All the Spellborn comments (especially the one from a former dev!) make the game's closure all the more upsetting. Too bad. A game that was rough around the edges but overall quite excellent. Glad to see its left an impression on more than a couple of you!
If you're feeling nostalgic, this is a great Spellborn video:
Have to throw in another vote for Auto Assault. First MMO I knew of that used Nvidia's PhysX.
Could have been awesome if NCSoft wasn't such a crap company.
"If MMORPG players were around when God said, "Let their be light" they'd have called the light gay, and plunged the universe back into darkness by squatting their nutsacks over it." -Luke McKinney, The 7 Biggest Dick Moves in the History of Online Gaming
"In the end, SWG may have been more potential and promise than fulfilled expectation. But I'd rather work on something with great potential than on fulfilling a promise of mediocrity." -Raph Koster
It's one of the ones that I casually followed for a long time as it appeared to have a lot of good things going for it. I liked the single server concept, the PvP, and the twitch combat.
I think we could be clearer with our definitions of 'potential'.
If one was looking at it as meaning 'is awesome but could be much better from a feature standpoint'... I would say the clear winner for me in that category would...
Auto Assault. Had an extremely fun/solid driving/combat mechanic, but could have seriously benefited from more social/economy/story MMO type mechancs
If one was looking at it as meaning 'could have been so much more if it had the budget and support that modern MMO's enjoy', my selection, of course would be...
Star Wars Galaxies. Had EVERYTHING I have come to love in MMO's (Pre-CU, and somewhat CU as well). Could have seriously benefited from the executives understanding what SWG's strengths actually were so they would have actually supported the amazing beast.
If they ever tried to release a new Ultima Online game, you wouldn't be able to tell if they were reviving an old game, coming up with something new or some Frankenstein combination of the two.
As far as Chronicles of Spellborn was concerned, I absolutely loved it. It was a game that just felt very satisfying to play. Your character felt powerful, but you had to earn it by slotting your powers right and using them in the right sequence. Very well done game.
I think considering what SWTOR turned out to be, reviving Star Wars Galaxies is probably a game that makes a lot of sense to release.
Thats already more than 5 but im going to throw Asherons Call 1 and SWTOR into it. If Asherons Call 1 was remade, exactly the same gameplay but with modern graphics I wouldnt touch another game...and if SWTOR was made like an actual MMORPG and not a single player online game...the same.
I hope we shall crush...in its birth the aristocracy of our moneyed corporations, which dare already to challenge our government to a trial of strength and bid defiance to the laws of our country." ~Thomes Jefferson
I agree with the Vanguard posts. That game had so much potential that was wasted after a terrible launch and some pretty significant problems in gameplay. It is a terrible shame that more people haven't seen that world, but frankly, I didn't enjoy playing the game.
"There are two great powers, and they've been fighting since time began. Every advance in human life, every scrap of knowledge and wisdom and decency we have has been torn by one side from the teeth of the other. Every little increase in human freedom has been fought over ferociously between those who want us to know more and be wiser and stronger, and those who want us to obey and be humble and submit."
John Parry, to his son Will; "The Subtle Knife," by Phillip Pullman
Of all of those listed, Matrix Online is the one I really had a blast playing. Everything said in the article is spot on. The interaction with the Live Team was fantastic and, in my experience, unmatched before or since.
I was at an in-game wedding one night and it was while Morpheus was trying to stir up trouble to get Neo's body back (the machines were holding on to it). Out of fear that he would reignite war against the machines, assassins were sent out to kill him... or at least that was my understanding of it. In any case, during the wedding, someone happened to look up at the balcony of the church and saw the assassin. We all immediately went after them, but they were too quick and escaped. We all reconvened in the church. Shortly after, someone in the group received a PM from Morpheus who said "I understand you had a visitor at your wedding ceremony".
Here's what happened. In Matrix Online, you could add characters - including the story-related ones (Neo, Morpheus, Niobe, etc) - to your friends list so you could see when they "jacked in" (logged on). Someone in the wedding party had done this, and contacted Morpheus to ask if he would show up and say some words at the wedding ceremony.
This contact triggered a Live Events Team event, set up and carried out on the spot, specifically for us at the wedding.
The way it played out is that the assassin intercepted the message between Morpheus and our Faction (guild) member, and decided to go to the church and wait, just in case Morpheus showed up. It's not known if Morpheus would have or not, because the assassin was sighted relatively quickly (we'd only gotten in there a few moments earlier) and run off.
However, after speaking with the faction member, Morpheus asked for the names of those being married, then contacted them both to give his congratulations.
And that was just one such event that I happened to be around for. Things like that were happening for people all around the game. Players were actively brought into the storyline, not just passive spectators of it. Even if you weren't a role-player, it was still a blast to get involved.
It's a damn shame that game didn't go anywhere with Monolith running it, and that SOE completely squandered the opportunity once they acquired it. It was a unique game with an awesome community, fun gameplay (even if repetitive in several areas, which did need work and was a weak point of it) and an awesome level of interaction via their live team.
That said, the one game I would add to this list that isn't there is Asheron's Call 2. That's a MMO that had a lot of potential that was ultimately wasted thanks to a very rocky launch that they never really recovered from.
How could Star Wars Galaxies not make the list? That game was still alive and kicking when it was shut down. SWG still had massive potential and a lot of life left in it. Only reason SWG was shut down by Lucus was so TOR wouldn't have competition. Such a shame.
As much as I loved SWG I don't see how people can claim it belongs on this list. I'd even be leery of adding Matrix on this list. Both games made it to launch and had time to compete. SWG competed fairly well against other MMO's, despite the CU. NGE killed the more fickle of the fanbase. MxO never had anything that kept people playing either. I was in beta for that and never could stand to play for long.
The list above isn't about whining about why the game you currently love isn't getting more attention, but games that never got a chance. TCoS belongs on that list for sure. Dominus, not sure as very little was known or seen of the game. WISH would definitely be on that list (but could be because I played in beta.) Imperator was a game I was dying to see finished, but was killed for a lackluster WAR. Conceptually (not sure if anyone remembers this) Dragon Empires had fantastic PvP potiential both with combat and politics.
___________~____________ Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth. - Oscar Wilde
The Agency is the one from that list that I would like to see someone try to do again.
Several people have mentioned Star Wars MMORPGs. I also missed seeing SWG on that list.
Star Wars Galaxies as implemented for the Combat Upgrade was the game that they should have stayed with. Some of the starter professions needed a serious reword as did the entirety of Jedi.
The number of starter professions related to combat needed to be streamlined and written with full hindsight in place to make the stacking of several starter professions to make invincible characters impossible. This would have fixed the biggest problem with that game.
Going through the Village system gave everyone a predictable path to being Jedi if that is what they wanted. But Jedi needed to be revamped to be no better than other professions. With the removal of permadeath, which was good, and the FRS, which was also good, there was no need for Jedi to be more powerful than other combat professions. The XP penalty on earning XP for Jedi and the XP loss from death also needed to be removed.
For SW:TOR it is a good start but is bleeding subscriptions just as fast as SWG did in the first two years. The development team at EA is currently making decisions that are upsetting players. The first was the reward for level 50 by a certain time. Many people that were taking their time and enjoying the story left because they felt that this limited time reward showed that EA had no interest in players that were not at end game. More thought the emphasis on leveling alts with the Legacy system showed that the SW:TOR view of an end game was go level an alt and these people did not want to play a game with that philosophy. The final reason why people are leaving is that many of what people expected to be in game at launch is now promissed to be in game by the first anniversary if all goes well. So many are leaving the game and looking to see if it has what they are looking for next year.
None of those games were very good and do not deserve to be brought back IMO. Dominus could of been ok, but the gfx were very bad and it was Sci-Fi so that sealed ot for me. Chronicles was ok, it had some innovative features like the skill deck/wheel but it was implemented poorly.
Playing: GW2 Waiting on: TESO Next Flop: Planetside 2 Best MMO of all time: Asheron's Call - The first company to recreate AC will be the next greatest MMO.
Good to see i'm not the only one who put Auto Assault on the list... It was the first mmo which died off under me unexpectedly (i mean without any telling signs, or something, right out of the blue)
Still don't know why they cancelled it, was a unique and fun game to play. I've seen many game closes since then, but Auto Assault is the one i really miss.
Comments
Earth & beyond can be found at net-7.org for thoughs of you who are interested
Star Wars Galaxies had the potential.
lol
Sure... SWTOR is dead...
ok. /*eyeroll*/
The only game I could ever get misty eyed and sentimental about is Eve Online, but that's because it IS good and IS going places.
Because all characters are on the same server, you could get attached to other characters, but perhaps that's going a bit too far.
i am hopeing and praying everyday that tabula rasa comes back. it was so fun
All the Spellborn comments (especially the one from a former dev!) make the game's closure all the more upsetting.
Too bad. A game that was rough around the edges but overall quite excellent. Glad to see its left an impression on more than a couple of you!
If you're feeling nostalgic, this is a great Spellborn video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zayiqOX_5I
I still miss "Citizen Zero". Never made it live but it had so much potential ...
Have to throw in another vote for Auto Assault. First MMO I knew of that used Nvidia's PhysX.
Could have been awesome if NCSoft wasn't such a crap company.
"If MMORPG players were around when God said, "Let their be light" they'd have called the light gay, and plunged the universe back into darkness by squatting their nutsacks over it."
-Luke McKinney, The 7 Biggest Dick Moves in the History of Online Gaming
"In the end, SWG may have been more potential and promise than fulfilled expectation. But I'd rather work on something with great potential than on fulfilling a promise of mediocrity."
-Raph Koster
Jumpgate Evolution
It's one of the ones that I casually followed for a long time as it appeared to have a lot of good things going for it. I liked the single server concept, the PvP, and the twitch combat.
I think we could be clearer with our definitions of 'potential'.
If one was looking at it as meaning 'is awesome but could be much better from a feature standpoint'... I would say the clear winner for me in that category would...
Auto Assault. Had an extremely fun/solid driving/combat mechanic, but could have seriously benefited from more social/economy/story MMO type mechancs
If one was looking at it as meaning 'could have been so much more if it had the budget and support that modern MMO's enjoy', my selection, of course would be...
Star Wars Galaxies. Had EVERYTHING I have come to love in MMO's (Pre-CU, and somewhat CU as well). Could have seriously benefited from the executives understanding what SWG's strengths actually were so they would have actually supported the amazing beast.
If they ever tried to release a new Ultima Online game, you wouldn't be able to tell if they were reviving an old game, coming up with something new or some Frankenstein combination of the two.
As far as Chronicles of Spellborn was concerned, I absolutely loved it. It was a game that just felt very satisfying to play. Your character felt powerful, but you had to earn it by slotting your powers right and using them in the right sequence. Very well done game.
I think considering what SWTOR turned out to be, reviving Star Wars Galaxies is probably a game that makes a lot of sense to release.
1. Anything made by Funcom.
2. Anything made by Sony.
Thats already more than 5 but im going to throw Asherons Call 1 and SWTOR into it. If Asherons Call 1 was remade, exactly the same gameplay but with modern graphics I wouldnt touch another game...and if SWTOR was made like an actual MMORPG and not a single player online game...the same.
I hope we shall crush...in its birth the aristocracy of our moneyed corporations, which dare already to challenge our government to a trial of strength and bid defiance to the laws of our country." ~Thomes Jefferson
what jtcgs said....
AoC? War? Eq2 (yeah to me its dead >.>) ....loots of goods with potential wasted...
I agree with the Vanguard posts. That game had so much potential that was wasted after a terrible launch and some pretty significant problems in gameplay. It is a terrible shame that more people haven't seen that world, but frankly, I didn't enjoy playing the game.
"There are two great powers, and they've been fighting since time began. Every advance in human life, every scrap of knowledge and wisdom and decency we have has been torn by one side from the teeth of the other. Every little increase in human freedom has been fought over ferociously between those who want us to know more and be wiser and stronger, and those who want us to obey and be humble and submit."
John Parry, to his son Will; "The Subtle Knife," by Phillip Pullman
Shadowbane! Yeah it had ist fair share of problems but man, what a fun ride that was!
edit
Folks, don't include VG on the list. The game is not dead... yet...
A man is his own easiest dupe, for what he wishes to be true he generally believes to be true...
Yep, loved The Chronicles of Spellborn! It was a great game and I have only ever liked 2 MMO's, AO and WOW
Of all of those listed, Matrix Online is the one I really had a blast playing. Everything said in the article is spot on. The interaction with the Live Team was fantastic and, in my experience, unmatched before or since.
I was at an in-game wedding one night and it was while Morpheus was trying to stir up trouble to get Neo's body back (the machines were holding on to it). Out of fear that he would reignite war against the machines, assassins were sent out to kill him... or at least that was my understanding of it. In any case, during the wedding, someone happened to look up at the balcony of the church and saw the assassin. We all immediately went after them, but they were too quick and escaped. We all reconvened in the church. Shortly after, someone in the group received a PM from Morpheus who said "I understand you had a visitor at your wedding ceremony".
Here's what happened. In Matrix Online, you could add characters - including the story-related ones (Neo, Morpheus, Niobe, etc) - to your friends list so you could see when they "jacked in" (logged on). Someone in the wedding party had done this, and contacted Morpheus to ask if he would show up and say some words at the wedding ceremony.
This contact triggered a Live Events Team event, set up and carried out on the spot, specifically for us at the wedding.
The way it played out is that the assassin intercepted the message between Morpheus and our Faction (guild) member, and decided to go to the church and wait, just in case Morpheus showed up. It's not known if Morpheus would have or not, because the assassin was sighted relatively quickly (we'd only gotten in there a few moments earlier) and run off.
However, after speaking with the faction member, Morpheus asked for the names of those being married, then contacted them both to give his congratulations.
And that was just one such event that I happened to be around for. Things like that were happening for people all around the game. Players were actively brought into the storyline, not just passive spectators of it. Even if you weren't a role-player, it was still a blast to get involved.
It's a damn shame that game didn't go anywhere with Monolith running it, and that SOE completely squandered the opportunity once they acquired it. It was a unique game with an awesome community, fun gameplay (even if repetitive in several areas, which did need work and was a weak point of it) and an awesome level of interaction via their live team.
That said, the one game I would add to this list that isn't there is Asheron's Call 2. That's a MMO that had a lot of potential that was ultimately wasted thanks to a very rocky launch that they never really recovered from.
How could Star Wars Galaxies not make the list? That game was still alive and kicking when it was shut down. SWG still had massive potential and a lot of life left in it. Only reason SWG was shut down by Lucus was so TOR wouldn't have competition. Such a shame.
As much as I loved SWG I don't see how people can claim it belongs on this list. I'd even be leery of adding Matrix on this list. Both games made it to launch and had time to compete. SWG competed fairly well against other MMO's, despite the CU. NGE killed the more fickle of the fanbase. MxO never had anything that kept people playing either. I was in beta for that and never could stand to play for long.
The list above isn't about whining about why the game you currently love isn't getting more attention, but games that never got a chance. TCoS belongs on that list for sure. Dominus, not sure as very little was known or seen of the game. WISH would definitely be on that list (but could be because I played in beta.) Imperator was a game I was dying to see finished, but was killed for a lackluster WAR. Conceptually (not sure if anyone remembers this) Dragon Empires had fantastic PvP potiential both with combat and politics.
___________~____________
Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth. - Oscar Wilde
The Agency is the one from that list that I would like to see someone try to do again.
Several people have mentioned Star Wars MMORPGs. I also missed seeing SWG on that list.
Star Wars Galaxies as implemented for the Combat Upgrade was the game that they should have stayed with. Some of the starter professions needed a serious reword as did the entirety of Jedi.
The number of starter professions related to combat needed to be streamlined and written with full hindsight in place to make the stacking of several starter professions to make invincible characters impossible. This would have fixed the biggest problem with that game.
Going through the Village system gave everyone a predictable path to being Jedi if that is what they wanted. But Jedi needed to be revamped to be no better than other professions. With the removal of permadeath, which was good, and the FRS, which was also good, there was no need for Jedi to be more powerful than other combat professions. The XP penalty on earning XP for Jedi and the XP loss from death also needed to be removed.
For SW:TOR it is a good start but is bleeding subscriptions just as fast as SWG did in the first two years. The development team at EA is currently making decisions that are upsetting players. The first was the reward for level 50 by a certain time. Many people that were taking their time and enjoying the story left because they felt that this limited time reward showed that EA had no interest in players that were not at end game. More thought the emphasis on leveling alts with the Legacy system showed that the SW:TOR view of an end game was go level an alt and these people did not want to play a game with that philosophy. The final reason why people are leaving is that many of what people expected to be in game at launch is now promissed to be in game by the first anniversary if all goes well. So many are leaving the game and looking to see if it has what they are looking for next year.
You forgot to mention World of Warcraft.
Sure its alive and breething, but its because its plugged to the machines...but brain is dead.
The MMORPG genre itself had a ton of potential if you ask me.
R.I.P
None of those games were very good and do not deserve to be brought back IMO. Dominus could of been ok, but the gfx were very bad and it was Sci-Fi so that sealed ot for me. Chronicles was ok, it had some innovative features like the skill deck/wheel but it was implemented poorly.
Everything you need to know about Elder Scrolls Online
Playing: GW2
Waiting on: TESO
Next Flop: Planetside 2
Best MMO of all time: Asheron's Call - The first company to recreate AC will be the next greatest MMO.
Star Wars Galaxies ... this is all I need to say.
Star Wars Galaxies ... remember it before the CU and then the amazing theme park on Mustafar !
Good to see i'm not the only one who put Auto Assault on the list... It was the first mmo which died off under me unexpectedly (i mean without any telling signs, or something, right out of the blue)
Still don't know why they cancelled it, was a unique and fun game to play. I've seen many game closes since then, but Auto Assault is the one i really miss.