Re: WoW - I wonder....

From: "Nils Jeppe" <nils@???????????.de>
Sent: Saturday, August 26, 2006 8:15 AM


> On Fri, 25 Aug 2006, Adam Miller wrote:
>
> Well the WoW artwork seems to be that sort of thing you either love or 
> hate. Personally I think the comic book style isn't one of WoW's strong 
> sides, but yeah, some stuff is nicely done. Haven't seen the pics you 
> refer to.
>
>> That one has everyone scratching their head, for
>> certain :)  Why they can't call it a spaceship is
>> beyond me...:p
>
> Because it's a fantasy setting.

So is Spelljammer and that has spaceships (i.e. ships in space = space ships 
= space-ships = spaceships).

The only problem with the word "spaceship" is that people generally think of 
it as an object that are linked to scienctific or science fiction concepts. 
Both "space" and "ships" can be used in fantasy, as both predate 
industrialisation. The word "spaceship" is the best word to use for a ship 
that goes into space and Spelljammer's spaceships are actually truer to the 
word than the things that NASA and the Soviets launch into space. (Mercury, 
Apollo, Gemini and their Russian counterparts were rocket powered tin cans 
with parachutes - more space-missile than space-ship. The Space Shuttle and 
Buran are rocket powered gliders - more space-plane than space-ship.) Sadly 
the stereotype of spaceships as science fiction only elements holds back 
fantasy space fiction (and games) like Spelljammer.

> The average WoW player is young, stupid, or both. I was once playing in a 
> dungeon and the group leader - a Paladin - was the only member who had 
> healing spells. So says the mage: "I guess that makes you the healer". The 
> paladin then starts using four lettered swear words and calls people who 
> agree "noobs" and much worse. The mage says, "I don't play with 9 year 
> olds". The paladin comes up with the ultimate defense: "I'm 14!".

There is nothing wrong with "young people" or "stupid people". Young people 
(who respect the rules) can bring enthusiam to a game. Most people who get 
called "stupid" are actually ignorant. We were all ignorant once and 
ignorance is easily cured by education. Ignorant gamers who don't have time 
to learn a bunch of fantasy rules (like magic spells) can still help make a 
game enjoyable if they stick to a simple character class like the "fighter".

The problem with your 14 year old Paladin player is that he had no social 
skills, no willingness to "do the right thing" (i.e. act as party healer 
when no better alternative was available) and was suffering from some sort 
of online version of road-rage. WoW, like Spelljammer, is "*only* a game" 
and anyone who starts flaming people over a game needs to have their 
Internet connection taken away until they can have some anger-management 
treatment. Fighting over things in the real world is bad enough, but 
actually fighting over something in a game that doesn't really exist is 
pathetic.

I've met a few immature people on WoW, but wouldn't write the game or its 
players off because of them. However, this is a Spelljammer mailing list - 
not a I love World of Warcraft mailing list, so I think we should try to 
stick to talking about how WoW can help Spelljammer.

> So there you go.

So what did Blizzard do about this when you reported the player for abuse of 
their "Terms of Service"?

> Unfortunately that seems to be the rule rather than the exception. I think 
> it's because most adult people simply do not have the time required to 
> play WoW.

Of the people I know who play WoW, most are adults. And most of them use 
their existing social networking skills to arrange groups offline and sort 
out issues like this before they even log on. Several of my friends use a 
program called Teamspeak to run voice communication while playing WoW so 
they don't even bother to use WoW's chat channel unless they want to hook up 
with someone else.

I've seen plenty of WoW players who give away stuff for free or who help 
walk newbies through adventures they are having trouble with.

Good WoW players are out there, but they generally make a lot less noise 
than the few infantile people you are talking about.

>> True, but at the same time, I'd have never thought
>> that elements of magical space would be seen in
>> something as "mainstream" as Warcraft, either.
>
> Might & Magic was as mainstream as you got at one time, and it did feature 
> some heavy Sci Fi elements.
>
> Shadowrun didn't have "magical spaceships" but it was a cyberpunk game 
> with happy elves, and easily one of the most popular rpg's of its day.

Spelljammer is a fantasy game (that happens to be set in space), so it needs 
to attract people who want to play fantasy characters in RPGs. While I don't 
have anything against cyberpunk, steampunk and science-fantasy Spelljammer 
doesn't fall into any of those classifications and games that depend on 
those styles of play, don't generally help promote the idea of sailing ships 
flying through the sky and visiting the stars.

The Burning Crusade isn't out yet but if travel to The Outlands involves 
something similar to Spelljammer ships we can tell newbie SJ players (who 
are familiar with WoW) that Spelljamming is similar to WoW's version.

I've got a feeling that the elven ships in Lord of the Rings also sailed 
into space, because they went somewhere where humans couldn't go.

> Sure, WoW is something of unprecedented scale, but that's just because 
> mmorpgs like it were simply not possible 10 years ago.

Actually WoW does better than other MMORPGs because they have designed it so 
that (at higher levels) you advance better if you co-operate with other 
players. Your arrogant Paladin might be able to play at the moment, but if 
he continues to have temper tantrums during party quests he will find that 
people remember him and refuse to play with him.

David "Big Mac" Shepheard
Virtual Eclipse Role Playing Club
http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/virtualeclipselrp/links/d20_system_001071937434/Spelljammer_001071430476
http://virtualeclipse.aboho.com/