World of Darkness MMO

severius

Whatever happened to this one from CCP/White Wolf games?  Supposedly been in development for 4 years now?  Still alive, not gonna happen, anyone know anything?

Puncho

Not much details coming out, no date announced (2010,2011???)

there's a video of the 3d platform, that's it

Czzarre

My motto is

"It's all vaporware until I get a beta invite"

arieste

I don't think it's been actually "in development" for 4 years.  The way I understood it at the time was that the deal was made for CCP to make it, but development would be later on.  Not sure though. 

Nytakito

It's still being made, you can tell from looking at alot of the CCP Physx trailers and other stuff.  Alot of goth looking chicks in them, real world type backgrounds instead of a space station... 

My guess is since they are still a bit smaller than some other companies, they don't want to pour a ton of cash into marketting until it's closer to release.

azzalan

Only based on the staff they are hiring you can see they are working on WoD.  Atlanta offices are basically on to that, you can see at http://www.ccpgames.com/en/jobs.aspx that the job offering in Atlanta always mention "for our upcoming MMOG".



The question is why they are not sending us any information, not a tiny bit to get our hopes up.



_____________________________________

To reinforce my point here some statements of the staff:





"CCP Games has been profitable since 2004, but all profits are currently being reinvested in Eve Online and also into creating World of Darkness, a new online subscription game about vampires targeting an 18-25-year-old, female demographic.



Fashion and design will play a key role in the game and the group has employed two supposedly well-known Icelandic fashion designers to create virtual "gothic-style" clothing for avatars. The group is hiring 100 more people in the next 12 months – including producers, animators and economists – to create its new virtual world."



CCP Games' chief executive Hilmar Veigar Pétursson

18 May 2009

_______________________________________



RPS: So you’re moving from Iceland to Atlanta?



"Yes, I’m helping with the design of the World Of Darkness game, which is now in production. I’ve moved my family out there, bought a house, and so on."



RPS: A pretty big move. And you’re setting up your second studio – what’s that like?



"Well it’s actually our third studio, we have one in Shanghai as well. Well none of them are quite complete, but we’re building that studio in Shanghai and also one in Atlanta. [Where White Wolf are based] We’re now in the process of locating the right people, and we’re going to have about seventy people in Atlanta. What’s nice about that is that we already have quite a strong foundation already having merged with White Wolf, so it is about turning White Wolf into a game development company which has many challenges. But it’s different this time around, of course. When we started Eve we were virtually green, complete beginners, and now it’s… very different. We already have the technology, we already have a rolling start. There’s so much we’ve already achieved."



Reynir Harðarson who was one of the key imaginations behind Eve Online and the original art director

March 31st, 2008



_______________________________________



Dont worry, the game is coming, we just dont know when.

GTwander

They have the WoD IP and they are aiming at females who only know twilight? Fashion?

Why has my expectation level dropped so steeply all of a sudden?

azzalan

Some people are thinking they targeting twilight fans, i don't agree, these are more like 10-17-year-old, female demografic. For me that's just means they will put a extra effort in socialization, customization and some nice clothes in the game.

Would be also very dumb to them to overlock the female interest in vampires right now.

Khors

CCP doesnt have to promote or hype anything as the most trusted studio in the genre.  They're probably going to watch the false hope and hype surrounding The Secret World from Funcom, quietly laugh as it crashes and burns 1-month post launch, and then provide some teasers around what a real game looks like shortly thereafter, while slowly unveiling their picasso.

Punknaught

Ummmmm, anyone actually played the orignal roleplaying game?  It is a political and social game with some combat rules in there to help facilitate the wars between the vampire clans and other evil/good.

But the game is not solely based in combat. So they are staying true and adding lots of gothic clothing to add style to the game, im not sure why that is so bad. Not looking like everyone else is actually a good thing.

Mysk

Originally posted by azzalan

Some people are thinking they targeting twilight fans, i don't agree, these are more like 10-17-year-old, female demografic. For me that's just means they will put a extra effort in socialization, customization and some nice clothes in the game.

Would be also very dumb to them to overlock the female interest in vampires right now.

This is pretty much the way that I'm looking at it.  Plus, you wouldn't need to hire an economist for a Twilight-esque setting.  Looks to me like they're going in a direction similar to Eve but with a much greater focus on socialization eatures.  My guess is that the Twilight fangirls will probably stay in "high security" areas protected by the Camarilla. They'll enjoy the fashion, talk, run missions, and so on, and will quickly learn to not go out into the urban settings where the real monsters roam.

I'm expecting many (mechanical) parallels between Eve and WoD, and that's not a bad thing IMO.

azzalan

We have to remember also that's WoD not Vampire Online, so there will be Werewolfs and Mages too.

And i put my trust in this because the staff has the white-wolf+CCP briliant devs+people that played the PnP and run to get a job at CCP when heard of the game.

GTwander

Originally posted by Punknaught

Ummmmm, anyone actually played the orignal roleplaying game?  It is a political and social game with some combat rules in there to help facilitate the wars between the vampire clans and other evil/good.

But the game is not solely based in combat. So they are staying true and adding lots of gothic clothing to add style to the game, im not sure why that is so bad. Not looking like everyone else is actually a good thing.

I've never PnPed before, ever, but I've read every manual and campaign setting for D&D, and I'm well versed in the WoD setting's of Vampire, Mage, Wraith and Werewolf. Politics was only a way to define your enemies and those not to trust, same thing in every vampire clan, werewolf tribe and mage society. It's just framework.

While the vampire setting does reach out the emos, the others are far mor interesting imo, and it's sad to see such focus on the singular aspect - and simply to catch the tail-end of the Twilight phenomenon (let's face it). Smart business-wise, but I see a lot of sidestepping when it comes to the intended demographic for the WoD setting - nerds. Nerds and girls do not mix, and I think it's foolish to aim at a female-centric demographic as they are renowned non-gamers and tend to attract stalker-types. Nothing is worse than internet weirdos, and you can count on them lining up for a game like that.

 

 

As for the economist thing, it makes me wonder how they are going to approach making money in-game to begin with. In the PnP game there was a skill called 'finances' (or something similar) that tied to your background as a source of income. If it was really high you could just say you were the son of an oil baron and have all the money to play with that you want. I'm not familiar with the revisioning of the ruleset later on, but it seems the MMO is going to have to break even more rules that would apply.

I bet it has to do with selling fashion designs though... even Eve has that planned, but it would be on top of an already expansive set of choices in gameplay. I like customization like anyone else, but there has to be a good game beneath it. Took Eve 3 years to get any kind of notice, and by then it had enough systems to gloat about - ask someone who was there at launch about it. WoD needs depth from the get go, which is gonna be hard.

azzalan

WoD will be a social game so the kind of nerd that can't talk to a girl is not a potencial customer anyway. There are already too many games out for these guys.

Daywolf

I don’t know, but it seems compelling in light of CCP’s game development philosophy. I really would like to see them do something terrestrial. We need more companies that focus on the art of such game worlds (don’t mean graphics) rather than the bottom line as it mostly stands today. CCP seems to be true artists of the trade.

 

As for depth, they are an emerging company, and with such companies often systems and technology caries over to newer projects that are developed. So may have taken some years to make EVE deep, but some of that will carry over to any new projects.

Rohn

WoD and Copernicus are two of the games that I'm most interested in that are coming in the future.

I wish CCP would put out more info on this game.

dzikun

An MMO in WoD? With Warewolves, mages and vampires? Dark and goth with an abundance of social tools and clothes? PLEASE sign me in! ^^

Murashu

WoD is my last hope for something original coming out in the next few years. Hopefully CCP takes everything they have learned from EVE and make us a great game.

gtnbtfte

Originally posted by azzalan

"CCP Games has been profitable since 2004, but all profits are currently being reinvested in Eve Online and also into creating World of Darkness, a new online subscription game about vampires targeting an 18-25-year-old, female demographic.

 

> targeting an 18-25-year-old, female demographic.

which of course indicates that 99% of the player base will consist of 30+ year old males with sexual orientation issues.

go go CCP!

eburn

Originally posted by Murashu

WoD is my last hope for something original coming out in the next few years. Hopefully CCP takes everything they have learned from EVE and make us a great game.

I've come to accept MMOs for what they are and play them here and there and enjoy it.

I don't get excited.

I haven't had that 'awesome' moment with a new MMO in probably a decade.

But I completely agree with Murashu there, something original and good. If it's isn't exactly awe-inspring, oh well, I do think it'll be quite different.

severius

Originally posted by Khors

CCP doesnt have to promote or hype anything as the most trusted studio in the genre.  They're probably going to watch the false hope and hype surrounding The Secret World from Funcom, quietly laugh as it crashes and burns 1-month post launch, and then provide some teasers around what a real game looks like shortly thereafter, while slowly unveiling their picasso.

With alot of the goings on in Eve I doubt they are the most trusted studio in mmo gaming, I would say Blizzard is far more trusted than CCP.  With that said I am still hoping for a quality game in White Wolf's vampire/werewolf world

Nytakito

Originally posted by severius

Originally posted by Khors

CCP doesnt have to promote or hype anything as the most trusted studio in the genre.  They're probably going to watch the false hope and hype surrounding The Secret World from Funcom, quietly laugh as it crashes and burns 1-month post launch, and then provide some teasers around what a real game looks like shortly thereafter, while slowly unveiling their picasso.

With alot of the goings on in Eve I doubt they are the most trusted studio in mmo gaming, I would say Blizzard is far more trusted than CCP.  With that said I am still hoping for a quality game in White Wolf's vampire/werewolf world

 By goings on do you mean bugs, or direction of the game?  Yeah, EVE has bugs, but they've always stayed true to their initial vision and philosophy to the game, and deal very closely with the players. 

Of studios that currently have MMO's on the market, I trust CCP the most.

I trust Blizzard the least, as they advertised one direction of the game at release, and took it down a road 180 degrees from that since.

nyxium

Yeah waiting for more info, am looking forward to it. The CCP WoD site has a new subtle cityscape mural which is more than they had a while back, much more, so something is happening at least.

 

http://www.ccpgames.com/en/products/world-of-darkness.aspx

Angorim

Originally posted by Nytakito

Originally posted by severius

Originally posted by Khors

CCP doesnt have to promote or hype anything as the most trusted studio in the genre.  They're probably going to watch the false hope and hype surrounding The Secret World from Funcom, quietly laugh as it crashes and burns 1-month post launch, and then provide some teasers around what a real game looks like shortly thereafter, while slowly unveiling their picasso.

With alot of the goings on in Eve I doubt they are the most trusted studio in mmo gaming, I would say Blizzard is far more trusted than CCP.  With that said I am still hoping for a quality game in White Wolf's vampire/werewolf world

 By goings on do you mean bugs, or direction of the game?  Yeah, EVE has bugs, but they've always stayed true to their initial vision and philosophy to the game, and deal very closely with the players. 

Of studios that currently have MMO's on the market, I trust CCP the most.

I trust Blizzard the least, as they advertised one direction of the game at release, and took it down a road 180 degrees from that since.

This.

 

I'd like to think that Blizzard cared about their games/customers at one point, but not so much anymore.  Their creativity is saved for new ways to milk their flock of addicts rather than produce the quality content on a regular basis like vanilla.

 

CCP is easily my most trusted company for the above mentioned reasons and for the fact that they've designed their flagship game to grow steadily over time rather than explode in population, plateau and begin slowly dying off with age like every other game has done.

Khalathwyr

Originally posted by GTwander

Originally posted by Punknaught

Ummmmm, anyone actually played the orignal roleplaying game?  It is a political and social game with some combat rules in there to help facilitate the wars between the vampire clans and other evil/good.

But the game is not solely based in combat. So they are staying true and adding lots of gothic clothing to add style to the game, im not sure why that is so bad. Not looking like everyone else is actually a good thing.

I've never PnPed before, ever, but I've read every manual and campaign setting for D&D, and I'm well versed in the WoD setting's of Vampire, Mage, Wraith and Werewolf. Politics was only a way to define your enemies and those not to trust, same thing in every vampire clan, werewolf tribe and mage society. It's just framework.

While the vampire setting does reach out the emos, the others are far mor interesting imo, and it's sad to see such focus on the singular aspect - and simply to catch the tail-end of the Twilight phenomenon (let's face it). Smart business-wise, but I see a lot of sidestepping when it comes to the intended demographic for the WoD setting - nerds. Nerds and girls do not mix, and I think it's foolish to aim at a female-centric demographic as they are renowned non-gamers and tend to attract stalker-types. Nothing is worse than internet weirdos, and you can count on them lining up for a game like that.

 

 

As for the economist thing, it makes me wonder how they are going to approach making money in-game to begin with. In the PnP game there was a skill called 'finances' (or something similar) that tied to your background as a source of income. If it was really high you could just say you were the son of an oil baron and have all the money to play with that you want. I'm not familiar with the revisioning of the ruleset later on, but it seems the MMO is going to have to break even more rules that would apply.

I bet it has to do with selling fashion designs though... even Eve has that planned, but it would be on top of an already expansive set of choices in gameplay. I like customization like anyone else, but there has to be a good game beneath it. Took Eve 3 years to get any kind of notice, and by then it had enough systems to gloat about - ask someone who was there at launch about it. WoD needs depth from the get go, which is gonna be hard.

This may be in your realm of existence but it is far from the greater reality. There are plenty of females all over the US (and the World) that play Vampire. Indeed my friend works with a guy that's the Prince of Atlanta and looking a picture of their court it was 40-50% female. I've only had two groups I've gamed with and one always had 1+ female members. My view may be a little skewed in that I have multiple friends that workl Scarborough every year and so I've always known/been around women who rolled dice.

So no, women and nerds do mix. It's just that the women on the most part may not be the shallow, materialistic, cell-phone obsessed fashionistas that many of you guys dog around after, lol! I've usually believed that guys that are nerds find a good nerd girl. Guys from the "cool crowd" that game claim that there are no girls in gaming/nerdom.

The 18-25 female demographic is the exact one that buys White Wolf's RPG. It is more than a significant part that gave that company success. Indeed I like...no, love the fact that this is their stated primary target audience. It means to me that there will be a ton more emphasis on the social aspects of the IP than the "har, har! I am male! I smash things! Combat, combat, combat!" that is at the forefront of 90% of modern MMOs. That's not to say there won't be combat and that the combat won't be well done. It is to say that this title looks to give more attention to those non-combat systems that the majority of other games only give lip service to.

Hopefully we will se something this E3. They have in fact been working on it since buying up White Wolf in 2006 but only in a limited capacity until about a little over a year ago (March 2009 I believe it was). There was a memo that said after the release of that EVE expansion back then they would swing into full production on WoD.

@OP: The game is being worked on and is coming. That we do know. Anything else we don't (aside from the video of the character model walking showing hair movement and fabric movement of clothes that is here on this site in the videos section.

HYPERI0N

I have played eve from the begining so have some idea how they may do this game. I feel that it may be a decent game but it may not have every feature you would expect, mainly because the game would not be ready for it yet. CCP seems to like to start off in a conservative way and then slowly expand. Meaning they wont be like Darkfall and promise everything will be there from start rather you will get the core features of WOD and maybee some other cool stuff with promosis of the rest in several free expansions.

 

So question is what will te core features be as i what can this game NOT do without?

 

My thoughts are the main races.

And the political and PvP side.