Originally posted by -=Ashas=- WoW was an overhyped MMORPG when it started, my guild fell for it and me too shortly before the start and even was one of the very first to non-beta on a server. Still it took only a month to realize that I didn't really enjoy the game. That stated true despite hearing and watching big parts of my guilds and other friends talking and playing the game. For a long time I stayed up-to-date in case I changed my mind.
Taking in mind what Kyleranalready said that most WoW clones didn't actually made their games better than the original, that is the reason why a WoW clone usually sounds bad to me. it''s not the kind of game I like.
Luckily, some months after the WoW release GW1 which I fully embraced and enjoyed came out.
Btw, the reason it consider(ed) WoW overhyped is that in my view it wasn't a game changer, just a more polished combination of ideas taken from the existing games. So I didn't like the fact the everyone treated WoW as an innovative product or even the first of its kind.
Well, it really was the first of it's kind. It was the first time a AAA MMORPG was made for the non-hardcore gamer. Even though vanilla would be considered hardcore by many people today, it was targeted squarely at the more casual gamer at the time. It opened up the genre and like the game or not it got players and developers interested in the genre and really opened the doors for the MMO industry to really grow.
As far as innovation goes, feature wise, I completely agree. Wow was never a particularly innovative game.
WoW wasn't made for the casual gamer. WoW changed when the xpacs started rolling in. Anyone who attempted/completed vanilla AQ40 and Naxx would know this. Not to mention the 4 world bosses where opposing top guilds would pvp and vie control for on the spot each week.
Those were the GOLDEN DAYS of WoW where the community was important, where teamwork and solidarity was the name of the game. Although the consistent routine on end game raiding ontop of the DKP system were dreadful at times, the fun and rewarding experience was thrice the work.
That passion for Vanilla WoW was misdirected in the form of distaste to all sub-par MMORPGs that followed in the shadow of WoW. Thus came the birth of the term "WoW Clone", where games with shitty encounters, toddler level difficulty and routine rounds in the game with zero rewarding experience. The term is definitely given in negative connotation to simplify how bad a specific game was to its glorious predecessor.
WoW released as a game in which casual players could participate. It was the answer to the hardcore EQ and DAoC. WoW's entire purpose was to appeal to casual players who couldn't do the hardcore time sink of the other released mmo's.
And they did - hence the millions who joined. Hardcore games attract maybe 500k people max. Casual games can attract multiple millions. This is what WoW did, it captured the casual audience.
The most you can say is that WoW used to be 'more' hardcore than now. But it has always been accessible to casual play and it was specifically designed as such.
WoW released as a game in which casual players could participate. It was the answer to the hardcore EQ and DAoC. WoW's entire purpose was to appeal to casual players who couldn't do the hardcore time sink of the other released mmo's.
And they did - hence the millions who joined. Hardcore games attract maybe 500k people max. Casual games can attract multiple millions. This is what WoW did, it captured the casual audience.
The most you can say is that WoW used to be 'more' hardcore than now. But it has always been accessible to casual play and it was specifically designed as such.
From that perspective, sure WoW's entire purpose was to appeal to casual players but the "magic" of it all was the hardcore end game raiding content that subsequently became child's play.
If I was a developer and wanted to clone WOW the first thing I would do is make most of the world seamless which 99% of the games dubbed WOW Clones do not.
WoW is simplistic; the story is on rails, and they are clearly visible so you don't get lost. Character development is 1-dimensional (at best!), and your role is entirely defined by your class.
UO and EQ were complex; less accessible, and so less popular, but more interesting.
The thing is, though, that everyone who just wants a simple mmo to chat with their friends while goofing around is already playing WoW, and they aren't leaving, so there really isn't any point in trying to clone it.
Witness Neverwinter; I was beside myself with excitement when it was announced; finally, a decent D&D MMO! But no, it's only relation to D&D are some of the names used. Otherwise, it is a perfect WoW clone. And it sucks. DDO is a much better D&D game, and that's not saying much. I haven't played much more than an hour of NW, and that includes trying out each class.
Contrast to ESO; open-ended, complex, and interesting. This is a game that is going places.
I'll say it like it's a bad thing because it is. When you inundate a market with titles that fail to differentiate strongly enough from another, then familiarity will win and an otherwise decent game concept will, more often than not, go under.
"The knowledge of the theory of logic has no tendency whatever to make men good reasoners." - Thomas B. Macaulay
"The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge." - Daniel J. Boorstin
Comments
Well, it really was the first of it's kind. It was the first time a AAA MMORPG was made for the non-hardcore gamer. Even though vanilla would be considered hardcore by many people today, it was targeted squarely at the more casual gamer at the time. It opened up the genre and like the game or not it got players and developers interested in the genre and really opened the doors for the MMO industry to really grow.
As far as innovation goes, feature wise, I completely agree. Wow was never a particularly innovative game.
WoW wasn't made for the casual gamer. WoW changed when the xpacs started rolling in. Anyone who attempted/completed vanilla AQ40 and Naxx would know this. Not to mention the 4 world bosses where opposing top guilds would pvp and vie control for on the spot each week.
Those were the GOLDEN DAYS of WoW where the community was important, where teamwork and solidarity was the name of the game. Although the consistent routine on end game raiding ontop of the DKP system were dreadful at times, the fun and rewarding experience was thrice the work.
That passion for Vanilla WoW was misdirected in the form of distaste to all sub-par MMORPGs that followed in the shadow of WoW. Thus came the birth of the term "WoW Clone", where games with shitty encounters, toddler level difficulty and routine rounds in the game with zero rewarding experience. The term is definitely given in negative connotation to simplify how bad a specific game was to its glorious predecessor.
Yes it was.
WoW released as a game in which casual players could participate. It was the answer to the hardcore EQ and DAoC. WoW's entire purpose was to appeal to casual players who couldn't do the hardcore time sink of the other released mmo's.
And they did - hence the millions who joined. Hardcore games attract maybe 500k people max. Casual games can attract multiple millions. This is what WoW did, it captured the casual audience.
The most you can say is that WoW used to be 'more' hardcore than now. But it has always been accessible to casual play and it was specifically designed as such.
From that perspective, sure WoW's entire purpose was to appeal to casual players but the "magic" of it all was the hardcore end game raiding content that subsequently became child's play.
WoW is simplistic; the story is on rails, and they are clearly visible so you don't get lost. Character development is 1-dimensional (at best!), and your role is entirely defined by your class.
UO and EQ were complex; less accessible, and so less popular, but more interesting.
The thing is, though, that everyone who just wants a simple mmo to chat with their friends while goofing around is already playing WoW, and they aren't leaving, so there really isn't any point in trying to clone it.
Witness Neverwinter; I was beside myself with excitement when it was announced; finally, a decent D&D MMO! But no, it's only relation to D&D are some of the names used. Otherwise, it is a perfect WoW clone. And it sucks. DDO is a much better D&D game, and that's not saying much. I haven't played much more than an hour of NW, and that includes trying out each class.
Contrast to ESO; open-ended, complex, and interesting. This is a game that is going places.
"The knowledge of the theory of logic has no tendency whatever to make men good reasoners." - Thomas B. Macaulay
"The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge." - Daniel J. Boorstin