Slashdot Mirror
World of Darkness MMOG In Active Production
Laying the fears of tabletop gamers to rest, CCP (makers of EVE Online) has confirmed that they're already working on a Massively Multiplayer game set in the World of Darkness. The dark setting, a property owned by CCP's new purchase White Wolf Games, will be translated to the Massive genre some time over the next four to five years. There's no word yet on which portion of the setting will be used for the game, but the Eurogamer article hints that vampires will feature heavily in the title. "The World of Darkness MMO was announced when the two companies merged last year, with both the American and Icelandic operations staying quiet on the subject ever since. Fans have since speculated that the game isn't in active production - rumours Bergsson laid to rest last week. '[World of Darkness] is one of the reasons we were so interested in White Wolf,' [Magnus Bergsson] said. 'It's a very mature IP. It's a great title for us to take and make into an MMO. First of all there are no MMOs like it. We kind of like that, and we want to explore some new avenues with that type of MMO - character-based and not being fantasy, per se. It's a real opportunity for us.'"
If they do this right I am so in. Bloodlines was one of the best games I've ever played (except the bugs.. ahem) and to be quite frank I would kill for a decent sequal of any sort. If they get this right it could be an amazing game, but if they get it wrong it'll just turn into a social point (I expect it'll be set in a BIG city) where all sides work together instead of a vicious street war as all factions try to rule the city and avoid vampire hunters.
So, less grinding and more grand scale PvP and I'm in. Maybe even make it so it works like GTA:SA did with gang wars but set areas are No-PvP so newbies will be safe before they attempt to wander the streets and find better gear which will only be found in neutral zones.
I like muppets.
It's a shame because the White Wolf universe is perfectly suited for this sort of game. The shame being that after CCP's recent debacles I'll have nothing to do with them. Seeing as I dont even play EVE and I've heard of the things going on there, you can bet there will be others that follow suit.
I wonder how well they'll translate an excellent tabletop/larp setting into a hack and slash leveling grind.
"Gharbad no Hurt!" -Gharbad
I thought everybody already knew this was in the works. Or is this like Hillary officially announcing her candidacy for president after obviously planning it for years?
All this means is that resources are going to be sucked away from the current product, EVE Online. That's a bit of a pisser since the understanding with paying a monthly fee is that you're supposed to be paying for the upkeep of servers and the development of new content, not just lining the pockets of the owners.
Kwisatz Haderach
Sell the spice to CHOAM
This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
Which all goes to indicate that there will have to be a difference between the PnP ruleset and MMORPG ruleset.
This is no different than DDO or even NWN. There are some things that need to be trimmed from the PnP ruleset because they make no sense for a video game. Things will have to be simplified. Heck, there isn't balance between the games in PnP. A mage can pretty much toast any other type of character.
Odds are the result won't satisfy the hardcore WoD fans, as whatever they are accustomed to will be diluted and made more uniform across the board. Either they will have to suck it up and deal with it, or decide not to play.
If you can't beat them, embrace and extend them.
This is one MMO that I'm going to stay very, very far away from. I've played WoD tabletop, I've played it LARP, and I've had dealings with people who have played it extensively in unofficial MUX text games; common themes straight through all of those have been GM caprice, OOC politicking, whining and histrionic drama. Take a peek at the official forums for virtually any active MMO, and just imagine all of that garbage amplified by a setting and a potential player-base that is already steeped in paranoia and self-obsession.