This isn’t going to be pretty by any means. It’s a long post and I’m feeling the writing bug hit me again. It’s been years since I wanted to write in a literary sense so if you happen to have some free time and want something different that might actually stimulate your mind, read the whole thing; otherwise here’s the TLDR version:

Both games are great, one is an older generation, the other obviously new. Stop being such douchebags and quit talking so much shit. Emo rage quitters should cut themselves up and quit taking all my oxygen already.

The line must be drawn HERE!

The battles on most gaming forums or blogs are starting to get really nasty – no longer is there just posturing or number slinging oh no, it’s evolved into something like a holy war between two groups of players both completely ignorant as to how it all began and fueled with nothing but blinding nerd rage and gaming zealotry. Here’s the impartial truth, the ugly underbelly of both sides. Here is why both sides are fundamentally wrong.

I’m going to break this down into easy to follow sections so later on you guys can hopefully pull your thumbs out of your asses long enough to post a reply and tell me how wrong I am.

What’s a Gamer?

Before we can even begin to pick apart the drama, we have to come to terms with ourselves. Let’s be honest, gamers are loyal and wear their games like badges of honor. I have no idea why it is, but it is as much a part of gaming as the very consoles or computers we play them on. You can see examples of the blind, aggressive, and outright fanatical loyalty in the console wars; Xbox fanboys fighting with PS3 owners, or people trying to defend Halo as the world’s greatest and first ever FPS game.

Emotions run high but facts are soberingly indifferent. Try to remember the latter.

WoW does not suck, but fanboys do!

WoW is not a bad game. WoW doesn’t suck. As a matter of fact you’d be hard pressed to find a more expansive and involving game out there. WoW incorporates PvE gaming, PvP gaming, collecting gaming (shit like Animal Crossing), and has become shameless and essentially overdone through merchandising and marketing outlets. I’m waiting for Warcraft themed toilet paper and brekfast cereal to come out in 2010. You can’t knock this giant off the mountain, I wouldn’t want to see that happen anyway. I love WoW, if I didn’t then I wouldn’t have played it from Beta until today without so much as taking more than a day or two off.

This recent stint has broken the addiction for one and also has been the longest I’ve gone without logging on ever (minus when my 2nd daughter was born). I’ve got just about every WoW novel and love them (same for Starcraft and Diablo mind you) and something like 12 collector’s edition items including the steins. It’s not a bad game.

However. Saying shit like “WoW has great gameplay and its endless fun with a lot of polish and stuff to d0 and either way Blizzard is going to announce their new MMO and own the world with it!” is downright fucking retarded and I love to see it used to freely in every argument when things start to go south. Yeah it’s a good game, it’s not the best and it has its flaws. Aion fanboys aren’t much better since the only real argument I’ve seen is from people who didn’t even like WoW from the start or who probably sucked at it and got all menstrual about it.

The nature of this game (as an MMO) means it will never be “balanced” like Starcraft or Counter Strike is balanced. It’ll never truly be a respectable competitive eSport type venture because more often than not, skill will take a backseat to RNG or better comps/gear unless you’re in the highest upper echelon of professional gamers.

WoW is a PvE game, period; and they do that shit better than anybody on the block. Sure it has PvP in it but nothing like every other MMO. Matter of fact, WoW’s PvP game is one of the weakest representations out there. People asking for the open insane free-for-all PvP of UO and such need to be slapped, but the arena jingle jangle pussy parade we have going on now is a far cry from what PvP could have been with such a rich and wonderful backstory and universe.

And here’s the best part, the game is rewarding you for doing fake PvP in a controlled environment to grant the illusion of balance or fairness and ignoring that you know, it’s the fucking Horde and the Alliance. We’re enemies you guys, remember? The decade and 3 massive games and endless books that have established the war… you guys forgot about the war? Let’s just make one big city where both factions can live together in perfect harmony and share banks and vendors and quests and lore and- oh wait.

Keep your eye on the prize!

Lets’ not argue Blizzard vs NC soft either, that’s not the point. People taking it to that level are just doing so out of frustration and misplaced anger. Some Blizzard fanboys have that big blue dick so far down their throats they can use the tip as a stool. I love Starcraft, I love Diablo, and I love Warcraft; they’re not the be all end all of gaming. There’s other shit out there guys really I promise, don’t be scared.

NC soft is relatively new to me. I saw Guild Wars, looked pretty but never played it. Same for all their games really, most look amazing but I’ve never played them. I like the fact that they want to bring the Korean MMO style to a Western audience with western ideals put in. We non-asians apparently really like questing, deep lore and story-telling, and instanced dungeons. Aion’s got that. Typical Asian MMOs involve a lot of grinding or heavy forced group play. My 1st MMO was Final Fantasy Online (FFXI) and that was the definition of grinding and grouping. You can’t progress in that game at all without dedicating tons of hours of mindless grinding, very little questing, and a broke ass economy. You could even lose levels and hours worth of playtime in seconds upon your characters death, WoW aint got shit on that.

Remember this isn’t a fight between companies, it’s between games. Companies can change sides with the drop of a dollar sign and a contract. Right Activision-Blizzard? I’m sure Bobby loves that Starcraft 2 was pushed back to 2010, good luck during the holidays.

It’s time to grow up.

If you put down the pitchforks and put out the burning effigies, you might just realize what year it is. Imagine if you will, we as gamers are sitting on an iceberg. This son of a bitch has been melting since 2005, right now it’s about to dump us into frigid waters that would probably mean certain death. This iceberg is named World of Warcraft, EVE, City of Heroes, Lord of the Rings, Age of Conan, Warhammer. These games have been around for a while, and they’re showing their age either through obsolete gameplay or graphics or just terrible management and community (I’m looking at you WAR).

Now next to us is a verdant beautiful and solid iceberg, this baby looks fresh and new and it’s going to last for a long time, maybe another 5 years before it even starts to wear. That iceberg is called Aion, Starwars The Old Republic, Champions Online, All Points Bulletin, Final Fantasy XIV, Global Agenda, and yes even the unnamed Next-Gen MMO from Blizzard. It’s time to make that jump.

/Logout

It doesn’t matter what other folks say or how much the media will hype things. In the end of it all, you’re paying $15.00 a month from your wallet to play a game you enjoy. That doesn’t give you the right to dictate what others around you are allowed to enjoy or if their source of pleasure seems ridiculous to you. It’s ok to share your opinion on matters whenever you please, but that doesn’t mean you can get away unscathed if you end up disrespecting or offending somebody else. I don’t walk into the middle of Overtown and start spouting off racial slurs waving the confederate flag around because I don’t want my teeth pulled out through my asshole.

If folks are burnt out on WoW, awesome, go play something else or take a break entirely. Stop playing though. If you’re getting bored with the game then go ahead and look for ways to revitalize it, take up a class you’ve never played before, maybe reroll to the other faction. Or hell just quit. There are other games out there now, good ones worth picking up that will feel fresh and exciting but familiar and comfortable. If you judged WoW’s graphics and gameplay from videos and articles and reviews only – by today’s standards; it doesn’t look too hot. They did some good with Wrath of the Lich King and maybe even with this next coming expansion, but strapping a rocket to your ass doesn’t make you an astronaut; and eventually the aging engine is going to fall by the wayside.

Not much else to say here. Both games share a lot in common. They have great lore, stunning and memorable characters, and they create worlds of imagination in which we as players can sink into for hours. All the ingredients are there for an amazing game, now if only the children would give it a taste.

The one thing I find myself saying all the time to people when they ask me, “Rick, what’s Aion like?” is this:

“Remember in December of 2004 when you first installed the World of Warcraft and you felt like you were looking at the most beautiful and amazing game to date? Addictive and exciting and full of mysteries you were yearning to uncover? Zones yet to explore, epic weapons and armor and vicious monsters and evil that had to be faught? It’s like that all over again. Aion feels like WoW used to.”