"Hahaha, Blizzard invented all those races? Go climb back under rock and read something about "Warhammer".
WoW was supposed to World of Warhammer but since Games Workshop didnt give em the license they just stole all of their lore...
Warhammer fanboys really crack me up, Games-Workshop never invented anything, they borrowed from many. Just because Wow's MMO is so successful and the Mythic travesty is such a laughing stock, they have to announce their ignorance.
The success of WoW and failure of WAR does not change that Blizzard was originally working on a RTS based on Warhammer - but they did not get the license. Though it is incorrect to state that Blizzard went with the Lore from Warhammer, they pretty much did rip off the general concepts. This is shown with Starcraft as well.
It is a fine line, that they may have been able to scoot by on the letter of the law - but the spirit of it is quite clear.
I miss the MMORPG genre. Will a developer ever make one again?
Worgens: Palladium RPG (called Wolfens there, looking exactly the same but somewhat founder of Roman stuff there).
I can go on for a long while if you mentioning the races you wonder about.
But the one Blizzard and everyone else is copying right now is mostly Ed Greenwoods "Forgotten realms" and some stuff from Tolkien.
Few MMO companies uses their own races, Arenanet does to mention one even if they had dwarfs and Centaurs (Greek mythology) in the first GW.
Wow have very little unique content if anything at all but it is very well coded, that is the real reason it is so popular. Most MMO companies have average or bad programmers, Blizzard, ANET and Bioware actually have competent people for coding.
Tolkien practically ‘invented’ Orcs, Elves, Goblins, Hobbits, Dwarves, Trolls and Ents. So that walking tree you find in nearly every fantasy MMO is his too. They are quite distinct from the legends he got his inspiration from. His Elves are taller and more human; his Dwarves are less magical and so on. His Dragons are perhaps the creature most similar to pre existing myths and legends. Wolf races have existed in many novels, RPG’s and MMO’s.
Lore wise you would find it hard to find anything original in WoW. But that was part of its game design genius, stick with what you know works well. Many now say the Wow format is over copied and has become boring, but at the time this template of tried and trusted races with easy mode game play and a few cherries like the skill trees was very fresh.
From the point of view of lore consistancy WoW does a good job, until you get to the Worgen race. Think about it, what the Alliance stands for and so on, sheer nonsense to bring them in as an Alliance race. I am sure they have cooked up some half baked reason for it though. If anything says to you marketing before lore then it is the wolf race. Someone decided a wolf race would be cool and everything in lore that screamed against it was put to one side.
few words: this site is very sceptical with many things like new developments, talking about class changes and so on which i really like and is kinda unique here. but who on earth wrote this article? i'm not a Wow-Fanboy (random excuse that random people dont get me wrong) nor a Wow-hater - but this text was too superficial and stereotyped for me to earn my full attention.
Actually while the leveling process has been simplified, the raiding process is heading back to the more complex. Current raid strategy is to pull everything and aoe like mad. Cataclysm is going to change that back to the days when you had to use crowd control. Going to be a big change for many who never did any raiding at the 60 level.
Actually I would say that the leveling process in the old world is requireing less time wasting running around. A experienced player, or a player that picked up an efficient leveling guild worked through the quests in a way that reduced needless running around. Blizzard has just listened to the players and are taking advantage of this reworking of the old world to implement this.
I know I will love the changes to Raiding. I had the most fun Raiding at level 60. The AoE everything to get to the boss fight was fun the first couple of times that the tank and healer were geared enough to do that, but after that it became dull.
As with any expansion or new game ther is a chance for a major failure. Blizzard has enough experience and flexability in their product to correct any serious problems in a timely manner.
I agree with a lot of the posters on here. WoW itself is a very fun game to play; but, the community is horrible! There has been many threads on the forums about whether Blizzard should moderate their open world chat channels to filter out a lot of the trash talk that goes on; but, that wouldn't only eliminate part of the problem; which is the large number of pricks that fill the servers all day and night looking for an oppertunity to grief a victim of their personal issues.
I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use. - Galileo Galilei
Tolkien practically ‘invented’ Orcs, Elves, Goblins, Hobbits, Dwarves, Trolls and Ents. So that walking tree you find in nearly every fantasy MMO is his too. They are quite distinct from the legends he got his inspiration from. His Elves are taller and more human; his Dwarves are less magical and so on. His Dragons are perhaps the creature most similar to pre existing myths and legends. Wolf races have existed in many novels, RPG’s and MMO’s.
Lore wise you would find it hard to find anything original in WoW. But that was part of its game design genius, stick with what you know works well. Many now say the Wow format is over copied and has become boring, but at the time this template of tried and trusted races with easy mode game play and a few cherries like the skill trees was very fresh.
From the point of view of lore consistancy WoW does a good job, until you get to the Worgen race. Think about it, what the Alliance stands for and so on, sheer nonsense to bring them in as an Alliance race. I am sure they have cooked up some half baked reason for it though. If anything says to you marketing before lore then it is the wolf race. Someone decided a wolf race would be cool and everything in lore that screamed against it was put to one side.
JRRT gets too much credit and has "borrowed" from many sources:
J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings appears to borrow some elements from Der Ring des Nibelungen; however, Tolkien himself denied that he had been inspired by Wagner's work, saying that "Both rings were round, and there the resemblance ceases."[21] Some similarities arise because Tolkien and Wagner both drew upon the same source material for inspiration, including the Völsungasaga and the Poetic Edda. However, several researchers posit that both authors draw upon many of the same sources but Tolkien was indebted to some of the original developments, insights and artistic uses made of those in Wagner, such as that the ring gives its owner mastery of the world, the ring's inherently evil nature, its consequent corrupting influence upon the minds and wills of its possessors, and the necessity for its destruction so that the world can be redeemed[22][23] Tolkien's Ring seem to merge the features of two magical items of Wagner's Ring: Alberich's Ring, that make its owner ruler of the world, and the Tarnhelm, a magical helm that makes who bears it invisible or capable of shapeshifting (the shapeshifting is not present in Tolkien's novel). Both the Rings are cursed and want/will go back to their first owner. Note that it was Wotan who stole Alberich's Ring, who is the grand-father of Siegfried, as it was Isildur who stole Sauron's Ring, who is Aragorn's forefather. There is also a resemblance between Siegfried and Aragorn: they are both orphans (their fathers died fighting an enemy) and they both possess a broken sword that they re-forge (Siegfried's Nothung and Aragorn's Andúril, the first being the sword of Siegfried's father Siegmund and the latter being the sword of Aragorn's ancestor Elendil. Futhermore, they both fall in love with an immortal relative that then becomes mortal: Siegfried falls in love with Brünnhilde (who's become mortal because she disobeyed her father Wotan's orders), his grand-aunt being daughter of Wotan and Erda and being Siegfried the grandson of Wotan and a mortal woman, and Aragorn falls in love with his cousin Arwen (who refuses immortality in order to be bound forever with him), being Aragorn a descendant of Elros, the twin brother of Arwen's father Elrond. Moreover, the father of the heores' beloved ones does not allow them to marry their daughters at the beginning (Siegfried must fight Wotan and Aragorn must become King of Gondor and of all the other mortal men). Both Aragorn and Siegfried seem to have/have an affair with another woman (Éowyn, Gurtrune). Bilbo finds the Ring while heading to the Lonely Mountain (where lives the dragon Smaug), Siegfried takes the Ring (as well as the Tarnhelm) from the hoard of the dragon Fafner. Both Wagner and Tolkien's dragon watch a hoard they stole from the Dwarves: Fafner watches Alberich's gold, while Smaug watches the treasure of Thrór. Gandalf resembles the figure of the Wanderer (Wotan disguised), who wears a grey cloak and great hat and uses his spear as a staff. The Eye of Sauron could be a reference to Wotan's missing eye (which he lost in order to obtain all the world's knowledge (that could be something like Sauron's all-seeing)).
J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings appears to borrow some elements from Der Ring des Nibelungen; however, Tolkien himself denied that he had been inspired by Wagner's work, saying that "Both rings were round, and there the resemblance ceases."[21] Some similarities arise because Tolkien and Wagner both drew upon the same source material for inspiration, including the Völsungasaga and the Poetic Edda. However, several researchers posit that both authors draw upon many of the same sources but Tolkien was indebted to some of the original developments, insights and artistic uses made of those in Wagner, such as that the ring gives its owner mastery of the world, the ring's inherently evil nature, its consequent corrupting influence upon the minds and wills of its possessors, and the necessity for its destruction so that the world can be redeemed[22][23] Tolkien's Ring seem to merge the features of two magical items of Wagner's Ring: Alberich's Ring, that make its owner ruler of the world, and the Tarnhelm, a magical helm that makes who bears it invisible or capable of shapeshifting (the shapeshifting is not present in Tolkien's novel). Both the Rings are cursed and want/will go back to their first owner. Note that it was Wotan who stole Alberich's Ring, who is the grand-father of Siegfried, as it was Isildur who stole Sauron's Ring, who is Aragorn's forefather. There is also a resemblance between Siegfried and Aragorn: they are both orphans (their fathers died fighting an enemy) and they both possess a broken sword that they re-forge (Siegfried's Nothung and Aragorn's Andúril, the first being the sword of Siegfried's father Siegmund and the latter being the sword of Aragorn's ancestor Elendil. Futhermore, they both fall in love with an immortal relative that then becomes mortal: Siegfried falls in love with Brünnhilde (who's become mortal because she disobeyed her father Wotan's orders), his grand-aunt being daughter of Wotan and Erda and being Siegfried the grandson of Wotan and a mortal woman, and Aragorn falls in love with his cousin Arwen (who refuses immortality in order to be bound forever with him), being Aragorn a descendant of Elros, the twin brother of Arwen's father Elrond. Moreover, the father of the heores' beloved ones does not allow them to marry their daughters at the beginning (Siegfried must fight Wotan and Aragorn must become King of Gondor and of all the other mortal men). Both Aragorn and Siegfried seem to have/have an affair with another woman (Éowyn, Gurtrune). Bilbo finds the Ring while heading to the Lonely Mountain (where lives the dragon Smaug), Siegfried takes the Ring (as well as the Tarnhelm) from the hoard of the dragon Fafner. Both Wagner and Tolkien's dragon watch a hoard they stole from the Dwarves: Fafner watches Alberich's gold, while Smaug watches the treasure of Thrór. Gandalf resembles the figure of the Wanderer (Wotan disguised), who wears a grey cloak and great hat and uses his spear as a staff. The Eye of Sauron could be a reference to Wotan's missing eye (which he lost in order to obtain all the world's knowledge (that could be something like Sauron's all-seeing)).
Tolkien was an expert of Norse mythology. Der Ring des Nibelungen is based on that too (or at least Germanical mythology that is coming from the same source). Siegfrid is based on Sigurd from the Poetic Edda that is at least from the 13th century but most likely older, probably from pagan times in Iceland.
Names like Gandalfir and the name of all the dwarfs in the 'hobbit are name of Dwarven kings in Norse Mythology. Most of the other things like Elves are also from there.
He did however invent the orcs and some other stuff.
Tolkien used old Mythology as base for his book, it has been done both before and after. Howard used Irish mythology to create Conan together with some stuff from Greece, Egypt and other sources. Conan in fact was possibly based on a real person, the "Book of conquests" mentions a hero with that name that killed a Fomori named "Balor the evil eye".
I think it is kinda sad that MMOs are bad to go back to the roots and just copy Forgotten realms instead that is kinda a mix between Tolkien, Howard and Leitner.
Oh, yes. Is the enter key broken on your keyboard BTW? You write well but it is still really hard to read what you write.
J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings appears to borrow some elements from Der Ring des Nibelungen; however, Tolkien himself denied that he had been inspired by Wagner's work, saying that "Both rings were round, and there the resemblance ceases."[21] Some similarities arise because Tolkien and Wagner both drew upon the same source material for inspiration, including the Völsungasaga and the Poetic Edda. However, several researchers posit that both authors draw upon many of the same sources but Tolkien was indebted to some of the original developments, insights and artistic uses made of those in Wagner, such as that the ring gives its owner mastery of the world, the ring's inherently evil nature, its consequent corrupting influence upon the minds and wills of its possessors, and the necessity for its destruction so that the world can be redeemed[22][23] Tolkien's Ring seem to merge the features of two magical items of Wagner's Ring: Alberich's Ring, that make its owner ruler of the world, and the Tarnhelm, a magical helm that makes who bears it invisible or capable of shapeshifting (the shapeshifting is not present in Tolkien's novel). Both the Rings are cursed and want/will go back to their first owner. Note that it was Wotan who stole Alberich's Ring, who is the grand-father of Siegfried, as it was Isildur who stole Sauron's Ring, who is Aragorn's forefather. There is also a resemblance between Siegfried and Aragorn: they are both orphans (their fathers died fighting an enemy) and they both possess a broken sword that they re-forge (Siegfried's Nothung and Aragorn's Andúril, the first being the sword of Siegfried's father Siegmund and the latter being the sword of Aragorn's ancestor Elendil. Futhermore, they both fall in love with an immortal relative that then becomes mortal: Siegfried falls in love with Brünnhilde (who's become mortal because she disobeyed her father Wotan's orders), his grand-aunt being daughter of Wotan and Erda and being Siegfried the grandson of Wotan and a mortal woman, and Aragorn falls in love with his cousin Arwen (who refuses immortality in order to be bound forever with him), being Aragorn a descendant of Elros, the twin brother of Arwen's father Elrond. Moreover, the father of the heores' beloved ones does not allow them to marry their daughters at the beginning (Siegfried must fight Wotan and Aragorn must become King of Gondor and of all the other mortal men). Both Aragorn and Siegfried seem to have/have an affair with another woman (Éowyn, Gurtrune). Bilbo finds the Ring while heading to the Lonely Mountain (where lives the dragon Smaug), Siegfried takes the Ring (as well as the Tarnhelm) from the hoard of the dragon Fafner. Both Wagner and Tolkien's dragon watch a hoard they stole from the Dwarves: Fafner watches Alberich's gold, while Smaug watches the treasure of Thrór. Gandalf resembles the figure of the Wanderer (Wotan disguised), who wears a grey cloak and great hat and uses his spear as a staff. The Eye of Sauron could be a reference to Wotan's missing eye (which he lost in order to obtain all the world's knowledge (that could be something like Sauron's all-seeing)).
Tolkien was an expert of Norse mythology. Der Ring des Nibelungen is based on that too (or at least Germanical mythology that is coming from the same source). Siegfrid is based on Sigurd from the Poetic Edda that is at least from the 13th century but most likely older, probably from pagan times in Iceland.
Names like Gandalfir and the name of all the dwarfs in the 'hobbit are name of Dwarven kings in Norse Mythology. Most of the other things like Elves are also from there.
He did however invent the orcs and some other stuff.
Tolkien used old Mythology as base for his book, it has been done both before and after. Howard used Irish mythology to create Conan together with some stuff from Greece, Egypt and other sources. Conan in fact was possibly based on a real person, the "Book of conquests" mentions a hero with that name that killed a Fomori named "Balor the evil eye".
I think it is kinda sad that MMOs are bad to go back to the roots and just copy Forgotten realms instead that is kinda a mix between Tolkien, Howard and Leitner.
Oh, yes. Is the enter key broken on your keyboard BTW? You write well but it is still really hard to read what you write.
Context: The person I was replying too was giving JRRT too much credit for things he didn't do. That is all.
WoW has been made into a game for pre-schoolers. Terribly watered down. There's no challenge as the game has been simplified to extremes. From A to Z they've changed everything, even spells tell youy when to click them. Everything has been diluted, And this is without mentioning the large amounts of glitches and bugs running rampant in this game.
It's a giant Skinner box, based around raids. That's all this game is. That's all this game will ever be. And that's why it's so successful. The people who quit are the ones who figure this out, and don't like being a pigeon.
I'm still waiting for a company to come along and make a game where people in small groups (less than 6) can compete with larger raids of 25 & 40. Of course, such a game would require balance among classes, which WoW will NEVER have. Blizzard has their favorite classes, always have, always will.
The above data makes the original article (4 year olds) and the above poster look ... silly.
One wonders what drives some to insult people that play WOW constantly.
Because I am bored and will supply you the following answers:
1) Players may in fact be older than the age of 4, their maturity level may however give the impression they are 4.
1a) As slightly related to above, the player may in fact be 4 though given how easy the game is; so lets not discriminate here..
2) WoW is a good game, but it isn't the "one end, to end all, to be all" when it comes to mmo's. So once WoW-fanboys accept its a good game but not the best, others will actually stop taking cheap pot shots at it.
3) When ppl coronate WoW the "best game" what did it bring to the table other than the big subscriber base? Best graphics..oh wait nope... New Ideas? Oh wait not that either. A change in how the UI and gameplay mechanics go....wait then never did that. Most older MMO vets who have whored themselves to tons of mmo's do get annoyed when I hear someone say "omg WoW made all of these things before anyone!" when in fact they didn't. I played WoW, I stopped it.
At the end of the day, its about WoW being a good and popular game. Apple is popular, I just believe its over-hyped as well. I think Eve-online is the best mmo in content, storyline, being an open world and PvPvE engagement and interaction as well as general gameplay; you just can't be a mindless moron and expect to succeed in Eve. In every other mmo I've played, you can just get good stuff by being the #1 a@@ kisser with the least ability in the game or you can be a "chic" and every guys just worships the ground you walk on and gives it to you. And try to prove me wrong that this sh*t doesn't happen at all in any mmo.
So am I allowed to take sh*ts at WoW? Yes, because I more often than not do not hear legit or factual claims to why ppl say its the "best". Its the most subscribed to mmo w/out a doubt. But as they've said before, more ppl eat McDonalds than at any food-joint in the world so I guess that means it outclasses a steak from any halfway decent restaraunt then huh?
Tolkien practically ‘invented’ Orcs, Elves, Goblins, Hobbits, Dwarves, Trolls and Ents. So that walking tree you find in nearly every fantasy MMO is his too. They are quite distinct from the legends he got his inspiration from. His Elves are taller and more human; his Dwarves are less magical and so on. His Dragons are perhaps the creature most similar to pre existing myths and legends. Wolf races have existed in many novels, RPG’s and MMO’s.
Lore wise you would find it hard to find anything original in WoW. But that was part of its game design genius, stick with what you know works well. Many now say the Wow format is over copied and has become boring, but at the time this template of tried and trusted races with easy mode game play and a few cherries like the skill trees was very fresh.
From the point of view of lore consistancy WoW does a good job, until you get to the Worgen race. Think about it, what the Alliance stands for and so on, sheer nonsense to bring them in as an Alliance race. I am sure they have cooked up some half baked reason for it though. If anything says to you marketing before lore then it is the wolf race. Someone decided a wolf race would be cool and everything in lore that screamed against it was put to one side.
Good point on the Lore. I agree and yes it is humans bitten and become the Worgen. Age old Vampire tales? The Alliance is supposed to stand for good and pure while the Worgen is an evil creature controlling those evil intincts and fighting on the Alliance side to destroy evil. hmm
Reason 1 - Because WOW is an EQ clone that offers nothing new to the MMO genre and never has done and never will do.
Reason 2 - 6 See above.
How any of you guys can play this is beyond me. Are you not sick of "go fetch X", "kill X amount of Y" and the boring ass combat where you do not even aim?
Seriously games like Darkfall and Mortal Online has obsoleted this EQ clone.
11 million people play it but that does not make it good. 4 million people read The Sun Newspaper in the UK and that is far far far from being a good newspaper.
The removal of 'bulky' talent trees made me cancel my account the day I got into beta -one of the earliest phases I must admit-. If there was one thing which had bugged me ever since WoW was released it was the lack of customization. You had very few talents and gear-wise you weren't off any better. Fortunately as xpacks arrived and content patches got released, the talent trees got bigger and the gear options broadened. Allthough Cataclysm will be offering 2 new races, in the end people will once again end up having the exact same talent tree as just about anyone else sharing the same class as well as wearing the exact same outfits.
Ctaclysm to me is a major step backwards gameplay-wise, a step I'm unwilling to take/make. I cancelled my sub over 6months ago and have no intention of ever returning. For me personally; Blizzard took the RPG out of MMORPG.
O !!! How many times was i angry at WOW. I was canceling subscriptions, was trying to play GW,AOC,WAR,ROM. After month or two i allways come back. It is simply the best MMO out there, but people focus to much on PVP OR PVE, if you only try to do achivements you will spend some 4 years to finish 90% of them. Huge world, Best pvp ( look now that fpatch 4.1, frost mage kick some ass), huge pve world, quest, trading, professions. It is amazing. Hope GW2 OR SWTOR will be good games, so i can play more MMO-S. sORRY there is one great game out there EVE-online, but it is hard as hell
So in response to the main article: Mr. Author, you ARE aware that:
1: Furry's have been in WoW for a LONG LONG time
and
2: They've been playing as the OTHER furry race everyone one accepted with open arms. The other race with fur and tails: Tauren. And I don't recall much rape and humping happening there.
Just for once I'd like to jump into an expansion with my max level character and not have to re-earn gear. A new system that doesn't require you needing item level 500 or item level xxx to be useful on the raid.
Just for once I'd like to jump into an expansion with my max level character and not have to re-earn gear. A new system that doesn't require you needing item level 500 or item level xxx to be useful on the raid.
In a gear based game like WoW, how would you promote or encourage progression if players no longer needed to get gear? I've only been back playing WoW a few months, but from that I have seen, as soon as people get the gear or title they want, they just stop progressing. One of our main tanks hasn't logged into the game since the night we got our kingslayer titles
I realize a lot of people still raid and progress for the enjoyment, but I think the vast majority of WoW players wouldn't step foot in a dungeon without that carrot (epic loots) dangling in their face.
You get to play again. Just be happy. Most of us haven't played in a long time so we've had our break and some of us are ready to give it another go. I don't mind rerolling. And maybe people shouldn't be in such a rush to level cap and complete the expansion's content in under a week. Moderation isn't just for your health. It also helps make the game more enjoyable. So get out and actually socialize. And as for the Barrens Chat. I welcome it. It helps pass the time on those long hours of play. Its not a big deal. And its not the most important thing in our gaming lives. I hate the nerd rage when people get all butt hurt because people are having fun and socializing in the game instead of acting like its a second job. I think it'll be fine. Although at some point it would be nice for them to move onto a whole new game like Final Fantasy and Guild Wars did.
Wow is great, for new players, I'm sure that most people who played Vanilla arent looking forward to cata.
To me it's basicly Vanilla over again, without beeing new.
Cataclysm is more of a recycle, you get old sized talent tree's, you're in the old world with a twist, you're fighting Vanilla bosses over again, several new stats are beeing removed again etc etc etc.
What's the expansion after that gonna be? they're gonna unshatter Outland so all the new players can re-experience Outland?
They're running short on ideas, and it's obvious that they've hit a wall, I loved Vanilla, a big part of it was because the game was new, and I'm sure WoW is great for new players, but other mmo's that are older than WoW are still having the same players running around, from before WoW was launched, they're not gonna give in and make their game about sucking in new players untill they're bored.
WoW needed some serious change after Wotlk, but Cata is one huge letdown, update the graphics bigtime, throw in a new class (nothing is balanced anyway), throw in 2 races and give us new places with new bosses, player housing and guild keeps, Blizzard needs to go all in soon, they're turning themselves into a company that pulls new people into the mmo scene, but obviously can't keep them interested in their game for as long as daoc, eq eve etc.
Wow is a terrible RP game, the PvP is redundant and does nothing but give you gear to pvp more, but in the end you've gotten nowhere, the PvE is the only thing that keeps it going, but I'm sure we all recognize how much the game lacks, when it's Saturday and you're locked out of all raids.
I'm not surprised that it's still going strong, but it's not due to the quality of their game.
SWG were extremely lacking compared to Wow, but atleast the game gave people tools to make their own events, and RP and even pvp were far superior in a game like SWG.
All WoW managed to do, was make other companies launch terrible "clones" way too soon, just look at Warhammer, the game still looks and feels unfinished.
Comments
The success of WoW and failure of WAR does not change that Blizzard was originally working on a RTS based on Warhammer - but they did not get the license. Though it is incorrect to state that Blizzard went with the Lore from Warhammer, they pretty much did rip off the general concepts. This is shown with Starcraft as well.
It is a fine line, that they may have been able to scoot by on the letter of the law - but the spirit of it is quite clear.
I miss the MMORPG genre. Will a developer ever make one again?
Explorer: 87%, Killer: 67%, Achiever: 27%, Socializer: 20%
Everyone is mad.
Ooh, good question:
Elves & Dwarfs: Norse mythology.
Goblins: Celtic mythology.
Orcs: Tolkien
Worgens: Palladium RPG (called Wolfens there, looking exactly the same but somewhat founder of Roman stuff there).
I can go on for a long while if you mentioning the races you wonder about.
But the one Blizzard and everyone else is copying right now is mostly Ed Greenwoods "Forgotten realms" and some stuff from Tolkien.
Few MMO companies uses their own races, Arenanet does to mention one even if they had dwarfs and Centaurs (Greek mythology) in the first GW.
Wow have very little unique content if anything at all but it is very well coded, that is the real reason it is so popular. Most MMO companies have average or bad programmers, Blizzard, ANET and Bioware actually have competent people for coding.
Tolkien practically ‘invented’ Orcs, Elves, Goblins, Hobbits, Dwarves, Trolls and Ents. So that walking tree you find in nearly every fantasy MMO is his too. They are quite distinct from the legends he got his inspiration from. His Elves are taller and more human; his Dwarves are less magical and so on. His Dragons are perhaps the creature most similar to pre existing myths and legends. Wolf races have existed in many novels, RPG’s and MMO’s.
Lore wise you would find it hard to find anything original in WoW. But that was part of its game design genius, stick with what you know works well. Many now say the Wow format is over copied and has become boring, but at the time this template of tried and trusted races with easy mode game play and a few cherries like the skill trees was very fresh.
From the point of view of lore consistancy WoW does a good job, until you get to the Worgen race. Think about it, what the Alliance stands for and so on, sheer nonsense to bring them in as an Alliance race. I am sure they have cooked up some half baked reason for it though. If anything says to you marketing before lore then it is the wolf race. Someone decided a wolf race would be cool and everything in lore that screamed against it was put to one side.
few words: this site is very sceptical with many things like new developments, talking about class changes and so on which i really like and is kinda unique here. but who on earth wrote this article? i'm not a Wow-Fanboy (random excuse that random people dont get me wrong) nor a Wow-hater - but this text was too superficial and stereotyped for me to earn my full attention.
It is proven numurous times in all kinds of studies that the average age of WOW players is around 28 years.
28.3 years to be exact.
http://www.nickyee.com/daedalus/archives/001365.php.
There is also the Nielson study that proved in 2009 Wow was the cored game played by women between the age of 25-54.
In the United States alone over ... 400.000 women played Wow on line in 2009.
http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/58076
The above data makes the original article (4 year olds) and the above poster look ... silly.
One wonders what drives some to insult people that play WOW constantly.
Actually I would say that the leveling process in the old world is requireing less time wasting running around. A experienced player, or a player that picked up an efficient leveling guild worked through the quests in a way that reduced needless running around. Blizzard has just listened to the players and are taking advantage of this reworking of the old world to implement this.
I know I will love the changes to Raiding. I had the most fun Raiding at level 60. The AoE everything to get to the boss fight was fun the first couple of times that the tank and healer were geared enough to do that, but after that it became dull.
As with any expansion or new game ther is a chance for a major failure. Blizzard has enough experience and flexability in their product to correct any serious problems in a timely manner.
I agree with a lot of the posters on here. WoW itself is a very fun game to play; but, the community is horrible! There has been many threads on the forums about whether Blizzard should moderate their open world chat channels to filter out a lot of the trash talk that goes on; but, that wouldn't only eliminate part of the problem; which is the large number of pricks that fill the servers all day and night looking for an oppertunity to grief a victim of their personal issues.
I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use. - Galileo Galilei
JRRT gets too much credit and has "borrowed" from many sources:
Taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Der_Ring_des_Nibelungen
Richard Wagner and J. R. R. Tolkien
J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings appears to borrow some elements from Der Ring des Nibelungen; however, Tolkien himself denied that he had been inspired by Wagner's work, saying that "Both rings were round, and there the resemblance ceases."[21] Some similarities arise because Tolkien and Wagner both drew upon the same source material for inspiration, including the Völsungasaga and the Poetic Edda. However, several researchers posit that both authors draw upon many of the same sources but Tolkien was indebted to some of the original developments, insights and artistic uses made of those in Wagner, such as that the ring gives its owner mastery of the world, the ring's inherently evil nature, its consequent corrupting influence upon the minds and wills of its possessors, and the necessity for its destruction so that the world can be redeemed[22][23] Tolkien's Ring seem to merge the features of two magical items of Wagner's Ring: Alberich's Ring, that make its owner ruler of the world, and the Tarnhelm, a magical helm that makes who bears it invisible or capable of shapeshifting (the shapeshifting is not present in Tolkien's novel). Both the Rings are cursed and want/will go back to their first owner. Note that it was Wotan who stole Alberich's Ring, who is the grand-father of Siegfried, as it was Isildur who stole Sauron's Ring, who is Aragorn's forefather. There is also a resemblance between Siegfried and Aragorn: they are both orphans (their fathers died fighting an enemy) and they both possess a broken sword that they re-forge (Siegfried's Nothung and Aragorn's Andúril, the first being the sword of Siegfried's father Siegmund and the latter being the sword of Aragorn's ancestor Elendil. Futhermore, they both fall in love with an immortal relative that then becomes mortal: Siegfried falls in love with Brünnhilde (who's become mortal because she disobeyed her father Wotan's orders), his grand-aunt being daughter of Wotan and Erda and being Siegfried the grandson of Wotan and a mortal woman, and Aragorn falls in love with his cousin Arwen (who refuses immortality in order to be bound forever with him), being Aragorn a descendant of Elros, the twin brother of Arwen's father Elrond. Moreover, the father of the heores' beloved ones does not allow them to marry their daughters at the beginning (Siegfried must fight Wotan and Aragorn must become King of Gondor and of all the other mortal men). Both Aragorn and Siegfried seem to have/have an affair with another woman (Éowyn, Gurtrune). Bilbo finds the Ring while heading to the Lonely Mountain (where lives the dragon Smaug), Siegfried takes the Ring (as well as the Tarnhelm) from the hoard of the dragon Fafner. Both Wagner and Tolkien's dragon watch a hoard they stole from the Dwarves: Fafner watches Alberich's gold, while Smaug watches the treasure of Thrór. Gandalf resembles the figure of the Wanderer (Wotan disguised), who wears a grey cloak and great hat and uses his spear as a staff. The Eye of Sauron could be a reference to Wotan's missing eye (which he lost in order to obtain all the world's knowledge (that could be something like Sauron's all-seeing)).
Tolkien was an expert of Norse mythology. Der Ring des Nibelungen is based on that too (or at least Germanical mythology that is coming from the same source). Siegfrid is based on Sigurd from the Poetic Edda that is at least from the 13th century but most likely older, probably from pagan times in Iceland.
Names like Gandalfir and the name of all the dwarfs in the 'hobbit are name of Dwarven kings in Norse Mythology. Most of the other things like Elves are also from there.
He did however invent the orcs and some other stuff.
Tolkien used old Mythology as base for his book, it has been done both before and after. Howard used Irish mythology to create Conan together with some stuff from Greece, Egypt and other sources. Conan in fact was possibly based on a real person, the "Book of conquests" mentions a hero with that name that killed a Fomori named "Balor the evil eye".
I think it is kinda sad that MMOs are bad to go back to the roots and just copy Forgotten realms instead that is kinda a mix between Tolkien, Howard and Leitner.
Oh, yes. Is the enter key broken on your keyboard BTW? You write well but it is still really hard to read what you write.
Context: The person I was replying too was giving JRRT too much credit for things he didn't do. That is all.
WoW has been made into a game for pre-schoolers. Terribly watered down. There's no challenge as the game has been simplified to extremes. From A to Z they've changed everything, even spells tell youy when to click them. Everything has been diluted, And this is without mentioning the large amounts of glitches and bugs running rampant in this game.
Its still alot more challenging that other MMOs lol however it also fits n00bies just fine :P 90% of other MMOs out there fit n00bies but not proz.
It's a giant Skinner box, based around raids. That's all this game is. That's all this game will ever be. And that's why it's so successful. The people who quit are the ones who figure this out, and don't like being a pigeon.
I'm still waiting for a company to come along and make a game where people in small groups (less than 6) can compete with larger raids of 25 & 40. Of course, such a game would require balance among classes, which WoW will NEVER have. Blizzard has their favorite classes, always have, always will.
/yawn @ Cataclysm.
Because I am bored and will supply you the following answers:
1) Players may in fact be older than the age of 4, their maturity level may however give the impression they are 4.
1a) As slightly related to above, the player may in fact be 4 though given how easy the game is; so lets not discriminate here..
2) WoW is a good game, but it isn't the "one end, to end all, to be all" when it comes to mmo's. So once WoW-fanboys accept its a good game but not the best, others will actually stop taking cheap pot shots at it.
3) When ppl coronate WoW the "best game" what did it bring to the table other than the big subscriber base? Best graphics..oh wait nope... New Ideas? Oh wait not that either. A change in how the UI and gameplay mechanics go....wait then never did that. Most older MMO vets who have whored themselves to tons of mmo's do get annoyed when I hear someone say "omg WoW made all of these things before anyone!" when in fact they didn't. I played WoW, I stopped it.
At the end of the day, its about WoW being a good and popular game. Apple is popular, I just believe its over-hyped as well. I think Eve-online is the best mmo in content, storyline, being an open world and PvPvE engagement and interaction as well as general gameplay; you just can't be a mindless moron and expect to succeed in Eve. In every other mmo I've played, you can just get good stuff by being the #1 a@@ kisser with the least ability in the game or you can be a "chic" and every guys just worships the ground you walk on and gives it to you. And try to prove me wrong that this sh*t doesn't happen at all in any mmo.
So am I allowed to take sh*ts at WoW? Yes, because I more often than not do not hear legit or factual claims to why ppl say its the "best". Its the most subscribed to mmo w/out a doubt. But as they've said before, more ppl eat McDonalds than at any food-joint in the world so I guess that means it outclasses a steak from any halfway decent restaraunt then huh?
Good point on the Lore. I agree and yes it is humans bitten and become the Worgen. Age old Vampire tales? The Alliance is supposed to stand for good and pure while the Worgen is an evil creature controlling those evil intincts and fighting on the Alliance side to destroy evil. hmm
Gikku
Reason 1 - Because WOW is an EQ clone that offers nothing new to the MMO genre and never has done and never will do.
Reason 2 - 6 See above.
How any of you guys can play this is beyond me. Are you not sick of "go fetch X", "kill X amount of Y" and the boring ass combat where you do not even aim?
Seriously games like Darkfall and Mortal Online has obsoleted this EQ clone.
11 million people play it but that does not make it good. 4 million people read The Sun Newspaper in the UK and that is far far far from being a good newspaper.
The removal of 'bulky' talent trees made me cancel my account the day I got into beta -one of the earliest phases I must admit-. If there was one thing which had bugged me ever since WoW was released it was the lack of customization. You had very few talents and gear-wise you weren't off any better. Fortunately as xpacks arrived and content patches got released, the talent trees got bigger and the gear options broadened. Allthough Cataclysm will be offering 2 new races, in the end people will once again end up having the exact same talent tree as just about anyone else sharing the same class as well as wearing the exact same outfits.
Ctaclysm to me is a major step backwards gameplay-wise, a step I'm unwilling to take/make. I cancelled my sub over 6months ago and have no intention of ever returning. For me personally; Blizzard took the RPG out of MMORPG.
O !!! How many times was i angry at WOW. I was canceling subscriptions, was trying to play GW,AOC,WAR,ROM. After month or two i allways come back. It is simply the best MMO out there, but people focus to much on PVP OR PVE, if you only try to do achivements you will spend some 4 years to finish 90% of them. Huge world, Best pvp ( look now that fpatch 4.1, frost mage kick some ass), huge pve world, quest, trading, professions. It is amazing. Hope GW2 OR SWTOR will be good games, so i can play more MMO-S. sORRY there is one great game out there EVE-online, but it is hard as hell
So in response to the main article: Mr. Author, you ARE aware that:
1: Furry's have been in WoW for a LONG LONG time
and
2: They've been playing as the OTHER furry race everyone one accepted with open arms. The other race with fur and tails: Tauren. And I don't recall much rape and humping happening there.
Right?
Just thought i'd put that out there.
Just for once I'd like to jump into an expansion with my max level character and not have to re-earn gear. A new system that doesn't require you needing item level 500 or item level xxx to be useful on the raid.
In a gear based game like WoW, how would you promote or encourage progression if players no longer needed to get gear? I've only been back playing WoW a few months, but from that I have seen, as soon as people get the gear or title they want, they just stop progressing. One of our main tanks hasn't logged into the game since the night we got our kingslayer titles
I realize a lot of people still raid and progress for the enjoyment, but I think the vast majority of WoW players wouldn't step foot in a dungeon without that carrot (epic loots) dangling in their face.
You get to play again. Just be happy. Most of us haven't played in a long time so we've had our break and some of us are ready to give it another go. I don't mind rerolling. And maybe people shouldn't be in such a rush to level cap and complete the expansion's content in under a week. Moderation isn't just for your health. It also helps make the game more enjoyable. So get out and actually socialize. And as for the Barrens Chat. I welcome it. It helps pass the time on those long hours of play. Its not a big deal. And its not the most important thing in our gaming lives. I hate the nerd rage when people get all butt hurt because people are having fun and socializing in the game instead of acting like its a second job. I think it'll be fine. Although at some point it would be nice for them to move onto a whole new game like Final Fantasy and Guild Wars did.
Getting too old for this $&17!
Wow is great, for new players, I'm sure that most people who played Vanilla arent looking forward to cata.
To me it's basicly Vanilla over again, without beeing new.
Cataclysm is more of a recycle, you get old sized talent tree's, you're in the old world with a twist, you're fighting Vanilla bosses over again, several new stats are beeing removed again etc etc etc.
What's the expansion after that gonna be? they're gonna unshatter Outland so all the new players can re-experience Outland?
They're running short on ideas, and it's obvious that they've hit a wall, I loved Vanilla, a big part of it was because the game was new, and I'm sure WoW is great for new players, but other mmo's that are older than WoW are still having the same players running around, from before WoW was launched, they're not gonna give in and make their game about sucking in new players untill they're bored.
WoW needed some serious change after Wotlk, but Cata is one huge letdown, update the graphics bigtime, throw in a new class (nothing is balanced anyway), throw in 2 races and give us new places with new bosses, player housing and guild keeps, Blizzard needs to go all in soon, they're turning themselves into a company that pulls new people into the mmo scene, but obviously can't keep them interested in their game for as long as daoc, eq eve etc.
Wow is a terrible RP game, the PvP is redundant and does nothing but give you gear to pvp more, but in the end you've gotten nowhere, the PvE is the only thing that keeps it going, but I'm sure we all recognize how much the game lacks, when it's Saturday and you're locked out of all raids.
I'm not surprised that it's still going strong, but it's not due to the quality of their game.
SWG were extremely lacking compared to Wow, but atleast the game gave people tools to make their own events, and RP and even pvp were far superior in a game like SWG.
All WoW managed to do, was make other companies launch terrible "clones" way too soon, just look at Warhammer, the game still looks and feels unfinished.