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Games and Culture, Vol. 1, No. 4, 281-317 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/1555412006292613

Building an MMO With Mass Appeal

A Look at Gameplay in World of Warcraft

Nicolas Ducheneaut

Nick Yee

Eric Nickell

Robert J. Moore

Palo Alto Research Center

World of Warcraft (WoW) is one of the most popular massively multiplayer games (MMOs) to date, with more than 6 million subscribers worldwide. This article uses data collected over 8 months with automated "bots" to explore how WoW functions as a game. The focus is on metrics reflecting a player’s gaming experience: how long they play, the classes and races they prefer, and so on. The authors then discuss why and how players remain committed to this game, how WoW’s design partitions players into groups with varying backgrounds and aspirations, and finally how players "consume" the game’s content, with a particular focus on the endgame at Level 60 and the impact of player-versus-player-combat. The data illustrate how WoW refined a formula inherited from preceding MMOs. In several places, it also raises questions about WoW’s future growth and more generally about the ability of MMOs to evolve beyond their familiar template.

Key Words: multiplayer online games • player behavior • automated data collection • game design


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