And Bioware? Don’t make me laugh. They’ve spent more money making the Old Republic than James Cameron spent on Avatar. Shit you not. More than $ 300 million! Can you believe that?The whole blogosphere is over this of course. I don't know what the truth is, but I am seriously worried about SW:TOR. Maybe it will become a nice RPG, but I have very little hope it will be the next big MMO.
And you know what they’re most proud of? This is the kicker. They are most proud of the sound. No seriously. Something like a 20Gig installation, and most of it is voiceover work. That’s the best they have. The rest of the game is a joke. EA knows it and so does George Lucas,they’re panicking , and so most of Mythic has already been cannibalized to work in Austin on it because they can’t keep pushing back launch.
Old Republic will be one of the greatest failures in the history of MMOs from EA. Probably at the level of the Sims Online. We all know it too ... ...
Friday, October 15
The Truth
... well, according to one disgruntled soon ex-employee of EA at least:
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For a while now I've been thining that SW:TOR will be a very nice mmORPG when it comes out.
ReplyDeleteThe problems facing them are:
1) It's not a MMO as a lot of people see it. If you sell pies filled with peaches but people expect an apple pie, regardless of what your sign says, it's going to hurt your business.
3) Unless they got something beyond what your average Bioware game offers (2-4 weeks of intensive play, revisits later) the average player will mow through their content (yes all class types they're *willing* to play) in under two months.
3) They need to market their game better if hey're going to make an mmORPG and make clearer it's not an MMOG which people expect.
4) Combat looks desultory in most video's. They need to make it more appealing somehow.
As to the (anonymous or soon to be bankrupt) disgruntled ex-employee? *YAWN* It's not like we haven't seen that before. George Lucas panicking? With over half the products based on his IP flopping? Why would he panick this time? Supposed 300 Million buudget? Not without a name to that disgruntled ex EA employee.
The problem with it being a nice mmORPG is that it makes no sense to make it a subscription model game. Just make is a standalone game with co-op play and a chat box. And market it as such. But it is already too late for that. They said it will be a MMO. So they will have to make it an MMO.
ReplyDeleteI agree the disgruntled employee is not too exciting. The game industry is just as much part of Dilbert's world as any other industry. I guess I just wanted to post something. And see my worries for SWTOR maybe a bit more confirmed.
I was brushing that one under the carpet, the general vibe about SWTOR is pretty flat anyway at the moment, excitement still seems to remain with GW2 and Rift oh and maybe Cataclysm. Nothing interesting has come from Bioware for ages now.
ReplyDeleteI think the general feeling is that this isn't going to be a ground breaking MMO, people are still expecting the MMO bit along with a good story within a much loved IP, how they can marry the two is a common concern.
Changes nothing for me, I'm still going to wait and see for myself.
The problem I have with this "disgruntled Ex EA employee" is that his words are indistuingishable from a disappointed fanboi's words. In fact nothing suggests to me the person actually worked at EA. Forum trolling doesn't coutn as a job :-)
ReplyDeleteI'll start worrying about SW:TOR when I've played it and stop having fun with it. My perssimistic view is two months. Optimistically I'd say 4-6 months.
So, what makes a good MMORPG?
ReplyDeletewhat is needed to make a game not just fun to play, but enhanced because I can play with other people?
The question is can they create a world that will give the Star Wars fans a place to interact with others and be immersed in the whole Star Wars universe?
In my view a good MMORPG is a game that will keep playing hooked on it for more than a few months. I thought that AOC was a great game. I had a lot of fun with it. But it was a failure from an MMO point of view. I think SWTOR will go that same way. Great RPG, poor MMO.
ReplyDeleteThe StarWars universe has more than enough to keep players happy. Star Wars Galaxies has already proven it works perfect as MMO.
So how do you keep players around for long? That is of course the question all developers are trying to solve. I don't even really know what I would like in the ideal MMO, and I am not even your typical MMO player.
But some features are essential, I think:
- Dynamic missions. COH and Anarchy Online got that down. It means you will always have slightly fresh content. If you add it frequent updated mobs or layouts people will replay them.
- Achievements. Thee must be reasons to play. Just gaining xp and levels can't be it. GuildWars solved this brilliantly. The badges of COH work quite well too.
- Cool looking characters. This is underestimated tremendously by developers. COH is so much fun because you create such different personalities. Ideal for the RP gamer in all of us. In most games everybody looks more or less the same. In Fallen Earth I went through an aweful lot of trouble to get my hands on the only mini skirt in the game. Mixing clothes/armor and achievements would be perfect. Second Life and Sims have proven how important looks are. That is all those games are.
- Being able to play with friends regardless of level. Pretty obvious to me. But only COH managed to do this.
Of course there are the obvious things as in that it needs plenty of content, a nice combat system, multiple development paths. But those things are a bit harder to describe. And this list is clearly just my personal view on this :)
Nice summary of some of the things that make a MMORPG attractive.
ReplyDeleteI didn't mean to try and stump you with the question every developer is trying to answer. You answered it very well.