Which game has done more for it's respective genre? World of Warcraft or Half-Life?

Oct 19, 2000
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With Blizzard announcing that World of Warcraft has now surpassed 2 million worldwide subscribers, I starting thinking about it being one of those games that just simply define a genre. In many ways, it's doing the same as the original Half-Life did years ago for the FPS. Although there were successful games in each genre in the past, with the arrival of these two games, their respective genres have exploded.

It's hard to tell how much of an impact WoW will have on future MMORPG's, but I'm sure it will be huge. Half-Life, IMO, changed the way most, if not all, FPS'ers were made from there on out.

Which game has had a bigger impact on it's respective genre, World of Warcraft or Half-Life? I know with WoW only being out 7 months, I really didn't want to wait 2 or 3 years to post this :D. So do your best.
 

luigi1

Senior member
Mar 26, 2005
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I really see this differently, wow is a very good game, true to itself and its history. I think its popular because its the eastiest game in its gender to ever come down the pike. This is both its glory and its demise as the casual gamer can play a little when they can, but the mindless kiddies can also progress here. Half life requires you to think out of the box. Take half life in its time frame did wolfenstien, quake or doom require you to crwal up hvac ducts? Half life stumped you early. You really had to consider wtf do I do now? I think eq1 still defindes the mmorpg gender, though dont play it now. The current game has no resemblance to the eq1 i'm speaking of.
 

deveraux

Senior member
Mar 21, 2004
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First off, I will start by saying that I have not played any other MMORPG other than WoW and therefore I'm not entirely sure what is considered as a 'standard' feature in MMOs.

I feel that WoW's strength does not lie within its quests, but more within the interaction between various people and the things you can do within the game itself (i.e. professions etc). I think it really caters to a wide variety of people and hence explains its success. It certainly adds a new dimension to the genre as a whole.

And mindless kiddies is probably pushing it a bit but I disagree with the fact that you can get as far as a person that puts in a lot more hours. I think that "just an hour here and there" approach to WoW undermines what the game is really about. It just becomes about killing monsters if that's what you do but there's more to WoW than that.

Half-life was a great game for its time, no doubts there. However, I feel that it was more of taking the next time more than anything else. WoW, however, feels more of a leap. Neither is revolutionary, but both made good strides with their own respective genres.

Overall, I think WoW did a better job comparatively to HL, but since I'm more of an RPG fan, I'm probably quite biased :p.
 

duragezic

Lifer
Oct 11, 1999
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I don't rate HL as high as a lot of people on here seem to. For one thing, it was never that popular until CS which made it HUGE. Yet the majority of the CS gamers had hardly an idea it was really a HL mod. So ok, the mod made by mostly a single guy was way more popular that multi million $ games. :) Anyway, I think Quake/Quakeworld defined the genre. So many things originated from Quake like deathmatch, fragging, LAN parties, rocket jump, etc etc Quake online is what got me into online gaming and gaming in general.
 

datalink7

Lifer
Jan 23, 2001
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Half Life helped redefine and bring a revolution to the first person shooter genre.

World of Warcraft brought very little that was new. It just takes the ideas of previous MMORPG's and does it very well.

Therefore, I would say that Half Life did more for its genre.
 

abaez

Diamond Member
Jan 28, 2000
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HL hands down. It was just a big a revolution as the first quake was.
 

spunkz

Golden Member
Jul 16, 2003
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HL did much much more for it's genre, BUT the more i play WoW the more i believe it is doing more for PC gaming in general, the main reason being that it is more family-oriented. I have seen more REAL females in WoW than any other game, met tons of husband/wife duos, and even parents who quest with their children. I think the cartoony atmosphere is more inviting to all ages, many of whom are turned off by the blood and guts of fps games. The instances reward teamwork and interaction, and the rested xp bonuses let people come home from work and catch up with those who have been playing for longer periods.

my only complaint is that it sometimes rewards extreme selfishness (extreme meaning ninja looters, elitists), but the guild system usually covers for that as you find that the selfish players are often shunned or blacklisted. obviously the game thrives on competition and making your own character better than others', but it's usually in a way that reflects a real-world capitalist environment that can provide valuable lessons for the younger crowd, who are having fun but at the same time learning the basics of economy, time management, leadership skills, teamwork, and perseverance - all without degrading their social skills and teaching them leet speak.
 

skace

Lifer
Jan 23, 2001
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WoW is a refined version of EQ as Half-Life was a refined version of Quake1? In which case, I'd say EQ and Quake1 both did more for their respective genres. And then I could compare Doom and UO.

The only difference in those analogies would be that I enjoy WoW more than EQ where as Quake1 is infinitely more enjoyable than Half-Life was (from a multiplayer perspective).
 
Oct 19, 2000
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Originally posted by: skace
WoW is a refined version of EQ as Half-Life was a refined version of Quake1? In which case, I'd say EQ and Quake1 both did more for their respective genres. And then I could compare Doom and UO.
I was looking for impacts made on games that are being made today. Doom and Quake have long outlived their usefulness. Now if it were 1998, I may have asked the EQ/Quake question :).
 

skace

Lifer
Jan 23, 2001
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Originally posted by: blurredvision
I was looking for impacts made on games that are being made today. Doom and Quake have long outlived their usefulness. Now if it were 1998, I may have asked the EQ/Quake question :).

I don't get it, were you referring to Half-Life2? Because Half-Life1 is only a couple years younger than Quake1.
 
Oct 19, 2000
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Originally posted by: skace
Originally posted by: blurredvision
I was looking for impacts made on games that are being made today. Doom and Quake have long outlived their usefulness. Now if it were 1998, I may have asked the EQ/Quake question :).

I don't get it, were you referring to Half-Life2? Because Half-Life1 is only a couple years younger than Quake1.
Yes, HL1. HL1 came out in the latter half of 1998 if I remember correctly. HL1, and not Quake, still influences many FPS'ers to come out today, including HL2. I went with the last game to make a huge statement, and in my eyes and possibly many others, it's still HL1.
 

Malladine

Diamond Member
Mar 31, 2003
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WoW didn't do sh|t except perhaps popularize the genre some more. Which I suppose is something. As a game though it offers nothing new whatsoever.
 

Malladine

Diamond Member
Mar 31, 2003
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Originally posted by: deveraux
First off, I will start by saying that I have not played any other MMORPG other than WoW and therefore I'm not entirely sure what is considered as a 'standard' feature in MMOs.

I feel that WoW's strength does not lie within its quests, but more within the interaction between various people and the things you can do within the game itself (i.e. professions etc). I think it really caters to a wide variety of people and hence explains its success. It certainly adds a new dimension to the genre as a whole.

And mindless kiddies is probably pushing it a bit but I disagree with the fact that you can get as far as a person that puts in a lot more hours. I think that "just an hour here and there" approach to WoW undermines what the game is really about. It just becomes about killing monsters if that's what you do but there's more to WoW than that.

Half-life was a great game for its time, no doubts there. However, I feel that it was more of taking the next time more than anything else. WoW, however, feels more of a leap. Neither is revolutionary, but both made good strides with their own respective genres.

Overall, I think WoW did a better job comparatively to HL, but since I'm more of an RPG fan, I'm probably quite biased :p.
If you haven't played any other MMOs you are in no position to answer the question really :frown:
 

skace

Lifer
Jan 23, 2001
14,488
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Originally posted by: blurredvision
Yes, HL1. HL1 came out in the latter half of 1998 if I remember correctly. HL1, and not Quake, still influences many FPS'ers to come out today, including HL2. I went with the last game to make a huge statement, and in my eyes and possibly many others, it's still HL1.

Funny. I guess I will just say that we disagree :)
 

LiekOMG

Golden Member
Jul 5, 2000
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I really really (really) do NOT hope that WoW will be the game that defines the MMORPG genre. Its apparent lack of the 'RPG' aspect, coupled with a boring leveling treadmill that leads to nothing but an endgame of raid encounters is nothing but a snore. I really do not want to see the next 10 years of online RPG's be nothing but clones of WoW.

Half-Life isn't the end all of gameplay, but at least it attempted to do something a little different, and was executed with such style and polish that it can still be named an excellent game, and is certainly one that raised the bar for all other games that came after it.
 

jdport

Senior member
Oct 20, 2004
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Originally posted by: DOACleric
I really really (really) do NOT hope that WoW will be the game that defines the MMORPG genre. Its apparent lack of the 'RPG' aspect, coupled with a boring leveling treadmill that leads to nothing but an endgame of raid encounters is nothing but a snore. I really do not want to see the next 10 years of online RPG's be nothing but clones of WoW

agree and disagree... none of the current MMORPG's really have much of an RPG feel... they try but unfortunately money is made by appealing to the many and the number of people who will really try to roleplay are few. Also it's very difficult to create a real role play environment in a world made for thousands of people... it's much easier to do in a smaller world (I used to play a game called Underlight and that was great for a RP purist, but it was very very small compared to todays MMORPG's). I don't expect the next 10 years of ORPG's to be clones of WoW any more than you could call WoW a clone of EQ... each generation will continue to improve on the shortcomings of it's predecessor, but I don't know if you'll ever get one with a true RP feel.

 

LiekOMG

Golden Member
Jul 5, 2000
1,362
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Yep, you're right. None of the current online RPG's (except maybe NWN, but thats not an MMORPG) can have much of an RPG feel. However, at least in my opinion, MMORPG's are getting WORSE as they go on, not improving. They throw more and more of the roleplay aspects out the window, and focus on nothing more than leveling and raiding. I would personally consider Meridian59, Ultima Online, and (pre-expansion) Everquest superior to any of the current crop of MMORPG's out on the market. Of course, I guess thats my personal opinion of superior.
 
Oct 19, 2000
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Originally posted by: DOACleric
Half-Life isn't the end all of gameplay, but at least it attempted to do something a little different, and was executed with such style and polish that it can still be named an excellent game, and is certainly one that raised the bar for all other games that came after it.
Exactly. That's why I've included it in this thread.

To skace, we all have our opinions. Quake indeed was an amazing game of it's time. I'll never forget launching grenades around corners and down stairs in amazement, a first for a game at the time (atleast it was new to me anyway).
 

Noema

Platinum Member
Feb 15, 2005
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As much as I love WoW, I must admit that it is a typical Blizzard product in that it offers no real innovation. Instead, its strenght lies in its fantastic execution and polish. Starcraft was not revolutionary by any stretch of the imagination, but it was the epitome of RTS because how well put together it was. Same with WoW: it's an Everquest clone...but it's the Everquest clone.

I don't think Half Life (1 or 2) has been terribly innovative either. Again, it's all about execution. An excellent game, great graphics, story, gameplay...but it doesn't boggle does who play it. It doesn't force one to change the play structures. Half Life 2 is a great game because it is pretty much flawless. But it doesn't reinvent the wheel.