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The Daily Grind: Should characters age?

Justin Olivetti — Sun, 07 Jul 2013 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, Game Mechanics, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous

There are a lot of immersion-ruining elements of MMOs (probably too many to count, depending on how cynical you've become), but every once in a while I'm bothered by the fact that characters just don't age. Not only do we play in game worlds that are apparently after the child apocalypse, but everyone you meet is visually between the ages of 17 and 22. Maybe 23, if the player used the "age lines" that developers toss into the character creator on a whim.

It makes me wonder if, to give us a true sense of living in these worlds, our characters should age. It was a big selling point of the first Fable game, although having never played it, I don't know how well it turned out. But I remember reading a preview of the first game and actually digging the idea that my character would mature and grow old, with all of the benefits and drawbacks that entails.

Should characters age in MMOs? If so, how could it best be done so that it wouldn't ruin everyone's day?

Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!

The Daily Grind: Should characters age? originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 07 Jul 2013 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Peter Molyneux speaks on the Fable MMO

Shawn Schuster — Fri, 03 May 2013 11:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Interviews, New Titles

Even though Fable creator Peter Molyneux left Lionhead Studios last March, he still has a lot to say about the gaming industry and genre he helped revolutionize.

In an interview with IGN, Molyneux talks candidly about the upcoming new Xbox and the possibility of a Fable MMO.

"I can see that that would work. The thing about Fable is that it was such a rich world. It was, well, what the name says it is. It's all about Fable and Albion and this idea of legends and humour. RPGs are great for MMO transitions. I can see that that concept works, and works quite well. I think the charm of Fable was in the feeling of the world and definitely the humour. If they keep that in an MMO, then there's no reason why it shouldn't do reasonably well, I don't think."

Of course, Molyneux's successor at Lionhead is an MMO vet himself, so let's all hope that the MMO pieces come together.

Peter Molyneux speaks on the Fable MMO originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 03 May 2013 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fable developer seeking online game designer for 'ambitious new project'

Matt Daniel — Mon, 14 May 2012 23:30:00 EST

Filed under: MMO Industry, News Items, Miscellaneous

Hey guys, since long-standing single-player titles' becoming MMOs is all the rage these days, did you know that the folks at Fable developer Lionhead Studios are looking to hire someone with a deep understanding of online multiplayer games to help them "define the multiplayer levels and experience of [their] ambitious new project"? Because according to the official job listing at Microsoft, they totally are.

Of course, the first thing that came to our minds was could this mean a Fable MMO? Well, it could, but we're not sure yet. All we know right now is that Lionhead is looking for help to design a particularly ambitious (cough) online game, and if you take into consideration that late last year the studio was looking for an MMO-oriented programmer... well, fans of the Fable series or the studio itself should definitely keep their eyes on this one.

Fable developer seeking online game designer for 'ambitious new project' originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 14 May 2012 23:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Creating a new world: 38 Studios discusses the formation of Amalur's IP

Justin Olivetti — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Interviews, MMO Industry

As MMO fans, we're keeping a close eye on 38 Studios for its development of Project Copernicus, the MMO that will serve as the follow-up to next month's Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. The risk factor of not only developing two major intertwined projects in parallel but to have the additional task of creating a brand-new IP in which to put them must be a pressing one, which is why CVG sat down with Reckoning Lead Designer Ian Frazier to talk about challenges the studio has been tackling.

Frazier outlines the balance the studio's struck between its three big-name creators -- Todd McFarlane (art), R.A. Salvatore (story), and Ken Rolston (design) -- not to mention the ideas that pour in from founder Curt Schilling. Fortunately, Frazier says that these larger-than-life personalities mesh well together: "The nice thing that's worked out is, I think if we'd got three famous game designers, it would have been a disaster: big egos, they're all on the same plane, it wouldn't have worked out. What makes this work is they're all different."

Even though Rolston previously worked on The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, Frazier said the designer wanted to try his hand at something fresh with a better combat system. "They're all great games," Frazier said of the Elder Scrolls series, "and I think they're progressively better, but they're all the same game. It's not like they're radically changing with time."

Frazier said Reckoning has been compared to a "single-player WoW" as well as Dragon Age and Fable, but he insists that the world and ideas the team's been creating will take it far past those basic comparisons.

You can take your first peek into the world of Amalur with the Reckoning demo -- and let us know what you think in the comments!

Creating a new world: 38 Studios discusses the formation of Amalur's IP originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 27 Jan 2012 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This Week in MMO: Fable edition

Jef Reahard — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Video, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, News Items, Opinion, Champions Online, Star Wars: The Old Republic, TERA

What new this week in MMOs? You'll have to watch This Week in MMO to find out. Funny how that works, huh? Host Gary Gannon is joined by Mike Schaffnit and Jasmine Hruschak for the traditional news roundtable, and boy is there a lot to talk about.

Topics include Star Wars: The Old Republic's launch and post-launch reactions, Cryptic's SWTOR ~~ripoffs~~ homages, and TERA's endgame political system. The heretofore single-player Fable franchise gets a mention as well, due to Microsoft's curious job posting that seeks an experienced MMO programmer. Join the trio for all this and more at the Gamebreaker website.

This Week in MMO: Fable edition originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 23 Dec 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fable developer Lionhead seeking experienced MMO programmer

Jef Reahard — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 09:45:00 EST

Filed under: MMO Industry, New Titles, News Items, Miscellaneous

Is the world of Albion coming to an MMO near you? That's up for speculation thanks to a job advertisement on Microsoft's career board. The software giant, which owns Fable developer Lionhead Studios, is seeking a programmer "who enjoys playing MMO games and has significant experience with the workings of a massive online multiplayer environment."

Further requirements include "a minimum of one shipped MMO as a network programmer."

Lionhead shipped Fable III in October of 2010, and the company is rumored to be developing a "controller-based" Fable IV in 2013, according to Eurogamer.

When contacted by Eurogamer, Lionhead had this to say in an official statement: "Thanks for checking in with us! We're happy to tell you all about what we're working on. Just apply, get hired, and we promise to spill our guts!"

Fable developer Lionhead seeking experienced MMO programmer originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 14 Dec 2011 09:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Game Archaeologist and the What Ifs: True Fantasy Live Online

Justin Olivetti — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Consoles, The Game Archaeologist

As an extremely amateur historian -- and an extremely attractive archaeologist -- I've always been fascinated with the "what ifs" of gaming's timeline. What if Blizzard had pulled the plug on World of Warcraft during development as it did for Warcraft Adventures? What if Hellgate: London had a lot more time and resources before it launched? What if North America had embraced the free-to-play model much earlier instead of the subscription model? What if Shawn came to his senses before he hired me?

Life would've been a lot better. Or worse. That's the problem with counterfactual history: We can make educated guesses, but we'll never really know. While it's sad to see MMOs shut down due to underperformance, it's especially maddening to contemplate MMOs canceled before they even made it to the starting gate. In a new periodic series here at The Game Archaeologist, I'm going to look at a few of the "what ifs" of prematurely terminated MMORPGs.

And to kick us off, I'm tackling probably one of the most frustrating, painful subjects that still linger amongst potential fans. I'm talking, of course, of True Fantasy Live Online, the game that could've shown the true potential of console MMOs. Or, y'know, not.

Continue reading The Game Archaeologist and the What Ifs: True Fantasy Live Online

The Game Archaeologist and the What Ifs: True Fantasy Live Online originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 14 Jun 2011 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Daily Grind: Should your characters age?

Justin Olivetti — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, Opinion, The Daily Grind

For a genre that prides itself on creating a virtual life for imaginary characters, many elements of real life are conspicuously absent. Like bathrooms. Why don't your characters ever need to go? What would be so wrong about having a third bar under "health" and "mana" titled "bladder?" Okay, bad example, but you get the gist.

Seeing as how MMOs attempt to convey the journey of life and accumulation of knowledge and experience through leveling, it isn't hard to imagine a game in which your characters age as you progress. In strategy games like The Sims and some RPGs like Fable, aging is built in to the system, adding a layer of immersion as you see your characters grow older as time goes by. When you contrast this with the stuck-in-amber preservation of MMO characters, forever beautiful and flawless, a possible missed opportunity beckons.

When developing Warhammer Online, Mythic got players excited about a "character growth system" where your avatar would gain size, facial hair and scars with age. While this got the axe, it also got players thinking and talking about the subject. So should characters age in MMOs? Would the immersion be worth the difficulty and debate over how such a system would function?

The Daily Grind: Should your characters age? originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 17 Jun 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Earth Eternal hits open beta

Seraphina Brennan — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 17:30:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Launches, New Titles, News Items, Free-to-Play, Earth Eternal

You ever want to play an MMO in your browser? Well now you can! Sparkplay Media's Earth Eternal has finally made the leap into open beta, and joining is as easy as a few button clicks.

All you have to do to check out the free-to-play MMO with 22 races is go to their website and sign up for an account. That's it. It's really, really just that easy. After your account is made, you can play Earth Eternal in your browser, or you can grab the actual client and run it separate from your browser.

If you like the game and want to throw some money its way, you might want to consider doing it during the open beta. For the month of October, any game credit purchases will have an extra 20% credits thrown in for your purchase. So if you grab 1,000 credits, you'll get 1,200 instead.

So, what are you waiting for? Jump on over to the EE website and sign up. It's easy!

Earth Eternal hits open beta originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 13 Oct 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Matt Mihaly talks microtransactions and Earth Eternal

Seraphina Brennan — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Business Models, Culture, Interviews, MMO Industry, New Titles, Free-to-Play, Browser, Casual, Earth Eternal

It looks like we're not the only ones on the block to talk to Matt Mihaly, as Gamasutra has recently sat down with the Sparkplay Media CEO. The topic of the conversation: microtransactions.

Matt's no stranger to microtransactions, having utilized them back with Iron Realms Entertainment and their many MUD games. His talk with Gamasutra starts out focusing on how microtransactions can generate a very modest income, but mainly center on a small segment of the game's population paying the most to play the game.

Beyond microtransactions, Matt gives a few very interesting details about the development of Earth Eternal and how it reached the form it's in today. Did you know that originally Earth Eternal was going to be a hyper-violent and hyper-sexualized fantasy MMO before it evolved into the playful multi-race animal/fable theme? No? Then you might want to check out the full article, as there's more where that came from regarding the game's evolution.

Matt Mihaly talks microtransactions and Earth Eternal originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 07 Aug 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Official Champions DevBlog: Randy Mosiondz, lead designer on roleplay and gameplay

Champions Developer — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Super-hero, New Titles, News Items, Champions Online

It's been on a short hiatus, but Massively's official bi-weekly Champions Online DevBlog has returned with a column from lead designer Randy Mosiondz concerning the balance between roleplay and gameplay. If you happened to have missed the previous entries, simply follow our Champions Developer posts and easy access to even more thoughts and commentary from the likes of Randy Mosiondz, Bill Roper and Jack Emmert.

Continue reading Official Champions DevBlog: Randy Mosiondz, lead designer on roleplay and gameplay

Official Champions DevBlog: Randy Mosiondz, lead designer on roleplay and gameplay originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 08 Apr 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Daily Grind: Fallout or Fable?

Michael Zenke — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Opinion, The Daily Grind

Look, gamers. We know you're not just playing MMOs. You've got to get your Bejeweled fix in once in a while. I'm sure at least some of you are happily awaiting the release of today's Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-slick Precipice of Darkness Episode 2. And ... LittleBigPlanet? Hello? Normally we wouldn't talk about games like that because big-sis site Joystiq has all of those covered and more. But when two open-world games are released for the 360 at the same time, it's hard not to sit up and take notice.

Peter Molyeneux's Fable 2 is like an MMO with heart, essentially. Capture the love and adoration of a fantasy world's populace, or grind them unrelentingly beneath your bootheel. Meanwhile Fallout 3 offers up a vision of post-apocalyptic awesome that has nearly everyone this blogger knows head-over-heels for Bethesda's grim vision of war. With two such amazing almost-MMOs on the scene this week, we know a few of you tired of Warhammer and waiting for Wrath have to be giving your consoles some TLC. So ... which is it? Fallout, or Fable? Alternatively, you could kvetch at us for bringing up single-player games, we're okay with that too!

The Daily Grind: Fallout or Fable? originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 29 Oct 2008 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Peter Molyneux considers his MMO options

Michael Zenke — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 11:30:00 EST

Filed under: MMO Industry

It certainly seems like everybody wants to make an MMO these days. Whether it's Halo, Knights of the Old Republic, or (maybe) Grand Theft Auto, the single-player developers are turning online as the genre gains popularity. Peter Molyeneux - well-known developer of games like Fable, Black and White, and Populous - has admitted that he and the folks at Lionhead Studios are considering making a massively multiplayer game as well. The admission came in the middle of an interview with the site Eurogamer. Primarily the discussion there centered around the upcoming Fable 2 for the Xbox 360.

In the midst of talk of dogs, one-button combat, and trying to avoid hype, interviewer Christian Donlan notes that the game has a number of MMO-like mechanics. There's an extensive co-op mode, for example, which allows you to custom-build a companion character for the 'main player'. Molyenux reponds by pointing to the PR person with them and saying "Well, there's someone in this room to make sure that I don't say too much about that question. I have been looking at MMOs. I love the interaction, and I'm fascinated by the idea of really feeling secure and cool enough to actually do it." When asked point blank if he was considering making a massively multiplayer game, the designer simply responded, "Yes". We'll keep you posted if that one word answer ever expands into something more.

Peter Molyneux considers his MMO options originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 21 Jul 2008 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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