WoW - Musings & Discussion

[RichMerk]

People people please! . We're all on the same page here. We all think WoW is a great game and we all like the pop culture references. Somewhere along the line this discussion turned ugly, though I can't fathom why.

Let us all rejoice in the beatific blessing that is WoW and rejoice!

I personally just got my second toon through the rigors to open up the Shadow Vault FP. Now I gotta start on those incredibly annoying jousting dailies over at the tourney. Ugh.

 

[Kegg]

Characters like Jhordy Lapforge and Scooty (transporter chiefs both) are in-joke references. The Warhammer material, though, would be rip-offs. Neither are malicious, and both are used pretty well, honestly.

i can tell you for a fact that the Dax names in the Exodar are not a rip-off of DS9, but a show of appreciation, a small tip of the hat to a great show.

What about Velen, the Prophet? I've certainly seem the argument that he was 'inspired' by Valen of Babylon 5, though that could likely just be coincidence.

 

[darthraidr]

i would guess "no" on Velen... i would think he's too big of a character to be a pop culture nod. but i could be wrong.

 

[Chaos Descending]

What Warhammer material is in WoW?

 

[Ayelbourne]

Just look at the Orcs, for starters.

In fact, the first Warcraft game was originally supposed to be a Warhammer game. However, Games Workshop didn't permit Blizzard to use the Warhammer label, so Blizz had to change a few things including renaming the game to Warcraft: Orcs&Humans.

The rest is history.
Nowadays, GW probably isn't too happy about the decision they made back then.

 

[Chaos Descending]

I see. You meant a more general thing, whereas I thought you were talking about something specific, like maybe a cameo by Felix and Gotrek or something like that.

Besides, as much as I love Warhammer, I don't see how the Orcs were ripped from Warhammer. D&D had Orcs ten years before Warhammer even existed. Or are you referring to their general appearance? Because even their culture and mannerisms are totally different.

 

[Ayelbourne]

Back in the first Warcraft games, Orcs were just as savage, tough and stupid as their Warhammer counterparts.

The shaman stuff was introduced way later in WC3 and their behavior in the first games was retconned to demonblood-induced bloodlust.

 

[Chaos Descending]

Ah, well, that explains it. I knew that there was a "savage horde" that existed before the current "smart" horde, but never having played the earlier WC RTS game, I didn't realize the full extent of it all.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

I was looking at some old D&D manuals the other day and saw they had gnolls and kobolds.. and a few other things I can't remember now. Looking it up I see kobolds are from German folklore.

I like the way they added "Punch it" to Goblin zeppelin captain's conversation after ST:XI.

 

[sojourner]

"homage", the word you're looking for is "homage".

 

[Rii]

 

[RichMerk]

snerk

 

[Teelie]

Epeen is hilarious.

 

[D Man]

^^ I saw that earlier today...those guys are geniuses.

 

[FordSVT]

Just frakking priceless.

I hate the prevalence of GearScore. People were asking for a 5k gear score to do the weekly raid "Noth the Plaguebringer Must Die!". You know, the first boss in one of the easiest quarters in Naxxramas. A group of 3500 GS 80s in blues can take him out with no problems... it doesn't mean a thing. I do a thousand more dps with a 5800 GS set than a 5900 GS set I can put on, and I out dps other casters in VoA pugs with GSs over 6000. It's idiotic.

On the subject of homage vs. derivative, I think it's tied in to how conscious the developers are in the presentation. If they have fun with an idea, if they know that you know they've lifted an idea from some place else and the end-result of their product is quality and manages to bring a little something new to the table, it's an homage.

Derivative games (or movies or anything else) are soulless works that won't make eye contact with their inspiration and claim to be everything new to a genre when all they are are sub-par imitations. So like the comic above says, it does have something to do with whether or not I like it personally, but let's face it: it's not necessarily an unfair criticism.

 

[RichMerk]

It cracked my funny bone to pieces how much fun they were poking at the whole gearscore obsession with their EPEEN gag. I think they hit the nail right on the head.

 

[Kegg]

I hate the prevalence of GearScore. People were asking for a 5k gear score to do the weekly raid "Noth the Plaguebringer Must Die!".

Ha!

I have to admit I've responded to questions about my gearscore by routinely making dick jokes, ('about five feet long') since it's something I like dismissing as penis envy. So I was ahead of the curve on this, albeit it's the most obvious joke you could make.

...

I'm around 5300, ok? Feh.

 

[RichMerk]

Heh. I'm gonna have to try that. Usually I just say "12" which usually results in me being dismissed as a complete retard because I obviously don't even know what a gearscore is.

Actually, I think I'm around 4700, which isn't particularly epic, but the last couple of 25-man pugs I attended I did 6k dps, which put me in the top 5 for those raids. /shrug. I'll just keep doing the daily heroics and collecting emblems for the ilvl 264 stuff.

 

[Teelie]

Not surprisingly someone made a spoof addon that does this. It requires gearscore but it does show an "epeen meter" showing the score.

 

[P0sitr0nic]

Gearscore is the new racism in WOW. Having a GS of 5000+, (or not, depending which add-on is looking at you at what time of the day), I can say with confidence that it doesnt matter if you have a GS of 10000, if you play stupid, youre still gonna wipe the party.