[WAR]State of the Game - November 2007

[Azrayne]

Originally Posted by I'm Rich Bitch

They just needed more time to reverse engineer the WoW codebase for WAR. They had to add the Blood Elves and Draenei.

Say what you want but WAR is nothing more than a very expensive WoW clone.

Not much more so than WoW is a mix up of different features from MMO's before it. And fuck, how many games can you name that aren't trying to be like WoW these days

At their core, most games in this genre are very, very similar. The similarity is more pronounced here because WoW has struck gold on a lot of it's features. Should WAR choose to intentionally make their game worse just to differentiate it? If Blizzard have got something down pat, then why fuck it up for your own game just to try prove some ridiculous point.

But I don't give damn tbh. If they can take WoW and reverse the PvE/PvP ratio at level, cap, make it a tad more casual friendly (given that these guys did DAoC, I'm not worried there) and maybe throw in a few cool new things of their own, then that's all most people who are waiting for this game want. They could use the same fucking engine and world setting for all I care, I just want a good pvp game.

Yes, it's like WoW. No more so than any other post-WoW MMO though, and even then it's not necessarily a bad thing.

Too much wasted development. Spend more time on content, less time on making the same content for 3 different rulesets.

But different rulesets can make or break a game for many people. And in this particular case the difference between rulesets is extremely minimal. We're not talking the EQ PvE v. PvP servers, it's still pretty much the same core game, just a slight difference in the flagging system. The difference will be even less pronounced than that in WoW.

[Roxy]

Originally Posted by I'm Rich Bitch

They just needed more time to reverse engineer the WoW codebase for WAR. They had to add the Blood Elves and Draenei.

Say what you want but WAR is nothing more than a very expensive WoW clone.

I dont know about anyone else but I am getting pretty tired of the WoW bashing. Its a great game and if WAR is as much fun as WoW than I will certainly pick it up.

[Bongk]

Originally Posted by Roxy

I dont know about anyone else but I am getting pretty tired of the WoW bashing. Its a great game and if WAR is as much fun as WoW than I will certainly pick it up.

reading comprehesion for the win ... he bashed WAR not WoW.

[Rhaze]

WoW = the downfall of the MMO player base.


Also last time I checked warcraft ripped straight from warhammer, FYI.

[Gecko]

I wish there was actual real information.

"We aren't done yet. We want to make it more better", hardly seems a good basis for a newsletter to me.

[goatface]

I wish WaR was trying to distance itself from WoW

WaR shouldn't be aiming T rating, there should be blood and body parts flying around.

I am still waiting for WoW to announce a total pvp revamp of cities and turn them into sieges and stuff

[Vatoreus]

Originally Posted by Rhaze

WoW = the downfall of the MMO player base.


Also last time I checked warcraft ripped straight from warhammer, FYI.

this post is full of truth.

[spentmotiff]

Originally Posted by Rhaze

WoW = the downfall of the MMO player base.

Yes, instead of opening the concept of MMO to the masses, let's keep it in the "niche" category. That will further the development of different MMOs for sure!

[Rhaze]

Originally Posted by spentmotiff

Yes, instead of opening the concept of MMO to the masses, let's keep it in the "niche" category. That will further the development of different MMOs for sure!

Sweet, since WoW name me some successful mmo's that have been launched.
Since they are mainstream now, obviously that has made mmo's better, amiright.

Not to mention the average IQ of a wow player is about 50.

[Vatoreus]

Originally Posted by spentmotiff

Yes, instead of opening the concept of MMO to the masses, let's keep it in the "niche" category. That will further the development of different MMOs for sure!

uh...where are the revolutionary MMOs at?

[spentmotiff]

Originally Posted by Rhaze

Sweet, since WoW name me some successful mmo's that have been launched.
Since they are mainstream now, obviously that has made mmo's better, amiright.

Not to mention the average IQ of a wow player is about 50.

You're looking at it all wrong. Look at it this way:

How many MMOs are in development now vs. how many were in development before WoW became such a runaway hit? The number has easily doubled.

Once companies realized they could make a shit ton of money in MMOs, a la WoW, they were more than happy to finance various MMO projects.

EQ opened the door and let companies know that they could profit making MMOs...WoW showed you could make Scrooge McDuck like money making MMOs. The more MMOs are released, the better the chance that one will be exactly the game I am looking for. And that is never a bad thing.

[Man0warr]

Also last time I checked warcraft ripped straight from warhammer, FYI.

Games workshop commissioned Silicone and Synapse (Blizzard's old name) to create the first Warhammer game. They pulled out near the end so Blizzard finished it up, changed some lore and names, and released it as Warcraft: Orcs and Humans. The rest is history, so I guess you are partially correct, but Blizzard didn't really want to lose all that money from developing a game and not releasing it.

[Moontayle]

Originally Posted by Rhaze

Sweet, since WoW name me some successful mmo's that have been launched.
Since they are mainstream now, obviously that has made mmo's better, amiright.

Not to mention the average IQ of a wow player is about 50.

He's got a point here. I think the most successful (as in, still going and has a decent amount of subscriptions) MMO released since WoW dropped in 2004, is DDO. Other games have more subs than DDO, but they all came out before WoW. Not sure how Tabula Rasa will shape up in 6 months though.

WoW has essentially stonewalled the MMO genre. It's such a high bar to hit that many people don't even try. Lately, those who do try are left wanting. It's biggest contribution to the genre is that it has forced games that were already released to step back and start doing things differently. EQ2 has learned its lessons well and they now have a very good product. Brad and his crew didn't learn a god-damned thing and look at where they are now.

So I have to hand it to Mythic for at least attempting to do the right thing. How well that translates will have to wait until Q2 2008 for us to find out.

[Gaereth]

Tons more MMO's are being produced now and the level of fun and polished needed to be successful is huge....mostly do to the sophistication and expectations of people that have played WOW. EQ would fail miserably if it was released today because expectations are much higher.

WOW raised the bar and so far very few companies have reached said bar. People try them then wander back to WOW or bounce around in partially fun games until something new comes out for them to try.

If a niche game came out that was good...it would do well. The problem isn't WOW, its that the other games have sucked. I like the crazy limeys quote about WOW...its something along the lines of if you copy it then you are guaranteed to fail because you don't really know what part made it successful. You can take ideas from WOW but you have to make them your own and make them fun.

And...of course WAR is gonna look like WOW. WOW ripped off the look of WAR about 20-30 years ago.

[Twobit Whore]

Originally Posted by Moontayle

He's got a point here. I think the most successful (as in, still going and has a decent amount of subscriptions) MMO released since WoW dropped in 2004, is DDO. Other games have more subs than DDO, but they all came out before WoW.

LotRO disagrees.