D&D 4E My compiled list of 4E's WoWisms

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I believe in a playtest report there was a mention of a cleric healing an ally, triggered by the cleric scoring a critical hit or something. That's very MMO.

Which MMO has that? EQ1, CoX and WoW don't have that, off the top of my head.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Yes, roles exisited, but naming them with arbitrary names such as "defender" "striker" "controller" or "healer" is like calling a WoW Warrior a "tank" or a WoW Rogue "DPS" or a WoW Priest a "Healer".

That's not a WoWism. It's a MMOism and, before that, a MUSHism.

 

[cignus_pfaccari]

I'll add this if you can think of an instance in an MMO or WoW where this occurs. I agree, it is kind of video gamey, I just can't think of a video game that does this.

Well, there are several instances that are similar:

1) If a paladin Judges their Seal of Light on a mob, anything that hits the mob has a very high chance to get a minor heal. It's not much (mine does 95 or so points), but it's almost every hit, and applies raidwide.

2) A druid in bear, dire bear, or cat form with the Improved Leader of the Pack talent causes members of her party who crit to heal a somewhat more substantial amount, about 250 or so depending.

3) A priest who applies Vampiric Touch to a mob heals herself and her party a certain percentage of her shadow damage done to that mob. (Vampiric Embrace does the same for mana...shadow priests are fairly popular nowadays!)

But there's nothing that's exactly the same. The vast majority of party/raid healing is directly a result of spellcasting, not an indirect result of an effect.

Personally, I would kill to get my paladin the ability to heal a party member a substantial amount on a crit.

Brad

 

[Xethreau]

*Playable "demon" race Tiefling, is a Core race, playable right from the get go with no level adjustment - WoW has the Draenei, also a playable "demon" race

Draenei are actually closer to aliens, and are the "uncorrupted" of their race, so they are pretty far from demons (which they despise, btw.)

And please, these similarities are superficial. I would like to see anything less than a stretch of the imagination displayed as evidence of D&D having WoW'isms.

Now, I will not deny the fact that D&D has been influenced by MMO's, but claiming that it all comes from WoW is an undeserved backhanded-complement.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Sorry you feel this way. This is a thread I started with a specific reason in mind. I don't want people to post "WoW has classes, so does 4E!!! ADD THIS TO YOU LIST!!!" Obviously, this is not the kind of thing I am looking for. I am looking for specific criteria when I decide to add something to the list. Hence, if you have a suggestion, and I agree with it, I will add it. I am not going to add something I feel is silly. Sorry.

If you don't want to have a free-wheeling discussion, you shouldn't be posting this stuff on a message board. You need a blog.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I agree, it is kind of video gamey, I just can't think of a video game that does this.

 

[Wormwood]

Which MMO has that? EQ1, CoX and WoW don't have that, off the top of my head.

Nor did Asheron's Call or Guild Wars, IIRC.

I'm assuming the origin is a cubicle in Renton, myself.

 

[RigaMortus2]

The names aren't arbitrary. They describe what the character does in combat. The roles are being given names because there are now multiple classes that can fulfil them. You'll note that "meatshield" and "healer" have been used for years by D&D players, because there's always been multiple classes that could fulfil those roles(fighter, barbarian, paladin, sometimes ranger were good meatshields, cleric and druid were both good healers). Now that we are going to have multiple classes focusing on area effect, we can't really call that role the "mage" anymore, so they gave it a name.

D&D players have been giving names to roles that multiple classes could fill for decades, long before WoW was a glimmer in Blizzard's eye.

I find there to be a couple differences here...

First off, I think there is a difference when a PLAYER calls something a "tank" or a "meat shield" and when a game designer uses a similiar term for a role.
Second, it is fine to describe a classes role, but I personally find it strange to give the role a different name than the class performing the role.

Ex:

A Fighter is a hearty warrior. Their role is to attract the attention of the enemies, to come between their blows, to take damage and deal damage.

That is a class, and a description of that class or it's role. Versus...

A Tank is a hearty warrior. Their role is to attract the attention of the enemies, to come between their blows, to take damage and deal damage.

Why not just rename the Fighter class Tank? What is the purpose to giving a name to the role when they already have a name for it... their class name!?

Some of these role names are descriptive enough. Healer, is right to the point. No mistaking that one. Defender. What does that tell you really? Why can't a Wizard or Rogue defend a person? Striker. What is that? Someone that hits someone else? Don't all classes hit their enemies? Why can't my Paladin strike an opponent? I won't go into Leader

Why give a name for a role and then describe that role vs. just describing the role each class has?

The term Tank, DPS, Healer, CC are all player created terms and you'd have to be 'in the know' to know what they mean. I see players all the time asking in WoW what DPS means or what a DPS class is. And these are no different than Striker, Defender, Leader, etc.

 

[cignus_pfaccari]

No, they're not. I don't know how one could actually play WoW and come away with that. Some draenei got brought into a demonic army, but the draenei race are mortals and aren't demonic at all.

A bit more detail is called for for those who didn't read the Wowwiki link:
The race/species we now know as Draenei used to be called Eredar, and were generally okay. A fallen Titan named Sargeras came to them and corrupted most of them through two members of their ruling triumvirate. Some that weren't corrupted saw the writing on the wall and ran like hell with the third leader. These renamed themselves Draenei. The name Eredar still applies to the demons.

So, the Draenei are not and never have been demons. Others of their race became demons, but they never were.

Brad

 

[ThirdWizard]

First off, I think there is a difference when a PLAYER calls something a "tank" or a "meat shield" and when a game designer uses a similiar term for a role.
Second, it is fine to describe a classes role, but I personally find it strange to give the role a different name than the class performing the role.

People, especially designers, like to categorize things.