New Design & Development: Paladin Smites!

[Goobermunch]

That's a paltry penetration into the mainstream compared to WoW, which has more people aware of it than Everquest ever did.


And again, I'll disagree. Up until WoW, MMOs were still considered to be nerd havens, for those people that would rather interact with people from their computer than in real life. And because of the amount of time you had to put into the game to achieve anything worthwhile, it was somewhat true. It wasn't until WoW came out with easier progression, a more appealing aesthetic, and casual gameplay that the cultural view of MMOs changed from "nerdfest" to something more.

I'll grant you the first of your comments. But World of Warcraft is where it is today only because it stands on Everquest's shoulders.

As for your second comment, it's patently incorrect. Everquest is the game that brought computer gaming out of the nerdzone and into the mainstream. Consider that Kurt Schilling's Everquest habit came to light in 2001 (the same year Blizzard announced that it would be developing WoW). My wife's cousin played Everquest long before Warcraft came out. Jenny's a lot of things, but a nerd she ain't.

Everquest got popular because of its social nature. People would start to play (relatively normal people), and they'd bring in their friends and families. That's what made it successful. Sure, it may have started with geeks, but it didn't take long for it to invade offices, schools, houses, and even sports teams.

WoW certainly has surpassed EQ, but EQ laid the groundwork and took the MMOG from nerdland to mainstream. I know, because I watched it happen.

--G

 

[Moonshade]

Well, at least my favourite class hasn't yet been saddled with names like Golden Wyvern Adept. I remain cautiously optimistic. I hope that despite being holy (or unholy, in 4E) warriors, as I've seen some people point out, paladins won't always need to hit things with weapons in order to be able to channel the effects of their divine commitment/inspiring presence. Smites are nice, but it would be great if the design team could think up non-smitey but thematically appropriate and fun things for paladins to do.

 

[Kobold Avenger]

Paladin strikes are all about helping you teammates out, somehow I suspect Rogues will be all about inflicting debilitating conditions with sneak attack powers like Arterial Strike and Hamstring.