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MMORPG.COM News: Africa: First Look Preview
Dana
Member Posts: 2,415
Africa is the latest project undertaken by Rapid Reality. This project tells the previously ignored story of Africa, its mythology and history. Lead Designer Tracy Spaight and I met during my recent trip to Atlanta, Georgia. Here is what I found:
;) A fantasy MMORPG this most definitely is not.
Rapid Reality, the Atlanta based developers who are also hard at work The Chronicle, Machines and revamping Endless Ages, recently announced their next big project: Africa. This MMORPG is co-funded by Rapid Reality and AfriCast Global Media. It was announced with great fanfare on MTV in February. Recently, MMORPG.com had the chance to travel down to Atlanta and find out more. Were trying to innovate, said Tracy Spaight, the former St. Johns University lecturer who holds a Masters from Cornell. Tracy is the Lead Designer of Africa and Vice President of Research and Development at Rapid Reality. |
You can read the full preview here.
Dana Massey
Formerly of MMORPG.com
Currently Lead Designer for Bit Trap Studios
Comments
Great Article Dana. It was a pleasure to meet you, and I hope to get to do it again in the future.
- CaesarsGhost
Lead Gameplay and Gameworld Designer for a yet unnamed MMO Title.
"When people tell me designing a game is easy, I try to get them to design a board game. Most people don't last 5 minutes, the rest rarely last more then a day. The final few realize it's neither fun nor easy."
OOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I ALREADY CAN'T WAIT!!!
Africa got it's first fanboy today
I agree.
The movie looks awesome, especially the waterfall. Can't wait for screenshots and more.
Would also love a South American themed MMORPG, add in the native americans up north . . . . . soo cool. Oh, and an eastern asian one - Shogun: Total War in a mmorpg setting (aside from 9dragons).
All I can say is thank goodness for innovation. After reading the FAQ and the developer blog on the site's official webpage, I just couldn't believe how very different the focus of this game appears to be from what's available now. Everything from drum circles to dreamscapes, quests based on individual actions rather than static NPCs, and darned near everything in between. I was honestly very worried that we'd see nothing but games inspired by World of Warcraft for the next several generations, but this is clearly something else. Now if only it can survive development and get distributed, we might have a new avenue to explore. And let's find some funding for Frontier 1859 while we're at it!
WTG Dana thanks for bringing us that.
All I can say is WOW
(no reference to WoW intended 
)
Imagination, originality.... whoda thunk it!
I cant wait to see more.
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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
Not putting down teh game idea... I love the idea... but doesnt anyone think Rapid Reality should finally finish ONE undertaking before taking on their millionth? I dont find a company who spreads theirselves too thinly tends to do too well... but I guess we will just have to wait and see
I miss DAoC
No, Africa: The MMO, will not be on MMOCenter.
It is a joint venture between Rapid Reality and AfriCast.
- CaesarsGhost
Lead Gameplay and Gameworld Designer for a yet unnamed MMO Title.
"When people tell me designing a game is easy, I try to get them to design a board game. Most people don't last 5 minutes, the rest rarely last more then a day. The final few realize it's neither fun nor easy."
Is this supposed a historical game or fantasy?
If historical it'll be interesting to see how it develops. If it has magic, mythical races, and creatures then I dont see it being any different than any other game out there.
This looks great so far. Praise be for the non fantasy setting! I look forward to seeing where this leads.
Historical, but according to Spaight, as someone at the time would have seen it. Thus, the mythology of the era is real - if that makes sense.
Also - as to spreading themselves too thin - I admit its something I've asked too. I'll cover it in the MMOCenter article later this week. Essentially though, they're actively working on Africa, The Chronicle and updating Endless Ages. The other games are concepts and have some work done, but they're not actually actively working on six games
Dana Massey
Formerly of MMORPG.com
Currently Lead Designer for Bit Trap Studios
Goo article overall. The opening sentence really bothered me though.
Fantasy does NOT, I repeate, NOT mean that the game's setting is based on medival mythology. Yes, a lot popular fantasy entertainment is, but that doesn't mean that it's the definition of the word. Africa fits the actual defininition of "fantasy" quite well with it's mythological and and magical aspects.
Fantasy does not mean dragons, castles, elves and knights. Alladin (the legend, disney movie, etc) is fantasy, Prince of Persia Jade Empire is, the D&D Planescape setting is fantasy, there are many, MANY books out there that are fantasy that have little to no Western European background.
I'm sorry, but the opening statement that this game is not fantasy is just plain wrong.
Fantasy has a diverse meaning, perhaps "medieval european fantasy" would have been more accurate, but I'm sure everyone understood what I meant, and well, my version's catchier
Dana Massey
Formerly of MMORPG.com
Currently Lead Designer for Bit Trap Studios
one more sales pitch from a company that still can't put together a website for its primary title.
as they say, if wishes were horses...
Once upon a time....
Woo! Way to go! Whoever said they were surprised anyone had the "nads" to do this was right on!
It's about time we had something ORIGINAL in the pipeline for release! The MMO market is such a disgusting travesty right now that I feel like buying the game on general priciple, whether I like it or not! Just as a symbolic act of defiance towards all of those unspeakably stupid (though admittedly hard working) MMO makers out there.
*though, for the record, I still find it highly disturbing that they don't have a SITE yet for The Chronicle... it's like they're TRYING to yell vaporware but couldn't find a more obvious way to say it*
Once upon a time....
I can not wait for this game (if it is finished)
Historical MMOs interest me and the lore of Africa should make this fun and exciting as well as interesting.
The trailer and the preview definetly up the interest for me.
Playing EQ2
Quit - LotRO, EQ, EQOA, EvE, FFXI, DAoC, TitD, AO, AC1, AC2, AA, CoH, CoV, D&L, DS, DDO, EA, GW, HZ, IW, L1, L2, M59, UO, MoM, MoUL, N2, RS, RO, RoE, RYL, SB, SO, SWG, MxO, UO, VSoH, WoW
Very nice coverage! This is the only game other than Age of Conan that really interests me. What they both have in common is that they seem to break the mold of many of the current 'easy button' MMOs.
They also seem to cater to perhaps a more mature playerbase.
I can't wait to hear more information about Africa.
-Chegg
- CaesarsGhost
Lead Gameplay and Gameworld Designer for a yet unnamed MMO Title.
"When people tell me designing a game is easy, I try to get them to design a board game. Most people don't last 5 minutes, the rest rarely last more then a day. The final few realize it's neither fun nor easy."