Eh. I wouldn't be surprised if TESO eclipsed WoW is US/EU player base numbers. WoW's numbers are wildly overblown because of how they throw in the Asian hourly users as 'subs.'
I expect something of a comeback for WoW - after a continued slide in the next quarters before the expansion comes out. The main reason is people don't give a shit about Pandas. The second problem for them is that their progression system has been driving people OUT of the game rather then keeping people addicted as is back in the early wrath/bc days. Message to Blizz - no one wants to do the same damn content THREE OR FOUR TIMES!. Shoot.
The big problem for Blizzard is their crap graphics engine and their archaic combat system. None of the new games coming out use it as far as I know - and with good reason. Tab targetting is the scourge of MMOs. Its like something out of the 90s - totally out of step with modern video games. Can you imagine dishonored with tab targetting..pathetic.
Unless Blizzard wants to step up to the plate and reinvest they fighting a long term losing battle. Its an old game with an old engine and competitors are starting to put out better polished content in less time with less expediture then WoW. The game design decisions that Blizzard fans like so much are easy enough to copy..
None of the new games are WoW clones - starting with GW2 because their combat is fundamentally different. They recalcute if an enemy is hit by an attack after the attack has been launced. WoW calculates at launch and then just draws stuff so it 'makes sense' This is why WoW combat is so responsive - less calcuations are neeed. Unfortunately it makes WoW combat largely a numbers game and less based on skill.
The big change though is subtle -( you can still call the games WoW clones (though I think thats ignorant even for Wildstar because of the combat differences)
In the past the formula was WOW + new IP = profit. Rift, SWTOR, FFXIV etc etc. This didn't work though.
The new formula is WoW 'inspired' themepark design + New engine + whatever new innovations the engine can support + new IP. Its a big difference in actual play.. examples would be GW2, TESO, Wildstar.
Of course their are other formulas too - archeage for example but the Big US ones are trying to leverage their new engine as a means of victory. I think it will work as long as WoW sits on its laurels.
WoW Clone to me is the combination of at least three of these...
1. UI presentation. Though I can only fault so much because its damn good UI style.
2. Quest Hubs: NPCs standing around in groups designed to give you convenient quest.
3. Quest Progression: Progression by questing which is done through quest hubs.
4. Battlegrounds: E-Sport style PvP.
5. Gear treadmill raiding: Raiding for new gear or requirements to raid revolving around getting gear or both.
2 and 3 are just themepark staples. 5 is in 90% of all MMORPGs
1 and 4 (somewhat), yes. But you are confusing WoW clone with themepark, which are not the same. EQ2 fits 4 of the 5 but its certainly not a WoW clone (and not just because it came out first)
Eh. I wouldn't be surprised if TESO eclipsed WoW is US/EU player base numbers. WoW's numbers are wildly overblown because of how they throw in the Asian hourly users as 'subs.'
There are still at least 2-3 million NA/EU subs out there.
The highest any game besides WoW has ever sustained is EvE and EQ1, both around 500k.
Really? Yellow '!' above quest givers' heads, hub-based questing system, trinity-based group PvE combat, progression raiding, a level 60 cap originally planned (later changed to 50), two competing factions, PvP servers with faction-specific safe zones and PvE servers with optional flagging, one-word naming scheme, race-restricted classes, fixed body models for each race, (mostly) seamless world with strongly-themed zones ... but you're right, the only reason people make the comparison between WildStar and WoW is the levels and login screen and shares "very little" with anything that WoW has done.
And most of these are genre staples (beyond the genre in most cases), not systems. Yellow ! is a good one though. But 2 factions is pretty common in all media formats and PvP servers with optional PvE flagging is another common sense thing. Fixed body models just makes designing gear easier. And one word name scheme? now you are grasping at straws.
Nowhere did I argue that the features weren't widespread or that Carbine didn't have good reasons for their inclusion. Gravarg argued that people called WildStar a WoW clone just because it was an MMO (ie it had levels and a login screen), and claimed that it "shares little if anything WoW has done." The similarities between the two games run much deeper than both being MMOs, regardless of Carbine's reasons for selecting them or their existence elsewhere in the genre. Many players do or will associate the WildStar features I mentioned with WoW, regardless of whether you think it's wrong of them to do so.
Gravarg's underlying point that "WoW clone" gets thrown about too liberally isn't wrong (for example, GW2 has none of the specific features I mentioned but still gets called a WoW clone by some players), but using WildStar as an example to make that point, throwing in the assertion that it "shares little if anything WoW has done" to support it, is absurd.
I'm skeptical, not that other types of games are coming, but that other types of games will be well received.
The way I figure it. MMORPG population is semi-static with little shrink or growth, and consists mainly of players who move from game to game. My *guess* (that means I don't have data that backs this up, so don't ask) is that maybe 50% of the MMORPG playerbase defines MMORPG by WoW or WoW-like games.
This begs the question of how will those people respond to something different?
They don't. They'll play the next MMO for a month and return right back to WoW.
The other games give WoW players a break in the boring routines that never change in WoW. A way to prevent burn out, but they'll be back right on cue for the tier patch.
I'm skeptical, not that other types of games are coming, but that other types of games will be well received.
The way I figure it. MMORPG population is semi-static with little shrink or growth, and consists mainly of players who move from game to game. My *guess* (that means I don't have data that backs this up, so don't ask) is that maybe 50% of the MMORPG playerbase defines MMORPG by WoW or WoW-like games.
This begs the question of how will those people respond to something different?
They don't. They'll play the next MMO for a month and return right back to WoW.
The other games give WoW players a break in the boring routines that never change in WoW. A way to prevent burn out, but they'll be back right on cue for the tier patch.
So how did I manage to stop playing WOW from December to 5.2 in September (after 8 months of straight raiding) in and quit again indefenitely after month a half? I don't thnk I'll be ever coming back to WOW, which is sad since I left 750k gold to take dust there....
I'm skeptical, not that other types of games are coming, but that other types of games will be well received.
The way I figure it. MMORPG population is semi-static with little shrink or growth, and consists mainly of players who move from game to game. My *guess* (that means I don't have data that backs this up, so don't ask) is that maybe 50% of the MMORPG playerbase defines MMORPG by WoW or WoW-like games.
This begs the question of how will those people respond to something different?
They don't. They'll play the next MMO for a month and return right back to WoW.
The other games give WoW players a break in the boring routines that never change in WoW. A way to prevent burn out, but they'll be back right on cue for the tier patch.
So how did I manage to stop playing WOW from December to 5.2 in September (after 8 months of straight raiding) in and quit again indefenitely after month a half? I don't thnk I'll be ever coming back to WOW, which is sad since I left 750k gold to take dust there....
You'll be back, because nostalgia will bug you too (or friends).
I didn't think of it at the time the little short note I sent to Sacredheals on YouTube, is that effect. But he's a Holy paladin that went dark for a while now, and he's one of the few I subscribe to there. So yeah, pinged him to shoot more video, as others will ping you to play again.
Hardest thing about quitting WoW is how many people play it and they're always talking about the game where you can't even avoid it. When I TRY to play another MMO, my family will come in and talk about the latest WoW stuff, when I'm TRYING to concentrate on ANOTHER MMO. I think I managed to stay WoW free for 4 months until sis came in needing help, again. -_-
Originally posted by Gravarg People will still call anything with a login screen a WoW Clone, unfortunately. Just look at Wildstar, other than it has levels and a login screen, it shares very little with anything that WoW has done lol. Some say the graphics are similar, but they're not. Wildstar's are more quarky and um...wild hehe.
Well.. i don't know that much about Wildstar.. watched a few vids, read a few articles.. and a really like the pace and feel of the combat.. but, is it really not in the path of WoW? I may be wrong, because i am be no means a Wildstar expert.. but here is a list, and just tell me if wildstar fullfils it or not.
Feature set for a WoW clone:
- heavy gear centric. Usually you have to hunt for gear and gear progression is the endgame progression and replaces leveling at that point
- strong vertical level progression. World is usually separated in different Level Zones just playable for the appropariate level.
- Hub centric. Every Level Zone includes one or more Quest Hubs.
- Quest centric. Mostly trival Quests, and a lot of them.. usually Quests from Lvl1 to max level. No need to leveling with anything beside Quests
- Raid is PvE endgame focus... usually driven by gear grinding.
- PvP as aftherthough... just some battlegrounds or/and areanas. Jump in and have some fun, but not a integral part of the game or the game world
Basicly what we call nowadays Themepark.. there may be some variations(like GW2), but even those can easily be called WoW clones. Because 90%+ are basicly used from WoW or just slightly modified.
Just my 2 cent.
But at the topic.. yeap it looks like a few games try to do something different from WoW.. a lot more sandbox like games, or games like Shrould of the Avater or Star Citizen try to do something different from the usual themepark mmos, and are not really sandboxes either.
God forbid future games take ideas from hugely successful ones, that's just blasphemy. WoW was the first MMO and didn't borrow a single idea from any... /rollseyes
Does that mean the logic is "Gotta be different to be different, even if it's worse by doing so"?
This tripe about "sandbox MMOs" is sad really. It's like chasing a unicorn; you're never going to see it. ArchAge was a joke right out the door along with every other poor triple C attempt at an MMO for $3000.
Be happy that you get really solid games which borrow ideas and deliver brand new content - stop chasing this magical leprechaun of a game that will somehow revolutionize the industry, completely pioneer a brand new direction and be vastly different to anything you ever played because you'll be doing it for the next 10 years and realize you never actually enjoyed an MMO again because of a poor attitude from the get-go towards each game.
God forbid future games take ideas from hugely successful ones, that's just blasphemy. WoW was the first MMO and didn't borrow a single idea from any... /rollseyes
Does that mean the logic is "Gotta be different to be different, even if it's worse by doing so"?
This tripe about "sandbox MMOs" is sad really. It's like chasing a unicorn; you're never going to see it. ArchAge was a joke right out the door along with every other poor triple C attempt at an MMO for $3000.
Be happy that you get really solid games which borrow ideas and deliver brand new content - stop chasing this magical leprechaun of a game that will somehow revolutionize the industry, completely pioneer a brand new direction and be vastly different to anything you ever played.
Of course you can steal ideas.. but it is just logical to call it a clone. WoW was called EQ clone for quite some time.. and absolutely justified.. it took a lot from EQ and some other games. It is just another dikumud style mmo. Yeap.. correctly EQ was a dikumud clone.
And no.. themeparks or even worst WoW style themeparks (or clones) are not the only viable MMO possible.. and the future will prove that.
Whilst I've even seen eve online called wow in space, isn't wildstar meant to be a 'wow clone', albeit a sort of 'vanilla wow' clone rather than a 'current wow' clone?
WoW Clone to me is the combination of at least three of these...
1. UI presentation. Though I can only fault so much because its damn good UI style.
2. Quest Hubs: NPCs standing around in groups designed to give you convenient quest.
3. Quest Progression: Progression by questing which is done through quest hubs.
4. Battlegrounds: E-Sport style PvP.
5. Gear treadmill raiding: Raiding for new gear or requirements to raid revolving around getting gear or both.
2 and 3 are just themepark staples. 5 is in 90% of all MMORPGs
1 and 4 (somewhat), yes. But you are confusing WoW clone with themepark, which are not the same. EQ2 fits 4 of the 5 but its certainly not a WoW clone (and not just because it came out first)
I think that's the point. You know, theme parks don't actually have to be designed this way, at one time long ago they weren't all created so much the same, heck, the differences were so great no one really grouped them together.
Now they pretty much follow a core model and if more than 20% of the features between then differ I'd be surprised.
Calling all theme parks WOW clones is not accurate, but calling most of these new titles standard theme parks probably is.
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
WoW Clone to me is the combination of at least three of these...
1. UI presentation. Though I can only fault so much because its damn good UI style.
2. Quest Hubs: NPCs standing around in groups designed to give you convenient quest.
3. Quest Progression: Progression by questing which is done through quest hubs.
4. Battlegrounds: E-Sport style PvP.
5. Gear treadmill raiding: Raiding for new gear or requirements to raid revolving around getting gear or both.
2 and 3 are just themepark staples. 5 is in 90% of all MMORPGs
1 and 4 (somewhat), yes. But you are confusing WoW clone with themepark, which are not the same. EQ2 fits 4 of the 5 but its certainly not a WoW clone (and not just because it came out first)
Themepark staples basically mean WoW inspired because it was the creator of the themepark genre. All 5 of those started in WoW. Prior to all games were sandbox or open world npc grinders. The quest hub system and majority progression method started in WoW.
Finally it took some years to bleed it to near death, now we have plenty of MMOs in the making that is not a WoW clone and for me I find this trend most interesting.'
Go 2014
Seven million subscribers is bled near to death?
I can not remember winning or losing a single debate on the internet.
Finally it took some years to bleed it to near death, now we have plenty of MMOs in the making that is not a WoW clone and for me I find this trend most interesting.'
Go 2014
Seven million subscribers is bled near to death?
No idea, but that blizzard are already jumping on the in-game store bandwaggon and kitting it out almost ever few months, even with the subs they have, it does get people wondering tbh
Finally it took some years to bleed it to near death, now we have plenty of MMOs in the making that is not a WoW clone and for me I find this trend most interesting.'
Go 2014
Seven million subscribers is bled near to death?
No idea, but that blizzard are already jumping on the in-game store bandwaggon and kitting it out almost ever few months, even with the subs they have, it does get people wondering tbh
Adding a cash shop to make more money seems like a no-brainer. What reason would they have for not doing it?
Anyway, I'm waiting to see a consensus on what a "WoW Clone" is. The features required to be a WoW Clone seem to be getting moved into the "MMO Features" category pretty quickly.
I can not remember winning or losing a single debate on the internet.
Wow isnt losing subs because its a bad game. Its losing subs because of stagnation. I love wow, played it for 5 years. I still think its the best mmo a new mmo player can get into. But after 5 years it was enough for me. Blizzard has to really step their game up and start changing wow or it will be left behind. People are just tired of the same old same old every year.
Playing: FFXIV, DnL, and World of Warships Waiting on: Ashes of Creation
Finally it took some years to bleed it to near death, now we have plenty of MMOs in the making that is not a WoW clone and for me I find this trend most interesting.'
Go 2014
So is this going to have the same soapbox-prophet accuracy rate as "WoW Is Dead!!!?"
Honestly for me anymore it doesn't make any difference about whether an mmo resembles WoW. The truth, as many have discussed on many a blog and gaming forum, is really how well Blizz adapts/adopts style, concepts, philosophies, and mechanics found in other mmo's. They do this so well that many of us just assume it's a Blizz original design. Therefore, past mmo's that have released are tagged as WoW clones. For me, nope not really. That's not what I see or experience.
I care about whether the mmo is playable, interesting, involving, and community-based, to name a few. Truly it might be time to ask whether we are at a point in this type of technology where there is little left to the imagination when it comes to game creation. Obviously I would like to entertain the idea that there are some concepts and mechanics that are truly different than what we first saw in those old mmo's from pre-2004.
In the mean time I am not going to have a coronary conniption fit if the graphics are "too cartoony", there is "LFR", there are exclamation or question marks above the heads of NPCs, we have quest hubs, there are battlegrounds/warfronts for e-sport pvp, snarky slap-stick humor from time to time, one button push to creation for crafting, or even a raid/pvp only end-game philosophy.
This too, shall pass...
Alyn
All I want is the truth Just gimme some truth John Lennon
I think the one thing that every MMO maker has taken away from the World of Warcraft craze is that the upkeep for these online multiplayer themeparks is insane on the developers. While it is definitely sustainable, it's very much like making a cart with hexegon shaped wheels and pushing it up a hill. Yes, it can be invigorating work to continue to develop the same game, but the game becomes very restrictive from a community content building standpoint, almost always requires continuous end game resets via some kind of iLvL boost or expansion, and always casts it's net too wide and gets too many different communities of people in one melting pot.
Just look at this forum (or Final Fantasy XIV ARRs forum for that matter). We got so many different people in this place that just about any post with an opinion is going to eventually get a counter opinion. Most themepark games end up having the same thing happen, only everyone usually loses because the developers usually have ear plugs to forum chatter and the publisher doesn't care unless masses of people start dropping out.
Comments
Eh. I wouldn't be surprised if TESO eclipsed WoW is US/EU player base numbers. WoW's numbers are wildly overblown because of how they throw in the Asian hourly users as 'subs.'
I expect something of a comeback for WoW - after a continued slide in the next quarters before the expansion comes out. The main reason is people don't give a shit about Pandas. The second problem for them is that their progression system has been driving people OUT of the game rather then keeping people addicted as is back in the early wrath/bc days. Message to Blizz - no one wants to do the same damn content THREE OR FOUR TIMES!. Shoot.
The big problem for Blizzard is their crap graphics engine and their archaic combat system. None of the new games coming out use it as far as I know - and with good reason. Tab targetting is the scourge of MMOs. Its like something out of the 90s - totally out of step with modern video games. Can you imagine dishonored with tab targetting..pathetic.
Unless Blizzard wants to step up to the plate and reinvest they fighting a long term losing battle. Its an old game with an old engine and competitors are starting to put out better polished content in less time with less expediture then WoW. The game design decisions that Blizzard fans like so much are easy enough to copy..
None of the new games are WoW clones - starting with GW2 because their combat is fundamentally different. They recalcute if an enemy is hit by an attack after the attack has been launced. WoW calculates at launch and then just draws stuff so it 'makes sense' This is why WoW combat is so responsive - less calcuations are neeed. Unfortunately it makes WoW combat largely a numbers game and less based on skill.
The big change though is subtle -( you can still call the games WoW clones (though I think thats ignorant even for Wildstar because of the combat differences)
In the past the formula was WOW + new IP = profit. Rift, SWTOR, FFXIV etc etc. This didn't work though.
The new formula is WoW 'inspired' themepark design + New engine + whatever new innovations the engine can support + new IP. Its a big difference in actual play.. examples would be GW2, TESO, Wildstar.
Of course their are other formulas too - archeage for example but the Big US ones are trying to leverage their new engine as a means of victory. I think it will work as long as WoW sits on its laurels.
2 and 3 are just themepark staples. 5 is in 90% of all MMORPGs
1 and 4 (somewhat), yes. But you are confusing WoW clone with themepark, which are not the same. EQ2 fits 4 of the 5 but its certainly not a WoW clone (and not just because it came out first)
There are still at least 2-3 million NA/EU subs out there.
The highest any game besides WoW has ever sustained is EvE and EQ1, both around 500k.
Nowhere did I argue that the features weren't widespread or that Carbine didn't have good reasons for their inclusion. Gravarg argued that people called WildStar a WoW clone just because it was an MMO (ie it had levels and a login screen), and claimed that it "shares little if anything WoW has done." The similarities between the two games run much deeper than both being MMOs, regardless of Carbine's reasons for selecting them or their existence elsewhere in the genre. Many players do or will associate the WildStar features I mentioned with WoW, regardless of whether you think it's wrong of them to do so.
Gravarg's underlying point that "WoW clone" gets thrown about too liberally isn't wrong (for example, GW2 has none of the specific features I mentioned but still gets called a WoW clone by some players), but using WildStar as an example to make that point, throwing in the assertion that it "shares little if anything WoW has done" to support it, is absurd.
They don't. They'll play the next MMO for a month and return right back to WoW.
The other games give WoW players a break in the boring routines that never change in WoW. A way to prevent burn out, but they'll be back right on cue for the tier patch.
.:| Kevyne@Shandris - Armory |:. - When WoW was #1 - .:| I AM A HOLY PALADIN - Guild Theme |:.
So how did I manage to stop playing WOW from December to 5.2 in September (after 8 months of straight raiding) in and quit again indefenitely after month a half? I don't thnk I'll be ever coming back to WOW, which is sad since I left 750k gold to take dust there....
You'll be back, because nostalgia will bug you too (or friends).
I didn't think of it at the time the little short note I sent to Sacredheals on YouTube, is that effect. But he's a Holy paladin that went dark for a while now, and he's one of the few I subscribe to there. So yeah, pinged him to shoot more video, as others will ping you to play again.
Hardest thing about quitting WoW is how many people play it and they're always talking about the game where you can't even avoid it. When I TRY to play another MMO, my family will come in and talk about the latest WoW stuff, when I'm TRYING to concentrate on ANOTHER MMO. I think I managed to stay WoW free for 4 months until sis came in needing help, again. -_-
.:| Kevyne@Shandris - Armory |:. - When WoW was #1 - .:| I AM A HOLY PALADIN - Guild Theme |:.
Well.. i don't know that much about Wildstar.. watched a few vids, read a few articles.. and a really like the pace and feel of the combat.. but, is it really not in the path of WoW? I may be wrong, because i am be no means a Wildstar expert.. but here is a list, and just tell me if wildstar fullfils it or not.
Feature set for a WoW clone:
- heavy gear centric. Usually you have to hunt for gear and gear progression is the endgame progression and replaces leveling at that point
- strong vertical level progression. World is usually separated in different Level Zones just playable for the appropariate level.
- Hub centric. Every Level Zone includes one or more Quest Hubs.
- Quest centric. Mostly trival Quests, and a lot of them.. usually Quests from Lvl1 to max level. No need to leveling with anything beside Quests
- Raid is PvE endgame focus... usually driven by gear grinding.
- PvP as aftherthough... just some battlegrounds or/and areanas. Jump in and have some fun, but not a integral part of the game or the game world
Basicly what we call nowadays Themepark.. there may be some variations(like GW2), but even those can easily be called WoW clones. Because 90%+ are basicly used from WoW or just slightly modified.
Just my 2 cent.
But at the topic.. yeap it looks like a few games try to do something different from WoW.. a lot more sandbox like games, or games like Shrould of the Avater or Star Citizen try to do something different from the usual themepark mmos, and are not really sandboxes either.
God forbid future games take ideas from hugely successful ones, that's just blasphemy. WoW was the first MMO and didn't borrow a single idea from any... /rollseyes
Does that mean the logic is "Gotta be different to be different, even if it's worse by doing so"?
This tripe about "sandbox MMOs" is sad really. It's like chasing a unicorn; you're never going to see it. ArchAge was a joke right out the door along with every other poor triple C attempt at an MMO for $3000.
Be happy that you get really solid games which borrow ideas and deliver brand new content - stop chasing this magical leprechaun of a game that will somehow revolutionize the industry, completely pioneer a brand new direction and be vastly different to anything you ever played because you'll be doing it for the next 10 years and realize you never actually enjoyed an MMO again because of a poor attitude from the get-go towards each game.
Of course you can steal ideas.. but it is just logical to call it a clone. WoW was called EQ clone for quite some time.. and absolutely justified.. it took a lot from EQ and some other games. It is just another dikumud style mmo. Yeap.. correctly EQ was a dikumud clone.
And no.. themeparks or even worst WoW style themeparks (or clones) are not the only viable MMO possible.. and the future will prove that.
I don't believe you.
I think that's the point. You know, theme parks don't actually have to be designed this way, at one time long ago they weren't all created so much the same, heck, the differences were so great no one really grouped them together.
Now they pretty much follow a core model and if more than 20% of the features between then differ I'd be surprised.
Calling all theme parks WOW clones is not accurate, but calling most of these new titles standard theme parks probably is.
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
Themepark staples basically mean WoW inspired because it was the creator of the themepark genre. All 5 of those started in WoW. Prior to all games were sandbox or open world npc grinders. The quest hub system and majority progression method started in WoW.
Seven million subscribers is bled near to death?
I can not remember winning or losing a single debate on the internet.
All I can say is.....
"We'll see."
No idea, but that blizzard are already jumping on the in-game store bandwaggon and kitting it out almost ever few months, even with the subs they have, it does get people wondering tbh
Adding a cash shop to make more money seems like a no-brainer. What reason would they have for not doing it?
Anyway, I'm waiting to see a consensus on what a "WoW Clone" is. The features required to be a WoW Clone seem to be getting moved into the "MMO Features" category pretty quickly.
I can not remember winning or losing a single debate on the internet.
Playing: FFXIV, DnL, and World of Warships
Waiting on: Ashes of Creation
So is this going to have the same soapbox-prophet accuracy rate as "WoW Is Dead!!!?"
Honestly for me anymore it doesn't make any difference about whether an mmo resembles WoW. The truth, as many have discussed on many a blog and gaming forum, is really how well Blizz adapts/adopts style, concepts, philosophies, and mechanics found in other mmo's. They do this so well that many of us just assume it's a Blizz original design. Therefore, past mmo's that have released are tagged as WoW clones. For me, nope not really. That's not what I see or experience.
I care about whether the mmo is playable, interesting, involving, and community-based, to name a few. Truly it might be time to ask whether we are at a point in this type of technology where there is little left to the imagination when it comes to game creation. Obviously I would like to entertain the idea that there are some concepts and mechanics that are truly different than what we first saw in those old mmo's from pre-2004.
In the mean time I am not going to have a coronary conniption fit if the graphics are "too cartoony", there is "LFR", there are exclamation or question marks above the heads of NPCs, we have quest hubs, there are battlegrounds/warfronts for e-sport pvp, snarky slap-stick humor from time to time, one button push to creation for crafting, or even a raid/pvp only end-game philosophy.
This too, shall pass...
Alyn
All I want is the truth
Just gimme some truth
John Lennon
I think the one thing that every MMO maker has taken away from the World of Warcraft craze is that the upkeep for these online multiplayer themeparks is insane on the developers. While it is definitely sustainable, it's very much like making a cart with hexegon shaped wheels and pushing it up a hill. Yes, it can be invigorating work to continue to develop the same game, but the game becomes very restrictive from a community content building standpoint, almost always requires continuous end game resets via some kind of iLvL boost or expansion, and always casts it's net too wide and gets too many different communities of people in one melting pot.
Just look at this forum (or Final Fantasy XIV ARRs forum for that matter). We got so many different people in this place that just about any post with an opinion is going to eventually get a counter opinion. Most themepark games end up having the same thing happen, only everyone usually loses because the developers usually have ear plugs to forum chatter and the publisher doesn't care unless masses of people start dropping out.