Game developers are just human beings who happen to make games for a living. If you want to hold us up to higher standards of conduct, then go ahead ...but don't be surprised if we don't uphold them.
Beta? Wow. Well the game has come a LONG way since then. Still got some things to do, but the pop is picking up and 2011 is going to be an even better year than 2010 for the game. Check it out.
Game developers are just human beings who happen to make games for a living. If you want to hold us up to higher standards of conduct, then go ahead ...but don't be surprised if we don't uphold them.
This is a lot of text, be forewarned that if you can't handle it, you probably weren't in my target population so feel free to move along. For the rest of you deeper gene pool swimmers, I humbly thank you for your time.
I definitely applaud your efforts. You have done a lot of work to make the investment that Mr. Allen was apparently unable to deliver on.
The only issue I would see with not just your mmorpg but any of the smaller budget titles, is that if you or they are not bringing anything new to the table, or raising the standard to meet mmorpgs such as the 24+ races as well as an equal amount of classes that Dark Age of Camelot produced in 2001. This was an extraordinary ground breaking title that invented the concept that "if you build it, people will craft siege engines and try to knock it down, etc." This was not just the same 2 races that are the thing these days, but a lot of cultural representation across three uniquely separate realms that each enjoy amazing lore and fictional history...."
The point is, it costs a bit of money to play an mmorpg (not much but still). I am unaware as to whether you've gone the route of cash shop to compete in pvp route such as the Asian market subscribes to, (or titles that were losing players ad naseum such as LOTRO, and D&D Online), or if you are requesting a monthly sub. Regardless of either, unless you bring something "new" to the table, there will be little reason to play and in turn give up a present title.
Just a word of advice, while the pvp tower concept is awesome, it's only a molecule of the potential of what medieval fantasy warfare was all about. Plainly stated, you don't need to have the genius of Dark Age of Camelot's THREE realm model (God knows Mythic has been bought and sold broken down and rebuilt and passed around like a red headed Irish indentured servant on a Protestant plantation), but you should take a peek at (since you are using a 2 faction model at best which is what I would assume you would do to fit into the basic expectation these days) the amount of strategy and military design that went on between the plethora of crusades that began in the late summer of 1099 when Jerusalem was first taken, all the way through to the dissolution of the Templar order under Grandmaster Jaques De Molay (1312?).
Note that in that time period, the Christian armies had to take a fort at a time along the coast of the crescent before they could even push into Jerusalem. Likewise, Saladin's troops had to retake the forts. This tended to happen back and forth at times over the years of this conflict (1095 to 1291 with the fall of Acre).
So here you have so much rich history to pull from. For all you developers out there that are still sitting around that planning table and brainstorming how to make an mmorpg have a sense of reality - for God's sakes open a history book.
But, it's a fantasy title, we don't have to have siege warfare and castles and complex political divides!
- God forbid we use credibility to make a great story in an mmorpg. Tolkien sure as heck knew what battles looked like - yet Turbine Entertainment completely missed the boat - yet they had more lore and reference material that any other possible title. Players should have been able to play orcs and the like with as much detail and development as the Free Peoples of Middle Earth were granted. But that's too much work I suppose. No Battle of Helm's Deep here folks, move along.
Robert Ervin Howard described the battles between completely different cultures to such an extent that even when Funcom hired animators to design an introductory video, it showed King Conan slamming his fist on a map of Hyborea, furious that nations would dare intrude on his Aquilonian kingdom. He preached peace and prosperity within his own realm - and though he himself was a Cimmerian outsider (think Thrace), and if you actually read Conan the King, you would know that his men marched as a unified army under ONE flag to defend against invading armies.
And then the mmorpg released, and they used one of the servers for - get this - a server that focused on cultural differences. This meant that Cimmeria would not tolerate Necromancers from Stygia running free through their homeland, and Priests of Mitra, who represent the faith that the politics of Aquilonia is built upon, would be unified against a dark Stygian threat. But what happened? The devs were unable to develop the server, had countless issues with coding, and their concept of culturally divided PvP was too much for them to handle. Yet, must I digress to Dark Age of Camelot?
It's not like this info isn't available, and here's the rub, these guys [developers and investors] need to set aside their egos, and do their titles and their subscribers right. I don't believe there is any further room for lazy offerings with limited class race combos and politics that aren't any more complex then the drama at a local elementary school. It's 2011, we should at least be able to see titles that can compete with what came out literally 10 years ago.
There is so much potential info to pull from when creating a title - and it doesn't have to be eye candy graphics. Good story can beat any eye candy Asian title any day.
The question is, does your title bring any of the glory of what a pvp mmorpg can engage in? Or are we looking at very simple watered down player vs player conflict (ala EQ2) where some concept of a battleground occurs and the few players that put down DC Universe Online, World of Warcraft, LOTRO, DDO, Rifts (March release and looking beautifully done), SW:TOR, Diablo 3?
Will players spend more time on the forums being angry then actually having fun?
I don't want to just be Socrates and point out what can go wrong. Here's some helpful advice:
Market your product as a warm and fuzzy small scale indie title that enjoys a nice little tight nit community where the mega mmorpgs that sadly include a plethora of community busters will never once step foot. That sir, is the very first step. Secondly, I'd go all out on the religious theme and go ahead and make a crusader type conquest available for players (hence my earlier reference). Get those castles up, better yet, allow players to build walls, keeps, towers (huge guild investment of course).
Thanks for that well thought out post. We're working on a number of things that we hope will strike a balance for both PvE and PvP players without sacrificing too much in terms of gameplay and such. All in all game balancing is a tightrope and no game is going to ever get it done right.
Game developers are just human beings who happen to make games for a living. If you want to hold us up to higher standards of conduct, then go ahead ...but don't be surprised if we don't uphold them.
That would be even funnier if only a fraction of it were even true. I'm sure that myself and the dev team are reading this and going wtf. But ce la vie I suppose.
I think the game's own 2009 failure, coupled with the number of fixes, tweaks, improvements and features that have gone in since I took over the company and team, speak for themselves. And only those who are actually PLAYING the game would know that.
Game developers are just human beings who happen to make games for a living. If you want to hold us up to higher standards of conduct, then go ahead ...but don't be surprised if we don't uphold them.
Comments
I think I just might.
Oh and glad to see this game is still around and improving, I played all through beta but kind of distanced myself after launch, will check it out.
Beta? Wow. Well the game has come a LONG way since then. Still got some things to do, but the pop is picking up and 2011 is going to be an even better year than 2010 for the game. Check it out.
Game developers are just human beings who happen to make games for a living.
If you want to hold us up to higher standards of conduct, then go ahead
...but don't be surprised if we don't uphold them.
This is a lot of text, be forewarned that if you can't handle it, you probably weren't in my target population so feel free to move along. For the rest of you deeper gene pool swimmers, I humbly thank you for your time.
I definitely applaud your efforts. You have done a lot of work to make the investment that Mr. Allen was apparently unable to deliver on.
The only issue I would see with not just your mmorpg but any of the smaller budget titles, is that if you or they are not bringing anything new to the table, or raising the standard to meet mmorpgs such as the 24+ races as well as an equal amount of classes that Dark Age of Camelot produced in 2001. This was an extraordinary ground breaking title that invented the concept that "if you build it, people will craft siege engines and try to knock it down, etc." This was not just the same 2 races that are the thing these days, but a lot of cultural representation across three uniquely separate realms that each enjoy amazing lore and fictional history...."
The point is, it costs a bit of money to play an mmorpg (not much but still). I am unaware as to whether you've gone the route of cash shop to compete in pvp route such as the Asian market subscribes to, (or titles that were losing players ad naseum such as LOTRO, and D&D Online), or if you are requesting a monthly sub. Regardless of either, unless you bring something "new" to the table, there will be little reason to play and in turn give up a present title.
Just a word of advice, while the pvp tower concept is awesome, it's only a molecule of the potential of what medieval fantasy warfare was all about. Plainly stated, you don't need to have the genius of Dark Age of Camelot's THREE realm model (God knows Mythic has been bought and sold broken down and rebuilt and passed around like a red headed Irish indentured servant on a Protestant plantation), but you should take a peek at (since you are using a 2 faction model at best which is what I would assume you would do to fit into the basic expectation these days) the amount of strategy and military design that went on between the plethora of crusades that began in the late summer of 1099 when Jerusalem was first taken, all the way through to the dissolution of the Templar order under Grandmaster Jaques De Molay (1312?).
Note that in that time period, the Christian armies had to take a fort at a time along the coast of the crescent before they could even push into Jerusalem. Likewise, Saladin's troops had to retake the forts. This tended to happen back and forth at times over the years of this conflict (1095 to 1291 with the fall of Acre).
So here you have so much rich history to pull from. For all you developers out there that are still sitting around that planning table and brainstorming how to make an mmorpg have a sense of reality - for God's sakes open a history book.
But, it's a fantasy title, we don't have to have siege warfare and castles and complex political divides!
- God forbid we use credibility to make a great story in an mmorpg. Tolkien sure as heck knew what battles looked like - yet Turbine Entertainment completely missed the boat - yet they had more lore and reference material that any other possible title. Players should have been able to play orcs and the like with as much detail and development as the Free Peoples of Middle Earth were granted. But that's too much work I suppose. No Battle of Helm's Deep here folks, move along.
Robert Ervin Howard described the battles between completely different cultures to such an extent that even when Funcom hired animators to design an introductory video, it showed King Conan slamming his fist on a map of Hyborea, furious that nations would dare intrude on his Aquilonian kingdom. He preached peace and prosperity within his own realm - and though he himself was a Cimmerian outsider (think Thrace), and if you actually read Conan the King, you would know that his men marched as a unified army under ONE flag to defend against invading armies.
And then the mmorpg released, and they used one of the servers for - get this - a server that focused on cultural differences. This meant that Cimmeria would not tolerate Necromancers from Stygia running free through their homeland, and Priests of Mitra, who represent the faith that the politics of Aquilonia is built upon, would be unified against a dark Stygian threat. But what happened? The devs were unable to develop the server, had countless issues with coding, and their concept of culturally divided PvP was too much for them to handle. Yet, must I digress to Dark Age of Camelot?
It's not like this info isn't available, and here's the rub, these guys [developers and investors] need to set aside their egos, and do their titles and their subscribers right. I don't believe there is any further room for lazy offerings with limited class race combos and politics that aren't any more complex then the drama at a local elementary school. It's 2011, we should at least be able to see titles that can compete with what came out literally 10 years ago.
There is so much potential info to pull from when creating a title - and it doesn't have to be eye candy graphics. Good story can beat any eye candy Asian title any day.
The question is, does your title bring any of the glory of what a pvp mmorpg can engage in? Or are we looking at very simple watered down player vs player conflict (ala EQ2) where some concept of a battleground occurs and the few players that put down DC Universe Online, World of Warcraft, LOTRO, DDO, Rifts (March release and looking beautifully done), SW:TOR, Diablo 3?
Will players spend more time on the forums being angry then actually having fun?
I don't want to just be Socrates and point out what can go wrong. Here's some helpful advice:
Market your product as a warm and fuzzy small scale indie title that enjoys a nice little tight nit community where the mega mmorpgs that sadly include a plethora of community busters will never once step foot. That sir, is the very first step. Secondly, I'd go all out on the religious theme and go ahead and make a crusader type conquest available for players (hence my earlier reference). Get those castles up, better yet, allow players to build walls, keeps, towers (huge guild investment of course).
/good luck!
Thanks for that well thought out post. We're working on a number of things that we hope will strike a balance for both PvE and PvP players without sacrificing too much in terms of gameplay and such. All in all game balancing is a tightrope and no game is going to ever get it done right.
Game developers are just human beings who happen to make games for a living.
If you want to hold us up to higher standards of conduct, then go ahead
...but don't be surprised if we don't uphold them.
That would be even funnier if only a fraction of it were even true. I'm sure that myself and the dev team are reading this and going wtf. But ce la vie I suppose.
I think the game's own 2009 failure, coupled with the number of fixes, tweaks, improvements and features that have gone in since I took over the company and team, speak for themselves. And only those who are actually PLAYING the game would know that.
Game developers are just human beings who happen to make games for a living.
If you want to hold us up to higher standards of conduct, then go ahead
...but don't be surprised if we don't uphold them.