thanks for teaching me another lesson in game design.