Perhaps a Dumb Question.

But, to be honest, I'm kind of curious.

Why do people compare MMORPGs? I mean, obviously one game will prevail over another in some aspect, but to just come out and say "Well, on WoW I..." or "Final Fantasy" has this." Yeah, great, that's because you know, they're well known franchises; they have the wiggle room. I just find it somewhat disrespectful to compare one game to the other; if you crave something from WoW and it's not on Guild Wars 2, that's probably by design and not for your inconvenience. WoW has been around for awhile, so has Final Fantasy, I just think throwing comparisons out there is like digging holes with different tools with varying success and getting angry when the shovel works differently than a bulldozer: they are two different things that can achieve the same results, but with variation. Sorry if that sounds grumpy, I just get annoyed when I see the comparisons and am like: "They're not the same game, though?"

Go out to dinner with friends. To a great restaurant. And people will start talking about all the other great meals they had, the meals that should have been great, the meals that shouldn't have been any good (but were amazing).

Humans like to compare; it's what we do.

Good point! I think my problem lies with I have the social grace of a potato and don't understand those kinds of things. I get it on intellectual level, but when I step back and look at it differently, I get confused. XD

i never compare stuff in terms of "this is done better in...", however, i do talk about what they could add because it works well in....

Why do people compare MMORPGs?

People compare MMOs because there are certain things in MMOs that stand out. It's mostly something that other MMOs don't have. There's a lot of things that people like from one MMO compared to another. Some love WoW the most for certain reasons, others GW2, Final Fantasy 14 etc. There's nothing wrong with liking one MMO over others.

Here are my reasons why I love GW2 and only GW2 compared to other MMOs like WoW:

1. No monthly subscription fee.
2. More fluid combat system.
3. Skills based around the weapon you are using makes them have a purpose rather than having dozens of skills that are either lackluster or unnecessary.
4. Weapons that change the gameplay style rather than just minor stats increases.
5. Fewer quests that are more varied, interesting, give you more options on how to finish them and eliminates backtracking compared to giving you one objective like 'go here and kill X amount of enemies, then come back to me and finish the quest'.
6. Random events to give old zones a reason to go back to them, especially with map bonus rewards.
7. No factions, meaning you can be friends with everyone, especially the adorable asuras.
8. No matter what servers you're on, you'll still play with friends, at least when it comes to PvE.
9. Festivals like Super Adventure Box, Shadow of the Mad King, Wintersday.

At the end of the day, people will always compare certain things from one MMO to others and that's not a bad thing. When it comes to MMOs I suggest you try a few of them and see which one you like the most. Playing one MMO that you like a lot is better than playing multiple MMOs than you may not like as much as you want, besides having one MMO in your life is enough.

The grass is always greener on the other side; it's often easier to see what you don't have.

@"Tsakhi.8124" said:Good point! I think my problem lies with I have the social grace of a potato and don't understand those kinds of things. I get it on intellectual level, but when I step back and look at it differently, I get confused. XD

Some people go on and on about different World Wrestling Federation opponents. Some people love to argue (not just to discuss) the difference between trip hop and hip hop. People like what they like, including some who are happiest when they are intensely & passionately bickering about minutiae or trivia.

For me, this falls under the category of "accept the things I cannot change."

GW 2 is categorized as an MMORPG. So is WoW, so is FF.

You have somewhat similar products which try to attract the same crowd. The one who manages to deliver what the crowd desires most will make bigger profit. Comparison between similar products is not only inevitable, but needed. This leads to a competition because the players want the game with the most features while the devs look to make more money. Competition is healthy. Competition pushes the content creators to become better. If people weren't comparing different products those products will stay the same and never evolve.

If it's me doing it then it's almost certainly for one (or both) of two reasons:

1) It's often easier for me to explain an idea by describing a specific existing version than by talking in general 'hypothetical' terms or from my own imagination. Especially because if I name the game (and it's a well known one) there's a good chance some people will have played it and will know exactly what I'm talking about. Then, if necessary, I can mention what I'd do differently.

For example I was recently on another games forum talking about a legal in-game system for exchanging gold for cash shop currency. I could have tried to describe the whole system, or I could say "something like Guild Wars 2's gold to gem exchange could work" and link to the Wiki page or briefly describe how it works.

2) It shows that an idea has been done before somewhere else. People are far more likely to accept that something (anything) can work if you can show them it's already been done, because then it's just a matter of how it translates to that context rather than starting from scratch. You're not inventing the wheel here, you're shrinking it down and maybe adding a tyre to stop it bouncing so much.

It's not that I want this game (or any other) to be exactly like another one. But a good idea is a good idea and can often work in more than one game so I don't think there's anything wrong with borrowing certain aspects, especially if they put their own spin on it. I wasn't a big fan of the Zelda game Phantom Hourglass as a whole, but I wish everyone had copied the idea of letting you write/draw notes on the map. In that game it was basically a gimmick to illustrate the touch screen technology, but it would be so useful to me in other games.

The way our memories are stored is by association. That's why thoughts pop into our heads that are related in some way to what we're currently experiencing. As an example, someone hears two words strung together in a particular way, and song lyrics where those two words are strung together in that way may pop into that someone's head. Another is: someone really likes dogs, but was bitten by a Shepherd when very young. So, he sees a Shepherd with that coloration today, feels fear and may not even remember why. Our brains have many multi-sensory records of things we've experienced.

GW2, as an MMO, has many things in common with other MMO's. People see that stuff, and recall other things that are associated with MMO's in their minds. If they like that stuff, and GW2 lacks it, some of them will comment. This phenomenon is often intensified by emotions either in the current experience, associated with the past experience, or brought up by the comparison between the memory and current experience. GW players who change builds in GW2 will many times think of the build-saver in GW when changing builds in GW2. If that comparison annoys, they're more likely to complain.

Also people have a tendency to grow nostalgic once they are away from something, say like an MMO...it's all "the land of Egypt was so awesome, Moses" kinda thing...but kinda losing track of maybe some of the things that got them to make an exodus in the first place.

I do appreciate GW2 more at a distance...like when I was playing LotRO...great game, but I truly missed the dynamic nature of GW2's combat right away and some little things as time went on.

@Illconceived Was Na.9781 said:Humans like to compare; it's what we do.

That's why Human is the worst race to play. :P /s