Comments on: A Personal View on World-Rending Events http://mmeow.net/2009/08/a-personal-view-on-world-rending-events/ LotRO and Mines of Moria Focused Blog for the Casual Player Thu, 29 Jul 2010 07:35:45 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: Alcasm http://mmeow.net/2009/08/a-personal-view-on-world-rending-events/comment-page-1/#comment-6188 Alcasm Tue, 25 Aug 2009 22:43:54 +0000 http://mmeow.net/?p=2043#comment-6188 It actually reminds me quite strongly of Bethesda's flawed design aesthetic when it came to Fallout 3. They would insert stuff into the game for no more reason than that it was "cool", game lore be damned. Couple that with an almost complete disregard for the setting's lore in general and you get a bastardization of the Fallout universe. Fallout 2 shared this problem to a lesser extent (thankfully it had talent such as Chris Avellone working to disguise it as best they could) but it was trying to evolve the Fallout universe whereas Fallout 3 is just a shameless attempt to ape elements of the originals. It all boils down to consistency and realizing that sometimes you have to sacrifice "cool" to maintain verisimilitude. It actually reminds me quite strongly of Bethesda’s flawed design aesthetic when it came to Fallout 3. They would insert stuff into the game for no more reason than that it was “cool”, game lore be damned. Couple that with an almost complete disregard for the setting’s lore in general and you get a bastardization of the Fallout universe. Fallout 2 shared this problem to a lesser extent (thankfully it had talent such as Chris Avellone working to disguise it as best they could) but it was trying to evolve the Fallout universe whereas Fallout 3 is just a shameless attempt to ape elements of the originals. It all boils down to consistency and realizing that sometimes you have to sacrifice “cool” to maintain verisimilitude.

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]]> By: Longasc http://mmeow.net/2009/08/a-personal-view-on-world-rending-events/comment-page-1/#comment-6187 Longasc Mon, 24 Aug 2009 08:17:20 +0000 http://mmeow.net/?p=2043#comment-6187 Alcasm is right, Blizzard gives a damn about its world and lore. The WoW story is even worse than some of the worst stories written for D&D. But people let Blizzard get away with it and are even excited about it. Something happened after Warcraft 2, a hype train started rolling that has not stopped since that time. I liked Warcraft 1 the most, but then Metzen went mad and I wonder why so many people can stand his broad shoulder fetish. Blizz does all for the effect, giving a damn about logic and continuity, as many modern films do. But this does not create a "world", even low level roleplaying in such a shitty setting is unfulfilling and useless, I would even say just impossible. Flight has regularly to be switched off in battlegrounds, makes the world feel even smaller and sacrifices basically all world design for the kick of flying for flying's sake. But people already resubscribe to WoW again, right now, because a cataclysm was announced for late 2010. They might also sell us the revamped Diablo and Starcraft series around that time for more money (pay for maps, game broken up in 3 chapters and so on) Blizz is a phenomenon - they can do for what others would be flogged. They are good, no doubt, but everyone sees to turn a blind eye once they screw up and fanbois come to the rescue. Talk about WoW PvP and class balance in general... it is not there at all. Think about Paladins and DK's who were quite intentionally overpowered in patch 3.0 and now are with DK's and druids the most played classes. People tend to forget all that and go back to a faction grind dailies, then raid game with a lore that makes one laugh hard. If Blizz takes a dump on their players heads, people are excited. Other companies create cool stuff, too, but they are much more questioned and criticized while Blizz gets away with answers like that: Q:Why are there Worgen DKs? A:Because it's cool? Alcasm is right, Blizzard gives a damn about its world and lore. The WoW story is even worse than some of the worst stories written for D&D. But people let Blizzard get away with it and are even excited about it.

Something happened after Warcraft 2, a hype train started rolling that has not stopped since that time. I liked Warcraft 1 the most, but then Metzen went mad and I wonder why so many people can stand his broad shoulder fetish.

Blizz does all for the effect, giving a damn about logic and continuity, as many modern films do.

But this does not create a “world”, even low level roleplaying in such a shitty setting is unfulfilling and useless, I would even say just impossible.

Flight has regularly to be switched off in battlegrounds, makes the world feel even smaller and sacrifices basically all world design for the kick of flying for flying’s sake.

But people already resubscribe to WoW again, right now, because a cataclysm was announced for late 2010. They might also sell us the revamped Diablo and Starcraft series around that time for more money (pay for maps, game broken up in 3 chapters and so on)

Blizz is a phenomenon — they can do for what others would be flogged. They are good, no doubt, but everyone sees to turn a blind eye once they screw up and fanbois come to the rescue.

Talk about WoW PvP and class balance in general… it is not there at all. Think about Paladins and DK’s who were quite intentionally overpowered in patch 3.0 and now are with DK’s and druids the most played classes.

People tend to forget all that and go back to a faction grind dailies, then raid game with a lore that makes one laugh hard.

If Blizz takes a dump on their players heads, people are excited. Other companies create cool stuff, too, but they are much more questioned and criticized while Blizz gets away with answers like that:

Q:Why are there Worgen DKs?
A:Because it’s cool?

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]]> By: jdw http://mmeow.net/2009/08/a-personal-view-on-world-rending-events/comment-page-1/#comment-6186 jdw Mon, 24 Aug 2009 01:38:51 +0000 http://mmeow.net/?p=2043#comment-6186 How did the Tauren gain the ability to use the power of Light? "Aliens did it." How did the Tauren gain the ability to use the power of Light?

“Aliens did it.”

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]]> By: VictorB http://mmeow.net/2009/08/a-personal-view-on-world-rending-events/comment-page-1/#comment-6183 VictorB Sun, 23 Aug 2009 22:04:34 +0000 http://mmeow.net/?p=2043#comment-6183 As a clarification, it's not exactly opening up all classes to all races, but in some cases, some of the new race-class combinations kind of throw the lore out the window. That kind of disregard rubs me the wrong way, I suppose. As a clarification, it’s not exactly opening up all classes to all races, but in some cases, some of the new race-class combinations kind of throw the lore out the window.

That kind of disregard rubs me the wrong way, I suppose.

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]]> By: Alcasm http://mmeow.net/2009/08/a-personal-view-on-world-rending-events/comment-page-1/#comment-6182 Alcasm Sun, 23 Aug 2009 21:19:37 +0000 http://mmeow.net/?p=2043#comment-6182 I'm not about to fault Blizzard for altering their lore for the sake of their business (though they hardly <strong>need</strong> more), after all, gaming isn't just a game for developers. I do like how this reinforces my belief that WoW has no real integrity with respect to its setting however as that has always been what put me off from playing the game and it always annoyed me when people who loved the game would try to pass it off as some literary masterpiece within the MMO genre. Obviously we haven't seen any real masterpieces within MMOs yet, although a case could certainly be made for EVE Online. But this move by Blizzard, assigning all classes to all races, really hurts any movement in such a direction. It reminds me of how ADnD 2nd Edition had such harsh restrictions on race and class and then 3rd Edition just eliminated the restrictions completely. I think it really speaks to laziness on Blizzard's part ultimately, it takes far less effort to churn out revamps to the lore than it does to introduce a new class, and Blizzard has no excuse for being lazy considering their subscription numbers. Why they couldn't instead introduce a new Hero class is beyond me as I would think that would excite the players a hell of a lot more, but I suppose they will take what they can get. I’m not about to fault Blizzard for altering their lore for the sake of their business (though they hardly need more), after all, gaming isn’t just a game for developers. I do like how this reinforces my belief that WoW has no real integrity with respect to its setting however as that has always been what put me off from playing the game and it always annoyed me when people who loved the game would try to pass it off as some literary masterpiece within the MMO genre.

Obviously we haven’t seen any real masterpieces within MMOs yet, although a case could certainly be made for EVE Online. But this move by Blizzard, assigning all classes to all races, really hurts any movement in such a direction. It reminds me of how ADnD 2nd Edition had such harsh restrictions on race and class and then 3rd Edition just eliminated the restrictions completely. I think it really speaks to laziness on Blizzard’s part ultimately, it takes far less effort to churn out revamps to the lore than it does to introduce a new class, and Blizzard has no excuse for being lazy considering their subscription numbers. Why they couldn’t instead introduce a new Hero class is beyond me as I would think that would excite the players a hell of a lot more, but I suppose they will take what they can get.

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