Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
AAA polished sandbox
lectrocuda
Member Posts: 604
To a degree that term is somewhat subjective but if we ponder its generic inferrence something striking grabs my attention. The sheer abundance of dilapidated, cookie cut , strucrural reproductions. Even SWTOR to a significant degree characterized this by its sheer foundation.
So with the understanding that new and improved does not dominate markets and that new and different has the most probability of being financially rewarding, why do we continue to get slight adaptations of previous installments into our genre?
To the caterpillar it is the end of the world, to the master, it is a butterfly.
Comments
Because it is expensive and you don't want to risk huge amounts of money? Generally, if you're an investor, you'd want to put your money on something that is proven to turn profit.
I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been -Wayne Gretzky
Big Money thinks that the EQ/WoW formula is what makes the genre... perhaps it is. Maybe we don't need MMORPGs anymore, that is, if the RPG side of it is going to be total shit.
Writer / Musician / Game Designer
Now Playing: Skyrim, Wurm Online, Tropico 4
Waiting On: GW2, TSW, Archeage, The Rapture
If you want something different, then go play something different. Here, I'll give you the link:
http://uwo.netmarble.com/
If you want to argue that all MMORPGs are WoW-clones except for the ones that you're ignoring because they're not, then the problem is obvious.
I think they are more into agruments, forum first, snarky posts than actually playing games.
Epic Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAigCvelkhQ&list=PLo9FRw1AkDuQLEz7Gvvaz3ideB2NpFtT1
https://archive.org/details/softwarelibrary_msdos?&sort=-downloads&page=1
Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you playing an MMORPG?"
I agree that you should go play something different. You can join me in www.mortalonline.com
Some games are only worthy of being ignored. Pay-to-win games like that, and open PvP like MO (with visual epeen to boot!), etc.
So it's Themeparks or some other crap, that's our choices? (Or Eve, but that's space ships.)
We're just....
Once upon a time....
Yeah, but they also want something good, too.
It has some bugs and things that are underdeveloped but we arent talking about that. I'd play mortal, or eve, or darkfall 1.0 any day of the week over games like WoW, Rift, GW2 or SWTOR.
The fantasy MMO genre has become a corporate adventure. When stock holders become less important than end-users, we won't see anything 'breaking norm' for a while. Unless you want to drop the AAA and head with indie developers. That tends to be your best bet.
NCsoft can really capitalize now by bring ArcheAge to NA/EU. That would fit your vague description of a AAA polished sandbox.
Played - M59, EQOA, EQ, EQ2, PS, SWG[Favorite], DAoC, UO, RS, MXO, CoH/CoV, TR, FFXI, FoM, WoW, Eve, Rift, SWTOR, TSW.
Playing - PS2, AoW, GW2
also there is EVE online.
one of the most successful MMOs, and considered by most to be what you would probably refer to as a "sandbox" game.
AAA Sandbox ?
Well since UO is ancient and SWG is not operating anymore.
That leave you with:
EvE which is closest to AAA Sandbox you can get atm.
Aside of that you might want to wait for ArcheAge.
It will be sandbox-light mixed with themepark and yeah AAA thing.
-------------
Apart of that. Nothing.
Well there is UWO - but I definately do NOT conisder it AAA.
ONE which had a really rough start and took years of hobbiest support to reach the pinnacle point of it's success. People always seem to forget Eve's beginnings weren't all that different than something like Darkfall. If EVE was facing this same crowd/atmosphere back in the early 00's it wouldn't be where it's at today.
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
Archeage is being developed and published by XL Games.
The games that NCsoft is publishing in the near future are Blade & Soul made by Team Bloodlust and Guild Wars 2 made by Arenanet.
I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been -Wayne Gretzky
There was a rumor that Ncsoft was picking up AA to bring it to NA, with some evidence to back it up.
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
Really...? I wonder if ithe localization is done by NCWest?
I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been -Wayne Gretzky
I've played for nearly 8 months, spent exactly $10 in that time, and am not crippled at all by not spending more money. If you want to be a pirate, then yeah, it's pay to win, or perhaps rather, pay to have a much better shot at winning. But if not, then it really isn't pay to win at all. Maybe pay to have the option to skip some content, but that's about it.
The message there is that if you don't support a game that has great potential but also lots of rough edges, then you never get to see that potential realised.
Give me liberty or give me lasers
thr rumor is ncsoft is publishing for EU not NA.
Just going through the list of sandbox games here: http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/349518/page/1 I find a few things interesting.
I maintain this List of Sandbox MMORPGs. Please post or send PM for corrections and suggestions.
Well lets just take a look at their cash shop...
- Enables increase in speed by 30% for 7 days.
- Allows player to avoid all battles for 1day.
- You can selectively pick-up items, and Bank stores your items for 1 full year.
- Durability 120
- Vertical Sail +26
- Horizontal Sail +30
- Turn Speed -1
- Durability: 100
- Armour: +18
- Ship Speed: -12
as a base.
- Single use, non-tradable
- Cannot be used to defect to Osman Empire
- Cannot be used from the capital of user's current nation
- Players must use the item in the nations capital they wish to transfer
- Sex : Male / Female
- Durability 60
- Disguise Level 30
- Attack 22
- Defense 12
- Sword Mastery +1
- Swordplay +1
- Throwing +1
- Redesign can be performed.
- Single use, non-tradable
Once upon a time....
But if hardly anyone uses the cash shop, is it even an issue?
Plus you paint yourself as a target to everyone. From what I hear from the guys over at Tank Wars, anyone who uses the p2w cash shop is immediately zerged.
Plus whatever "win" you buy will have the caveat: "you only won because you bought from the cash shop, therefore you have no skill."
Even with all that, I can still see a cash shop's usefulness. ie the +100% xp potions for an hour on GW2 would be very handy for when I'm busy with real life and only have 5-6 hours to play for the week.
Taru-Gallante-Blood elf-Elysean-Kelari-Crime Fighting-Imperial Agent
Man, I've disagreed with you with alot of things on these boards, but I'm aboard with you 100% on this.
"I have only two out of my company and 20 out of some other company. We need support, but it is almost suicide to try to get it here as we are swept by machine gun fire and a constant barrage is on us. I have no one on my left and only a few on my right. I will hold." (First Lieutenant Clifton B. Cates, US Marine Corps, Soissons, 19 July 1918)
If people can buy an advantage they will use it. And you only need one to ruin it for the rest. Noone should start with more money in Monopoly, noone should start with front row full of queens in chess etc.
I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been -Wayne Gretzky
And yet Quizzical here is one of the "rest", and is saying that the game isn't ruined for him. What exactly are you claiming? That all of the people who spend little or nothing in a P2W game are actually playing a ruined game and just won't admit it?
Good analysis Larsa. I find it odd that when you go to non-MMO, you get all kinds of sandbox games, so I'd be inclined to agree that developers are in the rut of trying to capture the lightning in a bottle by imitating WoW. The market for sandbox is there I think (That's certainly what I look for in new games MMO or not, but I'm just one guy), someone just needs to pull their heads out of WoW model and fill it.