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The MMORPG Market has a huge hole in it...
-FN-
Member Posts: 65
I've been looking at MMO after MMO for days, as I usually do every couple of months. It seems that the MMORPG market is just oversaturated with:
- Fantasy Games - If some idiotic studio comes out with yet ANOTHER elf/orc/etc game and thinks they're being original, they should be shot.
- Click-N-Wait or Turn-Based Games - How is waiting for your opponent to make his move as if you're in a Revolutionary War battle, standing face to face waiting for your enemy to blow your face off, exhilarating?
I know *so* many people who are looking for a game that:
- Allows you to play as some sort of humanoid. Ships/cars are out.
- Allows you tradeskill/craft in some way. Weapons/Armor should have some dynamic.
- Allows you level/hunt solo when you feel the need to not be in a team.
- Allows for FPS or FPS-like PvP - No click-n-wait or Tick-restrictions. Give me an aiming reticle, damnit.
- Allows people to form clans or guilds and maintain a decent Buddy List.
- Has a population that they can make a name for themselves in - i.e. Not too big.
- Has a population that they won't be bored to death in - i.e. Not too small.
- Has a gameworld that's explorable - Not too small and completely mapped out.
- Is technically sound, relatively bug free, maintained & developed well.
- Isn't Fantasy like 500 other games that reuse the same ideas over and over again.
- Doesn't require 50 people to get a chance to gain a single item *cough* WoW *cough*
Neocron fits every one of those reqs except for the "technically sound" and it's population is insanely small. I'm getting desperate and am tired of doing ours of research only to come up with "Twilight War", "Fallen Earth", and "Huxley" - and other games that won't see the light of retail day until 2006 or later. How can there be no other MMORPGFPS out there except Neocron!?
Hell, I'd even play a *choke* Fantasy MMORPG if it were FPS and not like EQ/MxO/AO/WoW... but every damn developer out there does the same f-ing thing the last one did.
Where's the innovation in this market!?
Comments
To me this sounds like, play necron cuz its everyones game but anyways...
Allows you to play as some sort of humanoid. Ships/cars are out.
If you mean human as in no dwarf elf etc there are plenty.
- Allows you tradeskill/craft in some way. Weapons/Armor should have some dynamic.
Again plenty of games with crafting but none with the dynamics most are looking for.
- Allows you level/hunt solo when you feel the need to not be in a team.
Plenty of solo and team based hunting in most every mmorpg
- Allows for FPS or FPS-like PvP - No click-n-wait or Tick-restrictions. Give me an aiming reticle, damnit.
hmm, neocron comes to mind as does an upcoming Roma Victor
- Allows people to form clans or guilds and maintain a decent Buddy List.
So far every game i have played has had guild systems and friend list :P
- Has a population that they can make a name for themselves in - i.e. Not too big.
Again ive played MMOs with low pops and high pops and even some with a choice depending on servers.
- Has a population that they won't be bored to death in - i.e. Not too small.
see above
- Has a gameworld that's explorable - Not too small and completely mapped out.
True, most games once explored are basically the same after that. Asherson call comes to mind even though its old as aunt jemimah
- Is technically sound, relatively bug free, maintained & developed well.
A bug free game, come on now, no such thing :P
- Isn't Fantasy like 500 other games that reuse the same ideas over and over again.
Agreed here
- Doesn't require 50 people to get a chance to gain a single item *cough* WoW *cough*
ROFL I feel you on that one :P
Neocron fits every one of those reqs except for the "technically sound" and it's population is insanely
Yeah, but I'm saying nothing fits ALL of those reqs, not just some.
Another thing I've grown to dislike is the "instancing" crap - I want to be able to raid a tunnel if I feel like it. "Instancing" is just another way for developers to carebear a game down.
While I agree about games being too carebear now its hard to disagree with Blizzards success in subscribers and $ they are pulling in.
Anyhow I did start a thread about too many carbear games and now its 6 pages long of people flaming me
Savage, although it's not an MMORPG; It's a lot like one.
Personally I think the gaping whole in the market would be nicely filled by an open-ended, open pvp Wild West game. Yet to hear of any mmo's looking into this time zone (will no doubt stand corrected a few posts down though..).
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Currently Following: Roma Victor, Fallen Earth, Warhammer Online.
To me the market has thre really big holes that are/could be intertwined. They are ..
1. Good decent Sci-Fi (not a lot of good sci-fi out there
2. A MECHA game. ... c'mon it would be cool
3. a SHADOWRUN style game
Yes all are sci-fi to one degree or another, but how long is EVE going to have the market cornered on good spaceship combat? I say combine EVE with a MECHA GAME! You laugh? How nice would it be to have to transport your ground army thru hostile space so that you could attack a planet? You would have to build a good space fleet and a good ground army, I think this would be a extremely addictive game... Just my opinion
Witty saying to amuse you goes here.
When MMO companies feel safe enough to invest in new genres then it will happen, i.e. when there is enough demand for it and they see the genre work on smaller levels with small MMO companies and games.
Until then enjoy the games we have, they are all fun in different areas...just find one that has the most for you.
Creator of Etherea: Dark Genesis
A Fantasy/Mythical MMORPG in development
Found at www.etherea-dg.com
Look around.. They are out there.
7years ago I bet the Devs wouldnt think it be possible to make a goood graphics MMOFPS...
I bet severs still couldnts handle 200+users FPS style MMORPG...
I would love to have a battle where i can aim/pick where my sword would land(head/body/legs....) The other warrior would then have to move his shield where ever he sees the swing going to land.
But then everyone would need a good ping, so how can it be massive? With like 20users sending so many packets.... It would just be a lag fest
--
"Any free people have the right to choose how it wants to be govern thats the essence of democracy. It's sad when America has chosen for the stability and consistency of a dictatorship and doing it democratically" -utnow
You may wanna try Endless Ages...though the population is a bit small. But when I tried it I liked it well enough. It fits your fps style play, has crafting, has non-fantasy humanoids, and jump-packs to boot.
http://www.endlessages.com
And maybe watch the Rapid Reality development...they are supposed to release two games by this years end...one (The Chronicles) is not your cup of tea, but Machines maybe. Also they have a cyberpunk game planned down the road a bit.
http://www.mmocenter.com
Is Endless Ages the one that you play through an Internet Explorer Active-X Control...
Not the last time I played...it's been a year or so though...*goes back and checks the link*
Edit: I haven't kept up with the news...looks like the game changed hands or the company expanded. Last time it wasn't free to play either...Guess sinces it's free you don't have much to lose in trying it.
You should check out darkfall. Yes it is a fantasy game, but it lives up to everything you wrote in you rpost, except for fantasy of course.
The game will be in first person out of battle with melee fighting in 3rd person. Range though will be first and will have a targeting reticle as you stated. Every in game item is said to be craftable. A load more, but I don't feel like typing. Check it out
.
Here's a leaked gameplay video, it shows some PvP. The guy is a magic user and has a staff. It's prettly old though, the graphics, interface have greatly increased since then.
http://www.the-combine.net/ArticleV...x?ArticleNo=316
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Private Message me about it!
There are a couple set in that time period, but I wouldn't look for them too soon, if at all.
Wild West Sim
-I'm not really sure what the state of this one is at the moment (nothing on their webpage has changed in months). It looks to be sort of 1950's television cowboys 'n injuns fare. I don't think there will be a lot of attention to historical accuracy, but my guess is that there will be fairly open pvp.
Frontier 1859
-Frontier 1859 is by far one of the most interesting concepts I've run across. The goal is to create a survival type of MMO, but that just scratches the surface. There's mention of quite a few really innovative concepts, one being a "conscience inventory;" this keeps track of how good or how bad you are, and if you're bad enough, you may very well be hung in the town square (read: perma-death). The model is so different from what's out there now, however, that they haven't been able to find any funding. They're in a state of limbo at the moment, unfortunately.
Really, neither of the games may ever see the light of day. The gaming industry, much like the film industry, is more business than artform these days, and investors prefer tested commodities to high risk bonds. There's a reason why every other movie you see ends in a number, is based on a television show or book, or is a remake of an earlier movie. Now that World of Warcraft has done so well, expect all the big money to be flowing in similar directions.
I'm sure there will continue to be small "art film" games that are released, but they'll be working with much smaller budgets, have much smaller playerbases, and therefore will be limited with how far they can really go. It's difficult to change the face of gaming when you have two guys coding the world and a server tech named Gonzo who answered your ad in the back of the Little Nickel newspaper.
There are a couple set in that time period, but I wouldn't look for them too soon, if at all.
Wild West Sim
-I'm not really sure what the state of this one is at the moment (nothing on their webpage has changed in months). It looks to be sort of 1950's television cowboys 'n injuns fare. I don't think there will be a lot of attention to historical accuracy, but my guess is that there will be fairly open pvp.
Frontier 1859
-Frontier 1859 is by far one of the most interesting concepts I've run across. The goal is to create a survival type of MMO, but that just scratches the surface. There's mention of quite a few really innovative concepts, one being a "conscience inventory;" this keeps track of how good or how bad you are, and if you're bad enough, you may very well be hung in the town square (read: perma-death). The model is so different from what's out there now, however, that they haven't been able to find any funding. They're in a state of limbo at the moment, unfortunately.
Really, neither of the games may ever see the light of day. The gaming industry, much like the film industry, is more business than artform these days, and investors prefer tested commodities to high risk bonds. There's a reason why every other movie you see ends in a number, is based on a television show or book, or is a remake of an earlier movie. Now that World of Warcraft has done so well, expect all the big money to be flowing in similar directions.
I'm sure there will continue to be small "art film" games that are released, but they'll be working with much smaller budgets, have much smaller playerbases, and therefore will be limited with how far they can really go. It's difficult to change the face of gaming when you have two guys coding the world and a server tech named Gonzo who answered your ad in the back of the Little Nickel newspaper.
The ideas they have planned for Frontier 1859 seem excellent, its a damn shame they cant get any funding. What you say about all the mainstream money flowing into wow-type games I can see happening as well which is a damn shame, id love larger companys to take an interest in some different, less generic concepts and really explore where they can take the MMO genere rather than making cash-cow MMO's.
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Currently Following: Roma Victor, Fallen Earth, Warhammer Online.
I LOVE your avatar -FN- that cartoon is funny as hell!
"I have stigmata of the eyes"
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"MMOs, for people that like think chatting is like a skill or something, rotflol"
http://purepwnage.com
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"Far away across the field, the tolling of the iron bell, calls the faithful to their knees. To hear the softly spoken magic spell" Pink Floyd-Dark Side of the Moon
I personally could see a HELL of a lot a fun in a hybrid-esque game.
I'd like to see something sorta like Shadowrun + Lineage + Planetside + Ultima Online. Guns and small, elite teams and/or solo runners, multiple bases/cities that can be attacked and even owned by elite corps, the FPS style combat, but add in some skills for added depth, and the ability to openly PK/loot/rob anyone who starts up a firefight.
The Mr. Johnsons are perfect mission terminals, and the fact that the game would have 4 complete worlds (the computer matrixes + the street life of the hitman + guns/weapons trade + corp raids) would be spectacular.
I can say one thing with certainty; I'm sick of the fantasy genre. I want some innovation.
Waiting for something fresh to arrive on the MMO scene...
The only difference between sci fi, and fantasy is that instead of bows you get guns.
Every single concept is the same between the 2, except space travel.(but that really doesn't have THAT big of a market)
you can have medievil FPS(play legends of might and magic, it failed because of bad advertisement/early release and bugs). Which work well.
The only difference is that they reskin things, and instead of shooting a arrow into somethings neck, youll fire a laser at them PEW PEW PEW.
I'd love to see a wild west mmo, which played like the hl mod the specialists(only - the time effects and a bit slower paced) but in all truths, it'd work better as a hl mod, more action faster.
The main thing is people are playing FPS games, and then expect the same gameplay in a mmo.
Go play gunz online. You'd love it, its not a mmo, but its really the closest that'll ever happen.
People don't want roleplaying they don't a giant world(in all truths). They want a FPS with tons of maps. They want action right here right now all the time. And frankly I wan't more then just random killing of people in mmos(why i don't play pvp servers anymore).
You see people wanting open pvp for "realism" its all just a convenient lie to make your opinion sound more realistic.
Just to demonstrate the reskin
The bases/cities could be forts/villages to capture burn down, the small teams and solo runners could be freelance guilds, FPS combat is copiable, bow/cross can be aimed and shot, magic as well, sword and shield can be used with the mouse to attack/block and swing your sword to parry/disarm. Same for polearms etc.
Alternate dimensions, a blacklisted player would have to sneak around town to avoid guards, trading weapons/armor, and having a guild or another kingdom attack your main town/castle slaughtering villagers and then killing their king and taking over. Having a guild of rogues sneak into town and kill the kings and his guards, and the politicians(which could be player based, and include the politicians logging out and the king npc spawns and takes over)
Its not the genre your bored with, its how its done. Chances are sci fi games will bore you as well(which is probably why your not playing AO or MxO, or even SWG), unless they become a FPS. I say just quit mmorpgs and go buy hl2.
Roma Victor - fills a lot of the gaps in the market, check it out http://www.roma-victor.com/sotw
-Adam