In the history of MMORPGs, there are numerous games that have been inspired to varying degrees by World of Warcraft. One game that copied WoW particularly well failed due to a particularly foolish idea from the developers. Welcome to the new article from our MMORPG theme week!
“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness.” This does not come from us, but from the Irish writer Oscar Wilde. However, this is not what we’re here to discuss; we are here to talk about an MMORPG that, like many other representatives of the genre, has been heavily inspired by World of Warcraft.
So much so that it even appears in our list of WoW copies. We’re talking about Allods Online, developed by Allods Team and published in October 2010 by the Mail.Ru Group. However, the game did not just borrow cheaply from WoW; it copied the Blizzard MMORPG very well in many aspects. Unfortunately, the greed of the developers got in the way of Allods Online’s success.
In this week, you can expect exciting articles about MMORPGs every day. Among other things: a journey through the history of online role-playing games, nostalgic retrospectives, streaming evenings, interviews, columns, and analyses.
Here’s the program for the big MMORPG theme week 2025 by MeinMMO
Our talk from Caggtus about the current status of the MMORPG genre:
The “Russian World of Warcraft”
What kind of game is Allods Online? The free-to-play MMORPG features a colorful graphic style, two battling factions, races like elves and orcs, classes such as warrior, paladin, or mage, and an interface that could easily come from World of Warcraft. The model for Allods Online is, in any case, quickly identified.
The online fun also has some exciting characteristics, such as the adorable Gibberlinge, a playable race where you control three characters at once, who have wonderful animations. Or classes like the bard, who supports allies with his music or weakens enemies.
The story also leads you into a world that has been shattered into countless islands after a cataclysm, which spread across the entire astral space. These islands can be explored with flying ships, with which you can even fight against other ships in the astral realm.
Questing and leveling were fun with my Gibberlinge, the graphics were quite nice, and much was simply well copied from WoW. I was really looking forward to the final release and the endgame of the MMORPG. However, it was exactly at that point that Allods Online quickly caused a huge uproar…
What was that uproar? The developers of the MMORPG simply went overboard with the prices and offers in the in-game shop. Overall, the prices were very high, which drove many players up the wall. For example, a 24-slot bag was to cost around 20 US dollars (via tentonhammer.com).
Worst of all was that the Allods Team wanted to make real money from player character deaths. Specifically, the developers built a punishment into the endgame in the form of a debuff named “Fear of Death,” which could only be prevented or lifted with a perfume item from the shop.
The price of the perfume at the US launch: 13.50 US dollars for a stack of 20. So whoever played content where they could frequently die had to pay significantly. Due to the resulting shitstorm, the developers quickly lowered the prices. At the EU launch, a stack of 20 perfume now only cost around 2 euros.
However, a bad taste remained. Allods Online was stamped with a pay-to-win reputation that still clings to the game today. This was also due to other shop offerings like runes, which directly affected character strength.
When the developers later removed these pay-to-win mechanics, the damage was already done. Today, Allods Online on Steam is played by a maximum of 40 to 50 people simultaneously. Very unfortunate, as it had much more potential. If you’re looking for the best free-to-play MMORPGs for the least amount of money and maximum fun, check out the 12 best free-to-play MMORPGs 2025 in comparison
