World of Warcraft Q&A

Empire Online has posted a short Q&A with Blizzard's Itzik Ben Bassat about the massive success of World of Warcraft and its new expansion pack.
Q: Role-playing games have never been as mainstream as traditional cross-over game titles that have given us Sonic and Mario, how did World of Warcraft end up making the transition from game to cultural event?

A: You know, when we started out, all we wanted to do was create a great game. We knew World of Warcraft was good but I don’t think we ever understood the magnitude of what we had on our hands though. I think the key is accessibility. It’s easy to play but difficult to master, so it’s got longevity but anyone can pick it up. Whether you’ve never played an MMORPG (massively multiplayer online roleplaying game) before or even if you’ve never played a game before, it’s very accessible and very easy to get into. Also it’s fantasy-based, which has a huge appeal. Fantasy is timeless and also genreless in some respects. Two years on and we now have a card game, a clothing line, huge online forums and even an Episode of South Park.