Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
World of Warcraft: WoW Clone Syndrome
Stradden
Managing EditorMember CommonPosts: 6,696
AJ Glasser tackles the popular idea of "WoW clone" MMORPGs, and examines the impact and validity of that idea on a pair of high-profile games.
In a recent article from 1up.com, EVE Online CEO Hilmar Petursson asked why so many Massively Multi-player Online Games copy World of Warcraft - as if developers do it on purpose.
"...World of Warcraft is the perfect implementation of this [genre]," says Petursson, referring specifically to fantasy MMORPGs. "It's been done. Do something else."
Petursson's game, EVE Online, has the luxury of being unique among MMOs; it's science fiction and it is entirely dependent on social interactions in gameplay, EVE Online has catered to a specific (and loyal) niche of MMO gamers that generally has no cause to compare it to WoW. Other games, particularly ones in the fantasy genre, don't fare so well. The stigma of WoW clone syndrome can cripple an MMO in the early release days, driving away players who either, 1) Don't want to see the same old thing or 2) are completely loyal to WoW on grounds that it's the best of the best.
Take, for example, Vanguard: Saga of Heroes. Whatever you feel about the game, Vanguard brings originality to the fantasy MMO genre with gameplay features like Diplomacy and a robust crafting system that caters to the unique skill sets of the crafter. The game is also designed to be a follow-up to the original EverQuest (as opposed to EverQuest II) and therefore specifically, and by definition, not copying WoW. Even so, Vanguard was dubbed a WoW clone - and a lousy one, at that.
Read the whole article here.
Cheers,
Jon Wood
Managing Editor
MMORPG.com
Comments
I am so sick of people referring to MMO's as "WoW clones". WoW is based on Warcraft, and if anything borrows concepts from other games to cross the Warcraft series into the MMO scene. The only thing that could be considered a WoW clone, would be if someone were to develop an MMO version of Command & Conquer, and even that wouldn't really be a clone.
There are no WoW clones.
- - - -
Support Independent Game Developers
It has nothing to do with clones, and everything with the changed communities on the Internet.
Every released game suffers from the "When game X is released this game is going to die" comments. Some games even get bashed before they even released a beta.
Blizzard has increased the MMO market and with it the ammount of people with an opinion. Problem is, players keep on bashing games they never played or quit playing. Just look at this site or Silky Venom, 95% is about bashing (which is really sad). And THATS the problem not the 'wow clone' syndrome!
Warhammer online, Age of conan, Pirates of the burning sea are all going to stink.
The next gen MMO is Darkfall Online. Get a peek at it.
Warning though, it is not for the faint of heart, or people you like shiny things.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Will any game ever equal the rampant pking fun of the good ole' dreadlord days of UO 98?
QFT!
Exactly! It's not the "WoW clone" problem... it's the people in the community who bash any game they don't like.. regardless if they play it or not. The excuse is always the same... "WoW clone". Even when the game doesn't even remotely resemble WoW, it's still compared to it.
The community is the problem.. not the genre.
_________________________________
JonMichael
Currently: AION, an MMO Beta under NDA
Played: WAR, LOTRO, Hellgate: London, CoX, GW, SotNW, DAOC, EQ2, SWG, WoW, AO, Horizons, Second Life, There, TSO
Beta'd: There, Second Life, EQ2, DAOC:LotM, LOTRO, Tabula Rasa, Gods and Heroes, Hellgate: London, Requiem:Bloodymare, AoC, WAR, DDO, Fallen Earth
First, if a game becomes a WoW because it has elves, dwarves and orcs then if you would grab EVE and replace every ship with a character and every space region with hills and deserts you could call it a WoW clone and nothing could be further from the truth. EVE would still be EVE if it was fantasy. It's the "sandbox" mechanics that make it special.
Secondly, tabula (a shooter!), pirates, conan and others like spellborn are all games that apparently will aim to make skill (as in combat twitch/tactical skill) much more central to the gameplay (in some cases through PvP or RvR) and if in the end they have quests and character leveling that still wont make them feel anything like WoW but potentially much more like action games. Planetside for example has character leveling but it had nothing to do with WoW.
This is nothing more than the usual Eve Online eliitist speak. Nice try Mr Petursson but to take the highest subscriber fantasy MMO and smugly say all the rest are WoW clones because you offer a space game is a self serving joke. I'm sure you'd love to raise your arm of victory beside Blizzard by saying there's only two games of real choice out there WoW and yours but sorry my friend, your game will never even compare to WoW's shadow. But nice try at trying to bask in some of WoW's glory though.
Signed, a very happy EQ2 player. And proud that both games are from the good ole U.S.A!
People who complain about games being called wow-clones are themselves wow-clones.
thats clone-on-clone action, its not for family viewing...
So really a better article would had been, “[INSERT GAME NAME] Communities”
The cartoony look of WoW is closer to be signature to them however... they did borrow heavilly on the Warhammer franchise...
The gameplay for WoW is just typical of MMOs that came before it...
I think that people that go around calling other games "WoW in space" or "WoW on boats" or whatever simply haven't played many MMOs. Simplistic statements are a reflection of simplistic views and minds.
The only reason WoW is used as the game, is because it is the most popular or widely played(at least by people in the US). WoW is just a clone itself, which someone already said. WoW is pretty much just EQ 1 with better combat and more casual friendly. I usually use EQ as a reference, because it was the first, first person 3d based MMOG.
It will always be this way, just WoW happens to be the most popular right now. Some day it might be "Tarred and Feathered Clone", if that were ever to become a game.
BTW, no you can't steal my game name fools!!!
_________________________________________
You can walk the walk but can you talk the talk?
take any mmorpg compare it to wow and atleast 70% are the same 30% go to grahpics some details in combat mechanics
and other details that keep the games from being assaulted in court
i think, its reasonable to blame most mmorpgs to be wow clones couse of the major lack of
diversity
look at the fps gerne -noone is bitching about hal life clones and why?
its basically always the same runnning arround killing whatever and solving
by the way some smaller puzzle and still noone speaks about half life clones
fps have a lot more settings and graphic styles than we have in mmos
(mmorpgs ~ 80% fantasy whith orcs,elves & dwars ...very exciting)
same is found regarding storys
good chunk of mmos have not even something that could be called a story
Pi*1337/100 = 42
I'm guessing on November 23, 2004 the MMORPG market started and all games before that date never existed.
And to the guy that said WAR, AOC and POTBS are going to sink and DF will be the next big thing... LAWL I can't laugh hard enough.
Oh hell!! I can't see, the vapor in my eyes are blinding me!
Comments like "given that all the pre-release stuff we've seen looks a lot like the graphical style of WoW" in reference to WAR are getting annoying. Warcraft is a massive Warhammer off and they owe all of their style to Games Workshop, and despite this being said over and over again we still see comments like the one above. What do you want Warhammer to look like? Pacman?
Games Workshop, a company that took Tolkien lore (and some others) and made something very unique and their own. Blizzard, a company that took Games Workshop lore and ripped off Dune 3 game play and it's really not changed much since.
As good as it was for me up to level 40, I really do think WoW has killed MMORPGs, in more ways than one.
WOW is just the latest iteration of where the current version of MMO's were going. From UO to EQ the next flip would be a more streamlined version of the 2 games. What WOW does good is bring the masses to the MMO world.
Unfortunately in doing so it dumb's down the game into a spponfed romp through the virtual countryside.
While this is appealing to the masses it runs rather boring to most veterans of the MMO worlds.
The biggest complaint about making things harder and having to solve puzzles and such is the spoiler sites that inevitably pop up once a game is in production. While there are those who complain about this and make it seem that this is a bad thing. It is still something that you have to go out and search for and do research on. IMO spoiler sites are just an optional thing to the game.
I feel that the whole make it easier and they will come will only go so far. Once the initial oo and aaaa is overwith you are left with a watered down game that has no personality and a community that only does spot groups to keep from having to fight over camps.
At least with the spoiler sites you have the option of not using them and playing a game that is more challenging. As opposed to a game that is just on rails.
Say hello, To the things you've left behind. They are more a part of your life now that you can't touch them.
Total time played: 9125 Days, 21 Hours, 29 Minutes, 27 Seconds
Time played this level: 39 Days, 1 Hour, 24 Minutes, 5 Seconds
Warhammer Online - There is a huge fan base and a lot of anticipation; but given that all the pre-release
stuff we've seen looks a lot like the graphical style of WoW
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Have you even looked at any Videos or Screen Shoots? How can you say the graphical styles is like WOW,
because they are in the same genre? Because that is what other people have said? Ork of Warhammer does
not look like WOW Orcs. WAR Goblins don't look like WOW goblins. Here is a link that shows the graphical style
is completely different, seems that people need to get it right it the same genre but 2 different styles completely.
warhammerinfo.com/hatemail03-30-2007.shtmlUO-EQ1-SWG-DAOC-WOW-EQ2-WAR-GW2-RIFT
couse wow brought some changes that other people took over
saying a game is a wow clone is the same as saying the game follows the current mmorpg standard
thats why i think it makes more sense to call them wow clones than EQ clones or UO clones
Pi*1337/100 = 42