Pan'Theon: Rise' of th'e Fal'Len - #1 Thread in MMO

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Mr Creed

Mr Creed

Too old for this shit
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Draegan_sl said:
You have to remember that Brad didn't really invent many game elements. Half of what made EQ great was already in place in MUDs (grinding, camping, raiding, classes, level time, death penalties, class interdependence, hardly any solo content) and a bigger portion of that other half were often un-intended consequences in game design.

I would actually be much more excited following a new MMORPG in development that hae never been at the head of development before (but has had experience shipping one) than someone who has already headed up development already (once or multiple times). For example, I'd love to see what Scott Hartsman could do if he was in charge from day 1. His two success stories have been rescuing sub-par products like Rift and EQ2.
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Maybe a bit of Hartsman keeping it real is just what McQuaid needs. Afaik Trion is dead in the water anyway, he could sell the remaining wreckage to some MMO hobos and get on board with this.
 
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xmod2_sl

shitlord
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Sorce_sl said:
That is the exact reason I loved EQ when I first played the game. The attachment to the character.
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I think the forced first person (since the alternatives were shitty) is understated in its involvement in immersion. That along with character investment and letting me tell my own story.

The story based theme park MMOs really disconnect you. I felt about as connected to my character in GW2 and SWTOR as I do Mario when playing SMB.
 
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Gecko_sl

shitlord
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Draegan_sl said:
Do you have a serious source for that?
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There was an article on another large MMO news site saying just this and quoting insiders not too long ago. It's pretty much been confirmed they tried to sell to SOE and are shopping their studio to anyone and everyone.
 
Laura

Laura

Lord Nagafen Raider
582
109
Dumar_sl said:
What Brad needs to learn, or should obviously know by now (and if somehow not, PLEASE listen), is that game design means nothing if the engineering talent is not up to task.

The lesson of WoW is not one of great casual game design, of accessibility to the masses, but one of great software engineering talent makes or breaks the game. If WoW had EQ style mechanics, it still would be quite successful. The WoW gameplay engine was designed and developed by an absolutely great team of programmers and technical artists, and the WoW game designers rode the success of those engineers' coattails to the coked up hookers in ferraris: THAT is the difference. THAT quality of engineering must be there, must be present, else your game will fail, no matter how great your design is.

Had Darkfall or Shadowbane had Blizzard engineers, then we would've seen totally different games and releases to success.

Don't hire good engineers, Aradune. Hire great ones.
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However, if you don't have such a team then design your game around clunky-ness. (ex: turn based combat, slow-paced combat, a game that doesn't require animation to "function"...etc). There's still market for such "limitations" for instance MineCraft works because of the game-design despite the simplistic approach with its mechanics.
 
Jysin

Jysin

Ahn'Qiraj Raider
6,457
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tad10_sl said:
Just what I was told by someone in the biz. That's why they shut the SD office and consolidated everything. So no official source.
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He is on this forum. You could just PM him yourself and see if he'd reply what he is up to.
 
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Draegan_sl

2 Minutes Hate
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Gecko_sl said:
There was an article on another large MMO news site saying just this and quoting insiders not too long ago. It's pretty much been confirmed they tried to sell to SOE and are shopping their studio to anyone and everyone.
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I was hoping for more other than rumors. Oh well.
 
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gogojira_sl

shitlord
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The company is in trouble and has nothing (that we know of) in development to salvage them. Rift is probably their only money maker and it's far beyond its peak. This could be the THQ and Jason Rubin situation all over again. Adding to the headache, Trion is an MMO company and those things don't come cheap. Assumptions are assumptions, but the future of Trion is extremely shaky even with someone snappy like Scott Hartsman on top. If he can manage to pull them out of their situation, a statue 100' shall be erected in his honor.

I'm hoping for the best, but we'll see. I've got a feeling it won't take long before hearing some news from Scott, good or bad.
 
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Gecko_sl

shitlord
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Draegan_sl said:
I was hoping for more other than rumors. Oh well.
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You mean closing all their extra studios, doing massive layoffs, fire selling anything they can, and making their company as streamlined as possible for a quick and easy sale of assets? Including rumors of meetings between Trion and SOE. If it quacks like a duck...
 
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Dahkoht_sl

shitlord
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Gecko_sl said:
You mean closing all their extra studios, doing massive layoffs, fire selling anything they can, and making their company as streamlined as possible for a quick and easy sale of assets? Including rumors of meetings between Trion and SOE. If it quacks like a duck...
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NOT going to fucking happen , EVER.

It would be like saying SOE is going to end up buying Sigil and Vanguard for cheap once it bombs and having it as part of the studio. Most ridiculous rumor ever and NEVER going to happen.
 
iannis

iannis

Musty Nester
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17,656
Draegan_sl said:
Do you have a serious source for that?
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I believe it as well. I don't have a source, but with the failure of that SyFy MMO crossover (I can't even rem.. defiance) and Rifthasto be stagnant at best. I don't see what else they could be doing except maintaining payroll and repaying debt. It seems like Hartsmans promotion would be an attempt to secure some good-faith backing, but unless Hartsman is a magic man...
 
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Draegan_sl

2 Minutes Hate
10,034
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I'm not saying that it isn't a possibility. But it's pretty much conjecture right now. You could look at it as Scott cutting all the fat and trying to set things straight. Is it more likely Trion is trying to sell? Probably. I was just interested if there was anything substantial behind the rumors.
 
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