How do you capture the grandeur of a living, breathing world with just a handful of meager words? World of Warcraft might not be the newest MMO around, but with its latest acclaimed expansion, it retains its crown, stealing hours upon hours of our precious time. Just how big is WoW? We’ll get out of the way and let the numbers do the talking.
11,000,000 - WoW subscribers
11,215,000 - Population of Greece
$200,000,000 - Blizzard’s total cost of running WoW since 2004
$75,000 - 1st place in WoW arena tournament
$46,326 - Average household income (2005)
30% - Reduction in XP needed to level since last expansion
11 – WoW celebrity TV commercials
Currency Calculator - 1,000 WoW gold : 18 US Dollars : 30 Snickers bars
May 20, 2008 - Massive banning of botters: 56,000 unofficially reported banned
Cheese varieties - 400 in real life, 11 in WoW
7954 quests
627 Swords
“Most dangerous NPC” - Loken - Kills 128,688 players each day
GOOGLE search results (millions)
2.5 Everquest 2
3.1 City of Heroes
6.8 Eve Online
8.6 Lineage II
9.5 Lord of the Rings Online
9.5 Age of Conan
12.2 Warhammer Online
13.0 Guild Wars
65.3 All previous combined
65.7 World of Warcraft
131 achievements
1,944 – Copies sold every minute on Wrath of the Lich King launch day
Best RPG - Fallout 3
More than any other role-playing game this year, Fallout 3 truly embraces its genre thanks to its robust character creation system. And because you stop earning XP and perks at level 20, no one character can be a jack of all trades, encouraging you to create a wide variety of distinct character types and give them unique experiences. Here are a few of the vastly different personalities that our very own Dan played as:
Dude
A cliche, charismatic, and intelligent do-gooder, Dude wandered the wastes trying to solve problems with words, not weapons, and was also adept at averting danger by hacking into computer systems to disable security systems and locks. Those who weren’t interested in negotiating were incinerated with laser beams to the face (which Dan had tuned to maximum power with his top-of-his-class repair skill).
Daphne
A certifiable psychopath, Daphne never missed an opportunity to sneak up and kill something. She preferred to beat people to death with her lightning-fast fists (or to kill them in their sleep with the Sandman perk), but when her arms weren’t long enough to reach her victim, she’d huck a grenade or seven. She left a trail of beaten, bloodied, and pillaged bodies all the way from the smoldering crater that was once Megaton to Tenpenny Tower and Rivet City, but her lifelong dream was to kill a mighty Deathclaw with her bare hands.
Oblivia
Like Lenny in Of Mice and Men, Oblivia was simple-minded but possessed epic strength. She tried to do the right thing, but lacked the brainpower to find non-violent solutions to everyday problems. Sometimes, however, her rapport with children helped her find a way to resolve quests. Her strength allowed her to wield a heavy minigun and slash at enemies with her home-built “shishkebab” flame sword when they got too close. She eventually found her calling hunting down evil-doers and collecting their ears for the Regulators’ bounty.
