Even though I’m not posting much of late due to not playing anything of note, my blog still gets quite a few daily hits from people trolling the nethersphere. One of my most popular posts is my post from January on why I think that SWTOR could suck big fat donkey balls. Apparently quite a few people are searching on google under “Star Wars MMO sucks” and other similar combinations. And then they come to me! Yippee! (Always try and have your post title search-worthy).
In that post from way back in January I spoke about the fact that it may not be a good idea to copy an MMO, (WoW), that isn’t working any more. Otherwise you’re just going to get WoW in Space. Well, it looks as if I was right. This is one hell of a first impression of the game from a game journalist. In it he sums up with the view that the only elements of worth in the game appear to be the cut scenes and the voice acting, elements which are more suited to watching a movie than playing a game.
It’s very interesting watching the SWTOR juggernaut lurch its way towards the end of year launch date. It’s almost like watching the Titanic pull away from the docks but you know it’s going to sink. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent on what is looking ever more likely to go tits up in spectacular fashion. If it’s possible to make money on stock going down now would be the time to get into Bioware. In the end this will be good for the industry. Instead of thinking that you can simply copy an existing game, (oh sorry, they have voice acting, it is sooooo different), set it in a different world, throw a huge amount of money at it and guarantee success, perhaps gaming companies will invest a little more time and effort into making really good original games.
At the end of the day you cannot compare MMO games to movies, albums, or even single player games. An MMO game is not something to just be consumed and then discarded without thought. It is something that you invest a portion of your life in. Hopefully in the future the investment will be worth the return.
October 7, 2011 at 4:01 am
nstead of thinking that you can simply copy an existing game, (oh sorry, they have voice acting, it is sooooo different), set it in a different world, throw a huge amount of money at it and guarantee success, perhaps gaming companies will invest a little more time and effort into making really good original games.
Err… if the industry hasn’t learned that lesson already, you know, from the long and sordid history of (failed) WoW clones, what makes you think they will learn it after SWTOR?
Actually, I think the WoW-clone age is coming to an end due to the lucrative rise of F2P models, which dissuade AAA-style investment anyway. Why bother with fancy graphics, 5-year development cycles, etc, when you can still make millions with cell-shading and cash shops?
October 7, 2011 at 4:31 am
While your point is accurate I still have the hope that Guild Wars 2 will defy this trend.
October 7, 2011 at 8:58 am
I dont see whats wrong with beeing a wowclone. The game itself is pretty good. It was pushed in the wrong direction but the game itself isnt that bad.
Sorry but whats wrong with wows ui? it does the job good… so why not copy it? Its not like Blizz invented hotkeys/bars or minimaps or unitframes. Whats wrong with cooldowns? GW2 does it the same way. Push skill… wait a few secs… push it again/another skill… standing still for casts is lame… I get that. Slow combat can be a downer. Have to play it to say something about that.
I realy dont get it why everybody bashes on a game that we all played for years. It changed to some sort of instantactionrpg… login… jump into the lfd/lfr/randomBG. Just let it be… get over it! Stoped playing… looking for something fresh… but I can live with some solid gamemechanics like WoWs. The game itself is pretty good. I like the system. I like Tanks/Heals/DPS. I like cooldownmanagment. I like a littlebit of grindig. I dont give a shit about voiceacting cause I am not there for the story… Fuck the questdesigne… Can live with “kill X of Y” as long as it the gameplay itself is ok. WoW did a realy good job with that… it feels right. Dont know how to say it cause I am not that good with english language but just the feel of WoW (not talking about quests, story, raids, grinds or whatever) is exactly what I want. You know… how the game itself feels when you strip everything from it. Just your little toon and the feel how you move around in a big world and do shit (whatever that shit maybe).