Dillard Raymer, 33, each night wields a sword, hunting wild boar and giant spiders and night elves. He meets his buddies and embarks on quests and occasionally finds himself in a battle. He uses magic and trades in gold in the lands of Azeroth. Then he goes to bed at his Valley Station home.
“I enjoy playing the game, but I more enjoy talking to people through game,” said Raymer, whose wife Rebecca is also a “World of Warcraft” player.
Raymer is among about 11-million players of “World of Warcraft,” the biggest and most successful “massively multiplayer online role-playing game.” Translation: A computer game where players interact in real time with other players through the Internet; they chat, band together on adventures, cross swords, barter fictional goods.
This month, the publisher of “World of Warcraft” — styled “WoW” by veterans — issued an expansion of the already massive virtual world. Titled “Wrath of the Lich King,” the computer software that retails for $39.99 became the fastest-selling PC game ever, moving 2.8 million copies in a 24-hour period, according to its publisher Blizzard Entertainment.
The “Lich King” expansion promises to be a hot-seller for this holiday season — you just might be standing in line at an electronics store to buy a copy now. With such arcane names and seemingly complicated gameplay, gift-buyers could be excused for not knowing exactly what it is.
To put it simply, “World of Warcraft” is among the biggest things going in gaming.
“I think you’re looking at a genuine cultural phenomenon, which doesn’t come very often in gaming,” said Sid Shuman, a senior editor for GamePro magazine.
Players create weapon-wielding avatars in a constantly expanding fantasy universe. Characters can be members of the Alliance — good guy-like characters such as humans and night elves — or of the Horde — sinister-ish characters such as trolls and orcs. The avatars go on quests given by computer-generated characters, battle and duel other avatars and chat. The avatars typically band together in “guilds,” which can consist of real-life friends or people who’ve met through the game.
“I like the questing part of it,” Raymer said. “Me and my friends can get a group together and goof off while we’re playing.”
The avatar’s skill level improves as it navigates its way, and can range from a newbie Level 1 to a superpowerful Level 80. Players can pursue whatever quests they prefer, or no quests at all, but hardcore gamers are drawn to continually improving their experience level and being the first to complete difficult tasks, said Frank Nelson, 39, a regular “World of Warcraft” player. It’s that one-ups-manship that keeps him in the game, and the camaraderie.
“There’s a lot of bragging rights that come with ‘World of Warcraft, because there are so many people playing it,” said Nelson, who occasionally gathers with other real-life “WoW” enthusiasts to play the game together.
The game’s success since debuting in 2004 is unprecedented, Shuman said. The game immediately had a large fanbase because its publisher had a reputation for creating good games, Shuman said, making “WoW” an instant “It” game. “World of Warcraft” requires a subscription — $14.99 monthly. Still, its number of players has only increased and the just-displaced top-selling PC game was the previous “WoW” update, “The Burning Crusade.”
“Blizzard keeps its fanbase very, very happy because the world is constantly changing,” he said. “It evolves — it’s an evolving organism.”
Its Web-based nature also insulates “World of Warcraft” from the recent bane of PC games, illegal Internet downloads, he added. That players have real-life friends — some met, others only through the Internet — makes it difficult to quit, said Nelson, who added he’d quit the game if his friends also quit. The real-life relationships are perhaps the biggest reason behind the game’s success.
“People don’t want to leave behind the friends they’ve made in the game,” Shuman said. “You go to your favorite bar for 10 years, and, yeah, the drinks are watered down and the band is bad — but your buddies are there.”
