Other MMOs, Just WoW Clones?

25 Nov 2010 at 11:44:38 by Jeff Hollis

Hey there, my fellow sojourners into virtual space, and welcome to this week's cloned edition of MMO Weekly.  In this week's write-up, we'll explore the frequently used phrase by dismissive MMO fanbois and fangurls, that generally goes something like this:  “Pfffft.  It's just a WoW clone.”  In almost every case, this is uttered routinely each time a new MMO hits the market, or appears on the horizon.  What the fanbois and fangurls generally mean, of course, is that this new MMO is a lot like WoW and, because it is derivative, it therefore sucks.  They also tend to imply that the game, because it is a WoW clone, will certainly fail.

The reason this has come up is that I recently got to see some “leaked” gameplay footage from Star Wars: The Old Republic.  SWTOR (or TOR for all the “in the know” people) is an upcoming MMO from BioWare, and it's got a lot of MMO fans all a-twitter.  The video I saw looked pretty good, if you ask me.  The characters moved well, the gameplay was exciting, and the quests looked....well, they looked fantastic.  Obviously, I was impressed. 

Before I continue, I feel that I should disclose that I'm a Star Wars fan, and an MMO player from way back.  In fact, I downright love MMOs as a genre.  With some others, I'm even part of a shiny new TOR fansite.  So yeah, I'm definitely a TOR hopeful.  However, I've been a gaming journalist for many years, and I've been hopeful about games that turned out, upon release, to suck.  This is especially true about MMOs.  I don't think that I'm capable of becoming a mindless fan, unable to discern good, bad, or mediocre gameplay. On the flip side, I'm no senseless critic.  Neither one is in my makeup. 

So was the gameplay, as seen in the video, innovative?  Well, the quests were fully voiced, and this appeared to be superbly done.  Is this a huge innovation?  I'd argue that it's a big jump from the industry standard, and it brought a lot to the game, but it wasn't completely revolutionary.  Other than the voiced quests, TOR overall looked mostly like the modern MMO standard.  The interface was familiar, and the way the character interacted with the environment seemed to be good, though nothing significantly different from what we see now.  From the few minutes that I saw, the game appeared to be fun to play, though clearly recognizable an MMO with a number of incremental improvements over the current generation.  It was cool, and it gave me hope that TOR will end up being a great MMO, and not just another disappointing also-ran. 

Apparently, not everyone seemed to think so positively about this four minute glimpse of the game.  The criticism seemed to have a specific focus.  From the various comments I saw around the web, the refrain was similar:  “Pfffft.  It's just another WoW clone.”  Much of this criticism focused on the user interface, which admittedly is like WoW (and LOTRO, and WAR, and a dozen others).  This was generally followed by opinions that the game will, of course, fail.  It also seems that the general consensus among these critics was that since the video didn't show any breakthrough new ideas, TOR was doomed.

I have to say that I don't agree with this line of reasoning.  First of all, let's look back to when WoW was the new kid on the block.  The game wasn't considered innovative at the time.  In fact, it was considered an Everquest clone.  There were no big breakthrough ideas, there were no genius innovations, and there was no revoloutionary gameplay.  WoW brought the genre into the present (at that point, 2004).  Despite the fact that EQ produced numerous and frequent expansions, WoW's newness gave it an edge over aging games like EQ.  Where WoW shined was in its execution.  Blizzard had polished their MMO until it gleamed like the sun.  It wasn't innovation that made WoW great, it was execution.  Only after WoW was established as an MMO did the game begin to innovate, and to bring the genre ever forward. 

If BioWare is smart (and they are), they will certainly try to imitate WoW's success.  That means that they should try to emulate much of WoW's gameplay, the mechanics, the interface, and everything else about WoW.  They should also emulate ideas from LOTRO, and from EVE, and Warhammer, and Conan, and from from the various free to play MMOs out there.  Of course, they have to put their own spin on these ideas, but BioWare should emulate away. 

If they do this successfully, TOR will be a game that brings the MMO genre forward into the contemporary era, and this will give it an edge over aging games, even WoW.  Is WoW a good game?  Absolutely.  Will their next expansion (Cataclysm), which drops in the next couple of weeks, improve WoW dramatically?  Sure it will.  Nevertheless, TOR is a game that is built from the ground up with new ideas and new tools, and it will still have an edge.  That is, of course, if BioWare can execute with excellence.

That's why I don't understand, and cannot agree with, the dismissive negativity with which some fans view upcoming MMOs.  It is true, that a game like Portal or Mirror's Edge will come along every now and then, and they'll improve upon the existing state of the art in dramatic ways.  However, that generally isn't the case.  For the most part, games (including MMOs) that bring the genre incrementally forward are successful.  This success allows them to include smaller, less risky innovations down the road, after they are established.

I've heard some similar moanings and groanings about about Guild Wars 2.  GW2 is another potentially big, grade A MMO, and it's due to be released in the next year or so.  The refrain from a significant number of fans is exactly the same as with TOR, above.  “It's just a WoW clone”.  I have to say, I don't think that's a fair criticism.  In fact, I'm not sure it's a bad thing at all.  A WoW clone is very likely to be the next big thing. 

And if TOR goes big, and becomes the new king of the hill, you know what will happen?  A few years from now, Blizzard, Turbine, or ArenaNet will be pushing out their new MMO, and fanbois and fangurls will see some leaked footage.  And they'll utter their standard critique: “Pffft.  It's just a TOR clone.  Why can't they do something new?” 

Alright, alright, that is all we have for this week.  Please let me know your thoughts – agreement, disagreement, or somewhere in between – in the comments.  Also, if you enjoyed this write up, please come visit me over at my new online endeavor, TORWars.com.  For now, ciao!

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