One of the biggest problems I have had in the past 2 years when trying to play ANY game is that constantly you will see in the general, zone, or trade chat, that the game is a WOW clone. I remember playing Alganon for the first time and the whole chat was filled with people trashing how similar the game was and that was all anyone could focus on. Every new game I try is called a Wow Clone. Most recently a friend of mine suggested that Allods Online was a WOW Clone, and then even when I was playing last night, someone said it in zone chat.

I think it’s time for a history lesson here kiddies. WoW was not and is not the end all be all for MMORPGs. Let’s take a look back to 1999 when Everquest Online was first released as that’s the first major MMORPG released in the format that WoW is in today. I personally never played EQ but I had friends who were quite into it and would show it to me all the time. My main fears were all the stories you’d hear of players becoming utterly obsessed and losing touch with reality, losing their jobs, commiting suicide – you get the point. BUT! Even before that Ultima Online was considered the FIRST graphical MMORPG in 1997. The only reason EQ is so well known is because it was the first majorly commercial success of it’s time.

Well this is a familiar scene.

While there are many pegs along the evolutionary road of MMORPGS, the next BIG milestones to me would be MUDs. Everquest Online came from text based RPGS called MUDs. As you can see below EverQuest derived mainly from a MUD called DikuMUD. The framework for DikuMUD formed the foundation for many other MUDs. So it was a natural step in the chain of RPGs to add a 3D GUI.

Even Wiki says it.

I wasn’t too into MUDs when they were the rage, but my husband was an avid player, programmer, and ascii art designer – so I was able to ask him some questions and he even got me started in one. MUDs have an amazing amount of features, races, classes, and exploration.

377 people online is probably more than Warhammer has.

My husband always told me about a MUD called Aftershock (which I don’t believe is up anymore) where you could be inducted into this secret society of Werewolves. As a member, you had to keep the society secret from other common players by never shape-shifting in front of them. Werewolves were also in constant war with the Vampires, but had to keep the fight private. If you disobeyed the laws of the tribe, you could be decapitated and suffer permanent player death (I.E. character gone forever). I don’t know about you – but that sure beats rep grinding for one piece of gear that will be outdated in the next patch.

Oldschool Interface of the MUD

MUDs came from tabletop RPGs like Dungeons and Dragons. These tabletop games were called Pen and Paper rpgs and started sometime in the 70′s. You had a character sheet that you would spend hours agonizing over to make sure that it was perfect before playing.  There was a Dungeon Master who would oversee the game and basically create the game environment for you. They made the rooms, the monsters, the fights, the story, everything was the DM or GM’s (GameMaster) job. Decisions and actions were dictated by rolling the dice. The DM would say,  “Roll a four sided dice against your agility,” and you would either fail or pass the roll. People would play together for a couple hours a night or more, but the actual campaign could last months.

I'm casting magic missles at the darkness!

It can easily be argued that most of the content for Dungeons and Dragons was derived from Tolkien’s work. In this bit from Wiki, it plainly says that certain monster and race names were taken and changed for marketing’s sake.

I think what it comes down to is that people are mistaking clones for the whole ‘if it’s not broke don’t fix it’ system. These are how improvements are made and it’s usually with simple things. Like think about lightbulbs – the shape changes, the filaments change, but the basic idea that the bulb should stay as a glass bulb stays the same! This is the same as interfaces being similar. How many different possibilities could there even be for a working UI? People get used to certain things and so changing UIs too drastically gives a lot of gamers system shock and they get turned off by the game. Me getting annoyed by the lack of a mini map in Allods Online is a perfect example of this. But since it was JUST a mini map missing, it wasn’t that bad. If it had been the whole interface, and skills, and who knows what else, I might not have continued to play.

In closing, if you really want to know every little bit of information dating back to before Zork on virtual MMORPGS, check out this article in its entirety. It’s pretty damn accurate and is much better than sounding like an ignorant retard when you say WOW CLONE. And for information on the history of role-playing games specifically – check this one out.

Say no to saying WoW Clone!