> That certainly explains some of their server problems and perhaps the delay in implementing new content, but it doesn't exactly excuse the state they shipped the game in. Without the honor system and Battlegrounds, the PvP component of the game is woefully unfinished. That the manual talks about both of them is a strong indication that PvP was balanced around them, and for the last several months we've been playing an incomplete game.

Oh, yeah. That the game shipped incomplete is obnoxious, but, unfortunately, it's industry-standard these days. Almost NO PC games ship these days in complete form, since, hell, they can always just make you download the patches off the internet. And WOW is a lot more complete than the old generation of MMO games - remember how WWII Online shipped without vehicles, without ranks, without persistence - without ANYTHING, really, other than a few guns and some big flat maps? Or how Anarchy Online shipped not even PLAYABLE? Yeah. Good times.

> What's interesting to ponder is that, even though it's been incomplete, WoW is still a heck of a lot better than many games. What this says about Blizzard and the industry is interesting.

Yeah, WOW is good stuff. Fixes a LOT of problems I've had with the MMORPG format. I'm not sure, though, what it really says about Blizzard and the industry except that most games are crap, and there are some developers you can count on for consistent quality. Which is not, I must suggest, news. ;-}