[Column] General: Divergence Online - Diversity in Gameplay

SBFord

In our latest Independency, we take a look at one of the hot up-and-comers, Divergence Online. In this first article of three, we talk with Ethan Casner about his unique vision for Divergence Online. Check it out and then leave us your reactions in the comments.

With two weeks to go on his Indiegogo campaign, Ethan Casner, the brains behind the virtual brawn that is Divergence Online, is just a hair’s breadth away from achieving his funding goal. Recently, I had the chance to talk to Mr. Casner about his game, its potential, and the more than six year Odyssey it has been to bring it to life.

Read more of Lisa Jonte's Independency: Divergence Online - Diversity in Gameplay.

mCalvert

Stop! Youre getting me hot. If this game turns out to be even 50% of whats promised it will set a new sandbox standard.

Syphun1

Are you kidding? Only 15k to get this game going? Makes me sick that Camelot Unchained needs 6mill to get going, and if they don't they'll give up on the project. If Divergence holds true to their word, this will blow all other games in this genre out of the water. 

Revofire

Originally posted by mCalvert
Stop! Youre getting me hot. If this game turns out to be even 50% of whats promised it will set a new sandbox standard.

Yes, I love the mechanics for just TAKING the land you want. That is amazing. (x

Vonatar

Isn't it full loot pvp? If so, I'm out.

Razeekster

Sounds way better than CU. How about you cover this one more now instead of spamming the newsfeed with CU which is mostly for DAoC players anyways.

Loktofeit

"If enough players make enough of a concerted effort to create and sell a brand in Divergence though, we’ll eventually give them “official” status and see about working up some original assets.”

Kudos to Ethan, as it takes a hefty  brass pair to go that route. For example, what if that massive force is the SA crowd?

 

The overall approach seems really interesting as it seems to be a regulated guild warfare system, with a base NPC guild setting to get every involved in a team from the start, but the ability to fraction off into alternate guilds. It eliminates the issue of having, for example, 5,000 players and 4,000 guilds.

 

AxiosImmortal

I'm gonna lol if this turns out to be successful compared to previous fallen MMORPGs that have spent hundreds of millions of dollars.

 

medaeus

I agree this project sounds almost to ambitious to be true... but i hope it will succeed and show all the big game developing studios out there that all that is needed is a dream and the will to accomplish something.

polySurface

This game has been in development for so long and the only game mechanic we have ever seen is a 3^rd person camera.  Ill reserve judgement when some real gameplay has been demonstrated.

Scot

Indeed, ambition does not guarantee results. But at least they are aiming high. I have to note as I am each time now, we have yet another new MMO with at least sandbox elements in the gameplay. Will there be room for this many?

psiic

I have very seriously been discussing buying a $500 or $1000 island, compared to some of the other games in the past that have offered virtal real estate his prices seem incredibly reasonable for the size of the island and what you can do with it. 

 

If the game took off the resell value could be extreme.

 

I remember the fella that bought the island in PE for 300k everyone thought he was nuts.

EthanC

Originally posted by psiic

I have very seriously been discussing buying a $500 or $1000 island, compared to some of the other games in the past that have offered virtal real estate his prices seem incredibly reasonable for the size of the island and what you can do with it. 

 

If the game took off the resell value could be extreme.

 

I remember the fella that bought the island in PE for 300k everyone thought he was nuts.

Five years ago this wouldn't have been physically possible for us, so i'm just incredibly grateful to even be able to offer such a thing to people.

And just so you know friend, this isn't World of Warcraft. If you decide that you want to market and sell your property within Divergence to another player down the line, not only will SGL not jam you up in "selling of intellectual property/accounts/etc" business, but in some cases we might even help you turn a profit.

Thanks so much for your support guys. By my calculations we might even have our first goal met before I wake up in a few hours and then it's onto our next once we have the super-secret stuff we're on right now ready to show. The further we go past the 15K the sooner that will be since I'll be basically lobbying for people to eat up their sick and vacation days to make this happen sooner than later lol

And for the record before I go, people have been asking me whether the same perks in this campaign will also be in the next and I've been telling people that some may be, but we're already at our limit on Solitus' and I can't guarantee that Vindicator and Verrator will still be available. I give it a 50/50 chance so if you're even partially interested in one, I would do it now even after the goal is met.

-Ethan

 

Caldrin

Originally posted by Syphun1

Are you kidding? Only 15k to get this game going? Makes me sick that Camelot Unchained needs 6mill to get going, and if they don't they'll give up on the project. If Divergence holds true to their word, this will blow all other games in this genre out of the water. 

he has been working on this game for years. .and at some point had to stop because he ran out of funding..

Now CU having $2 million + would mean that it wont take years as its not jsut one guy working on it and it would also mean they would not need to stop due to running out of funds.

I really like what this guy is saying and i have backed this project but i dont expect great things from one guy working from his own house and probally part time on this..

FromHell

Originally posted by Razeekster
Sounds way better than CU. How about you cover this one more now instead of spamming the newsfeed with CU which is mostly for DAoC players anyways.

 ^This, times 100

Also sick of that CU all-talk-no-show project getting spammed here all day, earning money for nothing (and the chicks for free)

Mystais

A bit concerned here.  I noticed that crafting, player housing and player cities are only listed as stretch goals.  So am I to assume they'll not be part of the game at the $15k mark?

mCalvert

Originally posted by Vonatar
Isn't it full loot pvp? If so, I'm out.

Can I have your stuff?

Alhoran

I have been following Divergence for a bit now and am completley stoked. I cant afford to help fund it yet considering all of my money and time are wrapped in my own project but dude, finally something real !!! BTW if im ever in the black at the eom then ill toss some your way LoL. Keep up the awsome work.

Xthos

I can see people being excited about CU, but I was also shocked that more of the same people were not helping this title, as it seemed like a lot of the same crowd, just different setting, and the goals were soooooo much lower.

 

I wish Ethan luck with this, be nice to see him get it done.  

Fraden

Originally posted by Mystais
A bit concerned here.  I noticed that crafting, player housing and player cities are only listed as stretch goals.  So am I to assume they'll not be part of the game at the $15k mark?

No that is not the case. If the stretch goals are not met more campaigns will be made, loans will be taken out and so forth. This isn't the end it's the beginning!

darker70

Hey guys here is an alternate take on Divergence which I'm thinking of backing,there was a KS that only asked for 25k they got 53k still very modest at the time the trolls said no chance to ambitious and like Ethan it was at that point self funded.

One year down the road that game is one of the most anticpated sandbox's of it's era with now at least 20 people working for free until release and half the team recruitted from the community,so just because a project starts small does not mean failure   and with all the crowd funding,Greenlight,GoG there is a very good chance a Indie project like this can make a splash.