What companies for your "SuperMMO"

Phertias

So in a recent thread, a guy wrote about a dreamscenario where 5 of the biggest MMO companies would go together to create 1 "Super MMO"

While we all know that wont happen, it would still be interesting to determine what 5 companies you would like to team up in order to create the Super MMO

Me personally:

 

Blizzard:   They created WoW which is a good and stabile game with a lot of different content. They know their way around lore and marketing and they would be invaluable on my dream team.

Funcom:   Funcom has always provided with humor and quality of their games which I have always adored. Especially games like TSW and AoC really got me. The quality and humor ensurance would mean a lot to the game.

Carbine:   Carbine have only made Wildstar and even though its not very successful. its still a pretty good game with awesome combat, animations and content. 

Square Enix:   Now I myself is not a fan of FF XIV: ARR, but one thing I must admit: They turned the table on their MMORPG which means they have some unique skill that most MMORPG companies lack. With a company like Square Enix behind the project as well, it would mean that the always potential failure at launch could be solved.

Visionary Realms Inc:   This is just because of Brad McQuaid. Despite the hate on him, he created many games where Vanguard is among my favorites for the huge seamless world and the complexity of integrated content. 

 

So what would be your dream team and why? I know its 100% hypothetical since these world NEVER work together (I mean could you picture Brad with Chris Metzen?) 

Quizzical

Companies plural?  I want different companies to make different games.  Really different games, not just near clones of whatever is popular that day.  Because then I can have different games to play and have some variety.

Daikuru

Blizzard + CCP + NCsoft

hfztt

Originally posted by Daikuru
Blizzard + CCP + NCsoft

What he said...

Howbadisbad

Assuming compatibility and similar stuff doesn't matter, I guess Ill just list 5 of the creators of my favorite MMO's with a similar theme and dream they would make something good each focusing on their respective strengths.

Rolf Jansson/Markus Persson (Wurm Online) World editing and skills
CCP Games (EVE Online) PvP design and Economy
Richard Garriott (Ultima Online) [I think he may be washed up now though] NPCs/Quests/World
Star Vault (Mortal Online) Crafting
Gower Brothers (Runescape [Online]) Skills and PvP design

SirAgravaine

Blizzard

For their attention to detail, strong design values, and sense of polish. For their marketing and management.

Turbine

For their creativity and innovation. For their ability to design games that don't quite fit the standard mold.

BioWare

For their sense of story and scale. For their ability to craft role-playing games.

CCP

For their skillset at crafting virtual worlds and for their dedication to their player base, no matter the cost.

Independent Developers

While not a studio, my last and final pick is independent developers. For their unjaded sense of wonder and enthusiasm. For their boundless imagination and determination. For their desire to create, not sell. 

 

If these five companies paired up, it might be possible to have a great looking game that has dynamic and immersive role-playing, in a virtual world sandpark platform, with creative and innovative systems that were implemented to be both fun and engaging as well as being well-polished for release and using a reasonable monetization scheme. That would be my SuperMMO.

 

Axehilt

Even as a longtime Blizzard fan, I wouldn't say they "know their way around lore".  In fact that's one of their notable shortcomings (and also a partial strength, as they rarely let lore serve as an excuse not to do something.)

So I'd go with:

• ZeniMax (lore and world integrity)
• Blizzard (combat and class design)
• NCSoft (to inject CoH-style difficulty settings and rewards)

 

Phry

Originally posted by DMKano

Originally posted by Axehilt

Even as a longtime Blizzard fan, I wouldn't say they "know their way around lore".  In fact that's one of their notable shortcomings (and also a partial strength, as they rarely let lore serve as an excuse not to do something.)

So I'd go with:

• ZeniMax (lore and world integrity)
• Blizzard (combat and class design)
• NCSoft (to inject CoH-style difficulty settings and rewards)

 

 

This is a great example of what I'm talking about

 

Zenimax - lore and world integrity - this has ZERO to do with "zenimax" as a company - it has to do with a team of devs who worked there - again some of these guys have left the company already - do you think "Zenimax" can do the same without the same people?

Same goes for "Blizzard" and "NCSoft" - all of the praise given to them is totally dependent on the devs who did the work there - again who might not even be working there anymore.

 

This idea that somehow "companies" retain the same devs and same teams over the years - capable of producing the same results with every new game is really just absurd

If you replace Zenimax with Bethesda though, it changes things entirely, the dev's at Bethesda, while they may be focused on single player games, they are extremely good at it, having said that, Bethesda have always stated they would never make an MMO, can't say i blame them.

Personally i would go with

Square Enix, FFXI & FFXIV;ARR

Blizzard , World of Warcraft, obvious reasons.

Bioware,  SW;TOR, despite all the games faults, which are many, the storylines are fun.

CCP, Eve Online, shear amount of detail they put into their work is just amazing, but whether they can do anything outside of Eve... who knows.

SOE, SWG, but, perhaps should really change SOE for 'Raph Koster'

Wizardry

I would want full control,none of these businesses warrant a great game.Keyword used businesses,that is all they are,they are not passionate gamer's.

I would consider one team however and one person,well no now i think about it,i do have my team.

EPIC games +Naughty DOG productions+Hiromichi Tanaka "now with Gung Ho entertainment".+ME :P

Best of all worlds ,creativity ,technical,best game engine, ability to think outside the box=ME.

Wizardry

Originally posted by Daikuru
Blizzard + CCP + NCsoft

sooooooo...

cartoons+rmt+corruption  nice team,would definitely be a low budget game design with cash shop and lack 50+% of what a game should have and have automated systems AND hand holding,yep definitely what i look for in my game :P

fivoroth

Originally posted by Phertias

So in a recent thread, a guy wrote about a dreamscenario where 5 of the biggest MMO companies would go together to create 1 "Super MMO"

While we all know that wont happen, it would still be interesting to determine what 5 companies you would like to team up in order to create the Super MMO

Me personally:

 

Blizzard:   They created WoW which is a good and stabile game with a lot of different content. They know their way around lore and marketing and they would be invaluable on my dream team.

Funcom:   Funcom has always provided with humor and quality of their games which I have always adored. Especially games like TSW and AoC really got me. The quality and humor ensurance would mean a lot to the game.

Carbine:   Carbine have only made Wildstar and even though its not very successful. its still a pretty good game with awesome combat, animations and content. 

Square Enix:   Now I myself is not a fan of FF XIV: ARR, but one thing I must admit: They turned the table on their MMORPG which means they have some unique skill that most MMORPG companies lack. With a company like Square Enix behind the project as well, it would mean that the always potential failure at launch could be solved.

Visionary Realms Inc:   This is just because of Brad McQuaid. Despite the hate on him, he created many games where Vanguard is among my favorites for the huge seamless world and the complexity of integrated content. 

 

So what would be your dream team and why? I know its 100% hypothetical since these world NEVER work together (I mean could you picture Brad with Chris Metzen?) 

Blizzard and ArenaNet. The only two MMOs I have really REALLY enjoyed were created by those two companies. The only MMOs where I made it to max level were World of Warcraft, GW1 and GW2. All other MMOs fell appart for me before even getting to max level.

So:

Blizzard - for how awesome they are. Forget about marketing. Blizzard don't need marketing. Everyone knows about them at this point. They have the best brand recognition within the gaming industry. Their games are always super responsive, with animations and fluidity out of this world. All other games look clunky compared to Blizzard games!

ArenaNet - they created my second most played MMO - GW1. That game had a brilliant skill system and GvG system. It required skill that is unseen in other MMOs. DAOC, EVE etc. come no where near the skill required in GW1's GvG.

Originally posted by DMKano

This thread is based on a pretty basic fallacy

 

A video game company has had a successful game in the past - therefore they will create successful games in the future.

 

Take Blizzard back in 2004 or SoE back in 1999 when they did EQ1 - who created those games? The companies or was it a team of developers working there?

The developers *who worked for those companies at that time* - over time these many of these devs have moved and worked at different companies.

The teams that have created those games are long gone - devs shuffle from one company to another, many core folks from Blizzard and SoE haven't worked there in over 7 years.

Companies don't create games - devs do.

The sooner people stop stereotyping games based on which company made them - oh this is a "Blizzard" game or this is a "Trion" game etc... the better

 

IMO - it is a lot better idea to follow good devs/game designers as they move from one company to another - than to follow *companies" as a whole.

Case in point -  Andrew Krausnick, aka Avarem - I've been a fan of his work since he worked at Sigil games back during Vanguard days, then he went to SoE for several years, and has been at Trion sicne 2010 - and is the lead on Trove.

 

Just my 2c - follow good devs, don't focus on which company they work for as that is not important in the end - the video games are a product of designers - not "companies" they work for!

Your premise is flawed in my opinion. Firstly, do you know how many developers who worked on WoW prior to launch left Blizzard? 10%? 100%? We don't know. Also WoW had many successes throughout the years. It was never about a single point in time that made WoW great. Vanilla was super popular, so was TBC, so was WOTLK. Hell, Wotlk propelled WoW to 12.5m subs.

Blizzard are the most consistent company. Their games are always good and they always sell extremely well. There must be something about the company for it to be so good. WC1, WC2, WC3, WoW, D1, D2, D3, SC1, SC2, Hearthstone. All massive successes. There were tons of different developers who worked on all those games, not just a small minority or something. BLizzard always deliver.

The rest of the game companies mentioned in this thread and in the other thread, are no where comparable to Blizzard. BLizzard are on a different level of success. SOE, Trion (who are mostly a newbie companies with barely any sucess behind them), ArenaNet.

Blizzard and their evil fellow company...Activision... always manage to deliver games which become massive hits. That company had so much cash, that they bought it's parent's company shares with cash outright.

 

ArtificeVenatus

 

kjempff

Besides what DMKano has already pointed out..

The more entities envolved in making a game, the more different interests and opinions will influence the game. In the case of games, I do not beleive in diplomatic settlements.. As that will almost always lead to cutting ideas, normalize, and generally degrade and dumb down gameplay. The best games (or most ideas actually) are made by a few strong visionaries who were able to keep their vision intact.. By keeping compromises small and within the vision

Dauzqul

An Indy company with millions of dollars.

 

Indy companies make games for the love of gaming - not strictly for profit.

Blizzard? SOE? Trion? etc?    They are all tainted. They were all once glorious and hungry prize fighters. However, once they had their moment of glory, they became soft and civilized.

Battlerock

I would have Carbine team up with Richard Garriot , Mark Jacobs, Rob Denton, & Matt Firor - then I would donate my life savings to the founders packs for whatever game they came up with.

Darkcrystal

Originally posted by Dauzqul

An Indy company with millions of dollars.

 

Indy companies make games for the love of gaming - not strictly for profit.

Blizzard? SOE? Trion? etc?    They are all tainted. They were all once glorious and hungry prize fighters. However, once they had their moment of glory, they became soft and civilized.

This.

 

 

I find this thread funny that hardly anyone said indies when indies make the best game and do not try to clone WOW or any other game, then make bad games. They need more money and most would do a better job. They already have shown they can, they could do better with more money . This is why KS and others ways of crowd funding are good. The issue though is KS lets in to many companies that do not have much done.  They try and scam , so KS should not allow them to use it unless they have a playable game to show people and actually play some of  it in my opinion. I think a lot jump the gun an go to KS before they made anything and they fail. Which is horrible... Being a gamer for many years that turned dev, I see this

Indies should never ever make a MMO as there first game , even if they made them before, because you need to build company and learn team building. I been doing this for my own company for a year, we are starting out with Androids I have worked for AAA and indies. I have worked for good and bad companies. I prefer my own as I love games and hate what I have seen from many companies. I could go on and on.

 

But with indie companies they are mostly true gamers that care about the game all AAA companies care about money. Not saying all do this but a lot do. Now money is important of course to stay in business as well, so keep in mind that should be on your list,

 

Top should be the game, then team building, then money.  

 

Now greedy companies will go Money, money, and Money, then maybe the game.

Vrika

Blizzard to create the game engine and gameplay.

CD Projekt Red to create the content.

hfztt

Originally posted by Darkcrystal

Now greedy companies will go Money, money, and Money, then maybe the game.

Funny. Sounds a bit like a prominent independent game currently in development...

rodingo

Originally posted by Enbysra

Playboy + Twistys + Victoria's Secrets + Any Successful Tabletop RPG Company.

 

Now we have a force to be reckoned with 

 

Take out "Any successful Tabletop RPG Company" and you have Scarlet Blade

mmoguy43

A cooperative alliance of like minded lndy devs with community supported modding(game design as well as content and art). Only way I see a SUPER MMO (whatever that is) being created.

ArtificeVenatus

 

skeaser

Blizzard North

Sigil

38 Studios

Destination Games

NP Cube

Velocinox

Myself + four companies that would do exactly what I told them to do without question or lack of funds.

Piscore

Trion...

 

bcbully

SnailGames - Brilliant systems and world design

ZOS - They listen to their players. At times is feels like we are in charge and they build for us.

Planetside 2 SOE team - Awesome pvp squad with super programmers

Blizzard- Polish it all up.

Adjuvant1

Palladium Books - Rifts IP

Blizzard - Powerhouse development studio, art, sound, pve development, name recognition

City State Entertainment - PvP systems, network security

King - Mini games for crafting, assorted quests and just for messing around while waiting, LFG

Bethesda - Story writing, npc character development