WoW Factor is Eliot Lefebvre’s column on an MMO you’ve probably never heard of: World of Warcraft. [Follow this column’s RSS feed]
wow factor
WoW Factor: Was the faction split ever good for World of Warcraft?
Before I had played World of Warcraft and back in the time when I allowed myself to speculate more freely on what games would...
WoW Factor: Is Dragonflight the last chance for World of Warcraft?
Human beings love narratives. We love stories too, but narratives are like the arch version of that. You don't need an elaborate story about...
WoW Factor: Updating our World of Warcraft expansion data set with the Dragonflight release date
Aw yeah, who likes math? I like math. I really like math, and you all know it, and you have to consistently sit there...
WoW Factor: Just be honest about what WoW Classic is now
So here's something funny to consider: No matter what happens, Blizzard has collectively backed itself into a corner with World of Warcraft expansions over...
WoW Factor: How much does World of Warcraft matter to Blizzard?
My initial plan this week was to write about whether or not World of Warcraft was successfully creating an echo chamber in which everyone...
WoW Factor: What makes World of Warcraft in particular appealing?
I've been covering MMOs professionally for about 13 years now. That's a long while. And it's kind of strange to me that I've been...
WoW Factor: When your MMO design is hooked on a feeling
To start this off, I want you to summon up a feeling. I want you think back to the first time you can remember...
WoW Factor: Why trying to draw back former MMO raiders doesn’t work
World of Warcraft has gone harder on its raiding focus in recent years in a lot of ways, starting with Warlords of Draenor and...
WoW Factor: Optimal choices in MMO talent trees don’t justify removing them
So there's this funny persistent thing that goes around when it comes to talent trees in World of Warcraft. A certain coalition of players...
WoW Factor: The problem with borrowed power was never new systems
There's a bit of cognitive disconnect that I notice is still tripping up some particular fans of World of Warcraft even at this point....
WoW Factor: Dragonflight, Wrath Classic, and trying to stop the bleeding
So if you somehow missed it, Activision-Blizzard posted its most recent earnings report this week. It was not good for the company as a...
WoW Factor: How Blizzard squandered the potential and desire for WoW Classic
With the upcoming release of Wrath of the Lich King Classic, I think it's now completely fair to say that World of Warcraft took...
WoW Factor: So what’s the actual prediction on Dragonflight’s quality?
I was briefly considering doing another math column now that we actually have a date when World of Warcraft: Dragonflight started alpha testing, but......
WoW Factor: Dragonflight’s talent trees don’t feel like a speedrun slam dunk
So we've seen some of the talent trees being unveiled for World of Warcraft: Dragonflight at this point. Five of the 12 extant classes...
WoW Factor: Looking at Dragonflight’s release schedule with math
It's been a really long time since we've gotten to have some math up ins. You know by this point that I really like...
WoW Factor: All right, so we’re going to speedrun to Dragonflight after all
Well all right, then. This was unexpected. I honestly did not expect that Blizzard's need for content would overwhelm basic needs of testing and...
WoW Factor: How greater-scope villains harm World of Warcraft’s storytelling
Sargeras was really trying to stop the Void Lords. The Jailer was really fighting against some anonymous bigger enemy. Sylvanas was really trying to...
WoW Factor: The shrinking landmass of World of Warcraft’s ‘Azeroth’
Last week in this column, I told y'all a bit of a bluff.
Well, all right, that's not true. Last week's column was about what...
WoW Factor: What was the point of Shadowlands?
Do I have another column or two in me about World of Warcraft: Dragonflight? I mean, probably, even though we clearly have a long,...
WoW Factor: So let’s talk about World of Warcraft’s Evoker
I should have more of an opinion about Evokers than I actually do.
Maybe that's an overreaction at this point; the newest hero class being...
