Indie developers aim too high on technical aspects when creating sandbox games and MMOs. They shouldn't be afraid to use simplistic graphics if that means they can focus on having functional gameplay and making sure that runs decently on a variety of computers.
People say that, but there are several really well done sandboxes that have poor graphics. Trust me people say they want gameplay, but they really want shiny graphics.
I think people want both. I agree there's a segment of players that can get sucked in by fancy graphics but at this point I don't think it's wrong for folks to want great gameplay along with appealing graphics. Gamers shouldn't have to sacrifice one for the outher. Of course finding games like this to chose from is another story.
I posted this in the general gaming topic about this...but in case that gets locked/deleted, since that particular thread doesn't tend to fit there...I'll re-post this here as well
Almost every indie sandbox game fails...why?
1. So many bugs
2. So much unfinished content and content that is listed as a feature, but isn't in-game
3. Most are pure PvP for some reason, there is a lot of players wanting a PvE sandbox (judging by various forums, including this one)
4. Did I mention every indie sandbox game I've seen, has unfinished content and is lacking features? EVE was the same at release, but I guess it was unique enough that it grew into a solid playerbase...an exception and it was also in earlier times when people didn't expect a feature complete, non-buggy game
5. So many bugs...
A successful sandbox game will most likely be made by an AAA company, not an indie one that has too limited of funds for a large sandbox game. Sadly, AAA companies only want to cash in on WoW or make their MMO a singleplayer pay to play RPG.
Also, singleplayer sandboxes (like Minecraft) are vastly different than MMORPG sandboxes. Indie singleplayer sandbox games tend to be a lot more successful, for whatever reason. I guess because MMOs are huge and cost tons of money to make.
The good part is, since Bethesda took the mmo rights to Fallout back from Interplay, these Masthead fools don't get achance to ruin it also.
-Letting Derek Smart work on your game is like letting Osama bin Laden work in the White House. Something will burn.- -And on the 8th day, man created God.-
I'm from Bulgaria and I know for a fact from ex Masthead employee, that their artists and ideas were awesome, however they didn't have good programmers.
Bulgarian developer Masthead Studios announced earlier today that they're shutting down the servers for their post-apocalyptic sandbox MMO Earthrise.
"One year after the launch of the game, we have decided to stop the Earthrise servers. Earthrise was released too early and did not meet the expectations of its fans" said Atanas Atanasov, Director of Masthead Studios. "We did our best to revive the game in 2011, but the time was not enough to keep up with the user requirements. There is a huge interest in high quality open world sandbox MMORPGs, unfortunately the big publishers do not show any interest in the genre. It is unfortunate that low budget companies like ours are trying to bring innovativeness in the already saturated MMO market. I hope that one day an independent studio will be able to release the long anticipated open world sandbox MMO, which everyone is talking about, but no one is making. We tried, but did not succeed. We would like to apologize to those who were disappointed from Earthrise and to thank everyone who supported us during the years."
The studio does mention that the planned free-to-play version for this year may still launch if any investor interest is shown, but there has been no word on this yet.
Comments
People say that, but there are several really well done sandboxes that have poor graphics. Trust me people say they want gameplay, but they really want shiny graphics.
I think people want both. I agree there's a segment of players that can get sucked in by fancy graphics but at this point I don't think it's wrong for folks to want great gameplay along with appealing graphics. Gamers shouldn't have to sacrifice one for the outher. Of course finding games like this to chose from is another story.I posted this in the general gaming topic about this...but in case that gets locked/deleted, since that particular thread doesn't tend to fit there...I'll re-post this here as well
Almost every indie sandbox game fails...why?
1. So many bugs
2. So much unfinished content and content that is listed as a feature, but isn't in-game
3. Most are pure PvP for some reason, there is a lot of players wanting a PvE sandbox (judging by various forums, including this one)
4. Did I mention every indie sandbox game I've seen, has unfinished content and is lacking features? EVE was the same at release, but I guess it was unique enough that it grew into a solid playerbase...an exception and it was also in earlier times when people didn't expect a feature complete, non-buggy game
5. So many bugs...
A successful sandbox game will most likely be made by an AAA company, not an indie one that has too limited of funds for a large sandbox game. Sadly, AAA companies only want to cash in on WoW or make their MMO a singleplayer pay to play RPG.
Also, singleplayer sandboxes (like Minecraft) are vastly different than MMORPG sandboxes. Indie singleplayer sandbox games tend to be a lot more successful, for whatever reason. I guess because MMOs are huge and cost tons of money to make.
A shame it ended this way. Before release, I was really looking forward to it. Sadly, they rushed it, and like so many others, killed it. RIP
I self identify as a monkey.
You could not said it any better. At least I hope they will learn something from this.
The good part is, since Bethesda took the mmo rights to Fallout back from Interplay, these Masthead fools don't get achance to ruin it also.
-Letting Derek Smart work on your game is like letting Osama bin Laden work in the White House. Something will burn.-
-And on the 8th day, man created God.-
This is actually ashame. Theres no doubt the game was broke, but man did it have potential. They just needed stronger devs...
Incognito
www.incognito-gaming.us
"You're either with us or against us"
I'm from Bulgaria and I know for a fact from ex Masthead employee, that their artists and ideas were awesome, however they didn't have good programmers.
This game sucked. Good riddance.
not surprised, MO may be next
How can you even say that, players have stating MO has never had so many players. Quarterly reports be damned.
I think I found the crux of the problem. The correct word would be 'innovations'.
I tried the game once using the free trial. I thought the visuals were stunning but I couldn't get used to the very odd method of controlling combat.
Too bad.