Wyr idea used in WoW?

Makkah

Cadet
You know... I have never played WoW, but I know a bit about it. The upcoming expansion provides a new "profession" called the Inscriptor. The Inscriptor will supposedly be able to add attributes to pre-existing abilities. Quote from Wiki to follow:

"The profession of Inscription is similar to the profession of Enchanting. However, Inscription permanently enhances the attributes of players' spells and abilities. For example, an "Inscriber" could take the Fireball spell, and give it the ability to knockback or daze an enemy."

Now some may think this is a natural progression of ideas, but I can't help feeling like they stole this from HJ. What makes it worse is that former HJ Product Manager Simu-Melissa now works for Blizzard in some capacity.

I don't really know, just kinda struck me in an odd way.

EDIT: To explain, this inscription idea is exactly what the Wyr do. They add new abilities to equipment/spells you already have. Have a vanilla set of +20 (example) platemail, add Super Fancy Firemage Mojo Wyr to the plate to make it +20 with fire resistance. Or have Crazy Bard Lullabye spell; add Mad Shaman of Necromancer's Poison Voodoo to make the spell put targets to sleep AND poison DoT style.
 
You know... I have never played WoW, but I know a bit about it. The upcoming expansion provides a new "profession" called the Inscriptor. The Inscriptor will supposedly be able to add attributes to pre-existing abilities. Quote from Wiki to follow:

"The profession of Inscription is similar to the profession of Enchanting. However, Inscription permanently enhances the attributes of players' spells and abilities. For example, an "Inscriber" could take the Fireball spell, and give it the ability to knockback or daze an enemy."

Now some may think this is a natural progression of ideas, but I can't help feeling like they stole this from HJ. What makes it worse is that former HJ Product Manager Simu-Melissa now works for Blizzard in some capacity.

I don't really know, just kinda struck me in an odd way.

EDIT: To explain, this inscription idea is exactly what the Wyr do. They add new abilities to equipment/spells you already have. Have a vanilla set of +20 (example) platemail, add Super Fancy Firemage Mojo Wyr to the plate to make it +20 with fire resistance. Or have Crazy Bard Lullabye spell; add Mad Shaman of Necromancer's Poison Voodoo to make the spell put targets to sleep AND poison DoT style.



The main flaw being that it was in CoH long before HJ or WoW...
 
Ah, but there are several key things that make it so..

1. Wyr are not permanent. They go into slots. Inscription seems like a more permanent thing.

2. Wyr are not a profession, nor do they need any one single profession to be used.


3. Yeah, it's been done before and for AGES before HJ. HJ doesn't have a copyright on things that increase already existing abilities, hehe.

4. Even when someone leaves a place, they are still under a contract to their former place of work unless the contract says they are not. I doubt the contract is off Melissa just because she left, or that would mean too many things could be leaked.

I really don't think this is a copy off of HJ. It's too generic to be considered a copy off of anything. It's just a classic concept done again in a different way.
 
I really don't think this is a copy off of HJ. It's too generic to be considered a copy off of anything. It's just a classic concept done again in a different way.

And that really is the essence of WoW, isn't it? Take ideas that everyone loves, re-package them together with some neat twists and some excellent settings/lore, and poof, you've got a best-selling game.
 
World of Warcraft is an uncontested success. They must have done something right...and whether it's formulaic or not, it has some absolutely gorgeous cinematics.
 
I must admit that the Artists for WoW did a great Job of getting the Last out of the Engine. But both Artstyle and graphical Quality (even three Years ago) turned me off so bad, that i didn't even bother to look at the Games Features.
 
WoW is good and all, but if they don't really do the graphics overhaul that they have hinted at with the new xpack, then they will be turning down the path of EQ. Their graphics never TRULY improved. The jagged edges could cut your eyes if you stared at your screen too closely.
 
Honestly, I could cope with WoW's graphics more easily if it wasn't for all of thec clipping issues. I hate how everything moves through everything else. And much of it's planned.
1: "Hey lets make a flying ray-like mount that people sit on."
2: "But wouldnt that mean making a new position for the characters? That doesn't really fit in with current mounts"
1: "Nah, we'll just ram their feet through the thing and it'll be fine. We'll call it the foot-warming bonus to riding them."

I agree that it needs a massive graphics overhaul. Right now it's at the limits of my tolerance given the competition.
 
They don't have a single smoothed object in the game. I find that interesting. Their characters are all really simplistic polygons. All their graphics are in their textures that they put over the polygons, and that is where the great artwork is in WoW, in the wrapping. The cinematics are impressive for obvious reasons, but it takes really looking at things to appreciate how WoW did their art in game. Of course, it's also highly stylistic. If you don't like the style, then there will be a problem. I can't think of a game that has a more recognizable style to the their in game art than WoW. People KNOW when they're looking at a screenshot of WoW.
 
They don't have a single smoothed object in the game. I find that interesting. Their characters are all really simplistic polygons. All their graphics are in their textures that they put over the polygons, and that is where the great artwork is in WoW, in the wrapping. The cinematics are impressive for obvious reasons, but it takes really looking at things to appreciate how WoW did their art in game. Of course, it's also highly stylistic. If you don't like the style, then there will be a problem. I can't think of a game that has a more recognizable style to the their in game art than WoW. People KNOW when they're looking at a screenshot of WoW.


Bleh, go take a look at Champions Online. They skipped over "stylistic" and went straight for "holy felgercarb I'm playing a cartoooon" type art. I don't mind WoW art, it's at least remotely believable.
 
I agree with Gate wholeheartedly. WoW isn't a great game, it's just the 90% of the games out there right now are pretty crappy, and WoW is the least crappy, at least according to the majority of MMORPG addicts out there.

A lot of folks migrated to WoW not because they wanted to play it, but because a lot of folks in their guild decided to quit whatever they were playing and they just didn't want to be left behind.

WoW is nothing special, when something actually good (like HJ) comes out, Blizzard will finally have to think about coming out with something that's actually innovative and new. Instead of just recycling a bunch of been there, done that, into something half-tolerable.
 
They don't have a single smoothed object in the game. I find that interesting. Their characters are all really simplistic polygons. All their graphics are in their textures that they put over the polygons, and that is where the great artwork is in WoW, in the wrapping. The cinematics are impressive for obvious reasons, but it takes really looking at things to appreciate how WoW did their art in game. Of course, it's also highly stylistic. If you don't like the style, then there will be a problem. I can't think of a game that has a more recognizable style to the their in game art than WoW. People KNOW when they're looking at a screenshot of WoW.
Thats very true however I absolutely despise the WoW art style, much more so than I dislike the game itself.
 
I played WoW quite a bit from release for nearly year, and then months for a time after that. The graphics were unusual and cool at first, but then they just became negative to me. The character models are overly simplistic and crude, especially with no armor on. I prefer the more realistic graphics and better textures of EQ2. The reason I think WoW is more popular or has a higher population than most others is a) the specs are so low it can run smoothly on fairly average or even some lower end machines and b) it's so simple a chimpanzee could play it. WoW takes very little finesse or thought to play. Your average non-mmorpger or for that matter, non-gamer can sit down and play it with little difficulty. My roomates 60 year old mother plays, badly, but managed to muddle through to level 70 with a little help off and on from others.
 
Being a long time WoW player myself, I can say it is a great game. It has some major flaws though that eventually led myself to leaving. I wish their Physical Ranged Combat was a little more innovative then its current system. Although the main reason was that I myself was very skilled with the game having been in a great guild and had two almost three maxed level characters. The fact of the matter is that no matter how skilled you are...coming into the game this late into the stage leaves it a little hard to get raiding spots within a guild. That is the reason I left.

I much rather liked Guildwars's style of play, which the correctly and accurately advertised, as being highly skill based rather than hours of play based. This allowed new players to jump into the game at any stage and still reach their full potential.

Thanks in advance
~Ashvirenza Stormhood
 
Inscriptions/Enhancements/Socketing...etc are nothing new. I want to say Diablo 2 was the first game that I remember that started the whole socketing thing (I'm sure there was something earlier than that). I'm glad HJ is going this route and even better, from the limited information I've seen, it seems like wyrs are balanced by providing some negative effects to offset positive ones so you really have to choose the right ones for the right circumstance.

As for WoWs art, I think it's great. It's unique and stylish. Let me put it another way, I could probably post screenshots of many MMOs and most likely people will have a hard time guessing what MMO it is from. I mean, most MMOs with "realistic" graphics are very similar but one look at any WoW screenshot and you know it's from WoW.

No other game achieves so much style and art with such limiting graphics. It's very impressive and ages far better than realistic graphics. I'm willing to say that EQ2 seems more outdated, graphically than WoW now. I strongly believe style trumps realism in MMO longevity.

As for gameplay, to each his/her own. But I don't think WoW is any simpler than any other MMO out there. They are all basically the same. I will say though, WoW has built by far the best 5-man/10-man instancing experience of any MMO. It is incredibly fun with a group of friends.
 
Inscriptions/Enhancements/Socketing...etc are nothing new. I want to say Diablo 2 was the first game that I remember that started the whole socketing thing (I'm sure there was something earlier than that).

If you count RPGs, I'd say FF7 is the first that I can recall, though I'm sure even then it wasn't a new idea.
 
Inscriptions/Enhancements/Socketing...etc are nothing new. I want to say Diablo 2 was the first game that I remember that started the whole socketing thing (I'm sure there was something earlier than that). I'm glad HJ is going this route and even better, from the limited information I've seen, it seems like wyrs are balanced by providing some negative effects to offset positive ones so you really have to choose the right ones for the right circumstance.

Indeed, it is nothing new... many of the oldest games had some form of that. Sometimes, it is just considered "applying buffs to armor".

As for WoWs art, I think it's great. It's unique and stylish. Let me put it another way, I could probably post screenshots of many MMOs and most likely people will have a hard time guessing what MMO it is from. I mean, most MMOs with "realistic" graphics are very similar but one look at any WoW screenshot and you know it's from WoW.

No other game achieves so much style and art with such limiting graphics. It's very impressive and ages far better than realistic graphics. I'm willing to say that EQ2 seems more outdated, graphically than WoW now. I strongly believe style trumps realism in MMO longevity.

I am trying to disagree with you, but so far, my tired mind can't do it. I dislike the graphics in WoW. I prefer graphics from Anarchy Online, Dark Age of Camelot and EQ2 over that of WoW. However, the point you made of aging the graphics, is fairly on par. It is a stylistic approach, and for me, that took nearly 9 months of constant pestering on my friends parts to get me to play it. Now I play it nearly 2-4 times a week, and at least twice as a 5 man group which I have with friends who come over and have a lan party just for that.

As for gameplay, to each his/her own. But I don't think WoW is any simpler than any other MMO out there. They are all basically the same. I will say though, WoW has built by far the best 5-man/10-man instancing experience of any MMO. It is incredibly fun with a group of friends.

See above. My "computer room" has 5 desks, a linux fileserver, wireless and gigabit switches for playing games. I almost exclusively use it with 3 friends and my roommate for playing a 5 man group in WoW. It is fun, and adventurous and just very well done.

I can't discredit Acclaim/Blizzard for doing so well with it... I attended BlizzCon last year, and will do so again this year... I'm already sealed into the upcoming Wrath of the Lich King beta, so I'm hoping I get a free year long subscription... but I'll settle for an in game pet ;) WoW is unique, and well thought out, and it's ideas are both leading the pack, and oft times "nothing new"... just done better ... in some cases.
 
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