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We hear this term all the time and people fight valiantly to defend their game like being called this is the worst thing in the world. To me defining the WoW clone relies on understanding how WoW changed the genre.
1. Quest based leveling. Quests existed before WoW but it was the first major title where you could spend 100% of your time leveling by doing quests.
2. Instanced group content. Again WoW was not the first game to use instancing but it was the first major title (The Realm doesn't count~) that put you almost exclusively in an instance for any group based content.
3. Easy solo mob with specifically designated harder mobs for groups. EQ, DAOC, AC etc all had different difficulty levels for solo mobs but WoW was the first to add the elite style mob for all group based mobs. Other games used that for a few bosses etc but in most games before WoW a mob in a dungeon was the same as one outside. This meant you could tool around in a dungeon solo or in a group of 2 etc. It was also the start of the no respawn style dungeon. What this did was dumb down the solo experience while also restricting dungeons to groups only, this is one of the worst changes in the genre that has really killed the dungeon experience imo.
4. Instanced PvP. Before WoW PvP was part of the open world even if it was in only restricted servers or restricted zones. WoW started pushing it off into its own box where it has no meaning to the greater world anymore.
Later WoW also added extremely linear quests so if you go that path you are a late WoW clone.
So if you have instance based PvP, quest based leveling, dungeon mobs that are harder than a normal mob and solo mobs that are a joke to kill, a fantasy based theme and you push groups into instances you are a WoW clone imo. You can mess with the character progression, the combat etc and that doesn't matter, you are still a clone in my personal book.
Comments
Look at WoW's: leveling (xp + gear), zones (static, only for questing/leveling), combat (tab target), shopping list questing, AI/NPC behaviour (dumb), instances (dungeons, raids, bg's), instanced end-game, pvp (arenas/bg's), crafting (shopping list jigsaw), generally simple.
If a game has mostly the same feature set, made with similar style, it pretty much is a WoW clone. If we look at TOR for example it's the same game with great questing (and different setting ofcourse). WAR was the same but with open world pvp objectives (hat off for that). AION is the same but with Asian style and clunky gameplay. Rift is the same but with rifts and poor background story/lore. TERA is the same but with different combat system and poor lore (hat off for different combat, sadly it's not enough alone).
Etc, changing the skin on a game is not nearly enough with one or two mechanics being different (or barely different usually).
In WoW's present state, I equate most MMOs to being very similar, though I would not call them clones. There are plenty of differences, too. Non are "exact copies" which is what a "clone" is.
Generally speaking:
- Fast Paced Leveling. Players hit max level in a matter of weeks.
- Quest Hubs, which can take on many forms, like GW2's Hearts. A player could do multiple quests at that one heart. To get the reward you STILL had to chat with the "Heart NPC."
- Mobs that wait for death. (Though WoW is not the first game to do this.)
- Gear Grind. Players want it, so I guess it is not the designers fault, here. GW2 had to add it in, because players cried for it.
- End Game. Why is there this thing? Again, players cry for this in almost EVERY title due to release or released, so designers have to appease the content locusts. "There is no end-game!" is a common complaint with MMOs these days.
Other than those aspects, I don't see "WoW Clone!" as a valid dig against a game.
- Al
Personally the only modern MMORPG trend that annoys me is the idea that MMOs need to be designed in a way to attract people who don't actually like MMOs. Which to me makes about as much sense as someone trying to figure out a way to get vegetarians to eat at their steakhouse.- FARGIN_WAR
I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been -Wayne Gretzky
I expect you to do whatever you feel like, it is a free forum. These are just the things I personally equate to WoW and the games that bred from it. Notice a lot of these things weren't in EQ. I do not consider WoW an EQ clone. They are both Theme Park games but they are not clones.
Most games released since WoW have been clones. The basic day to day gameplay and how you go about accomplishing things are almost directly the same even if some features are different here and there.
If it is an MMORPG being released after WoW launched, it will be called a WoW clone.
In reality, NONE of them are.
I can fly higher than an aeroplane.
And I have the voice of a thousand hurricanes.
Hurt - Wars
In that case, I feel your opinion is silly and you haven't given it much, if any, serious thought. With such broad strokes, are you sure you are defining "WoW clones" or are you simply trying to define the games you don't like?
I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been -Wayne Gretzky
Questing, dungeons, battlegrounds, and lack luster crafting make up the core of the WoW clone.
One could also argue WoW's instanced PvP was modeled after GW1's PvP.
I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been -Wayne Gretzky
So WoW was not the first major mmo to do anything on your list.
i dont agree
both EQ2 and WOW overlapped in development (with EQ2 releasing first) and both did all 3
both EQ2 and WOW borrowed heavily from EQ, COH, AC2
EQ2 fan sites
Any quest based leveling with fast paced leveling, similar art style, linear/instanced dungeons, PvP that is instanced or made into an arena. Any game that is "easy" or raiding is simple and done completely in a few short hours.
UI as well. I know the WoW UI has become semi standard, which is why I applaud games that deviate from it at this point. Any game that makes me run from quest hub to quest hub without the freedom to choose how or where I level.
GW2 came very close to taking the WoW model and improving upon it, but it was just still too similar, which in all honesty may be a good thing as it opened the game up to a larger target audience. I believe WildStar will be moderately successful as well in this regard, but I do think eventually people are going to get tired of these games and crave more challenging adventure rather than simplistic nonchalance.
Currently Playing: ESO and FFXIV
Have played: You name it
If you mention rose tinted glasses, you better be referring to Mitch Hedberg.
I'm perfectly aware of how the WOW model changed the genre, due to the constant comparisons to it in later games. In comparison to games like SWG, UO, or DAOC which I played prior to and during the WOW craze, later games are far more linear.
Having no first hand knowledge of WOW itself past lvl 26 back in 04, I'm not sure I can pinpoint what makes a WOW clone. However I do have to say, this line quoted above is a tad off base. As the term WOW clone is typically used in a derogatory way to describe a game. Hardly is it used as a true descriptor with no malice behind it.
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
I wouldn't say it's typically a derogatory term myself. Two of my favorite modern games (Rift, GW2) are very much WoW clones and it's not a bad thing to take something successful and build upon it and make it better
Currently Playing: ESO and FFXIV
Have played: You name it
If you mention rose tinted glasses, you better be referring to Mitch Hedberg.
According to my WoW sources:
If it has quests, it is a WoW clone.
If it has any type of combat it is a WoW clone.
If you can give your character a name, it is a WoW clone.
If it has dungeons, yep, that's a big ole WoW clone.
If it has any of those things and came out before Warcraft, it is still a WoW clone.
If the trunk of your old car doubles as a flower bed, you might be a redneck.
If a game comes out with something innovative and Blizzard implements it into WoW, that game stole it from WoW and is a terrible WoW clone.
The list goes on.
^ This. I found this out when people gave the "wow clone" label to games like Aion, Tera, and GW2. Honestly though, I have not seen a game that actually deserves that label.
I can fly higher than an aeroplane.
And I have the voice of a thousand hurricanes.
Hurt - Wars
If it came out after WoW, and has any features that WoW has, its a WoW clone. This includes leveling, crafting, having PvP. Therefor any MMO that has come out since WoW's release is a WoW clone.
If it has been updated, even to fix bugs, but has features WoW has, its a WoW clone. This means since EverQuest has had at least one update since WoW's release, its a WoW clone and stole its features such as leveling.
If it has features that WoW doesn't have, be WoW later adds those features, its a WoW clone and the game stole it from WoW.
Outside of video games, if any media has the same creatures or features and came out after WoW, it stole it from WoW. Since the Hobbit movies came out after WoW's release, J.R. Tolkien stole the idea of dwarfs from WoW.
WoW invented everything, including the Simpsons.