School project requiring some questions answered.

1. I don't think so. In the new expansion, it is obvious that Blizzard has listened to their customers. Pre-BC, raids like MC were 40 man raids. In BC, raids went to 10 man or 25 man and they phased in heroics options and badge vendor items. In WotLK, they give guilds the choice on either 10 man or 25 man raids on the same content. One can only hope that they are listening. 2. Anonymity in the virtual gaming world allows people to act anyway they want. People act up because they can without fear of much retribution. Shy people have more courage when behind their avatar, etc. Just read general forums or trade channel in wow. Pathetic behavior.

1) Will Gaming companies be unwilling to reduce content of their games as it interferes with their business strategy of getting gamers to spend more time online? Why? Not all games are created equal. There is a big difference between a single person console game that has a defined end and can be paused, verses an endless online universe like WoW, Second Life, or Everquest (as examples). Online games like this offer the player endless escape through time consuming goals and social networking. I donaEU(tm)t believe companies that charge a monthly fee for their games will ever reduce the amount of content in their games because they do need the players to stay online for months on end in order to continue to make money. They are a business, after all and that is the goal of all businesses. Truthfully, if you look at the amount of actual new content being added to, letaEU(tm)s say WoTLK, it is very little. It is just that it requires a lot of TIME online to complete those next 10 levels (Meaning: it will take longer to raise levels 70-80 in WoW than it would to raise levels 1-10). That is no accident on behalf of Blizzard. If it took as long to raise the first 10 levels in WoW as it does to raise the last, people would have quit this game along time ago. The problem comes when gamers already feel they have invested time and energy into the game, then they feel compelled to spend more to achieve aEUoemax levelaEU and aEUoeendgameaEU - to WIN. Ultimately, Gamers wait to WIN and feel like they have mastered a game before moving onto the next. The only problem with these online games is that it is impossible to aEUoewinaEU because there is no defined end. So the player has two options, 1. keep playing and sinking more time into the game hoping to feel satisfied, or 2. quit in frustration and get off the hamster wheel. It would, of course, be in the companies best interest to attempt to keep their customers as happy as possible in order to keep them paying their monthly fee. While I am sure Blizzard, and other companies like it, change things around in the game based on feedback from their player base (changing the number of players needed for instances, making more solo content, etc), the basic mechanic of the game stays the same - aEUoemore time invested equals greater rewardaEU. It has less to do with skill and more to do with how much of your time you are willing to invest in the game. Even reducing the amount of time it takes to level from 1-60, and now from 60-70 -only to make 70-80 a grindfest - is serving the company because it gives players ample time to get sucked in. Also, in "Classic WoW", it took as much time to get 1-60 as in WoTLK to get 1-80. So, even though it LOOKS like they are giving the players a "deal", it really is the same old timesink, just with 20 more levels tacked on to your Avatar. 2) Are Gamers generally more comfortable playing games under the protection of anonymity? If yes, explain. The believe that at the heart of all games is to offer a form of escape to the player. Even when you are playing a single person game, you are getting wrapped up in the avatar you are playing and the story they are involved in. While a certain amount of escape is healthy, I do believe some online gamers can take it to an extreme. When you spend increasing amounts of time interfacing with a virtual world through an avatar, it is not hard to see why some people would develop an unhealthy relationship with their online identity. Who wouldnaEU(tm)t want to be a epic hero who is respected by his online community, rather then a socially awkward 15 year old with homework, chores, and parents to listen to? Anonymity is a big part of online gaming. LetaEU(tm)s face it - if you knew that the hot female Avatar hitting on you was just some 300 lbs. guy in is parentaEU(tm)s basement, you would not be flirting back. These games give people an outlet to behave anyway they desire with little consequence. That is half the appeal for many people - escape from their reality.