tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post3589267005316770597..comments2024-03-28T10:18:05.213+00:00Comments on Inventory Full: This Year, Next Year, Sometime, Never: New WorldBhagpusshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03499162165023939880noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post-65556234102558659692020-07-12T12:27:06.973+01:002020-07-12T12:27:06.973+01:00Yeah, before all this -- you just had the official...Yeah, before all this -- you just had the official news announcements from the developers themselves to go on. And MMO developers were, for whatever reason, notoriously tight-lipped with such communications.<br /><br />The odd packet of screenshots was about the best we could hope for 11 months out of 12 -- and that didn't significantly change even when I was writing for WarCry.<br /><br />Still. I think I'd rather go back to how it was, with meaningful betas, than the marketing betas we (typically) get now. To Amazon's credit, at least with New World they might be something closer to the old style. Maybe. <br /><br />I do remember being remarkably frustrated by the lack of information too though. So I probably can't really say which way is worse to me now. Hah.Naithinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02830174305806727004noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post-92146361399711890932020-07-12T10:34:37.017+01:002020-07-12T10:34:37.017+01:00I was trying to remember what it used to be like, ...I was trying to remember what it used to be like, back before Early Access and oversharing as a developmental model. It's easy to imagine things used to be cleaner and sharper but I don't think that was ever the case. There was the odd example of an MMORPG suddenly appearing out of the blue, "finished" and ready to buy, but mostly they got announced years before they were ready and we had to suffer endless cycles of hype followed by silence. Whole communities dedicated to non-existent games arose, prospered and declined before anyone in them had ever seen more than a design document and some concept art. <br /><br />There was often a hugely competetive application process for closed beta (alphas were almost always in-house) and beta often lasted a couple of years. There were strict NDAs and no-one outside the process really had much of a clue what was happening inside it. By the time the games finally appeared, often with no open public access at all prior to going on sale, everyone had an idea in their head which the game couldn't hope to match. And the games theselves were no more finished than the early access versions we have today.<br /><br />I'm not sure there's any way to build a triple-A MMORPG in less than three years, usually more like five, and have it anything close to ready. Trying to rush it never seems to end well.Bhagpusshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03499162165023939880noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post-88983681027898480242020-07-12T08:24:25.673+01:002020-07-12T08:24:25.673+01:00Hah!
"Translation: Someone from the home of...Hah! <br /><br /><i>"Translation: Someone from the home office dropped by, took us all outside and pointed to the name over the door. Then stared at us, really hard."</i><br /><br />This one got me pretty good. I'm glad I wasn't drinking anything at the time. :)<br /><br />Otherwise though -- completely agree with you. I'm happy with how Amazon seem to be handling New World. Yes, it probably is quite the worry the number of changes they've had to creative direction. This fact alone might mean everything we fear it means and expect it to mean when applied to games or entertainment media more generally. I struggle to think of a movie where 'extensive reshoots' have resulted in anything truly worth watching.<br /><br />But... I also acknowledge this delay to 2021 is a pretty easy thing for me to take in stride.<br /><br />I have virtually no investment in the success or otherwise of New World. I've long ago burnt out any ability I had to maintain active interest in an in-development MMO. <br /><br />I'll be here when it arrives (presumably) and will assess it as it stands at that point.<br /><br />If for some reason, one had been following it earnestly, this might be a much harder and more bitter pill to swallow. (Was anyone, though?)<br /><br />Naithinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02830174305806727004noreply@blogger.com