It's funny how these things happen. I was just pondering this morning, as I left for work and locked my front door, what Blizzard's next MMO is likely to be. And then, I read this article later in the day and I found it interesting that others might have the same ideas.
You see, my gut feeling says that Blizzard's next MMO, the one they are working in secret on, the one code-named "Titan", will be in the world of Starcraft. The article specifically mentions that the SC MMO won't be Titan but with Blizzard you never know.
If I were a gambling man I would place all my bets on Starcraft as their next MMO. Of course, there is a high possibility that I am wrong but that's exactly why I don't gamble in real life :)
Blizzard stated that their next MMO will be a new IP (Intellectual Property). Everyone has taken that to mean that it won't take place in the Warcraft, Starcraft or Diablo universes. But this may be sly-speak for "Titan will be a new genre in an existing universe". This would fit perfectly with a Starcraft MMO. An MMO would be a new genre in the Starcraft universe. Who knows, maybe Titan is actually the scrapped Starcraft Ghost.
Meh, too much speculation. As I said before, I would really like to see a kick-ass MMO in a technologically advanced universe such as Starcraft. Either way, I'm 99% certain that this next MMO will not take place in another fantasy setting. Amirite or amirite?
Patch 1.0.5 commentary
12 years ago
16 comments:
New IP (Intellectual Property) actually means something totally new. A SC-related mmo would be nothing like that, in my opinion: it would be a recycled world under a MMO cloak :-)
I don't think thy will grab the SC world for a mmo. SC players are harcore RTS people, they hardly match a MMO style. Yes, a sci-fi world would be interesting but I really hope for something BLASTING new.
I could be totally wrong (and chances are high that I am) but Blizzard have been known to say something and then reverse that later by claiming that they didn't mean it that way.
They wouldn't need to grab all the SC players. They would certainly grab 99% of WoW players plus others, but if they grab only a small percentage of SC players (who are also interested in MMOs) then they would still have a huge player base.
But we'll see.
I get the feeling Blizzard are losing interest in WoW, with the best talent switching to newer projects. It might explain why they seem to have so much trouble in balancing classes and making the game interesting generally.
Maybe Titan (their 'next' MMO)is just a cover and the real MMO they're working on is based on Starcraft. They drop Titan after a few years having given their real Starcraft MMO a chance to develop in relative secrecy. Secrets seem hard to keep nowadays though.
The 'evidence' is that a Starcraft MMO would make a bunch of money, and a company wants a recurring revenue stream. Wow. That's some hard evidence that no one could have put together before. This inside source must be deep.
I highly doubt Titan will take place in the starcraft universe. Will it be a fantasy setting? I'm not entirely sure that it won't. You've got two choices in my opinion if you want to be able to have diverse classes and races, Fantasy and Sci-fi. WOW is truthfully a mashup of both. I would not put it past them to put out a game that is strictly high fantasy. I would be more surprised to see an MMO that is strictly technology based. Unless it's a significant diversion from the model WOW uses and you control something other than a single player character, I just don't see the diversity that we've come accustomed to being easily offered.
As for having 3 MMOs out, I simply don't see that. Blizzard are very familiar with diminishing returns. So far Activision have not forced Blizzard into anything ridiculous yet, and I don't see them forcing them into this.
I don't see a Starcraft MMO on the horizon. Sci-fi games just aren't that popular. We want our fantasy worlds, and I doubt that's going to change anytime soon.
I like to think of Titan in the literal sense.. What if they've developed a new story line based on the concept of titans in the Warcraft lore? E.g. not based on Warcraft but an alternate universe built on that concept? I'd be intrigued. As long as it's not an FPS anyway, I would hate that.
Game of Thrones MMO?
"I don't think thy will grab the SC world for a mmo. SC players are harcore RTS people, they hardly match a MMO style. "
one million simoleons to the first person who can tell mr.echo what genre of game WoW is based on...
@Gyldenfeax interesting speculation. Haven't thought of that. But it's hard to imagine Blizzard working on a throwaway game. Although... there was Ghost...
@Anonymous#1 3 MMOs out at the same time, nah, I don't think so either. But I'd be disappointed if the game were high fantasy. Yes, WoW does include SF elements but it's mostly fantasy.
@Ceri well that certainly is a possibility. Something else that I hadn't thought about. Titans... the beginnings of the world and all that. A lot of untapped potential.
@Anonymous#2 LOLOLOL!!! There is actually a Game of Thrones... game (duh how redundant) coming out but I don't think it's an MMO.
@Anonymous#3 heh heh, many have forgotten.
It's true that WoW is based on WC3 world (and that's a RTS game). But in the cvase of StarCraft I feel that players base is very different and much more RTS-oriented to be actually interested in switching to a MMO game.
Well maybe not, of course. Maybe it's just me hoping for a REAL next-gen-innovative mmo.
I'm sure that a greater percentage of WC players are into MMOs than SC players but at least some of those players are into MMOs as well.
You want to hear about an innovative MMO? Wait till you read my next post.
This is how I would consider a MMO "innovative":
1) housing (see Ultima Online, sniffff!)
2) interactive world
3) destructible/editable world/terrain
4) physics
Throw in some lore/quests and I am happy!
Methinks the interactive/destructible world would be very hard to achieve, especially in a large world like WoW's. But it would be sweet, I agree.
I would like housing to be done in a manner where it would alter the world, just like in real life. Buy land, build a house/castle/whatever. As opposed to instanced housing which, to me, is useless.
Instanced housing would be just annoying... but given the size of WoW I guess it's just impossible leaving players free to build on normal land. Too many people and not enough land anyway. If ever... I guess WoW will add instanced houses visible for 2-40 players at maximum (raid size).
That's why I said "innovative". We've already seen everything, I guess... and that's why games like Minecraft or Terraria became so much popular: they bring us back to the basics of videogaming. Simple rules, simple gameplay, fast download, fast action. AND stuff that you wont see in other titles (interactive world, for example).
I was amazed at how I could spend 50+ hours on Terraria (a 20 megabytes download) when I spent like 10 or less in Crysis 2 (how to trash money).
We really don't need fancy graphics or strange stuff: we need new ideas, new THINGS to do.
Divide the land into small squares, make each square 100K gold... let's see how many will afford it :) Large guilds, sure. Wealthy players, sure. Everyone else, not so much :)
> make each square 100K gold
In my opinion money will never be a problem.
Yes, housing would not be for *everyone*... but that would heavily encourage gold buying, I guess.
Do I spend 100 real dollars for a shiny weapon? Naaah. Waht about a piece of Azeroth land to build a personal house? YEAH GIMME THE MASTERCARD NOW.
I can see that coming... :)
Well, I would hazard to say that those who buy gold will continue to do so, while those who don't will work towards buying that land with the gold they worked hard for.
But then, what other good way is there to implement housing?
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