Interplay Pitches Fallout MMO, Despite Dearth Of Cash

Thanks to Yahoo! for reprinting an Interplay press release discussing Interplay's latest financial results, ruminating on possibilities for the embattled publisher. Although "the Company reported a net loss of $.9 million" for the quarter, a relatively small amount, Interplay's detailed financial statement reveals: "We currently have no cash reserves and are unable to pay current liabilities. The Company cannot continue in its current form without at this time obtaining additional financing." However, CEO Herve Caen is bullish about prospects, explaining: "We are now pursuing several options to fund our entry into Massively Multiplayer Online Gaming with titles including Fallout", a positive step, according to "...initial feedback from our investment bank and ongoing dialogue with others in the gaming sector." We've previously covered Interplay's recent financial woes.

Comments

So your idea is...

[Anonymous Coward]

...another MMOG in an already massively saturated market. Thanks Herve, keep on nailing that coffin shut.

Re:So your idea is...

[Drawkcab]

And not only is the MMOG market so saturated that MMORPGs have been getting cancelled left and right, but its one of the most expensive and time consuming genre to develop for. Not an ideal undertaking for a company that is narrowly avoiding bankruptcy. The Fallout games were great and I'd love to see more of them, but I don't think they'd be able to pull off an MMORPG right now.

A console RPG might work out well for them. Fallout seems like it could work really well for XBox or XBox 2, and the XBox could really use some more good RPGs in its lineup. A well done console Fallout title could be very successful, and it wouldn't take nearly as much time and money as an MMORPG, or face such stiff competition.

FOOL

[UnknownSoldier]

Oh brother...not THAT old topic again..

"FallOut On-Line" aka FOOL

Part of what makes Fallout, Fallout, is its turn-based strategy. That goes away in a MMORPG.

--
The fallacy of government is that it assumes everyone needs to be told how to live.
When it passes more laws until it makes everyone a criminal it has made the mistake of placing the intent on the "Letter of the Law" over the "Spirit of the Law."
"The more corrupt the republic, the more numerous the laws" -- Tacitus, A.D. 55
ALL civilizations eventually collapse. Are you that ignorant and arrogant to assume that yours won't?

Re:FOOL

[prockcore]

Part of what makes Fallout, Fallout, is its turn-based strategy. That goes away in a MMORPG.

It does? How so? Fallout was only turn based during combat. I don't see why it wouldn't work in a MMORPG environment.

Besides, what made Fallout was the environment and the no-rules feel of the game.

Re:FOOL

[ultranova]

Never having played a MMORPG in my life, I just have to offer my expert opinion:

MMORPGs cannot have a plot. A plot implies a clear beginning and end. MMORPGs, on the other hand, are built to go on indefinitely (or untill the cash flow dries).

Furthermore, a plot implies a dynamic world, which changes as a result of events. That, in turn, means that once a quest has been completed, it stays completed, instead of someone else starting it... This is unfeasible, since someone would constantly have to make new quests, and that would mean hiring a tremendous amount of staff.

Hmm. On the other hand, if you had a "world engine" working in the background, and the actual world would reflect that... That world engine would be like a strategy game, with AI manning all the seats. The gameworld would reflect that strategy game, and things happening would generate missions for players (for example, two armies preparing to fight would generate spy missions, a city under siege by enemies would generate sabotage/smuggling missions, and so on). The success or failure of these missions would then affect the outcome of the event, leading to a completely dynamic world where even the weakest of players could influence (very weakly, of course) the course of events... And, of course, there would be room for advancement, all the way up to leading a nation of your own, and moving those armies yourself.

Has this been done in any MMORPG ? Or did I actually come upon a novel idea ?

Amazing idea

[FloodSpectre]

I have an amazing idea. Why not make the fucking game people actually want instead of making all these spinoffs that on one's going to like ? I love the Fallout series, and even enjoyed Tactics, but I'd never buy or sign up for a Fallout Online. If they do it, it'll probably be an even bigger flop than Fallout: BOS, mainly because it would cost them so much more to make...

No, this could actually be good.

[TellarHK]

Look, folks. The real success behind Fallout was the story, the aesthetic, the locations, and the fact they put it together with some pretty good attention to the important things like gameplay. Remember that the original plan for Fallout was simply as a GURPS-based game that got re-worked near the end of development into the SPECIAL system that -did- work very well.

The real problem with this kind of development would be if they went and tried to make it turn-based-MMORPG. Then we'd just have to kill them all.

If they do something similar to a City of Heroes environment, without the mind-numbing quest for items and other crap like you have in more traditional MMORPG places, it'd go over quite well.

FUCK THAT SHIT

[Txiasaeia]

Sorry for the profanity, but I've been reading about the slow and painful demise of Interplay for *months* now. They haven't paid their employees in months, they're in debt, they were evicted from their building, they were temporarily shut down by the gov't because their workers' insurance lapses, and NOW they want to take the most popular RPG franchise and turn it into a grab-as-much-cash-as-possible MMO game?

They don't have the cash flow (or capital up front) to sustain an MMOG. They don't have the trust of gamers any more. Hell, all their good employees have left the company (Troika)!

Herve, if you're reading this, YOU NEED TO MAKE FALLOUT 3. This will bring in the cash you so desperately need to keep your company afloat, respect from the industry, and a leaping point to resurrect Interplay. The market is saturated with up and coming MMOGs that are going to suck the online market dry - City of Heroes is here, Matrix Online and World of Warcraft are coming, not to mention EQ2, PLUS all the MMOGs currently ON the market. There's no room for you online, but there are some of us who have been waiting years for a proper and wonderful RPG. You've got the freaking goose that lays golden eggs - out with them already!

Re:FUCK THAT SHIT

[Txiasaeia]

Oh, one more thing: how's Interplay going to make an online game when they can't even afford to keep their own damn website up?

Re:FUCK THAT SHIT

[glowimperial]

Hell yeah, they need to make Fallout 3, I would play a Fallout MMO in like 4-5 years, when the market is right, but Interplay needs to make use of the valuable Fallout license ASAP, and save their sorry butts. I can't endorse the idea of making Fallout 3 enough. I just replayed Fallout 1 cause it kicks so much ass. Even had a great ending.

Re:FUCK THAT SHIT

[AdamPiotrZochowski]

Fallout 3 was 90% complete as developers claimed,
even if they overshot, it would be much less time to
finish fallout 3 than to do mmog, not to mention that
they would regain trust of the fans.

as per developers:

The first batch of developers, the ones responsible
for original fallouts did go to Troika

Others that stayed developed Icewind dale, a squad game
that stayed on heels of Buldurs Gate, and later LionHeart,
a game that was fantasy much like Icewind Dale, but did
use Fallout like Special system as opposed to the very
limiting and constraining AD&D system. They were working
later on Fallout 3 (the Armen Burmin project), but as
project was canned they created own studio, Obsidian.

Funny, both Obsidian and Troika specialize in RPG making
and their releases are quite well recieved. To recap:

Troika -> Arcanum
a big game that industrilizes fantasy.
you got magicians traveling in trains.
amazing marriage of sci-fi and fantasy worlds

Troika -> Temple of Elemental Evil
one of the most highly detailed games
that is based on AD&D system

Obsidian -> Star Wars - Knights Of THe Old Republic
need I say more?

As per Fallouts, there were so far 4 games released:

Fallout 1
for pc and mac
original dev team
quest : find waterchip
Fallout 2
for pc and mac
original dev team
quest : find GECK
Fallout BOS Tactics
for pc ?mac?
contracted outside of interplay
commonly referred to as Fallout Tactics
not an rpg, but more of a squad game
quest : start new BOS outpost
Fallout BOS
for xbox
new dev team, new art, new game rules
inconsistant with Fallout1/2/tactics
quest : join BOS

When Interplay announced a new fallout, Fallout BOS,
people were surprised and quite taken aback as to why
xbox only? Afterall the game was originally PC based
and would not translate properly to console style
gaming. And yet interplay pushed, changed ideas, logos,
story lines, the special system, dumbed down everything.
(yes, I played them all).

Not only that, but before finishing xbox Fallout BOS ,
Interplay had the audicity and the nerve to annouce a
sequel, the one they never did start!

Then Interplay decided to get back on track and to finally
make Fallout 3, but that was cut, as some developers
claim, at being 90% done.

Yay for interplay....

--
/apz, Interplay dug their own grave

Re:FUCK THAT SHIT

[ultranova]

Troika -> Arcanum
a big game that industrilizes fantasy.
you got magicians traveling in trains.
amazing marriage of sci-fi and fantasy worlds.

Actually, you don't get magicians traveling in trains, because magick screws up technology. No, the mighty mages have to either teleport or walk.

You know, the teleport spell is my only real complain about Arcanum (aside from it not working on Linux ;): you can't just select a place from the map, you have to target a location that has a "marker". It's annoying.

That, and you can't blow up the buildings with dynamite. I tried, figuring it would be a good way of getting rid of a few of the criminals in the slums of Tarant, and they just became angry, despite having stood just on the other side of the thin wooden wall.

Fishing for Funding

[wev162]

I'd give it even odds that Interplay is just fishing for investments to try and save the farm. Isn't it odd that it is only now after years of cries for a new fallout game they propose one but insert the buzzword "MMORPG"? One has to wonder if they are trying to show potential investors they have a viable product with heavy fan demand (eg. Look at level of interest in a new fallout game over the years, its a license to print money!!! Its one of those "lucrative" MMORPGs like UO or EQ no less!!!) Sounds custom fit for an investor pitch to me. I can't help but think Interplay is completing the slow implosion that has occured over the years with less and less blockbuster projects.

What we need is a 3d non turn based Fallout 3

[glowimperial]

That doesn't totally suck and has the magic storylines of the original series. I love turn based games, but frankly, they are going the way of the dodo and I want Fallout 3 to succeed in the mss market so it can stay alive. A Fallout MMO would be hard to do. Key to the whole Fallout feeling is being the Chosen One and wandering the wilderness alone, ala Mad Max. I don't want to play a fallout game with folks spamming "selling power armour, 100k caps!" in the center of every town. Fallout was all about the mystery of discovering a wonderfully crafted, funny, post apocalyptic world, alone. Bring the magic back one more time folks.

Re:What we need is a 3d non turn based Fallout 3

[AdamPiotrZochowski]

The 3d they have done, atleast from screenshots of Fallout 3
and from the xbox Fallout:BOS.

I dont have anything against the game being non turn based,
but give me the ability to play turn based.

I loved the idea that the game never really was a clone
of diablo where finger twiches are actually an advantage.

ofcourse this causes problems for the game to be MMO, but
then Civilisation / HOMM3 play online quite well, and
Fallout:BOS Tactics also did have a fake real time mode.

--
/apz, Far duller than a serpent's tooth it is to spend a quiet youth.

Oh shut up.

[ftgow]

Sure, it would fuck up the franchise. Sure they're doing it for the money. Blah blah blah.

But it would be fun.

Aren't we all sick of the current mmorpg's now? I could care less about elf's and dwarves, and wookies...finding a magic key, or collecting gold coins to by a new sword with a +1 bronze gem that makes me immune to the common cold.

I want an mmorpg where you don't fit things, you fight for survival. Imagine having clans of players, in a DANGEROUS, screwed up after-world, fighting each other just to survive. Imagine leading the warriors of your clans, in the night, to the other guys shack, killing or abducting they're women, slitting the men's throats, stealing they're necessities, ETC, JUST TO live another week! That would be thrilling. And? no/barley any computer npc's. Hell EQ, that warcraft thing (god I hate blizzard, make a Linux port you lazy sluts) starwars.. it's all coop doom with swords and a couple thousand space marines. Coop doom wasn't (that) fun! Dammit, these games remind me of the sims.

In Fallout Online, you band together, traveling the wasteland, salvaging useful scraps, not finding them in chests next to a dead gnome. I'm talking about a SAVAGE online experience, where you can get pissed off, angry, and travel the wasteland, sometimes solely on revenge. Or from an order from your clan leading. You can over through your clan leader (provided it's in the public favor, aka mutiny. You can start your own clan in a shack in the dessert, convert some homeless people, (not that you would start out homeless, but it's a possibility), arm them, and attack a nearby town, in the dead of night, kill a local shop keeper (think shady town), and turn the place into your own military-grade bunker. Advance, take your clan, make it into a battalion. Army. (think brotherhood of steel) Form legions, alliances, with common interests, secretly generated by the world. Forge new technological advantages. Advanced weaponry, hardened armor. Take over.

Or possibly form a neutral facility, helping strangers, in exchange for favors that will help the community etc.

I'm sick of wacking rats with sticks. Gimme a damn gun and shove me in a deadly world. Fallout Online.

"a relatively small amount"

[BortQ]

Uh, $.9 million is actually quite a large amount of money, especially when you have 0 dollars to your name (or company).

I'll bet someone else will make the MMORPG

[mutewinter]

Since they are out of cash, I'm guessing they will liscence Fallout to another company to make the MMORPG. I don't have to tell anyone here that the MMORPG market is over saturated right now. Even if the game is a success we all know they are looking at 4+ years of development which would translate into just another money drain for them -- not what they need right now. An up-front liscence fee from a big company like EA could be the cash injection the company needs. I'm just suprised their whole company hasn't been gobbled up yet.

Old times

[Doctor Cat]

I remember pitching my first MMORPG, DragonSpires, to Interplay back in 1994. Their company president at the time was looking to get started with a project for about half the budget I was asking for. I talked to their producer a bit about how we could do something on that size budget. Then we met with the president briefly, showed him what I had, and he explained why he'd rather do a game based on their D&D license. Sounded plausible to me. Back to the producer's office, and he says "Ok, what I think we should pitch to him is that we simultaneously develop a D&D game AND your game with your engine". I was speechless. Didn't that just double the budget back up to what the prez had said was more than he wanted to invest into the MMORPG market right then? Sure enough, he decide to pass on his producer's proposal.

Given how they did with things like Engage Games Online, frankly I'm glad they said no. Interplay did manage to publish some very good games over the years, but their management was always kinda strange as far as I could tell. (Hopefully they don't have enough nickles left in the petty cash drawer to get a lawyer to sue me for saying they were strange. :X)