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Issue #87 |
Tonight We Dine in Norrath!
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October 11, 2007 |
Welcome to MMORPGamer.
There's been a ton of news lately. I won't keep you up here, so read on and find out about the crazy happenings of this week.
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Two big names are now behind the Everquest movie: Michael Gordon and Avi Arad. The first you'll recognize his work in 300, and Sony has hired him to write Everquest's screenplay.
Avi Arad is most well-known as the former head of Marvel Studios and he'll be producing the film with Columbia Pictures. With these two big names, the movie the notoriety needed to compete with the upcoming World of Warcraft movie.
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In World of Warcraft news this week, Blizzard posted new screenshots to their Wrath of the Lich King gallery. The below shots are of an alliance town, most likely. The resolution on the shots shows the graphic advance the expansion will bring with it.
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In shocking news to all lovers of the upcoming Roman MMO, Chris McKibbin from the development team Perpetual Entertainment announced that Gods and Heroes: Rome Rising has been postponed indefinitely. Coming as a surprise to fans, the team is devoting all of its assets to its other project - Star Trek Online.
The MMO held great promise with its deep mythos and innovative battle system. RPGamer had its own impressions earlier this year, all glowing.
Though many MMOs come and go these days, this one held great promise. For the full letter from McKibbin, visit the official community site.
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The Warhammer Online beta is now closed for the next two months, and Mark Jacobs has weighed in on the reasons. Speculation has been rampant throughout the community, with many worries that the game is dead.
Jacobs lays the speculation out and explains it all, saying that the game is alive and well and that the team has enough information to make the game exponentially better in two months. He also contends the game will not be made "more like WoW" and that the team is still working just as hard even with a few members missing. The entire forum post can be found here.
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I love the concept of MMORPGs but once I start playing I find them either a) too hard b) too easy or c) Hey can I have 1billiong gold?
To that end, City of...has been the most rewarding for me. I've played with RL friends and made friends ingame. And the inventions, which are interesting if not terribly in genre, (well inventing is, auctioning isn't) the game has been well handled. I love customization and the new powersets are nice. I'd like to see alternate powers to the old sets though. More customs! More!
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Chad Riley, Harbinger of Boredom
Jake
I agree that most MMORPGs have balance issues, but it's the nature of having so much content that is constantly played through by multiple people 24 hours a day. I definitely feel you on the last one. One can never have enough gold.
I've played through a trial for City of..., and I really was amazed by it. My favorite part was the character creation screen. There's so much you can do with your character!
Issue 11, which was just announced, should give you some more powers to play around with. In the last column I listed some details. Willpower seems great in theory, but the greater customization that dual blades offers looks awesome.
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How's it going?
Jake
It's going wonderfully. I'm still reeling from the fact that I've received letters.
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All I can think of to write at the moment are some general questions. Any other thoughts I may have I'll email later!
What MMOs do you play?
What kind of MMOs do you like?
Jake
I play World of Warcraft regularly, with a 70 priest as my highest character. I beta-tested Lord of the Rings Online for some time, but didn't enjoy it enough to subscribe. I'd suggest anyone bored with WoW to pick it up, though. It's got a similar graphic standard so that people with slower computers can play.
I've also gone through a trial account with most of the major MMORPGs out now. I'm obsessed with the genre and I love to see how many different ways MMOs can be created.
I tried to play Vanguard once, but then I put away the bottle.
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Where do you see the MMO market heading? Where do you want it to go?
Jake
See my final answer. ^^
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Ok, maybe some other thoughts are coming to mind now.
I have been playing MMO's for about 5-6 years now, and I am still waiting for one that is really open. MMOs all still generally follow the same grind/level up/etc. formula. I am looking forward to some kind of MMO that everything isn't mapped out. You can stumble on some new cave no one has seen before and find some tough boss you have to recruit some friends to defeat and maybe even get some unique equipment. Stuff like that, where you can find new stuff wherever you go. An MMO as grand in scale as this seems far off, but those are the kind of ideas that get me excited about MMOs.
What do you think about this? What kind of innovations would you like to see integrated into future MMOs?
Jake
Well, World of Warcraft has really caused the market to boom, for better or worse. The surge of casual players has led developers to make the grind easier and more entertaining (Yay!), but made the games less about roleplay and more about Chuck Norris.
In terms of positive progress, I'm very interested in the idea of progressive content. Progressive content is basically the idea that the worlds that we game in are changing. In PvE terms, this means the NPCs interact in game-changing ways. In PvP terms, changing the landscape and holding of bases is the best example.
Recently in WoW, an NPC named Griftah (heh) was removed from a major city for selling players bogus items at high prices. The developers have said that this is an exercise in progressive content. I'm hoping that this happens more often and on a grander scale in games.
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No Biting... Okay, Maybe a Nibble
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Alright, I'll bite - Which MMO are you looking forward to most?
And which popular story in real life would you see becoming a MMO?
-Doug Fiala
Jake
1) I've been looking most closely at Warhammer for my next MMO experience. It's been heralded as the next WoW-killer (after Vanguard - yeah...) and I'm interested in its PvP.
I'm more of a PvE-er, so any MMO that can manage to entice me with PvP will also make me stand up and pay attention. Let's hope the next two months help it shine. In terms of PvE, though, I'm terribly excited for Age of Conan.
2) It might just be the World Literature course I'm taking, but I'd like to see some old Asian myths made into a cohesive MMO. Particularly the world of Journey to the West, which you might know from Saiyuki.
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See what I mean with all that news? I'm really sad to hear about Gods and Heroes, and I'm confident Warhammer isn't dead. Star Trek Online, really?
Thanks to you guys for sending in questions and comments about MMOs and MMORPGamer. Now that you know a bit more about my tastes, I'd like to hear about yours - drop me a line letting me know what your favorite MMORPG is and why. We all love the genre, and this column wouldn't be massive without you, the reader.
Back to Brewfest,
Jake Miller (mail me)
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