The solution is simple take an old good game like DAoC and update it to 2010 gfx, problem solved, but i think companys are to scared to think that way instead they wanna invent the wheel all over again and the problem with that is that its still gonna be round and nothing new will happen, so look to the past to shape a better game.
as you can see its not that easy to think of something new. many dont like it but have nothing to offer but waaaaaaaa
Blizzard had the time to cover every corner decently and with enough variety. It is extremely hard to find anything on top of that mountain and still offer all things that were added in these past 6 years.
It's a dilemma and the one who can solve it would be a very rich man. But it is not a forum poster who could bring anything. Not even a team of highly skilled designers. And certainly NOT the next marketing 'grab the money" guy.
This has been the enigma for all these years OP. Already too many got burned on trying to find "the key".
You do realize that Everquest 1 came out WAY before WoW, and Everquest 2 came out a month after WoW. The only way that EQ is a WoW clone is if Brad McQuaid time traveled to the future, played WoW, went back to the past and then decided to make EQ to clone WoW.
You're wrong, sorry....EQ2 came out just BEFORE WoW. It released Nov 8, 2004 and WoW released Nov 23, 2004. I actually played in the open betas for both. Guild Wars beta weekends were also 'round about in that time frame. You're right, of course, about EQ1, where Norrath originated, being long long before WoW.
However, I too resent the inclusion of EQ2 in the OP's rant, considering that WoW stole many things from EQ2 including guild banks and now even guild leveling, and yet they STILL can't make WoW as good of a game as EQ2 because for some dumbass reason they're unwilling to "steal" the best parts of EQ2....the many more races and classes and FAR superior crafting and collections and player housing that is freaking phenom in it's customization.
[mod edit]
However, to SoE's DIScredit, they have, of late, added more WoW-esque things that I find annoying, like when they removed the death penalty, things like that. But ah well, c'est la vie.
I don't consider EQ2 a WoW clone, however....that's just absurd. WoW took so much from EQ1 AND EQ2 that even toying with such an idea is foolish.
And to people saying that WoW was copying EQ 2 (attention please, two, dos), LOL? You do realise WoW came out only 1 month after EQ2? In this one month you can't copy from another game when your game is 99% finished. EQ2 didn't copy WoW either ofc.
The solution is simple take an old good game like DAoC and update it to 2010 gfx, problem solved, but i think companys are to scared to think that way instead they wanna invent the wheel all over again and the problem with that is that its still gonna be round and nothing new will happen, so look to the past to shape a better game.
DaoC is not the game it used to anymore. And since you would have to change engine the cost is huge so you might as well make DaoC 2 instead. Take all the great stuff from DaoC, fix the stuff that wasn't great (you are probably nostalgic if you forgotten the bad stuff) and you would have a really nice game.
As for reinventing the wheel, the problem lately have been that they tried making the wheel square instead of round. Reinventing the genre is actually a great idea but you have to start from where it all begin instead of copying EQ all the time.
Go back to pen and paper RPGs, take a RPG that isn't D&D and transfer it's world and mechanics to a computer game. Like Runequest, R.I.F.T.S or Warhammer fantasy RPG. This have only been done with D&D and it is the reason most MMOs are so similar, D&D do have it's advantages but it also have many weak points and there are better P&P games out there.
But blaming Wow like the OP isn't fair, it is everyone that copies EQ that is at fault and while Wow have some of the blame so does most other games that use the same standardized system.
We need to be able to change between different kinds of games, but now we can choose from EQ copies, UO copies and Eve (And EQ is kinda a copy from Meridian 59 but I write EQ since everyone know it).
And to people saying that WoW was copying EQ 2 (attention please, two, dos), LOL? You do realise WoW came out only 1 month after EQ2? In this one month you can't copy from another game when your game is 99% finished. EQ2 didn't copy WoW either ofc.
Agreed, Wow started in development late '97 when Jeff Strain suggested to Blizzards board that they should make their own EQ.
Kaplan took over 2 years later when Strain started Arenanet. But it do makes sense that a game made by EQ fans have many similarities with EQ, and that the sequel also have.
After that have the games patched in stuff from eachother making them even more close.
I completely understand what the original poster is getting at even if this thread has been done before.
Before the massive success of wow most games had their own feel and flavor. Playing DAOC, Anarchy Online, Everquest, Asherons Call, City of Heroes and they all felt different from each other. Cloning wasn't really a term that was being tossed around, because each game gave a different play experience to various degrees.
Even wow which is just an evolution of previous game designs fells much different in terms of gameplay than the games it took ideas from. Blizzard looked at the genre, asked what players like and didn't like and worked on that as their emphasis and it made a great game.
Now the trend seems to be that designers are just looking at what wow does and copying that into a new game and put some new twists or a new feature on top of that. When someone calls another game a "wow clone" I think they are referening to the gameplay not feeling new, but rather feeling like something they are already burned out on.
It is a trend for developers right now to "wowify" their games instead of asking the same questions that blizzard did when they created wow. What are players tired of right now? What isn't working? What is missing? What does already work and shouldn't be changed?
The original poster is right. Playing wow in norrath or space or with a bit more pvp ins't going to be the key to success for developers and that is exactly what most developers have been doing. They are copying wow and not emulating blizzard. Regardless of what games we individually might think are better, that is the trend developers are following.
What I find annoying is, I've quit WoW. unsubbed months ago and still I'm being spammed with Cataclysm beta invites even though the Beta has finished. Account verification emails aswell as inquests from supposed a GM@live.com etc etc.
You do realize that Everquest 1 came out WAY before WoW, and Everquest 2 came out a month after WoW. The only way that EQ is a WoW clone is if Brad McQuaid time traveled to the future, played WoW, went back to the past and then decided to make EQ to clone WoW.
You're wrong, sorry....EQ2 came out just BEFORE WoW. It released Nov 8, 2004 and WoW released Nov 23, 2004. I actually played in the open betas for both. Guild Wars beta weekends were also 'round about in that time frame. You're right, of course, about EQ1, where Norrath originated, being long long before WoW.
However, I too resent the inclusion of EQ2 in the OP's rant, considering that WoW stole many things from EQ2 including guild banks and now even guild leveling, and yet they STILL can't make WoW as good of a game as EQ2 because for some dumbass reason they're unwilling to "steal" the best parts of EQ2....the many more races and classes and FAR superior crafting and collections and player housing that is freaking phenom in it's customization.
[mod edit]
However, to SoE's DIScredit, they have, of late, added more WoW-esque things that I find annoying, like when they removed the death penalty, things like that. But ah well, c'est la vie.
I don't consider EQ2 a WoW clone, however....that's just absurd. WoW took so much from EQ1 AND EQ2 that even toying with such an idea is foolish.
Yeah, I would say that at launch, they felt nothing like each other despite the fact that WoW took some things from EQ2 and EQ2 took some things from WoW. These days though, SOE has taken great strides to change EQ2 into something that greatly resembles World of Warcraft.
Still, I don't think it's as bad of a WoW clone as games like LotRO and WAR.
Not only that, but the copies always run 3 years behind the newest things we see in Wow.
Quest dynamics are copied (lotro), then BG's are copied (War), flying is copied (Aion) and always with less then more.
Next will be the world changing copies for the new bunch of MMO's. Probably up to the standards of "old" Wotlk while Cata already advanced it a week ago.
We created a monster with a monster resource system. We are all responsible, but hey, at least enjoy the fun.
Part of this I have feeling aswell, I cannot withstand WoW Anymore, when I get motivated to play I simply find it boring after 2 hours nowadays, not a problem, there's other options in the market....or not?
I tried Lotro, good PvE but nothing very exciting about it, Warhammer, funny time playing pvp and rvr, but some problems with balance and lack of people (the game demanded many people in order to many things being fun) killed it, a shame, it was exciting, AoC, Aion etc...
Maybe Im just burned up and tired of mmos in general, but why I got burned to begin with? because they are all the same, but with little (very little) twists between them...
I have faith in the next year, partircularly with GW2, looks something new to experiment with, will it be done well? we shall see...
"It has potential" -Second most used phrase on existence "It sucks" -Most used phrase on existence
Who could have thought that WOW could bring super power like USA to its knees?
Originally posted by Arcken
To put it in a nutshell, our society is about to hit the fan, grades are dropping, obesity is going up,childhood the USA is going to lose its super power status before too long, but hey, as long as we have a cheap method to babysit our kids, all will be well no? Im picking on WoW btw because its the beast that made all of this possible
Let me preface by saying i think WoW is a very well done game.
My problem is not with WoW its with the rest of these so called developers out there that take WoW and just add a little twist here or there.
Hey lets take WOW and have a bit more focus on RVR
hey lets take WoW and add a more open class system
Hey lets take WOW and give it star wars skins
hey lets take WoW and set it in norrath
Hey lets take WoW and give them guns
Hey lets take WoW and but set it in a comic book
we get it WoW is a big moneymaker, they are the largest MMO out there but that doesn't mean their way is the ONLY way so you have to copy it directly.
I am done with this genre till some AAA company pulls their heads from their rear and realizes that if people wanted to play WoW they will just play WoW, we need some originality.
Its almost like they give you nothing for the 1.3 billion dollars they make a year. Wait they don't, wow has screwed more people over than Enron and people are still enslaved like zombies to the title.
Let me preface by saying i think WoW is a very well done game.
My problem is not with WoW its with the rest of these so called developers out there that take WoW and just add a little twist here or there.
Hey lets take WOW and have a bit more focus on RVR
hey lets take WoW and add a more open class system
Hey lets take WOW and give it star wars skins
hey lets take WoW and set it in norrath
Hey lets take WoW and give them guns
Hey lets take WoW and but set it in a comic book
we get it WoW is a big moneymaker, they are the largest MMO out there but that doesn't mean their way is the ONLY way so you have to copy it directly.
I am done with this genre till some AAA company pulls their heads from their rear and realizes that if people wanted to play WoW they will just play WoW, we need some originality.
Erm I tend to agree with the last part of your comment but you do know WoW was a" clone "of games that preceeded it like Everquest . Also it tends to clone the idea of other games that have been released after it . This borrowing from other games really has led it to being quite a mish mash and poorer not richer as a result . But this happens in every genre of gaming does nt it . Do you give up first person shooter because they are Doom Clones etc . These games arn't WoW clones they are simply games evolving from the very earliest mmos . Its not the pinacle of what mmos will achieve . They once said no one would ever be bigger than Elvis to use a musical analogy and we all know what happened there . We all know WoWs days of 12 million subs are numbered and sooner or later something else will catch the mood of the moment . The amazing thing is that its not happened in 6 years .
Let me preface by saying i think WoW is a very well done game.
My problem is not with WoW its with the rest of these so called developers out there that take WoW and just add a little twist here or there.
Hey lets take WOW and have a bit more focus on RVR
hey lets take WoW and add a more open class system
Hey lets take WOW and give it star wars skins
hey lets take WoW and set it in norrath
Hey lets take WoW and give them guns
Hey lets take WoW and but set it in a comic book
we get it WoW is a big moneymaker, they are the largest MMO out there but that doesn't mean their way is the ONLY way so you have to copy it directly.
I am done with this genre till some AAA company pulls their heads from their rear and realizes that if people wanted to play WoW they will just play WoW, we need some originality.
Its almost like they give you nothing for the 1.3 billion dollars they make a year. Wait they don't, wow has screwed more people over than Enron and people are still enslaved like zombies to the title.
Huh? how has Blizzard screwed over more people than Enron?
Who could have thought that WOW could bring super power like USA to its knees?
Originally posted by Arcken
To put it in a nutshell, our society is about to hit the fan, grades are dropping, obesity is going up,childhood the USA is going to lose its super power status before too long, but hey, as long as we have a cheap method to babysit our kids, all will be well no? Im picking on WoW btw because its the beast that made all of this possible
And the reason why it didn't happen in 6 years is not surprising.
Blizzard always was 2 years ahead of the last copied features.
It is easy to hope "Cata is not good enough", but if you look at the new world changing mechanics with an open mind, you already know, "damned, they upped this thing again".
Like I said: resources. Cata is a wolf in sheep clothes. Don't be fooled by its first appearance in landscapes and quests.
Hint: watch out for those NPC's in Cata level 80+: they ... speak.(beta).
And the reason why it didn't happen in 6 years is not surprising.
Blizzard always was 2 years ahead of the last copied features.
It is easy to hope "Cata is not good enough", but if you look at the new world changing mechanics with an open mind, you already know, "damned, they upped this thing again".
Like I said: resources. Cata is a wolf in sheep clothes. Don't be fooled by its first appearance in landscapes and quests.
Hint: watch out for those NPC's in Cata level 80+: they ... speak.(beta).
Surprise ?
I' m actually playing WoW at the moment . I cant speak for Cataclysm itself but the shattering is not the up you suggest it is . Its ok and welcomed and a slighly imporvement on what we had before but it is not the Warcraft changed forever that Blizz advertise it for . What it is is Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms tinkered with . Some area are very different but most have a few new feature put in . Others like dustwallow are pretty much unchanged and simply have different mobs in them . The 1-60 content is bit of a let down . Obviously there will be new starter areas but these days that mean you ll be in them maybe an hour or two before your confronted lands that you thought were going to be very different and quests you thought would be something very different and that simply does nt happen to any great extent . I quite liked the previous Xpacs they offered a lot of new places to explore . This obviously will also but not in the same way . I may be wrong but this so far feels like its not going to be that good and certainly not even upto the standard of WOTLK . From the conversatioins I'm seeing in game I'm certainly not alone . But slso there are people that like it admitedly .
Play the Westfall quests, or the eastern plagueland quest, the western plagueland, ...on the web you can find lots of others but I can't experience it all.
The zones change as you complete adventures.
The world changes dynamically multiple times.
It is not enough "riding along with a level 80 looking around".
Play the Westfall quests, or the eastern plagueland quest, the western plagueland, ...on the web you can find lots of others but I can't experience it all.
The zones change as you complete adventures.
The world changes dynamically multiple times.
It is not enough "riding along with a level 80 looking around".
WoW was the biggest copycat of them all. They combined aspects of both UO and EQ and put in there own lore and art. So what makes you think that people do this to WoW? They dont, they look at the Elder, the starter of them all. EQ. Close this thread this guy is a troll.
Let me preface by saying i think WoW is a very well done game.
My problem is not with WoW its with the rest of these so called developers out there that take WoW and just add a little twist here or there.
Hey lets take WOW and have a bit more focus on RVR
hey lets take WoW and add a more open class system
Hey lets take WOW and give it star wars skins
hey lets take WoW and set it in norrath
Hey lets take WoW and give them guns
Hey lets take WoW and but set it in a comic book
we get it WoW is a big moneymaker, they are the largest MMO out there but that doesn't mean their way is the ONLY way so you have to copy it directly.
I am done with this genre till some AAA company pulls their heads from their rear and realizes that if people wanted to play WoW they will just play WoW, we need some originality.
Its almost like they give you nothing for the 1.3 billion dollars they make a year. Wait they don't, wow has screwed more people over than Enron and people are still enslaved like zombies to the title.
Huh? how has Blizzard screwed over more people than Enron?
They didn't reinvest that money to improve wow, but rather invested in other titles. One of the major downfalls of blizzard was trying to do to much with other titles like starcraft and diablo. Keep in mind I love both of these titles, but wow subscribers pay for content in their game and instead have paid for these other titles. It also doesn't make good business sense, the game that is making you over a billion dollars a year is the game you neglect. Starcraft 2 and diablo will make them some money but neither game at this point has a subscription fee and therefore is a inferior product to a company that wants to generate money. They have invested little to no money into the world of warcraft brand. Vanilla wow cost a little under 100 million to make when it came out, they have spent no where near that on expansions. Instead we get additional mounts we have to pay for? I am really looking forward to a company that specializes in MMO's and reinvest the money they earn and give something back to its players, like monthly content updates, HUGE expansions, and Contest that gives back to its most loyal consumers by giving them free game time, expansions, and even free computers. Because think how easy it would be to give away a couple thousand dollar computers to consumers every year and the publicity it does. Now think about what blizzard has really given world of warcraft customers for 1.3 billion dollars a year.
WoW was the biggest copycat of them all. They combined aspects of both UO and EQ and put in there own lore and art. So what makes you think that people do this to WoW? They dont, they look at the Elder, the starter of them all. EQ. Close this thread this guy is a troll.
I must be missing the point. Don't get me wrong I started playing MMO's with EQ and gave up a large portion of my early twenties to Everquest. That being said any company has to learn from others in the genre. I am not going to release a game with no quest because Everquest made them first. I also am not going to release raids and pvp just because I wasn't the first. What you do is take what has been done, take the good, and build upon it. World of warcraft did that very well. My problem is more along the lines of them giving up on the title and just feeding consumers enough to keep them addicted. Everyone I know who players WoW gets bored and comes back whenever Blizzard decided to update a little bit of content, for 1.3 billion a year, this just isn't good enough for me anymore. So I totally agree with the OP, the game hasn't came far enough from vanilla wow to hold my attention. I am looking for SWTOR, Rift, and DCUO to give me something fresh. If they fail, I will put my addiction to mmo's off till someone releases a product worth my time and money.
Comments
The solution is simple take an old good game like DAoC and update it to 2010 gfx, problem solved, but i think companys are to scared to think that way instead they wanna invent the wheel all over again and the problem with that is that its still gonna be round and nothing new will happen, so look to the past to shape a better game.
DAoC/GW/Lotro/WoW/WAR/Rift/SWTor
as you can see its not that easy to think of something new. many dont like it but have nothing to offer but waaaaaaaa
Blizzard had the time to cover every corner decently and with enough variety. It is extremely hard to find anything on top of that mountain and still offer all things that were added in these past 6 years.
It's a dilemma and the one who can solve it would be a very rich man. But it is not a forum poster who could bring anything. Not even a team of highly skilled designers. And certainly NOT the next marketing 'grab the money" guy.
This has been the enigma for all these years OP. Already too many got burned on trying to find "the key".
You're wrong, sorry....EQ2 came out just BEFORE WoW. It released Nov 8, 2004 and WoW released Nov 23, 2004. I actually played in the open betas for both. Guild Wars beta weekends were also 'round about in that time frame. You're right, of course, about EQ1, where Norrath originated, being long long before WoW.
However, I too resent the inclusion of EQ2 in the OP's rant, considering that WoW stole many things from EQ2 including guild banks and now even guild leveling, and yet they STILL can't make WoW as good of a game as EQ2 because for some dumbass reason they're unwilling to "steal" the best parts of EQ2....the many more races and classes and FAR superior crafting and collections and player housing that is freaking phenom in it's customization.
[mod edit]
However, to SoE's DIScredit, they have, of late, added more WoW-esque things that I find annoying, like when they removed the death penalty, things like that. But ah well, c'est la vie.
I don't consider EQ2 a WoW clone, however....that's just absurd. WoW took so much from EQ1 AND EQ2 that even toying with such an idea is foolish.
President of The Marvelously Meowhead Fan Club
That's all there is to say about this thread.
And to people saying that WoW was copying EQ 2 (attention please, two, dos), LOL? You do realise WoW came out only 1 month after EQ2? In this one month you can't copy from another game when your game is 99% finished. EQ2 didn't copy WoW either ofc.
DaoC is not the game it used to anymore. And since you would have to change engine the cost is huge so you might as well make DaoC 2 instead. Take all the great stuff from DaoC, fix the stuff that wasn't great (you are probably nostalgic if you forgotten the bad stuff) and you would have a really nice game.
As for reinventing the wheel, the problem lately have been that they tried making the wheel square instead of round. Reinventing the genre is actually a great idea but you have to start from where it all begin instead of copying EQ all the time.
Go back to pen and paper RPGs, take a RPG that isn't D&D and transfer it's world and mechanics to a computer game. Like Runequest, R.I.F.T.S or Warhammer fantasy RPG. This have only been done with D&D and it is the reason most MMOs are so similar, D&D do have it's advantages but it also have many weak points and there are better P&P games out there.
But blaming Wow like the OP isn't fair, it is everyone that copies EQ that is at fault and while Wow have some of the blame so does most other games that use the same standardized system.
We need to be able to change between different kinds of games, but now we can choose from EQ copies, UO copies and Eve (And EQ is kinda a copy from Meridian 59 but I write EQ since everyone know it).
Agreed, Wow started in development late '97 when Jeff Strain suggested to Blizzards board that they should make their own EQ.
Kaplan took over 2 years later when Strain started Arenanet. But it do makes sense that a game made by EQ fans have many similarities with EQ, and that the sequel also have.
After that have the games patched in stuff from eachother making them even more close.
I completely understand what the original poster is getting at even if this thread has been done before.
Before the massive success of wow most games had their own feel and flavor. Playing DAOC, Anarchy Online, Everquest, Asherons Call, City of Heroes and they all felt different from each other. Cloning wasn't really a term that was being tossed around, because each game gave a different play experience to various degrees.
Even wow which is just an evolution of previous game designs fells much different in terms of gameplay than the games it took ideas from. Blizzard looked at the genre, asked what players like and didn't like and worked on that as their emphasis and it made a great game.
Now the trend seems to be that designers are just looking at what wow does and copying that into a new game and put some new twists or a new feature on top of that. When someone calls another game a "wow clone" I think they are referening to the gameplay not feeling new, but rather feeling like something they are already burned out on.
It is a trend for developers right now to "wowify" their games instead of asking the same questions that blizzard did when they created wow. What are players tired of right now? What isn't working? What is missing? What does already work and shouldn't be changed?
The original poster is right. Playing wow in norrath or space or with a bit more pvp ins't going to be the key to success for developers and that is exactly what most developers have been doing. They are copying wow and not emulating blizzard. Regardless of what games we individually might think are better, that is the trend developers are following.
What I find annoying is, I've quit WoW. unsubbed months ago and still I'm being spammed with Cataclysm beta invites even though the Beta has finished. Account verification emails aswell as inquests from supposed a GM@live.com etc etc.
Yeah, I would say that at launch, they felt nothing like each other despite the fact that WoW took some things from EQ2 and EQ2 took some things from WoW. These days though, SOE has taken great strides to change EQ2 into something that greatly resembles World of Warcraft.
Still, I don't think it's as bad of a WoW clone as games like LotRO and WAR.
Not only that, but the copies always run 3 years behind the newest things we see in Wow.
Quest dynamics are copied (lotro), then BG's are copied (War), flying is copied (Aion) and always with less then more.
Next will be the world changing copies for the new bunch of MMO's. Probably up to the standards of "old" Wotlk while Cata already advanced it a week ago.
We created a monster with a monster resource system. We are all responsible, but hey, at least enjoy the fun.
Dear OP:
Bye
Part of this I have feeling aswell, I cannot withstand WoW Anymore, when I get motivated to play I simply find it boring after 2 hours nowadays, not a problem, there's other options in the market....or not?
I tried Lotro, good PvE but nothing very exciting about it, Warhammer, funny time playing pvp and rvr, but some problems with balance and lack of people (the game demanded many people in order to many things being fun) killed it, a shame, it was exciting, AoC, Aion etc...
Maybe Im just burned up and tired of mmos in general, but why I got burned to begin with? because they are all the same, but with little (very little) twists between them...
I have faith in the next year, partircularly with GW2, looks something new to experiment with, will it be done well? we shall see...
"It has potential"
-Second most used phrase on existence
"It sucks"
-Most used phrase on existence
/end thread.
Who could have thought that WOW could bring super power like USA to its knees?
Originally posted by Arcken
To put it in a nutshell, our society is about to hit the fan, grades are dropping, obesity is going up,childhood the USA is going to lose its super power status before too long, but hey, as long as we have a cheap method to babysit our kids, all will be well no?
Im picking on WoW btw because its the beast that made all of this possible
Its almost like they give you nothing for the 1.3 billion dollars they make a year. Wait they don't, wow has screwed more people over than Enron and people are still enslaved like zombies to the title.
too bad. cata is nothing but awesome. i hated and did not engage in wotlk.
Erm I tend to agree with the last part of your comment but you do know WoW was a" clone "of games that preceeded it like Everquest . Also it tends to clone the idea of other games that have been released after it . This borrowing from other games really has led it to being quite a mish mash and poorer not richer as a result . But this happens in every genre of gaming does nt it . Do you give up first person shooter because they are Doom Clones etc . These games arn't WoW clones they are simply games evolving from the very earliest mmos . Its not the pinacle of what mmos will achieve . They once said no one would ever be bigger than Elvis to use a musical analogy and we all know what happened there . We all know WoWs days of 12 million subs are numbered and sooner or later something else will catch the mood of the moment . The amazing thing is that its not happened in 6 years .
Huh? how has Blizzard screwed over more people than Enron?
Who could have thought that WOW could bring super power like USA to its knees?
Originally posted by Arcken
To put it in a nutshell, our society is about to hit the fan, grades are dropping, obesity is going up,childhood the USA is going to lose its super power status before too long, but hey, as long as we have a cheap method to babysit our kids, all will be well no?
Im picking on WoW btw because its the beast that made all of this possible
And the reason why it didn't happen in 6 years is not surprising.
Blizzard always was 2 years ahead of the last copied features.
It is easy to hope "Cata is not good enough", but if you look at the new world changing mechanics with an open mind, you already know, "damned, they upped this thing again".
Like I said: resources. Cata is a wolf in sheep clothes. Don't be fooled by its first appearance in landscapes and quests.
Hint: watch out for those NPC's in Cata level 80+: they ... speak.(beta).
Surprise ?
I' m actually playing WoW at the moment . I cant speak for Cataclysm itself but the shattering is not the up you suggest it is . Its ok and welcomed and a slighly imporvement on what we had before but it is not the Warcraft changed forever that Blizz advertise it for . What it is is Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms tinkered with . Some area are very different but most have a few new feature put in . Others like dustwallow are pretty much unchanged and simply have different mobs in them . The 1-60 content is bit of a let down . Obviously there will be new starter areas but these days that mean you ll be in them maybe an hour or two before your confronted lands that you thought were going to be very different and quests you thought would be something very different and that simply does nt happen to any great extent . I quite liked the previous Xpacs they offered a lot of new places to explore . This obviously will also but not in the same way . I may be wrong but this so far feels like its not going to be that good and certainly not even upto the standard of WOTLK . From the conversatioins I'm seeing in game I'm certainly not alone . But slso there are people that like it admitedly .
Play the Westfall quests, or the eastern plagueland quest, the western plagueland, ...on the web you can find lots of others but I can't experience it all.
The zones change as you complete adventures.
The world changes dynamically multiple times.
It is not enough "riding along with a level 80 looking around".
That's why I call Cata a wolf in sheep clothes.
Am leveling a new character .
WoW was the biggest copycat of them all. They combined aspects of both UO and EQ and put in there own lore and art. So what makes you think that people do this to WoW? They dont, they look at the Elder, the starter of them all. EQ. Close this thread this guy is a troll.
They didn't reinvest that money to improve wow, but rather invested in other titles. One of the major downfalls of blizzard was trying to do to much with other titles like starcraft and diablo. Keep in mind I love both of these titles, but wow subscribers pay for content in their game and instead have paid for these other titles. It also doesn't make good business sense, the game that is making you over a billion dollars a year is the game you neglect. Starcraft 2 and diablo will make them some money but neither game at this point has a subscription fee and therefore is a inferior product to a company that wants to generate money. They have invested little to no money into the world of warcraft brand. Vanilla wow cost a little under 100 million to make when it came out, they have spent no where near that on expansions. Instead we get additional mounts we have to pay for? I am really looking forward to a company that specializes in MMO's and reinvest the money they earn and give something back to its players, like monthly content updates, HUGE expansions, and Contest that gives back to its most loyal consumers by giving them free game time, expansions, and even free computers. Because think how easy it would be to give away a couple thousand dollar computers to consumers every year and the publicity it does. Now think about what blizzard has really given world of warcraft customers for 1.3 billion dollars a year.
I must be missing the point. Don't get me wrong I started playing MMO's with EQ and gave up a large portion of my early twenties to Everquest. That being said any company has to learn from others in the genre. I am not going to release a game with no quest because Everquest made them first. I also am not going to release raids and pvp just because I wasn't the first. What you do is take what has been done, take the good, and build upon it. World of warcraft did that very well. My problem is more along the lines of them giving up on the title and just feeding consumers enough to keep them addicted. Everyone I know who players WoW gets bored and comes back whenever Blizzard decided to update a little bit of content, for 1.3 billion a year, this just isn't good enough for me anymore. So I totally agree with the OP, the game hasn't came far enough from vanilla wow to hold my attention. I am looking for SWTOR, Rift, and DCUO to give me something fresh. If they fail, I will put my addiction to mmo's off till someone releases a product worth my time and money.