It’s been pretty amusing watching the events of the last few days as the Confidentiality portion of the NDA has dropped and some opinions come out. A lot of love and hate is being thrown around. There are some extreme opinions on both sides of the WAR is cool/WAR sucks continuum. I want to comment on that a little.
Let’s get started.
1. WAR will be DOA. (Brent)
Sorry, no. You don’t like it and that’s cool. It’s not going to be a flop.
2. WAR will be a “WoW-Killer”
Sorry, wrong again. The entire premise that WoW can be killed is faulty logic. WoW is the biggest thing EVER in the MMO business, and it didn’t kill anything. What makes people think something can kill it?
3. WAR is a “WoW Clone.”
Right and wrong at the same time. People who say WAR is a WoW clone because it features many of the same mechanisms as WoW and every other AAA MMO out there are correct. It’s got a lot of the same stuff. But asserting that it’s a clone is like saying that Formula 1 racing is a NASCAR clone, because you have a track and cars, and laps and scoring. It’s true that all of those are there, but F1 also has all kinds of road courses and different nuance that isn’t present in NASCAR. There are enough things in WAR that make it SO different from WoW that you have to look past the similarities and make your evaluation based on the sum of WAR’s parts and not just the parts it shares with WoW. To do that is simplistic and naive.
4. WAR will fail because it’s not revolutionary enough.
Right. Miley Cyrus is revolutionary, that’s why she’s a huge star. Michael Phelps is revolutionary. The Dark Knight was revolutionary. I hope you get my point. Things don’t have to be revolutionary to be successful. Hell, Budweiser is a huge success and it’s certainly not revolutionary. There’s an old saying that “Pioneers get arrows, and Settlers get land.” There is a definite truth to that. The more revolutionary an MMO is, the less comfortable the mass market is likely to feel with it and the more likely it is to fail, financially. After a few attempts at revolution people get used to the ideas in the game and another one down the line gets to reap the benefit.
5. WAR will fail because it’s not a completely different model.
See #4. I’d add that upcoming games like The Agency (to pick one example) looks appealing. They may even be successes in many ways. I don’t see them replacing “traditional” MMO’s in the short-term though. I think The Agency has a chance to be like TF2. That is, something to play for distraction and gameplay fun, but not something that can replace a game within a real virtual world. There’s nothing wrong with that but it doesn’t replace that portion of the game that is a strong draw for a lot of people.
6, WAR isn’t fun for me because of one of the reasons above.
Fair enough, please drive through. Your opinion is of no consequence to me because at the end of the day, I’m going to make my own decision.
7. WAR is the messiah of MMO’s
Please. See #6.
8. WAR is a fun game and I’m excited about it.
Once again, a personal decision. I happen to think it’s more fun than any MMO I’ve played in a long while. I don’t have a horse in this race (well other than the guild, and that is as much a social experiment as it is about WAR,) so no fansite, no database, nothing I’ve developed that has a stake in the success or failure of the game. I have followed the game for a couple of years with interest but I’ve never been a poster on Warhammer Alliance or anywhere else. I’ve written a few blog posts on it, from both sides of the fence (optimistic and pessimistic.) In the interest of full disclosure, I HAVE been in beta since June of 2007.
As it turns out, I’m excited about the upcoming launch. I had the opportunity to see the game develop, and it’s changed a TON. Believe me. And to me, the game is fun. So I am looking forward to it.
9. WAR is an awesome game without any problems.
Really? If this is your stand, then take of the WAR-colored glasses. There is a lot to be sorted out with WAR before it can be a long-term viable competitor in the market. Mythic has shown a willingness and ability to address issues, so there is reason to believe they are getting to things. Overall, the game is a lot more finished than many other released games I have played or tested. It’s not a glass of win and awesome though. It’s just better than any alternative in my eyes.
10. Criticizing what is popular makes me cool.
If this is the motivation for what I am seeing out there, then it is riddled with fail.
If it were that easy, even I would be cool. I am obviously not.
11. Liking a game makes you a “fanboy”.
Also false. It’s a corrolary to #10. Calling people a fanboy is a weak straw-man that is used by people who have trouble making reasoned arguments and instead resort to name calling. It’s something to be pitied, really. I wrote some good things about AoC. Does that make me a fanboy? It sure didn’t keep my from /unsubscribing.
I don’t think I’ve covered them all, but that should let you know where I am at the moment. I’m as excited about the Casualties guild as I am about WAR. What a great group of people and an incredible mix of industry insiders, bloggers (industry outsiders, for the most part,) and regular players and friends. Very cool. Drop by and visit if you haven’t already. Open recruiting is closing at the end of the week.
I’m sure there will be more drama in the blogs to come.
Stay Tuned.
I think a lot of internet arguments or ‘argunets’ as I call them myself occur because of the lack of understanding in what is opinion and what is fact.
I dont like game X, I am right.
I love game X, I am right.
When in actuality both are correct for themselves. They can argue all day and night about who is right, but in the end they both are, for themselves.
Sometimes it seems like folks like to argue, which is fine and actually healthy to a point. It starts getting annoying and unhealthy when it goes on and on and has no end and is beaten to death by tons of folks.
I personally dont plan on playing WAR as I have gotten a bit burnt out on fantasy as a setting. I am looking forward to see what Jumpgate: Evolution has to offer, but I am not going to shout stupidity like ‘WAR is dumb and so is WoW, come play Jumpgate”.
So I say “Whatever floats your boat.” I do hope WAR is successful as it is a good setting.
Im just mad that new beta people were in 5-6 days and already posted full reviews. OF COURSE THE STARTING AREAS ARE LIKE WOW, WHAT GAME ISNT NOWADAYS. 2004 called and they want their game reviews back.
/cynic hat
Bloggers argue because it gets better hit rates
/still hat
People argue because it’s fun. (To me it’s more fun when it’s civilised, but then you don’t enjoy the popcorn as much.)
Speaking of popcorn, I need to go and buy another mega-pack.
ack I think I may have tried to post that twice by mistake. Apols. (Really, I just thought 10x repetition would help.
)
Ysharros just wants a higher post count.
WoW starting areas were a bit like EQ1 starting areas too.. and so on.
Doesnt matter really as most folks pound through those areas in a matter of an hour or so. I have played WoW and been the only one in a starting area before…..
Genda, this just the outlook people need to take on these mmo holy wars. I will probably eventually write up my own thoughts on the bickering and back and forth eventually, but it won’t be very far off at all from what you have written here. Great post, this is just what I have been thinking about all of this.
Your “reason” and “good sense” have no place in this discussion, sir! This is about knee-jerk reactions and irrational defenses!
Great post.
@Ardwulf
I was thinking that I should have called this post “Can’t we all just get along?”
So like, WoW is like OMG, and War is all *gasp*, and they were all like wow omg wtf bbq, and, like, things and stuff!
…
War will fail, ya know. It just doesn’t have enough cowbell. Even LOTRO had _two levels_ of cowbell. Cowbell is where it’s at, yo!
…
Let us see how it plays out before judging it too ha…*dies from impact with flying tomato*
ummmm, this is just me being curious… why is Casualties closing open enrollment? Is there a concern that we’ll get too big? Or sloppy and drooly or something? Isn’t WAR about being a giant WAAAUGH!? Not sure I understand the logic. Maybe its to keep Chuck Norris and his friends out I dunno.
[...] in the middle we have Tobold and Genda, who are taking a more objective stance on what WAR brings to the table. I particularly enjoyed [...]
hardly a word I’d argue with here… completely reasonable
Sober posts like this make me wonder why mine attracted so much ire.
(don’t think I said it would be a flop, though it sort of is with me, but that’s me.)
Hey Glenda (fellow guildeee!) .. Wow .. I could make a post and it would be almost plagiarism. Could no agree more an the points.. anyway an observation. (and I am guilty of this from time to time).
It seems to be normal to rag on the old MMO for the new. Or .. rag on the new MMO if you stay with the old. It’s a general (and shallow) observation.
First, great post! [Great way to keep gray. Get a spine, and take a side! What? There is more than black and white?! Oh no! You must be over 12(tm)!] Good job attacking that usual behavior found in the ‘internet argument’ as one already pointed out.
This game has one major draw – It uses a pre-existing world and design to pull from. People forget that, and think WAR is some ‘new’ game. D&DO had that going for them, and they failed because they made crap. At this point in time WAR seems to be doing the right things. WoW came from the lore of a few video games. WAR can draw upon countless (relatively) journals, expansions, and personal play experiences that have been done against its rule set. That being said, that is what will be needed to make this a *** killer. Will they do that? Bring in all the GW fanboys, like meself, to help pull the tide and stick out the usual 6-month beta ride!
LOTRO not only has cowbell, it has moor cowbell! That’s more than any other game.
Point #11 I keep bringing up at work, especially in an election year, people here – esp. my boss – love not to argue why they believe in certain policies, but instead love to bash and insult the other half of the country. Because everyone that disagrees with me is a moron, of course!