WoW in the eyes of an EVE player
Well, I decided a few days ago to update the video drivers on my trusty old HP laptop. Grabbed the latest from AMD's site, and installed. It decided to put a WoW trial icon on my desktop. Since I was on-call and unable to really commit myself to a several hour stretch of killing other players in EVE, I decided I would check to see if the things I've heard about WoW are true.
I created my account and downloaded a streamlined trial client. Character creation was pretty straightforward, no surprises. In about 10 minutes, I had a basic grasp on the UI, interacting with NPC's, moving, left and right click functions, and how to access the tips that pop up unobtrusively. In about a half hour I had completed a few basic quests and earned a couple of levels.
It was very easy to pick up and play the game. It ran wonderfully on my old laptop, too, consistently holding a smooth 20fps which is fine considering the genre/gameplay style. I can see the mass-market appeal in that, just load the game and follow the directions it gives you as you progress. Just about anyone can create and account and start playing quickly.
EVE is a brutal universe, a sandbox for people to grief each other in new and interesting ways, with a confusing menu and serious lack of documentation. It is a constant challenge and learning experience, whereas WoW is a lot more simple to learn to play with more focus on fun and in-game progress. They are very different but it is easy to see why WoW is so popular.
That being said, I will be maintaining my 3 EVE accounts and will continue to leave burning wreckage in my wake, but I am not so certain I will be providing Blizzard with my credit card number anytime soon, the risk vs. reward scale doesn't challenge me personally and it seems a little too easy IMO.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
