Their stance on F2P, alone, makes the game especially appealing. Absolutely love your vision and wishing you great success. Sounds like the team is determined. Build it and they will come. Bravo! On a side note, I think foliage is overrated; and thought it detracted from immersion/gameplay in EQ1 since it blocked line of sight and made the landscape look too busy. I like land, water, and trees.. Skip the foliage or represent it using textures.
No minimap = awesome. It was a pretty convenient feature when LDON launched, but before long all eyes were on the minimap instead of the landscape = lack of immersion. And no more beautiful hand-made maps were being created.
Luckily, i don't need you to like me to enjoy video games. -nariusseldon. In F2P I think it's more a case of the game's trying to play the player's. -laserit
Heading down into a dungeon that will take you a couple months or more to explore, across multiple game sessions, and your success/failure depends entirely upon how well-supplied your group is, how self-reliant they are, how relevant and talented are the members of your party
So how does that work when people log-on and log-off at different times and different places, party members just don't log on at all and you need to fill their spot with a new guy?
Sounds great in theory if you manage to keep 8 guys together and on the same schedule for 2 months. But how it would it actually work in reality?
The Camps & Caravan system we're designing will partially help with that. Players who need to miss a couple of sessions, will still be able "keep up" with the group. And with the 8 man system, a well-geared party of 6-7 can still make forward progress even if they are missing a person or two due to "life".
But this also goes back to the D&D group mentality. As well as the static group and the general "scheduling of your gameplay sessions". Since ours is not a F2P game designed for players with 15 minute time slots, but rather for those core gamers who have 2-3 hours to set aside when they want to play, the bulk of the content is designed around those players, and those are our core audience.
We talk about this in greater detail in multiple "Tuesdays With Tim" episodes over at our YouTube channel, and we also covered it in over at Theory Forge: basically, even the Heroes of the Lance went off and did things with other parties from time to time over the course of their careers. Aragorn was not JUST part of the Fellowship of the Ring; he had many adventures with many other groups BEFORE he joined the Quest. And after.
With 3-4 man overland content available (2-3 in some cases), you'll be able to go piddle around with chump change stuff in between campaign sessions, and go off and do things with other people in between your core sessions.
For what it's worth, I offer my humble opinion. Vanguard suffered from biting off way more than it could chew. I'm a fan of starting small and building on success; rather than starting huge and fighting to finish. An attitude of "it's done when it's done" leads to vaporware. Deadlines are important. Not sure which one is your philosophy.
Best of luck !! I'll keep an eye on yas.
Luckily, i don't need you to like me to enjoy video games. -nariusseldon. In F2P I think it's more a case of the game's trying to play the player's. -laserit
My thoughts precisely. How in the hell is this gonna work in actual live gameplay?
Camps & Caravans to start. But more importantly, a little old-fashioned thing called communication with your team mates and actually socializing/getting along with your fellow gamers instead of being afraid to talk or schedule anything
Their stance on F2P, alone, makes the game especially appealing. Absolutely love your vision and wishing you great success. Sounds like the team is determined. Build it and they will come. Bravo! On a side note, I think foliage is overrated; and thought it detracted from immersion/gameplay in EQ1 since it blocked line of sight and made the landscape look too busy. I like land, water, and trees.. Skip the foliage or represent it using textures.
No minimap = awesome. It was a pretty convenient feature when LDON launched, but before long all eyes were on the minimap instead of the landscape = lack of immersion. And no more beautiful hand-made maps were being created.
We're pretty stoked with the map that Joseph Bennett did for us last year. That's the only one you get when you log into the game (although we're sending out a cloth version with the collector's edition)
@Renfail ;Thanks Tim. The Camps and Caravans linked post helps.
If it all works as envisioned it could lead to truly epic and memorable adventures. Best of luck!
"Social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak when they once only spoke at a bar after a glass of wine, without harming the community ... but now they have the same right to speak as a Nobel Prize winner. It's the invasion of the idiots”
― Umberto Eco
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?” ― CD PROJEKT RED
For what it's worth, I offer my humble opinion. Vanguard suffered from biting off way more than it could chew. I'm a fan of starting small and building on success; rather than starting huge and fighting to finish. An attitude of "it's done when it's done" leads to vaporware. Deadlines are important. Not sure which one is your philosophy.
Best of luck !! I'll keep an eye on yas.
Research us. More importantly, research me, as I'm the project leader/executive producer. Most recently my wife and I just finished up three months in Spain as official resident bloggers for the Costa Brava government out of Girona, and my 15th speaking engagement at the TBEX travel blog convention on long-term social media campaigns. I'm already scheduled for the New Media Expo in Vegas in April of 2016. My day job = brand management and consultation. I have a pretty healthy track record of bringing projects to fruition within timelines
I think you'll find that our existing fanbase are more than happy with our progress so far, despite the fact we're doing this in our spare time, outside of our day jobs.
Deadlines are absolutely important. But so is understanding that sometimes, it's done when it's done. There's nothing wrong with setting deadlines, but anyone who works professionally for a living understands that sometimes you gotta say to hell with the deadline and keep polishing, even if that means a few weeks/months of delay.
Vanguard suffered from a hell of a lot more than that LOL. We all know the real story of how that went down. It had little to do with biting off more than could be chewed, and everything to do with poor project management. (and yet I still think it was one of the greatest games I've ever played despite all the bugs/issues at launch).
Cheers. A lot of hard work ahead of us still. We've also got a video somewhere that talks about the guild caravan system as well...a 6-8 group caravan rambling across the landscape, sending out scouting parties and fending off attacks as they go. Need to see if I can find where that one is buried.
It's pure labor at this point, so...lots of assholes and elbows from our end
The top article on the game's blog has the director saying "we have zero problems telling the F2P babies to fuck off, here’s a tissue, cry yourself a river"
Did he really say that? I don't mind indie devs who think they can get the sub numbers that AAA MMOs can't. But if they start with PR nightmares like this then they are not even worth to be looked at.
I think this game is off to a great start, here are some other choice quotes from the director:
"My favorite argument from the 99% instant gratification generation of hipster gamers, is that “time has shown, over and over, that a subscription model isn’t the way to go."
"everything that is currently being designed consists of single-player, on-the-rails, spoon-fed content that you can log in and play for five minutes, then log out"
"gaming enthusiasts who are more than willing to pay a monthly fee to access a game world where the pay-to-win children and their entitlement complexes are completely nonexistent"
"the modern day generation of players are the 99% entitlement brats who think they deserve a first place medal simply for existing, because mommy and daddy have told them since they were little children that they are the special flower of the universe"
The top article on the game's blog has the director saying "we have zero problems telling the F2P babies to fuck off, here’s a tissue, cry yourself a river"
Did he really say that? I don't mind indie devs who think they can get the sub numbers that AAA MMOs can't. But if they start with PR nightmares like this then they are not even worth to be looked at.
I think this game is off to a great start, here are some other choice quotes from the director:
"My favorite argument from the 99% instant gratification generation of hipster gamers, is that “time has shown, over and over, that a subscription model isn’t the way to go."
"everything that is currently being designed consists of single-player, on-the-rails, spoon-fed content that you can log in and play for five minutes, then log out"
"gaming enthusiasts who are more than willing to pay a monthly fee to access a game world where the pay-to-win children and their entitlement complexes are completely nonexistent"
"the modern day generation of players are the 99% entitlement brats who think they deserve a first place medal simply for existing, because mommy and daddy have told them since they were little children that they are the special flower of the universe"
Thank you but I already understood that this guy has Smedley's mouth and Dancey's sense of business. What could go wrong?
I think this game is off to a great start, here are some other choice quotes from the director:
"My favorite argument from the 99% instant gratification generation of hipster gamers, is that “time has shown, over and over, that a subscription model isn’t the way to go."
"everything that is currently being designed consists of single-player, on-the-rails, spoon-fed content that you can log in and play for five minutes, then log out"
"gaming enthusiasts who are more than willing to pay a monthly fee to access a game world where the pay-to-win children and their entitlement complexes are completely nonexistent"
"the modern day generation of players are the 99% entitlement brats who think they deserve a first place medal simply for existing, because mommy and daddy have told them since they were little children that they are the special flower of the universe"
One of the benefits of running my own show is that I don't have to filter, and I see no reason to tip-toe around the issues. I just say it like it is, and the whiny little entitlement brats can run home crying to mommy.
We're developing a game for adults. All of our development team still pay monthly subs for most of the games we play (even the ones that have f2p options, like SWTOR), and that's what we're developing for others to enjoy: a fully-fleshed game with an old-school subscription just as much as old-school content.
I think this game is off to a great start, here are some other choice quotes from the director:
"My favorite argument from the 99% instant gratification generation of hipster gamers, is that “time has shown, over and over, that a subscription model isn’t the way to go."
"everything that is currently being designed consists of single-player, on-the-rails, spoon-fed content that you can log in and play for five minutes, then log out"
"gaming enthusiasts who are more than willing to pay a monthly fee to access a game world where the pay-to-win children and their entitlement complexes are completely nonexistent"
"the modern day generation of players are the 99% entitlement brats who think they deserve a first place medal simply for existing, because mommy and daddy have told them since they were little children that they are the special flower of the universe"
One of the benefits of running my own show is that I don't have to filter, and I see no reason to tip-toe around the issues. I just say it like it is, and the whiny little entitlement brats can run home crying to mommy.
We're developing a game for adults. All of our development team still pay monthly subs for most of the games we play (even the ones that have f2p options, like SWTOR), and that's what we're developing for others to enjoy: a fully-fleshed game with an old-school subscription just as much as old-school content.
We're a pretty tight-knit bunch who have a hell of a lot of fun working together, so feel as sorry as you won't
Renfail, not sure if you know the Jason Appleton history, alot of people were burned by his arrogance and assholyness, so any time you say some of the things you have stated, it brings out the trolls. Personally I could care less
We're a pretty tight-knit bunch who have a hell of a lot of fun working together, so feel as sorry as you won't
Renfail, not sure if you know the Jason Appleton history, alot of people were burned by his arrogance and assholyness, so any time you say some of the things you have stated, it brings out the trolls. Personally I could care less
No idea who that is. And trolls are just part of the territory. I run into the same folks over in the travel industry as well. The ones who are on board with what we are doing and share our excitement are all that matter. More than happy to talk about our game with interested parties
For those who wanted more information on the Camps & Caravans system, I dug up one of our past live chats on it. The video is a bit crap; I was off in the middle of nowhere with a bad Internet connection, but for further reading/viewing/etc.
this could be the one, to me sounds far better than Pantheon or Crowfall, but there is really nothing here at this site except a game description so far
A nice looking game so far, but to me it looks like another niche game in the future. The problem is if folks are forced to group in a game to play it, they complain. If the group play in a game is weak they complain about that also. Hopefully they find a good balance or system that allows for both friends and lfg.
We're working hard to achieve that balance. On the one hand, we want people forming up long-term groups for the campaigns, and help those groups stay together using the camps/caravan mechanics. Same goes for guild caravans.
On the other hand, we also want to facilitate the random LFG and PUGs through our tavern-based bulletin board system where players can post their skills and looking for group/looking for more messages, as well as the general server communities and forums for additional grouping options.
Everyone starts off as Internet strangers at some point, but through continued grouping and fun together, friendships form, and grow, and suddenly you aren't strangers anymore.
As far as people complaining about being required to group, we honestly don't think this will be an issue, as we are very clearly marketing our game as a group-based MMORPG where you can't solo anything. We don't think anyone will actually ever make it so far as to purchase a copy of our game, log in, and start to play, without realizing that they are going to have to be working together with other players to work their way through game content.
If they make it that far and they haven't figured out it's not a soloable MMORPG, reading comprehension fail =P
Good luck on your game!...We are all rooting for you! I would have no issues with group based play....We did it for years in EQ until the expansions got out of hand.
Good luck on your game!...We are all rooting for you! I would have no issues with group based play....We did it for years in EQ until the expansions got out of hand.
Thanks!
I can remember group-based content from early EQ all the way up through the LOTRO Mines of Moria expansion. At some point around there was when even LOTRO gave up the ghost and caved in to allow players the glowly click-stones that gave you infinite hitpoints and allowed you to solo your way through the book quests instead of needing other players.
Sad =/
We miss the days of EverQuest and constant required grouping and community-based gaming, so we're gonna revel in it and bring our own version back!
Signed up for your newsletter and forums. If your team makes this game, I will buy it and play it. Until then I will follow it.That's the extent of my commitment. Best of luck.
Comments
No minimap = awesome. It was a pretty convenient feature when LDON launched, but before long all eyes were on the minimap instead of the landscape = lack of immersion. And no more beautiful hand-made maps were being created.
Luckily, i don't need you to like me to enjoy video games. -nariusseldon.
In F2P I think it's more a case of the game's trying to play the player's. -laserit
But this also goes back to the D&D group mentality. As well as the static group and the general "scheduling of your gameplay sessions". Since ours is not a F2P game designed for players with 15 minute time slots, but rather for those core gamers who have 2-3 hours to set aside when they want to play, the bulk of the content is designed around those players, and those are our core audience.
We talk about this in greater detail in multiple "Tuesdays With Tim" episodes over at our YouTube channel, and we also covered it in over at Theory Forge: basically, even the Heroes of the Lance went off and did things with other parties from time to time over the course of their careers. Aragorn was not JUST part of the Fellowship of the Ring; he had many adventures with many other groups BEFORE he joined the Quest. And after.
With 3-4 man overland content available (2-3 in some cases), you'll be able to go piddle around with chump change stuff in between campaign sessions, and go off and do things with other people in between your core sessions.
Best of luck !! I'll keep an eye on yas.
Luckily, i don't need you to like me to enjoy video games. -nariusseldon.
In F2P I think it's more a case of the game's trying to play the player's. -laserit
We're pretty stoked with the map that Joseph Bennett did for us last year. That's the only one you get when you log into the game (although we're sending out a cloth version with the collector's edition)
If it all works as envisioned it could lead to truly epic and memorable adventures. Best of luck!
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED
I think you'll find that our existing fanbase are more than happy with our progress so far, despite the fact we're doing this in our spare time, outside of our day jobs.
Deadlines are absolutely important. But so is understanding that sometimes, it's done when it's done. There's nothing wrong with setting deadlines, but anyone who works professionally for a living understands that sometimes you gotta say to hell with the deadline and keep polishing, even if that means a few weeks/months of delay.
Vanguard suffered from a hell of a lot more than that LOL. We all know the real story of how that went down. It had little to do with biting off more than could be chewed, and everything to do with poor project management. (and yet I still think it was one of the greatest games I've ever played despite all the bugs/issues at launch).
Cheers. A lot of hard work ahead of us still. We've also got a video somewhere that talks about the guild caravan system as well...a 6-8 group caravan rambling across the landscape, sending out scouting parties and fending off attacks as they go. Need to see if I can find where that one is buried.
It's pure labor at this point, so...lots of assholes and elbows from our end
"My favorite argument from the 99% instant gratification generation of hipster gamers, is that “time has shown, over and over, that a subscription model isn’t the way to go."
"everything that is currently being designed consists of single-player, on-the-rails, spoon-fed content that you can log in and play for five minutes, then log out"
"gaming enthusiasts who are more than willing to pay a monthly fee to access a game world where the pay-to-win children and their entitlement complexes are completely nonexistent"
"the modern day generation of players are the 99% entitlement brats who think they deserve a first place medal simply for existing, because mommy and daddy have told them since they were little children that they are the special flower of the universe"
What could go wrong?
We're developing a game for adults. All of our development team still pay monthly subs for most of the games we play (even the ones that have f2p options, like SWTOR), and that's what we're developing for others to enjoy: a fully-fleshed game with an old-school subscription just as much as old-school content.
Sign up here.
FFA Nonconsentual Full Loot PvP ...You know you want it!!
@Iselin @DMKano ;
On the other hand, we also want to facilitate the random LFG and PUGs through our tavern-based bulletin board system where players can post their skills and looking for group/looking for more messages, as well as the general server communities and forums for additional grouping options.
Everyone starts off as Internet strangers at some point, but through continued grouping and fun together, friendships form, and grow, and suddenly you aren't strangers anymore.
As far as people complaining about being required to group, we honestly don't think this will be an issue, as we are very clearly marketing our game as a group-based MMORPG where you can't solo anything. We don't think anyone will actually ever make it so far as to purchase a copy of our game, log in, and start to play, without realizing that they are going to have to be working together with other players to work their way through game content.
If they make it that far and they haven't figured out it's not a soloable MMORPG, reading comprehension fail =P
I can remember group-based content from early EQ all the way up through the LOTRO Mines of Moria expansion. At some point around there was when even LOTRO gave up the ghost and caved in to allow players the glowly click-stones that gave you infinite hitpoints and allowed you to solo your way through the book quests instead of needing other players.
Sad =/
We miss the days of EverQuest and constant required grouping and community-based gaming, so we're gonna revel in it and bring our own version back!
Until then I will follow it.That's the extent of my commitment.
Best of luck.
http://www.entropiapartners.com/?r=22415