Analyst Calls The Old Republic a "WoW Clone"

[koroem]

Yes because all 3rd person shooters are Gears of War.

Yes because all first person shooters are Call of Duty or Halo.

Yes because all 3rd person hack and slash are God of War.

So too, must all MMO's be World of Warcraft.

 

[Sylveria]

I've seen some streams of people playing the beta, it is, unabashedly, WoW with lightsabers instead of metal swords.

People can make the argument that it's an MMO so of course it feels like WoW but that is not true. Most, if not all, have unique aspects to them which, for better or worse, separate them from the McDonalds of the MMO industry. TOR did exactly what is claimed, they took WoW and put Star Wars textures on it and it doesn't even look that impressive from a visual sense; it already looks dated and it isn't even out yet.

Maybe I'm wrong, maybe the demos and unauthorized beta streams are giving me the wrong impression. Maybe this will be game that makes Blizzard sweat, but of what we've seen thus far, those of use not totally blinded by hype anyway, is not impressive.

 

[AlternatePFG]

Honestly, the more and more I see and hear of TOR, the less I'm looking forward to it.

 

[ADeskofRichMahogany]

You know, I don't necessarily TOR being a WoW clone is a problem here. I mean, if LucasArts wants to compete with WoW, then they need to field a game that will attract users from WoW. And since users of WoW like that brand of mechanics and gameplay, it makes sense that LucasArts has to field a game that feels like WoW. Only with lightsabers.

 

[Croaker42]

Well the important thing is that it is WoW for Starwars fans.
Clone or not I just don't care. I will play this game.

 

[Korten12]

Meh, Guild wars 2 is better imo.

 

[Lorechaser]

There are tweaks to the WoW formula in combat. No auto attack. Better (imho) resource management. Cover. Better animation.

Conversation is not even remotely bolted on. Specifics are verboten, but there are any number of Bioware quests in there. And having a storyline for your class changes things tremendously.

 

[fundayz]

Oh geez an MMO has taken a lot of elements from WoW? NO SHIT!?! Next you're going to tell me that the Berlin wall fell down...look, to make an mmo, you have to copy some things from WoW for 2 reasons. 1) the majority of the MMO market has invested into WoW and are probably used to it. You change it too much, it's going to be so foreign that people won't play it. Reason 2) WoW has copied every other MMO to become the king of MMO's. So not only is every MMO like WoW, WoW is like every MMO, it's just the way the world works.

SWTOR isn't just taking a lot of elements from WoW, they are taking ALL the elements of WoW and then sticking on their dialogue system.

Yes, WoW basically copied every other MMO at the time but this was back in the early 2000's when polish and accessibility WERE innovations. You can't expect to do the same 6 years later and expect to be a blockbuster.

It looks like BioWare just went "We have great story, let's tack it on already existing systems" when they should've said "We have great story, let's build a game around that using what other companies have learned over the years".

 

[DarthInfernus]

Reasons I have heard that this is a WoW clone:

--Gear has stats.
--Combat is 3rd person and uses hotkeys.
--You do quests.
--You have levels.
--The Trinity.
--It has raids.
--It has PvP.

Yes, because WoW invented all of those things. Not almost every other RPG in existence had gear with stats, 3rd person combat, quests, levels, and not almost every other MMO in existence has Raiding, PvP, and the trinity. Just WoW.

 

[Pandaman1911]

If it's a WoW clone, then good! That means it's going to sell well. Because WoW sells well. And Star Wars sells... well okay, I'm not going to make THAT leap. But, uh... oh! BioWare makes good games, there we go, I'll make that jump. And those sell well. So combining WoW with something BioWare makes is bound to sell well. "WoW from a BioWare perspective" sounds pretty bitchin' to me.
Not like I'm actually gonna get it, though, I mean, I don't have the cash for a monthly fee.

 

[fundayz]

Yes, because WoW invented all of those things. Not almost every other RPG in existence had gear with stats, 3rd person combat, quests, levels, and not almost every other MMO in existence has Raiding, PvP, and the trinity. Just WoW.

No, SWTOR isn't a WoW-clone. It's a generic MMO with BioWare's dialogue system instead of text and that's really disappointing.

That's really it....

Heroic combat? Oh wait, it's just pretty animations. Most non-fan's that have played the game (i.e. those people not guaranteed to get the game regardless) say that the combat is static, repetitive, and generally boring. Which is no surprise looking at BW's own gameplay videos.

Companions? They work exactly like pets except they make remarks during dialogue.

Space Combat? It's just an on-rail shooter minigame, completely optional.

 

[Genixma]

I have no idea why Sith Horde sounds awesome now.

Sith Lord Death Knights.

Jedi Master Paladins.

But anyway. Yep saw that one coming.

 

[Phishfood]

Of course its going to be similar to WoW, WoW have the MMO formula that works. It seems if another MMO comes along and tries to do stuff different, half the people complain its unfamiliar, if its similar, the other half will say its a clone. There's just no pleasing everyone

The problem is that you won't beat WoW by copying WoW. We already have a Wow and given the choice people will stick with the game where all their friends are.


I've been steadily losing interest in the game for a while now. Its been overhyped, I can't shake the suspicion it will be either a wow clone or somehow crap the way Champions/Startrek online was.

 

[PrinceofPersia]

Of course its going to be similar to WoW, WoW have the MMO formula that works. It seems if another MMO comes along and tries to do stuff different, half the people complain its unfamiliar, if its similar, the other half will say its a clone. There's just no pleasing everyone

Mr. Zac Smith has pretty much gotten it. WoW has become the benchmark of MMO's replacing Everquest. So if a new MMORPG isn't in some way like WoW it gets marginalized. Really Bioware might have been better off getting into another MMO genre like MMOFS or MMORTS cause the MMORPG market is super saturated with WoW and WoW clones.

 

[Temah]

Didn't somebody livestream beta footage at some point and comment that it was very WoW-esque.

 

[ZeroKaiser]

Who was seriously expecting this to be anything but WoW-like?

 

[Hoplon]

I am going to say this because it is true.

Opinions mean fuck all.

Someones opinion on something has no bearing on if they broke their word or not. In their opinion they may think they did right but in REALITY they didn't.

Given no evidence of these "broken promises" all you are spouting is opinion.

But you are correct, it does mean fuck all.

 

[rsvp42]

Insulting to the artists and devs. It has a similar combat style and this guy has the gall to call it Azeroth with a texture swap? What an asshole. Call the game traditional, call it boring, call it uninspired, call it whatever your opinion compels you to call it, but don't sit there and insult the artists and designers like this. 17 different planets steeped in the lore of a completely different IP and people still use the word "clone."

 

[Mumorpuger]

I'm almost certain that this game is going to be terrible.

 

[Midnight Crossroads]

I noticed this a long time ago. MMO companies and customers both seem to have a very narrow idea of just what an MMORPG is. It's like if Final Fantasy became so popular that no one ever questioned if there was another way to make an RPG, and the only differences between the two were stupid dialog trees.