I’ve said it before in various ways, and I’ll probably say it again, but I wanted to get it down here, for future reference. I would pay fair money for a single player, offline version of World of Warcraft.
This is the culmination of a few thoughts:
- I’m cheap. I refuse to pay a monthly fee to play a game that I also have to pay for up front. Beside the fundamental distaste that I have for double dipping in such a way, I don’t play obsessively enough to make it worth my while to pay a subscription fee. It’s a simple economic decision for me, a devoted husband, father of two, and full-time technical artist.
- WoW is largely single player these days. I’ve played the free trial a few times over the past two years, and the “old world” is getting less and less populated. I’m OK with that, but to be blunt, the game is consequently less of an MMO, and more of a traditional grindy RPG. I’m happy to play it that way, but if I do so, I want to pay for it that way. If Blizzard is OK with abandoning the old world to trial accounts, twinks and farmers in their focus on the endgame for the hardcore, why not toss the casual gamer the scraps? And no, I wouldn’t want to bring my offline play online, so there’s no reason to worry about hacking; it would be my little “instance” of the world, if you will, and would never interact with other players.
- The world of WoW is intriguing. There are the inevitable trolls who snipe at my desires with something to the effect of “L2P, nub, it’s a freakin’ MMO, dood! Get with the internets, looser!” Beside providing an example of why I generally loathe the internet model of multiplayer gameplay, these people are missing the point. I’m interested in the lore, the art, the craftsmanship and the game design of WoW. There’s a great big world in there to explore, and I want to explore it. I do not need other players around to do so. I consider it a compliment to Blizzard’s efforts that the game interests a great many people. Not everyone is interested in internet ego inflation, however, and the sub cost (along with internet access) and social cesspool are real barriers to entry.
- I’m honest, and I expect the same of others. Apparently, there are ways to hack the game and play on “private servers”, but I will not pirate software. Yes, I’m staunchly opposed to the subscription model, but I’m not opposed to paying Blizzard for their work. Thing is, the “old world” has been done for a while now, but they are still charging sub fees for playing in it. If I refused to pay to play it when it was the shiny new kid on the block, I doubly refuse to pay to play old content. Cars depreciate as soon as they roll off the lot. Games depreciate pretty rapidly. It’s the bane of consumer goods, and our little hobby is fueled by Moore’s Law, which makes the depreciation even faster. I wouldn’t charge someone $15,000 for a four year old PT Cruiser, or $40 for my copy of Titan Quest. Savvy consumers wait for prices to come down, letting early adopters take the economic hit of impatience. I’ve waited for four years, Blizzard. (This is where I can admit that a lower sub cost for the “old world” alone, say $5/month, would be something that I can agree to meet halfway on.)
- Most of my gaming time is offpeak, offline. I don’t always have a functional internet. I don’t have scads of free time. Life does that to a working stiff with a family. I love that I can pick up Valkyrie Profile 2, admittedly a grindy game at times, and chug away at it late at night, after the kids are in bed, in what little time I have. I bought the game used, and I can play it effectively indefinitely for just the initial investment cost (plus niggling things like electricity, I suppose). The ROI on the $20 that I spent for it is huge, compared to the 30 days (or so) that would get me in WoW. That old hack “cost of a dinner and a movie” argument (notably, just the movie these days) for the subscription model is not only apples to oranges, but it’s arrogantly assuming that the player spends the equivalent of a part-time (or full-time!) job in WoW. I’m a casual player, doggone it, and I don’t want to be charged as if I’m hardcore, and then be told that it’s my failure that I’m not leet (or addicted) enough to make it worth my while.
I’ve also conceded that making the old world completely free to play would pull me in. It might even be a good way to get some fresh blood for the game, since people are leaving all the time. (Churn is inevitable, I’m not proclaiming doom and gloom here.) WoW has overstayed its old business model, to the point where its success has warped the expectations of a whole generation of MMO game designers. Blizzard is content to rest on its laurels, which is always dangerous. Perhaps they aren’t desperate enough yet to either open the gates to free players or to make an offline version of the game, but I do think that it could compete well with other products. I loved Titan Quest, for example, but Diablo has never been interesting to me. WoW offline could scratch that itch for some good Blizzard gaming for me.
Maybe I’m just a freak, but I, probably arrogantly, believe that there are more players like me who Blizzard could tap into for goodwill, and even to monetize an aging game. MMOs can’t live forever, especially not when they burn bridges. Offering something, even the leftovers, to players like me, might just be a good move for Blizzard. Give me the “old world” of the game for even $30, and I’d be a happy little Blizzard fanboy again. I’m just not interested in lining up for a fleecing in the current system.
Note that I’m not proclaiming doom for WoW, or ranting about my undying hatred of Blizzard. I actually really like WoW. I wouldn’t think of this sort of thing if I thought it was garbage. I just have limits to my fanaticism, and I don’t think that “one size fits all” is always a valid business model. It’s certainly wearing thin when it comes to WoW.
Good post. From my limited experience, it seems like WoW and other MMOs base their price and game focus around hardcore players. That’s fine, but some offline non-subscription alternative would be pretty fun for the casual player.
I had some similar ideas when I first started hearing the term ‘Massively Single Player’ tossed around. There’s definitely a market for a casual single-player experience, perhaps with some online communication/collaboration functionality.
If you’re a freak, then I am too. I’d definitely check out single-player WoW.
Thanks for stopping by, Aransus! I agree completely, the main focus of the development of MMOs is on the hardcore, and I’d even go so far as to say “the addicted” considering the serial nature of the subscription model.
Regarding this: “perhaps with some online communication/collaboration functionality”… I do agree that that it would be nice to have as an added aspect of the game, if there were a single player offline version. Multiplayer is still a draw for people, and there’s no reason to throw that out completely. Just because I’d have relatively little to no use for it doesn’t mean that it’s a bad thing. 🙂
Blizzard has had Battle.net for some time now, and it seems to work to make things like Starcraft multiplayer work on the internet. Blizzard really could have made WoW single player offline, with matching services to make groups for the multiplayer content. A lobby system with intelligent matching couldn’t be all that much worse than the maligned PUG mess (“LFG” spam) or waiting around for your guild to gather for a raiding run.
The whole draw of an MMO is the “virtual online world” concept of an “always on” world. Thing is, the game as it now plays just doesn’t live up to that. What are the main activities in the game? Grinding solo to level (offline, easy), raiding or group instancing (Battle.net), farming (offline might bust some economic fundamentals, but the markets would sort it out), and Auction House trolling (you don’t even need WoW running for that, realistically; it’s just a market interface). Sure, there are ‘bot farming and hacking concerns, but I’m confident that they could be sorted out if Blizzard wanted to.
It’s really the same with any MMO these days that’s based on the leveling grind that is more or less native to JRPGs and their offspring. Leveling is inherently a solo activity, and while grouping can be fun, the mechanics of the loot treadmill run contrary to group dynamics. That’s part of why we see such drama regarding loot drops in Sunwell or what have you.
The mechanics of WoW feel like a single player game to me, with a side dish of grouping content, and a dessert of endgame raiding. There’s very little in the game that really requires a living, always-on world. It’s a static world largely driven by solo, selfish play, and tightly instanced group areas. Looking at the design of the game, and the way that I see myself and others playing it, it’s a single player game with optional online multiplayer.
They have monetized it as if it were a persistent dynamic “living” world, but the design works at odds to that goal. Certainly it’s been successful enough to earn millions, but it’s a bit schitzophrenic, and as a result, neither those who want a true “virtual world” MMO nor those who would be happy with the solo offline are really satisfied. It’s a shame, because the lore and the craftsmanship are top notch, and are getting lost in the business shuffle.
Intriguing idea! I think it wouldn’t be that hard to create a single-player version of WoW. What you would need to do is to equalize the difficulty of the encounters both inside and outside.
Currently I feel that the (non-elite) encounters on the outside are far too easy and present little to no challenge. Conversely the encounters on the inside of instances (elites) are too tough for a solo player.
Of course since it’s the ultimate persistent world, mobs would never be obligated to respawn which would make for far more realism.
One other thing that Blizzard would need to do would be to populate cities and towns with more NPC’s to make up for the lack of people. That wouldn’t be too hard.
What would be interesting is if there were options where a single player could play WoW in “party mode” where you could control your other characters much as you could do games like Dungeon Siege. That would be fun 🙂
Talking about WoW offline reminds me of the post I made here or on my blog about private servers. They really show what WoW is like when you strip away the veneer.
It lets you step outside the illusion of the gear grind and see it for what it is.
The game is shockingly simplistic, and not very fulfulling. It is pretty, which is what sucks people in, and before it fades they are already invested in the gear grind.
Private servers have questionable legality, but it has not been proven they are illegal if you bought the game and its expansions. For people who have, you might want to try it out and really see what is and is not “special” about WoW.
-Cambios
Blogging about Online Gaming and Virtual Worlds:
http://www.muckbeast.com
Good call on the balance and spawning, Wolf. They would certainly need to be tweaked.
I’m not so sure that NPCs would be necessary, but it certainly wouldn’t hurt to have wandering folks to give a sense of life. That’s not a selling point for me, but if it’s just a matter of instancing a few more characters, I’m not opposed to it, either.
A Dungeon Siege “party mode” would be brilliant. It would be interesting to set up, but it could go a long way to making it more interesting. It could even help people get ready for multiplayer, as they learn to manage threat and party dynamics.
Cam, I’ve definitely taken a long hard look at the actual gameplay of WoW. It’s a dungeon crawler with a fairly standard loot-and-level treadmill. It’s not revolutionary, nor is it all that deep compared to other games. Thing is, it looks good, it’s polished, it has good breadth, the lore is interesting, and it’s fun to spend time in the game. It’s a pretty, and pretty mindless game, but sometimes, that’s exactly what I’m looking for.
That’s exactly my point; I accept the game for what it is, which is precisely why I want it as a single player offline game. That’s how it would play for me, and that’s what I’m completely willing to pay for. I’m not willing to buy into the notion (philosophically or with my hard-earned cash) that it’s an “amazing experience” or anything earth shattering, thereby deserving a subscription. It’s just a fun way to go kill some stuff and take screenshots of trees and sunsets.
Put another way, I loved Titan Quest. I think I could get a similar amount of fun out of WoW, but not if I have to subscribe to it and play it with the ever-present “sub time running out” Sword of Damocles over my head, killing the experience and draining my wallet.
I’ve fallen off the wagon…sort of.
I found this site and I’ve created a 10-day Trial Account. Seems easy enough. I just create throw-away email address, put in a random ID, John Smith, 123 Smith St., Smithville, etc, and I can play WoW, free, for 10 days.
The bonus is if I ever fall off the WoW Wagon for real and resubscribe, I’ll be keeping my copy of the game patched and up-to-date…sounds like a rationalization to me 😉
😀
I hear you, Cap’n. I did three in a row a month or so back so that I could dig into a couple of different starting areas that I hadn’t seen two years ago. If I need a WoW fix, I’ll go create a new character on just such a free account. So far, it has worked to get it out of my system. I get some pretty screenies, have some fun, and remind myself that I need the money more than the game.
The triple EXP “refer-a-friend” thing was the most tempting offer to date; I wanted to help a friend get a zebra mount and do some fun questing with him. As it happens, our car needed repairs about then, so it really wasn’t much of a choice. Funny how that works out.
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Well, this sucks. I just created another 10-day Trial account, rolled a Gnome Rogue, got to level 7 and had a bit of silver burning a hole in my pocket so I hit the Auction House where I found a couple of 6.0dp Daggers, with +1 Agility, for just 5 silver each. Then I discovered Trial Accounts cannot bid on items. I knew we couldn’t list Auctions, but I’m sure my last Trial (pre-Wrath) could buy stuff off the AH.
Ri-fricking-diculous!
My Trial Account Toon’s gold is as good as the next person’s. I guess seeing all the cool stuff on the AH is supposed to make me want to subscribe. Instead, it pissed me off and I logged out. Bedtime now, anyway 😛
I have a few of friends who play wow. I enjoy listening to how they play.
But apparently, I’m more interested to the story line, haha.
Of course, I can’t afford to put in my time to the game, especially having busy workloads.
hope that this will come true
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