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

[PeterWeller]

For those who want to add more, post here and if I agree with you, I will add it to the list.

Here you come off as incredibly self important. Also, what's with people posting things they don't want to discuss on a forum dedicated to discussing things?

As for your list, I think you missed a big one: Everyone has combat powers with a variety of effects and conditions for use. This is more a general CRPG-ism than a WoW-ism, but it's also definitely one of the core features of WoW's gameplay.

 

[Fifth Element]

Well first off, I am not complaining about anything. No complaints here whatsoever.

You wrote this:

What kinda "gets" me is denying that you are "borrowing" these ideas. And no, I haven't seen WotC come out and deny they are borrowing ideas from WoW, but I also have not seen WotC admit to it either when it appears to me it is blatantly obvious.

Saying something "gets" you is a complaint. You're implying that if WotC has not come forward and listed all its inspirations, it must be trying to hide them. (Because what "gets" you is "denying" it.) Yet you then admit that they have never actually denied it. It's confusing.

And second, how do you know they haven't been asked this question? (what question are we referring to anyway?). Just because it hasn't been posted on a blog or message board doesn't mean it hasn't been asked (like via email for example).

The question is, obviously, "Were any design decisions in 4E influenced by MMOs", or something similar.

I don't have to demonstrate that the question hasn't been asked. If "denying" it "gets" you, then you should be able to provide some source where they actually deny anything. If you have some email where the question was asked and the influence denied, please share it. You've assumed they would deny it, without any evidence.

 

[Cmarco]

Tiefling as a race was around years before WoW existed. Granted, there'll be a lot more of them now, but ever since the very first Planescape products, the tiefling's been there too (and, as Baldur's Gate 2 and Planescape: Torment proved, they don't all have thick Romanian accents). They were playable, right off the bat, as well.

Also, I agree: aside from the Onyxia fight and the sample dragon fight both being fights with dragons, there's little similarity here.

Finally, most games have monsters which are considered "elite". WoW is not the first game to come up with the idea.

 

[Fifth Element]

If you don't play WoW, then you wouldn't get it. The Draenei in WoW are a new playable race of "demons" and their voice in the game is basically like The Count from Sesame Street (ie Romanian accent).

So not only do you have a playable "demon" race in both WoW and D&D, but they also have similiar accents??? You don't find that the least bit coincidental?

I'll say it again, I guess. Of course it's not coincidental. It's quite intentional. But I think it was intended to poke fun at WoW, not imitate it.

 

[Fifth Element]

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.

 

[RigaMortus2]

A stretch. Aside from it being a party versus a dragon, how is it similar?

The first attack in each instances is a area-effect breath of fire.
They both have an attack that deals damage to the targets in front. For WoW it is Onyxia's Cleave ability, for 4E it is a claw attack.
They both have a tail attack, the effects of which knock people back.
They both have another fire attack, but this is a ball of fire that targets a single target (something D&D dragons weren't previously able to do).

From the broad sense, you could say, "Dragons always had these abilities" (except for the single target fireball effect). But I think they way they laid it out, the sequence of the attacks, is pretty much spot on when you compare it to the Onxynia encounter.

Also, a lot of these attacks for the 4E dragon are now free actions or they get to take 2 standard actions in the same round. It's not like the dragon is breathing fire in round 1, clawing in round 2, tail swiping in round 3, etc. All these attacks are in the same round. In MMO-terms, this would be equivalent to doing instant attacks or attacks without some sort of delay in between. Since MMOs are real time, they aren't broken up into rounds like PnP RPGs are, they are instead delayed by how many attacks you can make in a second.

 

[Jedi_Solo]

So not only do you have a playable "demon" race in both WoW and D&D, but they also have similiar accents??? You don't find that the least bit coincidental?

All of the "I am cool" accents I have ever heard at the table (at least from those of the group that don't have a heavy theater experience) have been Arnold or Russian or Romanian.

They only last for a session before the jokes of Arnold or The Count or Comrade come in. But to my recollection those are the only attempts I have heard.

So... nope. No WoWism for me. Just a parody of the "I am Kewl" stereotype.

(And just for the record I don't mind if D&D steals from WoW if I think it helps the game. I'm not even denying that the accent choice was WoW instead of a more generic 'kewl' parody. All I'm saying is if someone want to go OMGWoW!!!1!!Eleven! they need to point to something else as far as I am concerned.)

 

[Teemu]

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

Since when did draenei become "demons"? They're more like aasimars/celestials with hooves and tails.

 

[RigaMortus2]

Saying something "gets" you is a complaint. You're implying that if WotC has not come forward and listed all its inspirations, it must be trying to hide them. (Because what "gets" you is "denying" it.) Yet you then admit that they have never actually denied it. It's confusing.

Well, then we are using different definitions here. I don't have any complaints about borrowing MMO ideas for 4E. I just find the people who deny that WotC is doing this... well... in denial It just makes me shake my head and roll my eyes, that's all. If there were a universal COMPLAINT button for something like this, don't worry, I wouldn't press it...

 

[Zarithar]

Azeroth began life before the release of Warcraft: Orcs vs Humans, as Chris Metzen's (WoW's lore guru) homebrew AD&D campaign world.

Yes, all of these games/worlds/settings borrow heavily from one another. I don't see the issue.