Curse

theclam · Jul 19, 2005, 04:57 AM // 04:57

So I was thinking about the relative merits of WoW vs GW and how ANet split off from Blizzard. It came to me that the games are the perfect opposites of each other in most respects. In areas where GW is weak, WoW is strong, and vice versa.

PvP:
GW - Great, well balanced PvP that has many different game modes, but is limited in the number of players (only 4-8 on a team).
WoW - Unbalanced PvP that's based upon grinding rather than skill, but allows for matches from 1v1 to a hundred players or more.

World:
GW - Beautiful but static world. The lore and story are not especially well developed and uninteresting. It's not very immersive. Still, it has a direct storyline that is relayed like a single player game would be. Also, it feels smaller than WoW does. Instant travel is a great feature, but maybe that's the thing that makes it feel small.
WoW - Great looking world with beautiful art direction. More dynamic than GW, in the sense that players can actually affect things, like the Stitches event or a PvP raid. It's very immersive and it has a great backstory. However, it doesn't really feel like you're at all important and there isn't much plot development. It is nice to feel like a part of the Horde or the Alliance. It promotes community.

Instancing:
GW - The instancing system gets rid of ganking, spawn camping, and griefing. Plus, you don't have to worry about mobs respawning.
WoW - WoW has lots of problems that stem from player immaturity, since you can't just switch districts. However, it does have a better sense of community and it is nice to be able to run around helping other players or being helped yourself. The game world feels more vibrant and less empty when you see other players running around the countryside.

Tediousness:
GW - GW eliminates most of the tediousness of MMORPGs. You don't feel a need to grind because grinding for uber gear and skills will only give you minor advantages over the opposition.
WoW - WoW has a lot more tedious activities and the game seems to encourage tedious grinding. However, when you do grind, there are tangible rewards that come of it.

Item System:
GW - In GW, you don't have to worry about losing to someone in PvP, or being passed over for a PvE group, because you don't have the best gear. On the other hand, there isn't that much variety in the items that you can get and you don't get the satisfaction of having a Black Armageddon Sword of Dragonslaying. In addition, crafting is weak and simplistic. Trading is clumsy.
WoW - WoW has a great, diverse selection of items that are a lot of fun to use and acquire. Still, someone with high end armor will have a huge advantage over someone with low end armor. Crafting gives you lots of cool items and it's a great way to participate in the economy. The Auction House is an amazing tool for finding anything you want.

Character Customization:
GW - GW has a great system. There is a huge variety of skills that you can choose from. The 8 skill limit forces you to pick just a few and make a unique, personal build. It also gives the system a lot of balance and strategy. It's very nice to be able to easily, cheaply, and quickly modify my build, depending on my needs. If I think up an interesting build, I can make a PvP character and test it out immediately. If I don't like a part of my current build, I can change something around. This is good.
WoW - The talent system is a great idea. Passive and active upgrades to your character make character development more interesting. Nevertheless, Blizzard managed to screw it up by instituting a cost for changing your skill tree around. It would be so much nicer to be able to test out different builds without having to commit. Races and Tradeskills are good, although they don't really affect core gameplay significantly (except for Undead who resist my Fear spells

). Even with all this, my characters never really felt like I put that much strategy into them, or had a uniqueness, or felt personal. There just isn't that much variety in a class. Every single Warlock has access to the same 50 spells, give or take a half-dozen depending on talents. Every single Warlock uses a pet, a Healthstone, casts DoTs at the beginning of combat, and has the same crowd control capabilities.

While they're both good, fun games. I'm salivating at the thought that, if ANet hadn't left Blizzard, the developers could have combined their forces to make a game that had all the strengths of WoW and GW, but none of the weaknesses.

So, I demand that we make a petition to ask the two companies to join forces and make a new online RPG according to my vision!

The Warbringer · Jul 19, 2005, 04:59 AM // 04:59

Good idea, but seriously, no petition unless the president signed it would get them to join, and I doubt the president signing would do anything either.....

theclam · Jul 19, 2005, 05:24 AM // 05:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Warbringer

Good idea, but seriously, no petition unless the president signed it would get them to join, and I doubt the president signing would do anything either.....

That last bit was sarcasm.