Playability Impact – An Updating Strategy Analysis of World of Warcraft

• Main Authors: Yi-cheng Tseng, 曾怡誠
• Other Authors: Kuo-Kuang Fan
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2011
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/80627130674902367603

碩士 === 國立雲林科技大學 === 設計運算研究所碩士班 === 99 === ABSTRACT The history of online game has been developing for years and the market of online games is still booming. Due to the specialties and competition, online game service providers often apply “version update” to intensify the content of the game and maintain players’ zeal. We also observe an interesting fact that there are few long-lasting games in this market. Thus, the existence of World of Warcraft (WOW) is an interesting case: WOW is an online game started in 2004 and operates till now. Besides the massive monetary input, the support of players also plays an important role in the continuation of this online game. However, after the latest version update “Cataclysm,” the number of players has dropped within 6 months. We would like to investigate the response of players and if the strategy has reached its limit. This research conducts a semi-interview approach to this problem and obtains interview outlines from literature. By interviewing WOW players with more than two years gaming experience, we obtain opinions toward version update, WOW, and the service provider. We would like to conclude our research by analyzing the effect of version update on playability and the factors of extending playability in the view of player demand.