Will there ever be another "deep" Star Wars MMORPG?

Dauzqul

Will there ever be another "deep" Star Wars MMORPG?

During my experience with the Battlefront 2 beta, it was hard not to imagine a full-blown Star Wars MMORPG with similar aesthetics, animations, and combat. Combine that with a gigantic world, deep crafting, world housing, and player economies...    $$$$$.

How much longer will EA have the exclusive Star Wars license ;/

Tiller

“Difficult to see. Always in motion is the future..” – Yoda

Viper482

The question is "will there ever be another deep MMORPG?"

SpottyGekko

I strongly doubt that there will ever be another "deep" SW MMO.

It's probably the most expensive IP in gaming, so whoever holds the license will no doubt look for the best commercial opportunities and the highest ROI. That means short development times and high monetization potential.

Rosenborg

Wouldn't be surprised if EA one day announced that they are making Star Wars Citizens.

Azaron_Nightblade

Unlikely. Super expensive IP + an underdog genre (sandbox MMO) doesn't exactly equal great returns. Your best hope is for someone successfully reinvent sandbox games, and have them strike it big. But then there'll be complaints about why you can't gank everyone, or why you can't pop down houses wherever you choose (and completely ruin the game's landscape), or whatever feature people decide to bitch about.

Xarko

Not in next 10 years.

Wizardry

Nope not a chance in hell.The licensing alone means the game will suffer a lot.Perhaps in another 75-100 years when people don't care about the IP anymore,the licensing might come begging to get notarized,i just don't see it happening in our lifetime.
Do i even want another SW's game,no i don't think so,i prefer some creativity,lightsabre's and pew pew are too dated now.

Besides even on SWTOR's 200 mil budget,they did not come close to delivering an HQ game,so what would it take, 500 mill,a billion?Or perhaps a real producer with a real team that can work efficiently and quickly.

I prefer to see all the Wow's,Diablo's,Final Fantasies,Elder Scrolls all disappear for something new and creative and deep without having to pay any licensing fees.Soon i see a licensed ip,i know the developer is just in it for the money,there is NOTHING in a known IP that cannot be done with creative minds on their own.

ianicus

I doubt it, the masses of casual players dont really want deep games anymore. I can understand why, I would barely have the time for another one these days with a wife, a kid and a second kid on the way. My serious gaming days are mostly done.

ConstantineMerus

Viper482 said:

The question is "will there ever be another deep MMORPG?"

It should be "will there ever be another MMORPG?"

Forgrimm

Doubtful. But I wouldn't be surprised if we get a Star Wars survival game 

Azaron_Nightblade

Xodic said:

Here's what we do.

Launch a Kickstarter, raise funds to buy a Star Wars license, and then give it to Obsidian.

Rejoice.

edit; There is another option.

Launch a Kickstarter, raise funds to buy EA, and then burn the bitch to ground.

Rejoice.

That would have to be a KS that beats SC in scope!

Quizzical

When you restrict to a particular IP, the answer is probably "no".  If you want another game kind of similar to Star Wars Galaxies, you're going to have to refrain from limiting yourself to the Star Wars IP.

Panther2103

The closest we got was The Repopulation but who knows if that will ever come out because right now it's in limbo with going to a new engine. Honestly the best bet will be some indie dev coming out with a game incredibly similar to Star Wars. But then you are relying on the fact that some small dev company is going to actually end up finishing that game. So far I have no faith a game like this will ever actually come out again, unless magically in depth sandbox games get popular. 

Tiller

Closest thing I have seen so far to SW and it's still in development.
http://rebelhorizons.com/

Rosenborg

Panther2103 said:

The closest we got was The Repopulation but who knows if that will ever come out because right now it's in limbo with going to a new engine. Honestly the best bet will be some indie dev coming out with a game incredibly similar to Star Wars. But then you are relying on the fact that some small dev company is going to actually end up finishing that game. So far I have no faith a game like this will ever actually come out again, unless magically in depth sandbox games get popular. 

The Repopulation got acquired by Idea Fabrik, the developer of the Hero Engine some time ago. Haven't really followed the development though.

Erillion

I think after the triple trilogy is finished and the filler movies are finished, after the fans have seen all the animated series they can stomach, after the fans touch new EU novels with a 10 foot pole, they might look to fill the void with something ....

that could be a high end quality TV series ...

or a new SW MMO.

Maybe even with a strong VR component.

But i would not hold my breath to see one in the next few years.


Have fun 

Venger

Viper482 said:

The question is "will there ever be another deep MMORPG?"

Sadly this is probably the truth. 

  

dave6660

I wish they would give Star Wars a rest.  And not just games but movies too.  The franchise is 40 years old and has gotten progressively worse with each new movie and game.

The word "originality" has left the Hollywood lexicon.

Loke666

Wizardry said:

Nope not a chance in hell.The licensing alone means the game will suffer a lot.Perhaps in another 75-100 years when people don't care about the IP anymore,the licensing might come begging to get notarized,i just don't see it happening in our lifetime.
Do i even want another SW's game,no i don't think so,i prefer some creativity,lightsabre's and pew pew are too dated now.

Besides even on SWTOR's 200 mil budget,they did not come close to delivering an HQ game,so what would it take, 500 mill,a billion?Or perhaps a real producer with a real team that can work efficiently and quickly.

I prefer to see all the Wow's,Diablo's,Final Fantasies,Elder Scrolls all disappear for something new and creative and deep without having to pay any licensing fees.Soon i see a licensed ip,i know the developer is just in it for the money,there is NOTHING in a known IP that cannot be done with creative minds on their own.

In 75 to 100 years you wont need any license unless Disney once again bribes to have the copyright llaws changed.

I don't think the IP really is perfect for a "deep" game anyways, space opera is really intended for that. It is a huge shame that CCPs WoDo was cancelled since an intrigue MMO actually have far more potential to be "deep".

If you want to make a deep sci-fi game it would be more logical (not to mention cheaper) to use an IP like Babylon 5 but I assume OP and I don't have the same opinion what is deep and really is asking if SWG 2 ever will be made. I doubt it will.

Tiller

Loke666 said:

Wizardry said:

Nope not a chance in hell.The licensing alone means the game will suffer a lot.Perhaps in another 75-100 years when people don't care about the IP anymore,the licensing might come begging to get notarized,i just don't see it happening in our lifetime.
Do i even want another SW's game,no i don't think so,i prefer some creativity,lightsabre's and pew pew are too dated now.

Besides even on SWTOR's 200 mil budget,they did not come close to delivering an HQ game,so what would it take, 500 mill,a billion?Or perhaps a real producer with a real team that can work efficiently and quickly.

I prefer to see all the Wow's,Diablo's,Final Fantasies,Elder Scrolls all disappear for something new and creative and deep without having to pay any licensing fees.Soon i see a licensed ip,i know the developer is just in it for the money,there is NOTHING in a known IP that cannot be done with creative minds on their own.

In 75 to 100 years you wont need any license unless Disney once again bribes to have the copyright llaws changed.

I don't think the IP really is perfect for a "deep" game anyways, space opera is really intended for that. It is a huge shame that CCPs WoDo was cancelled since an intrigue MMO actually have far more potential to be "deep".

If you want to make a deep sci-fi game it would be more logical (not to mention cheaper) to use an IP like Babylon 5 but I assume OP and I don't have the same opinion what is deep and really is asking if SWG 2 ever will be made. I doubt it will.

Thing about the Star Wars IP is that the fans love to live the experience, it has always been this way. It is as "deep: as you make it; which is kinda the fun thing about Star Wars. SOE tried to give us that experience with SWG and Disney is giving that to fans with "Galaxies Edge" the new Star Wars theme park area of Disneyland and WDW. It will be a totally interactive, immersive and engaging experience where you will select a faction and take quests throughout the park itself.

"Our intent is to make it feel as if you just walked into one of the movies... Bringing Star Wars to life in the physical world gives us the opportunity to play with a whole bunch of things we've never done before... to really engage all of the senses. What does that street feel like? What does that animal smell like? What does blue milk taste like?"

"The new planet is designed for guests to begin their own narrative. The Millennium Falcon attraction will feature a customized secret mission"

 They are also working on  Star Wars themed Hotel in WDW that will guests to feel like they are living on actual space station set in the Star Wars universe.  Cosplay is allowed and recommended (not required) and they want make it feel like you are living on a station in the world of Star Wars.

Where SOE failed with SWG is the lack of real direction; it was too open ended for most people to accept as a game. Most times players found themselves asking "where do I go?" "what do I do?". The creatives ones found their and created their own narrative and where able to stick around a lot longer. I mix of both open ended design with a mix of directive content would do the next "Star Wars Galaxies like" game some good. People don't mind being uncle Owen, but if you have no goals what's the point of living the adventure?

 In a way, Star Wars needs to be open ended. What is life like for that spacer walking down the street? or that bounty hinter, or smuggler who tries to remain in the shadows? There are millions of stories that can be told in the world of Star Wars, which is what Disney plans to do. This current trilogy we are in now with The Last Jedi being number 2 of 3 is the last in the Skywalker storyline and they are currently setting the stage for new stories to be told. We're just getting started here and the cash cow has finally been realized by a company that can and will do something new with it.

http://variety.com/2015/film/news/d23-star-wars-land-disneyland-1201571059/


Oh and another article to go with the one above.

http://massivelyop.com/2017/04/17/disneys-new-star-wars-ride-is-half-an-mmo/

Konfess

The only thing standing in the way of a "Deep" MMO are Play For Free gamers.  So long as gamers want to play MMOs for free and not spend a cent, there is no chance of a "Deep" MMO being made.

Tiller

Konfess said:

The only thing standing in the way of a "Deep" MMO are Play For Free gamers.  So long as gamers want to play MMOs for free and not spend a cent, there is no chance of a "Deep" MMO being made.

Unless  they do what ZeniMax and Areanet do with ESO and GW2. I think those two companies found the perfect formula, for now.

Loke666

Tiller said:

Konfess said:

The only thing standing in the way of a "Deep" MMO are Play For Free gamers.  So long as gamers want to play MMOs for free and not spend a cent, there is no chance of a "Deep" MMO being made.

Unless  they do what ZeniMax and Areanet do with ESO and GW2. I think those two companies found the perfect formula, for now.

I wouldn't call either perfect but at least acceptable and I can live with that.

Still, @Konfess theory does not hold water unless he think MMOs were deep 7 or so years ago before the F2P craze took over in the west. 

@Tiller : I get what you say but I never felt SWG really felt like one of the movies. TOR feels a lot like Clone wars though but that isn't a good thing in my book.

You could certainly make a MMO that have the feeling of the movies but you need to develop specific mechanics just for that. Just the fight mechanics to get something feel like the movies is rather hard to get right, and what you can do with the force and the mechanics to do it in the game is not something easy.

Of course TOR makes you the hero while SWG makes you more like an extra but does that make it "deep"?

I am as much SW fans as most others but the real theme of SW is heroic space opera. If you want a deep good Sci-fi IP you should look on Frank Herberts "Dune" instead (but avoid the lousy Lynch movie). 

ConstantineMerus

Loke666 said:

Tiller said:

Konfess said:

The only thing standing in the way of a "Deep" MMO are Play For Free gamers.  So long as gamers want to play MMOs for free and not spend a cent, there is no chance of a "Deep" MMO being made.

Unless  they do what ZeniMax and Areanet do with ESO and GW2. I think those two companies found the perfect formula, for now.

I wouldn't call either perfect but at least acceptable and I can live with that.

Still, @Konfess theory does not hold water unless he think MMOs were deep 7 or so years ago before the F2P craze took over in the west. 

@Tiller : I get what you say but I never felt SWG really felt like one of the movies. TOR feels a lot like Clone wars though but that isn't a good thing in my book.

You could certainly make a MMO that have the feeling of the movies but you need to develop specific mechanics just for that. Just the fight mechanics to get something feel like the movies is rather hard to get right, and what you can do with the force and the mechanics to do it in the game is not something easy.

Of course TOR makes you the hero while SWG makes you more like an extra but does that make it "deep"?

I am as much SW fans as most others but the real theme of SW is heroic space opera. If you want a deep good Sci-fi IP you should look on Frank Herberts "Dune" instead (but avoid the lousy Lynch movie). 

I really wish Jodorowsky would've made Dune. Sadly it's one of those wonderful things which died before birth. Check his documentary about it, very interesting if you are a fan.

BMBender

TBH getting struck by lightning after a car wreck heading to turn in your winning lotto ticket is more likely.  MMos stopped being "deep" over a decade ago.  Star Wars crap stopped being "deep" back in the 70's.    Both genres would need a bit of re-branding to support a "deep" SW MMO.  You'll have to be satisfied with a "derp" one.