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General: The Sci-Fi MMO: The Future
Stradden
Managing EditorMember CommonPosts: 6,696
In the final of a three part series, MMORPG.com's Bill Murphy explores the Sci-Fi subgenre of MMOs and looks at what's to come for these decidedly non fantasy MMOs.
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Over the past couple of weeks we've taken a look back at the past of the Science Fiction MMO and the current landscape of the subgenre. Today we delve into several of the upcoming games that look to further cement Sci-Fi's place among the traditionally fantasy-dominated industry. With a mix of both established intellectual properties and wholly new universes coming into play, the next few years are shaping up to be mighty interesting in the online gaming space. Without further adieu, let's take a look at some of the most hotly anticipated games and why we should care about them.
NetDevil's Jumpgate: Evolution has a lot of people waiting for its launch. Originally slated to be released last year, the game's now been pushed back to an undisclosed date, and some folks are even wondering if it will ever see the light of day. Despite the mystery surrounding the title's status, there is still a lot to be excited about when it comes to JGE. Reminiscent of classic PC games like Wind Commander, JGE is aiming to be a more action driven spaceflight game than the extremely popular EVE. Perhaps a wise decision to not go head to head with your main competition and instead offer a different experience in a similar arena. With multi-faction PvP and large-scale battles being touted as a core component of gameplay, one would hope the combat lives up to the potential of the setting.
Cheers,
Jon Wood
Managing Editor
MMORPG.com
Comments
Man CCP has this sub-genre locked.
Lets hope BP and Funcoms next sci-fi game are good.
Good series of articles thanks.
Playing: Rift, LotRO
Waiting on: GW2, BP
Informative article. I'm eager to learn more about some of the upcoming space-based games, particularly something Eve-like but not PvP focused.
The only thing I'd hoped for that the article didn't have was speculation as to what future MMOs might be able to do that they can't do now. What kind of tech magic can we expect to see in 5, 10 or 20 years?
...yet again, not a word about Stargate: Worlds. I still hold my hopes up that the release of Stargate: Resistance will allow CME to gain enough money to continue and (one day) release Stargate: Worlds.
About DUST 514... If CCP is actually going to force me to buy an xbox360 or PS3 to get into ground battles and thus more into the game, I will cancel my account immediately. The release of DUST 514 would effectively mean that those without a console can't help their corporation to gain control of a planet. Kinda sad IMO
SGW is saddled with a lot of non-game troubles that may end its development. Do a search here and read about CME filing Chapter 11. There are some revealing posts about how shaky the company is.
I am aware of the Chapter 11 situation. But I keep my hopes up, and as long as they don't file Chapter 7, the game still has a possible future
I know there isn't a lot of info out yet on it, BUT i think warhammer 40k stills deserves a bit of a mention just as another title coming down the tubes
Did I miss it, or did Bill really forget to mention Entropia Universe? This game is one of the most realistic MMOs in that it has no ridiculous races (as a human being, you enter the game as a human) and no classes - you can educate yourself in any or all professions, given enough time and/or money, just as in real life.
The way you can spend and make real money in this gane is also something future SciFi MMOs should look into.
It's no surprise most future titles are something different. MMO world has finally caught up with the rest of gaming with rotating genres.
When you make FPS games you make what isn't out there right now, so if everyone is playing futuristic, you make WWII. If everyone is playing WWII you make modern combat. If everyone is playing big battles with vehicles, aircraft, ships, then you make a squad based only.
MMOs up till now had only been making fantasy for the most part, now that market is as saturated as saturated can be. We've seen several big budget fantasy launches who had high initial sales but then the subs rapidly dropped off. Why? Because they realized it was like all the other fantasy titles and so they went back to their other titles.
Finally companies have caught on so we're going to get a big push for some other genres now. Once those genres are saturated and all the fantasy games are old, companies will come out with some new fantasy games and MMOs will officially be in the rotation of other games/movies/tv shows.
Remember when zombies were big business and then all but went away, and now zombies are big business. It's about time this genre played catch up.
Scifi can be divided somewhat into space combat and ground combat. Space combat is obviously a winner with Eve.
Ground combat, however, is more difficult. No one expects that their 40 megawatt pulse rifle will require an entire clip of pew-pew to down a stinking rat, and that's exactly why this fails so often. I can kill rats with a BB gun for crying out loud! Developers are hung up on recreating the original Everquest combat that has been replicated to every MMO melee combat engine. It's not enough to bring subscribers to continue to have little numbers pop up over opponent heads. Noobs shouldn't have to pew-pew their little fingers off to kill rats, bats, and skeletons. If I have a rifle of any type - gauss, laser, slug, plasma, you name it - it should be one shot, one kill on yard trash and unarmored opponents. Period. End of story.
Also, combat needs to be more interactive and have more AI involved. Have you ever seen a firefight on tv or in a movie? People don't just stand there trading fire and watching the numbers light up over each others' heads. They crouch, go prone, duck and cover, lean out from cover to fire, use cover fire from buddies to suppress enemy fire, etc. When you get into gun based ground combat, there needs to be a lot more strategy involved than two opponents standing still and hitting each other with nerf rifles.
This interactivity is what WoW really got wrong in WOTLK. Occulus is an awful instance. The reason is that Blizzard royally screwed up implementing dragon back combat. Aerial combat should be a flowing, dynamic, strategy based, and most importantly - fun endeavor. Instead, we sit still on our dragons and mash the attack key over and over. I HATE occulus with a passion because it's not fun and it just plain sucks.
The need for good SciFi games are out there, I think, I know myself I am burned out on the sword and board fantasy game how many more ways can I kill an orc or swing a sword
. I tried EVE good game for what it is I just felt very limited in what I could do, I like pvp just not pvp all the time, I like well rounded games with lots of options and things to do, I think in six months or so STO will have allot more to offer, and I want to see The Old Republic, plus keeping an eye on a few others... Bring on the SciFi..:)
That would depend on whether or not Bioware can pull off making SWTOR into a "WoW in space" subscriptions wise.
No thank you!!
Edit: Not to mention this is a "sci-fi MMOs of the future" article. Entropia has absolutely no place in it. I believe it did get a mention in the "sci-fi MMOs in the present" article.
Our time has come my friends. No elves allowed
Looking forward to SW:TOR and JG:E. but my real hope is for Warhammer 40k mmo.....E3 can't get here soon enough.
Collector of old minis.
Playing WAR:Age of Rekoning
www.oldtimersguild.com
That would depend on whether or not Bioware can pull off making SWTOR into a "WoW in space" subscriptions wise.
OK I got my crystal ball out. I want you to come back to this post and remember exactly what Im saying to you right now.
Ready?
Six months after release TOR will struggle to even have 300k subscribers.
Got that? I've already seen enough of the gameplay to know WoW players will not stick with it and from what ive read out of the dev logs its not going to be enough of a mmo to keep the wow haters happy.
I will probably enjoy it because I love Bioware but no its not gonna do much.
Some may disagree, some may flame but just look at the combat videos and tell me wow players will mess with it for longer than 30 days.
Playing: Rift, LotRO
Waiting on: GW2, BP
It's not a real future unless it has Mech's in it ..
That would depend on whether or not Bioware can pull off making SWTOR into a "WoW in space" subscriptions wise.
OK I got my crystal ball out. I want you to come back to this post and remember exactly what Im saying to you right now.
Ready?
Six months after release TOR will struggle to even have 300k subscribers.
Got that? I've already seen enough of the gameplay to know WoW players will not stick with it and from what ive read out of the dev logs its not going to be enough of a mmo to keep the wow haters happy.
I will probably enjoy it because I love Bioware but no its not gonna do much.
Some may disagree, some may flame but just look at the combat videos and tell me wow players will mess with it for longer than 30 days.
How can you have even seen any of the gameplay when they haven't even shown any gameplay yet?
Also, "struggling" for 300K subscriptions? That's a pretty decent subscriber base actually.
That would depend on whether or not Bioware can pull off making SWTOR into a "WoW in space" subscriptions wise.
OK I got my crystal ball out. I want you to come back to this post and remember exactly what Im saying to you right now.
Ready?
Six months after release TOR will struggle to even have 300k subscribers.
Got that? I've already seen enough of the gameplay to know WoW players will not stick with it and from what ive read out of the dev logs its not going to be enough of a mmo to keep the wow haters happy.
I will probably enjoy it because I love Bioware but no its not gonna do much.
Some may disagree, some may flame but just look at the combat videos and tell me wow players will mess with it for longer than 30 days.
Given that is considered a high point for subs that is pretty good.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
That would depend on whether or not Bioware can pull off making SWTOR into a "WoW in space" subscriptions wise.
OK I got my crystal ball out. I want you to come back to this post and remember exactly what Im saying to you right now.
Ready?
Six months after release TOR will struggle to even have 300k subscribers.
Got that? I've already seen enough of the gameplay to know WoW players will not stick with it and from what ive read out of the dev logs its not going to be enough of a mmo to keep the wow haters happy.
I will probably enjoy it because I love Bioware but no its not gonna do much.
Some may disagree, some may flame but just look at the combat videos and tell me wow players will mess with it for longer than 30 days.
How can you have even seen any of the gameplay when they haven't even shown any gameplay yet?
Also, "struggling" for 300K subscriptions? That's a pretty decent subscriber base actually.
Heh I wouldn't make that claim if i haven't seen multiple gameplay videos of TOR. check around there are quite a few walk throughs to watch.
300k is an insult to a company that basically prints it's own money.
CCP was a small indy nothing so to gain subs from 30k to 320k in 6 years is something but to a company like Bioware they expect big things.
Don't get me wrong im looking forward to the game I just don't see it being the next big thing. It certainly won't have any sort of effect on Eve at all.
Playing: Rift, LotRO
Waiting on: GW2, BP
That would depend on whether or not Bioware can pull off making SWTOR into a "WoW in space" subscriptions wise.
OK I got my crystal ball out. I want you to come back to this post and remember exactly what Im saying to you right now.
Ready?
Six months after release TOR will struggle to even have 300k subscribers.
Got that? I've already seen enough of the gameplay to know WoW players will not stick with it and from what ive read out of the dev logs its not going to be enough of a mmo to keep the wow haters happy.
I will probably enjoy it because I love Bioware but no its not gonna do much.
Some may disagree, some may flame but just look at the combat videos and tell me wow players will mess with it for longer than 30 days.
Given that is considered a high point for subs that is pretty good.
Yeah... Will Bioware or EA be happy with that number? Equaling a games subs thats basically unfriendly to any non-hardcore gamer (Eve)? 11.2 million shy of WoW? I think EA would have an issue.
Playing: Rift, LotRO
Waiting on: GW2, BP
The problem I have with the idea of Sci Fi MMORPGs is
How do you make a Shooter MMORPG that doesnt just feel like a Shooter with RPG Elements in ranks and stuff?
How would Gear change? Cause MMORPG fans like to custimize their avatar and make stronger. But do Sci Fi Shooter MMORPGs even allow you to change gear at all?
What will you be doing in such a world?
Well one of the better MMO's that could come out would be a Battletech/ Mechwarrior. But that would involve Smith and Tinker getting on the ball and doing something.
Plus getting out of litigation and copy right crap would be good to.... really hate Harmony Gold...
also if there was a Mechwarrior/ Battletech mmo it would have to be done Right
Only the Dead See the End of War
Perpetuum looks like it may be really good.
Eve online with Mechs? Sign me up!!!!
Playing: Rift, LotRO
Waiting on: GW2, BP
Where is "Warhammer 40K" in this list??...and "Huxley" by the way...
A problem that you run into with modern or futuristic MMORPGs is the number of people. Fantasy tends to work because of the limited populations.
When you think about the Eve Universe, most of the population of the Universe does not matter. Think of the billions upon billions of people that exist that are not given a second thought. Capsule pilots fly around as Gods...yawn.
Think about how you would handle a WH40K or a BT Universe? How would you have a character roaming around like that interacting with the millions of other players doing the same thing? Neither of them fit well into a MMO sense, both having their foundations in small groups or tabletop.
Do you really just want regurgitation of the epic fail we have on the fantasy side of gaming? Think about it - repeating the same old quests, not affecting the game world in any manner, and all the rest?
Look at some of the complaints STO has received for failing the ST IP on that major premise of To Boldly Go...where everybody that logged in before you has gone before and perhaps you even went a few moments ago.
In WH40K are you going to play a single unit that somehow manages to survive countless combat encounters? Face it, most of those units get fragged.
In BT are you going to play a mechjock off the back with an endless supply of mechs provided by some army or mercenary company? When you die, you die. Or will you be the guy sitting at the desk sending others off to take care of business for you?
Look at Anarchy Online plugging away after all these years. Is the Future the Past?
I miss the MMORPG genre. Will a developer ever make one again?
Explorer: 87%, Killer: 67%, Achiever: 27%, Socializer: 20%