Why is World of Warcraft's Druid the only Shapeshifter in MMOs?

Gravarg

I got to thinking while playing around on my Druid, and though to myself, "Self, there aren't really any other MMOs that do shapeshifting like the Druid."

There's Guild Wars 2, which has the Norn that can shapeshift temporarily into one of the 4 animal spirits.  There's Dungeons and Dragons Online which you can shapeshift into animals, but once you get the next shapeshift you rarely use anything other than that one.  Everquest 2 has shapeshifting Druids, but they still don't work smoothly lol.  Elder Scrolls has Werewolves. Lord of the Rings Online has Werebears.

So why is it that one of the most popular classes in the most popular MMO of all time isn't copied or at least attempted in other MMOs?

Dullahan

There are few things that originated with WoW or any Blizzard game for that matter.

EQ and Vanguard had all kinds of class based illusions and shapeshifting types of spells. They also had items that provided the same effects.

Reizla

Lord of the Rings online also has a shapeshifting druid/fighter class (Beorn). Oddly though, this class is extremely out of line with the lore because the one Beorn the fellowship meets in the books is the last of his kind...

Erinak1

Reizla said:

Lord of the Rings online also has a shapeshifting druid/fighter class (Beorn). Oddly though, this class is extremely out of line with the lore because the one Beorn the fellowship meets in the books is the last of his kind...

In the movie he is, in the books he is not (It is more or less as the game describes, though I don't think there are thousands of them.) They play a pretty big part in the war of the ring and after the war of the ring, they are given a part of mirkwood by Thranduil as a reward for their part.

observer

Gravarg said:

I got to thinking while playing around on my Druid, and though to myself, "Self, there aren't really any other MMOs that do shapeshifting like the Druid."

There's Guild Wars 2, which has the Norn that can shapeshift temporarily into one of the 4 animal spirits.  There's Dungeons and Dragons Online which you can shapeshift into animals, but once you get the next shapeshift you rarely use anything other than that one.  Everquest 2 has shapeshifting Druids, but they still don't work smoothly lol.  Elder Scrolls has Werewolves. Lord of the Rings Online has Werebears.

So why is it that one of the most popular classes in the most popular MMO of all time isn't copied or at least attempted in other MMOs?

Probably because it's difficult and takes a lot of work.  The WoW druid is basically 4 classes into 1 now, and each shapeshift form has it's own animations and skill sets.  It's actually quite amazing how they pulled it off, especially back in 2004.

As fo the GW2 shapeshift forms, they only have around 5 skills temporarily, and basically share the Costume Brawl system.  It's not an entire new class with permanent sklils, so it's useless, and it also doesn't ruin balance in pvp or pve.

Ridelynn

Yeah I was also thinking EQ1 has done this in many different ways over the years 

I guess WoW was the first I can recall where you had one "class" that could shift to serve any part of the trinity - EQ1 you were pretty well locked into your role based on your class (although I did see some amazing out of the box play).

The shapeshifting wasn't the unique part for WoW (at the time), it was the multiple roles in a single class in a trinity-based game. EQ1 druid came the closest (kinda a healer, kinda a dps) that I can think of before WoW's release, but my experience in early MMOs is somewhat limited.

Kyleran

Vanguard had Shamans, DAOC had a Hib fighter (Hero) with a short term shape shifting form.

But the WOW Druid was my favorite class when I played. 

In an era where some devs can't be arsed to create male and female models for some classes, its no surprise a versatile and complex class such as the WOW Druid would not be "cloned" by others. 

Panther2103

Kyleran said:

Vanguard had Shamans, DAOC had a Hib fighter (Hero) with a short term shape shifting form.

But the WOW Druid was my favorite class when I played. 

In an era where some devs can't be arsed to create male and female models for some classes, its no surprise a versatile and complex class such as the WOW Druid would not be "cloned" by others. 

I don't think that has to do with the modeling of the characters as much as it does the fact that all of the armors associated with the class would have to be reworked for the new gender if they modeled it. It's just quicker for them. Whereas the druid in WoW when shapeshifted didn't show any armor or any changes in gear at all, it was just the model of that specific form running around. 

Deivos

DDO has a shapeshifting class too...the druid class.

filmoret

Druid being the most popular class has nothing to do with the fact that they shapeshift.  It has more to do with them being stronger and easier to play then any other class.  But people like their character and don't want to be some animal the entire time they are trying to combat something.

SavageHorizon

Seems the op has been mislead, the Vanguard Shanny was every bit as good shape shifting as the wow Druid.

fs23otm

EQ druid was the first real MMO shapeshifter, staying in wolf form 99% of the time. 

Other games did it also, not just WoW.

Flyte27

The EQ Druid could change into a wolf for increased speed and melee attack.  It's probably my favorite incarnation of the Druid as it closely resembles the D&D 2nd edition Druid and my image of what Druids are.  Especially the concept of circles and living in the wild.  These Druids were a hybrid of healing and DPS.  They could even melee a bit if they combined all their spells including wolf form, attack buffs, ac buffs, damage shield, damage over time, direct damage, weapon damage procs, heal over time, snare, root, etc.

I like the WoW Druid, but I feel it's become pigeonholed into a specific role which defeats the purpose of the class.  You used to be able to invest in multiple talent trees which allowed you to tank a little, heal a little, and DPS a little.  I guess it's all in the name of having easy balance of classes.  The concept is nice, but the end result is you just end up playing as a healer, mage, tank, melee dps with different graphics/spells depending on what you choose.

breadm1x

Some say DMKano wears latex while playing BDO.
And that he wants to steal my palm tree

Forgrimm

In DC Universe Online, the nature power has several different animal forms.

Albatroes

S.U.N. by Webzen (R.I.P.) Dragon Knight could be a dragon.

cheyane

As others pointed out Everquest 1 had it plus you could aside from the druid also shapeshift to objects as an enchanter in Everquest 1

filmoret

Is thread another attempt to make WOW look like superior product that has done things no other company is competent enough to do?  Like create an overpowerd class who can shapeshift into npc models and walk around using abilities.  So innovative, so suave, so intimidating.

Alders

Because shapeshifters stink! As someone that loves transmogs/wardrobes and the like, i despise them and their inability to show armor. Now if that were ever fixed properly, i might dislike them more.

shalissar

I wish there were more of them, being a warden in eq2 and druid in wow was just too fun back in the day

Theocritus

Also in Anarchy Online (pre WoW) the Adventurer class could shapeshift into a few different creatures.

observer

filmoret said:

Is thread another attempt to make WOW look like superior product that has done things no other company is competent enough to do?  Like create an overpowerd class who can shapeshift into npc models and walk around using abilities.  So innovative, so suave, so intimidating.

It uses NPC models so it can rehash the animations, which is pretty smart, otherwise they would have to create 3 different unique sets which is time consuming.

RadixMalorum

EQ2 Furies and Wardens (Druids) could turn into Wolves,  Lions, a Tree... a tiger. And I guess you could count ESO werewolves?

Octagon7711

I agree no modern MMO's have shifters like in WoW.  You can also stay in another form and stealth for as long as you want.  Other current MMO's have shifting on short timers as well as stealth.  WoW did a great job and I'm always surprised I don't see more in current games.  

Archlyte

Because engines are super limited still I guess and it takes Pyramid-Building effort to do something cool or interactive in games. 

TheScavenger

WoW did a lot of unique things

Only MMO as far as I know to allow you to play as the "undead" (forsaken). Very very few singleplayer games even allow that.

A demon summoning class (warlock), granted quite less unique as demon summoning is pretty common, but WoW did it perfectly

Only currently released MMO as far as I know for an unique starting area for each race. Only MMO (that I am aware of) that was released that was like that is Vanguard Saga of Heroes, which had an unique starting area for each race as well (it actually had more starting zones because it had more races)

WoW's shaman is very unique, not too many MMOs, if any (as far as I know), that is like the WoW shaman

It also has most content and paths to advancement than any MMO. From 1-60 you have a TON of zones you can choose to go through, each time you make a character its different because there are so many choices to go to. And that is VANILLA zones before expansion zones, no MMORPG (themepark) has that many vanilla zones to progress in. Most MMORPGs are a very small linear world, WoW is linear to a point, but you have a TON of choices of what zone to go to. Once past 60 the choices are more pigeonhold, but before that you get a ton of options. And a bit of options again in cataclysm zones. But then you can level through dungeons, or level through crafting/harvesting (possible yes, I've done it and made a ton of money doing it), or PvP or any number of things.

Vanguard saga of heroes also had a ton of options of which zone to go through, because so many zones to choose from that you could level pretty much anywhere you wanted in any direction you wanted (similar to WoW). It was also very similar to advancement in WoW, where you had a lot of choices of what to do to progress. 

WoW did a lot of other things right, but those are things that pop out in my mind. Only MMO to come close to WoW is vanguard saga of heroes, but it died.