Horizons would be at the top of my list. Probably Matrix second since it is such a good IP for an MMO but they kinda missed it horribly witht he game. I'd really just want Horizons.
I never played AC (although friends have) but I did enjoy AC2. Specifically the unique classes. Throwing bees at people, rolling big boulders at people, building turrets and walls for your team to hide behind, and buffing classes that really made a difference. I understand that AC2 wasn't anything like AC besides a little bit of lore, but I'd definitely play an AC remake if it incorporated some of the great classes from AC2!
AO was another one to have some unique classes. Awesome pet classes, and the mechanics of the Trader. How cool and unique was the Trader? And the implant system was an incredible idea. But yes, the graphics, even when it first came out, were a bit off. Beautiful world, but the PC/NPCs just didn't do it for me. The random mission system made me fall in love with the idea and every game after that I have hoped and begged the higher powers to implement.
E&B with it's 3 types of experience was a great concept that definitely could have been even greater. Combat was fun and exciting, trade routes were slightly addictive, and spaceships. C'mon, spaceships man.. in SPACE! That right there is grounds for awesomeness. STO sounds like it could have some great features, but I'd love to see E&B2. Without EA. Cuz EA bites and kills anything that's good and wholesome.
DAoC I totally agree with most of what people have said. I think DAoC was the game that actually got me to enjoy PvP. Roving around with a group of friends, trying to sneak up on other roving groups. That's entertainment! The current games seem like it's either just 1 on 1 gankfests, or ZERGfest. Not to say that didn't happen in DAoC, but it seems overly prominent in recent games. I also like some of the class mechanics, although nothing was really a breakthrough like AC2 and AO classes. Still fun. The one thing that killed DAoC for me was the PvE questing... But then maybe WoW spoiled me and everyone else in this world.
I saw someone mentioned SEED. Man, what an awesome concept. It's a shame it never got further along.
In his defense, I must say as someone who did make it far enough to explore the other concepts of the game, I (and many others), found far more flaws that hindered the short list of good things that you mentioned.
I will admit though, the character creation was one of the best part about SB.....but was that a good thing?
Was amazingly diverse character creation a good thing? Well yes. It was. I'm not a fan of the "choose 1 of 4 archtypes ... now choose 1 of 3 skill trees ... now choose 8 of 30 powers ... now grind items" format. Shadowbane simply had the most diverse character building I've ever seen, and by a long shot. Was that too complex for your average gamer? Yes. Shadowbane didn't appeal to average gamers and I don't think it would have been a better game if it did.
As for the "short list of good things [I] mentioned," well, those things are huge features either never offered before, some even to this day - and others never done so well - in any game. Again, there were bugs that "hindered" the game, especially early on. I note you didn't list any of them, but it doesn't matter really. There were a few significant ones (sb.exe) and they were trivial next to the ground the game broke and the sheer fun and freedom it delivered.
I never played AC (although friends have) but I did enjoy AC2. Specifically the unique classes. Throwing bees at people, rolling big boulders at people, building turrets and walls for your team to hide behind, and buffing classes that really made a difference. I understand that AC2 wasn't anything like AC besides a little bit of lore, but I'd definitely play an AC remake if it incorporated some of the great classes from AC2! AO was another one to have some unique classes. Awesome pet classes, and the mechanics of the Trader. How cool and unique was the Trader? And the implant system was an incredible idea. But yes, the graphics, even when it first came out, were a bit off. Beautiful world, but the PC/NPCs just didn't do it for me. The random mission system made me fall in love with the idea and every game after that I have hoped and begged the higher powers to implement. E&B with it's 3 types of experience was a great concept that definitely could have been even greater. Combat was fun and exciting, trade routes were slightly addictive, and spaceships. C'mon, spaceships man.. in SPACE! That right there is grounds for awesomeness. STO sounds like it could have some great features, but I'd love to see E&B2. Without EA. Cuz EA bites and kills anything that's good and wholesome. DAoC I totally agree with most of what people have said. I think DAoC was the game that actually got me to enjoy PvP. Roving around with a group of friends, trying to sneak up on other roving groups. That's entertainment! The current games seem like it's either just 1 on 1 gankfests, or ZERGfest. Not to say that didn't happen in DAoC, but it seems overly prominent in recent games. I also like some of the class mechanics, although nothing was really a breakthrough like AC2 and AO classes. Still fun. The one thing that killed DAoC for me was the PvE questing... But then maybe WoW spoiled me and everyone else in this world. I saw someone mentioned SEED. Man, what an awesome concept. It's a shame it never got further along.
on the point of the Game DAoC ... it was dinamic in the aspect of that you could rove in brute squads as we used to call them...
pimped out gear of one party a Unit, 2 healers a tank off tank and a CC mezzer a nuker or AoE'r and so on but the beauty of DAoC every one in a brute Squad knew their Job and did it ! Zerging was still in DAoC but in a unit such of 1 or 2 groups fast pace moving around the frontier looking for prey to jump mezzz and destroy ... also i loved the crafting and campaign for your set armor even though it was not great armour it looked sweet ! ! !
i trully miss the old school DAoC ! if they can make a new engine and revamp it and have the same lands just better GRFX and have the same weapons +some new ones but different skins on the weapons it would look great...
PS : Forgive the typos.
Have played: Asheron's Call, Champions Online, City of Heroes, City of Villains, Dark Age of Camelot, EVE Online, Guild Wars, Lineage, Lord of the Rings Online, RF Online, Rohan: Blood Feud, Shaiya, Ultima Online, Warhammer, WoW and SC, BW, D1, Diablo 1 expantion, D2, D2x, Warcraft 2, & 3 !
At 12 years of age, the MMO genre can now safely dive into the vaults and start remaking the games that got us all hooked. This week, we count down the five games we think are sorely in need of a re-imagining. Along the way, hundreds of games have come and gone, but the sequel (as we explored last week) has always been frowned upon. No one wants to mow through their own audience like an escaped circus cannibal. But make no mistake. MMO years are not like human years. A 12 year old game is collecting social security checks. So what happens when a game that was once glorious no longer has an audience to cannibalize? Do you make a sequel? Do you update the graphics? Or, do you just let it die? Here at MMORPG.com, we vote remakes. It’s time for a modern, fully featured reimagining of the games that got us all started.
The two obvious choices were WOW and FFXI.Square is basically by their admittance making FFXIV so the FFXI fans have a better looking game.Blizzard? umm they are just collecting money,waiting to make a few changes and calling it it an expansion and will again rob the blind,collecting more money.
EQ2 has already made some recent changes to make an already decent looking game even better looking so they squared up.
Ultima Online i guess is another,but like DAOC i have no interest in anything related to PVP.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
Rent in some guys who actually worked on the Warhammer RPG game to remake the mechanics of the game and keep the engine and graphics. Add an actual endgame and some better RPG mechanics and youll get a huge game.
A remake of UO could be great but it could also fail miserably. The question is also if todays gamers would like it.
Didn't Champions online count as CoH2? The name and world differs but besides that are they close enough.
Everquest should be in the list too, preferably instaed of CoH. EQ2 isn't really a remake of EQ, and even if you think it is it came far too soon. But now should be a good time for a remade EQ.
However it is my opinion that remaking old games isn't the right way for the MMOs to go. We need new fresh ideas, not more of the games we already seen. If you want a good RvR game then my bet is on Guildwars 2 instead of DaoC 2.
Arenanet are working hard to evolve the MMO genre, Mythic havn't made much new stuff in a long time and while Daoc was a great game for its time i don't think a version with modern graphics could compete with GW2.
Everquest or Everquest 2 (new engine is all it needs, and maybe refined combat with chains and such). One of the more underrated games out today.
Everquest 2s engine is actually quite ok, since they updated it for multi core processors, put a lot of the workload on the GPU and updated the shader it actually look pretty good.
They could still inplement those new character models they have been talking about for years but besides that it is still one of the better looking games out there. Not in class with AoC or AION but besides them it is in class with pretty much all modern MMOs. Try a trial again and youll see.
Chains in the combat could add some fun but it actually isn't that much better. A better AI for monsters however would be a good idea.
Funny....I never played any of those MMO's, with the exception of I played City of Villians for a short time. I started with EQ and stuck with it for fours years. Which BTW, to the person who mentioned EQ... there is yet another EQ in the works as we type, Everquest Next.
I'd like to see Freelancer done as a full scale MMO instead of just a single/Multi-player game. LOVED the comms chatter (Added to immersion), missions, etc. If they redid EVE with some features from Freelancer it might actually be more enjoyable. A Space MMO that actually added the ability to dock at stations and leave your ship to do missions within the space station, visit the bar, mingle with other players, buy/sell with vendors would be awesome. Even the ability to enter planet orbits and explore the surface...even if limited would be a breath of fresh air (No pun intended).
EVE is suppose t be adding station venturing, but I don't know to what extent. Not sure on Jumpgate Evolutions features.
Love the write-up. I feel that some games do need the overhaul, but some should be left as is and perhaps a new games released under the title (UO for instance). Why not Ultima Online 2? Expand upon it and move forward.
_______
Now Playing: EQ2 Prior Games (in no order): SWG, L2, RO, PT, ROSE, CoH/CoV, AO, UO, EVE, WoW and a bunch of others. _______
The owner of the company desided he wont get rich fast with it so he sold the games assets to highest bidder, which unfortunately led to disaster called Irth Online.
I betaed Wish from the start and I'd sell my soul to devil if Wish was resurrected.
While people seek remakes they seem to forget these games are still great games. In fact DAOC is the best of its genre' to date and why i still play it. I spent years and dollars looking for a game that was half as good and i never found it. Newer isn't always better. People that refuse to play a game do to age are really missing out. With that being said i would reverse some changes made to the game over the years namely removing New Frontiers and replacing it with Old Frontiers and i would also get rid of in game maps, teleporting between keeps, etc, etc.
SWG is clearly a missing candidate for remake. I've never seen another game with such a devoted fan-base from the earlier versions. I never played it, but it looks like SOE buried it alive to try to compete with WoW. Can't say that worked, did it? ~grin~
Ken
www.ActionMMORPG.com One man, a small pile of money, and the screwball idea of a DIY Indie MMORPG? Yep, that's him. ~sigh~
oh yes! remake UO with a modern engine and I would definitely be there. I played almost every MMO out there, but I mised UO (was into Underlight and The Realm at that time).
I think this is an awesome list and agree with all your picks. You are right about DAoC particularly. I am not usually into pvp but the RvR in DAoC swept everyone up to defend their realm Spent many happy months there..
One of the elements I particularly enjoy (as a break from fighting mobs) is the crafting aspect and this has been good, bad and indifferent in so many games.. whatever the remake give us good (and useful) crafting!!
As much as I enjoy playing CoH, in my opinion it does not belong on your list. I'm sure a remake of it will be interesting if they do it right but it hasn't yet reached a point where it's been put out to pasture and needs a remake and it certainly shouldn't be higher on the list than AC.
Comments
"Ultima Online is now 12 years old and technically the genre has not only long since technically passed it, it’s lapped it a few times."
roflmao
Horizons would be at the top of my list. Probably Matrix second since it is such a good IP for an MMO but they kinda missed it horribly witht he game. I'd really just want Horizons.
Make games you want to play.
http://www.youtube.com/user/RavikAztar
Planetside all day baby.
I never played AC (although friends have) but I did enjoy AC2. Specifically the unique classes. Throwing bees at people, rolling big boulders at people, building turrets and walls for your team to hide behind, and buffing classes that really made a difference. I understand that AC2 wasn't anything like AC besides a little bit of lore, but I'd definitely play an AC remake if it incorporated some of the great classes from AC2!
AO was another one to have some unique classes. Awesome pet classes, and the mechanics of the Trader. How cool and unique was the Trader? And the implant system was an incredible idea. But yes, the graphics, even when it first came out, were a bit off. Beautiful world, but the PC/NPCs just didn't do it for me. The random mission system made me fall in love with the idea and every game after that I have hoped and begged the higher powers to implement.
E&B with it's 3 types of experience was a great concept that definitely could have been even greater. Combat was fun and exciting, trade routes were slightly addictive, and spaceships. C'mon, spaceships man.. in SPACE! That right there is grounds for awesomeness. STO sounds like it could have some great features, but I'd love to see E&B2. Without EA. Cuz EA bites and kills anything that's good and wholesome.
DAoC I totally agree with most of what people have said. I think DAoC was the game that actually got me to enjoy PvP. Roving around with a group of friends, trying to sneak up on other roving groups. That's entertainment! The current games seem like it's either just 1 on 1 gankfests, or ZERGfest. Not to say that didn't happen in DAoC, but it seems overly prominent in recent games. I also like some of the class mechanics, although nothing was really a breakthrough like AC2 and AO classes. Still fun. The one thing that killed DAoC for me was the PvE questing... But then maybe WoW spoiled me and everyone else in this world.
I saw someone mentioned SEED. Man, what an awesome concept. It's a shame it never got further along.
Was amazingly diverse character creation a good thing? Well yes. It was. I'm not a fan of the "choose 1 of 4 archtypes ... now choose 1 of 3 skill trees ... now choose 8 of 30 powers ... now grind items" format. Shadowbane simply had the most diverse character building I've ever seen, and by a long shot. Was that too complex for your average gamer? Yes. Shadowbane didn't appeal to average gamers and I don't think it would have been a better game if it did.
As for the "short list of good things [I] mentioned," well, those things are huge features either never offered before, some even to this day - and others never done so well - in any game. Again, there were bugs that "hindered" the game, especially early on. I note you didn't list any of them, but it doesn't matter really. There were a few significant ones (sb.exe) and they were trivial next to the ground the game broke and the sheer fun and freedom it delivered.
Just my .02
on the point of the Game DAoC ... it was dinamic in the aspect of that you could rove in brute squads as we used to call them...
pimped out gear of one party a Unit, 2 healers a tank off tank and a CC mezzer a nuker or AoE'r and so on but the beauty of DAoC every one in a brute Squad knew their Job and did it ! Zerging was still in DAoC but in a unit such of 1 or 2 groups fast pace moving around the frontier looking for prey to jump mezzz and destroy ... also i loved the crafting and campaign for your set armor even though it was not great armour it looked sweet ! ! !
i trully miss the old school DAoC ! if they can make a new engine and revamp it and have the same lands just better GRFX and have the same weapons +some new ones but different skins on the weapons it would look great...
PS : Forgive the typos.
Have played: Asheron's Call, Champions Online, City of Heroes, City of Villains, Dark Age of Camelot, EVE Online, Guild Wars, Lineage, Lord of the Rings Online, RF Online, Rohan: Blood Feud, Shaiya, Ultima Online, Warhammer, WoW and SC, BW, D1, Diablo 1 expantion, D2, D2x, Warcraft 2, & 3 !
#1 New Age of Camelot
Read it all here.
Dana, I really don't get your articles. They show a certain level of.. disconnect with the genre.
City of Heroes?
How about:
Star Wars Galaxies - Awesome game at start, bugs aside. Could use a revamp. Guess it's the old republic?
Everquest or Everquest 2 (new engine is all it needs, and maybe refined combat with chains and such). One of the more underrated games out today.
The rest of your list is ok...
Like Hell...
Tabula Rasa, Neocron.
/thread
Gimme back my one of a kind MMOs!
It..Burns..
The two obvious choices were WOW and FFXI.Square is basically by their admittance making FFXIV so the FFXI fans have a better looking game.Blizzard? umm they are just collecting money,waiting to make a few changes and calling it it an expansion and will again rob the blind,collecting more money.
EQ2 has already made some recent changes to make an already decent looking game even better looking so they squared up.
Ultima Online i guess is another,but like DAOC i have no interest in anything related to PVP.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
I agree on that one, it is the top of my list.
Rent in some guys who actually worked on the Warhammer RPG game to remake the mechanics of the game and keep the engine and graphics. Add an actual endgame and some better RPG mechanics and youll get a huge game.
A remake of UO could be great but it could also fail miserably. The question is also if todays gamers would like it.
Didn't Champions online count as CoH2? The name and world differs but besides that are they close enough.
Everquest should be in the list too, preferably instaed of CoH. EQ2 isn't really a remake of EQ, and even if you think it is it came far too soon. But now should be a good time for a remade EQ.
However it is my opinion that remaking old games isn't the right way for the MMOs to go. We need new fresh ideas, not more of the games we already seen. If you want a good RvR game then my bet is on Guildwars 2 instead of DaoC 2.
Arenanet are working hard to evolve the MMO genre, Mythic havn't made much new stuff in a long time and while Daoc was a great game for its time i don't think a version with modern graphics could compete with GW2.
Completely agree. I would play DAoC 2 in a heartbeat....it was why I was so excited, then ultimately let down by Warhammer Online.
I hope Mythic is reading this...
Everquest 2s engine is actually quite ok, since they updated it for multi core processors, put a lot of the workload on the GPU and updated the shader it actually look pretty good.
They could still inplement those new character models they have been talking about for years but besides that it is still one of the better looking games out there. Not in class with AoC or AION but besides them it is in class with pretty much all modern MMOs. Try a trial again and youll see.
Chains in the combat could add some fun but it actually isn't that much better. A better AI for monsters however would be a good idea.
As for EQ I am all with you.
Id be interested in a ultima re-vamp! loved the game - pvp was amazing for its time.
Agree with them all except CoH. How about a DDO remake instead?
Funny....I never played any of those MMO's, with the exception of I played City of Villians for a short time. I started with EQ and stuck with it for fours years. Which BTW, to the person who mentioned EQ... there is yet another EQ in the works as we type, Everquest Next.
I'd like to see Freelancer done as a full scale MMO instead of just a single/Multi-player game. LOVED the comms chatter (Added to immersion), missions, etc. If they redid EVE with some features from Freelancer it might actually be more enjoyable. A Space MMO that actually added the ability to dock at stations and leave your ship to do missions within the space station, visit the bar, mingle with other players, buy/sell with vendors would be awesome. Even the ability to enter planet orbits and explore the surface...even if limited would be a breath of fresh air (No pun intended).
EVE is suppose t be adding station venturing, but I don't know to what extent. Not sure on Jumpgate Evolutions features.
Love the write-up. I feel that some games do need the overhaul, but some should be left as is and perhaps a new games released under the title (UO for instance). Why not Ultima Online 2? Expand upon it and move forward.
_______
Now Playing:
EQ2
Prior Games (in no order):
SWG, L2, RO, PT, ROSE, CoH/CoV, AO, UO, EVE, WoW and a bunch of others.
_______
UO had awesome "remake". It was called Wish.
The owner of the company desided he wont get rich fast with it so he sold the games assets to highest bidder, which unfortunately led to disaster called Irth Online.
I betaed Wish from the start and I'd sell my soul to devil if Wish was resurrected.
While people seek remakes they seem to forget these games are still great games. In fact DAOC is the best of its genre' to date and why i still play it. I spent years and dollars looking for a game that was half as good and i never found it. Newer isn't always better. People that refuse to play a game do to age are really missing out. With that being said i would reverse some changes made to the game over the years namely removing New Frontiers and replacing it with Old Frontiers and i would also get rid of in game maps, teleporting between keeps, etc, etc.
Remove City of Heroes (a mindless and repetitive pve-game = awesome? come on) and add PlanetSide to that list methinks
.
http://kompaniet.mine.nu :+: #kompaniet @ QuakeNet
SWG is clearly a missing candidate for remake. I've never seen another game with such a devoted fan-base from the earlier versions. I never played it, but it looks like SOE buried it alive to try to compete with WoW. Can't say that worked, did it? ~grin~
Ken
www.ActionMMORPG.com
One man, a small pile of money, and the screwball idea of a DIY Indie MMORPG? Yep, that's him. ~sigh~
Mortal Online = UO remake.
In MY book...
1: Asheron's Call.
2: DaoC
3: Everquest
4: UO
5: SWG
oh yes! remake UO with a modern engine and I would definitely be there. I played almost every MMO out there, but I mised UO (was into Underlight and The Realm at that time).
I think this is an awesome list and agree with all your picks. You are right about DAoC particularly. I am not usually into pvp but the RvR in DAoC swept everyone up to defend their realm
Spent many happy months there..
One of the elements I particularly enjoy (as a break from fighting mobs) is the crafting aspect and this has been good, bad and indifferent in so many games.. whatever the remake give us good (and useful) crafting!!
I would really love to see a Neocron remake.
But I guess it could only happen if Black Prophecy is going to be a success and even then it isn't too probable.
As much as I enjoy playing CoH, in my opinion it does not belong on your list. I'm sure a remake of it will be interesting if they do it right but it hasn't yet reached a point where it's been put out to pasture and needs a remake and it certainly shouldn't be higher on the list than AC.