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SOE, Yet Another AAA company refusing to take a "Risk"
BearKnight
Member CommonPosts: 461
Think about it...what has the industry needed for the past 10years? Large companies to stop copying each other, and finally take a real risk to bring the industry back in-line.
So what did SOE decide to do? They decided to mash all the absolute guaranteed concepts together into one giant product to assure them money. This isn't a risk whatsoever when you think about it.
-GW2 style combat, most notably the only selling point of GW2, other than their Art-Style (Which is superior to EQN's by far, imo)
-Cartoony low-poly character designs, aka: WoW 2013 ArtStyle, to capitolize on super casuals (mostly kids) who refuse to upgrade their aging 8year old PC's.
-Cherry picked sandbox world-based mechanics to draw upon the "Sandbox" crowd. Whether or not it is a gimmick has yet to be seen as we've only been shown tech-demos. We don't actually know how everything will fit together until Launch.
-Self-proclaimed SWG-Cloned crafting system. Just about the only redeeming quality just for the fact that the Dev's are actually trying their best to move away from (insert item, get item) of the current themepark system.
-Most likely a highly modular UI addon-based system similar to WoW/Rift/Aion.
-GW2's trinity-less system which is more of a newer hipster concept that has yet to be proven to actually be a good thing. I've seen entire guilds vanish into offline status because they just don't "Feel" like they're serving a purpose in their Guild or with their character. Ironically enough It was noticed that people started creating their own "Roles" in GW2 such as psuedo-tank/puller/healer etc to the limits that the game allowed. People like to have a role, it's natural given our RL standards of thought regarding purpose.
We'll just have to see how this one plays out. It's just frutrating that they've decided to feed on the term "Sandbox" when they're mucking it up with so much Themepark-based ideology. The fact that yet another company is trying to break an MMO onto the Console market may by a major decisive factor in whether or not it fails (personally I'm aiming towards them falling on their faces, and blaming the "Sandbox Model" on not being lucrative).
So no, to those of you whom only saw "Sandbox!" and thought SOE is taking a "Risk", they most certainly are NOT. Sandbox gameplay is simply a evolution of time and technology. We didn't have the tech 15years ago to simulate billions, with a B, of Voxels for destructable/interactable environments. We do now, so it is only natural to progress from static Themeparks -> Sandbox.
What TRULY would be a Risk would be if they had decided to take Everquest 1, made the world a Voxel based world, and had worked more on making the world a living thing with a non-cartoony Art-Style using DAOC's positional combat system for which we have YET to see a repeat of yet! There's a reason DAOC has a place in the hall of "Best MMOs of all Time"...an amazing combat system is one of those that made DAOC the best along side the RvR of course :P.
Does a "Risk" require open world PvP? Hell no, but it wouldn't hurt to have some diversity going on up in this potato!!
Comments
EQ2 fan sites
SWG did it, they didn't have levels, and worked out fine for them. Isn't a risk at all unless they decided to have no character progression system at all, and it be nothing but a gear progression game. That'd be so worthless i don't even think hardcore themeparkers could enjoy it.
Either way, like SWTOR, I'll be keeping a minimum of 25ft with my 25ft pole from this one. Been playing Everquest since December 2000, and man does this bum me out
.
[edit]: I forgot to ask, how else would they keep people playing? Randomly running around smashing through hoards of mobs without any strategy whatsoever....sounds boring. Levels are there for a sense of progression and accomplishment, to move forward. Without that they'll have to design some heavy duty progression mechanics that are similar or identicle to levels, but in a more round-about way to make themselves special for marketing purposes.
I think by being willing to alienate a lot of their existing EQ1 and EQ2 customers and going after a more mainstream crowd, SOE is taking a HUGE risk.
They also have some very unique ideas and features in EQN that are quite risky.
I have lots of concerns about SOE's direction with EQN, but lack of risk is certainly not one of them.
"Id rather work on something with great potential than on fulfilling a promise of mediocrity."
- Raph Koster
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Currently Playing: ESO
I have the exact opposite argument, they are taking a total risk and they should be applauded for it. As far as something new, that's all they are bringing to the table. The final question as far as risks will be the pvp...but to say they are not taking a risk...you have not watched the panel, or if you have...you are nuts.
Incognito
www.incognito-gaming.us
"You're either with us or against us"
They haven't said anything about the combat system except there will be 8 total keys, oriented around ability type and weapon type. They showed only a few skills out of 120+
How can you say it is like GW2 when we haven't seen anyone play a character? Also, Georgeson just said that the system is surface similarity to GW2.
Your being rather aggressive in putting this off before you know much about it ...
*looks at title of thread*
*looks at the whining/bitching/moaning currently on the forums*
*looks back at title of thread*
*shakes head*
There are 3 types of people in the world.
1.) Those who make things happen
2.) Those who watch things happen
3.) And those who wonder "What the %#*& just happened?!"
What kind of risks were you looking for?
An AI system like this has never been done.
Landmark is a pretty big risk.
Allowing the community to build and import their buildings into the actual game.
Destructible environments haven't been done.
Permanent change hasn't been done.
No stats on items is a risk.
Very astute and well put.
Risk on the requirement that players go out into the world to "find their abilities and skills"
Risk on Art design
Risk on no levels
Risk on Voxel game engine and the idea of everything is destructible being a strong selling point
Risk on resetting their lore
as has been mentioned above, risk of alienating their eq/eq2 playerbase
risk on heavy role-play features.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
Yeah, I was a bit lost on that as well.
He's saying they are not taking a risk because they are copying parts of other games, but then goes on to say if they wanted to take a risk they would copy parts of other games.
I swear, the people who are complaining on these forums have no real idea what they are complaining about.
There are 3 types of people in the world.
1.) Those who make things happen
2.) Those who watch things happen
3.) And those who wonder "What the %#*& just happened?!"
personally, i think the skill and ability system is more like The Secret World than GW2.
at any rate, since the OP is drawing comparisons to GW2 dont you think that in itself is a huge risk since so many of you feel it flopped?
Yes, but the difference is that they would be copying the parts that he wanted...
Current: None
Played: WoW, CoX, SWG, LotRO, EVE, AoC, VG, CO, Ryzom, DF, WAR
Tried: Lineage2, Dofus, EQ2, CoS, FE, UO, Wurm, Wakfu
Future: The Repopulation, ArcheAge, Black Desert, EQN
They'll take a risk with PvAll and will hopefully give the boot to PvE-only gameplay.
That hint on visceral PvP was too revealing.
It's very ballsy to make a MMO where you can build and destroy things. Landmark alone is a risk. At least technically.
I just think it's not the kind of risk you wanted, right ?
Why not be objective a bit even if you don't like what EQN will be ?
Oh look, a business who would rather put millions of dollars into something they know will make them money instead of putting millions of dollars into a risky endeavour. Shocking!
The people who played EQ and EQII are not the target audience for EQN. In fact, no one who played MMOs before WoW came out is the target for any AAA MMO these days.
Pssst...
*whispers* "They don't like the use of logic round here...."
*looks around cautiously*
"You better tread lightly..."
There are 3 types of people in the world.
1.) Those who make things happen
2.) Those who watch things happen
3.) And those who wonder "What the %#*& just happened?!"
this conversation is pointless because the OP doesn't know what he/she is talking about.
first of all the easy route for SOE would be to make a modern version of EQ1.
when they made EQ2 they took the risk of going with the photo realistic graphics and that turned out to be a bad mistake given how the stylized cartoons of WoW powered the birth of a juggernaut.
this time around they are taking risks for an MMO that you don't seem to appreciate. i personally don't even care about minecraft so going voxel-based for me means nothing but that destuctability part is simply not an MMO feature so it's a risk. permanent change and having each server be unique is a risk. procedurally created worlds is a risk. having AI control what they do instead of having everything be scripted is a risk. borrowing controversial ideas from other MMO's is also a risk.
What the heck are you talking about? The entire project is a massive risk. They could have gone and slapped a big number 3 "no really its just like you remember it this time" after everquest, and sold on nostalgia and newness.
This is a vast departure from the formula and is at risk of alienating their base (insert political analogy here)
I only have passing interest i EQN, im mainly waiting for wildstar, but ill definately give it a shot. Good luck SOE, hope it works out for ya.
I see SOE taking risks all the time they make new MMOs, something that no other studio can claim, SOE has brought many games to the world all different and unique in their own way some caught on with people others not so much, EQ franchise, SWG, Vanguard, The Matrix Online, Pirates of the Burning Sea, etc some of them are closed others are still running, but they are from a multiude of different genres and have/had many features that were industry firsts. I think this post is pointless and the OP isn't informed enough when he/she probably didn't look at all the information presented in the past few days.
Love or hate SOE, they take risks all the time everytime they create a new game.
It is.
They've got some pieces from Secret World, GW2, FFXIV, Minecraft and then quite a bit of stuff that's their own.
Philosophy of MMO Game Design