Reports before said that Blizzard was hiring for new positions to make a, "next-generation MMO" but it doesn't really entail anything after that. That's where I kind of get excited. Think about it. All these indie companies are promising the world to you: including NPCube with Dark and Light and Aventurine SA and Darkfall, yet one completely busted and Aventurine has yet made good to many of their promises. However, if it was one to be able to take chances from a large-scale MMOG, I think it would have to be a large-scale company who makes so much money that they could make up from the loses in case the idea doesn't come through. Blizzard has already crafted and perfected the old-generation MMOGs, which I consider to be linear by design - will their next MMO be same? I just highly doubt that they would make the same because then two of their games would then be in competition of one another. In other words, I think it makes little sense to completely recycle the same success but instead look for a new crowd of MMOGer's who take on the role of games differently than the linear-played World of Warcraft. What are your thoughts about it?
First off, I have to say I love Blizzard as a development company. They really are different from the rest and have standards other companies should adhere to. That said, I have a few buds over in Irvine who work for Blizzard, Im about an hour north in Hollywood. They can be pretty hush hush about certain projects, but from what I know... They are definately making another MMORPG. It will be a completely NEW franchise. Blizzard didnt want to get stuck using the same starcraft, warcraft, diablo franchises. They have since been coming up with some new ones to toss into the mix, this can be either good or bad. The good is that they have learned a lot from their previous franchises. What is also good is that Blizzard focuses heavily on art direction and a unique visual look.
Whatever this new Franchise will be, we can expect it to have an art style or visuals that definately stand out. We also know their new HQ, which is massive btw, is growing with new teams forming. Essentially much more man power for multiple projects. They are planning something big.
That said, going back to WoW... WoW was Blizzards first attempt at an mmorpg. Think of it as a test, getting their feet wet. Look when you are doing something new...and expensive, sometimes its best to copy other successes. People complain about WoW being too generic, but all it was, was a cautious attempt at an MMORPG. You can bet they have learned from this. They know what to do and what not to do, and learned the tools of the trade with WoW. I think now they are ready to start taking bigger risks, and by that i mean experimentation, pushing the envelope. With their next mmorpg, I believe and my associates also believe based on the word going around down there, that it will be different and most certainly more epic. Building off the basic foundation of WoW and the process of mmorpg development as well as maininence and progression, they can then start getting creative.
So, a new franchise, a new mmorpg, and experience now to push the enevelope, including the budget, to change the mmorpg genre once again.
I dont know what will happen, or what we will see, but I am eager to see the result.
and Britney Spears has sold millions of albums. It doesnt mean she can sing. WoW is what I would consider fastfood. It works well in our instant gratification society. Its a drive-through where epics are handed out with each Happy Meal. It will always appeal to a mass market as most folks are of lower intelligence. The average joe if you will. Then there are those who are simply too smart to enjoy a game like WoW for very long. Sure we smart folk will occasionally enjoy some gutter trash food once in a while. But we are not dumb enough to eat it everyday. We are a small minority and therefore wont get most MMO's targeted to us. Things like open gameplay are too difficult to the idiot masses who need direction. Blizz will never make a sandbox MMO. Why should they put in the extra effort to make such a game when the low-brow masses are happy doing their daily quests ?
Hope you're on the right path to discovering the "God" partice. Also, how's the Time machine design going along? Do all the calculations hold true? Wormholes aren't stable?
Or are you gonna try to reach lightspeed instead, so to make timetravel possible to the future first?
While me, "the avarge joe" is studying Descrete mathematics and what really is the Taylor series. how to use it and where. Something you discovered by yourself, while bored on the toilet at your 10th birthday party. You truly are a genius
A game designed for you must truly be a testament to the genius and innovation of the mind.
and fyi: An occasional cheesburger tastes awesome. Tho Kebab will always win when it comes to fastfood.
Ontopic: Blizzard probably(I haven't checked) has a whole section devoted to analyzing the market and where it's headed. Like many have said, it's not really a question of if they can, but rather if they will. Mind you, their next mmo is gonna have at least the budget of WoW, tho it will probably higher. To make a game with so much money, that noone will play/pay would be a buisness suicide. They'll make what the market wants. All that is known for sure is that it'll have the same polish in art and gameplay that we are used from the Blizzard games. Blizzard magic if you will.
I am a blizzard fanboy. Flame me if you want. I have yet to play a game of theirs that I dislike.
I am going to go against the general trend and say no they can't!
Now I am sure technically they could produce the MMO, but by their own standards for it to be a success it would need to get at least a million, probably 2 million subscriptions without dramatically affecting their WoW subscriptions. This is where it falls down IMO the remaining market just isn't big enough for them to get the market share they would need, against the rest of the competition.
Measured against their current success, anything they do will be a flop, as they set the bar too high even for themselves. Having to survive in their own shadow has a certain karma to it.
I agree that Blizzard wouldn't make another 'Themepark' MMO. It would be a conflict of interest with WoW already running and would only serve to confuse customers. It will most likely be a product aimed squarely at the adult market, with a darker theme (like Diablo) and sanbox-like gameplay. Something that can be easily discernable from WoW.
As an above poster said, they would have a complete monopoly over the market should they cater for both sides of the community if game the game becomes a success.
scary, it would be awesome if true. but if true think about this, they will own the market even more than now. there litterally wont be any competition.
since to me sandbox is more old generation, I think its unlikely. however new generation implies to me modern combat system which would be cool also.
I agree that Blizzard wouldn't make another 'Themepark' MMO. It would be a conflict of interest with WoW already running and would only serve to confuse customers. It will most likely be a product aimed squarely at the adult market, with a darker theme (like Diablo) and sanbox-like gameplay. Something that can be easily discernable from WoW.
Right that's sort of like how the only hamburger you can buy at McDonald's is the Big Mac. They don't offer anything else because they don't want to confuse their customers.
I agree that Blizzard wouldn't make another 'Themepark' MMO. It would be a conflict of interest with WoW already running and would only serve to confuse customers.
And a generation of gamers that have been handfed everything and pretty much been told where to go and what to do in WoW wouldn't be confused by a sandbox style game? The forums would be flooded with "where do I go, what do I do, why are there no classes?!?" posts because a lot of gamers that a new to the genre/hobby have had no experience at all with a more free-form style of gameplay.
Blizzard's next game won't be a sandbox, it will be more of the same, but with the added benefit of having learned from the mistakes of WoW (in theory). It will be something along the lines of World of Diablo, and it's success will will crush all records previously set by WoW.
Not much I can say that hasn't already been said. I too believe the first truly successful sandbox style game, the one that will bring in both the most casual and the most hardcore/old school players into one compelling gameworld with complete freedom "to do (or build, maybe even kill) whatever you heart desire" will of course come from Blizzard, and it will have the level of graphical polish and the smooth user interface known from all Blizzard games!
The only question is, will it be an all-new IP, or will it be a licenced, existing one, the way WoW was gonna be Warhammer originally, til they lost the IP.
I'm leaning toward the later, and predict there will eventually be the annoucment that "Blizzard is making an all new next-gen MMORPG based on the XXXXXX franchise (whatever that might be)" After all, why go to all the trouble of creating an all-new IP from scratch when there's several out there not yet clamied by other MMO developers.
Forgotten Realms maybe, by Blizzard, now that would be interesting
It depends on how forward thinking and amount of risk they want to take.
Sandbox has gotten popular over the years. I mean look at spore and other simulation games which are close to the core of sandbox idea. Mix that with strategy and rpg game play and you have a new gen mmo.
Dev and quest writer content is ok but when players create content then it prolongs the game and keeps things fresh.
One of the cool things about sandbox games is when you can bring in new servers or wipe older ones it is like playing a new game again.
Spore is the biggest flop Peter Monoxlylyly has ever made.
I don't think they are going to make any sandbox MMOs unless sandbox MMOs start becoming popular. Then they'll copy all the good features of those sandbox MMOs, add a whole bunch of polish, fill it with loads of pop culture references and easter eggs, and make it cater a bit more to casual players. That's Blizzard's typical MO.
So first a semi-popular sandbox MMO needs to come out. I don't think Darkfall will be popular enough to catch Blizzard's eye. Maybe the KOTOR MMO if it has enough sandbox elements. The Fallout MMO is a more likely bet.
If you ask 'whats a sandbox MMO?' you get 10 different interpretations.
Lot of players see preCU SWG as sandbox MMO or Saga Of Ryzom. If that is what you (OP ) think, then its a MMO that will never be as popular as WoW. Market shows that most players are not interested in having to provide in their own entertainment. They want to sit back and be entertained by the game.
Also after WoW's succes I cant imagine that Blizzard will specifically start catering to one of the minorities of the MMO community.
I see Blizzard as Walt Disney in MMO land. Mainstream all the way. Not that there is anything wrong with that. Its where the money is at after all.
I don't think they are going to make any sandbox MMOs unless sandbox MMOs start becoming popular. Then they'll copy all the good features of those sandbox MMOs, add a whole bunch of polish, fill it with loads of pop culture references and easter eggs, and make it cater a bit more to casual players. That's Blizzard's typical MO.
So first a semi-popular sandbox MMO needs to come out. I don't think Darkfall will be popular enough to catch Blizzard's eye. Maybe the KOTOR MMO if it has enough sandbox elements. The Fallout MMO is a more likely bet.
You have GOT to be kidding me. Darkfall won't be "popular enough to catch Blizzard's eye". How long has Darkfall been one of the top anticipated games on MMORPG.com and mind you that this is a CAREBEAR WEBSITE.
With games like DarFall, Mortal Online and Renaissance currently being developed or releasing on the horizon all referencing Ultima Online pre-trammel you can be SURE that "sandbox" games will become popular again.
I just love it when noobs like you come on here throwing the word "sandbox" around like they really know what their talking about. You are absolutely totally CLUELESS of how different UO pre-trammel was and how people like me have waited 10 YEARS for a game like Darkfall to come out. You my friend, have obviously NEVER played UO pre-trammel it is flat out obvious or you wouldn't have posted what you just did. UO was more than just a "sandbox" Fallout 3 is a "sandbox", UO pre-tramel was a World Simulator, and Darkfall is looking to be that as well.
People in the MMORPG industry that have never played UO pre-trammel stick out like green thumbs to us. You have no concept of what a true MMORPG experience should be like and referencing abomination sanbdox games such as SWG and EVE will not score you any points.
Go back to the instanced, level based, treadmill theme park pit of hell that you came from.
If Blizzard is going to even ATTEMPT to create a Sandbox World SImulator, this will truly be a MASSIVE project and they will have to throw out everything that they've ever known. Right now DarkFall is poised to be the most massive seamless world there is, with the size of their NON-INSTANCED world rumored to be the size of Germany. Blizzard is the McDonalds of the MMORPG industry, spitting out garbage and hyping it up with marketing while people who don't know any better eat it all up as if it were filet mingon. I have absolutely no faith that they would succeed at a sandbox MMO, they will probably just give sandboxes more of a bad name the way SWG and EVE have.
They probably could, but the question is not Themepark vs Sanbox, but more like Sci-Fi vs Fantasy vs Smthing else, or FPS vs RPG vs RTS. Hopefully something that would expand the market.
The rules of Debate are really simple; once you have to stoop to insults instead of facts, logic, or reason to try and win your argument, you've lost.
I don't think they are going to make any sandbox MMOs unless sandbox MMOs start becoming popular. Then they'll copy all the good features of those sandbox MMOs, add a whole bunch of polish, fill it with loads of pop culture references and easter eggs, and make it cater a bit more to casual players. That's Blizzard's typical MO.
So first a semi-popular sandbox MMO needs to come out. I don't think Darkfall will be popular enough to catch Blizzard's eye. Maybe the KOTOR MMO if it has enough sandbox elements. The Fallout MMO is a more likely bet.
You have GOT to be kidding me. Darkfall won't be "popular enough to catch Blizzard's eye". How long has Darkfall been one of the top anticipated games on MMORPG.com and mind you that this is a CAREBEAR WEBSITE.
With games like DarFall, Mortal Online and Renaissance currently being developed or releasing on the horizon all referencing Ultima Online pre-trammel you can be SURE that "sandbox" games will become popular again.
I just love it when noobs like you come on here throwing the word "sandbox" around like they really know what their talking about. You are absolutely totally CLUELESS of how different UO pre-trammel was and how people like me have waited 10 YEARS for a game like Darkfall to come out. You my friend, have obviously NEVER played UO pre-trammel it is flat out obvious or you wouldn't have posted what you just did. UO was more than just a "sandbox" Fallout 3 is a "sandbox", UO pre-tramel was a World Simulator, and Darkfall is looking to be that as well.
People in the MMORPG industry that have never played UO pre-trammel stick out like green thumbs to us. You have no concept of what a true MMORPG experience should be like and referencing abomination sanbdox games such as SWG and EVE will not score you any points.
Go back to the instanced, level based, treadmill theme park pit of hell that you came from.
If Blizzard is going to even ATTEMPT to create a Sandbox World SImulator, this will truly be a MASSIVE project and they will have to throw out everything that they've ever known. Right now DarkFall is poised to be the most massive seamless world there is, with the size of their NON-INSTANCED world rumored to be the size of Germany. Blizzard is the McDonalds of the MMORPG industry, spitting out garbage and hyping it up with marketing while people who don't know any better eat it all up as if it were filet mingon. I have absolutely no faith that they would succeed at a sandbox MMO, they will probably just give sandboxes more of a bad name the way SWG and EVE have.
Dude, you're butthurt, take a chill pill and relax, joo troo mmoboy.
Second, get real, MMOs evolve, and their standards evolve as well. WoW may be a McDonald/theme park/milking machine, but with 11 mil subscribers, they must be doing something right, same goes with EvE.
To conclude, read sig.
PS: I agree with him, the last thing blizz should be worried about at this point, is DFO
The rules of Debate are really simple; once you have to stoop to insults instead of facts, logic, or reason to try and win your argument, you've lost.
Reports before said that Blizzard was hiring for new positions to make a, "next-generation MMO" but it doesn't really entail anything after that. That's where I kind of get excited. Think about it. All these indie companies are promising the world to you: including NPCube with Dark and Light and Aventurine SA and Darkfall, yet one completely busted and Aventurine has yet made good to many of their promises. However, if it was one to be able to take chances from a large-scale MMOG, I think it would have to be a large-scale company who makes so much money that they could make up from the loses in case the idea doesn't come through. Blizzard has already crafted and perfected the old-generation MMOGs, which I consider to be linear by design - will their next MMO be same? I just highly doubt that they would make the same because then two of their games would then be in competition of one another. In other words, I think it makes little sense to completely recycle the same success but instead look for a new crowd of MMOGer's who take on the role of games differently than the linear-played World of Warcraft. What are your thoughts about it?
I never played a Blizzard game that didn't have a rail roaded plot. And Morhaime said that the game will be close to Wow (at Blizzcon) so my bet is that we will see a "World of Diablo" soon.
For sandbox games your best bet seems to be Star vaults Mortal online right now.
Blizzard did 2 games that was very different from everything else, Diablo and Starcraft. But that was 10 years ago and everyone from the teams have quited by now, since then they have just did sequels and Wow, which mostly re used things from EQ. I kinda doubt that they will chanse on a sandbox game until they have seen one with potential first, Blizzard are aiming for the general gamer with their games, and have always done so. And right now the sandbox fans are kinda alternative gamers.
Many people on here say blizzard cant/wont do a SandBox MMO because its too niche and they wont take the risk.. well the MMO genre was a niche and blizzard made WoW... I dont have to tell you what happened next... Blizzard did it before, took a huge risk on a genre that was new to them and to most players... no reason they wont/cant do it again.
I'd bet a pound on blizzard marking an RTSMMO rather than a sandbox, but hey we'll have to wait and see.
I pray the next-gen MMO that Blizzard currently working on is sandbox type, not another EQ clone. Blizzard proved their games are the best and if anyone could pull something extraordinary from sandbox MMO, its them.
I don't think they are going to make any sandbox MMOs unless sandbox MMOs start becoming popular. Then they'll copy all the good features of those sandbox MMOs, add a whole bunch of polish, fill it with loads of pop culture references and easter eggs, and make it cater a bit more to casual players. That's Blizzard's typical MO.
So first a semi-popular sandbox MMO needs to come out. I don't think Darkfall will be popular enough to catch Blizzard's eye. Maybe the KOTOR MMO if it has enough sandbox elements. The Fallout MMO is a more likely bet.
You have GOT to be kidding me. Darkfall won't be "popular enough to catch Blizzard's eye". How long has Darkfall been one of the top anticipated games on MMORPG.com and mind you that this is a CAREBEAR WEBSITE.
With games like DarFall, Mortal Online and Renaissance currently being developed or releasing on the horizon all referencing Ultima Online pre-trammel you can be SURE that "sandbox" games will become popular again.
I just love it when noobs like you come on here throwing the word "sandbox" around like they really know what their talking about. You are absolutely totally CLUELESS of how different UO pre-trammel was and how people like me have waited 10 YEARS for a game like Darkfall to come out. You my friend, have obviously NEVER played UO pre-trammel it is flat out obvious or you wouldn't have posted what you just did. UO was more than just a "sandbox" Fallout 3 is a "sandbox", UO pre-tramel was a World Simulator, and Darkfall is looking to be that as well.
People in the MMORPG industry that have never played UO pre-trammel stick out like green thumbs to us. You have no concept of what a true MMORPG experience should be like and referencing abomination sanbdox games such as SWG and EVE will not score you any points.
Go back to the instanced, level based, treadmill theme park pit of hell that you came from.
If Blizzard is going to even ATTEMPT to create a Sandbox World SImulator, this will truly be a MASSIVE project and they will have to throw out everything that they've ever known. Right now DarkFall is poised to be the most massive seamless world there is, with the size of their NON-INSTANCED world rumored to be the size of Germany. Blizzard is the McDonalds of the MMORPG industry, spitting out garbage and hyping it up with marketing while people who don't know any better eat it all up as if it were filet mingon. I have absolutely no faith that they would succeed at a sandbox MMO, they will probably just give sandboxes more of a bad name the way SWG and EVE have.
Sorry, I didn't realize my post was going to cause someone to snap.
I haven't even heard any mention of Blizzard considering Darkfall a threat to losing subscribers. They were keeping eyes on AoC and Warhammer , but never heard any mention of Darkfall. If you ask the average WoW gamer if they heard of Darkfall they will probably say no. I'm not trying to bash the game or anything. I do plan to try out Darkfall myself and I'm sure it will do well in it's niche if it's well designed.
There is huge buzz from everywhere about KOTOR even gaming communities that don't cater to hardcore gaming communities. While it's still a long ways away, there already have been news articles about it on various sites that aren't even related to gaming. An article was posted about it on Yahoo News front page a while ago. The Bioware/Starwars fanbase is much larger than Adventurine's Darkfall fanbase. The Bethesda/Fallout fanbase is huge too.
As far as my MMO experience goes I have played UO pre-trammel. I was playing MUDs for almost 5 years before UO was even released. Please don't make assumptions.
How is UO pre-trammel any less sandbox than Fallout 3? While there is a linear path I can follow in Fallout 3 to get me to game's "end" yes, but I can pretty much go out and do anything I want. I'm pretty sure I didn't even hear the term sandbox until GTA III, and there isn't a huge difference in non-linearity between Fallout 3 and GTA III (both have missions and an end, but you can run through the world and do whatever you want within the game rules). If you want to make the agruement about what qualifies as sandbox and what doesn't, the only truely sandbox game right now is Second Life.
But anyway I digress, you can make a sandbox game that caters to the pre-trammel UO crowd, but it's never going to turn Blizzard's head and make them consider making a sandbox MMO themselves if you do. The crowd simply isn't large enough. Blizzard games appeal to both the casual and hardcore gamer (probably moreso to the casual which is a much larger group) and that's why they are successful. That's why Darkfall is going to be niche (100-200k subscribers within a year is my best guess) and KOTOR and the Fallout MMO are going to be far more successful (assuming them are done well).
Why do people constantly have to attack the big guy? What's wrong with McDonald's? What's wrong with World of Warcraft? If people really didn't like that "garbage" than they wouldn't buy it - great marketing or not. Just because your tastes aren't the same as the majority's doesn't give you any right to insult them.
... The only question is, will it be an all-new IP, or will it be a licenced, existing one, the way WoW was gonna be Warhammer originally, til they lost the IP. I'm leaning toward the later, and predict there will eventually be the annoucment that "Blizzard is making an all new next-gen MMORPG based on the XXXXXX franchise (whatever that might be)" After all, why go to all the trouble of creating an all-new IP from scratch when there's several out there not yet clamied by other MMO developers. Forgotten Realms maybe, by Blizzard, now that would be interesting
Blizzard is developing a new IP. They dont use non blizzard pre exising IP really. Blizzard already has the fan base and the experience as well as expectations of Blizzard made IPs, ones that are highly stylized and very marketable. They have been saying for awhile they want to add some more IPs to their big 3. They will reveal this IP in their next MMORPG, at least thats what my sources tell me (bliz employees).
Blizzard has more to lose by using pre-existing IPs that are not their own. Forgotten Realms also unfortunatly is in the hands of Atari i believe (video game rights for D&D).
We honestly do not know how much Blizzard will push the envelope in terms of their next MMORPGs design, but I have a feeling they will use their new IP to do something different but similar, going beyond what they did before with Wow.
Blizzard could make a sand box game sure, but I doubt they will, because as others have stated the consumer base for that type of a game is too niche. You don't turn a massive profit like Blizz does by catering to a niche crowd, you do it by catering to the masses. That's just common business sense.
Also, Blizzard is a big company and a big company needs to turn a big profit in order to sustain itself and turn an even bigger profit in order to keep growing. Big companies tend to be rather conservative in their approach to what they do with their product and Blizzard is no exception. This is because they know that one failure is all it takes to put them and their parent company in the red and then they would be in serious trouble. This is why Indy devs are best for this sort of thing (sandbox games and playstyles), because they have less to loose and don't have the status larger companies do so they have to try harder to get their product noticed and make their name known. This allows them to be more willing to try things that would be considered high risk from a bigger companys perspective. After all why would a buyer want to play the game from the little company if its the same things as the one from the big company, and since the big company has more money their game is obviously recieving better care, or so the average consumer thinks. So the big guy just watches the little guy as he tinkers and trys different things and sees what works and what doesn't and then takes those things, or some variant of them and incorporates them into their own game in a manner that works for their clients and everyone loves them for it. Why? Because the big guy caters to the masses, and the masses have never heard of the little guy.
Blizzard could make a sand box game sure, but I doubt they will, because as others have stated the consumer base for that type of a game is too niche. You don't turn a massive profit like Blizz does by catering to a niche crowd, you do it by catering to the masses. That's just common business sense. Also, Blizzard is a big company and a big company needs to turn a big profit in order to sustain itself and turn an even bigger profit in order to keep growing. Big companies tend to be rather conservative in their approach to what they do with their product and Blizzard is no exception. This is because they know that one failure is all it takes to put them and their parent company in the red and then they would be in serious trouble. This is why Indy devs are best for this sort of thing (sandbox games and playstyles), because they have less to loose and don't have the status larger companies do so they have to try harder to get their product noticed and make their name known. This allows them to be more willing to try things that would be considered high risk from a bigger companys perspective. After all why would a buyer want to play the game from the little company if its the same things as the one from the big company, and since the big company has more money their game is obviously recieving better care, or so the average consumer thinks. So the big guy just watches the little guy as he tinkers and trys different things and sees what works and what doesn't and then takes those things, or some variant of them and incorporates them into their own game in a manner that works for their clients and everyone loves them for it. Why? Because the big guy caters to the masses, and the masses have never heard of the little guy.
As I Said before the comment that blizz wont make a sandbox because its too niche is short sighted, MMOs were niche and blizzard spent about 5 years amd millions of $ making WoW. why wont they do it again?
WoW grew the MMO genre like no other game, no reason a sandbox game by blizzard wont do the same.
Comments
First off, I have to say I love Blizzard as a development company. They really are different from the rest and have standards other companies should adhere to. That said, I have a few buds over in Irvine who work for Blizzard, Im about an hour north in Hollywood. They can be pretty hush hush about certain projects, but from what I know... They are definately making another MMORPG. It will be a completely NEW franchise. Blizzard didnt want to get stuck using the same starcraft, warcraft, diablo franchises. They have since been coming up with some new ones to toss into the mix, this can be either good or bad. The good is that they have learned a lot from their previous franchises. What is also good is that Blizzard focuses heavily on art direction and a unique visual look.
Whatever this new Franchise will be, we can expect it to have an art style or visuals that definately stand out. We also know their new HQ, which is massive btw, is growing with new teams forming. Essentially much more man power for multiple projects. They are planning something big.
That said, going back to WoW... WoW was Blizzards first attempt at an mmorpg. Think of it as a test, getting their feet wet. Look when you are doing something new...and expensive, sometimes its best to copy other successes. People complain about WoW being too generic, but all it was, was a cautious attempt at an MMORPG. You can bet they have learned from this. They know what to do and what not to do, and learned the tools of the trade with WoW. I think now they are ready to start taking bigger risks, and by that i mean experimentation, pushing the envelope. With their next mmorpg, I believe and my associates also believe based on the word going around down there, that it will be different and most certainly more epic. Building off the basic foundation of WoW and the process of mmorpg development as well as maininence and progression, they can then start getting creative.
So, a new franchise, a new mmorpg, and experience now to push the enevelope, including the budget, to change the mmorpg genre once again.
I dont know what will happen, or what we will see, but I am eager to see the result.
Hope you're on the right path to discovering the "God" partice. Also, how's the Time machine design going along? Do all the calculations hold true? Wormholes aren't stable?
Or are you gonna try to reach lightspeed instead, so to make timetravel possible to the future first?
While me, "the avarge joe" is studying Descrete mathematics and what really is the Taylor series. how to use it and where. Something you discovered by yourself, while bored on the toilet at your 10th birthday party. You truly are a genius
A game designed for you must truly be a testament to the genius and innovation of the mind.
and fyi: An occasional cheesburger tastes awesome. Tho Kebab will always win when it comes to fastfood.
Ontopic: Blizzard probably(I haven't checked) has a whole section devoted to analyzing the market and where it's headed. Like many have said, it's not really a question of if they can, but rather if they will. Mind you, their next mmo is gonna have at least the budget of WoW, tho it will probably higher. To make a game with so much money, that noone will play/pay would be a buisness suicide. They'll make what the market wants. All that is known for sure is that it'll have the same polish in art and gameplay that we are used from the Blizzard games. Blizzard magic if you will.
I am a blizzard fanboy. Flame me if you want. I have yet to play a game of theirs that I dislike.
I am going to go against the general trend and say no they can't!
Now I am sure technically they could produce the MMO, but by their own standards for it to be a success it would need to get at least a million, probably 2 million subscriptions without dramatically affecting their WoW subscriptions. This is where it falls down IMO the remaining market just isn't big enough for them to get the market share they would need, against the rest of the competition.
Measured against their current success, anything they do will be a flop, as they set the bar too high even for themselves. Having to survive in their own shadow has a certain karma to it.
I agree that Blizzard wouldn't make another 'Themepark' MMO. It would be a conflict of interest with WoW already running and would only serve to confuse customers. It will most likely be a product aimed squarely at the adult market, with a darker theme (like Diablo) and sanbox-like gameplay. Something that can be easily discernable from WoW.
As an above poster said, they would have a complete monopoly over the market should they cater for both sides of the community if game the game becomes a success.
scary, it would be awesome if true. but if true think about this, they will own the market even more than now. there litterally wont be any competition.
since to me sandbox is more old generation, I think its unlikely. however new generation implies to me modern combat system which would be cool also.
My blog:
Right that's sort of like how the only hamburger you can buy at McDonald's is the Big Mac. They don't offer anything else because they don't want to confuse their customers.
My youtube MMO gaming channel
And a generation of gamers that have been handfed everything and pretty much been told where to go and what to do in WoW wouldn't be confused by a sandbox style game? The forums would be flooded with "where do I go, what do I do, why are there no classes?!?" posts because a lot of gamers that a new to the genre/hobby have had no experience at all with a more free-form style of gameplay.
Blizzard's next game won't be a sandbox, it will be more of the same, but with the added benefit of having learned from the mistakes of WoW (in theory). It will be something along the lines of World of Diablo, and it's success will will crush all records previously set by WoW.
Not much I can say that hasn't already been said. I too believe the first truly successful sandbox style game, the one that will bring in both the most casual and the most hardcore/old school players into one compelling gameworld with complete freedom "to do (or build, maybe even kill) whatever you heart desire" will of course come from Blizzard, and it will have the level of graphical polish and the smooth user interface known from all Blizzard games!
The only question is, will it be an all-new IP, or will it be a licenced, existing one, the way WoW was gonna be Warhammer originally, til they lost the IP.
I'm leaning toward the later, and predict there will eventually be the annoucment that "Blizzard is making an all new next-gen MMORPG based on the XXXXXX franchise (whatever that might be)" After all, why go to all the trouble of creating an all-new IP from scratch when there's several out there not yet clamied by other MMO developers.
Forgotten Realms maybe, by Blizzard, now that would be interesting
Spore is the biggest flop Peter Monoxlylyly has ever made.
It obviously DIDNT cater to the mainstream.
Pretty sure it was Will Wright not Peter M.
I don't think they are going to make any sandbox MMOs unless sandbox MMOs start becoming popular. Then they'll copy all the good features of those sandbox MMOs, add a whole bunch of polish, fill it with loads of pop culture references and easter eggs, and make it cater a bit more to casual players. That's Blizzard's typical MO.
So first a semi-popular sandbox MMO needs to come out. I don't think Darkfall will be popular enough to catch Blizzard's eye. Maybe the KOTOR MMO if it has enough sandbox elements. The Fallout MMO is a more likely bet.
Maybe.. it all depends.. let me think.
Probably not with its community of players. Sandbox depends on the playerbase..
If you ask 'whats a sandbox MMO?' you get 10 different interpretations.
Lot of players see preCU SWG as sandbox MMO or Saga Of Ryzom. If that is what you (OP ) think, then its a MMO that will never be as popular as WoW. Market shows that most players are not interested in having to provide in their own entertainment. They want to sit back and be entertained by the game.
Also after WoW's succes I cant imagine that Blizzard will specifically start catering to one of the minorities of the MMO community.
I see Blizzard as Walt Disney in MMO land. Mainstream all the way. Not that there is anything wrong with that. Its where the money is at after all.
You have GOT to be kidding me. Darkfall won't be "popular enough to catch Blizzard's eye". How long has Darkfall been one of the top anticipated games on MMORPG.com and mind you that this is a CAREBEAR WEBSITE.
With games like DarFall, Mortal Online and Renaissance currently being developed or releasing on the horizon all referencing Ultima Online pre-trammel you can be SURE that "sandbox" games will become popular again.
I just love it when noobs like you come on here throwing the word "sandbox" around like they really know what their talking about. You are absolutely totally CLUELESS of how different UO pre-trammel was and how people like me have waited 10 YEARS for a game like Darkfall to come out. You my friend, have obviously NEVER played UO pre-trammel it is flat out obvious or you wouldn't have posted what you just did. UO was more than just a "sandbox" Fallout 3 is a "sandbox", UO pre-tramel was a World Simulator, and Darkfall is looking to be that as well.
People in the MMORPG industry that have never played UO pre-trammel stick out like green thumbs to us. You have no concept of what a true MMORPG experience should be like and referencing abomination sanbdox games such as SWG and EVE will not score you any points.
Go back to the instanced, level based, treadmill theme park pit of hell that you came from.
If Blizzard is going to even ATTEMPT to create a Sandbox World SImulator, this will truly be a MASSIVE project and they will have to throw out everything that they've ever known. Right now DarkFall is poised to be the most massive seamless world there is, with the size of their NON-INSTANCED world rumored to be the size of Germany. Blizzard is the McDonalds of the MMORPG industry, spitting out garbage and hyping it up with marketing while people who don't know any better eat it all up as if it were filet mingon. I have absolutely no faith that they would succeed at a sandbox MMO, they will probably just give sandboxes more of a bad name the way SWG and EVE have.
They probably could, but the question is not Themepark vs Sanbox, but more like Sci-Fi vs Fantasy vs Smthing else, or FPS vs RPG vs RTS. Hopefully something that would expand the market.
The rules of Debate are really simple; once you have to stoop to insults instead of facts, logic, or reason to try and win your argument, you've lost.
You have GOT to be kidding me. Darkfall won't be "popular enough to catch Blizzard's eye". How long has Darkfall been one of the top anticipated games on MMORPG.com and mind you that this is a CAREBEAR WEBSITE.
With games like DarFall, Mortal Online and Renaissance currently being developed or releasing on the horizon all referencing Ultima Online pre-trammel you can be SURE that "sandbox" games will become popular again.
I just love it when noobs like you come on here throwing the word "sandbox" around like they really know what their talking about. You are absolutely totally CLUELESS of how different UO pre-trammel was and how people like me have waited 10 YEARS for a game like Darkfall to come out. You my friend, have obviously NEVER played UO pre-trammel it is flat out obvious or you wouldn't have posted what you just did. UO was more than just a "sandbox" Fallout 3 is a "sandbox", UO pre-tramel was a World Simulator, and Darkfall is looking to be that as well.
People in the MMORPG industry that have never played UO pre-trammel stick out like green thumbs to us. You have no concept of what a true MMORPG experience should be like and referencing abomination sanbdox games such as SWG and EVE will not score you any points.
Go back to the instanced, level based, treadmill theme park pit of hell that you came from.
If Blizzard is going to even ATTEMPT to create a Sandbox World SImulator, this will truly be a MASSIVE project and they will have to throw out everything that they've ever known. Right now DarkFall is poised to be the most massive seamless world there is, with the size of their NON-INSTANCED world rumored to be the size of Germany. Blizzard is the McDonalds of the MMORPG industry, spitting out garbage and hyping it up with marketing while people who don't know any better eat it all up as if it were filet mingon. I have absolutely no faith that they would succeed at a sandbox MMO, they will probably just give sandboxes more of a bad name the way SWG and EVE have.
Dude, you're butthurt, take a chill pill and relax, joo troo mmoboy.
Second, get real, MMOs evolve, and their standards evolve as well. WoW may be a McDonald/theme park/milking machine, but with 11 mil subscribers, they must be doing something right, same goes with EvE.
To conclude, read sig.
PS: I agree with him, the last thing blizz should be worried about at this point, is DFO
The rules of Debate are really simple; once you have to stoop to insults instead of facts, logic, or reason to try and win your argument, you've lost.
I never played a Blizzard game that didn't have a rail roaded plot. And Morhaime said that the game will be close to Wow (at Blizzcon) so my bet is that we will see a "World of Diablo" soon.
For sandbox games your best bet seems to be Star vaults Mortal online right now.
Blizzard did 2 games that was very different from everything else, Diablo and Starcraft. But that was 10 years ago and everyone from the teams have quited by now, since then they have just did sequels and Wow, which mostly re used things from EQ. I kinda doubt that they will chanse on a sandbox game until they have seen one with potential first, Blizzard are aiming for the general gamer with their games, and have always done so. And right now the sandbox fans are kinda alternative gamers.
Many people on here say blizzard cant/wont do a SandBox MMO because its too niche and they wont take the risk.. well the MMO genre was a niche and blizzard made WoW... I dont have to tell you what happened next... Blizzard did it before, took a huge risk on a genre that was new to them and to most players... no reason they wont/cant do it again.
I'd bet a pound on blizzard marking an RTSMMO rather than a sandbox, but hey we'll have to wait and see.
I pray the next-gen MMO that Blizzard currently working on is sandbox type, not another EQ clone. Blizzard proved their games are the best and if anyone could pull something extraordinary from sandbox MMO, its them.
You have GOT to be kidding me. Darkfall won't be "popular enough to catch Blizzard's eye". How long has Darkfall been one of the top anticipated games on MMORPG.com and mind you that this is a CAREBEAR WEBSITE.
With games like DarFall, Mortal Online and Renaissance currently being developed or releasing on the horizon all referencing Ultima Online pre-trammel you can be SURE that "sandbox" games will become popular again.
I just love it when noobs like you come on here throwing the word "sandbox" around like they really know what their talking about. You are absolutely totally CLUELESS of how different UO pre-trammel was and how people like me have waited 10 YEARS for a game like Darkfall to come out. You my friend, have obviously NEVER played UO pre-trammel it is flat out obvious or you wouldn't have posted what you just did. UO was more than just a "sandbox" Fallout 3 is a "sandbox", UO pre-tramel was a World Simulator, and Darkfall is looking to be that as well.
People in the MMORPG industry that have never played UO pre-trammel stick out like green thumbs to us. You have no concept of what a true MMORPG experience should be like and referencing abomination sanbdox games such as SWG and EVE will not score you any points.
Go back to the instanced, level based, treadmill theme park pit of hell that you came from.
If Blizzard is going to even ATTEMPT to create a Sandbox World SImulator, this will truly be a MASSIVE project and they will have to throw out everything that they've ever known. Right now DarkFall is poised to be the most massive seamless world there is, with the size of their NON-INSTANCED world rumored to be the size of Germany. Blizzard is the McDonalds of the MMORPG industry, spitting out garbage and hyping it up with marketing while people who don't know any better eat it all up as if it were filet mingon. I have absolutely no faith that they would succeed at a sandbox MMO, they will probably just give sandboxes more of a bad name the way SWG and EVE have.
Sorry, I didn't realize my post was going to cause someone to snap.
I haven't even heard any mention of Blizzard considering Darkfall a threat to losing subscribers. They were keeping eyes on AoC and Warhammer , but never heard any mention of Darkfall. If you ask the average WoW gamer if they heard of Darkfall they will probably say no. I'm not trying to bash the game or anything. I do plan to try out Darkfall myself and I'm sure it will do well in it's niche if it's well designed.
There is huge buzz from everywhere about KOTOR even gaming communities that don't cater to hardcore gaming communities. While it's still a long ways away, there already have been news articles about it on various sites that aren't even related to gaming. An article was posted about it on Yahoo News front page a while ago. The Bioware/Starwars fanbase is much larger than Adventurine's Darkfall fanbase. The Bethesda/Fallout fanbase is huge too.
As far as my MMO experience goes I have played UO pre-trammel. I was playing MUDs for almost 5 years before UO was even released. Please don't make assumptions.
How is UO pre-trammel any less sandbox than Fallout 3? While there is a linear path I can follow in Fallout 3 to get me to game's "end" yes, but I can pretty much go out and do anything I want. I'm pretty sure I didn't even hear the term sandbox until GTA III, and there isn't a huge difference in non-linearity between Fallout 3 and GTA III (both have missions and an end, but you can run through the world and do whatever you want within the game rules). If you want to make the agruement about what qualifies as sandbox and what doesn't, the only truely sandbox game right now is Second Life.
But anyway I digress, you can make a sandbox game that caters to the pre-trammel UO crowd, but it's never going to turn Blizzard's head and make them consider making a sandbox MMO themselves if you do. The crowd simply isn't large enough. Blizzard games appeal to both the casual and hardcore gamer (probably moreso to the casual which is a much larger group) and that's why they are successful. That's why Darkfall is going to be niche (100-200k subscribers within a year is my best guess) and KOTOR and the Fallout MMO are going to be far more successful (assuming them are done well).
Why do people constantly have to attack the big guy? What's wrong with McDonald's? What's wrong with World of Warcraft? If people really didn't like that "garbage" than they wouldn't buy it - great marketing or not. Just because your tastes aren't the same as the majority's doesn't give you any right to insult them.
Blizzard is developing a new IP. They dont use non blizzard pre exising IP really. Blizzard already has the fan base and the experience as well as expectations of Blizzard made IPs, ones that are highly stylized and very marketable. They have been saying for awhile they want to add some more IPs to their big 3. They will reveal this IP in their next MMORPG, at least thats what my sources tell me (bliz employees).
Blizzard has more to lose by using pre-existing IPs that are not their own. Forgotten Realms also unfortunatly is in the hands of Atari i believe (video game rights for D&D).
We honestly do not know how much Blizzard will push the envelope in terms of their next MMORPGs design, but I have a feeling they will use their new IP to do something different but similar, going beyond what they did before with Wow.
Well they certainly have the money....
Every game blizzard makes is the best in the genre Diablo, Starcraft, Wow... So ofcourse they can do it
Blizzard could make a sand box game sure, but I doubt they will, because as others have stated the consumer base for that type of a game is too niche. You don't turn a massive profit like Blizz does by catering to a niche crowd, you do it by catering to the masses. That's just common business sense.
Also, Blizzard is a big company and a big company needs to turn a big profit in order to sustain itself and turn an even bigger profit in order to keep growing. Big companies tend to be rather conservative in their approach to what they do with their product and Blizzard is no exception. This is because they know that one failure is all it takes to put them and their parent company in the red and then they would be in serious trouble. This is why Indy devs are best for this sort of thing (sandbox games and playstyles), because they have less to loose and don't have the status larger companies do so they have to try harder to get their product noticed and make their name known. This allows them to be more willing to try things that would be considered high risk from a bigger companys perspective. After all why would a buyer want to play the game from the little company if its the same things as the one from the big company, and since the big company has more money their game is obviously recieving better care, or so the average consumer thinks. So the big guy just watches the little guy as he tinkers and trys different things and sees what works and what doesn't and then takes those things, or some variant of them and incorporates them into their own game in a manner that works for their clients and everyone loves them for it. Why? Because the big guy caters to the masses, and the masses have never heard of the little guy.
As I Said before the comment that blizz wont make a sandbox because its too niche is short sighted, MMOs were niche and blizzard spent about 5 years amd millions of $ making WoW. why wont they do it again?
WoW grew the MMO genre like no other game, no reason a sandbox game by blizzard wont do the same.