I guess the biggest difference is play styles. Me and a couple of my buddies love a game that knocks ya down and kicks dirt in your face. We like a challenge. Everything is so much more rewarding. It's hard even getting a group, let alone one in a good place with a drop you might need. But when u get an awesome group you never want to leave.
With WoW it had so many things to aid the casual guy. The auto dungeon finder, the ability to log in with a few minutes to spare and still get something accomplished. Which is the cats meow for casual players. But not everybody likes that.
So I guess I am in the minority. I played WoW to max level early on when the game initially released. I raided a bit and then quit. I went back a couple times starting new characters but it just didn't grab me.
But yes WoW has done many many nice things for the MMO industry. It got a ton of people involved that never would be that's for sure. I think that is more Blizzards marketing scheme then the game though. Not many MMO's are out there and in your face like Blizzards. You go to wal mart there is boxes after boxes, all kinds of gameplay cards so even a kid can play it. They did a great job of making sure their product was in the publics eye. Something a lot of MMO companies don't do. They just offer downloads.
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