News Original From: 
When smart people say stupid
things...
Part of Keen#DY#s adventure in MMORPG, Random things, WAR,
WoW
Massively released an interview a few days ago that they did with Richard Bartle to
find out how he would make World
of Warcraft better. Whatever the real point of the interview, if it had any,
he went on to answer the following question with an answer that blows my
mind:
Massively: "Are you planning on playing games like Age of Conan and Warhammer when
they come out?"
Bartle: "I#DY#ve already played Warhammer. It
was called World of Warcraft." ...
First thought that came to my mind: People PAY for that opinion?! How can you
be a consultant when you#DY#re THAT out of touch with the current mmorpg
landscape?
After that dumb comment he rambled on for a few paragraphs talking about Age
of Conan, mostly with incoherent rhetorical questions, all while taking every
opportunity he had to point out the fact that he is a designer. I get that
Richard Bartle is the "grandfather of Muds". I acknowledge that he is a very
intelligent man with a lot of great ideas and knowledge. But saying something as
ignorant and downright stupid as he did proves he has not even looked into WAR
(and some of his ideas for WoW are also beyond bizarre).
World of Warcraft is a game centered around PvE with raiding treadmills and
Battleground/Arena based e-sport PvP. Warhammer Online is a game centered around open-world RvR with
tiered gameplay focusing on RvR and PvE split progression. That is the quickest
and most basic way that I can explain how these games differ. For more
information you#DY#re welcome to view my (somewhat old) post on how WAR does not equal WoW. Both are fantastic games, but so very
different. Lumping them together and writing them off as the same game is
an insult to both.
Surely as a designer and the "grandfather of Muds" he looked past the
superficial cosmetic similarities. Perhaps he even meant it as a joke, in which
case Massively owes him a huge apology for making him look like an ass spouting
asinine remarks like that of a forum troll. For being a consultant, "grandfather
of Muds", teacher, and veteran in the virtual worlds industry he brought his
credibility to question several times throughout the interview. I was not
impressed with the interview at all and now I#DY#m not sure how impressed I am with
Richard Bartle. As Graev pointed out, "It appears as though the "grandfather of
Muds" has gone a little senile".
Dr. Bartle, I urge you to educate yourself on the differences between these
games so that you may avoid further embarrassing yourself.
