69 replies to this topic

[Erkki]

Somebody set up us the dark days.

Interview and cinematic

Wot you think? Sounds interesting to me, but as I've said before I'm not really much of an MMO player.

[edit] oh, and there's a preview at Eurogamer

[elmuerte]

that's no eight bit alarm clock on that site, I wonder if it counts down to 2015

[Marek]

I'm highly skeptical but also intrigued. A few things I've heard make me think that perhaps these guys might know what they're doing. Maybe.

“This is an MMORPG without classes, without levels, this is completely skill-based” <-- pay attention to this.

[DanJW]

We don't have much info, but I'm pretty interested in this. I expected to get more interested soon to the point where it becomes my most anticipated MMO. Having got a bit tired of high fantasy and sci-fi, I'm really into urban fantasy horror at the moment (been reading lots of Neil Gaiman).

Yes, I'm well up for a world based on (but not restricted to): Lovecraftian horror/Steven King/magical realism/world of darkness/shadowrun/X-files/urban legends/secret histories.

And having fresh MMO mechanics would be the icing on the cake.

I wonder what character trend comes after hot Asian chick.

[DanJW]

Hot Arabic chick

[Nick]

Cool, although I'm pessimistic about all MMOs lately. Unless something truly awesome comes along, that can hold interest for a long time, provides really solid quality, and has a decent numbers of my friends wanting to play, I think MMOs will continue to disappoint.

I would have hope if there was ever a Planetside 2. But even that would have a high chance of failing, having to live up to how outstanding Planetside once was.

I do agree with Dan about high fantasy and sci-fi though.

[brkl]

I'm highly skeptical but also intrigued. A few things I've heard make me think that perhaps these guys might know what they're doing. Maybe.

“This is an MMORPG without classes, without levels, this is completely skill-based” <-- pay attention to this.

It's Ultima Online?

[Scratch]

Wait, it's a MMO? Bummer...I watched the trailer last night, never realized it was a MMO.

[Marek]

It's Ultima Online?

Yes they specifically mention that game as an influence, which I think is exciting.

Not enough MMO developers are looking at Ultima Online.

[Six]

Problem is it's made by Funcom. Age of Conan was a complete piece of trash (a gorgeous piece of trash, granted).

My collector's edition AoC box does make a nice booster chair though.

I will do my best to wait until after the game comes out before jumping in.

Also, I forgot to say that I thought the monster design was awesome.

[DanJW]

Problem is it's made by Funcom. Age of Conan was a complete piece of trash (a gorgeous piece of trash, granted).

My collector's edition AoC box does make a nice booster chair though.

I will do my best to wait until after the game comes out before jumping in.

Hey, AoC was good. For the first 20 levels.

Anyway Funcom are essentially just the publisher, and although they have poached some of the ex-conan team (apparently so as to avoid its mistakes) it is a different developer, and Rangar Tornquist is a very different lead.

[brkl]

Oh, it's written by the guy who specializes in bad adventure game writing that never ends?


ack, I'm a bastard these days. I stopped playing The Longest Journey when one character wouldn't stop swearing unconvincingly and kept jabbering on. But I guess a lot of people like it. I haven't heard many good things about the sequel.

[DanJW]

Oh, it's written by the guy who specializes in bad adventure game writing that never ends?

Ideal for an MMO then?

[Ben X]

Ooh, London setting!

[bistromathics]

Ooh, London setting!

Spiritual successor to Hellgate.

[DanJW]

Spiritual successor to Hellgate.

Heh crossed my mind too, but I think not.


In this interview Tornquist mentions the game having puzzles of some kind, enough so that you can focus on those instead of the combat.

Having a wild guess here, but what with the mystical alphabet motif and the constraints of having puzzles in an MMO (where the answers are quickly passed around), I'm betting on some kind of randomly generated decryption game. Still, interesting.

[syntheticgerbil]

I liked the atmosphere of the trailer and the woman moved nicely, although I hated her stupid THIS GIRL IS TRENDY! type design that Tornquist seems prone to.

The monster appearing was pretty neat, and his design was great, but it was ruined with that underwhelming fireball crap and the fake shaky cam.

I'm intrigued as well, but I would be moreso intrigued if it weren't being made by Funcom and Tornquist. Maybe the guy's writing and designing ability has drastically improved since The Longest Journey series? (Doubt it though.)

[DanJW]

I'd be impressed if he manages to write copy for an entire MMO by himself...