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Why do people think WoW started the easy mode mmorpg genre of today.
sctt888
Member Posts: 128
People think WoW is what killed true hardcore mmorpgs. When in actuality it was EQ that started it before WoW with the easy mode junk. Beastmasters where pure easy mode, if you couldnt solo EQ with a beastmaster then there was something mentally wrong with you, then your given the PoP xpac PoP and anything beyond that was what killed EQ and WoW was not even developed at that time.
So if we think back to it, EQ killed hardcore mmos and anything beyond that with the easymode it kept bringing in.
So if we think back to it, EQ killed hardcore mmos and anything beyond that with the easymode it kept bringing in.
Comments
IT does not matter one iota who did it first, it is World of Warcraft that has the subscription base that developers want to gain. As such, they have a massive incentive to copy as much of WoW's formula as possible, regardless of each peice's origins. Developers don't give a damn about, and in some cases haven't even heard of Plain of Knowledge. In this respect, for the moment disregarding developer's personal choices, WoW and its success is quite responsible for the current state of MMORPGs.
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I'd have to disagree that EQ was ever easy. You could solo with a few classes, but it was a long and painful grind to the top. The quests gave bad rewards and almost no experience for the most part. Eventually most people who gather in the safest areas and grind at nausium solo or in groups. PoP had very difficult mobs. The experience was better then in the old areas, but the mobs were generally a good deal harder as well. Even after they introduced the bazaar, the nexus, and PoK where people could twink themselves out and get fully buffed it still was a far longer grind to the top. I'm not sure what the point of this post is anyway. After playing EQ for five years I welcomed the faster paced/quest based leveling of WoW.
Blizzard are masters at simplifying gameplay, interface, and the usability of a game so anyone can sit down in front of any of their games and quickly figure out how to play. That is one of the things Blizzard does well.
They have an easy to play, hard to master philosophy with all of their games.
Because of this Blizzard sells more software internationally than most companies not named Microsoft. Even foreign people do not really need an international copy of Blizzard software because the games are so intuitive.
I have been playing Blizzard games since the original DOS based Warcraft. Do I think they are the best games ever made? No. But, Blizzard is the best company at what they do, wich is making a game intuitive to play. Some people might call that easy.
There are two types of easy:
1) Gameplay mechanics (i.e., how simple and sensible the interface and controls are), and
2) In-game challenge (i.e., how tough the monsters and dungeons are).
WOW gave us easy gameplay mechanics, but still has some in-game challenge, especially in the dungeons.
Some other games gave us messed up game mechanics instead.
We must not confuse the two.
Are you guys defining 'difficult' as 'time consuming'? Because talking about how people grind for long stretches of time doesn't indicate at all that the game is hard, just that it takes an excessive amount of time.
u see theres been many hardcore + carebear games out there since the dawn of time, the only reason more games are becoming carebearish is because WoW made carebear games popular, now all gaming companies are trying to copy WoW and its carebear system.
Are you guys defining 'difficult' as 'time consuming'? Because talking about how people grind for long stretches of time doesn't indicate at all that the game is hard, just that it takes an excessive amount of time.
No kidding. EQ wasn't hard, it was just SLOOOOWWW. I remember playing it again for a bit after DAoC, and I remember it was like watching paint dry. I don't even want to think how the regen rates compare to WoW.
Are you guys defining 'difficult' as 'time consuming'? Because talking about how people grind for long stretches of time doesn't indicate at all that the game is hard, just that it takes an excessive amount of time.
Wow can indeed be very challenging. Sure, anyone can start playing, but like a lot of people here said, mastering the game (in the sense of defeating the best bosses in the game) is not at all easy,
However WOW has too much of a grind factor in the end game with the factions and raiding system still.
As for EQ being easy or whatever, I never touched it, as I didn't find hours and hours of grinding fun.
Currently waiting for - Perfect World English, Age of Conan
How to play Perfect World in english
Currently messing with - Requiem Online
I still remember Asheron's Call 2. I was level 25 and there was a level 40 Armadillo. We needed to fight it with 4 guys, the others were 35-45. The Armadillo looked great and it was a very tough fight. The armadillo had (I thought) 10k xp. That was a fun fight! It's the things I'll never forget about a MMORPG.
EDIT: It wasn't an elite! Just a normal monster standing around near a town.
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Many people have a really skewed version of whats considered hard. Time consuming and insanely slow leveling doesn't make a game hard. Struggling with broken game mechanics, a lousy UI and bugs also doesn't make MMORPGs hard. Tryng to understand how a game works because the developers never bothered making a tutorial or create it in such a way that it made sense, ESSPECIALLY does not make the game hard. Al these things just mean the game is poorly designed. Thats all.
WOW isn't easy. Its fun. it makes sense when you do something. You look at the screen, the UI, the actions your characer is doing. It just makes sense and its fun to boot. Hard to beleive huh? If you want to know why people DIDN'T play MMORPGs in the same numbers before WOW, your answer is a clear as day. They had no interest in them. Thats all it was. It wasn't maketing or a big name. Most people found them boring and didn't want to invest HUGE amounts of time to get even the most simple tasks done. They were filled with bugs and other frustrating features that most people found extrememly annoying. Struggling with the game to make it work the way you wanted it to didn't mean it was complex. It meant it was badly designed. Blizzard took out all the hassle that people would call DEPTH. It wasn't depth. It was tedium] and lousy mechanics.
Getting to 70 solo isn't the point of WOW and just because THAT's considered easy to some people, doesn't mean the game is any easier to play than any other MMORPG out there. Thats not the end all be all of the game. Figuring out how to beat a raid dungeon without an FAQ isn't easy by any means. Staying on the top of the Arena standing is also not easy either. To play WOW well, it takes just as many braincells as playing any other MMOG. But if you want to feel smart thinking WOW is dumbed down, you're the one who thinking dumb. Eve could be considered quite easy to play because you can sit there as mine asteroids alone for 5 hrs a day, make plenty of money and level up your skills by just clicking a few buttons. You never have to actually do anything difficult to level up. You just keep paying a monthly fee, read an FAQ about what to train and log out. Thats about as dumbed down as it gets. Leveling up skills in UO was no harder than leveling up in WOW. Leveling up in AC didn't take a science degree either. It all just took time. Sorry, but it wasn't hard. Doing certain particular objectives in all these games were hard, but playing them and leveling up a character was not.
WOW is just better designed from the ground up. it doesn't make it dumb. it just makes it more fun for most people. If loads of people having fun upsets you, think really hard why. You're the smart one;)
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Do not hate it, but instead embrace the diversity.
Wow is easy to play and that is what makes it more fun to play. Talking in groups is easy just click group chat and type. many actions can be done with simple mouse clicks. Command bars can easily be stacked. All of these little things help make it easier to control your toon and make the game more fun to play. In some other MMORPGs even talking to a toon or inviting someone to a group is more of a choir and that takes away from the overall enjoyment of the game.
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EVE Online - 24 million SP - May 6th 2003 > Early 2005
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MMORPG's Under my belt:UO,EQ1,EQ2,SWG,L2,COH,COV,WoW,AC2,Shadowbane,DAOC,FFXI,GW,D&D,V:SOH,LOTR:O
So, WoW was my 2nd MMO and it was just night and day, I wasn't planning on ever playing another one thinking it was going to suck me in and waste more of my time but I heard it was the "casual" game so I tried it and they were right. Now my brother is still playing FFXI after 4 years, its mind boggling but the truth, but its kinda funny how every time he sees something in WoW thats different, he says "Its too easy" or "God what an easy-mode game". He saw me waiting for a zeppelin once and it came in like 2 minutes and that was "easy" because it takes airships like 10 minutes usually before you get on or get to where your going. He thinks its "easy" that you have a mount and can get to places quickly( Chocobos can still take 30 minutes plus to get to far away places), flying to places you've already been is "easy-mode" too. I won't even get into attaining gear, but farming bosses to get all your gear is apparently easy too.
But if you look at everything he thinks is easy, its really just making all those things I already couldn't stand about MMOs(ie wasting your time), out and lets you do more of whats fun to you whether that be questing, grinding mobs, instancing, PvP it doesn't matter, and thats where WoW stands out to me.
All classes are easymode to play.
You don't really need groups for pve or pvp, and there is little skill involved in playing any class.
WOW = EASY and BRainless modes = most of the population = more people to play it.
It really not about how long etc. becuase i favor no time sinks also, its about challenge and wow has 0. Seriously, even in pvp its so funny i once was in a bg with a total twink of a hunter (i was also a hunter) he had everything.... i out killed him at least 2-1 and my deaths were 1-2 easy ... why because WoW level gameplay is so freaking far below most long time mmo players, thats its easy for us. Still with or without this fact i can't shine in WoW like i can in daoc ... i also don't get outskilled much in WoW but it happens everyday in daoc.
PS wtf WoW= diku ... blasphomy.
-Edit- it seems liek most people in this thread feel that its not easymode its fast mode... its faster to get a max level toon in daoc now then wow (much much much) its still not easymode , it also ports you anywhere you want to go... still not easy mode.
The reason why people seem to misunderstand why WoW was easymode ... is because they don't understand what easymode is. IT has to do with difficulty of play ... which you don't WANT TO BE HIGH, it should be easy to play ... but still require skill. This is what gets WoW its easymode rap, that and the fact that you can pretty much solo and mindlessly play and still do well. Basically you don't have to think.
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