How do you define failure? People still play all of the SOE games, so they failed because they do not have 9 million users like WoW? Asherons call 2 failed because it is no longer available, it failed but I don't think any of SOEs game can be called failures. Not as successful as other games maybe.
A game fails when it cannot attract enough of an audience that would pay for the development of additional content and bug fixes that would sustain that player base. Additionally... it can also be considered a failiure if it really short of achieving the potential confered by it's IP and the generated hype... and instead simply gets by...
Most MMOs are failiures because most MMOs these days are based on very promising IPs... D&D, Star Wars, LoTR, Matrix, etc...
Yes people still play SOE games... people on the "Station"... Station is an artificial respirator that keeps crappy games alive by selling membership packages. Matrix should be dead. SWG... STAR WARS Galaxies... should be at the 5 million registered users marker... it cycled so many people in and out it's not even funny. SWG is a failure.
As for Vanguard... if Microsoft was smart enough to pull out when they saw Sigil wasn't going anywhere and was holding on to it's "carte blanche" contract. SOE should have pushed back the release date... like NCsoft did with Cryptic and City of Heroes. Vanguard has butched is launch so horribly... it's a failure.
EQ2... well it may be named Everquest 2 but we all know it never became the "next everquest". I think the jury is still out on EQ2 but it is far from having met the potential anyone would have predicted it would have when it was announced. It was dwarfed by WoW and EQ1... so it's poor performance can be said to be... circumstancial.
SOE has a bad track record for handling people's accounts, billing and providing customer service as well.
SOE has many offices and different teams has different track records... this is being develloped by SOE Seattle. However, there is a trend of bad decisions from the higher ups. This game could be great... but I can see some fucktard suit coming up with dumb decisions and pissing off the player base... the PC version anyways.
This game sounds promising. I hope it has depth but it's not likely from an action based MMO. Also
SOE has more than 1 failure, ever heard of Matrix Online, Vanguard ?
Matrix Online was developed by Warner Brothers, not SOE. It was bought by SOE for the sake of doing so, nothing more.
Vanguard was Sigil's failure, SOE is currently in the process of fixing it.
As for this, have to agree with most, it just seems like it would be a 'cool, i'll play this, but I really wouldn't spend money on it' kind of concept. It's neat, but it doesn't look like there will be much depth to it, which makes it not a long-lasting experience.
Coincidentally enough, how they will charge for it has not been determined, i.e., they are exploring different revenue models including microtransactions. Based on what happens with their release of Free Realms will determine the pricing model for the Agency. http://mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/135661
I saw several of the sneak previews and think that the game looks really good. The enthusiasm that Hal and Matt show when talking about it shows how much they put into the games. That being said, they were excited about Mythica as well and that didn't help when MS decided to drop it.
The game play looked awesome, you can see some of it here, About 3 1/2 minutes in they show actual gameplay footage. Pretty awesome stuff. The team seems to have some really cool ideas, especially the rare operatives that you can collect and trade with other players. These serve as the crafting system, you'll be able to purchase schematics and using your uber scientest (think Q in bond terms) create the awesome car with all the cool gadgets on it. It will not be click based crafting as elite agents have others to do their work for them. Instead if will be real world time based, it might take an hour to make that rocket launcher, while the really awesome car takes a week. This time goes by whether you are in game or not. Even to the extent where you might get a text message or email saying, hey I finished and it's ready next time you log in. Really cool.
They are making an inter dependency between the operatives. My operative will be able to make something that yours cannot, but yours will be able to take what I make and make something awesome that mine cannot make. This will encourage you to work together to make the truly awesome stuff. In fact, it will be a primary reason for joint agencies (guilds) as that will allow a greater mixture of operatives and their abilities.
Each player will have a roster limit of operatives that grows as they become higher ranked. This will mean tough choices about who to keep, thus playing into the inter dependency aspect as no one will be able to have all the operatives they need to make the really cool stuff. So the economy will revolve around resources, plans, and even the operatives themselves.
What is with those MMO's that are being rushed out of the door? I mean the game has only been announced a few months ago, and now the beta is already in midsummer 2008!? It took SOE 4 years to make EQ2 (Or somewhere around 4 years?), Blizzard spend years of development on WoW.
What is with those MMO's that are being rushed out of the door? I mean the game has only been announced a few months ago, and now the beta is already in midsummer 2008!? It took SOE 4 years to make EQ2 (Or somewhere around 4 years?), Blizzard spend years of development on WoW.
Keep in mind that many of these companies now have experience with building a MMO. They might also have access to and experience with the game engine, rather than having to invent something from scratch. As companies release more MMOs, their production time could be drastically shortened and still provide a quality product. It just depends on the experience level and the resources available.
What is with those MMO's that are being rushed out of the door? I mean the game has only been announced a few months ago, and now the beta is already in midsummer 2008!? It took SOE 4 years to make EQ2 (Or somewhere around 4 years?), Blizzard spend years of development on WoW.
They've been working on the game for 2 1/2 years already. So it's not being rushed. In fact they mentioned several times that the reason they couldn't mention dates is that they have not yet hit the exit gates on the internal alpha. Once they do that they'll finalize the schedule for the rest of the dates.
Also, they mentioned that by using the unreal 3 engine it allowed them to quickly prototype levels, thus they see what works and what doesn't faster, increasing the iterative speed. They didn't need to wait 2 years to have an engine in place before they could see what works.
Comments
Most MMOs are failiures because most MMOs these days are based on very promising IPs... D&D, Star Wars, LoTR, Matrix, etc...
Yes people still play SOE games... people on the "Station"... Station is an artificial respirator that keeps crappy games alive by selling membership packages. Matrix should be dead. SWG... STAR WARS Galaxies... should be at the 5 million registered users marker... it cycled so many people in and out it's not even funny. SWG is a failure.
As for Vanguard... if Microsoft was smart enough to pull out when they saw Sigil wasn't going anywhere and was holding on to it's "carte blanche" contract. SOE should have pushed back the release date... like NCsoft did with Cryptic and City of Heroes. Vanguard has butched is launch so horribly... it's a failure.
EQ2... well it may be named Everquest 2 but we all know it never became the "next everquest". I think the jury is still out on EQ2 but it is far from having met the potential anyone would have predicted it would have when it was announced. It was dwarfed by WoW and EQ1... so it's poor performance can be said to be... circumstancial.
SOE has a bad track record for handling people's accounts, billing and providing customer service as well.
SOE has many offices and different teams has different track records... this is being develloped by SOE Seattle. However, there is a trend of bad decisions from the higher ups. This game could be great... but I can see some fucktard suit coming up with dumb decisions and pissing off the player base... the PC version anyways.
This game sounds promising. I hope it has depth but it's not likely from an action based MMO. Also
Mid 2008 Beta now, interesting. So much for speculating about a mid 2008 release.
Matrix Online was developed by Warner Brothers, not SOE. It was bought by SOE for the sake of doing so, nothing more.
Vanguard was Sigil's failure, SOE is currently in the process of fixing it.
As for this, have to agree with most, it just seems like it would be a 'cool, i'll play this, but I really wouldn't spend money on it' kind of concept. It's neat, but it doesn't look like there will be much depth to it, which makes it not a long-lasting experience.
Coincidentally enough, how they will charge for it has not been determined, i.e., they are exploring different revenue models including microtransactions. Based on what happens with their release of Free Realms will determine the pricing model for the Agency. http://mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/135661
I saw several of the sneak previews and think that the game looks really good. The enthusiasm that Hal and Matt show when talking about it shows how much they put into the games. That being said, they were excited about Mythica as well and that didn't help when MS decided to drop it.
The game play looked awesome, you can see some of it here,
About 3 1/2 minutes in they show actual gameplay footage. Pretty awesome stuff. The team seems to have some really cool ideas, especially the rare operatives that you can collect and trade with other players. These serve as the crafting system, you'll be able to purchase schematics and using your uber scientest (think Q in bond terms) create the awesome car with all the cool gadgets on it. It will not be click based crafting as elite agents have others to do their work for them. Instead if will be real world time based, it might take an hour to make that rocket launcher, while the really awesome car takes a week. This time goes by whether you are in game or not. Even to the extent where you might get a text message or email saying, hey I finished and it's ready next time you log in. Really cool.
They are making an inter dependency between the operatives. My operative will be able to make something that yours cannot, but yours will be able to take what I make and make something awesome that mine cannot make. This will encourage you to work together to make the truly awesome stuff. In fact, it will be a primary reason for joint agencies (guilds) as that will allow a greater mixture of operatives and their abilities.
Each player will have a roster limit of operatives that grows as they become higher ranked. This will mean tough choices about who to keep, thus playing into the inter dependency aspect as no one will be able to have all the operatives they need to make the really cool stuff. So the economy will revolve around resources, plans, and even the operatives themselves.
JonnyG
"Brutal" - Corel Dangel
What is with those MMO's that are being rushed out of the door? I mean the game has only been announced a few months ago, and now the beta is already in midsummer 2008!? It took SOE 4 years to make EQ2 (Or somewhere around 4 years?), Blizzard spend years of development on WoW.
Keep in mind that many of these companies now have experience with building a MMO. They might also have access to and experience with the game engine, rather than having to invent something from scratch. As companies release more MMOs, their production time could be drastically shortened and still provide a quality product. It just depends on the experience level and the resources available.
They've been working on the game for 2 1/2 years already. So it's not being rushed. In fact they mentioned several times that the reason they couldn't mention dates is that they have not yet hit the exit gates on the internal alpha. Once they do that they'll finalize the schedule for the rest of the dates.
Also, they mentioned that by using the unreal 3 engine it allowed them to quickly prototype levels, thus they see what works and what doesn't faster, increasing the iterative speed. They didn't need to wait 2 years to have an engine in place before they could see what works.
JonnyG
"Brutal" - Corel Dangel