WoW? What’s WoW?

On Tuesday, I showed you the top “also played” games for WoW players. On Thursday, I contrasted that with the top games for Guild Wars players. Today, I want to show you the list of favorite games for people who have never even TRIED World of Warcraft.

Here’s the thing about MMOs – they take insane amounts of time. I don’t say this like it’s a bad thing. Most people give up watching TV to make time for MMOs, and as far as I’m concerned, any activity that is active versus passive is a superior experience. Gaming is active, at least as far as your brain is concerned.

And despite the fantastic numbers that WoW has racked up, and everyone likes to say how mainstream WoW is, the real truth is that people who have never touched WoW and never will make up a far larger group. Let’s see what they play:

Well… they play the free games that come with Microsoft Office. No, really, five of the top ten games actually played by GamerDNA members who have never touched a drop of WoW are free with every modern PC. Solitaire and Minesweeper appear in every top ten list, but among non-WoW players, there is apparently more time and energy for a fast, free, “can I beat my high score/extend my winning streak” play session.

Not counting the freebies, though, what are we looking at?

Battlefield 2 – 21%
Counter-Strike – 20.5%
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Multiplayer – 19.5%
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Single Player – 17%
Team Fortress 2 – 14%
America’s Army: Special Forces – 14%

The first surprise for me was that Counterstrike did not “win,” as it did among MMO players of WoW and GW. It was close, but Battlefield 2 edged out Counterstrike. Call of Duty 4, both multiplayer and single player, appeared next as you can see, but by a single percentage point. Team Fortress 2 and America’s Army were tied for the next place on the list.

Based on this week’s number crunching, I’ve got two questions – where is the breakout shooter MMO? There’s a huge population of people playing games with missions, multiplayer action, high powered gaming rigs. Second, where is the high-gloss, non-recruiting-oriented military MMO, where you don’t so much “level up” as earn medals and get promoted by the game and/or peers with whom you serve? The magic bullet that can take these games to the next level is the feeling of belonging, of being part of a greater whole… without the elves.