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Any plans in porting LORTO to consoles?
The complexity of LOTRO makes it easy to port to consoles. I think publishing LOTRO would be a good way to pull-in a potential target group, the casual console gamer. It would be a good competitor for AOC.
Comments
I like pie !
I sure hope this is not even considered (I think Turbine knows better that to even attempt something so stupid.) LoTRO would have to be dumbed down a ridiculous amount to be ported to a console.
The fact that AoC is being released on Xbox360 is a major turn off for me, and is one of the reasons why I probably won't be playing it. If it can be played on a console, it can't be that deep of a game. PC games > console games. Always.
Dumbed down games = le bore.
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I sure hope this is not even considered (I think Turbine knows better that to even attempt something so stupid.) LoTRO would have to be dumbed down a ridiculous amount to be ported to a console.
The fact that AoC is being released on Xbox360 is a major turn off for me, and is one of the reasons why I probably won't be playing it. If it can be played on a console, it can't be that deep of a game. PC games > console games. Always.
I'm pretty sure Turbine currently does not agree with the idea of making MMOGs that are console compatible. Notice that they severed their relationship with Microsoft back with AC2. Also notice that Sigil, makers of Vanguard, severed their relationship with Microsoft too, in part because Microsoft wanted Vanguard to run on the 360. Now, from reading other posts, Microsoft wants to put AoC on the 360. *shrug*
Microsoft, in my opinion, has lost it when it comes to gaming. The last thing they did right in regard to PC gaming was the Mechwarrior series. Now they've taken my beloved Shadowrun universe and made a freakin FPS out o it instead of an MMOG as it should have been. I really hate that FASA sold out to Microsoft. There is so much potential with the Mechwarrior and Shadowrun IPs and they are royally screwing the pooch. If anyone from Microsoft Gaming Studios reads this, feel free to email me and I can, in a very constructive way, tell you how to make money with those IPs. Afterall, those IPs are well-known for a reason.
"Many nights, my friend... Many nights I've put a blade to your throat while you were sleeping. Glad I never killed you, Steve. You're alright..."
Chavez y Chavez
Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but LOTR is a Games for Windows product. According to wikipedia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Games_for_windows it has to be compatible with the xbox 360 controller. So, that is about as close to the console as it will get probably. On the 2old2play.com website it says xbox360 is getting a 120 gig hdd. Wonder how big AoC will be installed on xbox 360?
I'm just glad it will work under x64 OS, slowly but surely we're getting there!
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Promote what you love instead of bashing what you hate.
I've been playing LOTRO for a bit now, and I think that it could definitely be ported to a console. What's so complex about LOTRO? It has a very easy to use interface and the graphics are nothing a 360 or ps3 couldn't handle. Not to mention, both the ps3 and the xbox 360 are mouse and keyboard compatible. Look at FFXI, a great mmorpg, and it plays very well even on the six years old playstation 2. Its too bad that more developers/games haven't followed suit.
Making MMOs more accessible to potential players/subscribers is an all around win situation. The problem is, and devs have even admitted to this, that a PC's architecture is what they know, and consoles are a different animal. They spend so much of their time and resources trying to make their game great for the PC, that they don't have any more of it to learn the architecture of a console and port their game to it.
Ive said this before, and I'll say it again: Some PC gamers (not all) have some sort of "elite" or "better-than-you" attitude when it comes to the topic of online games being multiplatformed to PC and consoles. These people want PC-exclusive games because they think they need them to help justify why their PC costs 4 times as much as a console. They would rather not play a game at all than to play a game with someone on a console. "Oh MY God! The guy next to me may be playing on a console!? I quit! I'm going to find a forum somewhere, and bitch up a storm!"
Here's Hoping that more MMOs are made for multiple platforms.
PC Gamers also have patience, consolers get home from work/school and want to play 'instantly' imagine the times when you couldnt get a group together because people keep leaving and multiply it when you have console gamers. Lest dont forget the lack of communication and the trigger happy "RUSH" attitude to games consolers have will make for shit groups and an unenjoyable time.
And last but not least, in order to make the game compatable with the 360 controller it has to be dumbed down. Do you really want that in the name of a horde of mindless apes?
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I'm against multiplatform games. It defeats of the purpose of having different platforms. I would rather have a developer focus on a single platform that they know, rather than working out all the problems of porting.
PC Gamers also have patience, consolers get home from work/school and want to play 'instantly' imagine the times when you couldnt get a group together because people keep leaving and multiply it when you have console gamers. Lest dont forget the lack of communication and the trigger happy "RUSH" attitude to games consolers have will make for shit groups and an unenjoyable time.
And last but not least, in order to make the game compatable with the 360 controller it has to be dumbed down. Do you really want that in the name of a horde of mindless apes?
What makes you think they will never communicate? As I said, the 360 and ps3 are mouse and keyboard compatible. Do you have some other way of communicating? Oh, and they also both support voice chat as well.
Your stereotype statement about PC gamers being more patient and consolers "rushing" is laughable. People leaving groups has nothing to do with the hardware they're playing on lol. There are plenty of people who play on both PC and consoles, and many of those would rather play on their console because they can use their controller in addition to a keyboard. The only mmorpg I know of that is on both PC and consoles is FFXI, and Square Enix did an awesome job. It didn't "dumb down" the experience, and grouping was certainly not "unenjoyable". In fact, when the ones playing on their console were using a keyboard (about 95% of everyone I met who said they were on a console used a keyboard, or were getting one), I guarantee that you can not tell the difference between them and a PC player.
This is what I was talking about in my previous post. A PC player with an elitist attitude comes out attacking console gamers, and would rather not play at all and complain, than to play a game with consolers. When, if they just tried it, would probably see that they were wrong.
The chance of this happening now this late in the stage of production is slim to none. I'm not trying to be a downer just being realistic. Usually multi platform games are done side by side by completely different teams but working with the same designers so the game mechanics in the end are the same.
This is not saying it can't be done but just the chances of it being done are realitively slim.
It may not seem like a complex world to you but programming wise any game made for the pc is not simply 'ported' over to a console because of the way memory is handled, register calls, GPU calls, naming conventions, code styles and sometimes even the language its programmed in are completely different. Although consoles (atleast the 360 and the Nintendo systems) are getting more and more PC like in their architecture they are still extremely limited and unflexable.
If they were to start now porting LOTR online over for say the 360 the 360 gamers probably wouldn't see the game on shelves for another year maybe more it could even be a down right disaster. MMORPG's atleast ones of any worth are going to mainly stay PC based IMO for quite sometime and thankfully so. Not that I hate consoles its just nice us PC gaming lovers get to keep something sacred for a while longer.
Please Refer to Doom Cat with all conspiracies & evil corporation complaints. He'll give you the simple explination of..WE"RE ALL DOOMED!
PC Gamers also have patience, consolers get home from work/school and want to play 'instantly' imagine the times when you couldnt get a group together because people keep leaving and multiply it when you have console gamers. Lest dont forget the lack of communication and the trigger happy "RUSH" attitude to games consolers have will make for shit groups and an unenjoyable time.
And last but not least, in order to make the game compatable with the 360 controller it has to be dumbed down. Do you really want that in the name of a horde of mindless apes?
What makes you think they will never communicate? As I said, the 360 and ps3 are mouse and keyboard compatible. Do you have some other way of communicating? Oh, and they also both support voice chat as well.
Your stereotype statement about PC gamers being more patient and consolers "rushing" is laughable. People leaving groups has nothing to do with the hardware they're playing on lol. There are plenty of people who play on both PC and consoles, and many of those would rather play on their console because they can use their controller in addition to a keyboard. The only mmorpg I know of that is on both PC and consoles is FFXI, and Square Enix did an awesome job. It didn't "dumb down" the experience, and grouping was certainly not "unenjoyable". In fact, when the ones playing on their console were using a keyboard (about 95% of everyone I met who said they were on a console used a keyboard, or were getting one), I guarantee that you can not tell the difference between them and a PC player.
This is what I was talking about in my previous post. A PC player with an elitist attitude comes out attacking console gamers, and would rather not play at all and complain, than to play a game with consolers. When, if they just tried it, would probably see that they were wrong.
People not waiting for a group to fill has nothing to do with hardware, your right, but thats not what I was insinuating. If you analyzed properly you would have seen that my point, was that console gamers play for the quick buzz, enjoyment in a few moments, it can take up to 30 minautes to fill a group if your specializing it for specific goals. Having watched my mates play with consoles, I cannot imagine them waiting that out.Many? 95%? What of the hundreds of console gamers you meet on a daily basis? More like a percentage you pulled out of your ass to argue your point.
Some... Some will have keyboards, but there will be others who do not, they will be nothing more then mindless drones stealing your kills, loot and xp.
Never played FFXI, cant debate it.
Allow me to correct you, my attitude is not elitist, it is discriminatory towards Consolers, I dont object to playing with Consolers, I object to 'paying' to play with Consolers. It is in my opinion, that consolers are trigger happy rush kids who are in it for the quick buzz, that is why consoles are designed no? Every consoler I know in RL meets that description and none of them have the patience required for a PC MMORPG.
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Well, 2004 Entertainment Software Association survey says you're wrong:
- Console Player Demographics: Seventy-five per cent of console game players are male and 25 per cent are female. Forty-six per cent are under 18 years old, 35 per cent are 18 to 35, 11 per cent are 36-45 years old, and 8 per cent are over 46.
- Computer Player Demographics: Sixty-one per cent of computer game players are male, while 39 per cent are female. Thirty-six per cent are under 18 years old, 26 per cent are 18 to 35, 14 per cent are 36-45 years old, and 25 per cent are over 46.
46% trigger happy rushy kids versus 36%. The difference is not that big.
I don't see LOTRO ever going to a console. With PCs dominating the install-base numbers versus consoles combined with the fact that LOTRO runs perfectly well on mid-range PCs, there is just no need to. MMOs don't make nice console games because of their controls, which is aside from FFXI (which does utilize a keyboard and mouse- I think) you find virtually no MMOs on consoles - especially sucessful ones. Because of this, I don't think the extra dev time to port it to 360 or PS3 (wouldn't run on any other console at this point) would pay-off.
I realize AoC is going to the 360. There can be several reasons behind this. The primary reason being that AoC is designed to run on top-end PC's only. This is bad news for a game because it doesn't spell mass-market. So they port AoC to the 360, a very successful console that can support it, thus allowing more gains to recoup the cost of developing such a technologically geared game. Combine that notion with the unique control schemes that can adapt well to a console, it could spell great success.
But as for LOTRO and many other MMOs, there is little reason to port it to a console, especially since they all pretty much use similar and complex controls that wouldn't work with consoles, and don't need to because PCs are much much more common than any console.
Well, 2004 Entertainment Software Association survey says you're wrong:
- Console Player Demographics: Seventy-five per cent of console game players are male and 25 per cent are female. Forty-six per cent are under 18 years old, 35 per cent are 18 to 35, 11 per cent are 36-45 years old, and 8 per cent are over 46.
- Computer Player Demographics: Sixty-one per cent of computer game players are male, while 39 per cent are female. Thirty-six per cent are under 18 years old, 26 per cent are 18 to 35, 14 per cent are 36-45 years old, and 25 per cent are over 46.
46% trigger happy rushy kids versus 36%. The difference is not that big.
My definition of a kid is not somebody aged 8-19. Its the personality that counts on the internet.---
Its a completely ridiculous assumption to think that console gamers have a different mindset when it comes to playing mmorpgs than a PC gamer. Its even more ridiculous when the assumption is made by someone who has never even played a mmorpg supported by both console and PC. Also, anyone that has played a mmorpg on a console knows that you need a keyboard to take full advantage of it. If you don't have a keyboard, you will surely be missing out. As for the percentage of people on consoles that use a keyboard while playing mmorpg: the percentage is probably higher than 95% for people who play for more than a month, as they soon find that they are at a disadvantage without one, and I'm not pulling that out of my ass, ass.
Back to the original topic: I highly doubt that LOTRO will be ported to any console. Although it could be, and it would be a good move IMO.
As a FFXI player myself, I'm gonna have to quote this for truth.
What platform you play on does not indicate what playstyle you have. The idea that console players get on just to get a quick "buzz"... is just ridiculous. Ever heard of the PC game Counter-Strike (or any other FPS for that matter)?
Speaking as a gamer, both PC and console, I'll say I've had way more moronic punk kids on PC multiplayer games, both MMO and otherwise, than I have on Xbox Live and PS2 online games. PC gamers have more patience? In my experience, only the adults and/or more "casual" group has any patience whatsoever, regardless of their gaming platform.
As for dumbing down for consoles, the devs do that intentionally by making assumptions on the console market. Not everyone on consoles are kids, and approximately 70% of console gamers are also PC gamers. Granted, I won't expect to be able to have a compicated control scheme like we're used to with MMOs, making multiple toolbars, macros, etc. on a console -- unless you specifically require a keyboard, which will limit the buyers on the console. As much as I enjoy my high-end gaming pc, the bottom line is sometimes I'm just not in the mood to sit in front of the monitor with a keyboard and mouse when I could be more comfortable on the couch with a controller, headset (perhaps a keyboard depending on the game) playing the game on widescreen HDTV. But that doesn't mean I want every single game to be cross-platform either. It needs to make sense. If someone can figure out a way to bring the full, unadulterated experience of an MMORPG to a console in a manner that no one in a group would actually know the difference, great, go for it. They did it with the FF MMO on the 360 and apparently did a good job of it from what I've read. AoC, we'll see once they release some details of how it will work, but they're already limiting their initial audience with high system specs, and the more casual crowd might be scared off by the more "interactive" combat, so I don't think (or at least I hope) the devs won't make the PC experience horrible just to get it controllable on the 360.