WoW Clone? How About Aion Clones?

# Aug 29 2009 at 4:38 PM Rating: Good

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Dyner wrote:

Tolkein based his books on Irish and English folklore and mythology.

Tolkein

# Aug 30 2009 at 5:41 AM Rating: Good

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crushogre wrote:

Dyner wrote:

Tolkein based his books on Irish and English folklore and mythology.

actually, he based the largest part of it off Wagner's operatic Ring cycle.

and since Tolkien was obsessed with Nordic languages and philology, I'd suspect that a fair amount of Nordic mythos also got thrown into the blend.

Edited, Aug 30th 2009 9:44am by capcanuk

Tolkein

# Aug 30 2009 at 2:48 AM Rating: Decent

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I wasn't sure if Tolkein had come up with the story originally, but I've heard that he based it off of another author. So I generally tend to stop the trace back to items I know about, since I could easily spend weeks tracing the paths of ideas...and that's a little beyond the scope of what's being discussed here.

I think it's fairly save to say Video Game Industry has pretty much run into the same problem with the Movie Industry...no new ideas. You basically have four types; and instead of figuring out a good term I'll just use the titles I think emphasize it:

*World of Warcraft
*EVE Online
*PlanetSide
*Final Fantasy XI

These titles really seem to pick up the broad-ideas that any MMO can have and still be considered an MMO. Unless there's some MMO out there that I didn't play all MMOs will fall under one or more of the above titles' type.*

*Note this isn't including any MMOs still in Alpha or Beta

Tolkein

# Aug 31 2009 at 6:36 PM Rating: Good

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Dyner wrote:

I wasn't sure if Tolkein had come up with the story originally, but I've heard that he based it off of another author.

I think you're confusing this with the fact that Tolkien was close personal friends with C.S. Lewis (Narnia). They often discussed ideas, especially when both taught at Oxford, but Tolkien's work was all influenced by various mythologies of Europe, not another author.

Blizz may make the WoW killer

# Aug 29 2009 at 2:01 PM Rating: Good

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I still think that the WoW killer will end up being that other MMO that Blizzard's A team has been working for a couple years (was disappointed there was no new info on it at blizzcon). With the experience and cash they have, it's highly unlikely that it will be anything less then a success when it does get released. I'm sure that blizz knows that by running a second mmo they will cannibalize on WoW's playerbase.

However, being a new universe they are creating may have greater appeal to a different subset of players and still pay off in the end.

Re:

# Aug 29 2009 at 12:54 PM Rating: Default

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You go on about clones, as if they're a bad thing.

But if developer A has got something good, that can turn the tides of a silly game into a pretty epic game, I don't see why they don't copy them elements. When it comes down to it, certain things work, and certain things don't. I think the word here, is called progression?

You know, taking something that works, and moving forward with it.

Re:

# Aug 30 2009 at 8:31 AM Rating: Decent

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Quote:

You know, taking something that works, and moving forward with it.

The problem being that most of these copy-cat games are moving backwards or staying in the same position.

If you're going to make a fantasy-based MMO and make it wildly successful, you have to provide *major* game elements that World of Warcraft does not. It's really that simple. If you're just going to offer the same race / class system with quests and zones of scaling level challenge, just save your money and time. WoW has that market sewn up, and will continue to dominate it. The only way to knock Bliz off of their fantasy MMO perch right now is if Bliz gets lazy and starts to anger their customer base to the point where people are willing to abandon their accounts for a new experience.

You need a different environment, and preferably one with a large fan base. That's why I said Star Wars KotR has the potential to be the next huge game. George Lucas is a marketing ***** on the level of Gene Simmons, and has proven that he can take a dump in a box and slap a picture of a Wookie on it, and people will buy it up. Even though every SW game was horrible through the years, people still bought every new one that came out for the console or PC. Now we have a game that actually looks to be well-made with a fan base that rivals or exceeds Warcraft.

Could be interesting.

Probably not

# Aug 28 2009 at 8:34 PM Rating: Decent

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How many WoW clones have come out that are supposed to be "WoW killers"?

Too many. None of them have succeeded. Why?

Because they're clones.

The "WoW killer" will most likely be something that is nothing like WoW and offers a completely different experience. Why did Age of Conan not kill WoW? Why did Warhammer Online not kill WoW? Easy - because they were so much like WoW, WoW players said "why should I abandon my friends and my character(s) I've worked on for months / years just to play the same type of game?"

Warhammer was the saddest one... people have been clamoring for a World of Starcraft game for so long now. Games Workshop could have done Warhammer 40k (a futuristic battle) instead of Warhammer Fantasy and raked in the cash. I would love to know why they didn't.

The next game that has the potential to be a "WoW killer" is Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Online. KotR has a great history with gamers. Sony had a golden ticket in Star Wars Galaxies and totally botched the game. If BioWare keeps Knights up to the quality people have come to expect, it should be the next major game that everyone is talking about.

Probably not

# Aug 30 2009 at 6:21 PM Rating: Decent

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Tried Starwars OR has plenty of story to work with but it would have to be developed better than the Knights of the Old Republic Games. The first KOTOR game was excellent. The second one should have been excellent but wasn't. It had a great story for the most part, but was rushed to release when it clearly wasn't ready. It was full of bugs and parts of the game that weren't finished were removed at the last minute - which showed when you were playing it.
That's one of the secrets of Blizzard's success. They are sometimes criticised for never releasing anything on time but they make sure things work and work well before releasing anything. They don't concern themselves with rushing development to meet a release date in time for the Christmas rush (as was the case with KOTOR2). They simply make sure it's good and then release it.

Probably not

# Aug 29 2009 at 11:57 AM Rating: Decent

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I really don't think thatthe other games have failed because they are "clones". Their failure is tied to their playability (or lack thereof). I saw those preview shots of Aion and they are gorgeous! If (and it's a mighty big "IF") Aion has the playability that WoW has, then it will be a success. If it doesn't, then it will be a failure, just like the other MMORPGs.

Wait a minute! I called them failures, even though they are making money and keeping subscribers. But yes, they are still failures. They were supposed to be "the WoW Killer", and for that purpose, they were full of fail. The really big difference in philosophy is that Blizzard appears to be aiming for an audience that has never played MMOs (or possibly RPGs) before (and who really cares about "hard-core" - they are a small minority, anyhow. Let those go to wherever.), while the others are only aiming at stealing accounts that Blizz already has sewed up.

Probably not

# Aug 29 2009 at 12:55 AM Rating: Decent

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Yngvie wrote:

Warhammer was the saddest one... people have been clamoring for a World of Starcraft game for so long now. Games Workshop could have done Warhammer 40k (a futuristic battle) instead of Warhammer Fantasy and raked in the cash. I would love to know why they didn't.

The next game that has the potential to be a "WoW killer" is Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Online. KotR has a great history with gamers. Sony had a golden ticket in Star Wars Galaxies and totally botched the game. If BioWare keeps Knights up to the quality people have come to expect, it should be the next major game that everyone is talking about.

I agree I would have more than loved to play Sci-fi MMORPG after long time in the WoW fantasy world. I also generally see Warhammer 40k a lot interesting world than Warhammer Fantasy. Warhammer 40k could have been very interesting choice of races and classes.

I have my highest expectation for this BioWare Lucas Art new Starwars MMORPG. I hope they make all classes competative and not everybody turns out to be Force sensitive Jedi or Sith with super powers to crush everybody else. I'm more of mercenary type of guy independent hard only go after profits. My only moral code is who pays me more but I always finish my contracts. What I mean. I hope that they can build an MMO world that is littlebit different for you depending what class you play. This could be wow killer idea. If they just make WoW with starwar skins and more bugs I propably can play it a month and then go back to WoW. :P

Probably not

# Aug 28 2009 at 10:24 PM Rating: Default

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Sigh, I really hate having to repeat myself but. World of Warcraft is an EQ I/II clone...and EQ is a clone of Dungeon & Dragons (table top)...and D&D is a Tolkein (yes the book) clone...and if I'm not mistaken Tolkein based his books off another author's book.

So basically, every popular game we have ever had is based off of Tolkein's work (assuming he did in fact come up with the story on his own...i'm not going to research; you all can do that if you want).

----

Oh and here's a nifty tit-bit of information...

*AoC is based on the novel by Robert Howard (last I checked he wasn't around for WoW)

*WAR is based on the table-top version http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warhammer_Fantasy_Battle oh wow..look there it says 1983-Present...yeah totally a WoW-clone that didn't exist until after 2004

*WAR is a WoW-killer? Only because players said so; the company never said it. http://www.cinemablend.com/games/EA-Warhammer-Isn-t-A-WoW-killer-10904.html

Probably not

# Aug 30 2009 at 2:00 AM Rating: Decent

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Dyner wrote:

You seem to have no idea on what constitutes a clone. A true clone would have compatibility, and allow players to move between the two games transparently. You confuse "copy" with "influence".

Quote:

*AoC is based on the novel by Robert Howard (last I checked he wasn't around for WoW)

AoC is (loosely) based on short stories by Robert E. Howard. He is probably the originator of the entire sword&sorcery genre, a few years before Tolkein although he was heavily influenced by the even earlier E.R. Burroughs. But of course, your display of misinformation shows no bounds, as does your lack of knowledge.

Probably not

# Aug 28 2009 at 9:52 PM Rating: Decent

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WAR and AoC didn't fail to be WoWkillers simply because they were similar to WoW, they also weren't as good of games either. The players that were/are dead tired of WoW, and the players that hate WoW for reason X, but who also have the fantasy RPG bug, populate those games.

If you don't view AoC/WAR as being in the shadow of WoW, they aren't doing badly. WAR has had big content updates and AoC's expansion has been announced. Meanwhile, WoW's leveling and class nerfing (among other things) have riled people up as of late, but they've also announced their upcoming expansion. I think WoW is at its height now, and it's a matter of how long it stays that way.

I believe poor execution in competing games, along with excellent execution in maintaining WoW, have kept WoW indisputably on top this long. In addition, even the big MMOs rarely publicly challenge WoW, stating things like "we're fine with being #2". It seems like they give up before they even begin.

Spokesmen for WoW have publicly challenged competitors saying anyone wanting to beat WoW will need deep pockets. Bioware has deep pockets, and Star Wars is as big as it gets, so I agree that it has a chance if executed perfectly.