WAR Creative Director on avoiding the 'corrupting' influence of WoW

by Adrian Bott Jul 31st 2008 at 9:00AM

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, MMO industry, Warhammer Online

'You can't be the Beatles. If you try and be the Beatles, you'll end up as the Monkees.'

Eurogamer.net has provided details of Warhammer Online creative director Paul Barnett's words at the Develop Online conference, which took place recently in Brighton, England. Poking self-depracating fun at the rather slippery launch date for Warhammer Online - 'God help us, the fifth time we schedule it it's going to work' - Barnett also stressed how unlike WoW the project is, and how developers were actively discouraged from playing it so as to keep them from being influenced.

Barnett refers to WoW as a 'corrupting' influence upon original design, citing his own experiences in which he had to persuade fellow designers away from a quest structure that was too much like that in the other game. The designers had become trapped in a tried and tested structure that 'worked', and had to be talked out of it. Barnett's candid observations culminate in a wry comparison between the gaming industry and the music industry. Trying to emulate the market leader, he suggests, is a mistake; a mistake summed up perfectly by the opening quote.

While this will no doubt raise hackles among those who believe WoW is some sort of Platonic ideal among MMOs to which all other MMOs aspire, it's a breath of fresh air for those who are looking forward to something mouldbreaking.

Tags: develop-online, paul-barnett, war, warhammer-online, world-of-warcraft, wow

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Shawn Schuster said on 9:07AM 7-31-2008

Paul Barnett seriously has the best quotes ever. I love that man.

Lethality said on 10:07AM 7-31-2008

I think it was a huge mistake if they really "actively discouraged" devs from playing WoW. It doesn't mean they're going to copy the game, but there were definitely things done right, like the interface, etc.

As a matter of fact the last high profile MMO developer that said he never played WoW was Brad McQuaid, and we all know how Vanguard turned out...

Nadril said on 10:29AM 7-31-2008

Vanguard just copied a ton from EQ1 though, which had a lot of mechanics which did just not translate well today.

As far as the UI for WAR goes, have you seen it? It looks better done then WoW and is much more customizable right out of the box. Either way the comment about WoW being a 'corrupting' influence is true. Too many developers get stuck in the mind set of "if it ain't broke don't fix it!" which is bad.

Tasogare said on 5:45PM 7-31-2008

Vanguard had a pretty rough launch but it's been picking up a respectable subscriber base...just doing it really slowly. If you're hardcore about raiding, it's the best thing out there since EQ1.

recursive said on 10:07AM 7-31-2008

Nah, what he says makes sense. That you have to add the hackles part, that's what raises them.

I'll be curious to see what they've come up with quest-structure-like, wish he'd given an example but there has to be some suspense I guess.

I don't think it's always a mistake to emulate a success formula, but it doesn't help you stand out which is what you want. Tough road to take though.

JP said on 10:40AM 7-31-2008

Good on him! I'm so very tired of developers making a "WoW clone", hoping to clone "WoW numbers".

hallower1980 said on 12:20PM 7-31-2008

Paul's right, though moderation is better.

Voidcaller said on 8:37PM 7-31-2008

The paradigm of "go kill X mobs of Y type" and "collect N drops" is a tried-and-true questing method which although present in WoW, certainly does not originate there. I'd congratulate WAR in avoiding the inclusion of this rather ancient chestnut from their repertoire, but it's something that gives a person a progress meter. Although some cruel adjustments to random quest drop rates make for extremely frustrating and even hotly contested drop events.

I guess what I'm saying is don't throw the baby out with the bath water. There's plenty in WoW's questing structure that is there by virtue of being known and loved to those familiar with fantasy role playing as a genre.

Kevin said on 12:42PM 8-01-2008

Wow's quests aren't all bad, But when you have to kill "jerkface Satyrs" and you have to kill 100 "jerkface satyr archers" for no credit to get thim, that's pretty absurd. Also, "bear head" drops off like 30% of the bears. WTF kinda bears are these? As long as artificial tricks aren't used to prolong quests I'll be happy, AND For heaven's sake anyone who looks at public quests and goes... "hrmm just a WoW clone" is a moron.