What is a WoW-clone anyways?

neobahamut20

A (hopefully) simple explanation to the question "What is a WoW-clone?"

 

1. WoW

WoW stands for World of Warcraft, the most popular MMORPG to date and of all time. A lot of people have tried and enjoyed it, a lot also tried and hated it.

 

2. Clone

The dictionary version: A group of organisms or cells produced asexually from one ancestor or stock, to which they are genetically identical.

The gaming version: A clone normally is a game that is very similar to the original done by companies who try and take a piece of the pie of the bigger game.

 

3. WoW-clone

This is a term to describe games that try to be like World of Warcraft. To determine a WoW-clone works like determining a child is autistic. It's judgement passed by a doctor, or gamer in this case, based on criteria that may or may not be an exact science. So opinions may vary, but everyone agrees on extreme cases.

 

4. Symptoms

• The combat bar is at the bottom with the numbers 1 to = where the player may press skills to damage a selected enemy.
• The fights are static and involve repetitively hitting the same numbers.
• The player must gather quests and do them to get rewards, such as experience, gold and items
• Party play normally is constituted of tanks, healers and dps. A holy trinity.
• A player has to train skills at level up and uses a specialization tree to define his class better.
• The game progresses through the use of gear, often referred to as a "gear grind".
• There are two factions fighting each other for control. Sometimes, one of those factions is AI.
• Boss fights are often a well coordinated dance more than an actual battle.
• The game implements dubious real-life references.
• There is a global cooldown
• There are pvp and dungeon queues
• Question marks and exclamation marks as quest markers

5. Characteristics

 

Characteristics differ from symptoms as they are related to the way the managers behind the curtain act with the public. WoW clones may display the following behavior:

• Having an NDA
• Banning dissenting opinions, especially when they are accused a system is copied from WoW
• Defending decisions by using WoW as a reference.
• Claiming to listen to the public, with little to no interation with the public on their forum
• Defending features by claiming it is too late to change now

 

6. Diagnostic

 

A WoW-clone can have one, any or all of the above symptoms and characteristics depending on the person giving his opinion, but it is usually conceded that the game is a WoW-clone if they have both one characteristic and two or more symptoms. However, the inverse is also true, someone defending the new pretty pixels a game offers will require proof that their game matches all characteristics and all symptoms and before proof is given, they will claim that it is not a clone.

 

7. Conclusion

Everyone is right when calling a game a WoW-clone or not a WoW-clone. Unlike the diagnostic of things like autism though, it will not ruin anyone's life. The general rule is that if someone is reminded of WoW by a game, then it most likely fits both characteristics and symptoms so to him, it is indeed a clone of sorts since in his view, the game is very similar to its predecessor.

 

TL;DR

You're right, no matter what you say.

 

Murugan

A WoW clone is a term used by jaded individuals to indiscriminately troll games they don't play so that they can feel better about spending all of their time on a website devoted to MMORPGs while crying about how much they hate all available MMORPGs (except the magical holy grail of an MMO at the end of the rainbow that will save us all!).

 

Normal people who still have souls and people in their lives who love them don't use the term.

azzamasin

In order for me to label a game a WoW clone it has to have the following:

• Linear, scripted quest line from creation to cap
• Instanced battlegrounds and dungeons
• Tab targeting combat with unlimited hotbar's
• Class based holy trinity with little deviation

 

That's pretty much it for me to call something a WoW clone.  In other words games like Rift and SWTOR are WoW clones whereas GW2 and Neverwinter are not.

neobahamut20

Originally posted by Murugan

A WoW clone is a term used by jaded individuals to indiscriminately troll games they don't play so that they can feel better about spending all of their time on a website devoted to MMORPGs while crying about how much they hate all available MMORPGs (except the magical holy grail of an MMO at the end of the rainbow that will save us all!).

 

Normal people who still have souls and people in their lives who love them don't use the term.

That is a gross misunderstanding of the trolling culture. Stop using the definition the media taught you, it is wrong. They are always wrong about the Internet anyways.

Reza82

Just about your first symptom... I don`t really see it as a WoW clone related thing here... when people bring this up i wonder what other options are there? to reinvent the keyboard? remove it and replace it with what?  You want them to move down a line from the 1 to = to the Q to P?  What`s the solution?

DamonVile

There's no such thing as a wow clone just people who can't tell the difference.

IridescentOrk

Most MMOs released after WoW are "WoW clones".

 

Reza82

Originally posted by IridescentOrk

Most MMOs released after WoW are "WoW clones".

 

kind of like how all games are Pong clones?

neobahamut20

Originally posted by Salahudin
Just about your first symptom... I don`t really see it as a WoW clone related thing here... when people bring this up i wonder what other options are there? to reinvent the keyboard? remove it and replace it with what?  You want them to move down a line from the 1 to = to the Q to P?  What`s the solution?

There are a lot of different suggestions on the Net. The main point is that they do not require a hotbar. Just a different, more modern, presentation would do for a lot of people. There are some alternatives though:

 

For example, one I find interesting is having a 5 point rose where people can create spells/attacks from combinations on that rose where the complexity and speed would affect the potency of the spell, though I fear such an implementation would get boring fast since most people would just macro it anyways. I know I would, but the concept in itself is interesting.

 

Another one would be drawing with the mouse for skills. That could be fun.

Quizzical

Game X is a WoW-clone if it shares enough characteristics that you dislike with WoW to convince you that you'll probably dislike game X.

Murugan

Originally posted by neobahamut20

Originally posted by Murugan

A WoW clone is a term used by jaded individuals to indiscriminately troll games they don't play so that they can feel better about spending all of their time on a website devoted to MMORPGs while crying about how much they hate all available MMORPGs (except the magical holy grail of an MMO at the end of the rainbow that will save us all!).

 

Normal people who still have souls and people in their lives who love them don't use the term.

That is a gross misunderstanding of the trolling culture. Stop using the definition the media taught you, it is wrong. They are always wrong about the Internet anyways.

I'm sure your culture is very deep and complex.  You should publish an essay on it, I'm sure then people will recognize the activity as the intellectual and socially attractive pursuit it is.

 

Or like all your other posts it will temporarily make you feel better about your negativity and general bleakness until reality sets in and you realize how little people care about how much you hate X.

DamonVile

Originally posted by Murugan

Normal people who still have souls and people in their lives who love them don't use the term.

So it's ok for a red head to call something a wow clone ?

Loke666

Originally posted by Murugan

A WoW clone is a term used by jaded individuals to indiscriminately troll games they don't play so that they can feel better about spending all of their time on a website devoted to MMORPGs while crying about how much they hate all available MMORPGs (except the magical holy grail of an MMO at the end of the rainbow that will save us all!).

Normal people who still have souls and people in their lives who love them don't use the term.

I would say most people here just use it as a description of a game that borrowed many ideas EQ and Wow. It doesnt really need to be negative but people just dont bother writing out "themepark that reminds a bit about Wow".

There surely should be a better term describing trinity fantasy games where you have levels and gear to handle character development (usually together with some points to spec with) where you progress through quests, dungeons and raids but it have come to be the general term for it with many people.

Wow hardly invented these mechanics and most people here knows it but everyone know what Wow is and how it works.

But we really should invent a better term, maybe "questpark" or something.

Shadowguy64

Originally posted by ReallyNow10

Originally posted by Loke666

Originally posted by Murugan

A WoW clone is a term used by jaded individuals to indiscriminately troll games they don't play so that they can feel better about spending all of their time on a website devoted to MMORPGs while crying about how much they hate all available MMORPGs (except the magical holy grail of an MMO at the end of the rainbow that will save us all!).

Normal people who still have souls and people in their lives who love them don't use the term.

I would say most people here just use it as a description of a game that borrowed many ideas EQ and Wow. It doesnt really need to be negative but people just dont bother writing out "themepark that reminds a bit about Wow".

There surely should be a better term describing trinity fantasy games where you have levels and gear to handle character development (usually together with some points to spec with) where you progress through quests, dungeons and raids but it have come to be the general term for it with many people.

Wow hardly invented these mechanics and most people here knows it but everyone know what Wow is and how it works.

But we really should invent a better term, maybe "questpark" or something.

Maybe "questpark" like you suggested.  When I hear "WOW clone", the very first thing that pops into my mind is gameplay where players are herded from quest hub to quest hub.

 

And that is exactly why people use the term. They know that many don't like the quest-hub to quest hub gameplay so, in order to disparage their targeted game, they accuse it of being a witch...I mean WoW-clone, and then the pitchforks, lynchings and stone throwing begins..

General-Zod

Originally posted by ReallyNow10

Originally posted by Loke666

Originally posted by Murugan

A WoW clone is a term used by jaded individuals to indiscriminately troll games they don't play so that they can feel better about spending all of their time on a website devoted to MMORPGs while crying about how much they hate all available MMORPGs (except the magical holy grail of an MMO at the end of the rainbow that will save us all!).

Normal people who still have souls and people in their lives who love them don't use the term.

I would say most people here just use it as a description of a game that borrowed many ideas EQ and Wow. It doesnt really need to be negative but people just dont bother writing out "themepark that reminds a bit about Wow".

There surely should be a better term describing trinity fantasy games where you have levels and gear to handle character development (usually together with some points to spec with) where you progress through quests, dungeons and raids but it have come to be the general term for it with many people.

Wow hardly invented these mechanics and most people here knows it but everyone know what Wow is and how it works.

But we really should invent a better term, maybe "questpark" or something.

Maybe "questpark" like you suggested.  When I hear "WOW clone", the very first thing that pops into my mind is gameplay where players are herded from quest hub to quest hub.

This is done without necessarily being a WoW clone ..

A good example would be GW2, no real similarities with WoW however running from orange heart to orange heart...

Quirhid

No one who wants to be taken seriously uses the term.

Reklaw

Sorry I just don't see this "WoW-Clone"

Perhaps it's because I play so many different genre of games I don't see me calling every FPS type of game to be some sort of clone from game X. In every genre you are bound to see several similarities between games.

Each has his own stories, lore, background. To many people keep guiding themselfs by what the game tells them to do and that's mostly follow the X without actually stopping and see the world that has been created, the little details, the "what's going on in that world" instead of " what's the fastest way to cap lvl"

It's a genre, not a clone.

DavisFlight

Originally posted by Quirhid
No one who wants to be taken seriously uses the term.

Anyone who has been around in this genre long enough knows exactly when to use that term. It is very clear when a game is aping WoW and when one is trying to be its own thing.

sportsfan

The fact this thread even exists is proof MMORPG's never got over the shock post WOW.

I pity the guys getting their heads heated over it.

 

niceguy3978

Its kind of like asking how many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie pop.

Skaioverride

"WoW clone" is the MMO equivalent of "YOLO"

Loktofeit

A class-restricted level-based gear-dependent MMO.

 

niceguy3978

Originally posted by DavisFlight

Originally posted by Quirhid
No one who wants to be taken seriously uses the term.

Anyone who has been around in this genre long enough knows exactly when to use that term. It is very clear when a game is aping WoW and when one is trying to be its own thing.

The problem is, there are lots of people who will say that any mmo they don't like is a wow clone.  The phrase has lost any meaning that it ever had because it is used as a way to say "I don't like this game."  So while there are many who remember what the term meant back in the day, it no longer has that meaning in general use.

Kuuhn

I dont see what party play involving the "holy trinity" has to do with World of Warcraft.. More like a typical RPG standard. It certainly did not come from World of Warcraft nor will it go away any time soon.. or ever. 

tixylix

99% of MMOs that came after WoW in my experience and even games released before WoW have been dumbed down to try and be more like it like SWG or EQ and EQ2 etc etc.

 

MMOs used to be all unique and very different from each other, now whenever I try one it's like "oh I've done all this in WoW, bored of it back in 2005, bored of it now".......

DamonVile

Originally posted by Loktofeit

A class-restricted level-based gear-dependent MMO.

 

So everquest is a wow clone ?