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[WoW]: The portal's always greener on the fel side.

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    LD50LD50 Registered User regular
    I mean, eventually maintaining WoW while also adding onto it will become impossible. This is already starting to happen because the tools they're using are so old that they can't find any new hires that know how to use them. The libraries that WoW compiles against aren't getting any younger either, and over time some of them will stop being maintained. The more and more code they add on to the engine is more and more technical debt; more code that they have to maintain and bring up to date each development cycle. These problems are only going to get worse.

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    DhalphirDhalphir don't you open that trapdoor you're a fool if you dareRegistered User regular
    I get the arguments about WoW's weaknesses.

    But I just don't see why you need a fresh start to address those. Making a new engine costs the same whether you call it a fresh new game or use it to continue WoW.

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    DelphinidaesDelphinidaes FFXIV: Delphi Kisaragi Registered User regular
    Dhalphir wrote: »
    I get the arguments about WoW's weaknesses.

    But I just don't see why you need a fresh start to address those. Making a new engine costs the same whether you call it a fresh new game or use it to continue WoW.

    The engine is only a small part of the problem. If I had to put it all on one thing I'd say that people in general are just tired of WoW. The World, the story, the engine, the expansions, everything. No matter what you do eventually it will reach the point where people are just over it. The longer it goes, the more people move on for whatever reason moves them. Sure you can lure them back with each expansion, and some will stick around, but you'll never get that new game feeling again. You can never create that brand new world to explore, where literally everything is a new experience because it's always tied down by the years of past along with it.

    It's not a bad thing mind you, just something that is bound to happen. You don't normally see it happen because most MMOs don't ever reach this length of time. In my opinion though at a certain point you are just better off redirecting those resources into the next big thing, instead of continuing to drag on the beast you have created until it dies a slow agonizing death by a thousand cuts.

    All good things come to an end after all.

    NNID: delphinidaes
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    LD50LD50 Registered User regular
    A new engine wouldn't be compatible with wow's assets. If it were, it would inherit lots of the problems the current engine has. It would be much more worthwhile for them to just start on something completely new (which is exactly what they tried to do with titan).

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    FiarynFiaryn Omnicidal Madman Registered User regular
    edited May 2016
    Smrtnik wrote: »
    reVerse wrote: »
    Final Fantasy XIV is a sequel and was rebooted, and it is very successful.

    For all intents and purposes it was not a reboot since the first iteration failed so spectacularly that there were no existing customers that had emotional attachments to their characters. Meanwhile I'd be pretty pissed if they poofed my rogue i have had since Nov 2004 even though i barely play these days (mostly because WoD has way overstayed it's welcome).

    That's not true at all. You can see all the people with Legacy tattoos that are evidence to the contrary. (myself included)

    There is a difference between "people who played 1.0 exist" and "people who played 1.0 and cared about it aren't a vanishingly small minority who are basically irrelevant from a business standpoint". The former is a true statement, the latter not so much.

    WoW will fade away slowly but surely but it's important to remember that "fade" in this context means merely making money hand over fist instead of making All The Money. They're still going to support this game with Argus and the Older Gods and The Even Olderer Gods even if WoW dropped from the #1 MMO in the market.

    And then, at the end of all things...Me'dan will become canon. Then, only then, will oblivion take us.

    Fiaryn on
    Soul Silver FC: 1935 3141 6240
    White FC: 0819 3350 1787
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    bowenbowen How you doin'? Registered User regular
    LD50 wrote: »
    A new engine wouldn't be compatible with wow's assets. If it were, it would inherit lots of the problems the current engine has. It would be much more worthwhile for them to just start on something completely new (which is exactly what they tried to do with titan).

    If you're going to be rewriting the engine, redo the assets. Not a big deal. I mean.. a big deal, but, about as big a deal as starting fresh anyways.

    not a doctor, not a lawyer, examples I use may not be fully researched so don't take out of context plz, don't @ me
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    DelphinidaesDelphinidaes FFXIV: Delphi Kisaragi Registered User regular
    Fiaryn wrote: »
    Smrtnik wrote: »
    reVerse wrote: »
    Final Fantasy XIV is a sequel and was rebooted, and it is very successful.

    For all intents and purposes it was not a reboot since the first iteration failed so spectacularly that there were no existing customers that had emotional attachments to their characters. Meanwhile I'd be pretty pissed if they poofed my rogue i have had since Nov 2004 even though i barely play these days (mostly because WoD has way overstayed it's welcome).

    That's not true at all. You can see all the people with Legacy tattoos that are evidence to the contrary. (myself included)

    There is a difference between "people who played 1.0 exist" and "people who played 1.0 and cared about it aren't a vanishingly small minority who are basically irrelevant from a business standpoint". The former is a true statement, the latter not so much.

    WoW will fade away slowly but surely but it's important to remember that "fade" in this context means merely making money hand over fist instead of making All The Money. They're still going to support this game with Argus and the Older Gods and The Even Olderer Gods even if WoW dropped from the #1 MMO in the market.

    And then, at the end of all things...Me'dan will become canon. Then, only then, will oblivion take us.

    You'll have to excuse me, I was responding to the hyperbole about how "there were no existing customers that had emotional attachment to their characters" by showcasing that was indeed not the case. There were also far more people who cared about 1.0 than you may imagine (I still have to interact with them daily) and there are still threads and posts that pop up about how those players want the game to go back to how it was in 1.0 (I know.) I'm not disagreeing that they aren't a small enough portion of the playerbase that you can basically disregard them (and given what they want the game to be sometimes, that's a good thing) but they also only make up a small portion of the players that played and created characters in 1.0 overall.

    The key point here is that even while a large portion of the 1.0 players don't care much about the 1.0 game, they did in fact have emotional attachment to their characters, you also forget that this counts for the players who played 1.0 initially for awhile and then left because the game itself was bad. That was not for lack of a cool story or interesting characters, but almost entirely because the mechanics of the game were so problematic. When they made 2.0 they also made sure that characters would carry over, because of course, those players had emotional attachment to the characters they created. Which is why the statement "there were no existing customers that had emotional attachments to their characters" was factual incorrect on pretty much every level. Just because 1.0 was shit, doesn't mean that it didn't have it's good points, and that people didn't care about the characters they created.

    Also 2.0 only came about because enough people in 1.0 cared enough to stick around and support the game through the years of it's recreation. That doesn't happen unless the players are invested enough to care. And if that's not emotional attachment, I don't know what is.

    NNID: delphinidaes
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    EnigmedicEnigmedic Registered User regular
    They could do so much more if they bring a story to a close and let some time pass. If they tried to do it as just an expansion, they would have to have sone stupid timewarp crap to keep access to the old world.

    Like let 50-100 years pass and let the horde and alliance conflict erupt into full on war. Some new heroes, some old aged ones. There is just more freedom to do creative things when they dont have to worry about preserving 12 year old crap.

    The game's systems are an amalgamation of design decisions made over a decade. There are a bunch of just weird artifacts leftover from old design philosophies that could be rebuilt from the bottom up rather than twisted and held together with duct tape.

    Not to say your opinion is wrong, but to show that the opposite opinion exists, I would love to have a completely reset world. I may have characters that have been around since vanilla, but I like my new ones too. My old characters have ony cloaks and royal seal of eldre thalas, and eternal quintessence. But I know that they arent going to last forever.

    Blizzard would inevitably throw in a bunch of bonuses for carrying things over, but I think a fresh start would be great. But like I said earlier, providing WC4 to tell the new story and present new characters would be key. Wow had hype because wc2 and 3 were so popular. An rts lets them give a lot of information faster than an mmo. Plus, releasing the rts lets wow1 go out to pasture for a bit instead of abruptly chopping off its head with a sequel.

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    DhalphirDhalphir don't you open that trapdoor you're a fool if you dareRegistered User regular
    RTS games went out of vogue a while ago. I'm not sure it'd be as popular as all that.

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    EnigmedicEnigmedic Registered User regular
    I think rts is still a reasonable genre. Wings of liberty did well, but the way blizzard broke it into 3 different games was weird. By the time the other 2 came out they were seen as expansions rather than new games. People just didnt like that model. There has been a fairly steady stream of space/scifi rts games released, and more on the way such as DoW3. The scifi market for them is just so saturated. The fantasy side though is basically a barren wasteland.

    In addition, wc3 at least was much more accessable to people. Not nearly as dependent on apm. Its possible a different genre could tell the wc4 story, but Im having a hard time thinking what they could do that doesnt compete with overwatch and hots. Wc4 as an rts would drum up that "omg theyre gonna do it" hype too.

    Rts may be out of vogue now, but its because of blizzards innovation in wc3 leading to dota which led to mobas. Starcraft is their technical high apm game. Warcraft always had innovative ideas and was accessible. It would be up to them to innovate again and use the fans to push the next big thing.

    Of course id also play a game that was essentially "murkys adventure" where you play as a murloc and just do murloc things.

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    ArthilArthil Registered User regular
    I think you're wrong on that one, personally.

    In the end Blizzard is going to have to come to a decision on what to do. Because you cannot keep building on what is now ancient systems and have things be Sunshine and Rainbows. As someone said newer hires might not know what the hell is going on and need to be trained, that will be an escalating problem as more and more of the senior devs start looking at the idea of retirement in the next 10 years.

    PSN: Honishimo Steam UPlay: Arthil
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    LarsLars Registered User regular
    edited May 2016
    There is almost no chance that Blizzard will ever rope me into a new MMO (especially since they'll run into the same problem every other new MMO does...there is just no way to launch a new MMO that can compete with the shear amount of content that original WoW has accrued over the years).

    And if they shut down WoW in an effort to try and push me that way*, I will outright hate them for cutting off access to my characters. Taking away all my current toys is not a good way to get me invested in playing with the new ones you're trying to push, as all it does is reinforce the notion that you're going to take those away at some point, so why bother?

    (*Note: This is different from if they let WoW run for a while after it stops receiving content updates and then eventually shut it down once interest has dropped enough).

    I mean, they'd have to have all the playable races from current WoW, and port over a large amount of my mounts, pets, titles, and transmog gear for me to even consider "WoW2." And even then I'm not entirely sure, because even with the current game I don't like how it's impossible to revisit things like the original Deadmines or original Scholomance.

    The only other way I could see it working was if they kept WoW running and the other MMO wasn't WoW-related at all and they let a single subscription cover both of them to entice you into trying the new one since it's "free" if you're playing WoW already (aside from the cost of buying the game itself), and since it's unrelated to WoW it doesn't have to worry about cutting you off from your stuff.

    Lars on
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    Kai_SanKai_San Commonly known as Klineshrike! Registered User regular
    Dhalphir wrote: »
    RTS games went out of vogue a while ago. I'm not sure it'd be as popular as all that.

    The old style did, but there is absolutely no reason the formula couldn't be updated to be a good game.

    I think if a new Warcraft RTS was made, it could emphasize the RPG aspect more than the RTS and be an awesome game. Instead of just individual map challenges have it be more like how FFT did things with a persistent cast that levels and such. While still having building and map growth. Hell, maybe even make it so its a MUCH larger map that you sort of just progress on, so instead of like 10-20 maps per chapter, its just 1 map for the whole chapter and you grow with the map. I think that is something technology couldn't handle as well then as it could now. There are interesting things to be done with a single player game in that vein.

    Also with regards to making a new game, why did no one bring up how Guild Wars did things. They made a second game (albeit they shifted from something pretty much not MMO to pure MMO) and did a good job of moving the playerbase on. Lots of stuff was unlockable in the new game based on progress in the old game, most of which was directly related to the old game.

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    EnigmedicEnigmedic Registered User regular
    There would have to be some kind of time skip for wow2 to work at all. Something like everyone rebuilding after the fallout of fighting the legion. But after enough time politics and greed messes everything up.

    It wouldnt make sense to move 100 years into the future and have your characters still in pristine fighting shape. Maybe for the undead and night elves? Everyone else would be really old or dead. Even more so if more time has passed.

    Mmo launches generally come with more content than just an expansion would. I think starting from scratch, blizzard could do a lot. Would it be in the quantity of current wow and all its expansions? No. But there is a lot of current wows quantity which is never even looked at or used. There is also a ton of it that is terrible. Id take a quantity hit for some quality.

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    Kai_SanKai_San Commonly known as Klineshrike! Registered User regular
    Though I think the main thing holding back a new MMO from blizzard is what can they do to really significantly move the game/genre forward?

    They seem to like games where they can do something that hasn't already been done, usually involving making it more accessible. That is what TITAN was going to be, something completely different and a huge change and leap forward from what WoW is. They likely, as a company, have zero interest in just improving the code and upgrading the visuals with a few small additions here and there being the reason to make a new MMO.

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    MugsleyMugsley DelawareRegistered User regular
    Guys, don't worry. They're at least 2 expansions ahead and they've already figured this stuff out (TM)

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    BrainleechBrainleech 機知に富んだコメントはここにあります Registered User regular
    Sure they are
    I really feel WOD was on the backburner compared to the polish and upfrontness in their other games in the same time frames

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    TryCatcherTryCatcher Registered User regular
    People are naive if they think that Blizzard is going to do a new MMO if they shut down WoW, the entire genre just isn't worth the AAA investment anymore. A lot of stuff is riding on the movie, if the movie succeeds, there's going to be a lot of interest on WoW, and you will have an entire cinematic universe to explore over the next decade, which guarantees that WoW will keep going on for that decade + 5 years at least.

    If it bombs, WoW will just go F2P and new development will just slow down.

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    NeurotikaNeurotika Registered User regular
    Kai_San wrote: »
    I think if a new Warcraft RTS was made, it could emphasize the RPG aspect more than the RTS and be an awesome game. Instead of just individual map challenges have it be more like how FFT did things with a persistent cast that levels and such. While still having building and map growth. Hell, maybe even make it so its a MUCH larger map that you sort of just progress on, so instead of like 10-20 maps per chapter, its just 1 map for the whole chapter and you grow with the map. I think that is something technology couldn't handle as well then as it could now. There are interesting things to be done with a single player game in that vein.

    Dawn of War 2 was a lot like that, you had a persistent cadre of 3-4 characters that had abilities and equipment that you ran through different, longer maps with an RTS style UI and commands.

    It was pretty great.

    I don't remember much building though.

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    ArthilArthil Registered User regular
    I mean the idea was great but for fans of Dawn of War most were kind of let down.

    PSN: Honishimo Steam UPlay: Arthil
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    Kai_SanKai_San Commonly known as Klineshrike! Registered User regular
    ForceVoid wrote: »
    Kai_San wrote: »
    I think if a new Warcraft RTS was made, it could emphasize the RPG aspect more than the RTS and be an awesome game. Instead of just individual map challenges have it be more like how FFT did things with a persistent cast that levels and such. While still having building and map growth. Hell, maybe even make it so its a MUCH larger map that you sort of just progress on, so instead of like 10-20 maps per chapter, its just 1 map for the whole chapter and you grow with the map. I think that is something technology couldn't handle as well then as it could now. There are interesting things to be done with a single player game in that vein.

    Dawn of War 2 was a lot like that, you had a persistent cadre of 3-4 characters that had abilities and equipment that you ran through different, longer maps with an RTS style UI and commands.

    It was pretty great.

    I don't remember much building though.

    My knowledge of the whole RTS genre of that age is slim to be honest. I didn't really do much PC gaming back then, and I also have never been all that great at those types of games anyway. So I likely shouldn't have been trying to think up something original for that type. But I think there are still ways to bring the genre back. I think a Warcraft 4 could be done and done well. If WoW ends up kind of ending as far as support goes, I think that is their next step. It seems like the whole IP is pretty important to them.

    It could also be possible they just go full RPG with it and make a straight game in that vein next. I know a long time ago there was some plans to go in that direction with Warcraft before WoW was started.

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    AngryAngry The glory I had witnessed was just a sleight of handRegistered User regular
    TryCatcher wrote: »
    People are naive if they think that Blizzard is going to do a new MMO if they shut down WoW, the entire genre just isn't worth the AAA investment anymore. A lot of stuff is riding on the movie, if the movie succeeds, there's going to be a lot of interest on WoW, and you will have an entire cinematic universe to explore over the next decade, which guarantees that WoW will keep going on for that decade + 5 years at least.

    If it bombs, WoW will just go F2P and new development will just slow down.

    I'm pretty sure that Blizzard isn't going to react to the Warcraft movie doing poorly by shuttering an immensely profitable game.

    I'm also fairly confident that even if the movie is a huge success, it will have a negligible effect on WoW's sub numbers.

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    FiarynFiaryn Omnicidal Madman Registered User regular
    edited May 2016
    It's not like Blizzard is making the movie themselves. Final Fantasy: Spirits Within, this is not.

    What happens to the movie is basically irrelevant. WoW's going to keep on WoWing regardless. Millions of subscribers are not going to disappear because of a movie most regard as an amusing novelty at best.

    Fiaryn on
    Soul Silver FC: 1935 3141 6240
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    LD50LD50 Registered User regular
    I'd really like to see them focus on making some more single player focused games of new IPs. See what sticks and is popular, and then eventually spin up a new MMO based on that IP, when WoW is farther along into it's sunset.

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    EnigmedicEnigmedic Registered User regular
    LD50 wrote: »
    I'd really like to see them focus on making some more single player focused games of new IPs. See what sticks and is popular, and then eventually spin up a new MMO based on that IP, when WoW is farther along into it's sunset.

    There's a missed opportunity for a fun little action adventure game where you run around as a murloc.

    Also a video I saw talking about D&D that kind of sums up how I feel about numbers in WoW.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9vECzikqpY

    Maybe a little late to our numbers conversation, and not quite directly addressing WoW, but I could stand bringing the power levels somewhere below 9000...

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    BrainleechBrainleech 機知に富んだコメントはここにあります Registered User regular
    I have a feeling they will give us something in game for watching the movie. Even if it's just a pet or title.

    I will go see it as I am very curious about it.

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    EnigmedicEnigmedic Registered User regular
    They're giving some transmog weapons for it. They look pretty cool. If you're interested they have them on mmochampion. It's really just for logging in after the premier it looks like rather than just going to see the movie. They probably figure if people are already subbed theyll go see the movie, and cool transmog stuff is a reward for anyone that starts playing or comes back. I like that implementation more than some code printed on a ticket stub or something.

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    ArthilArthil Registered User regular
    Hard to tell whether it's just hearsay so far, but it appears all you'll need to do for unlocking those transmog weapons will be to log in within two months of the movies release. That'd be a nice way of handling it.

    PSN: Honishimo Steam UPlay: Arthil
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    DhalphirDhalphir don't you open that trapdoor you're a fool if you dareRegistered User regular
    edited May 2016
    The Horde transmog is some garbage, why can't I use the Alliance ones if I want? stupid.

    Why does Horde-themed transmog have to always be Orc-based? The Alliance set would look great on a blood elf.

    Dhalphir on
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    I needed anime to post.I needed anime to post. boom Registered User regular
    traitors like filthy elves deserve no regalia

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    PMAversPMAvers Registered User regular
    There's going to be a Legion Dev Update on Twitch Tuesday morning at 9 am PST, btw, in case anyone wants to watch.

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    DhalphirDhalphir don't you open that trapdoor you're a fool if you dareRegistered User regular
    PMAvers wrote: »
    There's going to be a Legion Dev Update on Twitch Tuesday morning at 9 am PST, btw, in case anyone wants to watch.

    as in next Tuesday, or 11 hours from now?

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    ArthilArthil Registered User regular
    Pretty sure 11 hours from now.

    PSN: Honishimo Steam UPlay: Arthil
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    EnigmedicEnigmedic Registered User regular
    Hopefully its more informative than "we've heard your feedback, and its valuable to us"

    There's also supposed to be a pokemon announcement tomorrow, dunno why two big devs chose the 10th.

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    I needed anime to post.I needed anime to post. boom Registered User regular
    well you don't want to do things on mondays cuz mondays suck, so you have to do them on tuesday

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    BrainleechBrainleech 機知に富んだコメントはここにあります Registered User regular
    Dhalphir wrote: »
    The Horde transmog is some garbage, why can't I use the Alliance ones if I want? stupid.

    Why does Horde-themed transmog have to always be Orc-based? The Alliance set would look great on a blood elf.

    I agree as I transmog'ed myself to look more like an forsaken npc but what to use as a staff is a question

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    TryCatcherTryCatcher Registered User regular
    For those interested, you get the movie transmogs by logging in the game in the next two months after the movie's release.
    And WoWHead already put a preview:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSnpqDRUVt4

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    SteevLSteevL What can I do for you? Registered User regular
    TryCatcher wrote: »
    For those interested, you get the movie transmogs by logging in the game in the next two months after the movie's release.
    And WoWHead already put a preview:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSnpqDRUVt4

    That falls roughly within the window of when I plan to resubscribe for Legion, so I guess that works for me.

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    ShinyRedKnightShinyRedKnight Registered User regular
    Wow that is easily the best sword and shield I have seen in this game.

    I would say it's going to be overused, but the only characters that can use both are warrior and paladin tanks. I'm glad they aren't attaching it to movie tickets, though I still plan to see it.

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    PSN: ShinyRedKnight Xbox Live: ShinyRedKnight
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    NosfNosf Registered User regular
    Axe looks like a green drop. The sword and shield are fairly nice. Not a fan of sticks covered in skulls. Don't plan on logging in tho, so I don't need to worry about it!

This discussion has been closed.