Scanning the horizon for new MMO's

[Elly]

I'm curious if the Great Game Drought hasn't made us all gaming nomads.

I used to joke with Ethawn about all the "Game Locusts". Those people that would flood into a new game at launch, race to level cap then declare themselves bored and quit. But then I look at my own behavior with recent previous releases and realize I have become somewhat of a locust as well. It's like I try them out, realize it's not like my great game loves (for me, WoW and CoH) and then drift away.

Recent examples: Wildstar: never got to play it properly, real life intruded heavily. ArcheAge: was promising, but the hacking, cheating and jerky players soured the experience for us.

Guild Wars 2 and SWTOR seem to have some replayabilty, and we'll be checking those out. But neither seem to be what Ethawn and I want: a game to put down roots in and stay for a good multiyear run. Was hopeful EQN was that game, and it may still be, but I'd be surpised to see it happen in 2015.

For us, we keep going back to Minecraft right now- adding in mods to create our own MMO to an extent. Archimedes Ships was one of the mods that really added a new dimension- being able to build workable ships (and airships!) was pretty delightful. In our last build we converted a stolen pirate ship (from a pirates mod) into a 'flying' pirate ship. Pretty awesome.

But back to new games, this is all we really have our eye on at the moment.





Star Citizen- Pure Sci-Fi, 2016 release. Ethawn is hyped for this, not sure how I feel with no fantasy element whatsoever.





T.U.G. (The Un-named Game)- 2015 release (I think). Think Landmark but with a very strong storyline. You wake up on a alien planet as a child (who grows as you level up) and have to keep yourself alive as you unravel the planet's mysteries. http://www.nerdkingdom.com/game/





Black Desert- possible 2015 American release.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EljAdiTXpk Look how beautiful it is

Sandbox/MMO hybrid. Like GW2 and ArcheAge had a baby. I may have to try this one just to see the systems in place- true nighttime darkness which affects gameplay, weather systems, etc. Possible drawbacks- Could be a repeat of ArcheAge. Korean game developers do not account for cheating hackers, because cheating in Korea does not happen much. You game with your social security number there, so people really avoid being banned. Also, with a cash shop there's always iffyness that can come into play. Watching closely though.

[Rumze]

I like tug - especially the part you can have your own servers

I'm playing wow and gw2 on and off . Eqn was range big game on my horizon but that seems to be unclear for now .

Shards online looks interesting . I want to play ff 14 but I keepnputting it off . I may play ESO later this year.
Star citizen looks great as well.

[Elly]

Shards online looks interesting . I want to play ff 14 but I keepnputting it off . I may play ESO later this year.
Star citizen looks great as well.

We own FF14. A bit grindy but it has a lot to recommend it. We stopped around level 20 because you can't progress past that without dungeoning, and we hate PUGs. Give us a shout if you end up trying it.

I wanted to like ESO but just couldn't get into it, also heard it was a bit of a money sink. We're trying to reign in our gaming budget a bit.

[Mixxi]

I know some people who are going to give Skyforge a try. I'm thinking about it, too. I liked Allods.

[Rumze]

Ooo yes skyforge is the other one - I like the idea of being able to switch classes and the action combat.

[Ethawn]

For the style that it was going for, I still consider Allods to be at the top of the heap in regards to looks. Their textures were absolutely fantastic.

What Elly ISN'T saying is that between the two of us, I am actually the one that ends up dragging us away from games. If I emotionally disconnect from a game (or the community) it is absolutely over, even if I don't (intellectually) want it to be.

Right now the game that is on my radar the most is TUG due in no small part to the fact that I see it as taking the best aspects of Minecraft and moving them forward. If they stay true to their original vision, the un-modded game should provide real actual difficulty and decision making. Situational and environmentally appropriate inconveniences that deepen the overall game experience. This is a topic I could spend days and days discussing. Inventory management, weight limit considerations, environmental (i.e. weather) obstacles informing my decision making and gearing choices... Hunger and fatigue, darkness and vastness to get lost in. This is the core of what I want out of a game. I want the world to be both my enemy and my savior. I want the environments to be my core gameplay. I want simple choices to have meaningful and reaching impacts on my game experience. I want to plan, and consider, and adapt, and persevere. That, to me, is adventure.

This is the big reason that Minecraft continues to be my fallback game. With the right mods, I can give myself all of this.

Themepark games, increasingly, just don't do it for me. They eliminate too much of the thinking I want to do. They eliminate too much of the chance and luck and unpredictability that keeps things interesting.

Star Citizen is on my radar mostly because of the connection to the Oculus Rift. I think that paring those two together could provide one hell of a ride. I've enjoyed all of the space shooter games I've played, and I would love to take it to the next level like that.

[Talon]

FF14 was far too grindy for me. And the map made me want to scream. As someone perpetually lost, a good, friendly map is essential.

ESO has a pretty rich world. Overall it's nothing ground-breaking but it is enjoyable. I highly recommend the Dominion races for their story over the other factions.

It is going free to play next month so that may help. I believe you still need to purchase the game client to start, though.

GW2 has really lifted its game and with the expansion coming it will hopefully infuse stuff to do and experiment with (what with specialisations for existing classes and a new class all of its own as well) along with other stuff I won't go into here.

The story is great for RP. And interesting.

TOR's expansion didn't grip me. I would like to return one day but it's not at the top of my list right now.

Star Citizen was interesting, a while ago, but it's a long development cycle and I never got around to founding it. I may revisit it when it actually launches and is playable.

EQN will probably still happen, though none of us is able to imagine the end result right now. For now, I'm not making it my future of gaming.

Black Desert sounds interesting, I will look at the video when I get another break.

[Jhared]

Black Desert looks great although I think it might put my computer out of its misery with those visuals. Gotta say though if it can live up to just 25% of those promises then it'd be worth taking a swing at. Gotta love Gandalf just hanging out in random worlds as well.

TUG doesn't look like my cup of tea, but I have got to say it looks so much more inviting than Minecraft. I might try it for just that reason if Saga gets into it. Also appreciate the honesty of the devs, great to see.

[Askari]

A year ago, life got busy (new job, fixing up/selling old house, buying new house, getting settled). However, life is now back to the boring way I like it and it's time for some hardcore gaming. I'm assembling a new state-of-the-art gaming computer this weekend and will be spending a lot of time online for the foreseeable future.

Unfortunately, between the SOE news and a quick perusal of MMORPG.com's game list of "beta" and "in-development" games... things look a little bleak.

I'll likely start a tour of already-released games next week. SWTOR Empire-side hasn't been catching my attention, and I already played Rebel-side to death.

However, I have a lot more to see and do in WildStar and ArcheAge. I still love GW2, so I may stop in for awhile even though I have a bunch of level 80's already. I may play ESO, because I haven't played it since its beta.

Hopefully one of those will draw me in for a few months! If not, I may play some single-player games like Dragon Age Inquisition and Shadow of Mordor.

[Korg Ironhand]

Interesting topic. It's actually hitting on something that's been in the back of my mind for some time. I usually play FPSs and the like with a circle of RL friends, but when it comes to my personal gaming time, I tend to still prefer MMOs if they're good. I've slowly pulled away from actual MMOs because I've found myself unable to find groups to run around with (well, groups I liked). Personally, I've never found a guild like Saga in any of the games I've tried. I mean, come on. We're Saga.

Understandably, life has happened over the years and we've all found ourselves unable to devote the same amount of hours we originally could back in the EQ days. Compound that with the schism of the myriad of games that have drawn us this way and that, and it's seemed like the days of everyone playing the same game have been gone for some time. Maybe it's just me, but that just seems to be how things have gone. And this is absolutely nobody's fault, it's just the way things have shaped over the years. Tons of great games have come (and gone), and the days of EQ1, where there was really only ONE game on that level, are long gone.

That said, all the times I've attempted to find a game to follow with Saga has had me logging in at times that just missed the main group, or I've been the Johnny come lately to the game and most people have moved on to something else. Or the game ended up being something that didn't warrant our time (Archeage was such a game, unfortunately).

I've been in the background for some time, waiting to see if something will come along to sort of unify us again, and it was looking like EQN was going to be that game (it still might). But, one way or another, that's still some time off. Right now, it seems there are a few us that are stuck in a holding pattern regarding a game to commit to, where the "majority" of us can congregate, and we'd be able to log in and see that, hey there are other names online in the guild tab! 

The last time I experienced that sort of thing was honestly way back in Horizon. I remember logging in, seeing a good 10 to 15 names in the guild tab, and that number stayed consistent as the "revolving door" kept spinning; when someone left, someone else would show up. I remember a mass of us standing on a hill while two of us (one of the rare and last times I got to be a ranger/puller for the group) would go out and bring back monsters for us to brutally slaughter, then log in as my fiend mage and roleplay being a devious arse. Actually roleplay in the guild channel. (Man, that actually brings to mind the days of EQ when, on a nightly basis, characters were getting into actual debates based on their character's point of view or "storyline". Good times.) Sure, there was EQ2, but that's exactly the time the schism started. EQ2 and WoW came out about the same time, and so the division began.

All that said, I'm sure those good communal, rp things have been continuing on more or less, and I've just been absent for it, but it seems like the numbers just aren't there like they used to be because of the above mentioned schism of "so many games to choose from". So I guess my point is, is there is something out right now that the majority of us could/would be interested in getting behind. As Elly started off saying, it seems like it really is a great game drought we're seeing, without a unifying game coming in the near future.

[Mixxi]

I've been kind of in the mode where not enough Saga people play the games I play, so I have to find an active guild (or hope a friend does), share that discovery with the people who do still play, and hope they find a home with that guild, too.

That's what happened with the Hammers in GW2. It turned out that it was an even better match than I thought, since Ethawn and Elly (who had been in SWTOR with Saga) were the guild leaders. I loved my time with the Hammers, and although things kind of imploded over there, I've never regretted a moment of the wonderful time with the Hammers.

I'm kind of in that mode again with GW2 and, I confess, looking for some guild with critical mass for the guildhall/raid-level content that has been hinted at in the expansion.

Saga is great when it has critical mass. But I think we also stay in touch enough to join friends under other flags in games without critical mass.

[ElektroViking]

Lord British is back
Richard Garriott, a.k.a. Lord British, is the creator of the Ultima series of role playing games. After a brief hiatus following the release of Tabula Rasa, the legendary  developer is returning with a new studio and a new game touted as the spiritual successor to Ultima Online. Failing to secure the Ultima property from EA, Garriott settled on a new name, Shroud of the Avatar.
With a focus on player housing, crafting, exploring the sandbox world, NPC interactions and combat, Shroud of the Avatar takes a different approach to the now-standard theme park MMORPG model. In addition, players can choose to experience much of the content in a single-player package, or embrace traditional multiplayer role-playing alongside a "pay once to play" model that balances future content launches against in-game currency.
One major difference in Shroud of the Avatar is that the housing system is not instanced and is part of the world itself.  While many MMORPGs place housing options in their own space far away from civilization, landowners in SotA have their buildings front and center in player-occupied space.  Customization options are impressive, with the ability to select paintings on walls to choosing tables, chairs, and other decorations.  From cabins to castles, the housing system lets players become a living part of the ongoing world.  The housing system goes even further, allowing guilds and players to become owners of entire towns.
SotA features 20 different skill trees so that players can mix and match to create a distinct play style.  Instead of pigeonholing players into archetypal classes, you're free to dive into combat and magic schools, combining Chaos magic with ranged combat or Moon magic with heavy armor.  Players can also specialize in crafting - a complex web of gathering, refining and production that should keep even the most enthusiastic crafter bustling and busy.
In stark contrast to many other MMORPGs today, SotA features a fully offline single-player mode that's expected to have over 40 hours of content, including ethical dilemmas and player choices that have meaningful impact on the Story.  Multiplayer is also different then the norm, where players can opt to play solo, with friends, or with the greater community.
The project is still in Early Access alpha mode, but already we're seeing a solid core gameplay loop become established, featuring freeform exploration and combat.   For players who enjoy wandering in the woods searching for resources to craft new goodies at your base of operations, that's an options.  Don't want to mess around with that? find a local barkeep and ask around - rumors may lead you deep into the sewers or dungeons where your combat mettle is constantly tested.   Since the experience is largely freefrom in the open world, if you're prone to exploration you may end up delving into extremely dangerous - but rewarding - locations.
If you're looking for a fresh MMO experience with an open-ended sandbox core, keep an eye on Shroud of the Avatar as it marches toward release this year.

Sounds promising...and coming this year.

[ElektroViking]

From the website:

Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues is a fantasy RPG that combines a single player narrative with a sandbox MMO created by a team that includes: Richard "Lord British" Garriott the creator of the Ultima series, Starr Long the Director of Ultima Online, and Tracy Hickman the author of Dragonlance

    Episodic Content: Five episodes of virtue based stories created by Richard Garriott and Tracy Hickman; supported by prequel novels starting with Blade of the Avatar.
    Single Player Offline Mode: Players will adventure through over 40 hours of story in an interactive world where their choices during ethical paradoxes have consequences.
    Selective Multiplayer Modes: You can also play with everyone in a single world with three different online modes (Single Player, Friends Only, and Open).
    Classless Character System: Vast customization options with hundreds of skills and spells in over 20 different skill trees.
    Player Driven Economy: Deep crafting system where the best items are made by players and player items are the main source of loot found in the game.
    Skillful Combat: A new way to prepare and fight in an RPG by building custom decks of skills and dynamically activating them in combat.
    PVP: Consensual with Open PVP flags, zones, and Guild Warfare.
    Pay Once to Play: No subscription fees. Each episode (released approximately annually) is a one time fee and everything in the game can be purchased with in game gold that can be earned (except for some exclusive backer rewards).
    Player Housing: Non instanced, finite, and embedded in the world with multiple group living options.
    Social: Full Guild System, Highly Active Community and Player Owned Towns.
    Crowd Sourced & Funded: Support the project by contributing content (and receive compensation) or by pledging (and receive exclusive rewards).
    Open Development: Players help shape the game by giving feedback on monthly early access releases, videos, weekly updates, blog postings, forums, chat, etc.

[Ethawn]

As anyone and everyone that has gamed with me should know, I was born into the MMO experience though UO. I still consider my first exposure to UO to be one of the most profound moments in my gaming life, and one that I will hold onto for the rest of my life.

When I first heard about Shroud of the Avatar I was over the moon excited. Unfortunately as I have watched the development of the game proceed I have become increasingly turned off by my perception of the predatory nature of how they are handling their crowd funding. Honestly, there is more than a little measure of ignorance on my part about the precise ins and outs of what they are doing and why because when I started seeing the price tags tied to what they were producing I just tuned the whole thing out completely.

You take a game like TUG that isn't spending tons of time producing digital items to sell for tens (or hundreds) of dollars while they are still in alpha / pre-alpha, SotA seems to just be nothing BUT a digital cash shop that might also have a game buried in there somewhere.

But again, I could be really off base here in my perception of what they are up to. Of course, that in and of itself is a problem as I imagine there are a lot of people like me that get a creepy "cash grab" vibe off of the game and just walk away.

[Korg Ironhand]

I suppose I'm bemoaning the absence of critical mass.

And that's not a euphemism.

[Mixxi]

I'm with you, Korg. I think we had a chance with EQN. Lots of old faces would be coming back, and I think Saga could definitely support a guild with healthy numbers between that and new recruits. Plus, I know for sure that other FV guilds would have a presence there, and that would mean alliances a la The Fellowship. I was as excited for the healthy guild environment as I was for the game. I hope it still happens.

[Jhared]

I was as excited for the healthy guild environment as I was for the game. I hope it still happens.

I think I was looking forward to this more than the actual game to be honest. I haven't been in Saga that long, but I remember the early days of SWTOR where we did have critical mass fondly. The game doesn't really matter as much to me as long it is fun, but I can see why EQN in particular would bring out the old timey veterans from their hiding places.

[PinkRose]

Ethawn, Agree with all you said. I followed a bit, but got disenchanted.
They have since pulled their digital store because of growing concern from the fans, so there is still hope.

As for critical mass, it's definitely something I've been hoping, waiting and working for.
Here's to EQN actually coming through.

[Lyrima]

ASKARI - YES!! 

I'm still gaming, regularly, in TESO.  Please come join us!

It's awesome. SO much fun.  Blaek and I could sure use some friends to join us.  There are dungeons we've passed by because, no matter how in sync we are, it's just too difficult.  I did finally join another guild (in TESO you can join up to five I think) but they use TeamSpeak and I still don't.  Might be a thriving guild, but I'll never know.

ESO ESO ESO.  It's still fresh, fun solo, fun in a group, fun exploring -- Rich in lore... what is not to LOVE?

In March Elder Scrolls Online will be Free to Play ! 
Just needs more Saga.  Let's make it more SAGA!

[Lyrima]

Zieg Farstrider, you well know the deep, abiding happiness memories of that game bring to me...and I have living, breathing proof of the magic of Horizons next to me every. single. day.

"The last time I experienced that sort of thing was honestly way back in Horizon. I remember logging in, seeing a good 10 to 15 names in the guild tab, and that number stayed consistent as the "revolving door" kept spinning; when someone left, someone else would show up. I remember a mass of us standing on a hill while two of us (one of the rare and last times I got to be a ranger/puller for the group) would go out and bring back monsters for us to brutally slaughter, then log in as my fiend mage and roleplay being a devious arse. Actually roleplay in the guild channel. "

There are so many folks from that game who haunt me still and I wonder..worry.. what happened to them? Where are they now?  That guild held some of the most generous, talented role players with whom I've ever had the honor to spend my time.  It should come as no surprise that most of those folks migrated from Saga and brought Halagren and I home to Saga.  But there are a very few who didn't come with us and it is for those that I pine the most.