I really enjoyed Seed and absolutely loved the concept. It would have been incredibly cool if they could have kept going and were actually able to improve on it. They would have needed more mini games and a better reason to play them. Give the players objectives to complete and unlock areas and functions based on the players "work".
I can think of two other games that have slightly similar pieces. Horizons (or whatever it's called now.. Istaria?) had community projects requiring crafters, and Puzzle Pirates which provides mini-games to do all sorts of things like make a ship sail faster, create items, etc.
Note that the developer for two of the games on this list is NCSoft. That says something, no matter how you look at it and, of course, people are very likely to argue that developers merely provide the cash. For those with those blissfully ignorant dreams...yes, of course, developers only provide the funding.
I thought NCSoft was the publisher, the people that made Crackdown made APB, or did I get that wrong?
No you're right, but the first Crackdown is garbage compared to 2, hence why they chose another company to make it. Crackdown was the only game Realtime Worlds can ever say they're proud of. APB was just poorly developed and had way too much cash pumped into it. Not even the best customization system could save it.
I second this missed game. Maybe it didn't make the list because the servers have been running for a while, even still today? Just no support or new content. To bad also, I'd still be playing it from launch.
I was just about to post that you can still play Spellborn as a free MMORPG, but I just found out it closed down a couple weeks ago. What a shame. Combat in that game was so fun. That game had many positive points. Too bad it didn't have good support to keep it growing.
I also have to throw in my support of Asheron's Call 2 and Earth & Beyond since people are talking closed games. Loved those two games.
Say what you will about AOC and WAR at least they are viable and even if perhaps not succesful or in some peoples opinion (including mine) even enjoyable games at least they manage to keep them running and somewhat profitable (or at least sustainable).
APB however was is not even 3 months old and RTW goes bust. this means that the game had exacly 0% chance of succcess barring a GTA , HALO or WOW type launch (and this simply does not happen in the real world all that often no matter who is behind it). The fact that they were clearly not able to raise funding to pay the employees a mere 2-3 months into launch means they had no post launch strategy and were essencialy doomed from the get go.
At the end Tabula Rasa was a perfectly decent and playable MMO. It wasn't perfect by any means but it certainly was as good if not better than some of the dreck that is still out there. I agree with those that think NCSOFT shut it down because it wanted to. It certainly didn't recoup its investment, but it could have survived quite well as F2P and at least brought SOME money in. Maybe they will bring it back to do just that. After all they have some legal bills to pay now that they lost the suit with Garriot. ;-)
I know that some of you out there are going to say that we’ve been giving too much attention to the upcoming game from the folks at Realtime Worlds that promises to be the, at least, spiritual MMO successor to the phenomenally popular Grand Theft Auto franchise, but I think we’ve been spot on in seeing this game’s potential."
Hate to say some of us told you so Jon... but we did.
I'd disagree - APB had tremendous potential. And it had a couple amazing systems (the customization and the music bits). It just horrifically failed to deliver as an actual shooter.
And god I still miss Auto Assault. Such a good idea, that no one played.
Who am I? @Lorechaser on CoH Badjuju, Splinterhoof, Plainsrunner on WoW (Moonrunner) Shyy'rissk on SWG (Flurry) ClockworkSoldier, HE Pierce, Letnev on Planetside Gyshe, Crucible, Terrakal on DDO And many more.
I liked Tabula Rasa and didn't want to see it's death. If I hadn't been focused on WoW, TR definitely would have been my go to game.
My co-worker was the same way with Auto-Assault. I think it's a shame when good games die quickly. It's a shame because it seems like these good games get punished for believing in themselves and running on the idea that they will succeed and they will have a good turn out.
I can't believe I wasted my money on that game... it makes me sad and upset, I should get a refund because I only played it three times. Lastly if they went F2P I'd be playing it right now, micro transactions would have saved APB in the long run.
Yes even through TCoS when on for over a year it definately deserves a spot here,way better than the hyped ABP... innovative beyond many games with its combat system - AoC is the only other game that gets close to breaking the 1,2,3,1,2,1,2 combat style.
EivilSar, Deathhand of International Spellborn PvP
I played AutoAssault trial. But I just couldn't get to know what to do. Maybe I didn't spend enough time.
As for other games, I would also include some major upgrade as a death of a game (SWG CU+NGE = Death of original SWG), but that's another debate probably.
Fury was not that good. I had a computer that exceeded recommended requirements and it still ran sluggish. The combat is weird and unbalanced. The game is only spam skills.
Since people are bringing up games that never made it to release I would like to add Wish onto the list. It had some awesome pre-trammel uo potential.
Bet you didn't know that the OP was a developer of WISH.
WHAAATT!! Time to hound the hell of him. I still wonder to this day why in the hell they decided to close the doors while in beta. The game was freaking awesome! I loved those GM Events. I still remember when one of them interviewed me after a goblins raided the starter town. I was awed when they had quoted what I said and put it in the in-game newspaper. BRING IT BACK!!
If I remember correctly, it basically boiled down to the funding dried up. But I'm sure Jon (Stradden) Wood will fill ya in if you PM him .
-Letting Derek Smart work on your game is like letting Osama bin Laden work in the White House. Something will burn.- -And on the 8th day, man created God.-
I still miss Auto Assault. Did the beta. Thought it was good enough that I went ahead and did the pre-order for the collector's edition. Then again, I had been hard into Car Wars from the start. The complaints about being in a vehicle annoyed me - much as the crap with needing a human avatar in EVE annoys me.
Much like EVE is the closest I can get to Traveller, AA was the closest I could get to Car Wars. With all the garbage being put out these days, it would be nice to be able to get back to some of the RPG roots. Then again, I'm just an old fart and that stuff would not sell to the ADHD twitch kiddies that pay the rent for the game companies...
I miss the MMORPG genre. Will a developer ever make one again?
Originally posted by ArcanaJ "...just over half as few days..." Dude, really?
I was thinking just the same thing.
As for the NCSoft comments, they make a great deal of their money from eastern games, and they do axe a fair few games, but they also gives developers who may not be able to fund their own ventures the ability to try. APB did not fail because NCSoft published it. APB failed because APB was terrible and people did not like it. They should be glad they got the chance to try the game.
Look at Arenanet. NCSoft helped them get going when those people left Blizzard. They would have had a much harder time of it without that help. They made a good game, and people purchased it and played it. NCSoft kept the game alive and even helped Anet put out two lateral releases for the franchise, an expansion, and now a sequel. They do not exert too much creative control over the games themselves, but they know a lemon when they see it and they axe the thing.
There is no shame is realising that the thing you helped create is awful and putting it to sleep.
"Gamers will no longer buy the argument that every MMO requires a subscription fee to offset server and bandwidth costs. It's not true you know it, and they know it." Jeff Strain, co-founder of ArenaNet, 2007
The only one that shouldn't have close was Tabula Rasa. It wasnt my kind of game, but it wasn't fail material.
Fury was terrible. It was just a first person/3rd person shooter with magic. You could never get hits in with your sword.
Autoassault should have thought it all the way through, being in your car 99% of the time doesn't make any sense. But theres probably other stuff going on with that,
With APB, I saw that coming from a mile away, jsut not so soon.Ever since I played the beta, I said over and over that the only people that would keep playing that game are people who never played games before and hardcore pvp lovers that arent aware of many other online games that let you play online for free. (GTA4's online). Every mission type for both sides were exactly the same. Go somewhere and Press F, dont get killed by the other side. Thats it.
There was nothing in that game worth spending 50 dollar for not mention the subscription it thought it deserved. Even the character customization people blindly rave about is crappy. Come on. All you did was paint over clothing. The symbol maker was neat, but still, you're designing anything. You're just recoloring at an advance level.
In my opinion though, I really think NPCs that you fight against would have helped. It didn't help CrimeCraft though, so I don't know. Maybe if it were actually like GTA (which it was. cars and crime doesnt = GTA) or saints row, and had the various mission types those games have (adapted for online play of course) I think it would have done alright. but I guess they just wanted a pure deah match game in a city setting for some weird reason.
great list. I chuckle when I think of the meetings that when on with some of these games. The conversations now would be priceless. Hindsight is ...well you know. Too bad about APB, wish it would have been more like massive multiplayer cops and robbers.
Of all these game I have only played Tabula Rasa. The game did have some minor flaws in game play but then again I was playing Beta. I had made plans on buying the game but before I was able to justify the purchase with my wife it was gone. I thought the general mechanics of the game where good and the game play was fast enough and just as deep as most MMO games out right now. Who know maybe some time in the future we may see a rebirth of the game. I for one think it would be a good thing. Also if people (not just the players but the financiers also) would be patient and the game developers would learn how to keep the games quiet until they are ready to go into the last phase of beta the gaming comunity as a whole would likely see a rise in the overall quality of games that are produced and eventualy released.
Comments
lol i can just picture some poor shmoe outside the vine buying this.
I really enjoyed Seed and absolutely loved the concept. It would have been incredibly cool if they could have kept going and were actually able to improve on it. They would have needed more mini games and a better reason to play them. Give the players objectives to complete and unlock areas and functions based on the players "work".
I can think of two other games that have slightly similar pieces. Horizons (or whatever it's called now.. Istaria?) had community projects requiring crafters, and Puzzle Pirates which provides mini-games to do all sorts of things like make a ship sail faster, create items, etc.
No you're right, but the first Crackdown is garbage compared to 2, hence why they chose another company to make it. Crackdown was the only game Realtime Worlds can ever say they're proud of. APB was just poorly developed and had way too much cash pumped into it. Not even the best customization system could save it.
I was just about to post that you can still play Spellborn as a free MMORPG, but I just found out it closed down a couple weeks ago. What a shame. Combat in that game was so fun. That game had many positive points. Too bad it didn't have good support to keep it growing.
I also have to throw in my support of Asheron's Call 2 and Earth & Beyond since people are talking closed games. Loved those two games.
There is a whole slew of gramatical errors in this article...I thought MMORPG.com had editors?
Say what you will about AOC and WAR at least they are viable and even if perhaps not succesful or in some peoples opinion (including mine) even enjoyable games at least they manage to keep them running and somewhat profitable (or at least sustainable).
APB however was is not even 3 months old and RTW goes bust. this means that the game had exacly 0% chance of succcess barring a GTA , HALO or WOW type launch (and this simply does not happen in the real world all that often no matter who is behind it). The fact that they were clearly not able to raise funding to pay the employees a mere 2-3 months into launch means they had no post launch strategy and were essencialy doomed from the get go.
At the end Tabula Rasa was a perfectly decent and playable MMO. It wasn't perfect by any means but it certainly was as good if not better than some of the dreck that is still out there. I agree with those that think NCSOFT shut it down because it wanted to. It certainly didn't recoup its investment, but it could have survived quite well as F2P and at least brought SOME money in. Maybe they will bring it back to do just that. After all they have some legal bills to pay now that they lost the suit with Garriot. ;-)
I'd disagree - APB had tremendous potential. And it had a couple amazing systems (the customization and the music bits). It just horrifically failed to deliver as an actual shooter.
And god I still miss Auto Assault.
Such a good idea, that no one played.
Who am I?
@Lorechaser on CoH
Badjuju, Splinterhoof, Plainsrunner on WoW (Moonrunner)
Shyy'rissk on SWG (Flurry)
ClockworkSoldier, HE Pierce, Letnev on Planetside
Gyshe, Crucible, Terrakal on DDO
And many more.
What?
He pointed out a typo in the article?
I liked Tabula Rasa and didn't want to see it's death. If I hadn't been focused on WoW, TR definitely would have been my go to game.
My co-worker was the same way with Auto-Assault. I think it's a shame when good games die quickly. It's a shame because it seems like these good games get punished for believing in themselves and running on the idea that they will succeed and they will have a good turn out.
I can't believe I wasted my money on that game... it makes me sad and upset, I should get a refund because I only played it three times. Lastly if they went F2P I'd be playing it right now, micro transactions would have saved APB in the long run.
Yes even through TCoS when on for over a year it definately deserves a spot here,way better than the hyped ABP... innovative beyond many games with its combat system - AoC is the only other game that gets close to breaking the 1,2,3,1,2,1,2 combat style.
EivilSar, Deathhand of International
Spellborn PvP
I think Vindictus will be on this list soon.
I played AutoAssault trial. But I just couldn't get to know what to do. Maybe I didn't spend enough time.
As for other games, I would also include some major upgrade as a death of a game (SWG CU+NGE = Death of original SWG), but that's another debate probably.
Fury was not that good. I had a computer that exceeded recommended requirements and it still ran sluggish. The combat is weird and unbalanced. The game is only spam skills.
If I remember correctly, it basically boiled down to the funding dried up. But I'm sure Jon (Stradden) Wood will fill ya in if you PM him .
-Letting Derek Smart work on your game is like letting Osama bin Laden work in the White House. Something will burn.-
-And on the 8th day, man created God.-
I still miss Auto Assault. Did the beta. Thought it was good enough that I went ahead and did the pre-order for the collector's edition. Then again, I had been hard into Car Wars from the start. The complaints about being in a vehicle annoyed me - much as the crap with needing a human avatar in EVE annoys me.
Much like EVE is the closest I can get to Traveller, AA was the closest I could get to Car Wars. With all the garbage being put out these days, it would be nice to be able to get back to some of the RPG roots. Then again, I'm just an old fart and that stuff would not sell to the ADHD twitch kiddies that pay the rent for the game companies...
I miss the MMORPG genre. Will a developer ever make one again?
Explorer: 87%, Killer: 67%, Achiever: 27%, Socializer: 20%
I was thinking just the same thing.
As for the NCSoft comments, they make a great deal of their money from eastern games, and they do axe a fair few games, but they also gives developers who may not be able to fund their own ventures the ability to try. APB did not fail because NCSoft published it. APB failed because APB was terrible and people did not like it. They should be glad they got the chance to try the game.
Look at Arenanet. NCSoft helped them get going when those people left Blizzard. They would have had a much harder time of it without that help. They made a good game, and people purchased it and played it. NCSoft kept the game alive and even helped Anet put out two lateral releases for the franchise, an expansion, and now a sequel. They do not exert too much creative control over the games themselves, but they know a lemon when they see it and they axe the thing.
There is no shame is realising that the thing you helped create is awful and putting it to sleep.
"Gamers will no longer buy the argument that every MMO requires a subscription fee to offset server and bandwidth costs. It's not true you know it, and they know it." Jeff Strain, co-founder of ArenaNet, 2007
WTF? No subscription fee?
I played all of these games except for SEED.
The only one that shouldn't have close was Tabula Rasa. It wasnt my kind of game, but it wasn't fail material.
Fury was terrible. It was just a first person/3rd person shooter with magic. You could never get hits in with your sword.
Autoassault should have thought it all the way through, being in your car 99% of the time doesn't make any sense. But theres probably other stuff going on with that,
With APB, I saw that coming from a mile away, jsut not so soon.Ever since I played the beta, I said over and over that the only people that would keep playing that game are people who never played games before and hardcore pvp lovers that arent aware of many other online games that let you play online for free. (GTA4's online). Every mission type for both sides were exactly the same. Go somewhere and Press F, dont get killed by the other side. Thats it.
There was nothing in that game worth spending 50 dollar for not mention the subscription it thought it deserved. Even the character customization people blindly rave about is crappy. Come on. All you did was paint over clothing. The symbol maker was neat, but still, you're designing anything. You're just recoloring at an advance level.
In my opinion though, I really think NPCs that you fight against would have helped. It didn't help CrimeCraft though, so I don't know. Maybe if it were actually like GTA (which it was. cars and crime doesnt = GTA) or saints row, and had the various mission types those games have (adapted for online play of course) I think it would have done alright. but I guess they just wanted a pure deah match game in a city setting for some weird reason.
mmorpg.com stuff ran out of ideas for fresh articles?
great list. I chuckle when I think of the meetings that when on with some of these games. The conversations now would be priceless. Hindsight is ...well you know. Too bad about APB, wish it would have been more like massive multiplayer cops and robbers.
I miss Tabula Rasa. Is there no way to play it now? No secret, private server somewhere? They should just make it ftp with an item shop...
Of all these game I have only played Tabula Rasa. The game did have some minor flaws in game play but then again I was playing Beta. I had made plans on buying the game but before I was able to justify the purchase with my wife it was gone. I thought the general mechanics of the game where good and the game play was fast enough and just as deep as most MMO games out right now. Who know maybe some time in the future we may see a rebirth of the game. I for one think it would be a good thing. Also if people (not just the players but the financiers also) would be patient and the game developers would learn how to keep the games quiet until they are ready to go into the last phase of beta the gaming comunity as a whole would likely see a rise in the overall quality of games that are produced and eventualy released.
I notice 1 game that is still running even though it only have about 8 players active now,
That is called Neocron.
http://www.speedtest.net/result/3845509852.png