Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
Where I hope Blizzard will be heading with next MMO
altairzq
Member Posts: 3,811
A sandbox?
A Theme Park?
What about both put together in the same MMO?.
If anyone can manage to do it and succeed is Blizzard. They have the talent, the money and the time. And the will to amass milions of players and money of course.
So how can this be accomplished?
The simplest way would be to have sepparate servers with different rules. I bet this is not what they would want at all, because of the added difficulty of maintaining two different versions of the code, and managing the servers.
So it must be something else. How do you make a 35yo mom, a leet PVPr 19yo boy, a RPlayer, a soloer and a grouper enjoy the same MMO? I hope this is Blizzard's challenge right now.
Comments
If your criteria is Blizzard's benchmark, they've done that with WoW.
They're going to follow Bioware's model I bet. Single player games are at a new golden age, while mmorpgs (for what some claim to be 3 gens) are all sort of the same milky gray playdoh.
Make a good console single player game, give it MMORPG elements, boom.. Finally we'll break into 4th gen MMORPGs.
I kill other players because they're smarter than AI, sometimes.
Hybrid MMO's are the way forward, quite simply because the more choice you offer in an MMO, the more potential it has to appeal to a greater audience. Therefore, I hope that Blizzard will base their next MMO on a completely different scenario (as they said they would) but include Consensual PVP,FFA PVP and PVE that interacts with both sandbox and themepark elements.
People may disagree with Blizzards present product, but no one can deny that considering all of the MMO dev companies Blizzard are most likely the only ones out there with enough resources and money to make a good well polished game. I've yet to be convinced about Bioware. Of course, any MMO company can botch their product, regardless of their past history. Just look at Brad McQuaid and Richard Garriott for examples.
Top 10 Most Misused Words in MMO's
Wow didn't really cater to all, at least you cant solo all the way to T10
But i really hope they are able to cater to all types, scalable instances for instance.
And if they are really able to do it, the rest of the dev will /facepalm again, " why didnt i think of that!" and from than on we will have another wave after wave of xxxx clone., for another 5/6 years again...
Love it...
RIP Orc Choppa
More like "why didn't I listen to my playerbase!". There have been countless good suggestions for improving MMO's, but often the devs are so stubborn that they refuse to listen.
Top 10 Most Misused Words in MMO's
Dude, I gamed with a couple that was a 35 year old woman with 3 kids from 2 different guys and her new man who was 18 and a network engineer mastermind. In the same room a 50 year old former politician would talk smack with 12 year old asian kids while me and 3 of my Wu-Tang following bretheren would sip on lattes or beer while enjoying our varied company.
WoW's a marketing masterpiece and honestly a well crafted game that DID appeal to everyone. People saying otherwise just have a wild hair up their pattoots and an inability to properly communicate introverted critiques of themselves and their relationship with a product.
I kill other players because they're smarter than AI, sometimes.
Blizzard is capable of experimenting. They have enough money to make a MMORPG with far more choices than your average "sandbox"(as defined by this community) but the problem is...they're after money.
Like it or not, they will not accept any low numbers of subs so it will catter to a larger playerbase.
That doesn't mean they'll make it easy. After all, no matter how much you bitch guys, WoW has examples of content that's extremely hard.
I'm sure there will be no implementation of:
-full loot
-open PvP everywhere
-controlled territories by clans
-manual aim
Just because it will not bring that many people in. Blizzard is here for making cash. That's why you need to pay for each expansion when other companies with lower budget are giving them for free.
Well we will probably find out in another 10 years to so (see diablo as proof) Personally I'm not too sure how many of us here will still be around when Blizzards next big thing eventually arrives so not gonna waste time even worring about it.
I love how people always single out Blizzard for being in it for the money. THEY ARE ALL IN IT FOR THE MONEY. None of these MMO games would exist if it wasn't for the money. These companies, large or small, are not developing games out of charity to make the world a better place. They are all in it for the paycheck just like Blizzard. Anyway...
One of my hopes for the new Blizzard MMO is that it has more action oriented combat. Along the lines of C9 or TERA. We have no idea whether it's fantasy, sci fi, something in between, or something completely different so it is difficult to think about what I would hope for beyond that.
IMO a sandbox and themepark mmorpg would be great if bethesda would do it, fallout 3 and oblivion for example have a main story but you can do it later on and just wander here and there while getting involved in other small side quests.
I'm playing fallout 3 and I didn't even start doing the main quest I'm just doing some side quests, at first I just went wandering around and found some building with super mutants and while inside there I found an npc that I freed then asked me to check for her friend which was taken by the super mutants (optional quest) so I went downside and found the guy being attacked by the super mutants and saved him. Helped them go outside to their town and then got another part of the quest were I could just leave them in their town or help them defend themselves against the super mutants (teaching them how to fire with the guns) so I thought them and when the super mutants came again we beat the shit outa them.
Another one is I had monday and tuesday that spent them in the aliens abduction place now yesterday and still not done I'm in the pitt town.
It's pretty open but you can always just go for the main quest and reach the end faster.
I would love Blizzard to head that direction but this is why I doubt that will ever happen. Blizzard struck a gold mine with WoW, obviously. They have their MMO forumula that worked with WoW and I doubt they will be changing it up. Of course they may consider it in order to avoid inside competition, but in the end I'm sure they'd just just a different type of MMO that would appeal to both WoW players and new players. This is often how it seems to work.
There's a difference between an indy company and Blizzard. With the help of Activision, they can blow a lot more money than a normal company.
Blizzard can experiment, go with a relatively relaxed atmosphere and even if it's not that good, they'll still make a lot of money.
An indy company doesn't work like that. It's one-shot, and if they miss it, they're done. They must work far harder than Blizzard so "money gain" is the last of their worries.
There's a difference between an indy company and Blizzard. With the help of Activision, they can blow a lot more money than a normal company.
Blizzard can experiment, go with a relatively relaxed atmosphere and even if it's not that good, they'll still make a lot of money.
An indy company doesn't work like that. It's one-shot, and if they miss it, they're done. They must work far harder than Blizzard so "money gain" is the last of their worries.
This is the part that i dont understand.
Since these indy companies know they dont have the budget, why cant they start off small? And charge a lesser fee instead of the same $15 as blizz?
RIP Orc Choppa
I personally think they will be changing it up with their new game. Just look at how gamers have reacted to the many WOW-clones that have come out over the past few years. People are tired of that type of game. If they want to play something like World of Warcraft, they can always play WOW...
Plus Blizzard has already said that their next game will be completely different.
If they could release World of Starcraft next week with working full loot open PvP rules and with best elements of FPS gaming.
The Old Republic would be everquest
Mortal online would be Ultima Online
Darkfall would be Asheron´s call
they say history repeats itself,I just have a baaaad feeling about this.
Generation P
MMORTS!
There's a difference between an indy company and Blizzard. With the help of Activision, they can blow a lot more money than a normal company.
Blizzard can experiment, go with a relatively relaxed atmosphere and even if it's not that good, they'll still make a lot of money.
An indy company doesn't work like that. It's one-shot, and if they miss it, they're done. They must work far harder than Blizzard so "money gain" is the last of their worries.
I'm sure the development process is different between large and small companies, I am just saying that the base motivation isn't. If I form a company, no matter what size (and that is my only source of income) then you better believe that no matter how much I would like to make a cool game I have to be focused on how the game can make money as I make design decisions. It is a survival thing. The game business is a creative business, but it is still a business. An awesome game does not benefit anyone if the company has to close it's doors in two months after release.
If I am more of a hobbyist (meaning I have another full-time job that pays the bills) then the game thing is a dream I am pursuing on the side. In this situation the motivation may be different.
There's a difference between an indy company and Blizzard. With the help of Activision, they can blow a lot more money than a normal company.
Blizzard can experiment, go with a relatively relaxed atmosphere and even if it's not that good, they'll still make a lot of money.
An indy company doesn't work like that. It's one-shot, and if they miss it, they're done. They must work far harder than Blizzard so "money gain" is the last of their worries.
This is the part that i dont understand.
Since these indy companies know they dont have the budget, why cant they start off small? And charge a lesser fee instead of the same $15 as blizz?
I agree 100%. I have noticed this myself. Why is it that all games have a $15 sub price? Why is it never $10 or even $5? I also don't see why they can't realize their limits and start small. Perfect the basics, and then grow from there. I would think you would get a higher sub volume. I don't know, maybe there is this perception with the masses that if the game has a lower sub price then it must not be as good as one with a higher sub price. Makes no sense to me though.
Sometimes I think the same about single player games as well though. Which is kind of why I like the idea of episodic games. They sell you a smaller chunk, then if I like it I buy the other episodes as they are released. If I don't like it then I haven't dropped $50, or sometimes even $60, on a game I will most likely never finish anyway. Episodic games haven't quite taken off like I thought they would. There's been a few, but not many.
Blizzard said it won't compete with WoW
I doubt it will even be an MMO
Diablo competes with WoW and it's multiplayer
Well shave my back and call me an elf! -- Oghren
There's a difference between an indy company and Blizzard. With the help of Activision, they can blow a lot more money than a normal company.
Blizzard can experiment, go with a relatively relaxed atmosphere and even if it's not that good, they'll still make a lot of money.
An indy company doesn't work like that. It's one-shot, and if they miss it, they're done. They must work far harder than Blizzard so "money gain" is the last of their worries.
This is the part that i dont understand.
Since these indy companies know they dont have the budget, why cant they start off small? And charge a lesser fee instead of the same $15 as blizz?
I agree 100%. I have noticed this myself. Why is it that all games have a $15 sub price? Why is it never $10 or even $5? I also don't see why they can't realize their limits and start small. Perfect the basics, and then grow from there. I would think you would get a higher sub volume. I don't know, maybe there is this perception with the masses that if the game has a lower sub price then it must not be as good as one with a higher sub price. Makes no sense to me though.
Sometimes I think the same about single player games as well though. Which is kind of why I like the idea of episodic games. They sell you a smaller chunk, then if I like it I buy the other episodes as they are released. If I don't like it then I haven't dropped $50, or sometimes even $60, on a game I will most likely never finish anyway. Episodic games haven't quite taken off like I thought they would. There's been a few, but not many.
More and more games are going multi month and lifetime subs and more and more people are using them. I do the three month sub in lotro and it cuts the price back to $9.99 a month. Son in law went for a year in Aion and is saving even more. As for the idea that cheaper rates mean a lesser game I have to say I agree with that concept. There is a reason why FTP games are FTP.
Blizzard is already making WoW more sandbox in CAT. Just check out the new Talent Tree System in Alpha.
So what makes you think the next MMO wont be Sandbox also?
Where do I hope they will head? Free Range or Sandbox.
Where do I think they will head? Heavier instancing and phasing, with centralized quest hubs and mini-games. (And I think this will be their undoing; they will rob themselves of their own crown).
So enlighten us, what sandbox features are in Cataclysm?
FTP...many are speculating that over the next couple years, WoW could lose subscribers with the release of FTP games such as Guild Wars 2 and Final Fantasy XIV, both of which have been rumored to offer Free-to-Play environments. Also, those loyal to the Diablo and Starcraft franchises may dump WoW to play their respective sequals, games that some consider to be parts of two of the best franchises in history, especially when you add the fact they'll be saving $15 a month by not playing WoW.
We all want ______.
Comon....
BE honest here: Northrend landscape in Wotlk had the best laid out open world feeling of any MMORPG these last 5 years.
Complete freedom of movement in Northrend and a fabulous designed 3D vertcial build up world ... but most importantly you can go and land anywhere (and some people found it even TOO open because for them the personal choice of flying everywhere was even too much).
Also if you read the interviews and speeches of Jeff Kaplan - as lead designer - you just know he likes the free open worlds of Azeroth, so I don't see him doing "little boxes only" things.
The new "competitors" like ST and SW , they will do the heavy instanced stuff btw (mostly for easy graphics loading). ST will not even be hurt by this as the original TV series were all about limited zones. SW will suffer from it far more as initial play will be all about planet play with zone loading (as we know from these RPG developpers).
But no, Jeff Kaplan is an assurance of having always big open world designs you can go to with background screen loading.
The dungeon and battleground instances in WOW are used for game purposes, not for lazy and lame graphics loading.
Hope so. The "Phasing" technology has me concerned, because that means more instancing, more hits upon immersion and isolation by separating folks in time and space.
I really wish they would take the stance of "this is a world, it will exist in the here and now whether your character survives or not", instead of creating an environment that is a character's sequential story-type play. Northrend felt like a stage-play to me. BC was a better expansion, IMO.