Blizzard Announces New Warcraft MMORPG

An anonymous reader wrote in to say that "Blizzard Entertainment makers of the enormously popular Warcraft, Starcraft, and Diablo series, have announced their next game: World of Warcraft, a massively-multiplayer online role-playing game set in the famous Warcraft universe. Gamespot has an extensive preview available complete with screens and loads of info on the game." It looks very pretty. I still want the Star Wars MMORPG to rock my world tho.

Comments

Fads ?

[BiggestPOS]

Remember when everyone was bitching because it seemed like every new game that came out was a FPS? Then for a while they were RTS, and now it seems every time I turn around, a new MMORPG is announced. The fight for the control of THAT market is going to be ugly. Most people will buy multiple $50 titles, but not when each title also requires a subscription. Sure SOME people will buy every one, and play them, but I'm playing the odds here. Most people will probably pick ONE they like and stick with it.

Re:Fads ?

[CBNobi]

"The fight for the control of THAT market is going to be ugly."

And I think that's a very good thing - it gives better quality, and only the good ones can survive.

Oh wait - Everquest is still alive.

More like...

[szcx]

World of Warhammer.

First Blizzard were "inspired" by the Warhammer Fantasy universe for Warcraft, then they were "inspired" by the Warhammer 40,000 universe for Starcraft.

Were Blizzard once again "inspired" by Games Workshops announcement of a Warhammer MMORPG? It's been said that Blizzard have been working on Warcraft Online for a year. Warhammer Online was announced in April 2000. You do the math.

Am I the only one with Online-Gaming issues?

[kypper]

I find that the big trend these days is to move towards online-only gaming. Look at Final Fantasy XI. Look at Ultima. Look at the new 'Warcraft'.

I think video game companies need to realize something:

Not all of us can guarantee having enough time available to warrant a monthly service fee for a game.

Some of us like playing on our own.

We don't all have Cable or DSL! LAG.

High graphics and bandwidth just don't work well, and it's always slow and irritating. Even Diablo 2 has this problem on Battle.net

Re:Am I the only one with Online-Gaming issues?

[IronChef]

...MMORPGs are better, deeper, more meaningful games.

Better is certainly a subjective sort of thing. What's better, steak or ice cream?

Deeper? More meaningful? You must be in an EQ guild, and all the damn virtual hugs have addled your brain.

A bat tries to bite you but misses!
You crush a bat for 2 points of damage.

You have slain a bat!
You gain experience.
You have lost faction with Brown Flying Rats. You gain faction with the Awkwardly-Animated Elves.

Posingasagirl shouts, "Anyone have some platinum to spare?"

13yearold says, "SoW?"
13yearold says, "SoW me??"
13yearold says, "Screw you"

Whiner tells the guild, "G'nite"

Crybaby tells the guild, "HUGS! KISSES! HUGGLES! MEGASUPERKISSES!"

You think you are facing North.
You have become better at Sense Direction! (13)
----

Despite the totally ridiculous amount of "huggles" thrown around by grown men in EQ, and all the bat-slaying that goes on, I think that the MMORPG genre has a lot of potential and I look forward to future games. I just hope that the Blizzard guys don't consider any of the crap on the market now to be their inspiration. EQ is a MUD with a 3d GUI. Spare me. I'd rather play Pac Man. (and I tried to like EQ, I really really did, but it's not the right kind of crack for me at least.)

The MMORPG Swarm

[discore]

Everyone wants to release an MMORPG. The fact of the matter is, most companies don't know how to successfully build and support an online game. They have become too used to releasing it, and that is the end of development. Expansion packs not included.

The things that all successful MMORPGs have in common are, decent customer service, a stable client/world/communication setup, and a "world" rich with content and/or things to do, items to gain, monsters to challenge.

We saw Anarchy Online pretty much crash and burn on release. It was horribly unstable. I had been playing AO since the first public beta. When I heard they shipped version 12.1 in a box I couldn't believe it.

Then we saw them crash and burn again on Customer Service. Do GMs exist in that game? As far as I know there is no phone based support what so ever.

My point is, a publishing company better get it's act together if they want to release an MMORPG. It's a very long term investment. With so many companies producing them, there are going to be a lot of sub-par products, with a few games that actually meet the standards a successful MMORPG has.

Suggestion for slashdot...

[kypper]

if it recognizes the same link, then they should have a 'already submitted' instead of 'rejected'.

It would make us folk a little happier.

MMORPG

[sandalwood]

MMORPG is a silly and unnecessarily complicated acronym which will serve to turn off people who don't know what one is. I suggest at the very least simplifying it to MRPG, with the M for Metaverse-like, or some such.

Masssively multiplayer online *what*?

[prizog]

"Great characters"? No mention of it.
"Fascinating stories"? Not mentioned.
"Player-driven plot"? Yeah right.

So, where's the role-playing? As far as I can tell from the article, there isn't any. The trailer didn't show any talking. So, maybe MMOH with an H for Hackfest would be a better name.

When do I have the time?

[Rimbo]

Maybe I'm not part of Blizzard's intended audience, but although this looks damn cool, when am I supposed to find the time to play all these great games?

It seems the only worthwhile games on the PC any more are these whiz-bang immersive-world internet-enabled games that require 20 hours a week to enjoy, or 40 if you really want to get the most out of them. Where am I supposed to find the time to play these?

Back in the past, there were dozens of great games that didn't take so much time. They were fast, furious, and you could get a lot of fun out of them in a five-minute coffee break. Like Pac-Man, Galaga, and the like. There aren't many "hop on and have fun for a bit" games like that any more. Nowadays, games need commitment.

So I spend most of my time on the PC playing games like MAME.

Am I the only person who has this problem? Am I the only one here who between job and friends doesn't have all evening to chase down the old man who'll tell him to say "syzygy" to get past the rabid monkey guarding the gate to the blue unicorn?

Re:I'll believe it when I see it...

[SilverWeed]

Wow you're a smart one, have you not seen all the gameplay videos of WC3? Do you think they 'faked them'? Even the one shown at ETCS? Bah. Whatever.

Everyone who complains about Blizzard delaying their games is an idiot. First you guys complain about games coming out with too many bugs, then you complain when companies want to hold the games until they're up to their standards.

YOU CANT HAVE BOTH YOU IDIOTS.