[sorenn111]

I wonder about World of Warcraft and can't help but think its success and place in our culture can't be replicated for a variety of reasons:

-It had a very popular RTS game series that built up the lore, graphical template of the world, and did a lot of world/character building.

-It released in 2004 which was at a time when the internet was becoming more and more accessible such that kids could reasonably get online. (All MMO's are related to internet access but I would argue that the rollout of the internet has no two time periods that were the same)

-It blended the right amount grind/accessibility being more accessible than competitors like everquest but more enthralling and entrapping that successors.

-The appetite for MMO's may never be the same: revenues for mobile games and their ilk with micrcotransactions vastly outweight the market for MMO's. With how gaming has changed, many customers may not give the time to an MMO the way they used to and companies may not see the point.

WoW was a truly unique game in its time IMO

[cottager2]

Yes WoW definitely was at the right place at the right time. Blizzard was basically the biggest name in gaming at the time. When everyone could get online, it’s natural they would all pick up WoW. It’s unlikely anything with similar network effects would happen now.

[philliphaydon]

There were better games at the time, it was riding on the success and lore of the Warcraft series.

People who were not into MMORPGs at the time were all of a sudden excited because it was Warcraft.

[brailsafe]

There were other games at the time, that may have been better at some things, but probably not better at what it aimed to be good at. WoW certainly wasn't a better RTS than the Warcraft games before it, but those are just different games. WoW was probably the best game out there in a category defined as an immersive online multiplayer game world with actual game and roleplaying elements.

I was excited about WoW because it was the most immersive game experience I'd played since final fantasy, but with everyone else playing in the same world for no explicitly stated reason. If you think it rose to the popularity it did because previous rts/roleplayers were just continuing their love for the franchise, you're missing the rest of the picture.

I would be curious though if you have anything specific in mind that beats my claim