Link to new game
https://starsreach.com/AMA held on r/MMORPG
https://www.reddit.com/r/MMORPG/s/kN5ORL0LQHI'm Raph Koster, creator of Ultima Online and Star Wars Galaxies, and I have a new MMO coming called STARS REACH -- AMA!
Hey everyone! For those who don't know me, I was the original lead designer for Ultima Online, and responsible for most of the sandboxy features in the game. I was also the original director of Star Wars Galaxies, so you can blame me for dancing Wookiees and player housing (but I was off the project by the time of the NGE, so you can't blame me for that...
)
I have been working away at a new MMO called STARS REACH, and we just announced it this morning. You can find info about the game at
http://www.starsreach.com.
This is the game I have wanted to make for nearly thirty years. It is the spiritual sequel to *Ultima Online* and to *Star Wars Galaxies*. It has in it all the lessons of all these decades of online game development -- and it looks forward, not back, to reinvent what an online world can be.
*Stars Reach* uses simulation to a degree never seen in an MMO before. We know the temperature, the humidity, the materials, for every cubic meter of every planet. Our water actually flows downhill and puddles. It freezes overnight or during the winter. It evaporates and turns to steam when heated up....
... It is also NOT DONE. The graphics need a LOT of work still, there's plenty of development left to do on gameplay in general, and loads of optimization ahead. But we feel it's important to get players involved in the dev process, and it's time. We're gearing up for testing this summer, and will be doing fairly open development from here on out.
We thank Raph Koster for his time and responses!
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
Comments
https://www.mmorpg.com/interviews/interview-stars-reach-is-playable-worlds-upcoming-mmo-set-in-a-fully-simulated-sandbox-galaxy-2000132058
“Is this really Star Wars Galaxies 2?” I ask. “Please say yes.”
“Yeah, in a bunch of ways it is, absolutely,” Koster says, leaning back in his chair with a smirk.
https://massivelyop.com/2024/06/28/raph-kosters-new-mmorpg-is-called-stars-reach-and-yes-its-basically-star-wars-galaxies-2/"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
Ooooh thanks they get some special zone.
Where the owner can likely just turn it into PVP anytime, steal all your stuff.
Geez this fool will never get it. How many patches will it take this time Raph to figure out that griefers and gankers will always figure out a way to ruin PVE players day? 19 or 20 or infinite? I am going with infinite because apparently you have zero lessons learned from UO.
Someone who is registered as being a flex offender is a person who feels the need to flex about everything they say.
Always be the guy that paints the house in the dark.
Lucidity can be forged with enough liquidity and pharmed for decades with enough compound interest that a reachable profit would never end.
If it is anything like, and it sounds like it will be, SWG, then it is a hard pass for me.
SWG was dreadful in my experience.
Catchy bullet point ideas on paper but as a game I found it incredibly boring.
I have not liked anything Raph has been a part of, and I do not think this project will be any different.
Think about this for a second.
So if the PVE "Griefer" dams the river, then the mayors option is to what? Turn the world PVP FFA and kill all the PVE players damming rivers?
And somehow you dont think this will be used against PVE players to take away their safe zones?
Lets get real, the extremely vocal and very small FFA PVP have been using this moronic excuse as long as I can remember. FFA PVP prevents toxic PVE players LOL. Its the toxic PVE'ers that everyone is so worried about. We have to have all these FFA PVP options because we cant let these toxic PVE'ers get away with this stuff.
In UO Trammel (PVE safe zone) was so popular because everyone wanted to get close to the toxic PVE'ers I assume? They were just waiting for the opportunity to get back at those toxic PVE'ers that they swarmed the PVE servers and abandoned all the Care Free totally innocent FFA PVP areas.
Yes thats what happened LOL.
As for me, I am cautiously interested.
All time classic MY NEW FAVORITE POST! (Keep laying those bricks)
"I should point out that no other company has shipped out a beta on a disc before this." - Official Mortal Online Lead Community Moderator
Proudly wearing the Harbinger badge since Dec 23, 2017.
Coined the phrase "Role-Playing a Development Team" January 2018
"Oddly Slap is the main reason I stay in these forums." - Mystichaze April 9th 2018
To let guilds or mayors change world server rules?
Dont worry PVE players. Everything you built wont be stolen while you sleep, because some mayor changed the world rules. People wouldnt do it unless they have a good reason /wink /wink.
Prediction 1: Another massive MMO flop
Prediction 2: 5 years after this flop, Raph (1 more patch to fix griefing) Koster, will be saying, I think I could have fixed it with 1 more patch. Nobody could have predicted people would be like this.
The only thing I agree with is this wont happen often, because most PVE players wont even buy this game in the first place once they see they are stuck with FFA PVP players on the same server. At least some PVE players have wisened up, more than I can say about Raph (1 more patch to fix griefing) Koster.
I am sure the game will do well. I hope you all have fun.
Here are the AI solutions to preventing PvE Griefing in a FFA MMO.
Preventing griefing in free-for-all player-versus-player (PvP) and player-versus-environment (PvE) games can be challenging, but there are several strategies you can consider:
Mutually Exclusive PvP Combat:
Bounty System:
Land Claiming and Protection:
Community Incentives:
Remember that no solution is foolproof, but a combination of these approaches can help mitigate griefing. Adapt them to fit your game’s context and mechanics.
Brainy, an FFA game is targeted at hardcore extremists who enjoy an FFA challenge. There are people who need to be challenged on this level. Let those players just be with each other. There open world should be scaled into a smaller world imo, but these people do exist, and they need a healthy outlet. This game just isn't for you. I hope you enjoy the AI bot's recommendations to fix the rage griefers have committed for the last 2 decades. I look forward to hearing your thoughts about it.
Someone who is registered as being a flex offender is a person who feels the need to flex about everything they say.
Always be the guy that paints the house in the dark.
Lucidity can be forged with enough liquidity and pharmed for decades with enough compound interest that a reachable profit would never end.
If you are holding out for the perfect game, the only game you play will be the waiting one.
Proud MMORPG.com member since March 2004! Make PvE GREAT Again!
I am not against FFA PVP servers. I think its obvious MMO's should try to pull that crowd in. Why leave EZ money on the table.
All I am saying is keep them separate on their OWN server, COMPLETELY separate from PVE servers.
If you want mixed servers, I am fine with that also. But you definitely need at least 1 PVE only Server.
Lets not mince words here, I am not talking about a PVE zone, or PVE area. I am saying somewhere completely separate, so that PVE players can compete against other PVE players without having FFA PVP players getting all the goodies on the PVE server.
Someone who is registered as being a flex offender is a person who feels the need to flex about everything they say.
Always be the guy that paints the house in the dark.
Lucidity can be forged with enough liquidity and pharmed for decades with enough compound interest that a reachable profit would never end.
No they always target the people who do not want to participate in their gameplay and force them into it. This is why I refuse to play these games. Not only will they destroy my home they will also harass me daily. How does that respect my time and effort? This is the reason I do not trust these types of games or the developers saying they know how to make it work. They don't.