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The Daily Grind: What makes an MMO a 'WoW clone'?
Eminent MMO designer Raph Koster inspired today's Daily Grind with his recent article titled When is a Clone, in which he discusses the difference between clones, reskins, variants, families, genres, and other words that gamers often use interchangeably when debating the merits of their favorite games. Specifically, he lays out a "recipe" for inventing a new game as opposed to just cloning one; for example, he suggests that developers might model a new scenario mathematically or alter the physical dimensions or major goals of an existing ruleset. But the truth is that gamers, especially MMO players, will probably never stop using the word clone when we mean iteration. We wield the word as a curse, knowing that a game isn't a literal clone but choosing to employ hyperbole to make a point about the sameyness of so many MMOs that slap a fresh coat of paint on World of Warcraft and expect praise. Today, we're asking you: What, exactly, makes an MMO a WoW clone? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
The Daily Grind: Do you play MOBAs?
We joke a lot on Massively about how there's a new MOBA released every day, but let's be fair: It's more like every other day. The first MOBA I ever played was Demigod, and that was back before the term had really become popular, before League of Legends had launched, and long before the deluge of MOBA clones had hit us. I had fun, but I pretty much knew the genre wasn't for me. I like a bit more persistence to my PvP, and I really prefer larger-scale battles and worlds. This is why I play MMOs. But the MOBA genre is young and evolving. Some MOBAs even seem to be trying to attract MMORPG players with cosmetic gear and first-person perspectives and even something that still looks a bit like personal housing. So here's the question for today: Do you, as an MMORPG gamer, play MOBAs? What would it take to get you to play them? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Tracing the history of the MOBA
You hear the kids talking about League of Legends and Infinite Crisis and Heroes of Newerth and you don't understand. You aren't clear on what stuff like jungling and lanes are all about. Are you getting old? Well, yes, if you're referring to a group of people as "the kids" you almost certainly are. But you also might just not understand the history of MOBAs as a genre, a history helpfully outlined in an article on the genre from inception to the present. The article traces the genre's genesis back to the earliest form of gameplay found in StarCraft's Aeon of Strife map, which paved the way for a Warcraft III map that expanded the same basic concept. The genre's core conceits -- two bases on either side of the map, players working to push to the other side -- have remained fairly fixed through the various permutations, but there's still room for expansion. So if you want to find out more about what this new-fangled genre is all about, sit down for some reading.
Ask Massively: And the money will follow
A reader named Josh recently wrote to Massively to ask about the viability of a career in games journalism. He's not a kid with stars in his eyes; he's an adult who works for an elite tech company, and his dad is a published journalist himself. He once focused his MMO hobby into a livestreaming channel and blog but shut them down because of the time involved, and now he's considering whether a career shift to doing what he loves might be worthwhile. As a 30-year old with a family of three, I have a feeling that it would be very difficult to transition into the world of technology journalism. My impression is that it is an industry that does not really pay that much, and therein lies my quandary. My question for you at Massively is whether it is really possible to pursue the field of technology/gaming journalism and still support a family? And what traits are desirable in a technology journalist? Do editors look for people who have journalism degrees and existing experience, or is it a situation where you can step up to the plate and impress someone with your existing skill? How many of you that work for Massively actually support yourselves and your families based on your journalism, and what did it take to get to that point in your careers? Unfortunately, Josh's gut feeling is correct and terribly timely.
The Think Tank: What's your favorite game genre (other than MMOs)?
You'd think that a bunch of MMO bloggers would pick the MMO genre as their favorite, but that's not necessarily true. But that's precisely why we have such a great team here! So many game genres come together to form the MMO genre, so it only makes sense that we like other games too. So I picked the brains of our staff members to see what other types of games they enjoy when they'e not playing the latest MMO. Read along after the jump for their picks.
World of Warcraftless: What would the world look like without World of Warcraft?
This year is a big one for World of Warcraft. It's the 10-year anniversary of the game's launch, meaning players have been able to enjoy themselves in Azeroth for quite a while. The franchise itself is turning 20, meaning it's almost old enough to legally drink. And whether you like the game or not, you can't deny that it's had a huge impact on games in general -- not just on MMORPGs but on the very landscape of what games are and how we think about them. So it's kind of natural that we'd start asking if we'd all be better off without it. You live with the same title dominating the industry for a decade, so it's only natural to think about what it'd be like if it weren't there. Personally, I think that's a kind of loaded question that also overlooks a far niftier option. Asking whether we'd be better off first requires one to figure out what the world would look like without World of Warcraft, and for my money that's much more interesting. So let's look at just that. What sort of scenarios might have unfolded if World of Warcraft had never come to pass at all?
The Daily Grind: What does it take to get you into a fantasy MMO?
Fantasy MMOs are everywhere. We're surrounded by them. The biggest subscription MMO currently out is fantasy, most of its peers are fantasy, and the safe assumption with any new game is that it's going to be a fantasy game. The total number of elves across all games would outnumber the population of Luxembourg. And with so many games drawing upon the same basic tropes, anyone in the world could be forgiven for not immediately jumping on a new game simply because it promises orcs and elves. Some games manage to take the fantasy conventions and push them quite far afield, either by viewing them through a separate cultural lens (Final Fantasy XIV and TERA spring to mind) or by moving the basic conventions in another direction (Allods Online and Guild Wars 2, for instance). But what does it take to get you into a fantasy MMO? Do you need a game that's so interesting you don't care about the setting? A truly original take on the setting? Some combination of both? Or do you just flee fantasy altogether? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
OpenFeint developer aims for a hardcore audience with Fates Forever MOBA
Jason Citron is a true veteran of iOS gaming. He was one of the two developers behind Aurora Feint, and later vaulted it up to the huge social network that OpenFeint became. Now, Citron is back to making games with a new company called Hammer & Chisel (formerly Phoenix Guild), and he's just announced today that his upcoming game is called Fates Forever. It'll be a multiplayer online battle arena title, similar to the extremely popular League of Legends, but built from the ground up for iOS and a touchscreen interface. "If you look at games," Citron told TUAW recently, "very rarely do you find one that's generally new, and usually when you do, it's because of the UI change." Citron believes that even hardcore games "could be made materially better by changing them to use a large format touchscreen," and so he's decided to take on the MOBA gametype. Fates Forever will have battling heroes, just like League of Legends, but with a simplified format... at least at first. The map Citron is working on features just two lanes (it will pit three players against an opposing team of three, and matches should take around 15 minutes), and he says a lot of the mechanics around itemization and balance have yet to be determined. His focus right now is building standard touchscreen gestures for the heroes' various abilities. "The skillshots are all these fun little gesture things that you can pull off," says Citron. One champion will do a dash move that's controlled by dragging him around the screen with your finger, for example. "You hit the button on the left, you get a little ring around him and then you can drag the indicator away from him. When you draw out a path from him, he shoots flames on the ground." Citron says the goal is to take gesture mechanics that users know and love, and use those to match the precision and controls that you'd usually need a mouse and a keyboard on a PC for. When Citron began this project, the MOBA genre was very much PC-based. But in the last few months, several companies have thought to bring it to tablets. For example, Gameloft's Heroes of Order and Chaos, and Zynga's forthcoming Solstice Arena. "I figured [MOBAs] would be a trend," says Citron, but adds that "I can't say that I would have expected as much action to be going on tablets." Still, Citron says Zynga's entry will likely be tied down by in-app monetization efforts, and he thinks he can do the game better than Gameloft has. "I think ours looks better, has more innovative controls and it's generally fun to play." The plan for Fates Forever is to have "the core battle game out this summer, with a very light metagame around it." Once the core app is out, Citron and his company (currently about five full-timers and about the same number of contractors) plan to tweak and upgrade it according to the community, and will even build a tool called The Forge, where players will be able to suggest and build their own heroes, with that content possibly even reaching the game. "I very much see this as a marathon, not a sprint," says Citron. "I see this as a long-term thing. I'm starting with a nugget of something, and we're evolving it with the community." Citron's goal with Fates Forever is to "blend deep traditional game design with respectful game mechanics," he says. "It's obviously going to be free-to-play," and supported by in-app purchases for options and customization. But "our game will never force you to stop playing," he adds. "And you can't pay to win." Currently, the project is being put together in Unity, and while it will initially appear on the iPad only, the title may come to Android or other platforms later on. Fates Forever sounds interesting. We'll get a chance to play it later this year. Plenty of other companies have aimed and will continue to target this growing "hardcore" audience on Apple's tablet platform, but that specific audience is finicky to say the least. In the end, Fates Forever will have to stand on its own quality. If it can find the League of Legends-sized audience on tablets that Citron is looking for, then we could be playing this one for a long time to come.
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: How superheroes died and why it's good
2012 was probably the worst year ever for fans of superheroes in the MMO space. The best months of the year were just kind of there, and then the biggest game in the genre unexpectedly closed. Unpacking what caused the City of Heroes closure is something that's ongoing to the moment, and I'd be remiss to not talk about the recent anonymous claims that City of Heroes was profitable up to its closure combined with a denial that... isn't, really. At the same time, I'm a firm believer in the idea that bad things can have positive outcomes. So I think that for all the bad that happened in 2012, we might be looking at 2013 as a banner year for superheroes. Not that it's certain by any means, but between last year's media and the current state of affairs, there's space for some awesome possibilities. And a lot of screwups, too, but isn't that always the case?
The Nexus Telegraph: WildStar is serious business
Science fiction. It's a genre all about man's eternal struggle against space aliens, cyborgs, and people with British accents in very large flagships. Or, you know, about things larger than humanity, about exploring the unknown, and about the sense of wonder at exploring strange new frontiers of a world similar to our own but unfamiliar at the same time. It's a chance for us to step beyond the boundaries of our own world and into the great beyond just a few paces at a time. But it's mostly the cyborgs and flagships. That stuff is really cool to watch. WildStar is a science fiction game. But it takes more than a few cues from a show that also had the audacity to lend a lot of the wild west to a deep space setting. It's hard not to pick up on the Firefly vibe from the previews, after all. But it's been very illuminating to see what the designers have to say about influences and the direction they want to take the game's storytelling because it's very different from other science fiction games on the market right now.
Guardians of Middle-Earth review: MOBA fête
"Multiplayer Online Battle Arena," or MOBA, is the name given to the emerging genre of games initiated by Dota, and now led by games like League of Legends, Dota 2, Heroes of Newerth, Smite, and more. Because MOBA games come from a heritage of real-time strategy gameplay, they tend to have most of the qualities of that genre. They're complicated, high stakes affairs, with lots of controls and nuances, where one little move can sometimes turn the tide of battle completely. These are traditionally games meant for hotkeys and minimap clicking, mouse precision and a Ventrilo client, rather than the relatively imprecise triggers and joysticks on a console controller.Which makes it all the more impressive, then, that Monolith (a studio with a long shooter tradition that includes No One Lives Forever and the FEAR series) has chosen to take on Guardians of Middle Earth, a MOBA game designed from the ground up to recreate the traditionally PC-centric experience on consoles. Yes, games like Awesomenauts and Monday Night Combat have borrowed MOBA principles, but Monolith here goes full bore, all the way back to the top-down isometric view that began with the original Starcraft Aeon of Strife map at the genre's inception.In fact, given this task, the fact that Monolith's game also happens to use the Lord of the Rings license (right around the release of the new Hobbit film) is almost inconsequential. Tolkien nerds may want to see Sauron battling it out with Gandalf directly, but MOBA nerds should be even more excited to see what Monolith does with this emerging new form.%Gallery-157247%
PlanetSide 2 trailer asks what 'your FPS' can do
Sony's PlanetSide 2 is now available, and this video for the game asks (somewhat smugly) if "your FPS" can do what PS2 does. The point being conveyed, of course is that most games in the genre don't have the same scale as what's on display here.
Daily iPhone App: Polara switches up the endless runner genre
Endless runners are one of the most-used genres on the App Store lately -- from the original Canabalt to later hits such as Jetpack Joyride and one of my current favorites, God of Blades. There are plenty of them out there, and the best ones have some innovation or a new twist. Polara, one of the latest entries to the genre, has both. Not only does it feature a color-changing twist, but the way the game is structured (in a series of checkpointed, story-based missions) puts a fairly new spin on the way these games work. Polara is an endless 2D runner, in that you play a character that runs along in 2D space, leaping over and through various obstacles. The twist here is that while touching the right side of the screen makes your character jump, hitting the left side makes you switch between red and blue. Then, there are red and blue obstacles to either hit or avoid, and only switching to the right color will let you survive and move on (similar to the treasure shooter Ikaruga). At first, the game is simple -- just asking you to flip back and forth every so often. But very quickly, it requires you to switch between moving targets and sometimes asks you to match up with alternately-colored platforms. Things can get fiendishly difficult right away. Fortunately, in the core story mode (decorated with some excellent art and atmospheric music), the game uses checkpoints wisely, so sections are nice and short, letting you easily replay any tough parts. In the other modes, the game is endless, so you've got to be really fast to keep going. Polara offers up some nice new elements to this well-traveled genre. It's not quite perfect, and it doesn't have the polish of a game like Jetpack Joyride, but it does pull off some really new and interesting things. At the current launch price of 99 cents, it's well worth a download.
Daily iPhone App: Cruel Jewels is pure match-3 bliss
As anyone who regularly reads these Daily App posts probably knows, I am a grade A sucker for the match-3 genre. From Bejeweled to Puzzle Quest to Call of Atlantis, if it lets you match three of a kind, I'm in. So Cruel Jewels won me over from the first screenshot. It's a pure match-3 title, featuring gems of various colors that need to be matched up in at least three of a kind to be cleared off the board and score points. But even beyond its genre, Cruel Jewels is well done. The graphics are clear and crisp, and the whole title has a retro, almost steampunk vibe that works really well. The game is essentially endless, but at least in the game's basic mode, you play through a series of stages with various objectives, from scoring a certain amount within a time limit, to fighting a foe (whose hand eerily comes on screen during its matching turn), to just a pure score attack. There are also modes for each of those objectives directly, so there's lots here to play. If you're absolutely fed up with match-3 titles, this one is not for you. But as an example of the match-3 genre, Cruel Jewels is very well constructed. It doesn't add anything super new, but it's smoothly polished, and completely free to check out. There are ads in game that are only slightly distracting, but you can remove them for an in-app purchase of US$1.99 if you like.
Leaderboard: Fantasy vs. sci-fi vs. contemporary setting
Whoa Nelly! We have ourselves a rootin'-tootin' genre standoff in this here Leaderboard! It all started when the various representatives from the major MMO settings got together for an early week brunch, and it ended with drawn swords, pistols, and ray guns. Every setting thinks it's the best, of course, and they all have the egos to back it up. Let's see whether we can't defuse this standoff today, shall we? Let's vote for the best genre setting for an MMO: fantasy, science fiction, or contemporary. By far, fantasy has the most MMO representatives and is pretty much the main staple of the industry. However, both science fiction and contemporary titles have been making in-roads, from The Secret World to Star Trek Online. Is it better to play in a virtual world that's the most similar to yours? Does a mythological spin on the Middle Ages resonate most strongly with our sense of adventure? Or does the far-flung future hold the most prospect in giving us an unlimited frontier? Make your vote known after the jump!
The Daily Grind: What will be the next big thing for MMOs?
When MMOs began, they were all about the sword and sorcery. The fantasy genre was such a big part of RPGs that the transition to MMORPGs only made sense for the magic-wielders among us. When people got sick of fantasy, it was all about sci-fi. Several developers have branched out into other less popular genres from there, but it's no secret that the MMOFPS is settling in to make 2012 its year. But what happens after that? What do you think will be the next genre-of-choice for MMO developers and/or players? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Netflix explains its recommendation system, can't find a reason for Adam Sandler's last movie
In case you've been wondering why Netflix tends to recommend the movies it does, there's a post on the company's Tech Blog breaking down the various levels of its system. Remember the Netflix Prize contest? Teams of researchers produced competing algorithms capable of more accurately predicting how members would rate movies, but while some of the early winning efforts are still in use, the million dollar solution was never implemented because the potential gains were too small to justify the engineering effort needed. Additionally, while Netflix still hasn't implemented individual profiles for household members yet, the blog indicates it does try to recommend something for everyone, seeking both accuracy and diversity -- which may explain some of more out there picks in our personal "recommended for you" list. Where available (read: outside the US) Facebook integration plays a part too, as well as a variety of information used to find movies similar to those previously viewed. The proof of how all these parts come together is ultimately judged by the viewers, so while we wait for part two of the post with more data to pore over -- is Netflix managing to accurately pull any flicks you want to watch out of its catalog?
The Daily Grind: Which non-existent MMO genre would you play?
It's difficult to think of a historical or cultural genre that hasn't already been covered by an MMO. We have everything from medieval fantasy to dystopian sci-fi and just about everything in between, but we don't have everything just yet. For example, we don't have a wild west MMO. We don't have an undersea Atlantis MMO. But would anything too quirky or specialized even work as an MMO? More interestingly, what would you like to see in an untapped MMO genre? Certainly not everyone wants to see only fantasy or sci-fi! Right? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Daily iPad App: Kingdoms of Camelot: Battle for the North is a freemium gem
Many of my fellow gamers look down on the "set-it-and-forget-it" style of social freemium games, but I have a soft spot in my heart for them. For me, the genre's appeal started with We Rule a few years ago, and continued with Battle Nations and Dragonvale. There's a definite addictiveness and appeal to real-time based gameplay. Kingdoms of Camelot: Battle for the North by Kabam won't change your opinion of the genre, but it represents its strong points well. This is Kabam's first iOS title, though the company has titles on Facebook and in browsers. Don't confuse this game with the group's other game called Kingdoms of Camelot. Kingdoms of Camelot: Battle for the North is a brand new title, designed specifically for mobile devices. My main issue with it is that it looks bad on the iPad. It seems like it was designed for a much smaller screen. But the UI is still clean and simple, and the game's quests intelligently lead you through what needs to be done. As you play, you can interact with other players. Kabam's experience with social networks undoubtedly accounts for how nice that experience is. Kingdoms of Camelot probably won't change your world (especially if you've already decided that you dislike this type of game), but if haven't tried this genre, it's worth your time. Who knows, perhaps you'll find yourself getting invested in all of the cottages, farms, and barracks that slowly become grow burgeoning empire.
Daily iPhone App: Spice Invaders
If you're tired of tower defense games, I don't blame you. Feel free to skip this post, but let me say this before you go: I wouldn't spotlight yet another tower defense game if it wasn't special. That's why Spice Invaders has made the cut. The standard tower defense tropes are in place. Build and upgrade towers with spells and abilities to repel invaders while carrying on a map-wide campaign. But Spice Invaders by On5 Games (published by Chillingo) goes a step further. First of all, the game is super polished. It runs great and looks terrific, and everything from the characters to the UI shines with color and fun. There's a huge upgrade system with lots of ways to develop your towers and abilities, and there's even (gasp) multiplayer support. You can play co-operatively or even competitively in a tower defense game! Each stage has multiple modes and can be played through multiple times, so there's lots and lots of content here, all of it quite fun. Spice Invaders is also a freemium title, which has both a pro and a con. The pro, of course, is that the game is free. Tower defense fans should waste no time in downloading it. Those of you who've soured on tower defense should also consider it. Bewarned, however, that Chillingo isn't gentle with the prodding. You'll get reminders in the middle of your game (and elsewhere) that you can buy spice and upgrades via in-app purchases. They can be removed with an in-app purchase, of course, but they're still annoying to see. That issue hits right at the core of the freemium argument, however. Yes it's annoying to be "pitched" in the middle of chaotic game play, but the game's a free download, so that's your tradeoff. At any rate, Spice Invaders is an amazing title, and even though I feel like I've said a few times now that tower defense has been worn out on iOS, Spice Invaders goes ahead and resets the bar all over again.
