WoW--What a
Controversy!

by Shayalyn

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The title of a
thread on the official Vanguard forums caught my eye the other day:
"Excuse me, I think you spilled your WoW in my EQ." Points for
cleverness (and for that sense of something vaguely dirty that makes
certain things so provocative) aside, this isn't exactly a new fight.
In fact, it's a match that keeps replaying over and over ad nauseum.



In this corner, we have the Veterans. These guys are the grizzled title
holders who survived the harsh environments of early MMOGs. They are the
people who believe that Sigil is creating a challenging Vanguard just
for them. Vanguard is purported to bring back the "make us work for it"
mentality of  games like EverQuest. Sigil's CEO, Brad "What if
we call it Norrath?" McQuaid is their Messiah, and "core gamer" is
their shibboleth. Speak out against either in the official Vanguard
forums and your post, no matter how well reasoned, is likely to be met
with cries of: "Read the FAQs!", "Don't let the door hit ya where the
good Lord split ya!", and "Can I have your stuff?"  (Forget
for a moment that the game hasn't even been released yet and that
nobody, regardless of their beta status, has style="font-style: italic;">any permanent
Vanguard "stuff.")



In the opposite corner, we have what is often identified as the WoW
Crowd--these guys are the Contenders. Most of them have been reared on
a steady diet of quests (marked by big exclamation points over NPC
heads) and, more often than not, solo grinding up to the end game,
where they're suddenly surprised to find themselves having a difficult
time raiding with a bunch of other people. They may not have learned to
communicate effectively or work and play well with others because they
were raised in an environment that didn't encourage those virtues.
They're also likely to be younger than the Veterans, and because of
that a contingent of them come off as uneducated punks. Yet
some of them have worthy opinions--they can't all be snotty 14 year
olds. But sadly, no matter how thought provoking their theories or
ideas happen to be, they're likely to find the official Vanguard forums
a hostile place to voice them.



And in the middle of the ring, in black slacks, starched white
shirts and bow ties, stand The Referees. These folks like to
think there has to be some middle ground between The Veterans
and The WoW Crowd. They've resigned themselves to the fighting, but
they at least want to make it a fair fight whenever possible. These
people are real gamers. They have likely tried a number of MMOGs,
including World of Warcraft. They're seasoned enough to see that each
and every MMOG they've tried has had its strengths and its
shortcomings. And while they have a pretty clear opinion of what they
like and don't like in an MMOG, they're willing to take a wait-and-see
approach to Vanguard. Some have a more favorable opinion of Vanguard
while others are more skeptical, but the Referee is generally willing
to give the game a chance. Unfortunately, though, the Referee is likely
to end up flattened to the mat with a black eye and a chipped tooth for
stepping into the bitter Veterans vs. Contenders
battle. Referees may vary well represent the majority of
gamers waiting to play Vanguard, and yet they are rarely heard above
the din of battle.



Where do I stand? In the middle--the most vulnerable spot of all.
(Fortunately I still have my front teeth.) I was never a WoW
fan and barely lasted out the 7-day free trial when I played it, but
I'm far more willing to see the merits of certain aspects of next
generation games like WoW and EQ II than most Veterans are. There
are things (such as harsh death penalties and the absence of
any maps) that are simply not compatible with casual gaming styles, and
since casual gamers make up the majority of those subscribing to any
MMOG it's important for upcoming games to realize that tedium and
unnecessary time sinks will not satisfy the needs of the majority of
the player base. I don't want to see my game made easy--easy games are
just as tedious as overly difficult ones--but I do want to see games
made more accessible to the vast majority of players. Sigil's battle
cry from the early days of Vanguard's development has always been,
"Challenge without tedium!" If they can pull that off with Vanguard,
then they'll certainly be on to a winner.

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Where do you
stand? Are you a Veteran, Contender, or Referee? Come vote and voice
your opinions in our forum.

• I'm a Veteran. I don't want to see any aspect of WoW
  near my Vanguard!
• I'm a Contender. I liked WoW, but I'm ready for a new
  challenge. (I may or may not be a punk.)
• I'm a Referee. No game is all good or all bad--it's
  all about balance.
• Meh! You can't categorize me!

href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=817">Cast
your vote!