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Really different?
Lerxst
Member UncommonPosts: 648
I don't *get* this game. I've played games before that let players customize their own rulesets for their portions of the world - Linkrealms. I'm also not seeing how this differs from a game like Minecraft that essentially accomplishes the same thing by allowing people to host their own servers; create rules for the server, plop stuff down and then let people join.
Every other portion of the game looks pretty much on par with every Diabloesque game out there, so I'm not seeing how this game is anything new or revolutionary to the MMO market.
Comments
Somebody, somewhere has better skills as you have, more experience as you have, is smarter than you, has more friends as you do and can stay online longer. Just pray he's not out to get you.
I guess the difficulty in explaining it is simply that most explanations will sound like hype.
So I'll try to hit a few of the points that are part of why its a big deal to the fan base.
I'll break it into two parts Game and Platform.
Game Wise the isometric view is reminiscent of Ultima Online, Neverwinter Nights, and Diablo.
Game play wise it is a skill based/class less system which allows for sanbox gameplay in the sense that players pick up skills/abilities a-la-carte rather than developing pre-set templates. (Similar to Ultima Online / Mortal Online).
As a persistent world, changes to the world such as player housing, are fixtures within the game world allowing players to influence the experience of other players and actively change the world.
Game lore is multiverse based allowing worlds to have any set of systems in place, magic, futuristic technology, cyberpunk, steam punk, and allowing the same player character to develop, experience and transition through all of these different genres. (Similar to something like Warhammer with Space Marines and Orcs).
Gameplay is tuned so that while PvP will not be the only ruleset available, PvP isn't an afterthought so the systems are tuned to be enjoyable to those who enjoy tactical PvP in an MMO type setting.
So part of the draw of the game is the ability for players who like RPG type games to play in a genre straddling persistent world, which caters to many playstyles including solo, cooperative, or confrontational options (PvM or PvE, and PvP)
Platform Wise
There are a few games which are modding friendly, which usually allow customization of a few rules or configuration of options to change a few options in the way the game is played.
So you could say make a few new swords, spells, and maybe change some land and call it a game mod.
Basically most of those offer content modification, but you are still playing the same game. Probably the single most important feature of the Shards Online platform is that most if not all of the systems that affect content, are replaceable. Not just configurable, but completely replaceable. So if you want to turn it into an isometric shooter like an updated version of Ikari Warriors, you can do it. You want to make something completely different like a multiplayer tactical adventure similar to Commandos, you could do that too. And more importantly you don't have to reverse engineer anything, or learn a degrees worth of programming to do it.
I have a hard time seeing something that allows players to have almost 90% control of the game code as a gimmick.
In other words, players who host shards, will be able to do the live interaction that everyone wanted from GMs with all previous games, but shards will be almost 100% customizable and interactive.
Small Example:
A Gm hops in the body of a titan...goes on a rampage, the server is alerted which leads 200 or so players to try to take the GM down, The GM annihilates a small village while the players are whackin away...GM Titan eventually goes down, players get special rewards for this totally live unscripted random event.
NOT A GIMMICK...as its already been demonstrated quite a few times.....as seen HERE
I think quite the same. maybe not every new game is like this, but many compete for the same spot in the mmo-market
@Logrus_CS
You have some valid points, but maybe you´re not objective enough als part of the development team
Since this game got started with Kickstarter, what´s really new? When will it release?
What will a player have to pay? And what you get for it?
and as a sidenote: (Your Overview page here doesn´t list much info at all. Community Management seems lacking,too)
I like the idea, but this will never become the next UO. I liked Divinity: Original Sin.. ofc turn-based. But something like this Online would be great!
Then there is Albion Online ,which can deliver many (most) aspects of ShardsOnline much earlier and seemingly better grafics. Also you have one Masterserver, so servers will not be empty. ShardsOnline splits the playerbase in many Mirrorworlds and every world has other rules.
And for RPG lovers there is SwordCoastOnline which will also have a fast and easy DM-tool(!) and pretty much looks like a NWN upgrade, that might cost ShardsOnline much potential playerbase, too.
Actually for our community/playerbase there just isn't really any competition out there. There are similarities but its like comparing fruit juice with fruit punch. There are a games which have similarities with some of the features of Shards Online, but that's the limit.
It does get a bit difficult trying to explain stuff as part of the dev team, because many of the things we are doing may seem like hype.
Haven't set the final release price, but for our KS crowd the entry was $20 for a digital copy of the game.
Which you can then play on our official Citadel worlds, or community run worlds. Or you can run your own world.
What's really new?
Well every game is going to put their own spin on levels/skills/combat etc and claim it as new. Of course for our core game we have our own which while different from everyone else is like a different make and model of car. No matter who does it or whats under the hood, its still a car/
One of the things we are working on in our game world is to make it more of a on the live simulator than script driven events and rehashes. So events have persistent impact on the game world. If you kill the blacksmith in a town, well another one isnt just going to spawn. That town has lost its blacksmith until either one of the apprentices steps up if he has any or the town sends for a new one and he journeys from the city out. And then expect him to have different skills and offerings from the original blacksmith.
Or you could waylay lumberjacks so that you can sell your wood to the carpenter at higher prices.
Most of the systems and frameworks we are developing are targeted at true sandbox game play overall, not just limited to character development.
Platform wise, the mod capability we are putting in, simply goes beyond any game planned or produced.
And that is why it sounds like hype.
Most games simply offer you the ability to change some of the rules of how the game is played, or change items, creatures or objects in the game. Essentially allowing you to swap functions around to make something new from old parts.
With Shards, you have access to all our stuff, but you also can change, create, or throw away all our systems.
You can change it from skill based to level based, or class based. You can change it from fantasy to high tech. If you'd rather have superheros than knights, you can do that.
Or better yet, why not make it a Soccer game. Or a turn based strategy or adventure game. Yes you can do that.
We are a small dev group so most of our community activity takes place on the ShardsOnline.com forums and IRC channel. I occasionally get a few extra cycles and run over here to check in.
Forgot to add, the popularity of Shards, is mostly due to the community, not the hype. They have been involved with play tests, improvements and development paths. So they are as invested in us as we are with them.
I had to spend some time looking at the other titles in more detail.
Graphics wise Shards, SCL, Albion, and even Divinity, all have different styles. As to the detail and levels, I'm pretty sure that we are on par with those. Which unless you are looking at a capture from a broadcast stream I'm not sure how that comparison even came up as Shards graphic levels being lower.
Most of the SO community has been confused by that mention and where people are getting that idea from.
I suspect its less the in-game graphics and more the look of the UI. We haven't spent much time on the polish of our UI. We have established functionality and tried to make it as unobtrusive to gameplay and immersion as possible. The polish will come later.
I think that there's also confusion in mention of things like a DM tool. Yeah we've got one of those too (there's even a mention and feature demonstration in our Kickstarter updates from last year) which works in conjunction with some of the God powers available to people running their own worlds. Shards modability isn't determined by the DM tool or the God powers. Those are just convenient interfaces to some of the things they may want to do. They can also create their own god powers, they can do expected stuff like create custom spells or abilities like most games, or they can create ability,combat, magic or skill -systems-. Have yet to see -anyone- offer that.
And just to kick it up a bit more, lets create that level, in a persistent world.
We don't expect Shards to be for everyone, but there's really no competition out there. I really expect there will be many of our community playing Shards AND the games people bring up as competitors, rather than Shards OR those games.
The difficult sell, isn't what Shards offers, its getting people to realize that the hype, isnt really hype.
thx @Logrus for your answers.. a developer looking into other games for comparisonis a good sign^^
just a fresh example of a new game advertising itself here.. not even pictures yet!! :
Land of Britain (LoB)
Land of Britain: Wrath of The North is a fantasy world in which 3 realms face each other in order to survive. The unique gameplay rules create a reality that changes in which the characters will live their adventures facing the challenges with their own play style.
It would be nice if Shards Online the game portion was something that would appeal to everyone but that's a claim that nobody playing should make.
I think you misinterpret my purpose. You won't hear me saying SO is the best thing since moving pictures, though some people may think so.
It's pretty much a waste of time comparing a game by advertising features as opposed to system features. If there are features you specifically wan't that aren't there, then that's just not a game you're going to play. I wouldn't try to sell it to you either.
And we're not making a game for most players. I think there are enough WoW clones out there for "most" players what we are doing is making a game we would enjoy, and at the same time building in the capability for others to take our work and reasonably easily change it into something they would like to build for themselves.
A large portion of our community (especially the forum active community) are from some of the older game titles like NWN or UO. While the games may be older, the reason they are still around is simply because there has been nothing to date which rivals the gameplay those offered during their lifespan. I If similar gameplay systems don't appeal to you, I wouldn't try to sell you on SO.
PvE/PvP is by region or by shard or completely open. Those are our base options. So you can pick which ruleset you prefer and take it from there. Though PvP is weighed heavily in certain design aspects, there are people who just don't like it at all.
Basically what you've said along with your example, is a number of features that you like or dislike, which is why you wouldn't play Shards. Those features you like are the features of 99% of every other RPG, MMO out there that may even be in shadow of the genre. Which is simply because they are -class based- -level based- -quest based etc.
We aren't trying to sell oranges to apple lovers.
We simply don't have any competition because everyone else is selling apples.