Export thread

Someone posted this on another board and I just was laughing so much I wanted to share it. I don't think I ever saw an MMO in beta that was so shameless. There is "design influence" and then there is "copying".

http://alganon.com/

Calling the Springfield Lawyer Truck...

Oh gods... That is hilarious. Is that second one supposed to be a Dranei ripoff?

And Gargutanak demons? Holy crap, sounds like Oblivion.

It looks like it only has two races so far, humans and red-eyed humans, and I guess some of the features allow you to look elfish or undeadish. I found a video!



Wait... The Asheroth? ASHEROTH!? Oh god I am laughing so hard.

One of the dead tree things the runner passes looks like the treants you can fight in places like Ashenvale and Felwood in WoW.

And I must say, wow.

I wonder if my mods work with it...

Wow, their website really makes me not want to even try this game.

1) They don't really make a strong case for why Alganon is different and worth playing because it's different - they just say it is, while it laughably seems to not be.
2) They have no pricing information upfront and available - you have to search for it, and even then, you have to register to get it. Nothing is sketchier than guys who won't talk pricing when you ask for it, even if it's to direct you to a page saying they're still working it out. Instant dealbreaker.
3) They're limiting subcription keys at launch to keep the game from outgrowing their ability to support it? Um, while avoiding that particular business problem is good thinking, it's also an indicator that you don't have enough money or existing support structure to support the growth of your own business model. Explicitly restricting sales for support reasons is kind of the worst way to go.

Their forums are quite entertaining.
http://www.alganon.com/forums/index.php?/topic/3756-expansion-list-for-alganon-leaked/

Alganon: The Flaming Crusaders
-Explore the war-torn world of Draelor
-Battle evil Daemons
-Defeat Flaming Army
-Battle in Dark Citadel, The Nose, Snakeshrine Cavern, Zil'Amun, The Tower of Kuzar and Starwell Plateau
-Get NeitherDrakes!

Alganon: Wrath of the Icy Queen
-Explore the icy continent of Northend
-Get Icy Skeledragons
-Defeat the Scrooge!
-Battle in Uldiia, Trial of the Knights and Icetiara Citadel
-NEW CLASS: Death Warrior

Alganon: Catastrophe
-Face the Deathbreath
-Alganon is changed forever
-Face Flame, Rock, Water and Wind powers!
-Play Werewolves and Goblins!

Click to expand...

I just can't even get over the fact they even copied the KEYCHAIN. That was one of the most stupid ideas of Blizzard to even have key items to require a keychain, and they think putting it with the bag bar on the left side rather then the right would make it more unique?

I am all for giving an MMO of any make or model a chance before I get all over it, but come on guys, I can't support a company that is so lazy they can't even design their own UI. At least make more of an effort to make it look different!

Looks pretty good.

Shannow said:

Looks pretty good.

Click to expand...

You're the forums very first homunculus. (That I know of)

While the interface is so WoW that I wouldn't doubt a Blizzard lawsuit in the near future, the characters look like something right out of post Shadows of Luclin Everquest.

wow, If I never played WoW, I would have mistaken this if it were sitting side by side on a shelf.

I have seen some minor ripoff here and there but this takes the cake.

This game is so WoW, it shits Death Knights.

This game has been the running joke on most mmo sites for a while now. Looks like a pretty pathetic game overall even when overlooking the blatant WoW-stealing. I don't know who the hell would actually fork out cash for it. It looks like it could possibly be the most cookie-cutter mmo ever made. There's really not one defining feature that the game has that sets it apart from any every other fantasy mmo out there.

TeKeo said:

Wow, their website really makes me not want to even try this game.
3) They're limiting subcription keys at launch to keep the game from outgrowing their ability to support it? Um, while avoiding that particular business problem is good thinking, it's also an indicator that you don't have enough money or existing support structure to support the growth of your own business model. Explicitly restricting sales for support reasons is kind of the worst way to go.

Click to expand...

I actually would not begrudge a small indie company doing this. I'd rather they halt subscribers in the beginning than have the game be a lagfest / having server crashes / or aion-style 7 hour queues at launch. And yes this game is made by a small indie company with no corporate bean counters directing them to do things the "safe' way. They had TOTAL freedom to make any kind of mmo, and they come up with this. Pathetic.

For a example of what a scrappy but determined and passionate indie company can accomplish with an MMO check out Fallen Earth.

Oddbot said:

This game has been the running joke on most mmo sites for a while now. Looks like a pretty pathetic game overall even when overlooking the blatant WoW-stealing. I don't know who the hell would actually fork out cash for it. It looks like it could possibly be the most cookie-cutter mmo ever made. There's really not one defining feature that the game has that sets it apart from any every other fantasy mmo out there.

TeKeo said:

Wow, their website really makes me not want to even try this game.
3) They're limiting subcription keys at launch to keep the game from outgrowing their ability to support it? Um, while avoiding that particular business problem is good thinking, it's also an indicator that you don't have enough money or existing support structure to support the growth of your own business model. Explicitly restricting sales for support reasons is kind of the worst way to go.

Click to expand...

I actually would not begrudge a small indie company doing this. I'd rather they halt subscribers in the beginning than have the game be a lagfest / having server crashes / or aion-style 7 hour queues at launch.

Click to expand...

Of course you don't want that. But it's not a feature to brag about, which they curiously do. That's something you plan around, and if you know it's going to be a problem, you don't build a game that specifically exacerbates that problem, and then talk it up as if it's a benefit. It just makes me think that regardless of how they cripple their sales, customers will be looking forward to those problems, regardless.

And seriously? For all its headaches, bandwidth and network architecture is nowhere near as large a monetary investment as staffing.

Wow, those are like n64 graphics, too. I mean, I'd swear in first-person mode I was playing Quest 64, only shitty. Wait, Quest 64 was shitty.

So it's basically Quest 64 with WoW skill trees.

Oddbot said:

And yes this game is made by a small indie company with no corporate bean counters directing them to do things the "safe' way. They had TOTAL freedom to make any kind of mmo, and they come up with this. Pathetic.

Click to expand...

I was bitching about that aloud yesterday. Not only is that pointless and dumb from an artistic and gamer POV, but there is no way for a high fantasy MMO to compete with WoW at this point. You need to offer something else. Sci-fi is the simplest route, but I know plenty have been calling for a steampunk MMO.

Or just anything! Goddamn!

escushion;307050][quote=Oddbot said:

And yes this game is made by a small indie company with no corporate bean counters directing them to do things the "safe' way. They had TOTAL freedom to make any kind of mmo, and they come up with this. Pathetic.

Click to expand...

I was bitching about that aloud yesterday. Not only is that pointless and dumb from an artistic and gamer POV, but there is no way for a high fantasy MMO to compete with WoW at this point. You need to offer something else. Sci-fi is the simplest route, but I know plenty have been calling for a steampunk MMO.

Or just anything! Goddamn![/QUOTE]



No MMO period will touch WoWs sub numbers, But a a high fantasy MMO can still be successful if it brings something new to the table that wow doesn't have. For example, thought not my cup of tea, Aion seems to be doing pretty well for itself so far subscriber-wise. Why? Because it offers something that wow isn't the best at, and that's large scale open pvp (rather than arena/battlegrounds), and centers the game around that. There's an audience that's been craving it for a while, the same audience that were disappointed by WAR and AoC which both claimed to have the same thing but failed miserably at it. My old guilds in both those games moved to Aion.

Honestly what I'd like to see though is a complete revamp of traditional mmo combat. Technology is at the point now that MMOs don't need autotarget and autoattack anymore, and can instead use manual aiming, and more visceral twitch-like combat. Darkfall and Spellborne have already done this, but those are both very niche games without a lot of popular appeal. But take that kind of real time combat system (thinking along the lines o oblivion's combat system) and combine it with a crowd favorite like a DOAC style RvR system, and do it well, and you'd have a real winner on your hands.

Oddbot said:

Honestly what I'd like to see though is a complete revamp of traditional mmo combat. Technology is at the point now that MMOs don't need autotarget and autoattack anymore, and can instead use manual aiming, and more visceral twitch-like combat. Darkfall and Spellborne have already done this, but those are both very niche games without a lot of popular appeal. But take that kind of real time combat system (thinking along the lines o oblivion's combat system) and combine it with a crowd favorite like a DOAC style RvR system, and do it well, and you'd have a real winner on your hands.

Click to expand...

Fallen Earth does this too... but it's awful, because every missed shot means spending 10 minutes making more ammo. Free-Aim only works if you don't need to worry about replacing every last bullet you miss with.

Also... auto-aim and targeting aren't going anywhere. Successful MMOs need to appeal to those with weaker twitch skills too, in order to maximize the appeal. Changing that formula will only lessen their successes.

Twitch base MMO is pretty hard to make it work IMO. Internet LAG is a major factor IMO mainly not everyone's internet is at the same speed.

Twitch base game is good for smaller LAN/network game or even console/single player type game.

Chibibar said:

Twitch base MMO is pretty hard to make it work IMO. Internet LAG is a major factor IMO mainly not everyone's internet is at the same speed.

Click to expand...

It's not just the potential for lag it's also that twitch gaming requires a much higher network refresh rate than regular MMOs and, for something like a shooter, has much larger data packets. It's why WoW can have hundreds of players in a WG match while the server has thousands of others in the surrounding area but shooters tend to top out with far fewer players in a much smaller area at a time.

I stopped liking twitch gaming a while ago myself and I think the (silent)majority of MMO players doesn't really give a rats ass about it either.

As for this particular MMO, blatantly ripping off WoW and probably ending up with an inferior product in the exact same genre/setting is asking for bankruptcy if you ask me.