日前 Bioware 的創辦人之一 Greg Zeschuk ,在全球電子遊戲首腦高峰會( D.I.C.E. Summit )中稱讚《魔獸世界 World of Warcraft 》是網路遊戲的里程碑與標準,同時也是 Bioware 即將推出的 MMO-RPG 《 星際大戰:舊共和 Star Wars : The Old Republic 》的效法對象。 對任何接下來要上市的網路遊戲來說,不遵從《魔獸世界》所設定的遊戲規則,對遊戲本身來說不會是件好事。
「《魔獸世界》是個里程碑,同時也代表網路遊戲的公認標準,玩家會習慣它所創造的遊戲方式。」 Greg 說。「如果我看到任何想違背《魔獸世界》規則的網路遊戲,我個人會覺得這是愚昧的行為。」
Greg Zeschuk 本身就是個出色的遊戲製作人,且 Bioware 出產如《柏德之門 Baldur's Gate 》系列、《星際大戰:舊共和武士 Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 》系列、《絕冬城之夜 Neverwinter Nights 》系列甚至最近的《闇龍紀元 Dragon Age 》都是獲得極高度讚賞的遊戲系列,而美商藝電( Electronic Arts )也將《星際大戰:舊共和》視為重點推廣的 MMORPG 。對於這樣出色的製作人所說出的話,更是認證了《魔獸世界》如何成為網路遊戲的標竿,無論是遊戲機制、核心規則甚至美術風格都影響網路遊戲甚深。
或許因為《魔獸世界》存在太久了,久到我們都已經忘記這款遊戲有多重要。如同「 D姊姊看4.0:故事篇 」一文所述:「無論有多少遊戲挑戰過它的龍頭地位,最後都以失敗收場。」 Greg Zeschuk 提醒了我們,現在全世界網路遊戲的霸主是誰,且它對網路遊戲世代造成多少影響。
“Every MMO that comes out, I play and look at it. And if they break any of the WoW rules, in my book that’s pretty dumb.
“If you have established standards, WoW established them.”
After commenting that triple-A development is still a viable approach to gaming, Zeschuk conceded that The Old Republic is not expected to be a WoW-killer.
“It’s not like we’re actually going out there to beat anyone, we’re going out to place,” he said. “The audience will tell us if we have a place.”
Blizzard’s Mike Morhaime attended the same panel, and commented that failed MMOs do more harm than good for WoW itself.
“I don’t know that it serves the genre very well when MMOs come out and have all sorts of problems and players leave in frustration,” Morhaime said.
“Hopefully, new players will come in, experience it for the first time and find out that maybe they’re fans of the genre. If they get frustrated and leave maybe they won’t give the genre a try at all.
“So, do a good job,” he urged BioWare.
這是什麼鳥翻譯......捧覽趴也不是這樣捧的