It is true that all high fantasy is derivative of the same basic idea. Tolkien gave us what we know to be fantasy literature more than 50 years ago and almost every fantasy world has borrowed something from him.

That was not my point. My point was that those who know WoW and only WoW should widen their fantastic horizons abit and sample some of the other stuff that’s out there. The genre is far deeper and more varied than those who know it only superficially understand it to be.

All fantasy is not WoW and WoW is not all fantasy. There were things that came before that WoW owes alot to. There are alot of ‘in’ references in WoW which these people will not get (The throne room above Undercity being the same one that appears in a cinematic in The Diablo II expansion; Lord of Destruction for instance, and thats just one of them.)

I merely wished to point out the ignorance of those who put fingers to keyboard to voice opinions about something they know little about or have a very specific and narrow view of, that is all. Warcraft and Warhammer both have their place in the genre, as do Earthsea, Middle Earth, Pern, Dragonlance, Forgotten Realms, Game of Thrones, Shannara, and many others. More enjoyment can be squeezed from your favourite if you sample a wide selection of its bretheren.

Blizzard took basic ideas from Warhammer and 40k for Warcraft and Starcraft. They also added their own (imo superior) style. So what?

Now, Mythic is borrowing basic MMO ideas from Blizzard for its MMO. Again, so what?

Surely they kinda do in terms of popularity? There are loads of people I know think MMORPG is another name for World of Warcraft. Seriously.

I cannot see how anyone who plays another MMO other than WoW can slag it off. It is to many THE definition of MMO. Most of them don’t even know it’s something to do with the gimps who play in games workshop on a Saturday afternoon.

I’m confused here anyway, what exactly are people complaining about, the similarities between Warhammer and Warcraft or the similarities between WoW and WAR?

Mandrill, you should get your hands on Liber Chaotica if you’re interested in Chaos, great book.

I must confess, the guy next to me was playing WAR and I thought it was WoW until he mentioned something. At a first glance, the two games are nearly identical.

While the Warcraft aesthetic definitely has its roots in Warhammer, it’s WoW, and Blizzard’s work, alone that’s cemented the current vision of the MMO in our minds.

Both Warhammer and Warcraft use a pretty generic aesthetic. It’s High Fantasy, and in High Fantasy everything tends to look pretty similar. No one looks at Warhammer figurines and says “Dude, these look just like Warcraft.” They say “Oh, it’s Fantasy stuff,” and when people play WoW they say “Oh, it’s Fantasy.”

The reasons these comparisons come up is not solely because Warcraft character designs and Warhammer character designs look similar. It’s because WAR the MMO looks like WOW the MMO. It’s because the scale of the architecture is the same. The environment is rendered in a similar way. The way spell effects accompany casting is similar, as is the place the camera seems to gravitate too.

There are lots of Fantasy games, and they tend to employ rather similar art direction. But they don’t all get compared to WoW, either.

I know my audience Stella, and assumed that those reading this blog and having the gall to comment that Warhammer is just a Warcraft clone were in fact idiots. I don’t care if someone who sits at home in their recliner, watching television and knowing nothing about games says warcraft is better than warhammer. They don’t count.

Someone who makes a comment comparing WoW to War should take the time to learn a little bit about what they’re talking about before jumping in with “Warhammer is a Warcraft clone.” Anyone who doesn’t deserves every ounce of derision we can pile upon their sorry souls. It is the commenting without proper research that is idiotic, not the intake, or lack thereof, of fantasy literature.

BTW: What do you do for fun? Would you like me to deride it without basis?

@Jaques: Thank you. Its been a while and Chaos were never really my favourites so I only knew the generalities. I bow to your superior knowledge :)