tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post1327792073493810121..comments2024-03-28T10:18:05.213+00:00Comments on Inventory Full: Step Into A New WorldBhagpusshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03499162165023939880noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post-63778937892605065082019-12-16T19:21:48.532+00:002019-12-16T19:21:48.532+00:00It seems like the NDA for the New World alpha may ...It seems like the NDA for the New World alpha may have done more harm than good. I know a few people who had written the game off as "an open PvP gankfest" based, I guess, on incomplete alpha leaks?<br /><br />I guess it is also hard for the modern gamer to accept that an alpha really is an alpha and not some kind of marketing technique intended to build hype for the game. Nimgimlihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00230174946054927922noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post-15265887535031339612019-12-16T14:30:26.059+00:002019-12-16T14:30:26.059+00:00That 100K number is impressive, but I am not sure ...That 100K number is impressive, but I am not sure what it really means. If there had been that many subscribers back in the day COH wouldn't have gone free to play, and if there had been that many players after free to play it likely wouldn't have closed down. The industry has made me cynical, like Turbine telling us a million people had signed up for the LOTRO beta or Rift saying that there had been a million characters created, phrased in such a way to make you want to parse it as a subscriber number. 100K people logging in and playing would be impressive. 100K signing up for the mailing list would be less so.Wilhelm Arcturushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07033496821708933394noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post-74283520093639127862019-12-16T11:29:06.429+00:002019-12-16T11:29:06.429+00:00Oh, and mention of Smed bringing in the Goons make...Oh, and mention of Smed bringing in the Goons makes me wonder what degree of influence he might be wielding at Amazon Games. He's CEO of the San Diego based operation but we haven't really heard anything from him for a couple of years. His Twitter feed is jolly but very information-free. It did occur to me that the change of emphasis/direction might have something to do with him, although he'd usually be the one pushing for more PvP, I'd have guessed.Bhagpusshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03499162165023939880noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post-76902505834848298792019-12-16T11:14:30.681+00:002019-12-16T11:14:30.681+00:00The "ongoing games" concept really intri...The "ongoing games" concept really intrigues me. We're almost past the period of being surprised by how long some of these games can keep going now. We're beginning to move into an era where we expect it.<br /><br />I always remember an interview with John Smedley, where he said Verant expected EQ to last three years and hoped it might stretch to five. It entirely explains why EQII was timed to appear when it did - they thought EQ would be dead by then and the EQ Players would all be delighted to move on. <br /><br />Only that isn't what happened. People seem happy to stick with the game they know, provided it still looks like the game they know and still gets new content. What's more, even when they seem to have had enough and walk away, give them time and they get al nostalgic and come back. <br /><br />This is probably the one truly prescient aspect of GW2's design. It's by far the easiest MMORPG I've ever played to drop in and out of. There's virtually no barrier to re-entry. There's always a new cuttign-edge meta you can learn if you think you're some kind of harcore player but for the huge majority of GW2 casuals the game barely looks any different now than it did when it began. Apart from the giant bunnies, that is...<br /><br />Anyway, like you I really don't feel the need for new MMORPGs. There are hundreds of them already. How many does any one person need? If good new ones come along, that's great, but if not I'll be just fine with the ones we already have.Bhagpusshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03499162165023939880noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post-79825535191508907322019-12-16T11:01:05.384+00:002019-12-16T11:01:05.384+00:00I never even saw one of the big territorial battle...I never even saw one of the big territorial battles, let alone participated in one. I'd have liked to but it would have entailed finding and joining a company and then playing at specific times and that was way too much commitment. I did hear people talking about it a lot, though, and it seemed to be going down prety well.<br /><br />I included the CoH revival because as I recall there were over a hundred thousand players registered at the peak of the comeback, on the quasi-official alone. That would be easily enough people to count as a major success for almost any Indie MMORPG we've seen in years - and there are plenty of games from the majors that probably don't have numbers like that. It's not so much whether those players stick around - more that their interest flags up the potential, untapped market in that long tail of "people who used to play". I have a feeling, though, that by the time the laggard developers jump on board the gravy train will already have left the station. There have been quite a lot of retro servers and revivals now - I wonder how many the market can stand?Bhagpusshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03499162165023939880noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post-89395593064020139932019-12-16T10:50:07.697+00:002019-12-16T10:50:07.697+00:00Yes, I looked at that one but for some reason Magi...Yes, I looked at that one but for some reason Magic: The Gathering does absolutely nothing for me as an I.P. If anything I find it offputting due to some of the cultural baggage that follows along behind it. I did find it interesting that Cryptic were the people actualy doing the grunt work of making it, though. Cryptic may arguably be the most generic of major MMORPG houses but they do have a proven track record of getting working games out ther door on time. <br /><br />I'll take a look at it when it arrives but I'm not expecting much.Bhagpusshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03499162165023939880noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post-34622284645729444532019-12-16T05:14:10.072+00:002019-12-16T05:14:10.072+00:00From the recent Game Awards, there was news of Mag...From the recent Game Awards, there was news of Magic the Gathering coming into MMO form. It's being worked on by Cryptic and is apparently slated for a 2020 release (although nothing more specific than that, yet).<br /><br />Given we've not seen any gameplay yet, it's hard to really judge. The Magic: Legends trailer is all CGI and only offers hints and teases. But while I haven't played or been close to the card game variant for *years* some of the story trailers put out for the Magic property at large make me somewhat hopeful that there could be a bit to this.<br /><br />So... Maybe one to look out for! It's soon, at least! Naithinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02830174305806727004noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post-75235349407415076232019-12-16T01:30:55.058+00:002019-12-16T01:30:55.058+00:00I was in the New World tests as well. There was a...I was in the New World tests as well. There was a push to get people in Goonswarm and allies into the game as a stress test. Smed's connection to GSF in EVE Online got them a pile of people for a giant battle. <br /><br /><br />The game itself struck me at the time as being very much what H1Z1 ought to have been back when it launched, only medieval rather than zombie apocalypse based. <br /><br />As for huge news stories, WoW Classic was certainly one in its own right. When it raises the fortunes of a company like Blizz, it is a big deal. But I think City of Heroes was only huge relative to the small pond that the core old school MMO players swim in. MOP spending a lot of time covering something doesn't make it a big story outside of our neck of the woods.Wilhelm Arcturushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07033496821708933394noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post-63005509326397129942019-12-15T20:13:03.377+00:002019-12-15T20:13:03.377+00:00Far and away I am most excited about playing games...Far and away I am most excited about playing games I used to play or missed in the coming year. Despite my most recent blog post, I'm feeling WoW (Retail and Classic) starting to wind down for me. Classic starts to get very slow paced as you approach 60, and there isn't anything I am likely to find fun once I get there (unless my tastes have changed dramatically in the last 15 years). Retail is like popcorn. Delicious, but hard to make a meal out of. Regardless, four or five months of entertainment is not something I will regret. No offline game would ever give me that kind of run.<br /><br />Once WoW finally winds down I am looking forward to subbing up to SWTOR again, there are several years of content I missed. STO, GW2, and ESO are all games that look fun to me that I've barely / never set foot in, and I have a lot of EQ II left to see at some point. I also recently found out that some friends of mine are playing Neverwinter, I may try it. <br /><br />If some new MMO were to come along and set the world on fire I wouldn't mind. However, I don't feel a lack of (new to me) things to try.Yeebohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08028940396189544294noreply@blogger.com