TheMittani: You’ve mentioned a desire for more sandbox MMOs in your Reddit AMA, and sandboxes are obviously a major draw for EVE players. Do you have plans for adding sandbox elements to PS2, and if so, would you like to discuss them? If there really is an untapped market for sandbox MMOs, why haven’t we seen more of them, besides Eve and SWG?
Smedley: Sandbox elements - SOE is redefining itself as a creator of emergent gameplay experiences. That's our future. You can call it sandbox but it's so much more than that. A good example is Player owned bases in Planetside 2. That's coming. We're going to make huge continents that are empty and have vast resources on them and players can fight it out and put down their own bases there and other players can come and obliterate them. Sound familiar EVE Players? Actually we had something like this in Star Wars Galaxies too. THAT is content. At some point as an industry we need to realize that we have already lost the race to outpace players in making content. I personally thought SWTOR was a great game. I loved Diablo III. The problem is you get to the endgame and as game makers it's not just expensive. it's impossible to stay ahead of the curve.
Think about this statement - If WoW had come out yesterday.. at what point would people be "done" with the content. We need to focus on game systems that are perpetual and give players a lot more control over what they can do rather than JUST putting yet another dragon in front of them with scripted content. We need to be doing both in order to be successful. And that's our plan.
Source: http://themittani.com/features/mittani-interviews-soe-ceo-john-smedley
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein
"Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
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Many players will not be able look past the fact you're talking about SOE and The Mittani. Two of our favorite super villians.
There are certain queer times and occasions in this strange mixed affair we call life when a man takes this whole universe for a vast practical joke, though the wit thereof he but dimly discerns, and more than suspects that the joke is at nobody's expense but his own.
-- Herman Melville
I feared that initially, but then figured 'screw it' - this post is for the rest of us who find this stuff interesting.
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein
"Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
It's Smedley dude. If you were talking to him about peanuts he'd praise the offering peanuts to players in mmorpgs and suggest that SOE is developing in that direction.
As well as it being planetside 3. I do not play FPS and I dont have the reflexes of young people so I prefer the slower paced style of MMO tab target combat.
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.
I've never seen Smed described so aptly.
Also Mittens isn't a troll, he's a professional bullshitter. There's a difference.
The bullshitter makes money.
Now with 57.3% more flames!
I am sandboxer at heart but I just hope not all devs start to jump on sandbox bandwagon since it might burn bright and get dark quick again.
On the other hand let's not forget that Smeadley is CEO of company that first created great (but awfully bugged, not thought well enough and with few things that took way too long to fix = lke abandoned houses & cities) sandbox and then turned it into some weird and bad hybrid that drove off 80% of remaining players.
So kinda - I take his words with a huge bag of salt and time will see what will happen with P2 and it's sandbox elements- after few years.
It's a no brainer that a major part of the issue with longevity these days in mmos is due to the fact it is all scripted content and next to no actual longer term style community/player driven content.
When you churn out mmos akin to single player games, it's no wonder people lose interest in the rapidly.
"Come and have a look at what you could have won."
good quote
Smed / SOE has a mixed history thats well deserved for its negatives but they do try new things
EQ2 fan sites
"You can call it sandbox but it's so much more than that. A good example is Player owned bases in Planetside 2. That's coming. We're going to make huge continents that are empty and have vast resources on them and players can fight it out and put down their own bases there and other players can come and obliterate them. Sound familiar EVE Players? Actually we had something like this in Star Wars Galaxies too. THAT is content"
and it takes him this long to realise they already had it years ago <shakes head and moves along>
I'm shocked.
He actually countered himself years ago...
He's grown!
SMED HAS GROWN ALL!
Rejoyce! They realize how much we "sandboxers" will play the crappiest games so long as it gives us freedom to choose.
Wait....err that's good isn't it?
EDIT: What makes me want to scream "Serenity now!" is the sheer fact he totally forgot he's the one who put the kill switch on "go" with SWG's sandbox elements in favor of a "Wow" gameplay.
So wrong Smed YOU didn't have jack. The early devs HAD jack. You know the guys who don't just direct work flow all day (shut up, that's all I do and I am in a lesser state of finiances than Smed..so yeah he just directs and talks).
He's a glorified media director. Just saying.
Growing up though!
Well, Smed's not a favorite of mine, (though never did me any harm, never really played SOE titles to any great length) but I will agree with his ideas that he put forth.
I don't think Planetside 2 is for me, (I'm just not a FPS sort of guy, too slow) but if these features continue to roll out more people will enjoy them and come to expect them in future titles.
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
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Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
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"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
No there is no untapped market for Sandbox games. sometimes companies make the big mistake of listening too much to what players say they want. Bioware totally fell into this trap. Everyone said hey we don't want endgame grinding and progression like other MMOs have we want a MMO based around story. Well they really got exactly what they asked for and then 3 months in huge drops in subs and game in spinning downwards.
Same thing with Sandbox games, everyone likes the CONCEPT of a sandbox game but most players really don't like the actual reality of playing a sandbox game. Lets face it, there are not as many hardcore MMO players anymore, people are starting to prioritize and lots of the old MMO players are moving into a more casual role. Sandbox games do not work for casual players, it is not that they are harder then themepark games it is just that it takes a lot more time to advance and do things. Now you may not agree with themepark style but the truth is the only Sandbox game that could ever hold over 1M players would be a hybrid sandbox/themepark.
A sure sign that you are in an old, dying paradigm/mindset, is when you are scared of new ideas and new technology. Don't feel bad. The world is moving on without you, and you are welcome to yell "Get Off My Lawn!" all you want while it happens. You cannot, however, stop an idea whose time has come.
Bull, is my opinion. Players are dropping off of every themepark game to come out since WoW. They still buy, proving they are looking for something, but they don't stick.
Sandbox, and I've always called it "Sandbox World", which seems to be what he's getting at, has tremendous possibilities. The key is to do it right. Cash shops, first person views, things like that are a detraction. And wide open PvP can be too if there's no means to control it, but their efforts for "community" may help that a lot (much like with Eve). Maybe not enough to bring it into the big numbers (thinking 2 million steady customers).
Time will tell overall for this game. But for a great Sandbox game, I think the possibilities of great success are fantastic.
Once upon a time....
Yeah...I'll call bunk on this as well. Sandbox/Themepark has no correlation on the amount of time/effort it takes to do anything. Does drawing a quick sketch take longer then watching all 3 of Peter Jacksons LOTR movies?
I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been -Wayne Gretzky
Finally, one of the suites wakes up and realizes where the real profit is to be made in the MMo space.
Fixed that for you. I don't think SoE is blameless, but I am certain that LA was the main drive behind this (and they are the ones that controlled things). They fell in love with WoW and wanted a star wars WoW experience. So they went to a company that would give that to them.