Хөгжүүлэгчид 25 жилийн түүхтэй тоглоомын ертөнцийг орхиж, шинээр эхлэхийн оронд одоогийн дэд бүтцийг сайжруулах нь зүйтэй гэж үзэж байна.
Blizzard Entertainment компани World of Warcraft: Forever төслөөрөө дамжуулан сонгодог үеийн тоглоомыг бүрэн хэмжээгээр дахин бүтээхээр ажиллаж байна. Энэхүү төсөл нь зөвхөн Season of Discovery-ийн арга барилыг дагах бус, харин ангиудын мод, шинэ дайралт болон бусад томоохон өөрчлөлтүүдийг багтаасан цогц шинэчлэл байх юм.
World of Warcraft: Forever төслийн ерөнхий дизайнер Крис Зиерхут тоглоомын шууд үргэлжлэл буюу WoW 2-ыг хөгжүүлэх магадлал бага байгааг онцолжээ. Түүний хэлснээр, сүүлийн 25 жилийн турш тасралтгүй хөгжүүлэгдсэн тоглоомын ертөнц, график дүрслэл, гэрэлтүүлэг болон серверийн дэд бүтцийг бүхэлд нь хаяж, шинээр эхлэх нь оновчгүй шийдвэр юм.
Хөгжүүлэгчид тоглоомын хөдөлгүүрийг илүү үр ашигтай болгож, тоглогчдын хөдөлгөөн болон байлдааны системийг олон жилийн турш тасралтгүй сайжруулсаар ирсэн. Иймд энэхүү хүчирхэг дэд бүтцийг ашиглан тоглоомыг улам боловсронгуй болгох нь Blizzard-ын гол зорилго болоод байна.
Гэсэн хэдий ч тоглоомын салбарын зарим шинжээчид олон жилийн турш хуримтлагдсан техникийн өрүүд нь шинэчлэл хийхэд хүндрэл учруулж болзошгүйг анхааруулж байна. Хэдийгээр орчин үеийн MMO тоглоомууд илүү нарийн зохион байгуулалттай болсон ч World of Warcraft: Forever нь сонгодог дизайны ид шидийг дахин сэргээх оролдлого гэдгээрээ онцлог юм.
Дэлгэрэнгүйг эх сурвалжаас харах
↓Эх сурвалжийг нээх ↓
World of Warcraft: Forever looks—well, pretty interesting, all told. Rather than just being a Season of Discovery-style reimagining of Classic, Forever promises to be a full-on remake of classic-era WoW. Reimagined class trees, new raids, and $30 elves. Don’t think about the $30 elves too hard.
But it does beg the question, why is Blizzard doing this rather than, say, developing WoW 2? It worked out swimmingly for ArenaNet’s Guild Wars series, after all. Speaking to IGN, Forever’s principal designer Kris Zierhut says: “I think one of the things that’s singularly great about WoW is we have this game and this world and this design that has been continuously developed for the last 25 years.
“And we keep making it better. We made the graphics better, we made the rendering better, we made the lighting better; all that new stuff we showed on stage today.”
That is, in fairness, true—and true of retail, as well. Part of the reason why Classic works as a concept is because modern WoW is almost straight-up a different game—new models, animations, completely reimagined class designs, and a visual aesthetic that still holds up. Forever looks to be taking full advantage of retail’s steady march of progress.
Zierhut says as much: “We’ve also made the way the engine draws things move more efficiently. The way the server runs, handling players and moving them around, and all the things that handle spells and combat, all of that’s been made more efficient and better over the years. We have this incredible engine and server infrastructure driving the game that is second to none. Why would you throw that away and start over?”
I maintain that a WoW 2 wouldn’t be superfluous. With all of that progress comes a lot of technical debt (see: player housing getting borked by fixing an elevator in a 13-year old raid), as well as a ton of design choices. A direct sequel’s a chance to start over and challenge basic assumptions about the game’s design—the Guild Wars series becoming an increasingly action-focused game, for instance.
There’s also a second argument—and this, I feel more torn on—that Forever is trying to re-capture an outdated design. On the one hand, the cynic in me understands that modern MMOs are a hell of a lot different for good reason. We datamine new information about new patches weeks ahead of when they come out, we optimise everything down to the last, minute detail. We hug these games so hard that we wring all mystery out of them.
On the other hand, there has been a yearning, a rumbling. Our own Lincoln Carpenter said as much in our MMO column: “It’s hard to argue that the MMOs of today aren’t better designed than their older iterations. And yet, it’s the moments when I step off the treadmill where they still feel the most magical.” If Forever offers an alt-history not just of WoW, but of modern MMO design in general? Then I’m on board.
Best MMOs: Most massive
Best strategy games: Number crunching
Best open world games: Unlimited exploration
Best survival games: Live craft love
Best horror games: Fight or flight
