NCSoft Creates World of Warcraft.

[Roland]

http://www.4gamer.net/news.php?url=/news/h...2236detail.html

Linked from Penny Arcade. Am I the only one who sees this as becoming a possible copyright lawsuit? :P

[Quark]

http://www.4gamer.net/news.php?url=/news/h...2236detail.html

Linked from Penny Arcade. Am I the only one who sees this as becoming a possible copyright lawsuit? :P
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D2 too.

[Guest]

The pics have a "WOW"" feel. Its lame, but I think it would be hard to make a lawsuit.

Consider just how much of Warcraft is stolen from Warhammer.
And how much if Warhammer came from Tolkien.

WoW looks a great deal like you combined EQ with the Warhammer board game.
The fantasy game universe is to the point now that very little in it could probably stand up in court as being owned beyond the titles themselves..

[DeeBye]

The pics have a "WOW"" feel. Its lame, but I think it would be hard to make a lawsuit.
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All MMORPGs look kinda the same to me. At times, Lineage II (another NCSoft game) is a dead ringer.

[GenericKen]

Yeah. Unless their art-direction is a flagrant rip-off (moreso than these screenshots let on), most any lawsuit would have little grounds. Unfortunately for game-designers, you can't copyright a game model. So Tetris gets copied the hell out of, mega-blocks can rip off of Lego, and Command and Conquer can steal the 1:3:4:7:12 pricing scheme for its units from Super Famicom Wars, and the developers just have to hope that their trademark will carry them through.


So blizzard is going to have to start kissing Korean players' asses and cross their fingers. It might not matter; the new game will either have enough shine and innovation to draw a large market segment away, or it might be too similar/weaker and fizzle.

[Raelynn]

Yeah. Unless their art-direction is a flagrant rip-off (moreso than these screenshots let on), most any lawsuit would have little grounds.
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Only thing I could think of from those pics is possibly the quest giver marks? They're blatently the same as in WoW. Those might be distinct enough to be considered taking a trademark or something. I don't know the laws well enough though.

I agree about the similarites though. It looks like WoW with more NCSoft-style character models.

[Roland]

Only thing I could think of from those pics is possibly the quest giver marks?  They're blatently the same as in WoW.  Those might be distinct enough to be considered taking a trademark or something.  I don't know the laws well enough though.

I agree about the similarites though.  It looks like WoW with more NCSoft-style character models.
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It looks exactly like the Pumpkin Patch in WoW, on that farm. The house, the farm, everything. Even have the UI is a direct ripoff of WoW, right down to the circular portrait border, Health / Mana bars, and the small circle for the level! I took one look at that photo and said "NCSoft made WoW?". It's rediculous.

[DeeBye]

It looks exactly like the Pumpkin Patch in WoW, on that farm. The house, the farm, everything. Even have the UI is a direct ripoff of WoW, right down to the circular portrait border, Health / Mana bars, and the small circle for the level! I took one look at that photo and said "NCSoft made WoW?". It's rediculous.
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The pumpkin patch looks much better in WoW. Those pumpkins are way too big and who the heck thinks that pumpkins grow half under soil?

Is this the actual retail release of the game, or are these just screenshots of something in development? If it's the latter than I don't see the big deal, and the similarities were probably "borrowed" to expidite the development process and will be replaced with something more original down the road. If it's the former, then it's a complete and total rip-off, but still not something worth worrying about. Lots of games rip off other games' design features. It's the backbone of the industry! Blizzard itself participates in the practice.

[SwissMercenary]

Oh, no. The health and mana bars appear in the upper left corner. Clearly grounds for a lawsuit.
No offense, but, frankly, I think that people are are only looking for the similarities... Rather... Then... The rather large amount of differences.

The models, and somesuch - funny. I don't recall WoW pumpkins looking like 4-polygon baskets, turned upside down.

The art direction is "Cartoonish, just like WoW." So what? It's obviously something that (some) people liked. Something that worked.

And unless Blizzard has a patent on an in-game compass, the yellow exclamation mark (Which, if anyone cares to open their eyes, is used roughly half of MMORPGs), giant crystals in caves, or medieval architecture, I frankly think that they don't have a case.

I have to say that I derive amusement from the existance of that game, taking in mind the amount of people wailing about wanting Guild Wars to be WoW 2. Here's to hoping that this will make them stop asking for jumping and the end-game raid grind. Oh, right, who am I kidding? They aren't going anywhere.

[jahcs]

Oh, no. The health and mana bars appear in the upper left corner. Clearly grounds for a lawsuit.
No offense, but, frankly, I think that people are are only looking for the similarities... Rather... Then... The rather large amount of differences.

The models, and somesuch - funny. I don't recall WoW pumpkins looking like 4-polygon baskets, turned upside down.

The art direction is "Cartoonish, just like WoW." So what? It's obviously something that (some) people liked. Something that worked.

And unless Blizzard has a patent on an in-game compass, the yellow exclamation mark (Which, if anyone cares to open their eyes, is used roughly half of MMORPGs), giant crystals in caves, or medieval architecture, I frankly think that they don't have a case.
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Heh, what's next, the creators of the first First Person Shooter game to come out with the "WASD" control model suing everybody else for using what works?

[Roland]

I wasn't trying to be a whistle-blower or anything. It just really struck me how very similar the two are. If you really study it, you can see differences, yes. But the similarities are undeniable, and go beyond what you mention (and brush off as petty).

It just seems like a blatant near-plageurism of parts of WoW. Whether or not its copyright infringement is not for me to say, and I doubt it's enough to form much of a case, either. But still. You can honestly say it doesn't look a thing like WoW?

[SwissMercenary]

I wasn't trying to be a whistle-blower or anything. It just really struck me how very similar the two are. If you really study it, you can see differences, yes. But the similarities are undeniable, and go beyond what you mention (and brush off as petty).

It's a pumpking patch with a house.

There's only so many ways to have a 'fantasy' pumpkin patch with a house. And, unless you mean to imply that Blizzard has copyright on pumpking patches, next to houses, in a fantasy setting, it's still just a pumpkin patch with a house.

It just seems like a blatant near-plageurism of parts of WoW. Whether or not its copyright infringement is not for me to say, and I doubt it's enough to form much of a case, either. But still. You can honestly say it doesn't look a thing like WoW?
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No, I'm not saying that. I said that it has the exact same artistic style.

So does 90% of anime (Just something that immediately springs to mind, when I think art direction). I don't see anyone raising hell over the fact that just about all of it shares the exact same artistic style ('Petty' differences aside).

And I personally doubt that Blizzard could, or should lay claim to the "Cartoon realism" style of WoW. Because someone's certainly done it before.