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Blizzards MMORPG compared side by side to other so called Clones
Mystict4orce
Member Posts: 44
Blizzard’s MMORPG compared side by side to other so called “Clones”
How similar would these “WoW clones” truly be? Most of the time, these so called “WoW Clones” fail once they hit the market. But why is that, if they are truly following what Blizzard does?
Or could they be more different, then many of us want to consider? Blizzard braches off of Everquest, yet Blizzard did well as a clone of its predecessor. But That’s because Blizzard didn’t reject ideals that were popular from Everquest, simply because they want to be different. Blizzard took what the community liked, and fixed what they didn’t.
If these mmorpg’s out here are “WoW Clones” than why do I notice these games missing features that are popular in WoW, and in some cases, going the reverse rout?
Let’s take a look at this deeper.
I made a list of some key design features in WoW. Now what I would like you to do, is to compare your so called “WOW CLONE” to the list that came out after WoW, and tally up the number of similarities. I guaranty you will not get a perfect score on any of these so called “WoW Clone”.
So how can they be a WoW clone than?
WoW has: (leaving out polish and bugs)
*Raiding PvE
*Persistent Seamless world
*Faction vs Faction PvP
*Multiple player Classes
*Smaller Dungeons
*Solo-able Quest system
*Multiple Player Races
*Race driven PvP Factions
*World PvP
*Tab Targeting/ Auto Attack
*Gear Focused
*Fantasy sub-Genre
*Instanced PvP
*Crafting and Gathering resource system
*WASD/arrow as main movement, not Click to move as main
*No Auto Enemy follow/ No Auto Facing
*Talent Trees for Classes
*Customizable 3rd party UI
*World PvE
Well I know I may not have listed all of WoW’s features, but compare some “WoW Clones” to the list, and tell how much out of 18 did your wow clone get? Was it a perfect 18/18? If so what game is that?
From reading this forum alone, I came up with a sample list of so called “WoW clones” that I have seen labeled on this forum at some time before.
*LoTRO
*AoC
*Warhammer Online
*Vanguard
*Runes of Magic
*Alganon
*Darkfall Online (Yes I have actually read somebody complain about DF being a WoW clone)
Hey you add you own WoW clone to the list.
But we also have some upcoming MMORPGs on the way. From the list, what comparison score does the following upcoming mmorpgs get out of the 18:
*RIFT
*SWTOR
*GUILD WARS 2
*BLADES AND SOULS
*FF14 Revamp
*TERA
*DC ONLINE
PS feel free to add on to the list above. And rate your WoW clone and share your results. Leave things like “Less Buggy” out of the list though.
Comments
Proceed to read my signature. It will put the whole WoW clone thing in perspective for you.
World of Warcraft is the original creation of God. Real Life is in fact a WoW clone.
Why in spite of being so criticized microsoft operating systems has been leader in the market?
Why Apple with their well designed OS and even Linux free OS never even got close to those Microsoft?
I am not saying that it is exactly the case, but I want to show that being a market leader has more factors than just being better than the others, it has to do with quality but also with being at the right time at the right place and take the opportunities. Blizzard did a good job to take the lead in the market and a better one to stay at the top.
Basically if it's not sandbox, maplestory clone, it's a wow clone.
I personally question that the 19 game-play elements you list are all that great. For instance: I could do without "Raiding PvE", "World PvP", Tab Targeting and Auto Attack, "Gear Focused", Fantasy Sub-Genre, and a Customizable 3rd party UI system. Now that's just my 2¢ worth, but my point is that an MMO shouldn't have to follow your "feature list" to succeed.
Now of the Games that you list as being "Clones"... the only one I've played is AoC. And I quit that because the support was the absolute worst of any game I'd ever played (until I hit STO). I can pretty much go with anyone's game mechanics. But when I'm having severe issues and get absolutely no response from the publisher's support department - I simply won't tolerate that for very long.
But essentially I didn't think AoC was a WoW Clone at all. And it doesn't really have nearly half of the things you list, or it didn't when I played. So I'd say they should not really be compared. Except maybe to say that WoW's support might just be the best in the business. Or it sure seems that way because of how poorly some of these other companies do at providing any support at all.
WoW is an EQ clone.
Very true, only they dumbed it down to the point that a young kid can play it.
To the OP, you need to edit your list of WoW clones, Vanguard is/was in no way EVER a WoW clone. There was nothing at launch that could even be mentioned in the same sentence as WoW, I know I was there from beta until 8 months after launch. Yeah I was a glutten for punishment /shrug. Just because it was a Fantasy MMO does not make it a WoW clone. Besides, as mentioned above, WoW is a CLONE!
To simplify and make easier to use =/= dumbing down.
Some of the biggest ideas and formulae in science are also the simplest.
Drop the next-gen marketing and people will argue if the game itself has merit.
WoW would never have made it to where it is today f it didn't have the Warcraft 3 following on launch.
"I am not in a server with Gankers...THEY ARE IN A SERVER WITH ME!!!"
I don't understand these statements. I started playing Everquest when I was 10 years old, in 1999. I understood it quite well and was a pretty good Warrior. I was level 60 by March 2001 (Yea, we live in Nebraska in the middle of NO WHERE, somehow we got dial up. Social experiences were miles and miles away besides school.) and raided quite a bit. How much younger are we talking?
He who keeps his cool best wins.
Four of the games on your list arent even released yet, so hard to say they are clones unless you have some precognitive abilities beyond normal human guesswork.
As other posters have said, with WOW they had a built in audience already. They also got to take advantage of a smaller market segment with far fewer choices and a less demanding audience.
Nowadays more people are in the market for MMOs and they know more of what they want from a game.
Gaming since Avalon Hill was making board games.
Played SWG, EVE, Fallen Earth, LOTRO, Rift, Vanguard, WoW, SWTOR, TSW, Tera
Tried Aoc, Aion, EQII, RoM, Vindictus, Darkfail, DDO, GW, PotBS
Playing: Rift, LotRO
Waiting on: GW2, BP
Seamless being...what? I'd call every load screen a big fat seam.
I don't get the point to all this.(again)
I get what you're saying, Mystict4orce (OP). I always chuckle when a new game comes out and tons of people scoff, saying "It's just a stupid WoW Clone. Why doesn't somebody come out with something different??"
It seems if a game has graphics, lets you kill stuff, and has a way to chat with other players it suddenly qualifies as a WoW Clone to a lot of people.
In my opinion, a WoW Clone wouldn't be a totally bad thing. I like a lot of features in WoW. EQ was a fun game and like you said WoW took everything EQ had, sifted through it with a fine tooth comb to pull out its best features, and improve on its worst features.
I have yet to try a game and think "OMGZORZ this is totally a WoW Clone!!!!1!1"
Just because a game puts symbols over NPCs heads to signify quests doesn't make a game a WoW Clone to me. Some games have borrowed features that WoW borrowed from previous games (although improved them) but that's just smart design. No sense reinventing the wheel. Some games have borrowed more features than others, but even then I don't see them as clones.
Sorry you are wrong.
Even though EQ was made before WoW, it's still a copy of it.
I think the OP wants some people that claim various games are WoW Clones to actually compare features between the games to try and back up WHY they think they're clones. Too often people see a few similar features and slap "CLONE" on the new game.
This list is weird. In some of the examples you are broad and others you are very specific. If you really want to make a huge comprehensive list it'll be 100x larger then this one.
He who keeps his cool best wins.
Yeah but the OP is trying to reason with people that are thinking irrationally, using the term "WoWclone" without a second thought. Not gunna work I thinks.
I would like to know what the point of this post is as well. What is the OP really trying to get across?
A) WoW clones are not really doing a good job at copying WoW, and unless they copy it exactly they aren't trying hard enough?
C) WoW is so ubergreatly awesome that other games suck and can't even come close cause WoW is perfect *gush*
All of my posts are either intelligent, thought provoking, funny, satirical, sarcastic or intentionally disrespectful. Take your pick.
I get banned in the forums for games I love, so lets see if I do better in the forums for games I hate.
I enjoy the serenity of not caring what your opinion is.
I don't hate much, but I hate Apple© with a passion. If Steve Jobs was alive, I would punch him in the face.
I believe one of the writers here said that his six year old nephew played WoW quite easily.
How many themepark game ever created is not a wow clone.
Eventhough EQ or Lineage is created before wow they are still called wow clone.
I don't get them either, mainly because young kids can play any of these games. My 9 year ol son, for example, loves EVE and plays it regularly (especially now that it is getting cold and nasty outside). While I prefer WoW, go figure.
How many people long for that "past, simpler, and better world," I wonder, without ever recognizing the truth that perhaps it was they who were simpler and better, and not the world about them?
R.A.Salvatore
Wait a minute here... this whole thread is completetely backwards.The OP thinks that game developers strive for the title of being # 1 WoW Clone???
To my understanding this is what the author basically wrote... "List your MMORPG that is branded as a WoW clone... oh look it didn't get a perfect score according to my scale, looks like its not a wow clone and therefore it sucks!"
Being coined a WoW Clone is a derogatory comment not something to run around with and be proud of.
Let's not forget that WoW is the #1 Everquest clone.
according to whom or what?
"I'll never grow up, never grow up, never grow up! Not me!"