What do Guitar Hero and World Of Warcraft have in common?
So... somebody finally convinced me to give Guitar Hero a try. And while I have to admit it is kind of fun, I've also realized what it is about that game that has always bothered me.
I guess fundamentally it comes down to one thing - there is absolutely no strategy involved. Essentially it is a competition of muscle memory, not wits: you cannot do any better by playing smarter. The only way to become better at it, is to invest more time into it. Remind you of any other game that has been in the news a lot lately? In World of Warcraft, to get to level 70 and get your epic flying mount (or whatever, I don't really know anything about it), you need to invest countless hours of grunt work (or pay real money for a buffed character on ebay). And until you both hit the level cap, somebody who is willing to sink more time into the game is always going to be better than you.
I realize WoW does have some strategic elements (raids, etc), and that is what a lot of people like. But there are games that allow you to enjoy this aspect without investing your life into leveling. For example, from what I hear, in Guild Wars, you can hit the maximum level in a single day of doing stupid quests, and you can concentrate on the fun parts of the game thereafter. Or my personal favorite, DotA, shares a lot of the battle mechanics, and thus strategy, with WoW (except it's not first person, and you are fighting real people and not computers), while having a very definite game lifespan (about an hour).
I guess the following quotation comes to mind when thinking of those kinds of games Never argue with an idiot, he'll drag you down to his level and beat you on experience., and hence you will not find me playing any of them.