Blizzard and Games Workshop

[Wedlock49]

I have come to realize how much of a hack Blizzard is in the last few days. Now don't get me wrong, the Warcraft and Starcraft games are done very well and are both rightfully successful but their universes are far from original.

I am sure you have heard of the Warhammer games on PC. There is Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War and Warhammer Online. Dawn of War has been super successful because of people who played Starcraft and wanted a new experience without giving up the setting. Warhammer online is quoted as being a WoW clone and substitute. This is where my issue is.

Warhammer Fantasy Battle was a fantasy tabletop game that started in England in 1983. Warhammer 40k came out in 1988 which was a futuristic take on the tabletop game they started in '83. See where this is going?

In 1991 Warcraft: Orcs and Humans comes out. The name, obvious take on Warhammer and the two most prominent races in the tabletop game were used, Humans and Orcs. 1995 the sequel comes out, Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness. The game did sell well and warranted a sequel and then their second rip off happened, Starcraft. Blatant copy of Warhammer 40k. You have Humans (the Terran), Protoss (an alien race), and the Zerg (another alien race bent on consuming the universe). The Terran look like Space Marines. The Protoss look and act like Eldar and the Zerg basically are the Tyranids.

Now I can see Warcraft being an original game made by accident that was similar to Warhammer. I will even say that the names could have been coincidence but the very existence of Starcraft shows me they used these games and their universes to create their own. Agree or disagree, the games are great but just spread some appreciation for their roots, the Warhammer games. I just don't want to hear Warhammer games being called clones of Blizzard games.

Hey, remember DnD? Do you know how Warhammer started? Warhammer ripped off DnD as well as Hero Quest.

Blizzard do have some parrelles but they bring a lot of origionality to the high fantasy and dystopic sci-fi setting, It's good to see Trolls that aren't hulking monsters that are stupid, it's really cool to see minotaurs that are in love with nature.

When it comes to high fantasy all people tend to do is rip off Tolkien which gets very annoying so before you complain about Blizzard ripping off warhammer and warhammer ripping off DnD you should look at the father of moddern high fantasy, pretty much everything is ripping off his work or ripping off a rip off.

 

[Wedlock49]

This thread treads on an ancient battleground that has been the site of more flames wars than any other. Personally I think blizz simply took a cool idea from games workshop (who charge way the fuck to much for their products) and made it into an even better and more marketable product.

Who stole from who is irrelevant at the end of the day, what matters is which company has cashed in the most on their respective products.

Better? Don't you mean more shiny and watered down for a mass audience?

Because there is a difference if you didn't know.

Personally I've enjoyed my time with both Blizzard's Star/Warcraft games, and I will say they do know how to make addictive gameplay. But when it comes to the worlds they've created, diving in has only gotten me wet from the waste down and wanting more.

Try diving into War and War40K and you'll be seeing submarines and sunken pirate ships...=P

I'm not sure where you've been looking but Blizzard has a large amount of novels describing the background of Azeroth as well as the Burning Legion and what-not. Remember at the moment WoW is in a time lock, not moving forwards or backwards in the storyline, eith cataclysm I hope that they retcon the killing of Arthas, he's too much of an iconic character and a tragic victim of his own loyalty and arrogance, the new fella I really don't care about, he's some dude that looks too much like Illidan.

 

[Cody211282]

Who cares if they are alike, they both kick ass.

 

[Battenbergcake]

Eldar do not have to construct additional pylons

Well acttualy they tend to build stuff about webway gates 8B

 

[Slaanax]

Eldar do not have to construct additional pylons

Well acttualy they tend to build stuff about webway gates 8B

I don't even remember writing that seems like an unfinished thought.