WAR's Mr. Scrooge - 8.20.2008

For those of you that may not know, Brent is an "internet famous" blogger and podcaster from over at VirginWorlds.Com. The blog is great and the podcast collective is amazing (hehehe mostly 'cause I used to be a part of it :p ).

Yesterday, he made a post-NDA WAR blog post that got some attention from places like Waaagh! and Ten Ton Hammer. The post wasn't in the most positive of attitudes. You could maybe even go as far as saying it was a "flame"! Yes, the "F word" of the internet.

For example, Brent says that WAR "might as well have been released 4 years ago as it offers us nothing aside from one standout evolutionary concept, the public quest".

Now see, I do agree with most of that statement. I do agree that WAR is far from revolutionary (being that's is basically an upgraded DAoC with a new skin). But, the "shoulda been released 4 years ago" thing seems a bit extreme to me.

Brent also can't agree more with Richard Bartle when he said, "I've played Warhammer Online before, it was called World of Warcraft".

Now, that's just wrong. :p

I'd advise that you read Brent's full article. He really does have good points. The curent MMOs that we see are not pushing the genre forward except for a few new features here and there. In my opinion, we aren't going to really see a new "generation" of MMOs until maybe 4 or 5 years from now, but even then, will the majority accept the new gameplay style? I don't know, I think Brent is the minority here.

Does this change my opinion on WAR at all? Nope. I got into this game knowing not to expect amazingly revolutionary gameplay - the mistake that I made with AoC. I still like WAR and my decision as to whether I will continue to watch it or not will probably be made this weekend during the CE Preview.

On a semi-related note, Brent had and SOEgasm this past week at the Fan Faire and it seems as though he really liked what he saw. I hope he's right.

P.S. - If you saw this post as disrespect towards Brent, you are mistaken.

-Matt Graham