General Discussion

Who could have seen it comming....

The advent of EQ and Uo, together cultivating two different kinds of mmorpg audiences and through this developing the right technology for one on a grand scale, is largly responsible for paving the way for WOW. But what is even more responsible are the gameplay dynamics in Diablo. I am quite literally saying that Diablo is a phenomena. Why? The history of RPGS can be traced from a fantasy setting inspired by Tolkien and game dynamics inspired by Advance Dungeons and Dragons - ever long into everquest the first year it was out and see all the variations of Drizzt? But Diablo broke from this mold. Furthemore, it established that a game can be as complex, if not more complex, with more simple game dynamics and an accelerated but varied rate of achievement.

I'll keep it short, but what I am trying to point out indirectly here is that WOW is taking DIABLO game play and successfuly distributing it through an mmorpg style game, something hellgate london more officialy attempted. Seriously, look at the exp curve which has just been brought down. I went from level 50 to 55 in three days. Did my enjoyment go down? No because the skills and benefits are comming in at a better rate for me. I never had time to spend a week camping an npc so EQ didn't appeal to me in that sense, but i stuck around because of its quality. I concurrently played  Diablo and longed for that feeling of companion ship in a game world akin to it in terms of gameplay and I feel now this same euphoria when playing wow ever since hte exp curve has been brought down.

However, I have yet to feel the euphoria that I felt in a pre trammel uo. That magic was almost twice as strong so I imagine it would be twice as hard to recapture it.

Now imagine this....take the pvp of ultima online, bring in the depth of EQ, and organize it with the simplicity of a wow type leveling curve. However, make the leveling quick and the end game what its about. The best way to do this is with a skill system, but I beleive it can be done with a leveling system as well provided it is either or and not both.   I think a mix of the two would deter from streamlining the gameplay.

Originally posted by lionexx

didn't read

I'm sorry but I'm not just eulogizing wow, I'm trying to be philosophical about mmorpg's in general Focoult style, throuh an examination of its history in terms of the present.

How is WoW taking the D2 game style ? D2 is a total hack in slash where you slaughter hundreds if not thousands of mobs a second. WoW is just a evolutionary step above EQ1 minus the stuff that sucked. As for them lowering the XP requirements from 20-60 it's all in preparation for the next expansion pack. They understand that people don't want to wade through the old content which is all but abandon. No one runs stuff like UBRS, Scholo, Strat, DM West,North, East, etc... anymore unless it's for a mount quest. They want people to who are new not to get bogged down in the 1-80 grind as much.

good point.

I'd agree that wow copied many elements of Diablo.  However, Diablo wasn't great just because it was an RPG with skills and character levels.  Diablo only had staying power because of its itemization system and trade (no binding).  Unfortunately, WoW did away with good itemization and gave us a static and linear item distribution system that at least IMO is boring beyond belief.  However, there's still 9 million + people playing wow, so apparently the itemization may not be as importanat as I think.  Of course, WoW makes up for it in many other ways, and itemization may again be a factor if a competitor can create as compelling a game as wow with more value through itemization, less raiding, etc.

Originally posted by zaxxon23

I'd agree that wow copied many elements of Diablo.  However, Diablo wasn't great just because it was an RPG with skills and character levels.  Diablo only had staying power because of its itemization system and trade (no binding).  Unfortunately, WoW did away with good itemization and gave us a static and linear item distribution system that at least IMO is boring beyond belief.  However, there's still 9 million + people playing wow, so apparently the itemization may not be as importanat as I think.  Of course, WoW makes up for it in many other ways, and itemization may again be a factor if a competitor can create as compelling a game as wow with more value through itemization, less raiding, etc.

Maybe itemization could improve the game. I'm wondering if I should suggest it for that reason in the internal forumns.

Is there a patent for that type of system?

I think one of the greatest appeals of WoW is its vast and well developed lore. There are many races with each having its own story and background. Everytime you start a new character you get to learn about the difficulties or successes your race has had during the span of all the Warcraft games. I think MMOGs based on successful single player games are usually more successful because people already know what they can expect from the story of their game. Add to that the experience, reputation and funding behind Warcraft and Blizzard and there was little they could have done wrong. I am currently playing WoW and I am enjoying it greatly. The only problem I have with it is the endgame. They could do better than what is currently there.

WOW is popular because it says Blizzard and Warcraft on the box, all the fanbois bought it and then all their friends went to it because it was the only mmorpg they knew anybody playing. With all the hype more people start playing it and it just becomes even more popular in it's own hype.

Personally though i never heard good comments about WOW apart from the polish and the graphics. All my friends say they don't enjoy the game anymore but theres no other mmorpg to play, most of them played EQ2 and that but said it had crap graphics and was too "RPG" which i think they meant they don't want all they story and that, they just want the PVP.

I don't think WOW is a good game, well polished yes, however deeply flawed and doesn't deserve to be called a mmorpg IMO and that goes for alot of "mmorpgs" out there with End games.

Give ope