Top 10 Reasons Why WoW Became So Popular
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- čas přidán 11. 05. 2024
- Counting down the reasons why Blizzard's 2004 release became a cultural phenomenon.
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Music
'WetGrass Inspired' [Tristram] by AmIEviL: • OC ReMix #129: Diablo ...
WoW Login Music: • World of Warcraft Logi...
"Home" by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio: • Chill Synthwave - Home...
Sonne chiptune by Aoreest: • Rammstein - Sonne [Chi...
Song of Elune: • World of Warcraft Soun...
Entropic Rhapsody by blinch: • Loop Hero - Entropic R...
Sandstorm chiptune by Meme Music: • Darude - Sandstorm | C...
Scatman 8bit remix: • Scatman John - Scatman...
Seasons of War: • Video
Stormwind Music: • Video
Secret of the Forest Cover by PPF: • Yasunori Mitsuda - Sec...
Solar Intervention by Daniel James Taylor: • Factorio OST #11 - Sol...
Turbine Dynamics by Daniel James Taylor: • Factorio OST #12 - Tur...
WoW Soundtrack War: • World of Warcraft Ost ...
Ironforge: • Ironforge General Music - Hry
Honorable mention to the soundtrack. Post your own here...10 is definitely too little for what this game brought to the table. Thanks for watching.
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I love you MadSeason❤❤❤
Some of the soundtrack has been decent. Grizzly Hills soundtrack encouraged me to permanently disable background music in the game.
I loved the WoD soundtrack.
My top 10:
1. Continuing what WC3 started (I played WC2 and 1 first, but little of those made it into WoW, other than WC2 in WoD, there’s not even that much WC2 in TBC, especially for horde).
2. Best combination of veritical and horizontal progression for its time (IE you can progress to harder and harder difficulties -vertical- but there’s so much to explore at your leisure too! -horizontal-).
3. The social nature of it, teamspeak, vent, and discord brought a lot to it.
4. It’s cultural influence, eapecially at the time. It broke into the mainstream.
Two things I would add: The music was incredible, and the existing lore with years of development.
First time hearing stormwind's music : "Shit, that's fucking lit"
1000th's time hearing it : Colicere Salutare! Coa Praesto Matuere! Foriceno Ventu Safe! Fenlere Relari, Toli Celi Oa! Volare! [Deci Evare, Deci Evare! Deci Eleva, Deci Qutare Ma! Deci Evare, Deci Evare! Deci Eleva, Deci Qutare Ma! Oa, Oa Vera! Safa Irece Fere Fuco Hera Baci Cela Fara! Odessa Coiro Falecere Endico Odessa Acila! Falere Elsora, Fata Ma!
With music in WoW, the standard is amazing and the heights are legendary!
I love the lore too! shoutout to Nobbel87
On the lore piece, Warcraft 3 was very successful and had a fantastic story. Having WoW continue where WC 3 left off attracted many players.
The other things I would add are (1) sound design for literally everything from spell / ability noises, to crafting and gathering, to monsters (who can ever forget the murlock sound after hearing it once?); (2) loot taking effort to acquire and the best items being bind on equip except for a few exceptions; and (3) little incidental things like art design of icons for example. I don’t know why but even though all icons for everything in the game are exactly the same size and shape there is something very charming and attractive about them. They’re almost subliminal. It’s weird.
The lore had less then 0.0001 percent of an effect. 99% of the playerbase cannot answer basic questions on it
Fully agree. Seeing as I was really into the lore (played Warcraft 1, 2 and 3 a lot), the idea of walking around in that world, meeting the characters from prior games was and actually going through those areas was something I was really looking forward to!
The music for me did something special. Especially the music surrounding the Lich King, and the nostalgia of Stormwind/Elwynn.
Westfall unlocks core nostalgiac memories for me
Grizzly Hills music just slaps. Fav zone in wotlk.
The music is one of the most important things for me when it comes to wow classic. I really liked TBC and WOTLK aswell. After that it went downhill.
This does it for me too, especially now. When I go through Dun Morogh or Ashenvale I always get that deep feeling of nostalgia and wanting to go back to childhood in order to experience it all again
For me it was Wailing Caves. That music can be found in various locations, great music.
That madseason intro is one of the greatest sounds one can experience in life
Seriously that will never fail to get me excited
I only heard it for the first time a couple of years ago but every time I hear it for some reason it brings me back to the 2000's playing WoW with my boys when that was all that mattered in life.
especially when it triggers the excitement of wow classic release :)
Bro Idk why but that intro feels soooo nostalgic and I can never get tired of it, such a masterpiece
I hit like as soon as the intro plays.
I am not even remotely ashamed to say that I was addicted to World of Warcraft between 2005-2007. The game was as close as you can get to digital heroin. It truly was an entirely new "world" to delve into, especially for socially disinclined teenagers such as myself at the time. The 2000s gaming experience was something different. One might say it was an age of gaming, before gaming broke through to the mainstream, and World of Warcraft was definetely a big part of that push.
100 percent. I still have contact with friends I made during those years. Man it was good times
I had lots of friends IRL in highschool and college, so Friday-Sunday, I would hang out with them, but Mon-Thurs I would hop onto WoW to play with my IG friends!
For sure. I literally had “jocks” from high school come join me on WoW because they heard of how fun of a game it was and thus began their own addiction lol
It wasn't called Warcrack back in the day without good reason. Hopelessly addicted from og Wrath to the end of WoD.
And now I find myself once again addicted. This time to SoDcrack :)
@@AmongRevenants Haha, you and me both. Havent played for several expansions, but find myself loving SoD and getting back with the old gang for some raiding and ganking :)
I used to joke that WoW wasn't a game you played, it was a place you went to live. Great video! This is a good day now
It was a game that played you
@@t2d748 fr tho... when it first came out, my grades plummeted 😂
warcraft 3 was such a good game I feel that games reputation is a major reason why wow started off so well.
especially for wrath of the lich king
This is the true secret to WoW's success that 99% of "WoW killers" failed to grasp. Warcraft already had a huge existing playerbase of excited fans that'd been built up from three previous successful RTS games. Not to mention overlap with their other series like Diablo. This is how WoW had so much hype and hit the ground running with a dedicated playerbase.
All the copy-cats just jumped right into releasing an MMO without finding a playerbase yet, so they inevitably died.
It's no coincidence that the other big MMO today, Final Fantasy 14, also happens to be part of a long and venerated series.
Still is
Another thing to mention is that WoW released 1 year after the Lord of the Rings trilogy had wrapped up, so the fantasy genre was definitely on the public's radar in a big way at that time.
Wow is the one game I’ve never been able to fully “quit”. Even when I stop playing for years at a time, I still watch content videos of it on CZcams and Twitch. I don’t think it’s an addiction. I just accepted that it really is just that good. It’s objectively the greatest MMO of all time.
I feel you, I've quit / came back like 50 times in the past 15-20 years. It's just that damn good
100% agree. Watching this video makes me want to play. I have too many responsibilities to have the time. But, I have the urge to play
Same dude, quitted nearly 1,5 year ago but after seeing this video and hearing the nostalgic music and seeing the all-too familiar graphics im tempted to buy game time and go back again even though i feel it will get boring quickly
Haha, same boat as u dudes. Even though i am not playing I am still consuming wow content bc its the best
Its exactly the same for me. Havent played for real since 2015 and I still watch and enjoy these videos 😁
I think one major thing wow has over EVERY other mmo and one that constantly goes unnoticed/overlooked is movement, no other mmo comes close to how good wow feels with just moving your character around and the responiveness of it to the point that I'll play other mmo's move my character around and go "na this aint it brah" and log off.
I don't like this specific game but black desert has great/better movement right?
@@MrDutchmarshal BDO has some of the worst movement imo it's like trying to control a tank
FF14 has an extremely customizable set up and handles like a dream to me. I never struggled with movement in WoW either but I wouldn't say it was the best. It was exactly what I expected. No more, no less. It's something you don't really pay attention to unless it's not working like it should and then it becomes extremely irritating. WoW never made me think about it, which means it was good. FF14 had me struggle for a little while at the beginning but once I had everything set up how I wanted it, I never thought about it again.
WoW was more intuitive, but FF14 was more personalized. Hard to say which is better, but both had me going through the game with everything set up exactly how I like it and I never had to give it another thought and that's all I can ask from any game, MMO or otherwise.
WoW has the best controls of any video game ever, not just MMOs. No other game compares. In WoW, you can always make your character do what you want them to do, controls never get in your way. No other game can say that
That 8 bit Rammstein holy shit man, nice choice!
Mad season intro has a special place in my heart. Along with warcraft soundtrack...
I remember being drawn in by the box art as a 14 year old nerd. I had played games with my dad and older brother, but never anything like WoW. 20 years later I can still remember that feeling of first entering Ironforge, or crossing the bridge into Stormwind. Thanks for the fine video, MadSeason!
It was so different at the time, even with the cartoony graphics. I came from SWG to WoW on release day, and gawd that was a nightmare in the UK, and was just so epic.
CHAD SEASON GRAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!
Also, do not underestimate the fact that WoW came out in the wake of Lord of the Rings, which was and still is one of the largest fantasy franchises ever. LOTR undoubtedly helped heighten interest in the MMORPG genre at the time. People were hungry for fantasy adventures, and World of Warcraft provided an almost perfect outlet for these urges. I certainly know that this was the case for myself and loads of my friends.
I always thought a lot of the music benefited from that as well
I remember just exploring the world as a kid. Walljumping was so much fun and you could reach almost every place in the game. Just jumping up the Ironforge houses or reaching old Ironforge was a lot of fun
The sound track , i still get chills when i hear elwyn forrest
30 year old boomer here.
I just want to emphasis how unique it was back then to have the ability to play together with your friends, without having to go to their place or vice versa. While ease of access and good game play surely are necessary to create a popular game, the Social component is what supercharged WOW in my opinion.
*sips Monster energy zero ultra* Vanila and TBC were truly the best.
The social component is what made it so special! It was brand new having an open world like that to connect and interact
30 year olds aren't boomers :p
@@Shruikin yeah lol, I was born in 2001, and he is only 9 years older than me.
I think WoW was less social than the other popular MMORPGs because you weren’t forced to play with a party at all times. The social component was really important but it was actually making it less central to the gameplay that made WoW work.
Lmao, why is the white monster such a boomer symbol?
Loved this one as always man. I got into classic wow as a new player in TBC. I love it so much... You giving me history lessons on what it all used to be like is always great
all these years later and i will never get sick of WoW content about the old world
I was unemployed in 2005.i uplaoded this game.i was still unemployed in 2008..happy times
Would have been great if you’d downloaded it instead so you could have played it in that time.
indeed
😅😅😅😅😅@@Minimax04
I didn't know it then but the years 2004-2011 were the best years of my life. I remember owning my own home going into the backyard with my iPod listening to the instance.
You nailed it Madseason. I have tried a few times to explain to my friends what was happening to me between 2005 and 2007. I can get some of my thoughts out, but this video sums everything up so completely. Good content.
as always, great video!
dont forget the music, remember the first time you entered stormwind and that epic music made you breathless
What an incredible way to kick off my morning. Thanks for doing what you do, Mad.
Hey, bro. You are a valuable member of this community and your content is among the top. Don’t leave us for a long time - there are tons of content waiting for you and your expertise.
Give us more wow content, more Cata content
I'm so happy madseason is back. That intro music is so relaxing.
We love you MadSeason!
Something important you missed in the gameplay section: WoW's snappy instant movement is the best feeling in the genre to this day, 20 years later.
100% agree with this, modern mmos still feel so clunky compared to wow. Its very off putting
The combat system is unparalleled still. A 20yr old engine is still superior to mmos in the last 5 years. No other mmo feels as responsive and has pvp that feels as clean even if PvP in retail hasn’t been great in a decade it still feels good to play at the end of the day
The music really is what gave the world its character imo. I was late to the party - joining shortly after Wrath launch, but I spent my first 2 days just... running around (often as a Wisp lol) through all of the zones - their size was insane to me, and the music is the perfect backdrop for running around exploring. It was the best thing ever. I envy those who witnessed those early days. True vanilla and its community must have been amazing (compared to today's community). Nostalrius was great, but I'll never know how different even that was in comparison.
Love MadSeason, seeing you upload makes me excited for my lumch break!
The chorus from 16 bit version of Sonne hitting right as #9 showed up : 10/10
Something that I always think about that really is WHY I got hooked when I was younger was how well designed the starting zones were. They're all so memorable. Between the music and simplicity of quests it's no wonder it immediately hooked me. And just immediately being able to explore what I thought was such a huge area was nuts. To this day the music sends me into a nostalgic, gut-wrenching spiral lol.
Wow, great video and editing as usual. The nr 9 Addiction overlap with 8-bit sonne music with the news reporter, made me feel overwhelmed somehow ❤
Always producing the best videos! You got some real talent that should not go unnoticed. Your video alone create nostalgia. Always a pleasure to watch another MadSeasonShow
Thank you @madseasonshow for the new video. Keep them coming. Its awesome.
Totally dope, that you've used the factorio music. So calmly, just perfect
The zones and music made me fall in love with WOW. I'm busy working 60 hour weeks, but I will pull up the soundtracks on my playlist, or jump on youtube and watch some of the live zone videos with music and ambiance.
I dont think anything goes harder than a madseason wow vid
Whenever I see a mad season production pop up it's an automatic like and engagement.
Love you sir, thank you for the hours of bliss! Always got engagement for your videos!
World of Warcraft brought us MadseasonShow :)
Luckiecharms here, took me 3 lockouts but I finally got ST cleared, thx for the group. :p
Also great vid, big fan of your SW Galaxy vid too despite never playing
Nice dude! Thanks, that video is actually my favorite on the channel
Good stuff as always dude! Great start to my Saturday!
Shoutout to the Homestar Runner/Trogdor throwback at 12:16
Trogdor The Burninator!!!
I started right before TBC came out, I started a night elf Druid and running around Teldrassil with the amazing music killing monsters and waving and chatting with random players had me hooked. I spent about 3 years playing on average about 10 hours a day. My record was actually 37 straight hours playing with my buddy trying to get better pvp gear. Ahhh the good ole days
mad season intro gives me serotonin
I was a big everquest enjoyer, its always cool watching your videos and your explanations on Wow since i never really played it.
Just wanna say thank you for the many years of quality content about WoW. Your content honestly enhanced my love for the game in ways that just made it feel great to be a WoW fan and learn more about the world through your videos. Even in the future with videos not about WoW, your quality and dedication is seriously admirable and appreciate what you do for the WoW and the CZcams community as a whole.
Thanks for another great one man 👍
Great video! The memories and nostalgia almost brings a tear to my eyes.
My favorite game of all time..
The Log in screen combined with the log in music during vanilla felt incredible.
Been playing wow for 20 years now, since I was 7. Fishing for my dad, pet taming for him, taking over healing strat dead for my mom during supper prep. I've loved wow since it came out. I'm now one of those sweaty top 0.1% on retail, but watching this made me kind of emotional just looking back on the journey of it all. Thanks Madseason!
Man, seeing RF online up there briefly was a nice nostalgia hit. I even remember that Bellato guild. I was on the Accretian side though.
Played it briefly during vanilla, between MC and BWL raid tier. I forget the name but I was a robot dude
Honestly, the social media point had never even occurred to me, and now that you pointed out, that is absolutely part of what made the original release lightning in a bottle. It truly was the perfect storm!
The exact same game in the modern era (2019 classic) wouldn't and doesn't have the same effect, because that's not a novel concept anymore and we are all chronically online already
One thing that attracted me to WoW was the fact that monster races weren't necessarily evil. That's still pretty rare even today in the fantasy genre.
Great video MSS. I’ve watched you for years and your content is ALWAYS top-tier, second to none.
Take care brother. I’m always looking forward to your next video and often find myself rewatching your older content, because you’re the king of WoW nostalgia.
So great to go from the desert of the Barrens to the desert of thousand needles to the desert of tanaris, kalimdor is truly beautiful
Madseason videos always make me want to log into the game and feel some sense of the old nostalgia.
Effin great to see you making vids bro... Hope you can find that magic again
Thanks for answering the question on what WoW did differently from other games. I've been looking for that for a long time.
I met my wife back in 2007 on world of warcraft. 17 years later, stronger than ever together.
I remember one of the big reasons for me was being able to do a quest during a school lunch break.
Prior to WoW, I played FF11, and in that game, it took literal hours to do anything. Heck, even using an airship from one city to another was a 15-20 minute ordeal. And you couldn't level up without finding a party.
So back when I was in high school, I couldn't really do much in the game with an hour lunch break. Nor could I do anything in the morning.
But WoW's single player-esq questing changed everything for me
Cannot be emphasised enough how bad soloing in FF11 was
Cool video man. Views wise I know it'll do well, it's wow and it's a list, but I encourage to keep up variety, I love your other videos too!
I’m watching madseason when I’m having lunch . But when it’s a new video , I open a beer aswell. Cheers mate
I remember playing WoW back in 2006. I was in the 6th grade. My uncle played and he was the one who got me into WoW after I played Champios of Norrath and Diablo. From there my dad got into it. He was a guild master to this guild called The VIP. I remember him being blown away that he could talk to people clear across the world. One of his guild members was from Australia.
My best friend kept bugging me to try WoW when TBC launched because he figured I'd like the game. So he sent me a 7 day trial link and I gave it a shot. Can't tell you how many days of sleep I lost or how many times I called off work because I got hooked. Still playing to this day and this video brought back so many great memories I've had over the years playing with random people I've met and made friends with in game. Crazy to think back on everything and all those old school videos brought back a lot of good laughs too. Awesome video man.
Ahhh your intro music, it always comforts me
I’m happy to say I was one of those guys that was there at the begging and god willing I’ll be there when the serves go down permanently. I took a break but I’ll be back
You’re really making me miss the beginnings of WoW man. The nostalgia is killing me.
Great video. Think you covered the top ones really good here. The only thing I missed, that could perhaps have been mentioned alongside point 5 (the world) - The music! They really nailed creating ambient music that really set the mood. Play any track from Westfall/Mulgore, Ashenvale, Elwynn or The Barrens to a WoW-player and it is almost guaranteed to trigger warm feelings of nostalgia.
Always love your WOW videos. As others have stated, the beautiful musical scores in the game cannot be ignored. Provides a fully immersive environment. God bless you, Sir.
I have so many fond memories of WoW back in the day. Never forget them. But as companies get bigger and suits come in it’s about shareholders and stock not the game and community as we’re reduced to retention numbers and stats. I’ve moved on to smaller companies to support and fund them with my money and hope the next awesome experience comes from there. Great video!
I really liked the video. I very much agree on your points of why WoW became so popular, but I don't know how I would rank them. I guess in no specific order. And I am very happy to hear that you are so motivated to make more content on the channel this year! Looking forward to it :)
That MadSeason intro music hit different boi!
So happy you're back consistently ❤
Madseason, you said before that some criticized you for your lack of music...well you really took it to em. Love your organization and well thought out edits.
Also...the song at 10:00??? So familiar.
Look hero - Entropic Rhapsody :D
@@madseasonshow thanks bud, keep up the great work :)
Very happy to watch your videos again.
I remember being on my rogue in 2004 and getting my first green item, a +1 agi dagger, that feeling of excitement in that moment made me know I’d be playing a lot of this game
Another perfect video madseasons , you knocked it out of the park with this one ☝️
Great video !! A friend at work played but I made nothing of it as I wasn’t aware of Blizzard and their games. But then I saw South Park’s Make Love Not Warcraft and I knew I had to try it and boom, I was hooked !! I got BC even though I was only lvl 50 but I was gonna play non stop that weekend until I hit 58 and then walk through The Dark Portal into new lands !!!!! (Fel Reavers 🤬 ). I’m from Canada but I was in a guild of australians, it was so cool to not only play with all the people we converted at work but also new people from around the world (the real one!). Barrak and I (both rogues) farming Hellfire Ramparts for Shadowrend Longblade, rolling when it 1st dropped and me winning it !! Quit and returned 4-5 times but now I’m over it for good. It was a great period back then, had lots of fun and frustration, farming Huolon 100+ time before getting the mount (my cousin got it 3 times before I got it…).
I love and listen to WoW music even today, long after I stopped playing. Mostly while working on some tasks I just love having it in the background.
I just wanted to add that even now, two decades along if we look at the number of active subscribers it is STILL sitting at around 7mil. For a game that's this old that is a very rare setting.
The king is truely back, i'm so happy you're making wow videos again dude
I've been waiting for this. Thank you.
great vid. as always... really enjoyed watching it
One of the coolest moments as a new player for me (18 plus years ago) was taking the flight path and seeing random players running around and questing/leveling. I had never experienced that in a game before. It felt like it was a living breathing perpetual world. I was immediately immersed. Unfortunately, in the newer versions particularly retail, you do not see this at all and it feels empty outside of the faction capitols or expansion hubs. SOD and classic have helped reinvigorate the nostalgia but it never comes close to those first few years I played the game.
A huge factor was that right before the release and during the release all of us were exposed to the popularity of fantasy entertainment like the Lord of the Rings Movies, Harry Potter, etc. This time was so enriched with fantasy that it was the perfect timing for all that fantasy to be played in an MMO that captured all of that perfectly
For me, it was a friend showing me the vanilla wow cinematic. I was hooked. I had zero idea what I was doing. Did it matter? No. I was just happy to be part of "something" fun fact: for me the first viral wow video was the wow MacGyver one. Yes yes I am that old.
It’s always a great day when madseason posts
3:45 FF6 and then Secret of Mana? I had no idea Madseason was so cultured and refined with such exquisite taste for RPGs.
RPGs were a big part of my childhood. I also loved Lufia 1/2, chrono trigger, all the FFs ofc, dark cloud, and then obviously WoW eventually lol
@@madseasonshow My man! I literally was just playing through Chrono Trigger a few weeks ago for the millionth time haha! Timeless classic. Great games.
Back before WoW released, I had to stay in the hospital for over a year, almost died multiple times. My body was so broken, I couldn't do much. I discovered WoW in the worst time of my life and the game really saved me.
Instead of living in total isolation, it made me feel like I belonged somewhere and had people to talk to.
I don't play the game much anymore but I'll always be thankful.
I played Asheron's call for ~14 years. I loved the lore, the community, ease of access and it rolled out so many features that I still miss even after playing WoW. Asheron's call had a monthly patch that added new content, had two expansions and near the end, they had several patches that could have easily been their own expansion.
It would have been around longer had Warner Brothers not bought the studio (Turbine Entertainment) for the LotR MMO IP rights. They shut down all of Turbine's other games after the acquisition. But to be fair, the subscription numbers dropped after WoW's release.
I didn't think of the gameplay as a reason for the success, but now that you pointed this, it definitely is one good reason, even today, the same base combat system for instance, while it can feel dated, it works, i just watched this streamer from my country that focus on online RPGs, playing wow for the first time, after playing many other modern MMOs, with better combat systems, and he couldn't drop Wow anymore, his channel became focused on wow content on accident, because the game just felt good to play, and he couldn't point exactly what it was, but Wow hooked him, and this happened now in 2024. So yeah,
gameplay definitely is a reason
Voice is deeper holy shit, love the videos brother hope your doing well
Hey Madseason, not been able to catch you on Twitch for quite a while. Hope all is going well and you're enjoying SoD o/
I'm surprised no where you mentioned the music. If there's anything that pulls me back to the game, it's always how the music is so wonderfully orchestrated, unique per zone, and amplifies the immersion ten fold. I honestly thought that would be #1, especially madseason being such a music guy
Amazing Video MadSeason! loved it!
I loved your intros man, all these years.. love them. I play on whitemane private server now here and there.
The Silkroad Online clip gave me goosebumps!
Loves these videos brother, keep em coming 🔥
Great Job Bro ! Keep moving like this
YOOO that Rammstein - Sonne midi version at the addiction was a FIRE choice. My man's seen the Grim PvP movies