End Game

This is, perhaps, the answer to a question that I've been asking since somewhere around 2003. More specifically, the question I asked so long ago was “Why aren't more games like Morrowind?” I was very much into that game back then—and why not? It was perhaps the first time a console gamer had ever had access to that level of immersion, and most were enjoying it. Now, that influence is starting to be felt in earnest, and is even showing up in Dragon Age: Inquisition.

While Morrowind was a big seller, so too were its descendants.

It may be hard to believe, but this year marks the 10th anniversary of “World of Warcraft,” a game that's been reviled and beloved—sometimes even in the same breath—pretty much since it got started. It would be easy to look at a game that's been in play for, roughly, three console generations (the original Xbox wasn't discontinued until 2008, after all) and say that its days are numbered. But new reports suggest that this grand dame of the MMO has a lot of room to run.

Word came from “World of Warcraft”s lead designer, Ion Hazzikostas, in an interview with CNET that, while he didn't know just what form it would take exactly, there “...definitely is going to be...” a 20th anniversary for “World of Warcraft”. Indeed, Activision-Blizzard is reportedly planning ahead through at least the next two major expansions to the game, though it's more of a “big picture storyline” matter right now than anything else.