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One of the greater tragedies of the industry
This, Age of Conan, and Master of Orion 3 are probably the top 3 tragedies of the industry.
I won't get into the other two titles, but Hellgate held SO much potential.
In fact, it held so much potential that I'm actually going to try the F2P version - even if every fiber of my being tells me it's a pathetic and cheap cash-grab.
It SCREAMS amateur-hour and lazy handling of the work of Flagship Studios.
Yeah, I know, they totally messed up on the launch - and they utterly failed in terms of PR. I know people like to blame Bill Roper - and I'm not saying he's an angel or a particularly smart business person. That said, he seems very human to me - or he did in the interviews I used to follow during Flagship's time.
That said, we can't really know the full details of what on behind the scenes. We can but guess and estimate.
Personally, I saw a talented team that over-extended themselves. They simply didn't have the pragmatic business approach needed to make all of what they tried to do work well. They wanted a happy medium between a static "Diablo 2" experience and the dynamic flow of content of an MMO. They tried implementing a subscription model that was 50% cheaper - and they hoped this would provide them with the resources needed to make "mini-expansions". To call it a failure - is putting it mildly.
But looking at the CORE gameplay of Hellgate - I think it's the best hack/slash game in existence. It just "feels" right and has a fantastic pace. They did a lot of interesting things with the formula, and a lot of it went unnoticed. One small example was the way they handled "dynamic music" in the game.
The music would change according to how many enemies you were facing, and it would ramp up and become almost trance-like in a room shock-full of battle. That got the adrenaline pumping, and I thought it was a brilliant little feature.
I REALLY wanted the game to succeed - and I did all I could to make that happen, supporting them all the way.
In the end, it was not to be.
Now, we'll get this half-assed F2P version. They completely did away with the DX10 mode, which actually made the game look pretty damn good - especially in terms of shadows and the reacting smoke effects.
They changed the already weak story to something I wouldn't even call worthy of an indie title. It's just messy and non-sensical crap.
They even managed to introduce new visual bugs - like semi-transparent objects with "holes" in them.
The cash-shop will allow purchase of game-altering balance stuff, like vital skill points. Yeah, it's a "cash-shop" game - but at least they could introduce a subscription option.
I don't think it will be a success - and I don't see any shred of care for the game they're handling.
Sad!
This is a whine-post - sorry. I just had to get it out 
I want Hellgate back in the hands of people who care for it!
Comments
Dito .....yet i still will be playing till it falls again.
All of these "comebacks" of half-baked games that failed are half-baked themselves, in my opinion. You can't polish a turd.
Vault-Tec analysts have concluded that the odds of worldwide nuclear armaggeddon this decade are 17,143,762... to 1.
Thanks for your opinion but I'll still be playing it.
Yes you can! http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/mythbusters-polishing-a-turd.html
But seriously, Hellgate was a decent game.
Hellgate was one of the only games I ever thought about the lifetime sub (not pulling the trigger still makes me happy to this day); it just had that much potential. The gameplay was slick and diverse combat styles between the classes. The loot system was great. The concept of ongoing content expansions, events, and other draws to a dynamic game experience - sounded "epic".
The reality of it was that the game was never fully realized. Had it been a diablo-style game only, it would have been accepted accordingly and probably have done quite well. The failure in their model ultimately doomer both this and the EXCEPTIONAL diablo 2 "clone" Mythos (which also returned in a less attracitve release from an overseas developer).
I'll try it when it hits Open Beta and will probably lament the "good old days" of Hellgate before it went FTP/Chash shop.
I agree. I liked it. I played the single player for months. But I still don't think it'll be worthwhile as a co-op game you "have" to pay for.
Vault-Tec analysts have concluded that the odds of worldwide nuclear armaggeddon this decade are 17,143,762... to 1.
it had it's problems and a bad launch, but hellgate won't fall again.
I hate that its going the pay-to-win route, but I'm also glad that it is still around.
Flagship had (in theory) a good way to make revenue--it just wasn't fully realized. If they had launched without a sub, their system of selling in-game advertisements could have enabled them to make decent profits--anyone remember the tacky Dark-horse Comics posters they had in all the terminals? Those were not just tacky subway authenticity posters, they were actually paid for by DarkHorse.
Unfortunately, mismanagement spoiled the product. If the game had launched without bugs, they might have been able to pass-off the additional sub fee. Or, if the game had launched without subs (and instead made B2P expansions/DLC) the bugs could have been passable (in the era--but not nowadays since you lot have all become so jaded). In either of those scenarios, the playerbase could have become substantial enough to post significant revenue from the advertisement deals.
Now we are going to get stuck with a system that will nickel and dime us to death. Paying monthly to access the additional content, monthly for additional storage space, monthly for shared storage, buying dye kits... Its not going to be pretty, but at least we will be able to play HG again for a while until we all get fed up with feeding the beast coins.
I tried beta weekend it failed misrable i untsalled it and will never comeback, end of hellgate story.
I played the most recent beta and it was the only chance ive had to play the game. I read about it before when i first found out about F2P games, it was cancelled or whatever before i ever knew about it.
Anyways i LOVED the game so much. Theres not many games i cant wait to keep playing and thats one of em.
Loved it, so awesome, so much fun. I thought the graphics were great when they were maxed out. I didnt play the original game tho remember.
I will definitely be playing it when it releases.
Jeremiah 8:21 I weep for the hurt of my people; I stand amazed, silent, dumb with grief.
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Be glad you didn't play the original for two reasons:
1) the current graphics look like children's doodles compared to the original Dx-10 graphics
2) you were spared a lot of heartbreak when it closed.
/true.
Plus the OP talks about potential. HOlding out for potential is a waste of life. Too many people hold out for potential in relationships and you see how well that does.
Epic Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAigCvelkhQ&list=PLo9FRw1AkDuQLEz7Gvvaz3ideB2NpFtT1
https://archive.org/details/softwarelibrary_msdos?&sort=-downloads&page=1
Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you playing an MMORPG?"
omg guys.. you are soo picky... be glad it's not just ANOTHER clasic, boring super grind fantasy with {big boobs,big eyes,small cute slave girls(anima,pran),pink bear mounts,rainbow unicorns...<insert any other fetish here>} from asia....MMO genre dying because companies dont like experiments or try something new......"why make something new? we can use this and that from here and there... everything will be ok, we just need few hundreds/thousands stable players....we will have steady income..."..that's cool!?.. no it's not >.>
The game is awfull and was shutdown for a reason making it f2p doesnt make it any better......