SOE's Next MMOG (for the PS3, oh noes): The Agency

[schild]

Then again unified platform is exactly what SOE wants to shove down our throats.

Now you not only have to buy a new game every 4 years, but you have to buy a new $700 system! Brilliant!

Again, no thanks.

This is a horrible argument. Once again, I don't give a shit about the platform other than the fact it's NOT a PC. Stop being a douchebag. By the way, the combined cost of the PS1, PS2, and PS3 at launch is less than the cost of a new PC. And you probably get a new one of them every 5-7 years - and only if you're frugal.

[Nija]

I am very frugal and I earn my living with this piece of shit. I don't know what the cost of a "new PC" is other than the $400 business boxes I buy here. That's no typo.

Incorporate like I did then you can write off your next computer system. I'm surprised you haven't already.

[Nebu]

While platforms do optimize game performance for the masses, they often don't for the individual.  Any savvy PC person can get software to run extremely well on their system even without an annual upgrade.  The advantages to releasing titles this way must have to do with financial advantages they have due to obligations to produce for a single console.  

Edit: I guess they would also incur lower upkeep costs, fewer CSR needs, and less frequent patching due to limited restrictions.  Ok... I see more clearly how development is much easier in this manner.  You target one set of specs and don't have to worry about the myriad of box variations.

[Chimpy]

Then again unified platform is exactly what SOE wants to shove down our throats.

Now you not only have to buy a new game every 4 years, but you have to buy a new $700 system! Brilliant!

Again, no thanks.

But how exactly is that different than needing to buy a $1500 computer every 2 years to play the newest PC games?

For everything except playing games and using the bleeding edge graphics applications, my 6 year old computer does just fine.

If you are not a person who buys a new computer every couple of years then you have a right to complain. But complaining about buying a console half as often for less than half the cost of buying a new PC to keep abreast of the current crop of games is silly.

[Nija]

You don't need a new PC every 2 years to play the current games. The system I replaced 2 weeks ago was the same system that I played AC2 beta/final on. I don't even remember what year that was. I am trying to forget AC2 in the meantime as well.

[Nonentity]

Man, I would LOVE a DS MMO.

Fuck, I might even play that Maple Story DS game if they ever port it here.

At least the interface lends itself better.

But seriously - getting MMOs on a console will only do good for the genre. It will, by default, have a higher and new audience for MMOs. You can't go making the same game you would make on a PC for this same market, which I think is why they're going for the spy angle.

Make it fit the platform, and an MMO can conceivably work on any given platform that has an internet connection.

Might as well target the platform that has the potential for a higher install base.

[schild]

You don't need a new PC every 2 years to play the current games. The system I replaced 2 weeks ago was the same system that I played AC2 beta/final on. I don't even remember what year that was. I am trying to forget AC2 in the meantime as well.

I haven't replaced my system since before Star Wars Galaxies (haven't really been THAT compelled - will be for UT2k7 though). I'm willing to spend money on the hobby to get the best possible experience (which unfortunately means owning all the consoles) and you aren't. Great. Next.

[Chimpy]

You don't need a new PC every 2 years to play the current games. The system I replaced 2 weeks ago was the same system that I played AC2 beta/final on. I don't even remember what year that was. I am trying to forget AC2 in the meantime as well.

The thing is, a large number of people who complain about the pricetag of the consoles and how they are 'forced' to buy a new one every 4 years DO buy or upgrade heavily their PCs every couple of years.

And the majority of PC game developers seem design with the bleeding edge of 2 years ago as their baseline system.

[Nija]

I'm willing to spend money on the hobby to get the best possible experience (which unfortunately means owning all the consoles) and you aren't. Great. Next.

The best possible PS3 experience is waiting until it's $50 and the games are $5.

Then again I think I'm moving on. I haven't even played God of War 2 yet.

[Hoax]

I like Haemish's version of the future, and I eagerly await the day it comes to pass...

I fucking hate you little console gamer monkeys.  Go die in a cartridge fire 


<completely changed post after reading the post below>

[HaemishM]

But are MMOs on a console really the "future"? 

Yes. They really really are, because that's where mass market game development is going. PC's are going to be rightly "relegated" to niche.

And in my scenario, that is a FUCKING GREAT THING. Because consoles can suck up all the mouth breathers, with aversion to typing (because the console MMO should have voice chat from the get go, and preferably voice fonts) and little real thinking required or wanted. Then developers can hopefully build smaller, niche MMOG's that do interesting shit like virtual worlds, PVP, etc. etc.

But the PS3? I'd have hoped the game would be on a console with a large install base. Maybe by 2010.

[Lt.Dan]

C'mon who's going to play a massive on-line world where you hit a loading screen every 2 minutes.  What's the biggest zone you've ever seen in a console game?  Now express that as a percent of a typicaly MMO zone/chunk.

[schild]

C'mon who's going to play a massive on-line world where you hit a loading screen every 2 minutes.  What's the biggest zone you've ever seen in a console game?  Now express that as a percent of a typicaly MMO zone/chunk.

Huh? The PS3 will do more than just fine.

[Gutboy Barrelhouse]

I hope they raise the price of the station pass when this one gets added 

[Falconeer]

I hope they raise the price of the station pass when this one gets added 

Smed is already gloating in anticipation just by thinking about it. I am sure he already wrote the press release, which is the same as the last two with Gods 'n Heroes Vanguard The Agency written on it.

[Xuri]

Spy shit.
Controllable spy teams.
Two factions.

OOo, a modern recreation of Spy vs Spy? =P

[Sir Fodder]

Whats a voice font?

[Margalis]

I always wonder why people constantly forget that FFXI is a PS2 game. 2!

It has large zones, a large world, nice character and enemy models, etc. Anyone saying that a console has too many limitations to do a MMORPG has no clue.

[Sairon]

Jesus fuck, people still bitching about the price of the PS3. Of course you don't need to upgrade your PC every 2 years, of course you can play on 640x480 on lowest settings. Of course you don't even fucking NEED a new console, you can toy around with the C64 or whatever. You don't NEED any of the shit we're discussing on this very forum section. If you want what I'd like to call an enjoyable experience and actually give a shit about the evolution then yes, you'd probably want to upgrade that box every now and then.

Sure enough, a lot of people won't get a PS3 for various reasons even if it had a superior library. I mean there's a good chunk of people who still in this day and age tries to argue that the GC or XBOX won the last generation and clearly had the best games. However, for people with an intrest in MMOs and already considering the buying the console this is great news. I would love to play MMOs on a console as long as it has keyboard support, and the chances of that happening is pretty large for the PS3.

[Paelos]

Consoles are fine for me when I want to play a single player game, but I could only see playing an MMOG on one if it was like Planetside or something. Also, the idea of VOIP taking over as the only source of communication in MMOGs (console or otherwise) scares the shit out of me.

[Margalis]

What was the last console that didn't either have a keyboard attachment or work with any USB keyboard? The N64?

[schild]

N64 had one for the 64DD in Japan. Try the SNES era.

[Trippy]

I always wonder why people constantly forget that FFXI is a PS2 game. 2!

It has large zones, a large world, nice character and enemy models, etc. Anyone saying that a console has too many limitations to do a MMORPG has no clue.

Yeah but the UI sucks.

[schild]

I always wonder why people constantly forget that FFXI is a PS2 game. 2!

It has large zones, a large world, nice character and enemy models, etc. Anyone saying that a console has too many limitations to do a MMORPG has no clue.

Yeah but the UI sucks.

Heh.

[Trippy]

My argument is more sound simply because it's easier to avoid WoW on a console and the platform is unified.

What do you have to offer? Keyboard and Mouse? Easiest Fix Ever.

The graphics will be great.

This is an SOE game -- the graphics are going to suck ass.

[schild]

My argument is more sound simply because it's easier to avoid WoW on a console and the platform is unified.

What do you have to offer? Keyboard and Mouse? Easiest Fix Ever.

The graphics will be great.

This is an SOE game -- the graphics are going to suck ass.

SOE Seattle. Graphics will be fine. Me thinks.

[Trippy]

C'mon who's going to play a massive on-line world where you hit a loading screen every 2 minutes.  What's the biggest zone you've ever seen in a console game?  Now express that as a percent of a typicaly MMO zone/chunk.

Unlike, say, the Xbox 360, all PS3s have hard drives. Hence they can stream world content off the hard drive just like PC MMOs do.

[Trippy]

The graphics will be great.

This is an SOE game -- the graphics are going to suck ass.

SOE Seattle. Graphics will be fine. Me thinks.

The Matrix Online graphics sucked ass. The character models were slightly better than the ones in EQ2 but the world looked horrible.

[Trippy]

Whats a voice font?

[Chimpy]

If we give him another couple minutes, do you think Trippy will quote himself and comment on it to keep the chain going?

 :-D

[sam, an eggplant]

It's silly to argue against MMOs on consoles. Consoles are just another platform, voice chat is better than typing anyway, and being restricted to a gamepad tends to lead to better interfaces, without the 1000s of unintuitive controls you can get with a keyboard.

I don't own a next-gen console, because I tend to enjoy genres that come out on the PC. I bought an xbox1 for KOTOR, and if they release a great MMO or western-style RPG on ps3 or 360, I'll buy one. I care about games, not platforms.

[Paelos]

voice chat is better than typing anyway

Yes, but only with people you actually like or enjoy grouping with. When you bring it in as the main way of communicating with everyone, it blows.

[sam, an eggplant]

Every MMO sucks if you play with random jerkoffs rather than friends or guildmates. I really don't see what you mean.

[Merusk]

Every MMO sucks if you play with random jerkoffs rather than friends or guildmates. I really don't see what you mean.

Purple monkey dishwater.

[Sir Fodder]

Whats a voice font?

Yeah I did, but it ("A voice font is a computer-generated voice that can be controlled by specifying parameters such as speed and pitch and made to pronounce text input") didn't seem to make sense in this context. Just wondering if maybe he meant some kind of voice masquerading function and if this stuff is technically practical yet.