Future MMO Prospects

[Steel Wolf]

So with the advent of Kickstarter and the like, we're seeing a lot of new titles hit the shores of the MMO beach, for better or worse.  And not just crowdfunded stuff--we're also getting some "proper" developed stuff coming down the pipe soon.  I was looking to start a thread and a discussion about how the players of the RPC felt about things, as well as what games they're looking forward to, if any.

 

I'll start things off....

 

City of Titans

I miss City of Heroes/Villains terribly.  I'm trying to justify my time in DC Universe Online, but falling pitifully short.  Perhaps it's my failing in wanting to mentally make one like the other when they're both such divergent games, but I digress...DCUO doesn't feel right to me.

 

Enter The Phoenix Project, aka City of Titans.  Of the three "spiritual successor" projects birthed from the shuttering of CoX, this game seems like the most solid one.  They've been making reportedly measured progress, and some folks whose opinion I respect support the project, so their opinion sways my own.  I'm eager to see how this one shakes down.

 

The Repopulation

I'm a backer of this game's most recent Kickstarter push, and it goes against type for me--a sandbox game with non-consent PvP? With the strong feelings I have against this type of behavior, why would I bring this title up?

 

Because, for one, I missed the Star Wars Galaxies boat, and feel awful about it.  It sounded like a genuine actual universe that people populated and lived and played in.  I really wanna experience that.  Second, the "standard ruleset" server sounds about like how much of this type of game I can stomach--griefing is likely to happen, but the rewards for said behavior are infinitesimal beyond sadistic glee...so it could still work out.  Thirdly, I plan on being a crafter almost exclusively in the game, so I can feed the a-hole machine and get rich doing it.

 

This is a roll of the dice, but I figure I might give it a shot.

 

Wildstar

This one seems to draw a LOT of ire, and I'm not clear why.  In a genre overloaded with games that are taking themselves way too super-seriously, there's something to be said for an MMO that has a sense of whimsy and just plain fun.  Plus, the mechanics around the game itself ooze style and enjoyment.  I'm very much looking forward to this one, and to the RP community it fosters, since there will be dedicated RP servers at launch.

 

I could comment more, but....that'd be breaking the rules.  :3

 

EverQuest Next: Landmark

This game I'm able to say that I'm in alpha, which speaks to the dev team's open door policy--in fact, I think this is the first MMO to smash its NDA within mere hours of starting testing.

 

Overall this game is "shallow" at the absolute surface--you run around, you mine ores and chop down trees, and you build stuff.  It's Minecraft with prettier voxels.  But, honestly, it's Minecraft with prettier voxels in a shared world.  The stuff people have put together even in this early stage is really quite remarkable, and it can only get better with practice, as anyone who's played Spore can attest. 

 

Me, personally, I've done some okay stuff, but nothing mind-blowing.  All said, though...it's a form of creativity through simple tools that fosters one of the best communities in gaming, and the open world exploration is just so damn intoxicating...and it can only get better as new layers are added over the course of alpha and beta, including the tools to let people turn their buildings into playable experiences.  It's a proof of concept that screams of immense potential.

 

What about you, RPC?  Anything coming down that you're excited to play?

[Oli!]

Part of the reason why people are blasting WildStar (and its visual style specifically) is something that often comes with such a visual style: extreme sexual dimorphism.

 

I'm a guy, just to set the record straight, but even I find the waifyness of the female models to be at least just a little bit disturbing. And don't even get me started on the broad-shoulders tiny-wastes of the male models! Despite the fact that I absolutely love the game's aesthetics, I do think that that in particular is a legitimate concern, even though it can also be argued that it is also a staple of pretty much every MMO or video-game ever created in the history of the human race.

 

The other reason why it's drawing people's ire is because it's going for an EVE-style subscription model, which is basically a two-parter: You have the basic Sub-Fee thing going, and then you have an optional system in which you pay for additional game-time with the game's currency. Although this will seem like a nice option to some people (including myself), others don't like it because it presents some sort of odd, somewhat-uncomfortable Pay-Or-Farm mentality when it comes to playing for the game. Your Mileage May Vary on that one.

 

But other than that, I'd say that it's fun enough to at least give a try. The characterization and graphics are quite fun and whimsical, and I love me some whimsy. Not to mention that the game invokes lots of wonderful memories of Ratchet and Clank, which is one of my childhood favorites.

[Clover]

Personally, I'm looking forward to Bless Online (I've been RPing it already, in fact) and Kingdom Under Fire 2, but I admit I still find them lacking in comparison with FFXIV. So, I currently don't believe that any of the new games I'm looking forward to is better than this one, for they lack the magic this one has.

 

I will play them if I have the chance, but my favourite place is still FFXIV. I'm in for the long run here.

[Oli!]

Hadn't heard of Bless Online, but I looked it up and it seems uncommonly beautiful.

 

However, that by principle makes me worry about the gameplay quality.

[Steel Wolf]

Part of the reason why people are blasting WildStar (and its visual style specifically) is something that often comes with such a visual style: extreme sexual dimorphism.

 

I'm a guy, just to set the record straight, but even I find the waifyness of the female models to be at least just a little bit disturbing. And don't even get me started on the broad-shoulders tiny-wastes of the male models! Despite the fact that I absolutely love the game's aesthetics, I do think that that in particular is a legitimate concern, even though it can also be argued that it is also a staple of pretty much every MMO or video-game ever created in the history of the human race.

 

I'm really really glad someone brought this point up, thank you.

 

I am in absolute agreement that the female form as designed by this game is pretty abhorrent--they all look like they have black holes for stomachs that compress food into droppings that would weigh as much as a small moon. It's completely ridiculous. But it's hardly the first form of media to do that.

 

Paul Dini's designs for Batman: The Animated Series. Ratchet and Clank's designs. Sly Cooper's Carmelita. Chip & Dale's Rescue Rangers' character Gadget. There are myriad examples to point at that held a similar "emaciated hourglass" female design style. I don't feel it fair to hold Wildstar's deigners' feet to the fire over the matter.

 

Can they do better? Sure. Should they? Absolutely--I think adding a damn body slider would fix a LOT of those complaints. But I don't feel the outrage is equal to the social crime. Besides...it's a good thing the male Aurin are cute as hell anyways. :3

[allgivenover]

The thing is the aesthetic style of an MMO is super important to me and WildStar falls flat because of the dimorphism and the Saturday morning cartoon style graphics - it was the same problem I had with WoW.

 

As for me, if they continue to evolve XIV - dropping PS3 support will be a good sign that they actually intend to - then I'll have little reason to move on. I love just about every part of this game.

 

Except the PVP. >.>

[cuideag]

TBH Wildstar is the only one I am actually interested in though I doubt I will leave XIV for it. I LOVE the aesthetic - just as I loved WoW's (at least during vanilla/BC) because it absolutely fit what Warcraft was 'supposed' to look like. (Lumpy WC3 people and colorful exaggerated landscapes, anyone?)

 

Say what you will about awkward dimomrphism because it certainly could be considered awkard as heck - I think the overall aeshetic style has a lot of charm and were I not in love with XIV, it'd be a bigger blip on my radar than it is now. A fun looking game having fun with itself? I'll bite.

[Aysun]

Pretty much agree with Li here. XIV is one of those games for me. It holds me through gameplay and the environment. The world is just awesome. The visuals are just awesome. I have no reason to look elsewhere, and it makes me legit sad when people do. Always hate to lose people!

 

What I've seen of other MMOs has not even remotely grabbed my interest. A game like Wildstar could have the best gameplay in the world, but I am a shallow creature and that art style is absolutely hideous and toony to me. I hate toony games, especially for RP platforms, these days.

 

Sticking with XIV for the long haul.

[synaesthetic]

Due to my experiences playing TERA, I will never, ever, ever touch a Korean MMO with a thousand-foot pole ever again. No thanks. That kind of RNG/Pay2Win crap can die in a hotel fire. An AIDS hotel. During bees week.

 

Ahem. Moving right along.

 

Wildstar's biggest problems:

 

Focus on 40-player raids at endgame (fuck you, Carbine).

Combat is a terrible confused mess that doesn't know whether it wants to be TERA or Guild Wars 2.

[Evie]

A friend told me about World of Darkness MMO, which I believe is based off a table top game. It sounds interesting and kind of dark, which I like. But there's really no date for it and has been in and out of development for a while. I believe it's being made by the creators of EVE online. Again don't know much about it, just want I was told/remember/googled in 5 secs.

[Steel Wolf]

A friend told me about World of Darkness MMO, which I believe is based off a table top game. It sounds interesting and kind of dark, which I like. But there's really no date for it and has been in and out of development for a while. I believe it's being made by the creators of EVE online. Again don't know much about it, just want I was told/remember/googled in 5 secs.

Yea, that's a weird bird.  On the one hand, I LOVE the WoD IP and the idea of an MMO...but on the other hand, it's being handled by CCP, its staff continually gets cut down to near-nothing (despite CCP continuing to say that it's still being worked on), and it's being handled by CCP.

 

Short version: I don't like CCP. 

[Evie]

well this is only my 2nd MMO overall, first being SWTOR. And we all know Bioware isn't the best. I mean they're just NOW getting player housing after being promised it for what, 2.5 years now.

[Steel Wolf]

Nice!    Welcome to Eorzea!  ^^

 

If you're ever around on Balmung and wanna poke me, feel free to do so anytime you like.  Hope you enjoy your time here.

 

Also, apparently, DON'T BRING UP WILDSTAR.  Man, never thought I'd experience such snarly pushback.  I'm almost sorry I brought it up.  :c

[FreelanceWizard]

While I personally love XIV and don't plan on going anywhere for quite a while, some other MMOs that people might be interested in include...

 

Pathfinder Online -- Made by ex-CCP personnel, this is basically the EVE model applied to fantasy. Full open world PvP, crafting that's mandatory, item loss upon death, all land and structures are player owned and created, skill progression is based on time since character creation, the whole nine yards. It's not my cup of tea, but if you like EVE and want to do it with swords and sorcery instead of spaceships, you might like it. It made its Kickstarter goal and is currently planned to go live in limited release towards the end of 2014. Kickstarter participants will get a fairly massive headstart on the hoi polloi, however.

 

Pantheon, Rise of the Fallen -- Brad McQuaid's (of EQ and Vanguard) new project is an MMO that goes even further in the "EQ but with better graphics" direction. A massive world, slow advancement, mandatory grouping, severe death penalties, and a very limited set of abilities (8, in fact) await. It missed its Kickstarter goal by about 50%, but it's still in production with no set release date that I could see.

 

...You know, now that I reread what I wrote, I think I may have been arguing against those games.

[allgivenover]

Pathfinder Online and Everquest Next are the only two I have any real interest in checking out, and they're both a long way off and are unlikely to tear me away from XIV totally.

[Steel Wolf]

Yea, you know what I should probably bring up a point, actually--my interest in these games are more out of excitement as playspaces, not as "new homes" or stuff of that sort.  Despite my earlier dislike of my character, and my continued dislike of XIV's dungeons/Primals push (which could likely change if I like WAR tanking enough...or I get my grubby hands on my beloved DRK), I look at these other titles with interest as occasional breaks or other things to play around in. 

 

Variety is the spice of life, after all!  ^^ b

[allgivenover]

MMOs are games best played over long periods of time, not necessarily /all/ the time, so you're probably doing it right that way.

[Ildur]

The only MMO that has catched my eye right now is Wildstar, though people who have played the betas seem to be pretty unhappy about the combat system. So I will pass on it until I can actually try it (either by a trial system or sneaking into a beta period).

 

City of Titans could also be a thing for me if they manage to keep City of Heroes crazy character customization and if they also implement a Champions Online-esque skill system. I will certainly check it out when it comes out if they do that.

[TheLastCandle]

Among all upcoming MMOs, the only one I'm really excited to try is Everquest Next (the actual game, not Landmark) for my beloved dwarves. But as others have stated - I'm more than happy with XIV, and I've never really been the type of MMO player who hops around games an awful lot. I don't do a ton of endgame (I'm just now STARTING to tackle Coil!) so I still have plenty to look forward to here. As long as they keep the content coming, I can see myself being satisfied for years to come.

[Clover]

Hadn't heard of Bless Online, but I looked it up and it seems uncommonly beautiful.

 

However, that by principle makes me worry about the gameplay quality.

The devs want Bless Online to have a very rich lore and a very beautiful world. You'll be able to fly on dragons and you'll supposedly be a part of an awesome story. The devs said they wanted the player to feel very involved with the story and the world.

 

Good so far.

 

But then you see beta videos and the characters can't even do something as basic as sitting on a chair. I also doubt they can change facial expressions or look at another player, or have room for name + surname, or have future plans for house system, and a long etc.

The game will have a nice lore, but I won't be able to feel involved in the world because the devs are failing at the most basic things. FFXIV is just too perfect and genius for me, and I realize that every other game offers much less.

[Flickering Ember]

I'm not really looking at new MMOs coming out since joining XIV. The main reason why I join MMOs is to RP and I don't have the focus or drive to split my attention between two. If I don't RP in an MMO then I just don't have fun since there is no emotional connection to my character or other characters.

 

I was looking forward to Wildstar but not anymore. The gameplay looks really interesting. The combat, paths, jumping puzzles...I love it! I love cartoony graphics. I think they age better. And I enjoy good humor too. But too much of one thing is a bad thing and I like humor and seriousness to complement each other. Wildstar doesn't take itself seriously....perhaps a bit too much for my taste. If I can't take the world seriously then how will I be able to take RP seriously? Player character models of both genders and all races irk me. There isn't a lot of variance between the different races in body types. The female ones are both sexualized and objectified which makes it virtually impossible to try and RP the types of characters I want to.

 

That said, Carbine looks like they are really taking care of the RP player base. I admire their dedication where other companies don't seem to care or are ambivalent to us. 

 

 

Other than that I'm curious about WoD but not too optimistic about it being good.

[LandStander]

Did someone say "The Repopulation" *ears perk up*

 

I'm glad to see another backer ! As far as MMO prospects, there are a lot of them coming out in the near future, but really...they kind of stink. Wildstar is a Sci-fi Wow clone and I have not heard many positive things about it. Bless looks interesting, but to me it looks exactly like Tera. ESO is okay, but you have a small RP community, separated by 3 factions (no cross faction communication) and then split between two servers US and EU...so the RP community there won't last that long. 

 

Honestly...besides The Repopulation, I don't see any good RP contenders out there, or hell...not even any decent MMO's out there.

[Aleister]

Due to my experiences playing TERA, I will never, ever, ever touch a Korean MMO with a thousand-foot pole ever again. No thanks. That kind of RNG/Pay2Win crap can die in a hotel fire. An AIDS hotel. During bees week.

 

Ahem. Moving right along.

 

Wildstar's biggest problems:

 

Focus on 40-player raids at endgame (fuck you, Carbine).

Combat is a terrible confused mess that doesn't know whether it wants to be TERA or Guild Wars 2.

Pretty much this. I feel exactly the same way about Korean games so I won't even touch Wildstar plus.. I don't like MMORPGs that focus on having guns as the primary weapons for the game. Props on the character graphics, spot on in exactly copying WoW though.. the models.. especially the females.. No thank you.

 

World of Darkness I'm interested in only because it will have Perma-death in it, so you're forced to tread carefully in a game like that aside that I will stick to FFXIV or go back to WoW when WoD comes out (Which I doubt.. the game is running out of stuff that makes it fun like back in BC, who knows.. GhostCrawler who I blame for this has now left Blizzard.)

[Magellan]

I recently moved from here to SWTOR and quite frankly am glad I did. The story in SWTOR is unlike any I've seen in any MMO before (FFXIV's story, by contrast, bored me to tears). I also like the combat quite a bit, which also is rare in MMO's (again, FFXIV's combat was just.... zzzzz)

 

If another MMO coming down the pipeline can replicate SWTOR's storytelling prowess, than definitely I'll check it out, as that's a huge part of me actually liking a game. But that seems rare as most mmos don't seem to want to put in the time or money for quality writing and plots.

 

My only regret is I desperately wish I could transport this community to my new home ._. People here are so much friendlier and social.

[TheLastCandle]

I recently moved from here to SWTOR and quite frankly am glad I did. The story in SWTOR is unlike any I've seen in any MMO before (FFXIV's story, by contrast, bored me to tears). I also like the combat quite a bit, which also is rare in MMO's (again, FFXIV's combat was just.... zzzzz)

 

If another MMO coming down the pipeline can replicate SWTOR's storytelling prowess, than definitely I'll check it out, as that's a huge part of me actually liking a game. But that seems rare as most mmos don't seem to want to put in the time or money for quality writing and plots.

 

My only regret is I desperately wish I could transport this community to my new home ._. People here are so much friendlier and social.

 

I still play a little SWTOR. There are a lot of things that irk me about it, and the combat is NOT my favorite, but overall I don't think it deserves all of the criticism leveraged against it. I will say that it's EXTREMELY unfriendly to anyone who doesn't subscribe; hands down, the F2P option in this game is the worst I've seen in any MMO.

 

With that being said... what server are you on? There are a few of us from the RPC pokin' around on Ebon Hawk.