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Ultimate Baseball Online - Rise Of The MMOSG?

Posted by simoniker on from the take-me-down-to-acronym-city dept.

Cobol Junky writes "Ultimate Baseball Online, a game claiming to be the first MMOSG (massively multiplayer online sports game) has recently transitioned into free Beta status. Each player's character takes a position on the baseball field, and can improve their skills and stats by gaining experience, just like a regular MMORPG. UBO is being created by NetAmin, the creators of an scrapped MMORPG called Fallen Age." This title has been in development for a while, and a GameSpot preview reveals more, but what other genres will get tarred by the massively multiplayer brush before long?

6 of 41 comments (clear)

  1. Monthly Fees! by Naffer · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Honestly, I hope they start charging monthly fees for this! I don't think enough games charge monthly fees! Maybe we can get people to charge monthly fees for offline games too!

    Seriously, I don't see enough of a market to justify a full scale MMO game. People log on and play everquest like there's nothing better in the world, but I have a hard time beliving that the type of people willing to play sports games would be dedicated enough to play them in an MMO format (which inevitably means monthly fees)

    1. Re:Monthly Fees! by Goldberg's+Pants · · Score: 5, Interesting

      EA are heading toward a fee based system. If what I read is true, their matchmaking service, in NHL 2k4, you only get it for 3 months, then you gotta pay.

      I first read about UBO 2 years ago. It's been in beta for a while, and has been massively delayed, but I think it has great potential. There's a Japanese soccer game called Libero Grande where you can play as just one player on the field. It's a unique experience that is very rare. Being able to be just ONE player on a team... I think the idea has legs. As a baseball fan, I'm interested.

      The article I read years ago said players have virtual DNA, meaning you could be a future hall of famer, or you could be a minor league reject. It's not entirely within your control, just like life. Interesting concept.

  2. Hop off the bandwagon, sheep by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    It's become fashionable to bash MMO's and just declare them the CB Radio of gaming, but this sounds fun and seems like a good idea. Controlling a whole team vs another guy controlling a whole team is an abstraction, this is truly a sports simulator, with team dynamics and personalities playing a huge role. Maybe the fat kids in school will get a little redemption.

  3. It's about time for this genre to branch out... by Decaffeinated+Jedi · · Score: 3, Funny

    Awesome! I can't wait to spend hours on end scouring the stadium, whacking rats with my +2 Baseball Bat of Slugging in order to level up my half-elf Second Baseman. ;)

    --
    DecafJedi
    my weblog: apropos of something
  4. Snore by Reapy · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Wow, this can now simulate how boring it is to play baseball. Maybe I'll get stuck in right field and the ball wont come in my direction the whole game. Sounds like fun, paying monthly fees to sit around like i'm playing baseball. Cmon people, if you love the game that much, go sign up for a league and play it for real? It's not like baseball is an unaccessable sport like football or hockey. Oh well, mmorpg on..

  5. The Problem with MMOSGs... by BTWR · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Here's the problem with MMOSG's...

    For example, take any team game. It's an excellent idea - 20 people each in a specialized position, playing like a real match. The problem is that, unlike when you're standing on the field, people will NOT have the patience to play correctly. You'll have fullbacks (defense guys in soccer) trying to score goals because they're bored, shortstops trying to catch a left-field popup (and messing up the play later), EVERYONE trying to shoot in basketball (no one, i predict, will want to be all-defensive).

    This may work, however, with interesting rules (like, for example, the goalie can't pull himself if he's bored since the puck is always on the other side... unless a majority of the team votes it).

    While on the subject, a manager/coach might be one of the most interesting positions in a MMOSG. They would pick who's on the ice (call line switches), pick the pass that the quarterback has to follow (or at least narrow it down to 2-3 options or quartback sneak), etc.

    So again, this could work work, could be amazing, but it's going to need some intelligent programming/rule-creating to make it fun.