14 DAY TRIAL // Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, but, if you want to impress World of Warcraft, you'll have to get in line with the rest of the look-alikes. It's pretty safe to say that, with over 11 million subscribers, WoW is the king of MMO, and has been one since it was launched five years ago. And, like anything that shines brighter than the sun, many lowly humans have tried to recreate its success for a shot at their 15 minutes of fame. Some have succeed in obtaining them, some have failed, but Blizzard thinks that they should all stop.
Shane Dabiri, Blizzard's lead producer, talked to PC Zone magazine and urged MMO developers to stop using the same recipe with different spices, and try a whole-new cookie dough altogether. "There are a lot of people that try to emulate World of Warcraft -- and as flattering as that is [on] our end it's definitely not the right move," he said. "I know that World of Warcraft is very successful, and so people think if they were to make another game just like it they could somehow capture that audience. However, I don't think that's what players are looking for."
While it may be true that instead of playing a WoW clone, gamers would be better off playing the original, some like the title mechanics and design, but aren't fascinated by the Warcraft universe. Which could be the very reason why some WoW clones have managed to reap some rewards. But Dabiri didn't have only bad things to say about the MMO market, as he mentioned at least one title that he thought was at least trying something new. "I think the industry needs to move in that direction to come up with some innovative new MMOs that are trying really different things. Take City of Heroes -- at least that's something that's not a fantasy game."
Why he mentioned just City of Heroes is unclear, especially since there are plenty of other non-fantasy MMORPGs out there. Maybe it's just one of the games that caught his eye and that is actually playing it himself. As for his hopes for innovative massively online role-playing games, maybe the upcoming Star Trek Online or the story-driven Star Wars The Old Republic might rise to his expectations.