E3 MMOG News

The ever churning E3 information mill has revealed details on several upcoming Massive game titles. MMORPG.com has details on Ring of Ryzom, the first expansion for Nevraxs' massive game. Gamespot has details on NCSoft's Tabula Rasa and Cryptic Studios' City of Villains, as well as the new Everquest II content Spirit of Splitpaw and Desert of Flames. Update: 05/20 14:52 GMT by Z : Age of Conan and The Lord of the Rings Online have also been shown off on the expo floor.

Comments

Pedantry

[Shadow Wrought]

Tabula Rasa is Latin for Blank Tablet
That is all.

Solice

[Golias]

Crickets were heard chirping in response to announcements from several massively-multiplayer online games which were not World of Warcraft.

Audience members, who nearly outnumbered the company spokesmen, called it the biggest non-Blizzard MMOG announcement since the last Shadowbane expansion.

Re:Solice

[snuf23]

New games, new expansions vs. long overdue battlegrounds in WoW.
I play World of Warcraft and I like it well enough, but it isn't the end all and be all of MMOs.
I started playing in March thinking that maybe all the nasty bugs would be sorted out by that point. Well, they sure aren't. I've had lots of nice experiences such as boats disappearing and killing me and crashes that left my character stuck logged in for 24 hours.
I like the game but it seems like there are a lot of bored level 60s going around. Seems like the long term potential may be problematic.
So yes there are people that might be interested in something other than Blizzard's offering. The way I see it Auto Assault and City of Villains will be launching in the second half of the year, so my time with WoW will probably be 6 months on the outside.

Re:Solice

[Lisandro]

Crickets were heard chirping in response to announcements from several massively-multiplayer online games

Hehe, well put my friend!

Oh, wait...

Re:Solice

[Golias]

I play World of Warcraft and I like it well enough, but it isn't the end all and be all of MMOs.

You know the part of my post where I said that it was?

Yeah, that part wasn't actually there.

Go ahead, read it again. Not there.

All I was saying is, almost nobody seems to care about any other MMOG at the moment. The tiny number of posts in this thread so far kind of backs me up on that.

Re:Solice

[trevick]

almost nobody seems to care about any other MMOG at the moment

How true. And how unfortunate since World of Warcraft, while good, introduces nothing new. The other MMOGs that are being announced are pushing the envelope forwards in a number of ways:

City of Villains licensed a physics engine and has destructible terrain. You can rob a bank and blow up the door to the vault and have it blow up into little bits that bounce around realistically.

Everquest 2 is introducing movable terrain which can be used for puzzle solving -- finally, we will have a way to introduce new kinds of quests to an MMO besides permutations of "go here", "fetch this", or "kill that".

I'm not as familiar with Ring of Ryzom but it is my understanding they will allow players to develop their own zones with the same tools the developers use.

Vanguard: Saga of Heroes is introducing new game mechanics such as 'diplomacy' which lets you antagonize or sweet talk or ingratiate yourself to certain NPCs (who respond accordingly).

There are lots of great ideas coming out, and all WOW has to show is one unfinished, instanced battleground. Sorry, but I've been there, done that.

Re:Solice

[Golias]

How true. And how unfortunate since World of Warcraft, while good, introduces nothing new.

It does introduce one thing new, and it's the reason why nearly all of my friends are playing it:

Cross-platform support for both PC's and Macs.

No, there are not many Mac gamers out there. No, Blizzard probably does not sell the game to a lot of Mac users. However, there is one modern MMORPG in which my PC-owning friends and Mac-owning friends can all play together on the same server, and that's World of Warcraft.

I loved City of Heroes, and I think City of Villians will be a great sequel, but I'm not renewing my account and I'm not buying the new one, because Cryptic doesn't support Macs and doesn't plan to do so anytime soon. End of story.

Re:Solice

[vjmurphy]

"Cross-platform support for both PC's and Macs."

Shadowbane has cross-OS support.

Re:Solice

[snuf23]

The tone of your post implied "who cares they're not WoW". And yes from a mass market viewpoint you're probably correct. Although Final Fantasy and Lineage 2 numbers are huge as well (although outside of the U.S. primarily).
WoW is seeing a boost of interest from the launch of the European servers as well. However in game and in the forums I see a lot of bored level 60s wondering "what now?"
The time it takes to go 0-60 in WoW is pretty short by MMO standards. This is good initially because it makes players feel like they are already making progress. But after hitting 60 in 3 or 4 months, that feeling of progress stops.
If all those players that signed up for WoW as their first MMO, some of them are likely to be interested in something new once they've "finished" WoW.

WoW *yawn*

[blackicye]

World of Warcraft is getting tired..

Seems like Blizzard has become content to rest on their laurels.

It was fun while it lasted, but I just cancelled my subscription. Aside from sheer boredom and lack of high end content, the in game economy has been almost entirely ruined.

There are severe imbalances in the population between horde and alliance on almost every server.
http://www.wowcensus.com/
This renders PvP pretty much pointless for either side. No challenge as Alliance, and No point as Horde.

I guess I just picked the wrong side to be on, but I'm bored of this game, and bored of seeing alliance zerglings.

The PvP is shallow at best, and totally imbalanced at worst. Paladin and Rogue anyone? Granted Paladins got nerfed recently, so did pretty much every other class aside from rogue.

At least I wasn't a warlock, I feel for those poor bastards.

Llane Horde (Ret) - 60 Shaman, 40 Hunter.

Re:WoW *yawn*

[Anonymous Coward]

*cough*crybaby*cough*

Dear Llane,

You won't be missed.

Sincerely,
The Rest of the Horde.

Re:WoW *yawn*

[Anonymous Coward]

n000B

imbal!! ahhaha

I'm a mage and I rort everyone!

I can take on 3 rogues without a prob.

Re:WoW *yawn*

[Anonymous Coward]

1. The census sites are inaccurate. The PvP balance is basically dead even.

2. Hunters are far worse off than warlocks, so I wouldn't bother "feeling" for them, there's really nothing wrong with them on the test servers.

My complaint is almost the opposite of yours, though: Blizzard hasn't been resting on their laurels enough and improving the existing game and instead running head-long into Battlegrounds. If instead they completeing existing half-finished content (Mt. Hyjal, Caverns of Time, Blackwing's Lair) and fixed existing bugs, I'd be much happier with the game. As it is, I've basically stopped playing for now. Depending on how battlegrounds go, I may just unsubscribe completely.

Re:WoW *yawn*

[Elsebet]

I have to agree. It was often 30-40 Alliance versus 10-15 Horde in Tarren Mill on the Silver Hand server. The Alliance rogues alone easily matched all of the Horde defenders most nights.

Instanced battlegrounds with a cap will likely be a far better PvP atmosphere in terms of numbers. However I'm speculating on servers where the Alliance has an overwhelming population advantage over their Horde counterparts, the Alliance likely has better gear and more cash reserves due to more raids and a more robust economy. Thus even with the numbers being equal there may still be a bit of equipment imbalance.

However as a long-time player of the main healing class in both PvE and PvP MMO's, I'm pretty disappointed in WoW's FPS style of PvP. There is no real loss in PvP death, so people can play poorly in hope of living long enough to just kill someone else and gain points. If your deaths counted against your honor points, THAT would make it a little more interesting but would be a huge disadvantage for underpopulated realms.

That, and Blizzard's style of "tedium + repetition = content" in the level 60 game really led me to disappointment in what was supposed to be the "best game ever".

Re:WoW *yawn*

[WreathOfBarbs]

I play a 60 Warlock on Icecrown, and my friend plays a 60 Hunter, and I must disagree on your assessment of Warlocks having "nothing" wrong with them on the test server. Blizzard introduced at least 2 new bugs that hamper a Warlock dramatically. Without actually fixing the bugs that already plague the class. A Hunter's biggest problem is getting a place in an end game group.

Re:WoW *yawn*

[WreathOfBarbs]

Hmm, I have to agree that the end-game content is boring, but so was the entire progression of EQ which the end-game seems to mimic so well. It really only appeals to hardcore raiders who will 'grind' an instance ad nauseum to get their Epic gear. However levels 1-60 were a blast, and i felt it was far more rewarding than the time I spent with EQ (about 20 levels or so before quitting in disgust). So I am inclined to give Blizz the opportunity to regain my loyalty with future content. Looking back at the first years of other big MMO's I have to say Blizzard is still ahead of the game.

Re:WoW *yawn*

[Anonymous Coward]

Weird, I play on Icecrown too (well, played) on the Horde side. I've got Hunter and Warlock alts. The Warlock is fine, and with shards in PvP, that last problem with it will be solved. The Hunter, on the other hand, has no place end-game, has a deadzone that any player can use to slaughter a hunter while remaining completely unharmed, has utterly worthless pets, is one of the highest upkeep cost classes in the game, and was stealth-nerfed YET AGAIN on the test servers.

Considering that most warlock bugs turn out to be things like 0 * 1.6 is now 0 and not 0.9 any more, I can't really think of anything "wrong" with the class. Oh, they can't chain-seduce or chain-fear you any more, so now they have to play using skill.

But go ahead, list off what the warlocks have wrong. I'd love to hear it, because I certainly don't see it. Warlocks are gods in PvE and balanced in PvP. Hunters are just sick jokes that are mostly useful for flaring rogues out of stealth.

Re:WoW *yawn*

[WreathOfBarbs]

Warlocks are good in PvE, I can't dispute that, but so are hunters, in fact a hunter pet out damages the Succubus and has better aggro control than a Voidwalker and now has a skill that allows themn to chase down runners. Hunters have Feign Death and traps to allow them to pull mobs exceptionally well in a group if the other players in the group are smart enough to allow them to do it. Hunters are absolutely essential in Molten Core for Tranquilizing shot. So like a Warlock they are 1 trick ponies when it comes to the end game. Warlocks are only invited for wipe protection via Soulstone. Because of the 8 debuff limit a Warlocks curses and DoT's are worthless in a group larger than 5 people, and are not terribly effective then with classes like Warrior and Rogue knocking off their debuffs with far inferior DoTs like Rend. And should you knock a tanking Warrior's Sunder Armor debuff he loses significant threat against the mob he is tanking. So you end up limited to long casting time, low mana efficiency spells like Shadow Bolt and Soul Burn.

Both classes have issues in PvE, but when it comes to PvP there is only ONE clase that has to spend an hour before every PvP session collection a reagent from mobs that are 2-3 flight zones away from any PvP area, that's Warlocks. Once they are in PvP their DoTs are all easily dispelled for less mana than it costs to cast them. The only escape spell they have is 1.5 second cast time, and is easily neutralized by a trinket given to anyone who has achieved Rank 1 in PvP, is Undead, or a Blacksmith. They are sitting ducks to any passing rogue, especially if they are any of the previously mentioned things.

The Demonology tree is worthless, other than one amazing talent at the 31 point apex that also happens to be easily dispellable for less mana than it takes to cast. Multiple affliction talents are broken including Imp. Soul Drain, Shadow Mastery, and on the test server, Nightfall is now broken as well only proccing once in a great while with multiple Corruptions active as well as a Drain Life.

The end game pets that are supposed to be so awe inspiring with great reward for great risk, are all risk with almost no reward. An equal level hunter pet will kill an Infernal in a straight-up fight one on one. And your lucky to keep one under control for more than 10 minutes at a cost of multiple shards, and this is on the test server with the new Improved Enslave Demon. On the live servers your lucky to hold one for 3 minutes before it becomes immune to enslave demon. The Doomguard would actually be an effective pet if you could control it, but as soon as it breaks control it will cripple you and stun you, slowing and interrupting your enslave demon spell. All they are good for is showing off at the AH.

There are a slew of other issues with the Warlock. Like the fact that even when we are able to get shards in PvP we have to use a spell that attracts the attention of every enemy player in the area with a big purple beam that we have to actively channel. Sure Soul Drain will work again, but if you have played in the BG's yet, than you know that it just gets you killed either during the channelling or shortly after as everyone focuses fire on you.

I am not going to say Hunters don't have issues, but don't you say that Warlocks are fine, because they are not. Fix the broken talents, and give use a non-offensive escape spell like Blink and we will be fine in PvP in spite of the idiocy known as Soul Shards. Fix the debuff limit and we will be fine in end game PvE. And we might even bring out our Infernals once in a while for people to point at and snicker.

Re:WoW *yawn*

[Anonymous Coward]

In other words, you wanted to play a mage or a hunter.

Go cry more.

There are no issues with warlock, you just don't know how to play your class.

Re:WoW *yawn*

[WreathOfBarbs]

Go cry more. There are no issues with warlock, you just don't know how to play your class.

Ahh the battle cry of of the l337 troll. You amuse me.

Ragnarok Online 2?

[FsG]

Gravity is apparently making an appearance at E3 this year, but I haven't heard anything about their upcoming mmorpg, Ragnarok Online 2. Since none of the gaming news sites seem to be covering it, I'm wondering if you guys know anything about it.

E3

[Exblizzardfanboi]

After just leaving their display area, I must say that Blizzards display was one of the least popular areas in all of E3 so far. 1. WoW displayed a single battleground, which the Blizzard rep's said was still in beta. I was treated to waiting in a que to test that single battleground, and even once in that battleground it lagged. 2. Ghost was hyped more than WoW at the Blizzard booth. Although, Ghost looks archaic compared to Halo 2, so I was very disappointed. Some of the more interesting displays so far... Unreal 3 engine. Almost CGI quality. Their displays drew many crowds. Vanguard. I have no intention to play it, however it looks surprisingly alot like EQ2. The Vanguard reps explained that it would be time consuming in the way the original EQ couldn't even imagine.

Re:E3

[Datamonstar]

It's not too surprising tht the game loks like EQ2, as the designers had a large hand in designing the original.

Missing

[Turn-X Alphonse]

They missed Universal Century off as well :/

Re:Missing

[Jhyrryl]

MMORPG.com has quite a few things from E3, including a review for Hero's Journey by Simutronics, which blew them away.

Anyone RTFA?

[$1uck]

I think some of the stuff EQ2 might be worthwhile, I guess the number one question is why hasn't it been done yet? Destructible environment, moveable items, be able to scale cliffs etc (shouldn't rogues be able to climb walls?). I stopped playing eq over a year ago... some of these things might make me pick up eqII (especially if they add zek-type servers). Still I want to be able to dig trenches, mine shafts, build walls cut down trees (or pay mercenaries to do these things). I want cities that feel like cities (scale a town home run across the roof tops attract the notice of hte guard). I want to see the world change as its marked by the players. Forests could rise/fall, the flow of rivers be changed. /Then again I think perma-death and pvp are good ideas too.