Michael ZenkeThe massively-multiplayer genre has been unquestionably changed by the arrival of World of Warcraft. Michael Zenke looks at the impact WoW has made on the genre, and what this might mean for future MMOG development.
Issue 48 - Ripples in The Pond
- Thread starter The Escapist Staff
- Start date
Original Comment by: Zach
What about Starcraft? It's only the best-selling RTS of all time, even to this day and with the exception of WoW is still Blizzard's most popular game. How is it that this article failed to mention it even once?
What about Starcraft? It's only the best-selling RTS of all time, even to this day and with the exception of WoW is still Blizzard's most popular game. How is it that this article failed to mention it even once?
Original Comment by: Dagon
Blizzard was lucky and moved in an existing niceh at the right place and time. Their success was very similar to what TSR did with Dungeons & Dragons; WoW is to D&D as RTS is to Chainmail. It worked once before, in a different medium and who knows, it may work again in 10-15 years in a wholly different medium we can't even envision yet.
The fun is now in watching the financers of new games. Financers are notoriously autistic and careful. I find the bandwagon effect here hilarious because I am 100% sure than a next big game which copies all successful qualities of WoW1 is gonna be universally ignored and ridiculed.
This market needs improvement fast. Wow is already a dying dinosaur. Sure, it will grow for 1-2 years and then start terminal decline. It'll probably be unplugged and left for fanboys to fret over after 2012. I think there will still be some WoW1 servers up and running by 2020.
But Wow2 and whatever will come, and I am talking the next real succesful one, will have to be a whole lot bigger, a whole lot more stable, a whole lot better graphics wise and a lot more sandboxy. Yes, mature all in all. I will have many manu features unlike what is currently the industry standard. This will be vicious evolution, with cheetahs replacing lions one year and hyena's and cockroaches the next. Unpredictable, original, weird will become selling factors.
Can't wait !
Blizzard was lucky and moved in an existing niceh at the right place and time. Their success was very similar to what TSR did with Dungeons & Dragons; WoW is to D&D as RTS is to Chainmail. It worked once before, in a different medium and who knows, it may work again in 10-15 years in a wholly different medium we can't even envision yet.
The fun is now in watching the financers of new games. Financers are notoriously autistic and careful. I find the bandwagon effect here hilarious because I am 100% sure than a next big game which copies all successful qualities of WoW1 is gonna be universally ignored and ridiculed.
This market needs improvement fast. Wow is already a dying dinosaur. Sure, it will grow for 1-2 years and then start terminal decline. It'll probably be unplugged and left for fanboys to fret over after 2012. I think there will still be some WoW1 servers up and running by 2020.
But Wow2 and whatever will come, and I am talking the next real succesful one, will have to be a whole lot bigger, a whole lot more stable, a whole lot better graphics wise and a lot more sandboxy. Yes, mature all in all. I will have many manu features unlike what is currently the industry standard. This will be vicious evolution, with cheetahs replacing lions one year and hyena's and cockroaches the next. Unpredictable, original, weird will become selling factors.
Can't wait !
Original Comment by: Williesha
http://www.freedomathometeam.com/40378118
Although I love the game and consider it quality time with my boyfriend, I'm surprised the idea of it becoming addictive and destructive wasn't brought up. I'm part of a group called WoW Widows...which I guess I'm using as a preventative thing. The stories from these folks who have literally lost their loved ones this game is unbelievable. Plus, there are the stories of those who have committed suicide as a result of playing these games for too long.
'Course the issue of whether or not the game "caused" this will be debated forever. More than likely, these folks had problems to begin with and simply found their outlet to exacerbate matters.
http://www.freedomathometeam.com/40378118
Although I love the game and consider it quality time with my boyfriend, I'm surprised the idea of it becoming addictive and destructive wasn't brought up. I'm part of a group called WoW Widows...which I guess I'm using as a preventative thing. The stories from these folks who have literally lost their loved ones this game is unbelievable. Plus, there are the stories of those who have committed suicide as a result of playing these games for too long.
'Course the issue of whether or not the game "caused" this will be debated forever. More than likely, these folks had problems to begin with and simply found their outlet to exacerbate matters.
Original Comment by: mez
http://www.hotkey.net.au/~netwurker
"What's been interesting to see over the last two years is how other games have adapted to the presence of the proverbial 300-pound gorilla. Some existing titles have openly adopted features offered by World of Warcraft [like]...EverQuest II..."
As a dedicated WoW gamerhead, I was surprised by this comment. Having been an avid _Everquest_ player previously, I was surprised this article failed to mention WoW's rampant adoption of most of _EQs_ game architecture? _EQII_ may have adopted part conventions from _WoW_, but _WoW_ definitely owes it basic construction to _EQ_.
http://www.hotkey.net.au/~netwurker
"What's been interesting to see over the last two years is how other games have adapted to the presence of the proverbial 300-pound gorilla. Some existing titles have openly adopted features offered by World of Warcraft [like]...EverQuest II..."
As a dedicated WoW gamerhead, I was surprised by this comment. Having been an avid _Everquest_ player previously, I was surprised this article failed to mention WoW's rampant adoption of most of _EQs_ game architecture? _EQII_ may have adopted part conventions from _WoW_, but _WoW_ definitely owes it basic construction to _EQ_.
Original Comment by: Iliya
WoW owes to EQ ?!? The game where you could not buy more than a single item a time(?!?) or you mean they stoled the idea of the game having graphics/sound or heroes/items? Don't be joking with us.
WoW owes to EQ ?!? The game where you could not buy more than a single item a time(?!?) or you mean they stoled the idea of the game having graphics/sound or heroes/items? Don't be joking with us.
Original Comment by: Miktar
http://www.dragotaur.com
""Some existing titles have openly adopted features offered by World of Warcraft. EverQuest II has introduced several UI improvements that seem very familiar, the most obvious example being the "available quest" notifications above the heads of PCs."
Someone's lack of experience is showing.
Try doing some research about 'which MMO used the notification-above-the-head' thing, instead of assuming. You're making The Escapist look bad.
http://www.dragotaur.com
""Some existing titles have openly adopted features offered by World of Warcraft. EverQuest II has introduced several UI improvements that seem very familiar, the most obvious example being the "available quest" notifications above the heads of PCs."
Someone's lack of experience is showing.
Try doing some research about 'which MMO used the notification-above-the-head' thing, instead of assuming. You're making The Escapist look bad.
Original Comment by: Brian Easton
Which MMO was it then? Please enlighten us with the answer. I'm fairly certain that Diablo II used icons to indicate available quests as did Phantasy Star Online, but neither of them are massively multiplayer.
Which MMO was it then? Please enlighten us with the answer. I'm fairly certain that Diablo II used icons to indicate available quests as did Phantasy Star Online, but neither of them are massively multiplayer.
Original Comment by: mez
http://www.hotkey.net.au/~netwurker/
in reply 2:
"WoW owes to EQ ?!? The game where you could not buy more than a single item a time(?!?) or you mean they stoled the idea of the game having graphics/sound or heroes/items? Don't be joking with us."
...everything about _WoW_ harks back 2 _EQ_...from the interface 2 char construction 2 chat conventions to game instructions [tried typing "/who" or "/camp"?] - it's all predicated on _EQ_.
-mez-
http://www.hotkey.net.au/~netwurker/
in reply 2:
"WoW owes to EQ ?!? The game where you could not buy more than a single item a time(?!?) or you mean they stoled the idea of the game having graphics/sound or heroes/items? Don't be joking with us."
...everything about _WoW_ harks back 2 _EQ_...from the interface 2 char construction 2 chat conventions to game instructions [tried typing "/who" or "/camp"?] - it's all predicated on _EQ_.
-mez-
Original Comment by: John
Baldurs Gate is the earliest game i can think of with visible notification of a quest, and i would be incredibly surprised if there wasnt one before that. I wouldnt be surprised to find Ultima Online or even the original Neverwinter Nights had that.
Everything is gradual evolution on everything else, saying wow is some visionary title that everything else is copying from is inane. Although perhaps people will make some argument about wow's 8 year development cycle.... lol. Blizzard is a little stupid, perhaps $40million a month income is relying on this product and there is *75* people working on the expansion. Regardless of something else better coming back and taking the subscriber base away content is king, it costs next to nothing and not going overboard should get them sued by the shareholders.
The other point mentioned is single items per click, yes wow has multiple purchases per click but its also stupidly hardcoded on many items, even on the free item dispenser up right now on test server designed to give away large quantities of items only 10 of the free pots can be purchased at a time. That isnt evidence of an infallible developer.
Not to mention wows formulas are obsolete in terms of the PvE progression. Jeff Kaplan says "All our formulas behind the game math have always been designed around an infinite level cap so going up to 70 for us really isnt a big deal its just following the path we are already on"
Wrong.
Ill list a few.
+damage/healing diminishing returns below level 20 learned spells - broken by ilvl increase, ignored currently
+defence itemisation - broken by ilvl increase, rebalanced once via 33% increase in costing
+spell crit itemisation - broken when approaching 100% crit rate for paladins, future issue, brought forward by spell crit buffs one of which was just introduced in 1.11
offence vs defence in pvp - dps scales much faster than mitigation/absorbtion, exagerated by tempo and assist training
flagging items - required to remain in inventory to do 'something' increasing constantly, no balance between inventory available and required, patch 1.11 merely balances frost resist sets being needed with keyring
caster weapon itemisation - dps capped at 41.5 for 1h and ~60 for 2h, results in inflated itemisation points available as ilvl increases, changes effectiveness balance of 1h and 2h options as ilvl scales
aoe threat - warriors do not scale at all
melee +hit - hunter/2h/tank vs dual wield - as ilvl increases classes/specs tuned around higher miss rates scale better, or alternatively capping out +hit for classes with low miss rates becomes cheaper
unique buffs - too many are becoming available, ony head, hakkar head, moonkin aura, legendary staff aura, songflower, dire maul buffs, mind controlled mobs buffs, stacked at extremes they unbalance fights, fights tend to get tuned around the highest amount of buffs used, ie flask of titans on warriors, some attempt at curtailing this with consumable categories being changed to prevent use of health potm nightdragon and whipperroot on seperate timers for example reducing needed grind time for pve content considerably
innervate + meditation + 3 piece tier 2 + blue dragon - getting somewhat rebalanced in 1.11 though the last two are still largely broken going forward negating all other gear choices
Those complaints aside its still not a bad game, and it does have a large market share. However other games notably warhammer appear to take a few things much further. Wow to some extent removed spawn competition for PvE but still has it in place for certain things, resource gathering and world bosses. Warhammer appears to be removing spawn competition from everything making a truely collaborative non instanced experience, shared quest credit when ungrouped for one. The biggest problem with wow is having to compete with your own allies. I get the item or they get it, loot drama. Very little is collaborative, everything is balanced around limiting epics/week to extend content life.
If wow went completely overboard on parallel content the game could be tuned so much better, worst case you spent a bit of money and dont have to work so hard for a while. Right now im hating logging into wow apart from raids to help my friends because everything is a grind, the 1-60 experience is gone because content is horribly slow.
1 incomplete raid dungeon on release.
1 deliberately cock blocked raid dungeon released.
1 semi parallel 20 man dungeon released which the developers say failed at itemisation distribution.
Then a 40 and 20 man released together which while arguably the best so far came out something like 18 months after the games release.
Another 40 man zone currently being tuned. Less linear, probably another step in the right direction but only the third progression zone in 18 months.
This game is designed to take 5months for a raid gear up which is ironic, seeing its averaging 5 months between content releases.
If a game like guild wars can manage 6 monthly content surely a game with perhaps 50 times the user base can afford to release content more freguently.
At least it looks like 1.12 the pvp grind with decay is finally dissapearing, but then again it probably took a year for any BG's or pvp system to be implemented so maybe people havnt developed chronic health problems from it yet.
Baldurs Gate is the earliest game i can think of with visible notification of a quest, and i would be incredibly surprised if there wasnt one before that. I wouldnt be surprised to find Ultima Online or even the original Neverwinter Nights had that.
Everything is gradual evolution on everything else, saying wow is some visionary title that everything else is copying from is inane. Although perhaps people will make some argument about wow's 8 year development cycle.... lol. Blizzard is a little stupid, perhaps $40million a month income is relying on this product and there is *75* people working on the expansion. Regardless of something else better coming back and taking the subscriber base away content is king, it costs next to nothing and not going overboard should get them sued by the shareholders.
The other point mentioned is single items per click, yes wow has multiple purchases per click but its also stupidly hardcoded on many items, even on the free item dispenser up right now on test server designed to give away large quantities of items only 10 of the free pots can be purchased at a time. That isnt evidence of an infallible developer.
Not to mention wows formulas are obsolete in terms of the PvE progression. Jeff Kaplan says "All our formulas behind the game math have always been designed around an infinite level cap so going up to 70 for us really isnt a big deal its just following the path we are already on"
Wrong.
Ill list a few.
+damage/healing diminishing returns below level 20 learned spells - broken by ilvl increase, ignored currently
+defence itemisation - broken by ilvl increase, rebalanced once via 33% increase in costing
+spell crit itemisation - broken when approaching 100% crit rate for paladins, future issue, brought forward by spell crit buffs one of which was just introduced in 1.11
offence vs defence in pvp - dps scales much faster than mitigation/absorbtion, exagerated by tempo and assist training
flagging items - required to remain in inventory to do 'something' increasing constantly, no balance between inventory available and required, patch 1.11 merely balances frost resist sets being needed with keyring
caster weapon itemisation - dps capped at 41.5 for 1h and ~60 for 2h, results in inflated itemisation points available as ilvl increases, changes effectiveness balance of 1h and 2h options as ilvl scales
aoe threat - warriors do not scale at all
melee +hit - hunter/2h/tank vs dual wield - as ilvl increases classes/specs tuned around higher miss rates scale better, or alternatively capping out +hit for classes with low miss rates becomes cheaper
unique buffs - too many are becoming available, ony head, hakkar head, moonkin aura, legendary staff aura, songflower, dire maul buffs, mind controlled mobs buffs, stacked at extremes they unbalance fights, fights tend to get tuned around the highest amount of buffs used, ie flask of titans on warriors, some attempt at curtailing this with consumable categories being changed to prevent use of health potm nightdragon and whipperroot on seperate timers for example reducing needed grind time for pve content considerably
innervate + meditation + 3 piece tier 2 + blue dragon - getting somewhat rebalanced in 1.11 though the last two are still largely broken going forward negating all other gear choices
Those complaints aside its still not a bad game, and it does have a large market share. However other games notably warhammer appear to take a few things much further. Wow to some extent removed spawn competition for PvE but still has it in place for certain things, resource gathering and world bosses. Warhammer appears to be removing spawn competition from everything making a truely collaborative non instanced experience, shared quest credit when ungrouped for one. The biggest problem with wow is having to compete with your own allies. I get the item or they get it, loot drama. Very little is collaborative, everything is balanced around limiting epics/week to extend content life.
If wow went completely overboard on parallel content the game could be tuned so much better, worst case you spent a bit of money and dont have to work so hard for a while. Right now im hating logging into wow apart from raids to help my friends because everything is a grind, the 1-60 experience is gone because content is horribly slow.
1 incomplete raid dungeon on release.
1 deliberately cock blocked raid dungeon released.
1 semi parallel 20 man dungeon released which the developers say failed at itemisation distribution.
Then a 40 and 20 man released together which while arguably the best so far came out something like 18 months after the games release.
Another 40 man zone currently being tuned. Less linear, probably another step in the right direction but only the third progression zone in 18 months.
This game is designed to take 5months for a raid gear up which is ironic, seeing its averaging 5 months between content releases.
If a game like guild wars can manage 6 monthly content surely a game with perhaps 50 times the user base can afford to release content more freguently.
At least it looks like 1.12 the pvp grind with decay is finally dissapearing, but then again it probably took a year for any BG's or pvp system to be implemented so maybe people havnt developed chronic health problems from it yet.