SoE New flagship project

[Mrbloodworth]

HA HA!

[Ratman_tf]

Remember when Atari crashed in the 80's? Remember why?

[Hawkbit]

I just involuntarily shuddered like a Pavlovian response. 

[Stephen Zepp]

They squeezed their consumers for cash... got it, then kept squeezing. Eventually everyone stopped buying.

Squeezed customers for cash? The game is free--and if you wish, you can make small purchases to further increase your experience.

That's hardly squeezing customers for cash--especially when those purchases are most of the time less than bargain bin prices.

[raydeen]

Not sure where you were going with the Atari comment but Atari crashed in the 80's partly due to the insane amount of shitty third party software being produced and also due to the fact that Atari tried to be too many things at once. When it was just 2600/400/800, things were pretty much ok. But then, they went insane with system releases. 600XL, 800XL, 1200XL, 65XE, 5200, 7800 (all basically the same system just rebranded and tweaked), several iterations of the 2600 and other announced but never delivered models. And then came the ST lines which were great but never marketed properly here in the States. Atari ate itself from the inside out.

[Morat20]

Remember when Atari crashed in the 80's? Remember why?

I had that game. But I was like 8 or something. And it was everything they said it was.

[raydeen]

Remember when Atari crashed in the 80's? Remember why?

I had that game. But I was like 8 or something. And it was everything they said it was.

I managed to miss E.T. the first time around. My big game was Raiders of the Lost Ark. That fecking game took me 7 months to figure out. It was Adventure on steroid.  I regard it as my first real foray into the adventure game genre and I've been a sucker for all the adventure and rpg games since.

[Hawkbit]

Oh those motherfucking tsetse flies. 

[Phred]

Not sure where you were going with the Atari comment but Atari crashed in the 80's partly due to the insane amount of shitty third party software being produced and also due to the fact that Atari tried to be too many things at once. When it was just 2600/400/800, things were pretty much ok. But then, they went insane with system releases. 600XL, 800XL, 1200XL, 65XE, 5200, 7800 (all basically the same system just rebranded and tweaked), several iterations of the 2600 and other announced but never delivered models. And then came the ST lines which were great but never marketed properly here in the States. Atari ate itself from the inside out.

Actually, by the time the ST line was produced Atari had already crashed and burned. It was bought by the former CEO of Commodore, and is now owned by a disk drive manufacturer.

[Numtini]

I upgraded from a //c to an ST. Oh the ancient days.

[Margalis]

I never figured out how to get anywhere in Raiders. Recently I read someplace (maybe here?) that you were supposed to use the second controller or something...I dunno, I never got what I was supposed to be trying to do. I tried it for a couple hours once every 6 months or so, very frustrating.

ET was just boring. Fall into a hole, float out, another game where I didn't really get what I was even trying to accomplish. The two games were pretty similar in that what the hell was even going on was a total mystery to me. Whatever they were trying to convey they failed utterly. Just take the pitfall dude and give him a whip or something...Atari was the wrong system to try to make games with a lot of diverse elements that mimicked a movie plotline. And count me as one who never understood the difference between the 2600, 5200 and 7800.

The funniest thing about Atari was after Nintendo first came out Atari games shot up to something like $29.99 in order to appear relevant competitors. Whereas the year before they were something like $9.99.

I feel like our (my) generation is very lucky in that we experienced games right from their inception. I've been playing games since almost day 1, which gives us a much greater understanding of history than people who got on board in the last decade or so.

[schild]

I feel like our (my) generation is very lucky in that we experienced games right from their inception. I've been playing games since almost day 1, which gives us a much greater understanding of history than people who got on board in the last decade or so.

Also, for the most part, it makes us better at games on a wider scale. Sure, someone may be good at fighting games, or fps titles, or RPGs. But generally they possess skills that focus on one or two (at most) genres. It's interesting to be sure, the hardcore gamers today are nothing like hardcore gamers back then. It's part of the reason I still try to play nearly everything.

[UnSub]

It's the skills you get from having to make 20c / 40c last in a game with one hit deaths and only 3 lives. Or adventure games that went "you made a spelling mistake, command failed, hello insta-death and we're deleting your save file as punishment". My exposure to gaming sadism has only made me stronger!

[raydeen]

I feel like our (my) generation is very lucky in that we experienced games right from their inception. I've been playing games since almost day 1, which gives us a much greater understanding of history than people who got on board in the last decade or so.

Also, for the most part, it makes us better at games on a wider scale. Sure, someone may be good at fighting games, or fps titles, or RPGs. But generally they possess skills that focus on one or two (at most) genres. It's interesting to be sure, the hardcore gamers today are nothing like hardcore gamers back then. It's part of the reason I still try to play nearly everything.

We had a homemade MAME cabinet in the computer class for a couple of years. All the 1337 Counter Strike kiddies would make fun of myself and the teacher for our lack of skillz. We then challenged them to Robotron. A couple of them fell into puddles of tears and urine when they saw me hit 395,000 on one match.

[schild]

I feel like our (my) generation is very lucky in that we experienced games right from their inception. I've been playing games since almost day 1, which gives us a much greater understanding of history than people who got on board in the last decade or so.

Also, for the most part, it makes us better at games on a wider scale. Sure, someone may be good at fighting games, or fps titles, or RPGs. But generally they possess skills that focus on one or two (at most) genres. It's interesting to be sure, the hardcore gamers today are nothing like hardcore gamers back then. It's part of the reason I still try to play nearly everything.

We had a homemade MAME cabinet in the computer class for a couple of years. All the 1337 Counter Strike kiddies would make fun of myself and the teacher for our lack of skillz. We then challenged them to Robotron. A couple of them fell into puddles of tears and urine when they saw me hit 395,000 on one match.

I'm not entirely sure what that proves. Did you beat them at Counterstrike afterwards or something?

[raydeen]

I'm not entirely sure what that proves. Did you beat them at Counterstrike afterwards or something?

No, but it was good to know I was batter at something then they were. I'm almost 40. I need to feel superior to these young whipper snappers.

[Oban]

No, but it was good to know I was batter at something then they were. I'm almost 40. I need to feel superior to these young whipper snappers.

[Nonentity]

Mmm, batter.

Anyways.

SOE's next big hit is gonna be Free Realms - even I have more than a passing interest in it.

As far as their next contender in the standard MMO arena, they'd be dumb if it's a standard fantasy MMO, but it probably will be. Oh well.

[Sky]

Sci-fi expansion 500 years in the future after the cataclysm consumes Norrath, led into space using gnome tech.

You heard it here first!

[Rishathra]

I... would TOTALLY play that.

[Lantyssa]

Can I launch gnomes into space?  Without protective gear?

[Sky]

Punt is the correct term, I think. Laces out, Dan.

And yeah, as I was posting that in jest I thought it might actually be a cool idea. Too bad Raph and Scott don't work there anymore, my pipeline, it's broked.

[UnSub]

And yeah, as I was posting that in jest I thought it might actually be a cool idea. Too bad Raph and Scott don't work there anymore, my pipeline, it's broked.

Well, Lum is now working on a supra sekret MMO. Tell him your ideas and I'm sure he'll include them. 

[Hartsman]

Punt is the correct term, I think. Laces out, Dan.

And yeah, as I was posting that in jest I thought it might actually be a cool idea. Too bad Raph and Scott don't work there anymore, my pipeline, it's broked.

I'm trying to think of what the reaction to the end result of that collaboration would be around here.

"Meh.  It's still a little grindy, but man, you can sure sit the hell out of some chairs."

[Venkman]

The only gamers you really should bother with are the ones on your employer-funded insurance plan 

[Lantyssa]

I'm trying to think of what the reaction to the end result of that collaboration would be around here.

"Meh.  It's still a little grindy, but man, you can sure sit the hell out of some chairs."

Arm-chair Developer Wars.

Best.  Game.  Ever.

[CharlieMopps]

Mmm, batter.

Anyways.

SOE's next big hit is gonna be Free Realms - even I have more than a passing interest in it.

As far as their next contender in the standard MMO arena, they'd be dumb if it's a standard fantasy MMO, but it probably will be. Oh well.

Problem is that whole Therom of:
("It's really easy to hack an FPS" + "No one will play an MMO that can be hacked." = "MMO's can't be FPS") + "Sci-Fi games with Swords Suck" = "All MMOs have to be Fantasy or they'll fail.

Fix that FPS hacking problem and there ya go. God knows a real Cyberpunk FPS Shooter MMO would be huge.

[Sky]

What game that features pvp as a central theme doesn't have game-killing hacks? I know AC was rife with them. In pve hacks and spoilts are obnoxious to game-breaking, but for pvp it removes any reason to ever bother playing.

[CharlieMopps]

What game that features pvp as a central theme doesn't have game-killing hacks? I know AC was rife with them. In pve hacks and spoilts are obnoxious to game-breaking, but for pvp it removes any reason to ever bother playing.

None... and that's the problem. It's just even easier to do in an FPS because your attacks are player skill based and not based on statistics governed by level and equipment. You can get away with player skill based mechanics in a single player game like Oblivion, because no-one cares. But online... exploits will send your client base running.

 

[gryeyes]

What game that features pvp as a central theme doesn't have game-killing hacks? I know AC was rife with them. In pve hacks and spoilts are obnoxious to game-breaking, but for pvp it removes any reason to ever bother playing.

EVE?

[Hindenburg]

What game that features pvp as a central theme doesn't have game-killing hacks? I know AC was rife with them. In pve hacks and spoilts are obnoxious to game-breaking, but for pvp it removes any reason to ever bother playing.

EVE?

No.

[gryeyes]

Ya those sure do kill the game. 

[Tarami]

What game that features pvp as a central theme doesn't have game-killing hacks? I know AC was rife with them. In pve hacks and spoilts are obnoxious to game-breaking, but for pvp it removes any reason to ever bother playing.

WoW? I'm not initiated to the point where I can tell whether this is actually true, but PvP need not be central to motivate cheating. With WoW's subscriber base there are more people enjoying that PvP than any other, despite the PvE focus, so collorary it should be the most motivated game to cheat in at the moment?

[Furiously]

What game that features pvp as a central theme doesn't have game-killing hacks? I know AC was rife with them. In pve hacks and spoilts are obnoxious to game-breaking, but for pvp it removes any reason to ever bother playing.

EVE?

No.

Yes I see that eve wall climbing hack...

[Venkman]

Cheats don't need to be in the code when they're in the staff