Breja: Here's the thing - I agree that WoW at least is, or was at one point, a good game. It was not a good fit for me, as I dislike grinding, prefer single player games, and just found the whole thing rather tedious over an extended period of time. But I still had some fun with for a few months plaing with a friend. What I meant was not to contend that WoW was in itself a bad game, certainly not a poorly made game. But that it marked a departure in Blizzard's thinking of what "warcraft" is to them, and what games in general they intend to make and why. Becuse fun though it is, it is a theme-park. It is no longer the epic, often even tragic fantasy story, it's a Disneyland version of it. It's what Galaxy's Edge is to Star Wars. You're no longer in the thick of things, at least not untill the endgame perhaps, you are just some shmuck gathering rat tails (prize tickets) by the dozens for prizes. You're there simultanously with tons of other people, who are all doing the same quests as you, or the quests you already did. Quest givers always stand in the same place, forever needing help with the same things. Because they are not characters. They are theme-park employees dressed as Warcraft characters. WoW is what made Warcraft a household name outside of the traditionally gamer circles, but it's also what killed Warcraft as a genuine fantasy epic of the gaming culture.
Yeah I'd definitely agree that in a sense it's a themepark, but for me that was kind of what I wanted. The big allure for me was that I could explore the WC3 universe from ground level, and soak in the atmosphere. Even as a lowly schmuck. I agree that the themepark employees being frozen in place is a bit immersion breaking, but I accepted it as a price I had to pay.
Where things went south for me however is that I didn't want to be anything more than part of the rank and file of, say, a horde of orcs commanded by Thrall when it comes to big story events. I think part of the reason is exactly that, there are thousands of other players and it's simply incredulous for all(or really any) of us to be of critical importance for moving the story forward. It's far more believable and immersive for all of us to be random warriors making a living in the world, but that are randomly sucked into the main story events without being prime movers in it. Which is how to me at least the lore has been ruined. How, for example, 'Azerothian adventures' accompanying people like Jaina to accomplish big things are now part of the lore.
I don't know, perhaps I'm being too critical. Or perhaps it's just too difficult to tell an engaging story in an MMO setting, or rather perhaps too easy not to. The Battle for Mount Hyjal is a fun instance in WoW where you're in the thick of things but that doesn't overplay the players' importance, however perhaps it borrows that from its WC3 origins.
Perhaps if the story was written better and the player characters weren't hamfisted into the lore it'd be a different matter entirely, even while still being in essence a themepark.
Breja: But that's the same thing! The thing I dislike about Pixar, about most CG animated movies nowadays, and this extends to Overwatch being their faithful copy in aesthetic terms, is how samey it all looks. No matter the setting, the story, it all goes fot the same look, the same tone, the same style, because it's what's proven to be easy on the eyes, it's easy to market to a wide audience. So no, it doesn't feel like a Blizzard game, because it's not supposed to feel like anything. It's supposed to be pleasantly bland.
Oh I see what you mean. Perhaps that's what throwing me off too but I'm not really sure. I don't really think I'm adverse to the Pixar vibe, or its as you you so succinctly put it, pleasant blandness . There are several Pixar films I can think off that I would still enjoy tremendously if I were to watch them now. Bearing in mind though that I only watch films very infrequently.
I suspect my issue with Overwatch is that it feels too random, and comes off as trying too hard. It's as if
every single character is the result of a brain storming session. Which comes back to your point of it not being rooted in anything. There's nothing inherently wrong with that I don't think, but it just doesn't work for me, especially for a Blizzard game.
Completely on the flip side of this is something like Team Fortress 2 which is designed to have a 1960s/70s American vibe, and it totally works for me! Don't ask me why but I often think of the film Stir Crazy (1980 so it would've been made in the 70s) when loading up TF2.
