Letalis Posted September 3, 2001 Share Posted September 3, 2001 If you haven't seen, Blizzard announced their new project at ECTS, World of Warcraft. Check it out at: Blizzard It's a MMORPG, and it's a Blizzard first. For those of you who love Blizzard, or any of the Warcraft series, I suggest you check it out, it looks pretty cool, question is will they do a good job? Here's a sneek peek: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GonkH8er Posted September 3, 2001 Share Posted September 3, 2001 mmmmmmmmmmmmm looks good. pretty looking online rpg that it appears you DONT have to pay for...... enticing..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UberChild Posted September 3, 2001 Share Posted September 3, 2001 nah dude it says there will be a fee, just the amunt isnt decided.. but dammm it looks good, hope theres an aussie/kiwi serber or i guess we downunder wont be playin..:-( unlwss cable magically becomes avaliable.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GonkH8er Posted September 3, 2001 Share Posted September 3, 2001 bugger...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Simpson Posted September 3, 2001 Share Posted September 3, 2001 I swear, these MMORPG's are going to kill my bank account... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Krayt Tion Posted September 3, 2001 Share Posted September 3, 2001 I'm not too thrilled. I'm already gearing up to play another mmorpg in october and then I will play Galaxies when that comes out. WarCraft II makes my top 10 list of best games ever and I was even looking foward to playing that RPG/Adventure game set in the WarCraft universe that was eventually canceled. However, at this point I'm wondering what they can actually bring to the table with this in the mmorpg world. I guess I'll have to wait and see but I'm not holding my breath with this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ZeroXcape Posted September 3, 2001 Share Posted September 3, 2001 Heh, I usually never pay-to-play. It just makes no sense to me. (Example: Diablo2 is more stable then certain mmorpg's that I know.) WoW is probably the only other mmorpg besides Galaxies that interests me. Will I play it though? Probably not... I think Galaxies is almost a for sure bet for me though. We'll just have to wait and see Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Kurgan Posted September 3, 2001 Share Posted September 3, 2001 I'll have to agree with you there, it doesn't make sense from my (player/consumer) perspective. If I already paid for a game, I shouldn't have to pay to play... Plus considering the time demands any MMORPG would demand, you could only afford to play one anyway (for a few months, then get another one, etc). I'm not even that big of an RPG fan to begin with, so it just wouldn't be my cup of tea. Kurgan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Letalis Posted September 4, 2001 Author Share Posted September 4, 2001 I think the interesting thing will be to see how Blizzard go about it, and whether it'll be comparable to other MMORPG's. We know that Blizzard can do RPG's, but this is adding another dimension. Also, those of you whinging about paying to play. Think about the time and effort put into putting up servers and maintaining them! It's not a cheap practise, and those that have played any Blizzard games online at Battle.net know that Blizzard provide a good service. We'll wait and see though, but I think we can trust in Blizzard... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt-- Posted September 4, 2001 Share Posted September 4, 2001 The thing with mmorpgs is that a great deal of the game is server-side to reduce cheating. Would you rather pay-to-play, or try to kill everyone, even though they are invincible? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilhuf Posted September 4, 2001 Share Posted September 4, 2001 Nah gamers shouldn't have to pay monthly just to have a relatively hack-free game. However, as long as there is at least an equivalent monthly subscription worth of new content on each month, I dont have a problem with subscription MMORPGs at all. So, one question is, will the game deliver a subscription fee's worth of new content each month? The WarCraft 'universe' doesn't grab me too much. We'll have to see what it actually delivers of course. I wish Blizzard had done something sci-fi instead, say with Starcraft. No matter though, Galaxies will be here next year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Kurgan Posted September 5, 2001 Share Posted September 5, 2001 Yes, yes, yes, I know the marketer's rationale for having a pay per play model for their game. I'm saying that to ME it's just not worth it, and that's my personal decision. If you think it's a great deal, you can go ahead and sign up, obviously some people think so, else they wouldn't do it. But for me as a gamer, I don't see any reason why I should pay just to play a game I already bought and paid for. There are many multiplayer games that have free online play (you can think of zillions of examples I'm sure), and I can play those, rather than go with subscription based ones, and that's what I like. The two factors in my not being into MMORPG's (barring that fact that I'm not that big an RPG player to begin with) are the time constraint and the pay-per-play deal. Kurgan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Letalis Posted September 6, 2001 Author Share Posted September 6, 2001 Kurgan I understand that that is your personal opinion, and by all means stick by it, but, when you say: But for me as a gamer, I don't see any reason why I should pay just to play a game I already bought and paid for. I was just providing that reason... Yes, you've already paid, but that was for the many months of time the producers put into creating the game. The further payment, (this is the reason you asked for) is for the maintenance, ongoing adding of new content to the world, and the technical assistance. I'm not saying you have to read this and go: "Oh, I think I'll decide to play." I'm just simply providing the reason as to why it's fair and just to request a subscription. [Edit] Thanks to Gonk for the heads up on my error! [ September 06, 2001: Message edited by: Letalis ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StormHammer Posted September 6, 2001 Share Posted September 6, 2001 Originally posted by Kurgan: <STRONG>But for me as a gamer, I don't see any reason why I should pay just to play a game I already bought and paid for. There are many multiplayer games that have free online play (you can think of zillions of examples I'm sure), and I can play those, rather than go with subscription based ones, and that's what I like.</STRONG> Of course, you are assuming that all of these currently FREE MP games are going to remain that way. However, as you are aware, it still costs money to keep these MP game services up and running, even by dedicated gamers running their own servers. I think there will come a time when we will have to start paying something for just standard MP gaming, to meet the costs of those providing the servers. I'm not saying that will apply to all servers - there will always be dedicated gamers willing to meet the costs themselves - but I can certainly see more game developers, and game sites, starting to charge a subscription (even if it is a small annual one), for providing game servers. Having said that, I too am not really a fan of MMORPGs, and I am dubious about what return I would see for a subscription fee. The only MMORPG that even remotely interests me is Star Wars: Galaxies - but I am unsure I will subscribe to it (especially considering my extremely laggy 56k net connection). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt-- Posted September 6, 2001 Share Posted September 6, 2001 The galaxies dev's, who are extremely active in the community, stated that they play to have very good netcode. Their goal is to allow 56kers to play normally. It's good for business after all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilhuf Posted September 6, 2001 Share Posted September 6, 2001 Just on a tangent, multiplayer already costs some additional money over the original cost of the software, even under the current client-server model found in Q3, UT, Half-Life, etc. Under this model, the majority of the cost is borne only by a small proportion of the multiplayer gaming community. For instance, folks who host servers have to pony up $ for hardware and bandwidth. Or, often times a university or college foots the bill by providing hardware and bandwidth. It's a great arrangement for the developers as they don't have to worry about providing infrastructure to host the hundreds or thousands of multiplayer gamers. If this model somehow changes into a situation where we have to both buy the software, provide hardware and bandwidth for a server, and pay a monthly fee, I don't think a lot of server ops will be too thrilled. I doubt this model will really catch on. At least I hope not. [ September 06, 2001: Message edited by: Wilhuf ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Kurgan Posted September 6, 2001 Share Posted September 6, 2001 True and true.. I AM assuming that there will in the future remain free online alternatives to the pay-service games. I grant that playing a game like EverQuest in a persistent online world will be a different experience than playing Diablo2 on Battle.net, but the point is that if I don't want to spend additional money on something like EQ, I can look for a free alternative. If none exists, obviously, I'll either have to give up multiplayer gaming, or consider spending my money on the one(s) I like best and worth the most for the lowest price. And yes, I do understand how the developers justify having their game be on a subscription model, and how the money is used to make the game better. But on the other hand, they release patches and support for games that have free online MP as well. I would just point out that if they're getting paid, they have more incentive to fix bugs faster. Another thing, and this is probably not a problem for people who only play a game for a short time and then essentially just toss it away... but let's say after a time, a game company decides that they are not getting enough money from subscriptions (like a MMORPG for example), so they cut their servers (eventually entirely) and so nobody who owns a copy of the game can play. The same could be a problem with games that have server side serial keys for protection. If the company quits or goes under.. what happens to those users? Are they cut off from multiplayer? But interestingly, what we've started to see are some ways around that. For example with Quake3 and the latest patch, you can play internet games without entering your cd key. So if ID ever needed to stop supporting the key server database or went under, you could still in theory play Q3 games online. And with Ultima Online, somebody figured a way to host their own server, appart from the development company, so if UO's server base ever died, you could in theory, get some friends together and setup a community "world" (though it would undoubtably be much smaller than an officially supported one). There are definately benefits to the pay model, I agree. I was just saying that to me, it's not a very attractive proposition (considering the limits on my time and money to spend on gaming). Kurgan [ September 06, 2001: Message edited by: Kurgan ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt-- Posted September 7, 2001 Share Posted September 7, 2001 You do know that EverQuest and the up-coming Star Wars Galaxies are both backed by Sony? They've got deep pockets. None the less, if these mmorpgs ever become unprofitable, there will be many unhappy people. I'm willing to say though that mmorpgs are highly addictive(from what I hear), and I doubt that a great many people will quit simultaneously. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnlyOneCanoli Posted September 7, 2001 Share Posted September 7, 2001 Fees for MMORPGs are a necessary evil. There is no way around them. Maintaining the servers, tech support, adding new content, fixing bugs, stopping cheaters, etc. costs money. Here is a good article on the subject. [ September 06, 2001: Message edited by: OnlyOneCanoli ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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