Tue
15
Jul '08
Excitement gauge for upcoming MMOs
Rog posted in MMORPG
I'm in love with the MMORPG genre, but it's so seldom that my tastes are met. Just taking a glance at some of the upcoming games and my personal reactions to them:
- Aion: Too anime for me. I don't mind anime itself, but the fanbase drives me bonkers. I think I'd poke my eyes out with a stick after the first day.
- BioWare's MMO: It's unnamed, that's mysterious and exciting, but if it turns out to be Star Wars I'll be disappointed, since I'm about as tired of Mr. Lucas' universe as I could possibly be. 2011 is a long time to wait anyway.
- Champion's Online: One superhero MMORPG is enough for me, City of Heroes was great but didn't have a ton of depth.
- Copernicus: 38 Studios' MMO in development, kinda early to tell but the idea of a game produced essentially by a fan of the genre is very intriguing. They've got some significant talent onboard too.
- Chronicles of Spellborn: It's supposed to be story / quest driven, but catchphrases like "What lies hidden must be found" do not grab me.
- Guild Wars 2: I got bored of the first during beta, it's certainly improved since then so maybe by the time the sequel comes out I might feel compelled to play.
- Huxley: It's sounds just like tournament FPS combat to me, "campaign mode" delayed for a 360 version? I suspect as an FPS I'd rather play Left4Dead.
- Stargate Worlds: I liked the movie, the tv show never caught my interest. Hard to get excited about an IP I don't care for.
- Star Trek Online: A theme of interstellar landing parties could work so well as an MMO. If Cryptic does confirm this rumoured revival of Star Trek as an MMORPG, they're the right peeps to do it IMHO.
- Warhammer Online: I've got a few Games Workshop items sitting in my closet, I've always loved the incredible artwork on the Warhammer franchise, but unfortunately that's exactly the part of the game I'm worried Mythic is botching, because they've turned it too cartoony. For gameplay though, WAR has clever quest tweaks and their take on faction-based PvP is being refined from Dark Age of Camelot. The smell of quality and confidence is exuding from Mythic. I'll definitely check it out, but I'm not drooling in anticipation like I was a couple years ago.
- World of Darkness: CCP Games are definitely on the high list of capable MMO developers, EVE Online has grown rather than shrunk over the years. I don't know much about Vampire: Masquerade et al other than it's always sounded hella cool.
- Wrath of the Lich King: Strictly it's an expansion for WoW and that about sums it up, I'm pretty much done with the game and its catering to some of the worst traits in western culture.
Feel free to point out any notable games I've missed that are coming down the pipe sooner or later.
(6:13 am)
Jul 15, 2008 7:29am
World of Darkness and Guild Wars 2, and lately Chronicles
WoD due to the fact I played Vampire Masquerade in the past. The various classes of Vampire make for some awesome fun. And who does NOT want to play a Vampire?
But, even better, if they involve the other settings like "Werewolf" and "Wraith" (a magic based class system), this could be the game to change the MMO genre...only if.
Guild Wars 2 - I am not sure how high a level you got in the main game, or how much you played the system (PvP, craft, skill captures, Ascension, etc..), but the fact is...GW's 20 levels are more engaging and more fast action fun than any MMO can ever be, thanks to it's narrow focus and VERY balanced gameplay. The fact they plan to transplant that into a "persistent" world with more options, live event handling which they already excel at (one example is the infamous Halloween day event, where a large character with a Pumpkin head appears in the Town squares of all the major city hubs, and then proceeds to have players do quests or mini games in town like Simon Says, and if you miss the Simon Says, kills you...lol) and the carrot on the stick items system, where you just want to get EVERYTHING. GW2 will be a major success just like it's predecessor.
Aion - As I AM an anime fan, loved Final Fantasy on the PS2 (not the MMO), but am not a fan of Grind. If they can make one of these games where I do not have to grind 24/7, then I am already sold. Also, it is from NCSoft, and so far, these guys do not disappoint when they are in charge of their games (unlike TR and Auto Assault, but GW and Lineage 2 is their own property)
Sorry AoC did not pan out, and hopefully they can get it back on track in 6 months or a year. But, it may be too late.
Cheers
Jul 15, 2008 8:59pm
I'm still playing AoC. I've always got an eye on what's coming out though.
Jul 16, 2008 1:27pm
I'm curious about the project being worked on by the Sci-Fi channel. It's supposedly a joint MMO and TV series, which will run parallel to each other. If done well, it could be a huge amount of fun. Just imagine watching a TV show where you see the powerful people in your galaxy making momentous decisions. Then you power up your PC and play as a character whose life is affected by those very same decisions. It could take immersion to a whole 'nother level.
But, if done poorly, it could really suck!
Jul 18, 2008 4:25am
Interesting Gordo. Sounds similar to James Cameron's Project 880 / Avatar, although that's now been changed into a regular game.
I agree, the coolness factor is in the progression of the story. Hopefully they do more than just what the tie-in comic books have done.
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