I think what we need is a MMORPG version of the Adventure Construction Set that the original EA put out for the C-64.
I know Unity and Unreal bill themselves along those lines but they still don't work well. We just need a kit that creatives can easily use to drag and drop, import graphics, customize players, etc...
THAT is something I would back. Let it start out with small scale Multiplayer with the hopes to build it from 10 to 100 to 1000 players.
While an MMORPG construction kit *could* be awesome (and there were some around even as early as 2002), it would also likely set a lot of crucial design decisions in stone, making games made with such a kit very derivative. Great if you want to make clones of other games, but it could be very limiting to a more creative endeavor.
I agree with you but it did occur to me that the MMORPG genre has done a great job of being derivative without a construction kit. How much worse could it have been?
success rate of 1%... Albion and Gloria Victis are the only ones that made it?
Project Gorgon does pretty well, but it's definitely a niche game. It had a successful kickstarter & remains in Early Access on Steam. I enjoyed my time with it, but it's obviously a passion project for the devs — who also had a lot of previous experience, something many of the failed projects tend to lack.
I agree with the article. Now take it to heart and refuse to cover crowd funded games until actual release ( not alpha, beta, early access, etc ). I'd rather this site cover mostly singleplayer games with a smattering of mmorpg's than promote snake oil hucksters.
I can't agree, it is very difficult for anyone to be sure of how genuine these indie "studios" are. What I would do is put a "health warning" with every article they do about a CF game. "Concept art nor any other stage in development indicates a game in development will actually launch."
Project Gorgon does pretty well, but it's definitely a niche game. It had a successful kickstarter & remains in Early Access on Steam. I enjoyed my time with it, but it's obviously a passion project for the devs — who also had a lot of previous experience, something many of the failed projects tend to lack.
"It remains in Early Access", so it cannot be regarded as a success, but I applaud the passion that has kept it going.
"Kickstarted MMORPGs are dead." Was there any evidence they were alive during the past decade? Like, what is the list of successful crowdfunded MMOs from 2010 to 2023 that you used that would prompt you to today declare something the entire industry has known for a decade?
-- Whammy - a 64x64 miniRPG - RPG Quiz - can you get all 25 right? - FPS Quiz - how well do you know your shooters?
Albion Online is probably the most successful, launched kickstarter MMORPG so far.
Why do people say Albion Online is a kickstarter or crowdfunded MMORPG? Is it because of the founder packs sold? By that measure wouldn't Age of Conan also be considered a kickstarter MMORPG.
-- Whammy - a 64x64 miniRPG - RPG Quiz - can you get all 25 right? - FPS Quiz - how well do you know your shooters?
Albion Online is probably the most successful, launched kickstarter MMORPG so far.
Why do people say Albion Online is a kickstarter or crowdfunded MMORPG? Is it because of the founder packs sold? By that measure wouldn't Age of Conan also be considered a kickstarter MMORPG.
It's how they describe themselves:
"I’m Stefan, aka Bercilak, and I am the CEO of Sandbox Interactive - the studio developing Albion Online (www.albiononline.com). Without a Kickstarter campaign, but with more than 250,000 registered players, more than 35,000 Founders and $2,5 million brought in by (crowd-)funding, we have launched our Closed Beta phase today, on November 23. And boy, are we excited!"
All time classic MY NEW FAVORITE POST! (Keep laying those bricks)
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making games made with such a kit very derivative.
The majority of MMORPGs now are already level-restricted, class-enforced, static-map, tiered-zone, health/mana-regulated, fantasy-based, combat-focused EQ/WOW derivatives.
I'm really curious how you can get much more derivative than that.
For comparison, here are the MMORPGS released in 2003:
Second Life
Star Wars Galaxies (SWG)
A Tale in the Desert (ATITD)
There
Puzzle Pirates
EVE Online
Project Entropia (now Entropia Universe)
Shadowbane
Horizons (now Istaria)
ToonTown
Fastforward 20 years and the release list is:
Ares: Rise of Guardians
Blue Protocol Corepunk
Dune: Awakening Ember Sword Hytale
Night Crows Odin: Valhalla Rising Throne and Liberty
War of Dragnorox
Wayfinder
The only real deviations are Hytale, which is basically Trove if it looked like Minecraft, and Throne and Liberty.
The latter of those two SEEMS promising, but I remember that day at E3 2006 when the Aion team was promising us a grand, no grind, fresh new experience where you could "feel as though you actually contribute to the world"... so, I'm not holding my breath.
-- Whammy - a 64x64 miniRPG - RPG Quiz - can you get all 25 right? - FPS Quiz - how well do you know your shooters?
Albion Online is probably the most successful, launched kickstarter MMORPG so far.
Why do people say Albion Online is a kickstarter or crowdfunded MMORPG? Is it because of the founder packs sold? By that measure wouldn't Age of Conan also be considered a kickstarter MMORPG.
It's how they describe themselves:
"I’m Stefan, aka Bercilak, and I am the CEO of Sandbox Interactive - the studio developing Albion Online (www.albiononline.com). Without a Kickstarter campaign, but with more than 250,000 registered players, more than 35,000 Founders and $2,5 million brought in by (crowd-)funding, we have launched our Closed Beta phase today, on November 23. And boy, are we excited!"
You link to a quote from their AMA where they specifically say they had no Kickstarter campaign and he specifically writes "(crowd)-funding" because to claim founder packs as crowdfunding is disingenuous at best. However, I'm willing to accept your interpretation if you are willing to call Age of Conan a crowdfunded MMORPG.
-- Whammy - a 64x64 miniRPG - RPG Quiz - can you get all 25 right? - FPS Quiz - how well do you know your shooters?
Albion Online is probably the most successful, launched kickstarter MMORPG so far.
Why do people say Albion Online is a kickstarter or crowdfunded MMORPG? Is it because of the founder packs sold? By that measure wouldn't Age of Conan also be considered a kickstarter MMORPG.
It's how they describe themselves:
"I’m Stefan, aka Bercilak, and I am the CEO of Sandbox Interactive - the studio developing Albion Online (www.albiononline.com). Without a Kickstarter campaign, but with more than 250,000 registered players, more than 35,000 Founders and $2,5 million brought in by (crowd-)funding, we have launched our Closed Beta phase today, on November 23. And boy, are we excited!"
You link to a quote from their AMA where they specifically say they had no Kickstarter campaign and he specifically writes "(crowd)-funding" because to claim founder packs as crowdfunding is disingenuous at best. However, I'm willing to accept your interpretation if you are willing to call Age of Conan a crowdfunded MMORPG.
I do not recall the details about Age of Conan which you seem focused on. As far as I can see, Age of Conan was primarily funded via private investor and the company directly, at least $30M of that.
So to help the discussion can you advise when the project started, when the Founders Packs went on Sale, how much was raised from that vs total funding for the game?
Because just having a Founders Pack for sale a month before launch is not Crowdfunding. Crowdfunding is when you need those funds to MAKE the game. If AoC had their Founders Packs a few years before launch and it was a large part of their funding then yes I would agree, but my Google-Foo skills have been unable to even find when these packages were sold...
Albion Online would not exist without the funding of the fans prior to release. Would Age of Conan?
PS: Kickstarter is just one Crowdfunding site... of many... and you can also Crowdfund on your own without Kickstarter taking their cut. Kickstarter is just the most well known. Reading their forums it sounds like they considered Kickstarter for Albion Online but since they were not US or UK based they didn't think they could do it and thought it would be too complicated to try and find someone based there to run the campaign. They said Indiegogo was too small and they thought they could get similar reach (and not have to pay Indiegogo) by just selling packages direct to customers. The Packs went on sale in 2014 and funded development through launch in 2017. I have yet to find any information on AoC Founders Packs. I know they had some pre-orders a little before launch and I know they sold "Early Access" for $5 because I have it shown on my account. Please provide more info on these Age of Conan Founders Packs.
Post edited by Slapshot1188 on
All time classic MY NEW FAVORITE POST! (Keep laying those bricks)
"I should point out that no other company has shipped out a beta on a disc before this." - Official Mortal Online Lead Community Moderator
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"Oddly Slap is the main reason I stay in these forums." - Mystichaze April 9th 2018
"So to help the discussion can you advise when the project started, when the Founders Packs went on Sale, how much was raised from that vs total funding for the game?"
Standard and Collector's Editions were sold prior to release.
Numbers sold are as follows: 110,000 x $130 700,000 x $60
"Albion Online would not exist without the funding of the fans prior to release. Would Age of Conan?"
IIRC, the discussion at the time was that AOC would not have made it if it didn't secure that round of revenue the SE and CE brought in because A LOT of work still needed to be done even after release to ensure it wouldn't tank out the gate. I wish I had a source for you on that, but I do not. An interesting side note - the original material for the map was leather or some other animal-based material that would have hit regulation redtape so they had to scrap it and go with the cloth.
Can you link to where they said the Albion Online would not have existed without the preorders?
To be clear, I responded to someone that called it a Kickstarter MMORPG and I asked why so many people think it was Kickstarted or crowdfunded. I'm really not sure why you are arguing this, because it seems we agree on my initial point that it wasn't a Kickstarter MMORPG and it's odd people keep writing that.
You then pointed to their pre-orders (yes, founders packs are no different than pre-orders) and claimed they are the reason the game even exists.
Can you link to where it was presented that the pre-orders saved the game?
Can you also explain what you see as the difference between an Albion Online founder's pack and the AoC pre-order?
-- Whammy - a 64x64 miniRPG - RPG Quiz - can you get all 25 right? - FPS Quiz - how well do you know your shooters?
"So to help the discussion can you advise when the project started, when the Founders Packs went on Sale, how much was raised from that vs total funding for the game?"
Standard and Collector's Editions were sold prior to release.
Numbers sold are as follows: 110,000 x $130 700,000 x $60
"Albion Online would not exist without the funding of the fans prior to release. Would Age of Conan?"
IIRC, the discussion at the time was that AOC would not have made it if it didn't secure that round of revenue the SE and CE brought in because A LOT of work still needed to be done even after release to ensure it wouldn't tank out the gate. I wish I had a source for you on that, but I do not. An interesting side note - the original material for the map was leather or some other animal-based material that would have hit regulation redtape so they had to scrap it and go with the cloth.
Can you link to where they said the Albion Online would not have existed without the preorders?
To be clear, I responded to someone that called it a Kickstarter MMORPG and I asked why so many people think it was Kickstarted or crowdfunded. I'm really not sure why you are arguing this, because it seems we agree on my initial point that it wasn't a Kickstarter MMORPG and it's odd people keep writing that.
You then pointed to their pre-orders (yes, founders packs are no different than pre-orders) and claimed they are the reason the game even exists.
Can you link to where it was presented that the pre-orders saved the game?
Can you also explain what you see as the difference between an Albion Online founder's pack and the AoC pre-order?
This post makes no sense. They sold pre-orders like every other game in the history of gaming. Those pre-orders were sold near launch.
Albion Online sold Founders Packs 3 years before launch as a way to fund the game. If you cant see the difference that's on your end.
I have explained the difference and will do so one last time: Crowdfunding means that they are using Customer Funds to fund development of the game to get to launch. This is fundamentally different than the standard Pre-Order of a game in which you are simply reserving your copy of the game a bit beforehand.
Pre-orders for AoC opened around April 20 2008 and I believe it launched in May 2008. Clearly those funds were not needed to develop the game prior to launch.
But call it whatever you want, everyone else does anyhow. For me though, no... I won't contribute to the word insanity that is today's gaming.
All time classic MY NEW FAVORITE POST! (Keep laying those bricks)
"I should point out that no other company has shipped out a beta on a disc before this." - Official Mortal Online Lead Community Moderator
Proudly wearing the Harbinger badge since Dec 23, 2017.
Coined the phrase "Role-Playing a Development Team" January 2018
"Oddly Slap is the main reason I stay in these forums." - Mystichaze April 9th 2018
"It remains in Early Access", so it cannot be regarded as a success, but I applaud the passion that has kept it going.
I'm not sure... think about something like Valheim. Massive hit. Still listed as Early Access.
A large part of this issue is that we just allow people to use words however they want. MMO, RPG, Early Access, Alpha, Beta...
The terms have been so badly mutilated that they are almost meaningless any longer.
Fortnite was technically in Early Access for years while it funded Epic Games' entire empire. Early Access is just the new "released." And it's why you've started to see sites review early access titles like they are released titles ( we will be starting that this year ourselves).
"It remains in Early Access", so it cannot be regarded as a success, but I applaud the passion that has kept it going.
I'm not sure... think about something like Valheim. Massive hit. Still listed as Early Access.
A large part of this issue is that we just allow people to use words however they want. MMO, RPG, Early Access, Alpha, Beta...
The terms have been so badly mutilated that they are almost meaningless any longer.
Fortnite was technically in Early Access for years while it funded Epic Games' entire empire. Early Access is just the new "released." And it's why you've started to see sites review early access titles like they are released titles ( we will be starting that this year ourselves).
Awesome to hear. My definition is always around wiping. If my progress will not be wiped then you are launched. If the case of non progressive games, if you are charging me to play or operating a cash shop (and there is no saved progress) then you are launched.
All time classic MY NEW FAVORITE POST! (Keep laying those bricks)
"I should point out that no other company has shipped out a beta on a disc before this." - Official Mortal Online Lead Community Moderator
Proudly wearing the Harbinger badge since Dec 23, 2017.
Coined the phrase "Role-Playing a Development Team" January 2018
"Oddly Slap is the main reason I stay in these forums." - Mystichaze April 9th 2018
Unlike most other OGR articles where the question being asked in the title is eyerollingly rhetorical or presents a facepalm premise and has an obvious answer this one just makes a blatantly obvious observation.
The kickstarter/crowdfunded MMO well has been thoroughly poisoned with buckets of lies, broken promises and undelivered games. Not to mention straight up scams.
Oh and in the future if you write really long OGR articles you could call them One Good Roll Epics or OGREs. Hehe.
"You CAN'T buy ships for RL money." - MaxBacon
"classification of games into MMOs is not by rational reasoning" - nariusseldon
The kickstarter/crowdfunded MMO well has been thoroughly poisoned with buckets of lies, broken promises and undelivered games. Not to mention straight up scams.
Exactly.
-- Whammy - a 64x64 miniRPG - RPG Quiz - can you get all 25 right? - FPS Quiz - how well do you know your shooters?
I would back another game that had a vision I could get behind but first I want to know their business plan. Who their CEO and CFO is. What their success are as much as the developers games they have produced. Game developers seem to rarely make good leaders on the business side.
Yes, as it turns out, publishers are actually important. Because you don't get a game at all without them.
Do you know what Warhorse used that money they raised for Kingdom Come deliverance to do?
Convince a publisher that people were interested in their games so they could secure real funding, not pocket change.
It's not just the funding for why publishers are important either. People talk about logical vs creative for the sides of the brain, right? Developers, are creative side. Publishers, are logical side. Publishers want the game out to get a return on their money, Developers want to make the dream game that they've always wanted to make.
Now what happens when you take one side of that brain out of the equation? Well, if that side isn't replaced in some form, you get either soulless mmos made just for squeezing out money; or you get Star Citizen. The reality is true creative freedom leads to developer divas who will constantly feature creep their own project timeline out everyday because they get a shiny new idea for something they want to put into the game. Balance is a hell of a thing; one needs to be not oppressive but also not passive.
Don't get me wrong, games made by those creative developers will be amazing. But you're also not going to see them finished within a decade until either customers stop funding or the head of studio finally goes "I can't be trusted at the helm, someone manage the project and set a definitive deadline for us to push something out.
"It remains in Early Access", so it cannot be regarded as a success, but I applaud the passion that has kept it going.
I'm not sure... think about something like Valheim. Massive hit. Still listed as Early Access.
A large part of this issue is that we just allow people to use words however they want. MMO, RPG, Early Access, Alpha, Beta...
The terms have been so badly mutilated that they are almost meaningless any longer.
Fortnite was technically in Early Access for years while it funded Epic Games' entire empire. Early Access is just the new "released." And it's why you've started to see sites review early access titles like they are released titles ( we will be starting that this year ourselves).
Awesome to hear. My definition is always around wiping. If my progress will not be wiped then you are launched. If the case of non progressive games, if you are charging me to play or operating a cash shop (and there is no saved progress) then you are launched.
Yeah, perhaps we can just start calling it the "Review Release" or something like that.
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
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Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
"It remains in Early Access", so it cannot be regarded as a success, but I applaud the passion that has kept it going.
I'm not sure... think about something like Valheim. Massive hit. Still listed as Early Access.
A large part of this issue is that we just allow people to use words however they want. MMO, RPG, Early Access, Alpha, Beta...
The terms have been so badly mutilated that they are almost meaningless any longer.
Fortnite was technically in Early Access for years while it funded Epic Games' entire empire. Early Access is just the new "released." And it's why you've started to see sites review early access titles like they are released titles ( we will be starting that this year ourselves).
Awesome to hear. My definition is always around wiping. If my progress will not be wiped then you are launched. If the case of non progressive games, if you are charging me to play or operating a cash shop (and there is no saved progress) then you are launched.
Yeah, perhaps we can just start calling it the "Review Release" or something like that.
Don't forget Bill put his foot down years ago and decided a MMO was going to get a review if it had a cash shop and was selling items, you add on to that saying there will be no wipes and that says "launched".
We can argue about what we need to call that review in it's own thread.
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Beyond the shadows there's always light
I think a lot of kickstarter MMOs "released" depending on how you want to define an actual launch of a game.
Project Gorgon does pretty well, but it's definitely a niche game. It had a successful kickstarter & remains in Early Access on Steam. I enjoyed my time with it, but it's obviously a passion project for the devs — who also had a lot of previous experience, something many of the failed projects tend to lack.
How about that?
"It remains in Early Access", so it cannot be regarded as a success, but I applaud the passion that has kept it going.
A large part of this issue is that we just allow people to use words however they want. MMO, RPG, Early Access, Alpha, Beta...
The terms have been so badly mutilated that they are almost meaningless any longer.
All time classic MY NEW FAVORITE POST! (Keep laying those bricks)
"I should point out that no other company has shipped out a beta on a disc before this." - Official Mortal Online Lead Community Moderator
Proudly wearing the Harbinger badge since Dec 23, 2017.
Coined the phrase "Role-Playing a Development Team" January 2018
"Oddly Slap is the main reason I stay in these forums." - Mystichaze April 9th 2018
- RPG Quiz - can you get all 25 right?
- FPS Quiz - how well do you know your shooters?
- RPG Quiz - can you get all 25 right?
- FPS Quiz - how well do you know your shooters?
"I’m Stefan, aka Bercilak, and I am the CEO of Sandbox Interactive - the studio developing Albion Online (www.albiononline.com). Without a Kickstarter campaign, but with more than 250,000 registered players, more than 35,000 Founders and $2,5 million brought in by (crowd-)funding, we have launched our Closed Beta phase today, on November 23. And boy, are we excited!"
All time classic MY NEW FAVORITE POST! (Keep laying those bricks)
"I should point out that no other company has shipped out a beta on a disc before this." - Official Mortal Online Lead Community Moderator
Proudly wearing the Harbinger badge since Dec 23, 2017.
Coined the phrase "Role-Playing a Development Team" January 2018
"Oddly Slap is the main reason I stay in these forums." - Mystichaze April 9th 2018
I'm really curious how you can get much more derivative than that.
For comparison, here are the MMORPGS released in 2003:
Fastforward 20 years and the release list is:
Corepunk
Ember Sword
Hytale
Odin: Valhalla Rising
Throne and Liberty
The only real deviations are Hytale, which is basically Trove if it looked like Minecraft, and Throne and Liberty.
The latter of those two SEEMS promising, but I remember that day at E3 2006 when the Aion team was promising us a grand, no grind, fresh new experience where you could "feel as though you actually contribute to the world"... so, I'm not holding my breath.
- RPG Quiz - can you get all 25 right?
- FPS Quiz - how well do you know your shooters?
- RPG Quiz - can you get all 25 right?
- FPS Quiz - how well do you know your shooters?
So to help the discussion can you advise when the project started, when the Founders Packs went on Sale, how much was raised from that vs total funding for the game?
Because just having a Founders Pack for sale a month before launch is not Crowdfunding. Crowdfunding is when you need those funds to MAKE the game. If AoC had their Founders Packs a few years before launch and it was a large part of their funding then yes I would agree, but my Google-Foo skills have been unable to even find when these packages were sold...
Albion Online would not exist without the funding of the fans prior to release. Would Age of Conan?
PS: Kickstarter is just one Crowdfunding site... of many... and you can also Crowdfund on your own without Kickstarter taking their cut. Kickstarter is just the most well known. Reading their forums it sounds like they considered Kickstarter for Albion Online but since they were not US or UK based they didn't think they could do it and thought it would be too complicated to try and find someone based there to run the campaign. They said Indiegogo was too small and they thought they could get similar reach (and not have to pay Indiegogo) by just selling packages direct to customers. The Packs went on sale in 2014 and funded development through launch in 2017. I have yet to find any information on AoC Founders Packs. I know they had some pre-orders a little before launch and I know they sold "Early Access" for $5 because I have it shown on my account. Please provide more info on these Age of Conan Founders Packs.
All time classic MY NEW FAVORITE POST! (Keep laying those bricks)
"I should point out that no other company has shipped out a beta on a disc before this." - Official Mortal Online Lead Community Moderator
Proudly wearing the Harbinger badge since Dec 23, 2017.
Coined the phrase "Role-Playing a Development Team" January 2018
"Oddly Slap is the main reason I stay in these forums." - Mystichaze April 9th 2018
"So to help the discussion can you advise when the project started, when the Founders Packs went on Sale, how much was raised from that vs total funding for the game?"
Standard and Collector's Editions were sold prior to release.
Source: https://www.mmorpg.com/age-of-conan-unchained/news/collectors-edition-sells-out-2000065558
Numbers sold are as follows:
110,000 x $130
700,000 x $60
"Albion Online would not exist without the funding of the fans prior to release. Would Age of Conan?"
IIRC, the discussion at the time was that AOC would not have made it if it didn't secure that round of revenue the SE and CE brought in because A LOT of work still needed to be done even after release to ensure it wouldn't tank out the gate. I wish I had a source for you on that, but I do not. An interesting side note - the original material for the map was leather or some other animal-based material that would have hit regulation redtape so they had to scrap it and go with the cloth.
Can you link to where they said the Albion Online would not have existed without the preorders?
To be clear, I responded to someone that called it a Kickstarter MMORPG and I asked why so many people think it was Kickstarted or crowdfunded. I'm really not sure why you are arguing this, because it seems we agree on my initial point that it wasn't a Kickstarter MMORPG and it's odd people keep writing that.
You then pointed to their pre-orders (yes, founders packs are no different than pre-orders) and claimed they are the reason the game even exists.
Can you link to where it was presented that the pre-orders saved the game?
Can you also explain what you see as the difference between an Albion Online founder's pack and the AoC pre-order?
- RPG Quiz - can you get all 25 right?
- FPS Quiz - how well do you know your shooters?
Albion Online sold Founders Packs 3 years before launch as a way to fund the game. If you cant see the difference that's on your end.
I have explained the difference and will do so one last time: Crowdfunding means that they are using Customer Funds to fund development of the game to get to launch. This is fundamentally different than the standard Pre-Order of a game in which you are simply reserving your copy of the game a bit beforehand.
Pre-orders for AoC opened around April 20 2008 and I believe it launched in May 2008. Clearly those funds were not needed to develop the game prior to launch.
But call it whatever you want, everyone else does anyhow. For me though, no... I won't contribute to the word insanity that is today's gaming.
All time classic MY NEW FAVORITE POST! (Keep laying those bricks)
"I should point out that no other company has shipped out a beta on a disc before this." - Official Mortal Online Lead Community Moderator
Proudly wearing the Harbinger badge since Dec 23, 2017.
Coined the phrase "Role-Playing a Development Team" January 2018
"Oddly Slap is the main reason I stay in these forums." - Mystichaze April 9th 2018
https://biturl.top/rU7bY3
Beyond the shadows there's always light
All time classic MY NEW FAVORITE POST! (Keep laying those bricks)
"I should point out that no other company has shipped out a beta on a disc before this." - Official Mortal Online Lead Community Moderator
Proudly wearing the Harbinger badge since Dec 23, 2017.
Coined the phrase "Role-Playing a Development Team" January 2018
"Oddly Slap is the main reason I stay in these forums." - Mystichaze April 9th 2018
Unlike most other OGR articles where the question being asked in the title is eyerollingly rhetorical or presents a facepalm premise and has an obvious answer this one just makes a blatantly obvious observation.
The kickstarter/crowdfunded MMO well has been thoroughly poisoned with buckets of lies, broken promises and undelivered games. Not to mention straight up scams.
Oh and in the future if you write really long OGR articles you could call them One Good Roll Epics or OGREs. Hehe.
"classification of games into MMOs is not by rational reasoning" - nariusseldon
Love Minecraft. And check out my Youtube channel OhCanadaGamer
Try a MUD today at http://www.mudconnect.com/- RPG Quiz - can you get all 25 right?
- FPS Quiz - how well do you know your shooters?
- RPG Quiz - can you get all 25 right?
- FPS Quiz - how well do you know your shooters?
It's not just the funding for why publishers are important either. People talk about logical vs creative for the sides of the brain, right? Developers, are creative side. Publishers, are logical side. Publishers want the game out to get a return on their money, Developers want to make the dream game that they've always wanted to make.
Now what happens when you take one side of that brain out of the equation? Well, if that side isn't replaced in some form, you get either soulless mmos made just for squeezing out money; or you get Star Citizen. The reality is true creative freedom leads to developer divas who will constantly feature creep their own project timeline out everyday because they get a shiny new idea for something they want to put into the game. Balance is a hell of a thing; one needs to be not oppressive but also not passive.
Don't get me wrong, games made by those creative developers will be amazing. But you're also not going to see them finished within a decade until either customers stop funding or the head of studio finally goes "I can't be trusted at the helm, someone manage the project and set a definitive deadline for us to push something out.
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
We can argue about what we need to call that review in it's own thread.