In this week's column, Dana Massey explores a genre that might well finally solve an age old problem for game developers. How do you get guys and girls in the same game? The answer? Vampires! There is one genre out there that is relatively untested by MMOs and even games in general. It’s popular, one of the hottest sub-genres out there right now in fact, and perfectly suited to gaming. It also appeals to both men and women, albeit in different ways. So today, I ask you: Why not a Vampire MMO? MMOs have always been a bit of an old boys club. Sure, women do play them, but no game has come even close to an even split. It could simply be that women don’t like video games, but if anyone can overcome that and make a game that both men and women enjoy equally, they’re going to be a very rich company.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed that CCP follows along the same path they traveled with EVE. Make a great Vampire MMO with a select target audience in mind and don't change your entire game attempting to please everyone.
I like vampires becuase they are immortal, kick ass, and suck blood. After all i tested on a quiz and I think 66% male and I am a female cat! Mrrrowww!
I have never understood why most women don't game. I mean what in the hell do they do all the time? Whore it up on myspace and listen to jonas brothers or what? Grr c'mon fellow Females! (wips out claws and starts to go on a prowl!) HISS!!
pretty tired of reading these "Why nots" got anything else to write about? i got more why nots than you.
I know you're trying to troll, but honestly, I agree. This was pretty close to the bottom of my "why not" barrel for now
...I'm likely going to adopt a new premise in the coming weeks.
Anyone got any suggestions?
I have one. "Why haven't they..." First topic?
Why haven't they fired you as a writer yet? You're by far the worst addition to MMORPG.com and even though I will probably be banned for that statement, I stand by it. A vampire MMO? Really!? REALLY!?
It's bad enough that I have to deal with my 12-14 year old students convinced that vampires are real because of garbage like Twilight, Vampire Diaries, True Blood, etc. It's ok to have fantasies but to feed this continual delusion of vampiric beings just to profit off the insanity of youth is another thing. This industry does not crave a new audience, it craves a unique world that does not promise everything and fail to deliver on anything. The MMO community has burned itself out on investing time, fandom, money, and patience into developers that only seek to get World of Warcraft-like returns off something with minimal work on their part.
There is an audience for vampires but the MMO community is not that audience. If we were, a developer would have already made such a game. Perhaps I will eat some crow when the new Whitewolf MMO comes out but until then, I think it will be an abysmal failure. I know MMO players good sir, and MMO players are not teenage girls getting goofy romantic over the idea of someone biting their neck in the dead of night.
No, I don't think you do. You may know your small circle of friends of mmo players, but you don't know what the majority of MMO players want. There most certainly is an mmo audience for a vampire MMO, and White Wolf has grown that audience for years and years. You may not...no, you most certainly have not been in touch with that online community, but I have. If CCP rolls out a decent game you will most certainly be eating the crow you mentioned above. And there will be tons of vampire loving males and females there to pour "you are wrong" sauce on your bird.
"Many nights, my friend... Many nights I've put a blade to your throat while you were sleeping. Glad I never killed you, Steve. You're alright..."
You can play a vampire in Sacred. And of course you can become one in Oblivion also. I know they are single player RPGs, but whatever. Yeah, a vampire MMO based on The Masquerade would be pretty cool. I know for certain I could not resist playing as a Nosferatu. It would be even better for them to add the White Wolf werewolf (Apocolyps) and ghost (forget the name) factions as well. World of Darkness sounds pretty close to that, and as someone already said before me in this thread, it would have to absolutely perfect. A steep mountain indeed.
Vault-Tec analysts have concluded that the odds of worldwide nuclear armaggeddon this decade are 17,143,762... to 1.
At the risk of sounding glib, the people who're into the whole vampire thing, take themselves WAY to seriously to make an enjoyable and online game community.
You'd have a core of deadly serious community members, and... thats about it. Anyone not serious enough would be driven away.
It''s called World of Darkness. Purchased by CCP. Thank god a company that has some balls that will actually do something innovative purchased the IP.
Werewolves(the cool badass kind), Vampires, Changlings, Mages... lots of fun to be had. Add into it all the source material with the different clans and factions and its ripe for an outstanding PvP game.
To everyone who posted that I seem to have forgotten WoD...
Please read articles before posting.
4th paragraph...
Dana Massey Formerly of MMORPG.com Currently Lead Designer for Bit Trap Studios
I wholeheartedly agree with the idea of throwing in the towel on the "Why not?" idea. For a while now (if not for it's entirety) it's felt more like just rambling about stuff pulled out of a random topic generator.
Perhaps what you could write on next is things that could either help developers or players get to know more about the genre and the games and how/why certain things work. For example, an article on death systems. What are the currently used death systems out there, what are the pros/cons of them, and why are some more popular than others. This might help developers look at how and why they do death systems the way they do. Perhaps take a look at unique features that have either triumphed or failed horribly. The public quest system was introduced into Warhammer and has been a huge hit as features go, other games have already used it to enhance their own experience. The diplomacy mini-game for Vanguard was quite a novel idea as well, and while it ended up being turned to junk by poor live-team handling, it certainly started off as something that could have hooked on. What about a guide to properly dealing with the opposite sex in MMOs. Clearly it's an issue that needs to be discussed when I hear people in the general chat of the latest hit MMO telling people that "if you are a male playing a female character, you should have a name that indicates you are male behind the screen", so they can know who to hit on and who not to, of all things. They are afraid of hitting on someone of the same sex, but have no problem propositioning every person of the opposite sex they come across.
Of course, with topics like that you can't just phone-it-in either
"Because it's easier to nitpick something than to be constructive." -roach5000
I've been dying for a Vampire MMO for years. I just pray it'll be good, more to the style of WoD, and not some of the crap we've been seeing lately in movies. But everyone already said all of this.
My question is, forget MMO for a second, has there even been a decent vampire game in general since Bloodlines?
Bloodlines was awesome, yeah, but it's way old at this point, and I don't remember anything else that's decent that came out since it.
The thing i find interesting about this thread is the initial 'lets ignore CCP/WW game because we know nothing about it' statement, followed by the number of people that have said 'underworld' would be a cool setting. kind of one and the same, as Underworld was initially written as a WW novel, with appropriate legal action launched...... . web.archive.org/web/20080212032144/http://www.white-wolf.com/News/underworldrelease.html
i look forward to seeing whatever iteration a vampire / modern supernatural mmo takes, and hope it is not just vampire. i want me a werebear
"We aren't going to ... Period. End of statement."
I've always wanted to be an vampire in MMO, one of the best idea for MMO I've ever heard. I like this kind of mythologie since my childhood and I will always like this.
I would love to see a World of Darkness game, where its based off 2nd edition rules and you can play werewolves. I guarentee it would have to have pvp, because making a WoD game is like putting a "EMO kidz here plz" sign up over the server. killing them would be the only joy such a game could bring.
It''s called World of Darkness. Purchased by CCP. Thank god a company that has some balls that will actually do something innovative purchased the IP.
Werewolves(the cool badass kind), Vampires, Changlings, Mages... lots of fun to be had. Add into it all the source material with the different clans and factions and its ripe for an outstanding PvP game.
I agree. It would nice to have a good PvP faction-based MMORPG with more than 2-3 factions. WoD would be perfect for that.
Vault-Tec analysts have concluded that the odds of worldwide nuclear armaggeddon this decade are 17,143,762... to 1.
I wholeheartedly agree with the idea of throwing in the towel on the "Why not?" idea. For a while now (if not for it's entirety) it's felt more like just rambling about stuff pulled out of a random topic generator.
Perhaps what you could write on next is things that could either help developers or players get to know more about the genre and the games and how/why certain things work. For example, an article on death systems. What are the currently used death systems out there, what are the pros/cons of them, and why are some more popular than others. This might help developers look at how and why they do death systems the way they do. Perhaps take a look at unique features that have either triumphed or failed horribly. The public quest system was introduced into Warhammer and has been a huge hit as features go, other games have already used it to enhance their own experience. The diplomacy mini-game for Vanguard was quite a novel idea as well, and while it ended up being turned to junk by poor live-team handling, it certainly started off as something that could have hooked on. What about a guide to properly dealing with the opposite sex in MMOs. Clearly it's an issue that needs to be discussed when I hear people in the general chat of the latest hit MMO telling people that "if you are a male playing a female character, you should have a name that indicates you are male behind the screen", so they can know who to hit on and who not to, of all things. They are afraid of hitting on someone of the same sex, but have no problem propositioning every person of the opposite sex they come across.
Of course, with topics like that you can't just phone-it-in either
I like them. I look forward to them like a good editorial section with a common theme. They didn't always have to do with things that I like to discuss here, but most of them were very inspiring. I hope you still do some from time to time.
Vault-Tec analysts have concluded that the odds of worldwide nuclear armaggeddon this decade are 17,143,762... to 1.
I always thought the Legacy of Kain series could be made into an MMO. There was like 12 vamp clans (hunters also) before Raziel came back. You could even have "prototype" soul reavers as something similar to a Jedi class.
I have heard of a Twilight MMO has been shopped around, but me and my Comp fund(A.K.A. change filling jar.) are waiting for WoDo
Ignoring the World of Darkness MMO is a big mistake. If it is true to the lineage of pen and paper games you should be able to play as a vampire(one of several clans), werewolf(one of several tribes), hunter, or mage. The World of Darkness pen and paper games were Vampire, Werewolf, Hunter, and Mage so I would expect to see all 4 represented by the players. As for me, I have to be true to my kin and have a Vampire avatar for the game.
Vampire Bloodlines was one of the very best action-adventure-rpgs ever!
Anyone who likes the setting should try to find a cheap version of it and install it together with unofficial patch 6.x...
This Setting translated into an MMO could be working very very well.
"Torquemada... do not implore him for compassion. Torquemada... do not beg him for forgiveness. Torquemada... do not ask him for mercy. Let's face it, you can't Torquemada anything!"
I always thought the Legacy of Kain series could be made into an MMO. There was like 12 vamp clans (hunters also) before Raziel came back. You could even have "prototype" soul reavers as something similar to a Jedi class.
I have heard of a Twilight MMO has been shopped around, but me and my Comp fund(A.K.A. change filling jar.) are waiting for WoDo
I'd play anything even remotely to do with the LoK series. I loved those games.
Katsma is Lithuanian for 'he who drinks used douche fluid'.
Well since it is well known that CCP is working on one, that rather deflates your article, although I am surprised they are the only developer currently doing so.
Well since it is well known that CCP is working on one, that rather deflates your article, although I am surprised they are the only developer currently doing so.
World of darkness is a lot more than just vampires but you are right, at least one game about vampires are in development,based on the original "Vampire" RPG.
I am sure we will see a few others in time, a vampire hunter game in the late 1800s would be fun to play also.
I would love a vampire based mmo. As long as it has nothing in common with Twilight! Twilight is an insult to vamp fans and girls everywhere!! We real vampires fans love badassity not legitimized god-mods and Mary-Sues written by a fan-girl who admits to doing no prior research on vampire legends. That is why when the Twilight fad fades into non existence, we will still be talking about Nosferatu, Dracula, and of course Lestat.
I think an MMORPG based in a Hellsing like setting would be best for all fans. If it was set around something like Ultraviolet or Underworld, then it would just turn away the girls. And if it was set more like Bram Stoker's Dracula or something mysterious and romantic then it would just be boring.
As a girl gamer, I can tell you what really pisses us off about RPGs and turns us away is how girls are portrayed, not the games itself. Take the zombie games for example or the game I am currently playing called Phoenix Dynasty. The girls are always shown wearing slutty, impractical outfits that expose a lot of skin and protects very little while the guys are always shown in cool armor and stylish hunting gear. Since only girls play the girl characters and I'm certainly not a lesbian, why would I want to spend several hours staring at the barley covered ass of another girl? (in ref to first person pov) Also there is the personality of the story line RPG characters. The girl is always either weak or needs to be rescued. Always! Take Final Fantasy for example. Even in the one game where the main character was a girl, she had to be rescued several times! (I'm talking about FFVI, not including X-2 or the more recent one, whatever it's number is)
In short, this is a girl-gamer's opinion on a vamp MMO. BTW don't believe me on Twilight? Check out this vid which shows how creepy Eward seems when paired with a practical girl. It is also a very funny and well made video lol. www.youtube.com/watch
In accordance with the prophecy, you will finish reading this sentence right now!
Comments
Read it all here.
What about WoDO, World of Darkness Online by White wolf in development?
Mortal Online/EarthRise/Project V13
TheVindicators.com
I'm keeping my fingers crossed that CCP follows along the same path they traveled with EVE. Make a great Vampire MMO with a select target audience in mind and don't change your entire game attempting to please everyone.
I like vampires becuase they are immortal, kick ass, and suck blood. After all i tested on a quiz and I think 66% male and I am a female cat! Mrrrowww!
I have never understood why most women don't game. I mean what in the hell do they do all the time? Whore it up on myspace and listen to jonas brothers or what? Grr c'mon fellow Females! (wips out claws and starts to go on a prowl!) HISS!!
I know you're trying to troll, but honestly, I agree. This was pretty close to the bottom of my "why not" barrel for now
...I'm likely going to adopt a new premise in the coming weeks.
Anyone got any suggestions?
I have one. "Why haven't they..." First topic?
Why haven't they fired you as a writer yet? You're by far the worst addition to MMORPG.com and even though I will probably be banned for that statement, I stand by it. A vampire MMO? Really!? REALLY!?
It's bad enough that I have to deal with my 12-14 year old students convinced that vampires are real because of garbage like Twilight, Vampire Diaries, True Blood, etc. It's ok to have fantasies but to feed this continual delusion of vampiric beings just to profit off the insanity of youth is another thing. This industry does not crave a new audience, it craves a unique world that does not promise everything and fail to deliver on anything. The MMO community has burned itself out on investing time, fandom, money, and patience into developers that only seek to get World of Warcraft-like returns off something with minimal work on their part.
There is an audience for vampires but the MMO community is not that audience. If we were, a developer would have already made such a game. Perhaps I will eat some crow when the new Whitewolf MMO comes out but until then, I think it will be an abysmal failure. I know MMO players good sir, and MMO players are not teenage girls getting goofy romantic over the idea of someone biting their neck in the dead of night.
No, I don't think you do. You may know your small circle of friends of mmo players, but you don't know what the majority of MMO players want. There most certainly is an mmo audience for a vampire MMO, and White Wolf has grown that audience for years and years. You may not...no, you most certainly have not been in touch with that online community, but I have. If CCP rolls out a decent game you will most certainly be eating the crow you mentioned above. And there will be tons of vampire loving males and females there to pour "you are wrong" sauce on your bird.
"Many nights, my friend... Many nights I've put a blade to your throat while you were sleeping. Glad I never killed you, Steve. You're alright..."
Chavez y Chavez
You can play a vampire in Sacred. And of course you can become one in Oblivion also. I know they are single player RPGs, but whatever. Yeah, a vampire MMO based on The Masquerade would be pretty cool. I know for certain I could not resist playing as a Nosferatu. It would be even better for them to add the White Wolf werewolf (Apocolyps) and ghost (forget the name) factions as well. World of Darkness sounds pretty close to that, and as someone already said before me in this thread, it would have to absolutely perfect. A steep mountain indeed.
Vault-Tec analysts have concluded that the odds of worldwide nuclear armaggeddon this decade are 17,143,762... to 1.
At the risk of sounding glib, the people who're into the whole vampire thing, take themselves WAY to seriously to make an enjoyable and online game community.
You'd have a core of deadly serious community members, and... thats about it. Anyone not serious enough would be driven away.
To everyone who posted that I seem to have forgotten WoD...
Please read articles before posting.
4th paragraph...
Dana Massey
Formerly of MMORPG.com
Currently Lead Designer for Bit Trap Studios
I wholeheartedly agree with the idea of throwing in the towel on the "Why not?" idea. For a while now (if not for it's entirety) it's felt more like just rambling about stuff pulled out of a random topic generator.
Perhaps what you could write on next is things that could either help developers or players get to know more about the genre and the games and how/why certain things work. For example, an article on death systems. What are the currently used death systems out there, what are the pros/cons of them, and why are some more popular than others. This might help developers look at how and why they do death systems the way they do. Perhaps take a look at unique features that have either triumphed or failed horribly. The public quest system was introduced into Warhammer and has been a huge hit as features go, other games have already used it to enhance their own experience. The diplomacy mini-game for Vanguard was quite a novel idea as well, and while it ended up being turned to junk by poor live-team handling, it certainly started off as something that could have hooked on. What about a guide to properly dealing with the opposite sex in MMOs. Clearly it's an issue that needs to be discussed when I hear people in the general chat of the latest hit MMO telling people that "if you are a male playing a female character, you should have a name that indicates you are male behind the screen", so they can know who to hit on and who not to, of all things. They are afraid of hitting on someone of the same sex, but have no problem propositioning every person of the opposite sex they come across.
Of course, with topics like that you can't just phone-it-in either
"Because it's easier to nitpick something than to be constructive." -roach5000
I've been dying for a Vampire MMO for years. I just pray it'll be good, more to the style of WoD, and not some of the crap we've been seeing lately in movies. But everyone already said all of this.
My question is, forget MMO for a second, has there even been a decent vampire game in general since Bloodlines?
Bloodlines was awesome, yeah, but it's way old at this point, and I don't remember anything else that's decent that came out since it.
The thing i find interesting about this thread is the initial 'lets ignore CCP/WW game because we know nothing about it' statement, followed by the number of people that have said 'underworld' would be a cool setting. kind of one and the same, as Underworld was initially written as a WW novel, with appropriate legal action launched...... . web.archive.org/web/20080212032144/http://www.white-wolf.com/News/underworldrelease.html
i look forward to seeing whatever iteration a vampire / modern supernatural mmo takes, and hope it is not just vampire. i want me a werebear
"We aren't going to ... Period. End of statement."
ya. ok. whatever.
but what do i know, i'm only a vanbois i'm told.
I've always wanted to be an vampire in MMO, one of the best idea for MMO I've ever heard. I like this kind of mythologie since my childhood and I will always like this.
Ok plain and simple. When CCP and White Wolf release World of Darkness I WILL play. Simple.
I'm old not dead. (Nov8tr is pronounced innovator)
I would love to see a World of Darkness game, where its based off 2nd edition rules and you can play werewolves. I guarentee it would have to have pvp, because making a WoD game is like putting a "EMO kidz here plz" sign up over the server. killing them would be the only joy such a game could bring.
I agree. It would nice to have a good PvP faction-based MMORPG with more than 2-3 factions. WoD would be perfect for that.
Vault-Tec analysts have concluded that the odds of worldwide nuclear armaggeddon this decade are 17,143,762... to 1.
I wholeheartedly agree with the idea of throwing in the towel on the "Why not?" idea. For a while now (if not for it's entirety) it's felt more like just rambling about stuff pulled out of a random topic generator.
Perhaps what you could write on next is things that could either help developers or players get to know more about the genre and the games and how/why certain things work. For example, an article on death systems. What are the currently used death systems out there, what are the pros/cons of them, and why are some more popular than others. This might help developers look at how and why they do death systems the way they do. Perhaps take a look at unique features that have either triumphed or failed horribly. The public quest system was introduced into Warhammer and has been a huge hit as features go, other games have already used it to enhance their own experience. The diplomacy mini-game for Vanguard was quite a novel idea as well, and while it ended up being turned to junk by poor live-team handling, it certainly started off as something that could have hooked on. What about a guide to properly dealing with the opposite sex in MMOs. Clearly it's an issue that needs to be discussed when I hear people in the general chat of the latest hit MMO telling people that "if you are a male playing a female character, you should have a name that indicates you are male behind the screen", so they can know who to hit on and who not to, of all things. They are afraid of hitting on someone of the same sex, but have no problem propositioning every person of the opposite sex they come across.
Of course, with topics like that you can't just phone-it-in either
I like them. I look forward to them like a good editorial section with a common theme. They didn't always have to do with things that I like to discuss here, but most of them were very inspiring. I hope you still do some from time to time.
Vault-Tec analysts have concluded that the odds of worldwide nuclear armaggeddon this decade are 17,143,762... to 1.
I always thought the Legacy of Kain series could be made into an MMO. There was like 12 vamp clans (hunters also) before Raziel came back. You could even have "prototype" soul reavers as something similar to a Jedi class.
I have heard of a Twilight MMO has been shopped around, but me and my Comp fund(A.K.A. change filling jar.) are waiting for WoDo
Ignoring the World of Darkness MMO is a big mistake. If it is true to the lineage of pen and paper games you should be able to play as a vampire(one of several clans), werewolf(one of several tribes), hunter, or mage. The World of Darkness pen and paper games were Vampire, Werewolf, Hunter, and Mage so I would expect to see all 4 represented by the players. As for me, I have to be true to my kin and have a Vampire avatar for the game.
Vampire Bloodlines was one of the very best action-adventure-rpgs ever!
Anyone who likes the setting should try to find a cheap version of it and install it together with unofficial patch 6.x...
This Setting translated into an MMO could be working very very well.
"Torquemada... do not implore him for compassion. Torquemada... do not beg him for forgiveness. Torquemada... do not ask him for mercy. Let's face it, you can't Torquemada anything!"
MWO Music Video - What does the Mech say: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FF6HYNqCDLI
Johnny Cash - The Man Comes Around: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0x2iwK0BKM
Hmm, vampire MMO with lots of likely hot female gamers playing? Where do I sign up?
My blog is a continuing story of what MMO's should be like.
I'd play anything even remotely to do with the LoK series. I loved those games.
Katsma is Lithuanian for 'he who drinks used douche fluid'.
Shadowbane had vampire race, that was all the vampire I ever needed in any game.
Well since it is well known that CCP is working on one, that rather deflates your article, although I am surprised they are the only developer currently doing so.
World of darkness is a lot more than just vampires but you are right, at least one game about vampires are in development,based on the original "Vampire" RPG.
I am sure we will see a few others in time, a vampire hunter game in the late 1800s would be fun to play also.
A vampire mmo would be nice if it was done well. Which would very most likely not be the case.
I want a MMO where I can play a dragon dual-wielding katana while riding a chopper.?
I would love a vampire based mmo. As long as it has nothing in common with Twilight! Twilight is an insult to vamp fans and girls everywhere!! We real vampires fans love badassity not legitimized god-mods and Mary-Sues written by a fan-girl who admits to doing no prior research on vampire legends. That is why when the Twilight fad fades into non existence, we will still be talking about Nosferatu, Dracula, and of course Lestat.
I think an MMORPG based in a Hellsing like setting would be best for all fans. If it was set around something like Ultraviolet or Underworld, then it would just turn away the girls. And if it was set more like Bram Stoker's Dracula or something mysterious and romantic then it would just be boring.
As a girl gamer, I can tell you what really pisses us off about RPGs and turns us away is how girls are portrayed, not the games itself. Take the zombie games for example or the game I am currently playing called Phoenix Dynasty. The girls are always shown wearing slutty, impractical outfits that expose a lot of skin and protects very little while the guys are always shown in cool armor and stylish hunting gear. Since only girls play the girl characters and I'm certainly not a lesbian, why would I want to spend several hours staring at the barley covered ass of another girl? (in ref to first person pov) Also there is the personality of the story line RPG characters. The girl is always either weak or needs to be rescued. Always! Take Final Fantasy for example. Even in the one game where the main character was a girl, she had to be rescued several times! (I'm talking about FFVI, not including X-2 or the more recent one, whatever it's number is)
In short, this is a girl-gamer's opinion on a vamp MMO. BTW don't believe me on Twilight? Check out this vid which shows how creepy Eward seems when paired with a practical girl. It is also a very funny and well made video lol. www.youtube.com/watch
In accordance with the prophecy, you will finish reading this sentence right now!