Cryptic hiring for new project(s)

[Mi_Tes]

I think at this point I'd like to see MS drop Vanguard out of spite. If any other MMO tanks this year, I hope Vanguard is it.

http://www.sigilgames.com/sonypressrelease.html

I have no doubt it will tank.  I was only surprised it took MS so long to dump it.  Still pissed and dumbfounded that MS gave up Mythica for Vanguard.  Guess I am always amazed how some can't see through flowery words and promises (or it takes them a few years).

The good news is that watching Sigil should provide some entertainment for a while: a screwed release, low numbers, unattainable customer expectations, and VC who aren't patient when things go badly.

[Velorath]

I think the genre has a limited appeal simply because if everyone is a superhero as comics describe them, the romance of the small group or lone individual that's radically different from everyone else and hence can save humanity breaks down into absurdity. Only the most die hard fans of the genre can retain the sense of immersion necessary to maintain that particular literary lie. Most of us just see people in spandex casting spells.

Um... doesn't the fantasy genre (or any grenre in MMO's really) have the same problem?  Most fantasy books are also focused on the small group or lone individual saving humanity, which obviously isn't the case in an MMO.  Read something like Top Ten by Alan Moore though and you can see how there can be a small group of important heroic individuals in a city where every single person has superpowers.

[Engels]

I think the genre has a limited appeal simply because if everyone is a superhero as comics describe them, the romance of the small group or lone individual that's radically different from everyone else and hence can save humanity breaks down into absurdity. Only the most die hard fans of the genre can retain the sense of immersion necessary to maintain that particular literary lie. Most of us just see people in spandex casting spells.

Um... doesn't the fantasy genre (or any grenre in MMO's really) have the same problem?  Most fantasy books are also focused on the small group or lone individual saving humanity, which obviously isn't the case in an MMO.  Read something like Top Ten by Alan Moore though and you can see how there can be a small group of important heroic individuals in a city where every single person has superpowers.

Not really, no. Sure, characters in fantasy fiction are often remarkable, but quite often it is the unremarkable rising to the challenge of the adventure that makes the fantasy complete. Frodo, any of the characters in RR Martin's novels, etc.

A superhero, on the other hand, is the unwitting 'victim' of a special power or ability that does, physically, make him somehow different. The only exception would be Batman, but even he's somehow radically different in as much as he's a solitary rich-as-croesus bachelor living in a mansion by himself.

[Strazos]

I think there's potential for a mythology-heavy game, one where the different deities and religions play a big part in gameplay.

You mean like Gods & Heroes?

Apparently, the game is very Diku-MUD/Autoattack-ish. I'll still try to beta test it if possible though.

[Trippy]

I think there's potential for a mythology-heavy game, one where the different deities and religions play a big part in gameplay.

You mean like Gods & Heroes?

Apparently, the game is very Diku-MUD/Autoattack-ish. I'll still try to beta test it if possible though.

Huh? You control a squad of troops in the game. Also the lead designer, Stieg Hedlund, was the lead designer on Diablo II. Not the kind of person I would expect to make an EQ-combat clone.

[schild]

Whoops, I slipped.