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Dhruin
Stranger In A Strange Land
Joined: 20 May 2002
Posts: 1825
Location: Sydney, Australia |
| SOE working on new action MMO |
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An <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2005/04/27/commentary/game_over/column_gaming/index.htm" target="_blank">interview</a> with SOE's John Smedley at CNN Money reveals a new action MMO is in the works and will be debuted at next year's E3:<blockquote><em>While the company won't make any formal announcements about its next massively multiplayer game for quite some time, president John Smedley told me recently that a new action title is in the works. And if things go according to plan, it will make its debut at E3 in 2006.
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<br>It won't be SOE's first foray into an action-based persistent world. "PlanetSide," a massively multiplayer online first person shooter launched in May 2003, has been moderately successful, but hasn't come close to the success of "EverQuest". So what's different this time?
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<br>"We know what we're doing now and we're going to take it to the next level," said Smedley, who declined to give any firm details on the game at this point.</em></blockquote> |
Thu Apr 28, 2005 3:16 pm |
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Hedek
Head Merchant
Joined: 06 Jul 2001
Posts: 50
Location: France |
Hehe I find this newsbit very descriptive of SOE's mentality and behaviour in general. A game company revealing they're working on a new entertainment (game) product in a Business website.
Usually that's the kind of news that are revealed at "worst" in official press release and at "best" in a gaming website or magazine boasted as "exclusive info" directly targeted at players.
SOE through CNN Money talks directly to shareholders and Wallstreet, which seems to be all they care about. Put this comment in relation with the Station Exchange annoucement and I think we have a pretty accurate description of how SOE considers "making games" and "entertaining players".
The sad thing about it is that with all their money they managed to hire among the best, most creative and gifted designers, artists, programmers, sound engineers (sometimes absorbing little companies such as Verant) which results in great games with huge potential. But in effect we see a collection of bad development decisions taken by producers and "marketing overminds" crippling games like EQ2 ( /pizza, Station Exchange) and most of all SWG which name is now often referred to as a "joke mmorpg".
SWG could arguably have been the best mmorpg ever, the franchise it was based on is simply the best franchise a mmorpg can be based on, you don't even need to advertize such a franchise, the "Star Wars themed MMORPG in production" rumor is enough to lure hordes of players. Beyond the name, SWG had very innovative design concepts, a very immersive world, with one of the most accomplished player housing and crafting system in mmorpgs. The entertainer and politician aspect also added a very nice dimension and diversity to the game. Rest of the development felt like 2 years of beta, the first expansion did not seem to deliver what was wanted most and the second is clearly turning SWG in an EQ2 clone removing what made it so innovative by changing the combat system and introducing a heavily quest driven, one way direction planet.
Kashyyyk will have quest series to do in order to advance to the next zone, making it a lot like EQ2 and denying all that was so specific to SWG : freedom and originality. And combat effectiveness will be 100% dependant on newly introduced character level.
_________________
Retired Editor @ RPGDot
Ex Guru @ HK's Torment (dead Planescape Torment fansite) |
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Thu Apr 28, 2005 3:37 pm |
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Deg
Eager Tradesman
Joined: 13 Apr 2004
Posts: 37
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 are you talking about that combat revamp they we're working on for the last two years? They had 2 years of brainstorming, talk and test sessions with the profession correspondents and what they came up with is a eq2 clone? That is... well pathetic maybee? i cant find the right word for it. I really hoped the combat revamp & the new expansion would be the reason to go back but i guess it isnt.
Wearing a jedi cloak i will not... hmmmmm |
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Fri Apr 29, 2005 9:44 am |
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Guest
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quote:
Originally posted by Hedek
SOE through CNN Money talks directly to shareholders and Wallstreet, which seems to be all they care about. Put this comment in relation with the Station Exchange annoucement and I think we have a pretty accurate description of how SOE considers "making games" and "entertaining players".
Thats really a contradictory statement. If all you care about is shareholders you will look for the best, long-term investments. Today's business model really is customer focused. Read any business paper or mag. The theory is value-added: does this change, product, whatever add any value to the customer?
Managers that seek short-term profit always fall flat on their face in the long run. The only viable business model today, in every industry besides gaming, is value added, customer-focused, long term gains. That is what raises stock prices. Short term gains might temporarily inflate stock prices, but they are calculated with deflated risk and inflated yield over time.
There is a very interesting debate going on about this very topic with the phone company merger. I forget the names, i think MCI and verizon are involved, I forget the names though or if it ghas already been settled.
The company that is being bought was going to go with the best long term, lower buying price corp. Some stock holders wanted them to go with the other much higher buying price, not nearly as good looking in the long term corp. The board can get sued for not taking the best stockholders interest in mind when they make choices, and stockholders devided into short-term and long-term camps.
But anyhow, this still applies in the gaming arena. Bioware makes games they know will sell well. I personally think their games are crap and wouldn't waste my urine peeing on their games. I like TB rpgs that are complex and restrictive, like Realms of Arkania. The less of the chance a moron plays the game the better. Obviosly Bioware doesn't make those games. If they did, and if they were an American publicly traded corp, and I was a share holder, I could sue them for being retards that make games barely any one would buy. There is enough market and sales data to show that making a game that I would like is not fulfilling their faduciary duty to shareholders.
SOE is profitable but loosing ground. I personally believe that their mindset, and that of many devs and publishers, is wrong. The mmorpg market was so limited that devs could piss on their customers and the customers would still play their game. Thats the custoemrs fault in my opinion. |
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Fri Apr 29, 2005 5:11 pm |
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