(04-27-2014, 01:53 AM)synaesthetic Wrote: None of the big dawgs are going to do anything but make more of the same. The suits simply won't let them. No publisher is going to bet sixty-plus million on an "unproven" experiment.
No, expect to see more of the same from the big triple-A developers. If you want to see where innovation is going to live in regards to the MMO space, look at Kickstarter, look at the indie crowd.
I disagree. Â Indie game developers can experiment with quickie Steam games, but they don't have the muscle to play with MMORPGs.
I think it's easy to discount big developers as Activision or EA whores, and that's usually the case. Â However, some of the big developers can still kick out a decent game. Â I'd say they're the ones most likely to come up with something original that actually works.
Like I said, From Software is one of the AAA developers who could definitely pull this off. Â They're used to making titles that succeed despite everyone saying they won't work. Â I know their work best from Tenchu (the ninja assassin game where you actually have to use skills to stay hidden back in 1998 on the PS1), Armored Core (the RPG where you pilot a mech that feels like a mech and has more lateral development than any other RPG I can remember at its time), and the Dark/Demon Souls games (the current franchise flagship that seems to be called a "throwback" simply because they're actually challenging). Â I think they could give us an MMORPG beyond reckoning if they actually tried.
One developer that we sort of ignore because it isn't their forte (but could actually pull this kind of thing off) is Nintendo. Â Unfortunately, they're sort of married to the dying console world, but as developers they've created some incredibly mechanically-sound games. Â They can consistently market great games. Â Hell, probably the RPG I played more than any other when I was a kid was a crossover between Nintendo and Square called Mario RPG. Â They may be a bit too reliant on their old standbys and I'm really not looking forward to Mario World Online, but it could work.
Another off the top of my head that looks like they're actually figuring out how it would work is Rockstar. Â Most of us know them as the company that makes Grand Theft Auto. Â They're also the devs behind Red Dead Revolver, Midnight Club, Max Payne, and Manhunt (I also loved State of Emergency, but I don't think that's as well remembered these days). Â I'm not entirely sure what they put out would work in an MMORPG context, but they're absolutely on the table as a group that could make an MMORPG work. Â As long as they can make it acceptable to the ESRB.
I've brought up Capcom already and I think they'd be able to make something really worth drooling over. Â That is, if your previous point couldn't be pointed directly at Capcom's business staff. Â Capcom's development is really some of the best in the world, even after all this time. Â Their business team is just driving them into the ground. Â All told, though, I think they could do it if the "suits" would back off of the dev team and let them work.
I think another studio that could do it, but might have to fight the powers that be, is Lionhead studios (the people behind Fable and Black & White). Â They've got a pedigree and a budget, but they're owned by Microsoft. Â That doesn't bode well for them. Â I've got a good feeling they could pull it off, though I suppose that was before the departure of Peter Molyneux. Â Microsoft has a habit of neutering great developers after acquisition (e.g. Rare).
You know, now that I think about it, there are two developers I haven't had in mind, but have a background that would make them pretty prime candidates. Â One of them is id Software. Â They're mostly known for creating the id tech engines, but I sometimes forget that they were the company that essentially invented the FPS genre of games with Wolfenstein. Â They're also the people who made Doom and Quake, though I remember them most fondly for their old Heretic and Hexen series that they helped Raven Studios make. Â Heh, FPS RPGs. Â The other that I almost completely forgot was Valve, and for the same reason (we only remember them for FPS games). Â But those FPS games were all amazingly well-developed, and Valve has more money than Croesus at this point. Â They might be able to pull it off.
There are actually probably a few Japanese developers who could make an impact if they stuck their heads in the game (Tecmo Koei?) but I don't know enough about them to know which one has enough muscle to pull it off. Â Unfortunately, indie devs have big expectations, but they usually fail to execute something on that kind of scale. Â Chasing Blizzard was too much for even big, respected devs like Bioware and Mythic. Â I guess the era of the powerhouse indie developer is sort of gone, lots of the devs like Silicon Knights and Westwood are gone now, absorbed into larger and less impressive megaliths. Â Maybe it's not fair to think Activision, MS, ZeniMAX, and EA aren't capable of developing the games themselves or being able to take their hands off and let some of the more impressive minds do their thing. Â I guess that's a prejudice of mine; I've just seen too many standout developers have their feet cut off in service to their lords. Â I've just also come to expect that small, independent developers struggle with long-view developement and, even if their games are sound, their ability to generate new and engaging content is severely limited.
And to be honest, indie developers have a bad habit of drowning in hype. Â At least we don't EXPECT triple-A companies to make something amazing.