Mobile Warcraft à la Pokemon Go rumor

[Coombs]

How does that even work for Warcraft tho? Pet battles?

And I'm sorry, but Pokemon have cooler pets than WoW ever will.

[Slowpoke is a Gamer]

And I'm sorry, but Pokemon have cooler pets than WoW ever will.

Yeah. Yeah it does. Heck I'd rather play a monster-collecting game set in Final Fantasy more than I would WoW. And that's without mentioning the king of monster hunting games.

'Course the key thing here that I'm sure Youtube has forgotten is this isn't announced. It's in their incubation department, which the same article says has killed about 50% of their projects in the last few years. It's also NOT WoW Mobile, though I'm sure some people are still running with that conspiracy too.

[Jastall]

I wouldn't mind a small mobile companion game ala Fallout Shelter- IF it's developed in house by Blizzard exclusively and doesn't take a cent of resources off WoW.

[Kathranis]

How does that even work for Warcraft tho? Pet battles?

That was my first thought, but I don't really see the point in that. Creatures in WoW don't have the appeal to compete directly with Pokemon, so I don't see them making it about pet battles.

Thinking about it more, I'm guessing they were more interested in the AR elements than the actual Pokemon elements. It would probably be more about translating core WoW gameplay into an augmented reality system.


In other words, something like this:

• Create an avatar, pick a class and faction.
• Simplified combat system incorporating iconic WoW abilities.
• World is populated with quest givers, vendors, and treasures that players physically seek out.
• Random events are also spawned, such as world quests, world bosses, invasions, etc.
• PVP with the ability to claim locations for either the Horde or Alliance.
• Obtain experience and gear to progress your character.

Basically, just imagine the WoW in-game map overlayed on google maps. Golden exclamation marks, treasure chests, etc.

[LilSaihah]

Explore the real world to find resource nodes. Swing your phone like a mining pick to mine! Instant classic.

I would unironically enjoy seeing people on the bus start swinging their phone around while they try to mine.

[Slowpoke is a Gamer]

That was my first thought, but I don't really see the point in that. Creatures in WoW don't have the appeal to compete directly with Pokemon, so I don't see them making it about pet battles.

Thinking about it more, I'm guessing they were more interested in the AR elements than the actual Pokemon elements. It would probably be more about translating core WoW gameplay into an augmented reality system.


In other words, something like this:

• Create an avatar, pick a class and faction.
• Progression through experience, talents, gear.
• Simplified combat system incorporating iconic WoW abilities.
• World is populated with quest givers, vendors, treasures, that players physically seek out.
• Random events are also spawned, such as world quests, world bosses, invasions, etc.
• PVP with the ability to take claim locations for either the Horde or Alliance.

Basically, just imagine the WoW in-game map overlayed on google maps. Golden exclamation marks, treasure chests, etc.

That seems like major wishcasting. Why single it out as a Pokemon GO type game if it has 0 mechanics from Pokemon GO?

[Kathranis]

That seems like major wishcasting. Why single it out as a Pokemon GO type game if it has 0 mechanics from Pokemon GO?

It's just the only way I can really make sense of it. Battle pets would just be Pokemon GO with worse monster designs. Even if they did a World of Final Fantasy type thing where they went through all the iconic monsters and turned them into charming / cool collectible monsters, it would never be able to compete 1:1 with Pokemon.

It would be wrong to say it has 0 mechanics from Pokemon Go, it would use the same sort of geolocation functionality. Just instead of collecting monsters, you are collecting treasure and loot and leveling up your own avatar.

That makes so much more sense than Battle Pets. WoW's core mechanics are already built around satisfying gameplay loops. Leveling up, collecting gear, making your character more powerful and cooler looking.

The world could easily be populated with quests, events, hell, even nodes to collect ore, herbs, leather. You could craft gear and trade with players.

Instead of shops, Pokemon centers, Gyms, etc., you could have arenas, vendors, dungeons. And likewise, you get players to engage in faction-based rivalries.


It's very similar to the way Pokemon Go works. You just swap out the things Pokemon does well (cool, cute, collectible monsters) with the things WoW does well (character progression, questing, loot).

[Bladesyphon]

That seems like major wishcasting. Why single it out as a Pokemon GO type game if it has 0 mechanics from Pokemon GO?

Probably because Pokemon Go has more or less become synonymous with AR Gaming now. I think with Kathranis posted is likely more of the scenario of game we'd get with a Warcraft Go game than a flat out carbon copy of Pokemon Go. Don't forget that Pokemon Go was built on the backbones of another of Niantic's games (Ingress), which didn't play at all like Pokemon Go, yet is still compared to it all the same.

[Celista]

If I was still commuting to work via light rail I'd definitely play a bit of mobile warcraft on my phone. Alas, I don't anymore so I have little use for it.

[Lahis]

But hey, if they want to drag their company through the mud and start churning out shit-tier games for short term profits while shredding customer loyalty and burning their legacy, who am I to say they can't self-destruct.

That's just corporate games industry in general.


Just waiting for the bubble to burst to see what rises up from the ruins.

[SirCowdog]

That's just corporate games industry in general.


Just waiting for the bubble to burst to see what rises up from the ruins.

It's not just the games industry. You can find this sort of behavior in pretty much any high-end business or market. It's the inevitable result of pursuing profits at the expense of all else. Sacrificing everything that made your product good and well-regarded in the first place, all in an attmempt to reach spikes of profit that are fueled by unrealistic expectations.

"EVERY GAME MUST REACH FORTNITE PROFITS! RRRAAAWAWRRGGG!!!!!"

Not realizing that Fortnite is an anomaly. You'd think that Blizzard, of all companies, would realize the futility of trying to chase that. Why do you suppose virtually every other MMORPG that tried to copy WoW has failed? You can't force lightning to strike twice. You can't catch up to the leader by only ever following in its footsteps. Blizzard deciding to make phone games now is just following instead of leading. They're just following the path of profits set by other companies instead of making their own path to it.

[arr0gance]

I've heard the internal name of the project is "Warcraft Go Fuck Yourself Blizzard Fans."

[seleri]

Seems interesting to me. I look forward to trying out any mobile games Blizzard puts out.

[benting]

Some how "Warcraft go to the polls!"
doesnt have the same ring to it.

[Coombs]

Yeah. Yeah it does. Heck I'd rather play a monster-collecting game set in Final Fantasy more than I would WoW. And that's without mentioning the king of monster hunting games.

'Course the key thing here that I'm sure Youtube has forgotten is this isn't announced. It's in their incubation department, which the same article says has killed about 50% of their projects in the last few years. It's also NOT WoW Mobile, though I'm sure some people are still running with that conspiracy too.

And if the best their incubation department can come up with is Blizzard's version of Go, then we can all just start ignoring the company even faster.

[Metta World Peace]

If it's linked to your WoW account much like the companion app, sure.

If it's a brand new game with Pokemon Go and the Warcraft title slapped on it, Blizzard has completely jumped the shark.