Guild Wars: MMO or not?

treiden

So, I've been having a discussion with some guy over on GameFAQs, and he claims GW isn't an MMO because



1) it's free



2) it isn't "declared" one, whatever that means



Of course, I'm arguing that it is, in fact, an MMO, but I thought I'd share in the fun, so anyone interested can always visit this link:



Click



I'm the ReIgN oF aPoCaLyPsE guy. I actually gave him this site as a reference, how over half a million members made GW rank second in the best MMO list, yet he still refuses to listen. Funny, that

spraguep

it's massive

it's multiplayer

it's online



I think you win.

treiden

Told him that too. He keeps saying "not declared an MMO"



Still trying to figure out what the hell that is supposed to mean.

QSatu

I guess there are more free mmos then p2p... I can understand some1 thinks GW isn't mmo but his reasons are stupid.. oO

Ackbar

Dude this topic has been done... About 250 times... Find something new..

treiden

I signed up here today, so I didn't know that, sorry.

PhantomGun

When you are in a town or outpost, it is an mmo. When you leave town, especially since they came out with "heroes", it's not.

wjrasmussen

http://www.guildwars.com/support/faq/prophecies-faq.php
has the answer.

Is Guild Wars an MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game)?

Guild Wars has some similarities to existing MMORPGs, but it also has some key differences. Like existing MMOs, Guild Wars is played entirely online in a secure hosted environment. Thousands of players inhabit the same virtual world. Players can meet new friends in gathering places like towns and outposts where they form parties and go questing with them. Unlike many MMOs, when players form a party and embark upon a quest in Guild Wars, they get their own private copy of the area where the quest takes place. This design eliminates some of the frustrating gameplay elements commonly associated with MMOs, such as spawn camping, loot stealing, and standing in a queue in order to complete a quest.

Guild Wars takes place in a large virtual world made up of many different zones, and players can walk from one end of the world to the other. In Guild Wars much of the tedium of traveling through the world has been eliminated. Players can instantly return to any safe area (town or outpost) that they have previously visited just by clicking on it in the world overview map.

Rather than labeling Guild Wars an MMORPG, we prefer to call it a CORPG (Competitive Online Role-Playing Game). Guild Wars was designed from the ground up to create the best possible competitive role-playing experience. Success in Guild Wars is always the result of player skill, not time spent playing or the size of one's guild. As characters progress, they acquire a diverse set of skills and items, enabling them to use new strategies in combat. Players can do battle in open arenas or compete in guild-vs-guild warfare or the international tournament. Engaging in combat is always the player's choice, however; there is no player-killing in cooperative areas of the world.

Players in Guild Wars can play with or against players from around the world in the global tournaments and arenas. And while players are initially placed in a region based on their selected language (so that there is a greater likelihood that others will be speaking their language) they can join up in the always-available International District to form parties and to play with anyone from anywhere in the world.

Gameloading

Originally posted by spraguep

it's massive

it's multiplayer

it's online



I think you win.

And what exactly is massively about it? last time I checked, I could NOT play with a massive amount of people at the same time, I'm always stuck in a group of just a few people, I can never play with a massively amount of people.



Its also not really a persistent world. Everytime you exit a map, the map resets. its not ONE world either, its split in multiple, smaller worlds, each time a player exits the town.



I wrote a detailed article about this subject on my blog, check it out if your intrested in this kind of thing.



www.gameloading.blogspot.com/2007/01/when-is-game-mmorpg.html           <- link to article

leipuri

nvm actually

CaesarsGhost

MMO

Recant

It's not an MMO, even the developers say so.  The only reason people regard it as one is because it was released during the great MMO hype bubble that grew massively with WoW, and burst with Vanguard

w175jab

As they said above... it's an MMO.



It's massive, multiplayer and online.  All three qualifications to be an MMO are present regardless of what the devs say... Devs are often the last people you should be listening to for various obvious reasons.

tunabun

Originally posted by Ackbar

Dude this topic has been done... About 250 times... Find something new..

Add to that the fact that the semantics of the acronym MMO are so ambiguous that it’s literally impossible to define it.

If ignorant people want to keep arguing this, let them.  Means I don’t have to sift through as much unintelligent drivel when discussing subjects that matter.

 

 

SkullFighter

Action RPG same thing as Diablo.

cerebrix

from wikipedia

"Although strictly a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), Guild Wars has important differences from other games in this genre; to emphasize these distinctions, ArenaNet calls the Guild Wars games cooperative/competitive online role-playing games (CORPGs)."

source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guild_Wars

Gameloading

Originally posted by cerebrix


from wikipedia
"Although strictly a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), Guild Wars has important differences from other games in this genre; to emphasize these distinctions, ArenaNet calls the Guild Wars games cooperative/competitive online role-playing games (CORPGs)."


source:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guild_Wars
 

Now for a reliable source:



http://www.mmodeals.net/games/guild_wars/index.php



"Guild Wars is not an MMORPG," said Jeff Strain, producer of the game.

LordSlater

Originally posted by treiden

Told him that too. He keeps saying "not declared an MMO"



Still trying to figure out what the hell that is supposed to mean.

It means the Devs or the owning company havent said its a MMO. Which they havent they have actually said it isant one.

 

And that is why those who insist it is one will always lose despite the inane argument that the devs opinion's dont count for or whatever reason is stated.

ASmith84

its a corpg.  competitive online role playing game.  this is what guild wars is officially considered.  case close. 

Betadog

no doubt it is an MMO

 

Theodoryk

In the strict, traditional sense, Guild Wars is not an MMORPG. What differentiates it from other games with online play capability is that you cannot play Guild Wars offline, nor can you mod its content or make your own modules, you must play within the online perimeters the devs have set. That being said, Guild Wars is very much a game in a class of its own, but it is most similar in scope and gameplay to traditional mmorpgs, and is therefore de facto regarded as falling into this particular category of games. When one considers the difference between GW and games such as EQ and WoW, the main point of contention is simply that GW utilises the instancing found in those games for all its zones. Does this make it a Diablo III? Hardly. Also, this argument is old and tired.

nofx11

Its not an MMORPG in the traditional sense.  Id definitely say its an MMOG, with some rpg aspects.

exanimo

its not a MMO , but it as 3 million players , and u can play with diferent people everyday.
its a MMCORPG

massive multiplayer cooperative online role playing game

Gameloading

Originally posted by neoteo


its not a MMO , but it as 3 million players , and u can play with diferent people everyday.

its a MMCORPG
massive multiplayer cooperative online role playing game

holy smokes, I never knew that!



Counterstrike is an MMO!

Diablo is an mmorpg! Heck, even command& conquer: Generals is an mmorpg! every online game in existance is an mmorpg!

Recant

GUILDWARS IS 100% PROVEN, IRREFUTABLY NOT AN MMO, AS CONFIRMED BY THE PEOPLE THAT MADE THE GAME.



So what, you think you know better than the developers?  Pfft.

nomadian

Officially by Guild Wars they don't define it as a mmo, but for each person it is up to their own minds whether they regard it as a mmo or not. There are good arguments for and against it being a mmo really.