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One thing I’ve noticed in particular about World of Warcraft is the sense that the world is going to be rich in history. Most games out there don’t have the boon that WoW has with its deep background, maybe with the exception of Ultima Online, because those worlds were built from the ground up. WoW already has all the history from Warcraft I, II, & III, not to mention the defunct Warcraft Adventures (*sigh*). This will give us places we can identify with, like Stormwind Keep, the World Tree, and Northshire Abbey.

Now the problem comes, the hurdle that Blizzard must clear, and the mountain that all the previous companies have failed to top. What is the problem? Companies have failed time and time again to make us feel like we are really in the world, that the world we are playing in is as real as the world we all work and live in. They need to make us feel in awe when we see places like the ones listed above, to make us feel a sense of adventure. I felt no awe staring at the Lycaeum in UO, I felt no sense of adventure in Unrest in EverQuest, and I sure as hell didn’t feel like I was exploring something wild in Asheron’s Call. This is a major problem with all the current MMORPGs and all the prospective MMORPGs coming out soon.

When I go down into a dungeon, I don’t want to be able to see all the way to the end of the hall. I only want to be able to see six feet in front of my face, and that’s because my shield hand is now carrying a torch. I want to get a chill like I did with the original Doom. You know which one I am talking about, the one where you were in a pitch black room and you could just hear the imps breathing. Turn the lights off in your room and you had a bonafide thrill ride, creepy noises and all.

Take that chill and turn it into something that would scare us in a MMORPG. Let’s go back to the part of only being able to see six feet in front of our faces with a torch. Add the breathing and subtle heart beat of a dragon to the sounds that surround us. If possible, give it an echo effect that travels down the dungeon hall. Now the man next to us starts chattering about how the last person he heard that came down here got swallowed whole, all valuables were lost. Maybe they are now in the belly of the dragon? Now I am starting to get that thrill. Do I want to turn back and save my precious weapons and armor? Or, do I want to forge ahead for riches and glory?

Some of you, you know who you are you cowards, would turn back, not wishing to risk the nice armor or weapon(s) you had accumulated over time. Most of us would choose to forge ahead with the money signs lighting up in our eyes like a Vegas slot machine.

Of course our journey is stopped suddenly; our forward scout didn’t see the trap. Leaning over the edge, we can see his body at the bottom on spikes. He’s gone to the ether world, and his body is splattered at the bottom of a cavern, all valuables lost. Looking ahead, we see three bridges, but two are imaginary. Looking to the left, we read the riddle which he failed to solve, but we get it right and pick the correct bridge.

Now we are getting not just that chill, but also the sense of adventure that we get from watching Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

Of course, the group of adventurers finally makes it to the dragon’s lair. The cavern walls disappear and are replaced by a huge darkness that surrounds the little light from our torches. Then we see the glittering of gold, silver, and rubies. We feel a great sense of excitement, we are rich!

Then of course the area becomes a lot brighter as an explosion of flame erupts behind us. We only feel our pants become heavier for a split second. That split second before the dragon gobbles us up.

Sure, we died, and we also lost our armor and weapons, but we also learned it was going to take more like a hundred people rather than the four people we took to take on that dragon. Yet we had a lot of fun adventuring through the halls, killing the smaller monsters, figuring out the traps.

Give me an experience like that, and I will be willing to lose a lifetime’s worth of armor and weapons just so I can have some freaking fun for once. Give me some adventure, make the world breathe!