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A sandbox version of WoW...
katriell
Member UncommonPosts: 977
Just a random little idea: What if Blizzard produced a sandbox version of WoW to run alongside the existing version as an alternative? Same lore, same graphics, different mechanics. Quests and dungeons stripped out for the most part and replaced by live storyline events. Classes stripped out and replaced by a pure skill system, but a somehow balanced one (so you couldn't have Build of the Month syndrome or people performing all roles in every battle). Gear focus eliminated in favour of player skill, freedom, exploration, community, and community-oriented story advancement. Phat lewt removed in favour of a strong crafting economy.
They probably have the resources to be able to do it. Even if it were to flop utterly and spectacularly, they'd still have their regular cash cow.
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In memory of Laura "Taera" Genender. Passed away on August 13, 2008.
Comments
That sounds great. While you're at it, can you replace all the crappy cartoon graphics too?
Id play it
so, to sum up. Blizzard, please make a game completely different to WoW as you already have WoW you don't need the money if it flops.
Its a good idea in a few points you are asking for them to pull perfection out of their arse when they haven't amanged it with WoW. "pure skill system, but a somehow balanced one" you could have a balanced skill system, people will still cry.
You will always get build of the month syndrome as someone posts a video of them pwning with something everyone hadn't thought of yet, then someone will work out how to counter it (because its a balanced system) and then that will be build of the month.
Balanced skill systems only work when the development team DO NOT listen to the players, but play the game.
"Phat lewt removed in favour of a strong crafting economy". surprisingly not that hard to do, I used to play a game where the top Weapons were drops but the top armors would have to be crafted, and everything was tradable. Worked rather well.
I'd play it in a heart beat.
"What is it that the gamers want from these games and why is it not given to them? We were playing these games ourselves, that's why we know it was not being done. So we moved in the opposite direction. We thought about what the users wanted, what we wanted, and why it wasn't happening and how it could happen." - Tasos Flambouras
I dunno...i think Blizzard should create a MMO with the same lore but from a kids perception of everything. And as you continue to play you would be geting older and older to id say teens or early twentys in age. But making a game completely like WoW but not WoW...doesnt seem...do-able in my eyes.
But they've already done that.
"What is it that the gamers want from these games and why is it not given to them? We were playing these games ourselves, that's why we know it was not being done. So we moved in the opposite direction. We thought about what the users wanted, what we wanted, and why it wasn't happening and how it could happen." - Tasos Flambouras
Well if they did that then it wouldn't be World of Warcraft, it would be a much much better game, but if they were to do that they would just put World of Warcraft: <Insert phrase here> to automatically draw in millions of players.
that sounds terrible, games where gear doesnt mean anything makes skill something much LESS important, because the newbs run around looking just like you, there is no distinction, time lined events do things like everything is the same everyday, it'd get so repetetive that no one would play for more then a month, /failboo
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IVE PLAYED WOW AND LIKED IT SO IM A FANBOI PLZ FLAME MY THREADS CUZ I MIGHT MENTION WOW
Yeah try and take Farcry 2 but with 5000 players and see what the worst lag-party would look like. GG
Yeah try and take Farcry 2 but with 5000 players and see what the worst lag-party would look like. GG
I am referring to the art style, which I dislike, not the polygon count per model. Here's an example:
Yeah try and take Farcry 2 but with 5000 players and see what the worst lag-party would look like. GG
Yeah because when you play WoW you always have 5000 people in your area at the same time **insert eyes rolling** Actually i can't remember when I had more than 100 people around me at the same time, maybe that once or twice when people were so bored of the game they tried to sack a capital city.
they could do numerous server-set ideas but they choose not to just sticking with the tried and tested- by other mmos.
/fainboy ?
.....so were you being sarcastic? If not...then you're a joke. If so....well done!
I'll play sandbox anything at the moment.
Even resub for a sandbox WoW.
EVE is sandbox I believe, but its not that fun
Runescape is a sandbox (in my eyes)
Sandbox WoW is an oxymoron.
Don't be terrorized! You're more likely to die of a car accident, drowning, fire, or murder! More people die every year from prescription drugs than terrorism LOL!
it's that cartoonish graphics that makes the game so extremly great, and one the reason why it's so popular..
i just hate graphics that are So wannabe real that it become extremly fake looking (lotro) or plastic (vanguard) or just extremly silly looking (aoc)
im so happy warhammer is cartoonish
cartoons is cute, wannabe real is not.. if you want real go back to the 90's.. FMV anyone? :P
it's that cartoonish graphics that makes the game so extremly great, and one the reason why it's so popular..
i just hate graphics that are So wannabe real that it become extremly fake looking (lotro) or plastic (vanguard) or just extremly silly looking (aoc)
im so happy warhammer is cartoonish
cartoons is cute, wannabe real is not.. if you want real go back to the 90's.. FMV anyone? :P
Heh, yeah. The uncanny valley affect really makes me cringe sometimes when looking at games that attempt ultra-realistic and fail. One of the best graphically designed games I've ever seen was the Jak and Daxter series which was also really cartoony. Also this cartooniness allows for a design to be more of an impression than a replication which in computer terms means less work for your graphics card.
I liked the design that Squaresoft used to do in the Final Fantasy games, more real but still cartoony enough to avoid the uncanny valley altogether. Well, I liked their design on the games before FF9, everything after was just really gay with gaudy colors and lots of unneccessary accesories on everyone (belts and zippers everywhere!). The best looking MMORPG I've seen so far is Ryzom.
I think a game with WoW's engine, movement and combat, but put into a sandbox context with levels removed, greater emphasis on crafted vs looted, and player-centric meta-games such has land wars and city control would make a very nice game.
http://mmo-hell.blogspot.com/
http://www.mmorpg.com/blogs/rejad
What Lore? 'Thrall was a slave, now he's leader of the Orcs'. Yeah, lets dig more into that.
I think something that most people don't get. There's a direct correlation between WoW's performance and it's graphic style. WoW has a very fewl polygons that it does a lot of painting on. A game like Vanguard, EQ2 or LOTRO, has high poly counts, with smaller polys and less poly painting.
If you talk about making a sandbox MMO, where players can build housing and cities, a low poly enviornment is going to be almost mandatory, otherwise each different server becomes like a seperate game, with associated downloading everytime you want to play.
Thats a nice dream you have there. I would play it.
I'd settle for WoW with max level 40 and the ability to capture cities in the game. Oh wait thats WAR, or so im told.
Uhm... "change everything but the lore"? That's not sandbox WoW. That's an entirely different game, with Warcraft lore. There's plenty of other IPs to base an entirely new game on, rather then making a bastardization of an existing one.
And it would flop utterly and spectacularly - like throwing money out the window and hoping it comes back tenfold, which is why Blizzard didn't do this in the first place. ;-)
It doesn't get anymore sandbox than WoW as it is. The things you recommend are already implemented.