Guys... C'mon. Really? I mean... Really?

[silverkun]

As though World of Warcraft wasn't enough of a timesink...

They put Bejeweled into WoW.

No joke.

You know, in my day, we'd use the flight time to go to the bathroom. Or start some tea. Or feed ourselves.

Now this?

*facepalms*

-R

Comments

[zhaneel69]

Oh my goodness. I laugh and weep at the same time.

Zhaneel

[dracowayfarer]

So freakin' glad I quit that game.

[stormdragon]

Apparently, I quit (again) at the right time. Seriously, this alone should point out the massive flaw in the game's flight system.

I'll bet that the Star Trek MMO is going to have the same kind of time sink b.s. MMO designers need to get their head out of their asses already and realize that certain design ideas should simply be taken out into the shed in the back, and shot dead. Then dumped in a container of acid and buried.

[dracowayfarer]

...flaw in the game's flight system.

Which falls right next to the HOURS you spend just walking from place to place, especially at lower levels.

[moondancerxyn]

"the massive flaw in the game's flight system"

I'm amused by this notion, actually.. Consider that the creators SOLE purpose in creating this game was to earn them money. To that end, they require you to "spend time in their game". You pay for the amount of time you spend in the game, so of COURSE they are going to drag it out as much as they possibly can...

Near as I can tell, they were brilliant.. There are billions of people giving them money every month.

[stormdragon]

That only applies if the player was paying by the minute or some smaller time increment than a monthly sub. As it stands, time sinks such as the flight paths are just a waste of everyone's time.

Also, your idea of great game design belongs to that of a business mindset. It however, is not player friendly. One can create other incentives to keep players paying, without wasting their time, and in that regards, the flightpaths and other time sinks are horrible game designs. Hardly brilliant.

What is brilliant, is their marketing, as well as low level game play and larger design philosphy. By making the game compatible with as many PC specs as possible, and providing an easy to use GUI and simple core gameplay mechanics, Blizzard has created a game that appeals and is accessible to a large number of people. That's why they're making millions every month.

That however, does not excuse nor make bad game design mechanics, good.