Finding Fun #11: World of Warcraft
Welcome to Finding Fun, where I learn more about game design through breaking down some of the greats into their core elements. This time, I'm looking at the sprawling world of Azeroth with World of Warcraft. Specifically, I'll be focusing on the mechanics up to and including The Burning Crusade expansion, as that's where most of my time was spent.
A quick note: It's obvious that replicating a world as detailed as Azeroth is simply not possible for solo gamedevs or even indie studios. However, the goal of this series isn't direct replication for indie game devs. It's about figuring out what makes great games fun and identifying elements that can inspire and inform development at any scale. Also, I limit myself to a maximum of three conclusions per section to keep these articles focused, even for a game as massive as WoW.
Core Gameplay Loop in World of Warcraft
WoW's core player experience revolves around a cycle of adventure and advancement:
- Do Quests: Accept tasks from NPCs to gain experience, rewards, and explore the world.
- Level Up: Gain experience to become more powerful, unlocking new skills and talents.
- Gear Up: Acquire better equipment through quests, dungeons, crafting, and PvP to enhance character capabilities.
- Party Up: Group with other players to tackle tougher challenges like dungeons and elite quests.
What's Fun in World of Warcraft?
Immediate Fun in World of Warcraft
Atmosphere is Everything
The opening cinematics do a great job of pulling you in. Whether you start in the serene forests of Teldrassil, the harsh barrens of Durotar, or the bustling city of Stormwind, each zone has a distinct yet cohesive vibe established by carefully crafted music and art direction. It all makes it feel like... a world.
Choosing Your Allegiance (and Look)
Beyond just picking a cool-looking race like an Orc or a Night Elf, choosing a faction gives you an identity, a city to call home, and a side in a larger conflict. It shapes who you can interact with and sets the stage for future rivalries, adding a layer of meaning right from the start.
A World Alive with Others
Seeing other players running around, struggling with the same mobs, or simply emoting creates a constant sense of shared experience that exists from the moment you enter the game. You're free to group up, chat, wave, or completely ignore them. This ambient social element makes the world feel dynamic and less lonely, even when questing solo.
Long-Term Fun in World of Warcraft
Dungeons: Shared Adventures
From the early struggles in Deadmines to the depths of Blackrock Mountain, dungeons were highlights. Teaming up with four other players, coordinating pulls, managing aggro, and overcoming bosses required communication and teamwork, forging bonds (and sometimes frustration) along the way. The class balance is a strong take on the holy trinity of MMO PVE content where tanks, healers, and DPS each have a defined role and feel like they're vital to the success of the group.
Battlegrounds: Organized Chaos
Warsong Gulch (Capture the Flag) and Arathi Basin (King of the Hill) were endlessly replayable. The objective-based team PvP offered a structured way to engage in the faction conflict, leading to unpredictable moments, coordinated pushes, and the sweet satisfaction of winning against other players instead of NPCs.
Guilds: Finding Your Tribe
Even without hardcore raiding, being part of a guild provided a crucial social anchor. Having familiar names in chat, people to casually group with, share tips, or just joke around with transformed the game from a solo grind into a shared virtual life. It's the kind of long-term community building unique to MMOs.
Unexpected Fun in World of Warcraft
Server Personalities
Over time, you start recognizing names – the rival guild you always clashed with in Hillsbrad, the player dominating the Auction House, the one constantly spamming trade chat. Each server developed its own micro-culture and recurring characters, making your specific instance of Azeroth feel distinct and alive.
The Joy of Collecting
Beyond just getting powerful gear, there was a simple pleasure in collecting things. Rare mounts to show off status, cool-looking armor sets and weapons, or just silly items like Noggenfogger Elixir for its random effects. This pursuit added another layer of goals and self-expression.
Arenas & Dueling: Intimate Combat
Whether it was formal Arena matches or impromptu duels outside Orgrimmar/Ironforge, these smaller-scale PvP encounters were thrilling tests of skill. The sheer variety of class abilities, specs, and gear led to endless tactical possibilities and emergent strategies, making each fight feel unique.
Not So Fun in World of Warcraft
Time-Consuming Travel
Yes, the world felt massive, but getting around could be a real chore. Waiting for zeppelins/boats, long flight paths where you couldn't do anything, or just running across entire continents... it often felt like the game didn't respect your time when it came to traversal.
The Endless Quest Text Skip
How many "Kill 10 boars" or "Collect 8 bear asses" quests have text worth reading? While some questlines had engaging stories, the vast majority felt like generic MMO filler designed solely to dole out XP and gear, rather than providing truly compelling narrative hooks. While some players are disciplined about consuming all the content, I think it's more on the game to make that content so engaging that people wouldn't think to skip it.
Crafting = Clicking
Leveling crafting professions often felt like a tedious grind. Gathering materials could be time-consuming, and the actual crafting process involved clicking through menus, hitting a button repeatedly, and paying trainers for the privilege of unlocking more menus to click through. While necessary for some best in slot items or making gold, the core loop wasn't inherently engaging.
Stress > Relief > Growth > Progress in World of Warcraft
How did World of Warcraft manage these pillars of game design?
Stress:Generated by challenging solo encounters, navigating dangerous areas, coordinating group content like dungeons or PvP, managing aggro, and the fear of dying far from your corpse or a graveyard.
Relief:The constant feedback loop of quest completion sounds, the "ding" of leveling up, successfully downing a dungeon boss after multiple wipes, winning a close battleground, or finally acquiring that desired piece of gear.
Growth:Represented by gaining levels, unlocking new talents and abilities, acquiring better gear, learning boss mechanics, mastering your class rotation, and improving teamwork/communication skills.
Progress:Marked by reaching max level, obtaining epic mounts, clearing challenging raid tiers, achieving high PvP ranks, completing profession milestones, or acquiring best in slot items.
Lessons Indie Game Developers can learn from World of Warcraft
Here's what I think indie game developers can learn from WoW:
Embrace Diverse Player Goals: WoW succeeded partly because it allowed different playstyles. Some rushed endgame, others focused on professions, PvP, exploration, or socializing. Supporting multiple valid ways to engage can attract and retain a broader audience. Don't assume everyone wants the same thing.
Community Can Be Content: With strong social systems (guilds, parties, chat, PvP), the players themselves generate engaging content and social dynamics. Fostering community interaction can significantly extend your game's longevity and appeal, even with limited developer-created content.
Atmosphere Matters Immensely: WoW's cohesive art style, memorable music, and distinct zone identities created a powerful sense of place. Even simple mechanics, like walking through a forest, feel more engaging in a world that feels immersive and believable. Invest in world-building and sensory details.
Credits
A huge thank you to AzerothDan on YouTube for their entertaining playthrough of WoW classic, from which all in-game screen captures in this post were obtained. Also thanks to the World of Warcraft YouTube channel for the cinematic and title images.