Reception

Reception

Aggregate score
Aggregator Score
Metacritic 93/100 [82]

Review scores
Publication Score
1Up.com A [83]

Edge 9/10[84]
Eurogamer 8/10[85]
Game Informer 9.5/10[86]
GamePro 4.5/5[87]
GamesMaster 93%[84]
GameSpot 9.5/10[11]
[22]
GameSpy
IGN 9.1/10[21]
PC Gamer (UK) 94%[84]
PC Zone 95%[84]

World of Warcraft received very positive reviews upon release,[82] following a period of high

anticipation before launch.[88] Although the game follows a similar model to—and was noted for
using many familiar concepts from—the role-playing genre,[11][83] the new approaches to reducing
pauses between game encounters were well liked.[22] A common example was the approach to
character death. In some previous MMORPGs, a player would suffer a high penalty for character
death; in World of Warcraft, a player is able to recover and start playing quickly.[11] Combat was
another area where "downtime", or pauses between play, was reduced. By allowing all character
types to recover from damage taken, players can return to combat quickly.[22] Reviewers felt that
these changes in pacing would make the genre more accessible to casual players—those who
play for short periods of time—[22] while still having "deep" gameplay that would attract players of
all levels of interest.[21] The concept of a "rested bonus", or increasing the rate at which a player's
character gains experience, was also welcomed as a way for players to quickly catch up with
their friends in progression.[11]
Questing was described as an integral part of the game, often being used to continue a storyline
or lead the player through the game.[22] The high number of quests in each location was popular,
as well as the rewards for completing them.[11] It was felt that the range of quests removed the
need for a player to "grind", or carry out repetitive tasks, to advance their character.[21] Quests
also require players to explore every section of the game world, potentially causing problems for
social gamers or roleplayers seeking somewhere quiet.[22] Quests that required the player to
collect items from the corpses of creatures they had killed were also unpopular; the low "drop
rate", or chance of finding the items, makes them feel repetitive as a high number of creatures
need to be killed to complete the quest.[21] A large number of new players in a particular area
meant that there were often no creatures to kill,[22] or that players would have to wait and take
turns to kill a particular creature to complete a quest.[11] Some critics mentioned that the lack of
quests that required players to group up made the game feel as if it were designed for solo play.
[85]
 Others complained that some dungeon or instanced group quests were not friendly to new
players, and could take several hours to complete.[21] Upon release, a small number of quests had
software bugs that made them impossible to complete.[11]
Characters were felt to be implemented well, with each class appearing "viable and interesting",
having unique and different mechanisms,[85] and each of the races having a distinct look and feel.
[11]
 Character development was also liked, with the talent mechanism offering choice to players,
[83]
 and profession options being praised.[11] Character customization options were felt to be low,
[21]
 but the detail of character models was praised.[88]
The appearance of the game world was praised by critics. Most popular was the fact that a
player could run from one end of the continent to the other without having to pause at a "loading
screen" while part of the game is retrieved from storage.[88] The environment was described as
"breathtaking". Players found it difficult to become lost, and each area in the game world had a
distinct look that blended from one to the next.[22] Critics described the environment as "a careful
blend of cartoon, fantasy art, and realism".[83] The game was found to run smoothly on a range of
computer systems,[11] although some described it as basic,[22] and mentioned that the bloom light
rendering effect can blur things.[21] One reviewer described the ability to fly over long stretches of
scenery as "very atmospheric".[85] The user interface was liked, being described as "simple",
with tooltips helping to get the player started.[11]
The game's audio was well received, particularly the background music. By assigning music to
different areas of the game world, reviewers felt that the fantasy style added to the player's
immersion,[83] and that the replay value was increased.[21] The sounds and voices used by
characters and NPCs, as well as the overall sound effects, were felt to add a "personality" to the
game.[83]

Accolades
World of Warcraft won several awards from critics upon release, including Editor's
Choice awards.[11][21] In addition, it won several annual awards from the media, being described as
the best game in the role-playing and MMORPG genres.[89] The graphics and audio were also
praised in the annual awards, with the cartoonish style[90] and overall sound makeup being noted.
[91]
 The game was also awarded Best Mac OS X Entertainment Product at the 2005 Apple Design
Awards.[92] Computer Games Magazine named World of Warcraft the best computer game of
2004, and the magazine's Steve Bauman described his "feeling that Blizzard has analyzed every
element of every existing game, pulled out the best ones, and then lovingly lavished an absurd
amount of attention to their implementation." It also won the magazine's "Best Art Direction",
"Best Original Music" and "Best Interface" awards.[93]
World of Warcraft was recognized at the 2005 Spike TV Video Game Awards where it won Best
PC Game, Best Multiplayer Game, Best RPG, and Most Addictive Game.[94] In 2008, World of
Warcraft was honoured—along with Neverwinter Nights and EverQuest—at the 59th
Annual Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards for advancing the art form of MMORPG
games.[95] GameSpot named it the best massively multiplayer game of 2004, and nominated it for
the publication's "Best Graphics, Artistic" award.[96] In 2009, Game Informer ranked World of
Warcraft 11th on their list of "The Top 200 Games of All Time".[97] In 2015, the game placed 3rd
on USgamer's The 15 Best Games Since 2000 list.[98]

Commercial performance
World of Warcraft was the best-selling PC game of 2005 and 2006.[99] In the United States, it sold
1.4 million copies ($68.1 million) by August 2006. It was the country's third best-selling computer
game between January 2000 and August 2006.[100] On January 22, 2008, World of Warcraft had
more than 10 million subscribers worldwide, with more than 2 million subscribers in Europe, more
than 2.5 million in North America, and about 5.5 million in Asia.[101] At its peak in October 2010 the
game had 12 million subscribers.[102] As of November 2014 the game has over 10 million active
subscribers.[103] On January 28, 2014, Blizzard announced that 100 million accounts have been
created for the game.[104] On May 7, 2015, it was announced that there were 7.1 million active
subscriptions.[105][106][107][108] At the end of June 2015, subscriptions dropped down to 5.6 million,
lowest since 2005.[109] By the end of September, subscribers were at 5.5 million.[110]
Less than two months after beginning operation of World of Warcraft in China on September 19,
2009, NetEase was ordered to immediately stop charging players and to cease accepting
registrations.[111][112] A press estimate indicated that if World of Warcraft were shut down in China,
the loss of subscribers would have caused Activision Blizzard's earnings to fall from 65 cents per
share to 60 cents per share.[111] In April 2008, World of Warcraft was estimated to hold 62 percent
of the MMORPG subscription market.[113] The game has grossed $9.23 billion in revenue, making
it one of the highest-grossing video games of all time, along with Space Invaders, Pac-
Man and Street Fighter II.[114] In early 2012, Blizzard started its own series of tournaments
for World of Warcraft and StarCraft II, known as the Battle.net World Championship Series.[115][116]

Security concerns
In September 2006, reports emerged of spoof World of Warcraft game advice websites that
contained malware. Vulnerable computers would be infected through their web browsers,
downloading a program that would then relay back account information. Blizzard's account
support teams experienced high demand during this episode, stating that many users had been
affected. Claims were also made that telephone support was closed for isolated periods due to
the volume of calls and resulting queues.[117] In April 2007, attacks evolved to take advantage of
further exploits involving animated cursors, with multiple websites being used.[118][119] Security
researcher group Symantec released a report stating that a compromised World of
Warcraft account was worth US$10 on the black market, compared to US$6 to US$12 for a
compromised computer (correct as of March 2007).[120] In February 2008, phishing emails were
distributed requesting that users validate their account information using a fake version of
the World of Warcraft account management pages.[121] In June 2008, Blizzard announced
the Blizzard Authenticator, available as a hardware security token or mobile application[122] that
provides two-factor security. The token generates a one-time password based code that the
player supplies when logging on. The password, used in addition to the user's own password, is
only valid for a couple of minutes, thus providing extra security against keylogging malware.[123]
Blizzard makes use of a system known as Warden on the Windows version of the game to
detect third-party programs, such as botting software, allowing World of Warcraft to be played
unattended. There has been some controversy as to the legality of Warden. Warden uses
techniques similar to anti-virus software to analyze other running software on the players' PCs,
as well as the file system. However, unlike most anti-virus software, it sends a portion of this
information back to Blizzard, which caused privacy advocates to accuse it of being spyware.
[124]
 One example of the information Warden collects is the title of every window open on the
system while WoW is running.[125] On the other hand, many gamers responded positively to the
development, stating that they supported the technology if it resulted in fewer cases of cheating.
Blizzard's use of Warden was stated in the Terms of Agreement (TOA).[126]
The Warden's existence was acknowledged in March 2008, during the opening legal
proceedings against MDY Industries.[127] The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Arizona, and also
listed Michael Donnelly as a defendant. Donnelly was included in the suit as the creator of MMO
Glider, software that can automatically play many tasks in the game. Blizzard claimed the
software is an infringement of its copyright and software license agreement, stating that "Glider
use severely harms the WoW gaming experience for other players by altering the balance of
play, disrupting the social and immersive aspects of the game, and undermining the in-game
economy." Donnelly claims to have sold 100,000 copies of the $25 software.[128]

Real ID
Main article: Battle.net §  Privacy and Real ID
On July 6, 2010, Blizzard Entertainment announced that on its forums for all games, users'
accounts would display the real names tied to their accounts.[129] Blizzard announced the change
following an agreement with Facebook to allow Facebook to connect persons who choose to
become friends to share their real identity (Real ID, as Blizzard calls the feature). The integration
of the feature into the forums on the Blizzard Entertainment site raised concerns amongst fans of
the many game series Blizzard has created over the years.[130]
In response to the concerns, Blizzard released an updated statement on July 9, 2010,
announcing that the Real ID integration with the official forums was being canceled.[131][132]
Community and study of player interaction
See also: Social interaction via MMORPGs and emergent gameplay
In addition to playing the game itself and conversing on discussion forums provided by
Blizzard, World of Warcraft players often participate in the virtual community in creative ways,
including fan artwork[133] and comic strip style storytelling.[134]
Blizzard garnered criticism for its decision in January 2006 to ban guilds from advertising sexual
orientation preferences. The incident occurred after several players were cited for "harassment"
after advocating a group that was a gay-straight alliance.[135][136] Blizzard later reversed the
decision to issue warnings to players promoting LGBT-friendly guilds.
On October 7, 2010 World of Warcraft reached a subscriber base of over 12 million players.
[137]
 Since May 2011, the number of players playing had decreased by 10% from 11.4 million to
10.3 million. Blizzard's CEO Mike Morhaime said that the reason was probably due to a drop-off
in the Eastern markets.[138] In 2012, senior producer John Lagrave told Eurogamer that the drop in
subscriptions may have also been attributed to the recent release of BioWare's Star Wars: The
Old Republic.[139]

Sale of virtual goods in the real world

Further information: Virtual economy
As with other MMORPGs, companies have emerged offering to sell virtual gold and associated
services. The practice of amassing gold and in-game items for financial profit is frequently
referred to as gold farming.
After Blizzard started offering free trial gameplay accounts, players noticed an increase
in spam from bots advertising these services.[140] One study shows that this problem is particularly
prevalent on the European realms, with gold being over 14 times more expensive to buy on US
realms than their European counterparts.[141]
In patch 2.1, Blizzard responded to this by adding additional anti-spam mechanics including
whisper throttling and the report spam function. Additionally, trial accounts are prevented from
speaking in the public chat channels (although they may speak to players within range or whisper
to other players that have first whispered to them), participating in in-game trades, and using the
Auction House and the mail feature, among other limitations.
In May 2007, Blizzard filed a complaint against in Game Dollar LLC (trading as peons4hire) in
U.S. federal court. In February 2008, the parties filed a consent decree in which in Game Dollar
agreed to refrain from using any World of Warcraft chat or communication to advertise any
business or sell any services relating to World of Warcraft.[142] In June 2007, World of
Warcraft player Antonio Hernandez filed a class action lawsuit against IGE for interfering with the
intended use of the game.[143]
As characters progress in World of Warcraft and take on some of the toughest challenges, many
of the rewards received are bound to that character and cannot be traded, generating a market
for the trading of accounts with well-equipped characters. The highest noted World of
Warcraft account trade was for £5000 (€7000, US$9,900) in early September 2007. The high
price was due to the character possessing items that at the time were owned by only a handful
out of the millions of active players, due to the difficulty in acquiring them. However, Blizzard
banned the account five days after the purchase.[144]
The practice of buying or selling gold in World of Warcraft has generated significant controversy.
[145]
 On February 21, 2008, Blizzard released a statement concerning the consequences of buying
gold. Blizzard reported that an "alarmingly high" proportion of all gold bought originates from
"hacked" accounts. The article also stated that customers who had paid for character leveling
services had found their accounts compromised months later, with all items stripped and sold for
virtual gold. The article noted that leveling service companies often used "disruptive hacks ...
which can cause realm performance and stability issues".[146] In April 2015, introduced a means to
sell in-game gold for real money. A player may spend $20 on a one-month "game time token"
that can be sold for in-game gold on the auction house.[37]
In December 2015, Blizzard sold an in-game battle pet named Brightpaw for $10 with all
proceeds going to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.[147] This resulted in a new Blizzard record
donation of over $1.7 million to Make-A-Wish.[148] In December 2016, Blizzard again sold a battle
pet named Mischief for $10; it helped raise more than $2.5 million for Make-A-Wish.[149] In
September 2017, Blizzard sold a battle pet named Shadow the fox for $10, with proceeds going
to the Red Cross to help with disaster relief.[150]

Corrupted Blood plague incident

Main article: Corrupted Blood incident
The Corrupted Blood plague incident was one of the first events to affect entire servers. Patch
1.7 saw the opening of Zul'Gurub, the game's first 20-player raid dungeon where players faced
off against a tribe of trolls. Upon engaging the final boss, players were stricken by a debuff called
"Corrupted Blood" which would periodically sap their life. The disease was passed on to other
players simply by being near infected players. Originally this malady was confined within the
Zul'Gurub instance, but it made its way into the outside world by way of hunter pets or warlock
minions that contracted the disease.
Within hours, Corrupted Blood had completely infected major cities because of their high player
concentrations. Low-level players were killed in seconds by the high-damage disease.
Eventually, Blizzard fixed the issue so that the plague could not exist outside of Zul'Gurub.
The Corrupted Blood plague so closely resembled the outbreak of real-world epidemics that
scientists are currently looking at the ways MMORPGs or other massively distributed systems
can model human behavior during outbreaks. The reaction of players to the plague closely
resembled previously hard-to-model aspects of human behavior that may allow researchers to
more accurately predict how diseases and outbreaks spread amongst a population.[151]