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Vendetta Online Lets Users Create New Game Content

Posted by Soulskill on from the sounds-like-a-familiar-system dept.

Incarnate-VO writes "Multi-platform space MMO Vendetta Online is now allowing users to create missions and submit other content for use in the game via their new 'Player Contribution Corps' system. Any game subscriber can join the PCC and gain access to a web-based mission editor, permitting them to build and test new missions on Vendetta's test-server. Once the player believes the mission is ready for prime-time, they submit it to the greater PCC community for testing and feedback. The community may then sign off on the mission and push it up to the developer staff for final oversight and propagation into the game."

54 comments

  1. Finally by kcbanner · · Score: 1

    Game developers harness the zealousness of their fans!

    --
    Obligatory blog plug: http://www.caseybanner.ca/
    1. Re:Finally by CrazySpence · · Score: 1

      it's pretty awesome. I've made a few missions myself so far over the last few months when it was in beta.

    2. Re:Finally by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      MMO's still have the problem that the developers cannot keep up with the players. Players consume content at a rate MUCH MUCH higher than any development team can hope to match in terms of creation.

      This has been a problem for EverQuest for the last 8 years, and for WoW to a lesser degree. Hard-core players simply devour content and no amount of development staff on payroll can hope to stay ahead. This change will really help to alleviate the issue, and give MMO's a greater amount of potential.

      Speaking from experience, I've designed or conceived of multiple zones and encounters for EverQuest, and of at least a couple of really good (I thought) battleground ideas for World of Warcraft, so with tools for this kind of thing I could have created the zones, and given the development team a really solid idea of what I was proposing. Better, at least, than I was able to convey with a crappy Paint image and a page-long email.

      It's a good thing. Feed your creative spirit AND get to play a cool MMO. WoW needs to do this soonest.

    3. Re:Finally by MBraynard · · Score: 1

      I think the idea is 'who cares about the super hard core players?' - why cater to a small minority. Besides, they will find something to do, like PvP, that needs no dev content.

    4. Re:Finally by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      But posting news about a game on Slashdot will only draw the ire of the Linux and Mac fanboys because they can't run it. Oh wait... they can natively. Just wait until the Amiga fanatics get wind of this. All five of them.

    5. Re:Finally by Yevoc · · Score: 1

      Game Devs not listening to their player base has to be the biggest downfall for the current overall stagnation in gameplay. I may not like Vendetta's play-style, but I'm definitely trying it now that it's obvious their devs care about their playerbase. They deserve that much support.

      --
      AccountKiller
    6. Re:Finally by krenshala · · Score: 1

      Six, thank you very much. :)

      --

      krenshala

    7. Re:Finally by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Seven you insensitive clod!

  2. Shock and awe! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How shocking! How extraordinary! How liberating! (Cons)u(m)ers can *create* and --- hold your breathe, here comes the magic --- *use* their own content? My goodness! Think of the repercussions! We must be entering some sort of a digital, cyber, here-comes-everybody democratic golden age! Social networks! Web 2.0! Participatory culture! Cloud computing! All your data are belong to us! My oh my, I'm dizzy!

    Seriously, RMS would be laughing at this stupid nonsense if it wasn't so maddening.

  3. So how many subscribers they have again? by SupremoMan · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Seriously, cause when I tried the game there was maybe 20 people online. Only a game with a very small fan base can do this. Imagine if WoW tried something like this.... Not only would they get crazy amount of submissions, but people would end up getting angry their submissions were not accepted.

    1. Re:So how many subscribers they have again? by yahwotqa · · Score: 1

      Consider it a way for the small development team to shift some of the burden of content creation to the fan base, leaving them with more time for further development. A great way to eventually increase player base by offering more content, if you ask me (which, I'm sure, you don't).

    2. Re:So how many subscribers they have again? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's why they have a bunch of users initially vetting the projects. Blame the other users first ;)

    3. Re:So how many subscribers they have again? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      there is a way to limit that, provide a set of quests, or gameplay element to it ("becoming a scribe of destiny" or something like that).

      once the quest is complete, you are allowed to submit quests, items, etc..

      the reason this is good is it trains users in the interface, and you could weed out people who just want to break the game from people that want to improve it. I'ts also make the quest's harder to complete as more people are active in submitting player content.

    4. Re:So how many subscribers they have again? by theM_xl · · Score: 1

      Actually, City of Heroes has something similar in the works... It might not be the biggest MMO out there, but there's roughly 150k subscribers there.

    5. Re:So how many subscribers they have again? by X0563511 · · Score: 1

      I would play, but for the lack of available single-stick joysticks that don't suck (and don't cost $200).

      Give me a reliable, comfortable, GOOD stick with yaw and throttle, HAT, and a normal compliment of buttons and I will be happy.

      Yes, you can play with keyboard or keyboard/mouse, but I don't like to do so.

      --
      For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
    6. Re:So how many subscribers they have again? by PunkOfLinux · · Score: 1

      I happen to have one. Are you interested in buying it?

      Also: VO is just awesome. Only game I ever bought on a monthly basis.

      --
      Show this to your friends and family that don't know what a real hacker is
    7. Re:So how many subscribers they have again? by X0563511 · · Score: 1

      Right now I can't, and when I could I'll probably end up forgetting ;)

      Thanks for the offer though!

      (as an aside, lack of joystick is good for me at the moment. I need to stop spending so much)

      --
      For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
    8. Re:So how many subscribers they have again? by PunkOfLinux · · Score: 1

      Truth be told, the VO control scheme is very nicely done. Best I've seen, anyway.

      --
      Show this to your friends and family that don't know what a real hacker is
    9. Re:So how many subscribers they have again? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      I used to play Vendetta, but the monthly subscription is not good for anyone who isn't regular gamer. I have asked on their forum whether they are going to support pay-per-hour system (so I won't loose money if I happen to play just one day in a month or so), but it seems that they aren't interested in that.

    10. Re:So how many subscribers they have again? by Ilgaz · · Score: 1

      I got a fairly cheap "Logitech Wingman Force 3D" which has features you want and has force feedback which even works on OS X without drivers.

      You better look for it. BTW if you are a Mac/Linux user, excuse the junk logo flood (Vista etc) written on packaging. It may seem like Windows only device to you but it is not. You won't have OS X drivers because Apple already includes them since 10.2 days.

    11. Re:So how many subscribers they have again? by X0563511 · · Score: 1

      I've had bad luck with logitech sticks - stick centering going to crap, fussy buttons etc.

      My last stick (the one they have in stores now, not the cordless though) sat on a shelf for a month (nothing pressing on it etc) and when I plugged it in again, there was no resistance for 1cm around the X axis (as if the spring had relaxed) and the yaw axis was freaking out (erratic +/- 10 (of 127) around the center, as if it was reading noise).

      My all-time favorite was an old MS Sidewinder Precision Pro. Next to that, the Pro 2 (excepting the stupid grounding problem they had).

      I would really love a HOTAS, but the only one that I hear doesn't suck completely is the COUGAR, and I can't justify dropping that much cash on a controller set.

      --
      For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
  4. Ok. by Creepy+Crawler · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Lets see...

    You create the content.
    THEY approve the content.
    You and your friends play the content.

    They only have to wait for YOU to create it.

    So you're paying to PLAY your game.

    Smart.

    --
    1. Re:Ok. by darthflo · · Score: 2, Interesting

      So it's basically Web2.0 applied to an MMO ;)

    2. Re:Ok. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So you're paying to PLAY your game.

      Smart.

      Well, It's an MMOG so... yes.

    3. Re:Ok. by mikkelm · · Score: 3, Insightful

      You aren't paying to play your -game-, you're paying to play your -content-, in the same way that you don't pay to drive your car when you go to a race track, but you pay to drive your car on their track.

    4. Re:Ok. by ddt · · Score: 1

      Difference being that you can't feasibly take your car to any other track.

    5. Re:Ok. by mikkelm · · Score: 1

      If you like the track, why would you want to?

  5. DOOM by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This stuff has been going on since Doom. Glad to see it being popularized again.

  6. wow, 90 really want their mud back! by bubulubugoth · · Score: 1

    I used to have a MUD (Multi User Dungeon) back 1993-1996...

    A that was the drill..

    Play, become coder, generate content...

    User generated content was the next step...

    Of course the parent company will need to charge. The game I used to have, was time consuming... at the end, I ended the game for 2 reasons, I needed to get an income, and it was very hard to maintain... this must be covered by the users...

    When I was on the "top" the game got listed in mud clients, there was over 100 coders, and like 2k players.

    Yes I was stupid and didn't have the vision to turn it commercial...

    Now I'm struggling with the world economy... but as in pockar, I'm playing my cards and waiting to go all in...

    --
    Â_Â
    1. Re:wow, 90 really want their mud back! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I miss coding MUDs.. used to code for a cople daiku-syle back in The Day fun times.

    2. Re:wow, 90 really want their mud back! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What the fuck is "pockar" ???

    3. Re:wow, 90 really want their mud back! by MicktheMech · · Score: 1

      The thing that strikes me as different from the old (e.g. Diku) muds and present day MMORPGs is the lack of community. Any social aspect of WoW is either within your guild or friends you already knew. There are 2 barriers to this that I can see in WoW: the size (big playerbase, lots of trolls) and the lack of a real global off topic chat channel. In the old days, we had fun with a lousy text base game because we all knew each other and we could chat while grinding mobs. My 2c.

    4. Re:wow, 90 really want their mud back! by comrade+k · · Score: 1

      To be honest, I really felt like games like Everquest still embodied this sense of community. It was so often that people would get together in the popular zones and chat up a storm -- especially so in the trading hubs. Perhaps because the game was modeled off of popular MUDs at the time. I'm sure UO and others were much the same way.

      As time went on, I certainly didn't feel this in Everquest II, or WoW, or WAR. Community is dead.

      --
      "Every vision is a joke until the first man accomplishes it; once realized, it becomes commonplace." -Robert H. Goddard
    5. Re:wow, 90 really want their mud back! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      WTF is "What the fuck" ???

    6. Re:wow, 90 really want their mud back! by holmedog · · Score: 1

      There are still bank sitters in UO. 11 years after the fact.

    7. Re:wow, 90 really want their mud back! by Reapy · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Community is a double edged sword.

      The first thing is that now that games are so popular, the community is HUGE. You don't really see the same faces that often online gaming. A small mud, or any small online game, you see the same faces, and bump into each other more often, which creates the community you know.

      EQ maintained some of that because of the forced grouping aspect. When I leveled it was like Oasis, then to the kunark area to the uh lake area (forget zone) then eventually on to dreadlands and so forth. You would go there, form a group, walk by all the camp areas and find a spot (seeing familiar faces in the camping spots) and start leveling up.

      In something like wow, there are a ton of players. You don't really see the same people that often. Around 70 if you start pugging raids, you will start to see some familiar faces, but leveling up, its just random people's alts, or you are just off on your own.

      I like wow for that aspect, but miss the community. I guess that is what the large guilds are for though, to create that psudo community.

      I had the same sort of experience playing warcraft 2 on a small online service way back (kali), moving on to battle.net where there were a bajillion people and you never played the same guy twice unless you set it up.

      I don't know. I like the variety with large populations and the freedom (more people to find), but miss the large scale community aspect of the smaller games. It might be also the form of the games are getting away from needing a community. Certainly a small MUD with a political system of some sort is going to have a way different landscape from an all instanced rpg game.

  7. How Web 2.0! by David+Gerard · · Score: 1

    I commend to you Evan Prodromou on crowdsourcing.

    --
    http://rocknerd.co.uk
  8. Sounds like CoH by MortimerV · · Score: 3, Interesting

    City of Heroes/Villains is going to try something like this out. They've delayed it because it's proven to be a bigger project than they anticipated, though. http://www.cityofheroes.com/news/archives/2008/08/letter_from_pos_1.html

    The angry players isn't something I thought about before, but even if your map isn't approved for general distribution, you can still play on it yourself or with friends, so I don't think it'll be a big issue.

  9. "SkillZ Online" by unity100 · · Score: 1

    im wondering when will someone make such a game. so we can send all the lolplayers and ubergamers and whatnot there and they can lol the hell out of each other

    --
    Read radical news here
  10. Um... so? by OpenYourEyes · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Am I missing the point? Granted, I don't play Vendetta, but it seems to me that any modern game where the users aren't creating the real interesting content is... um... lame.

    I mean... even the late VMK allowed (even encouraged) its players to create quests, many of which were better than the quests provided by staff and the developers. There were player created games for prizes since the beginning of VMK.

    So... can someone actually explain what the big deal here is?

    1. Re:Um... so? by sammyF70 · · Score: 2

      The big deal is that Vendetta is a MMORPG/Space Sim. I'm not aware of any other MMORPG allowing the players to create content. You?

      --
      "DRM is like the Ford Pinto: it's a smooth ride, right up the point at which it explodes and ruins your day."-C.Doctorow
    2. Re:Um... so? by OpenYourEyes · · Score: 1

      Depends what sorts of content.

      As I noted in my initial post, VMK (a social MMORPG that Disney used to run) allowed its players to create and run quests out of "quest generators". These quests had the same features as the quests provided by the game designers - although they were limited to prizes bought by the quest owner and run out of the players room.

      Were these amazingly complex tasks? No. But they were pretty basic tasks that covered most of what you could do in the game, and it was fairly easy to build them up into more. While trivia questions were common, there were many quests built that required more complex tasks such as puzzle or riddle solving or navigating a maze the player built.

      It surprises me that more games didn't have this feature already. It hardly seems to be a stretch that a clan would require new members to do something to benefit them, and that these requirements would be something that the game itself would enforce.

  11. Vendetta? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So... how long before there's an anti-Scientology mission of some sort? I doubt they'd allow it to be too blatant, but normal people don't even want to know what a body thetan is ...

    1. Re:Vendetta? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm guessing it'll happen soon enough.

  12. Re:Linux and Mac support. by Incarnate-VO · · Score: 3, Informative

    As an FYI to the person who said we'll draw the ire of Linux and Mac fanboys.. the game is available for Windows, MacOS Universal, Linux/32 and Linux/64. See our site's front page. We were also multi-platform since launch, as our 2004 retail box art shows.

    I actually included the supported platform list as the final sentence in my slashdot post, for this specific reason, but it seems to have been edited out. Oh well, hopefully people will gather that from the "multi-platform" mention at the beginning.

  13. Re:Linux and Mac support. by kcbanner · · Score: 1

    "But posting news about a game on Slashdot will only draw the ire of the Linux and Mac fanboys because they can't run it. Oh wait... they can natively. [vendetta-online.com] Just wait until the Amiga fanatics get wind of this. All five of them." He was employing sarcasm there I think :)

    --
    Obligatory blog plug: http://www.caseybanner.ca/
  14. Re:Linux and Mac support. by Incarnate-VO · · Score: 1

    Woops, I missed the rest of his post :).

    And no, we have no plans for an Amiga port, heheh (although, odd fact, there was actually a native BeOS client at one point, back in the R4/4.5 era. It was also built on Irix at a few points in the late 90s). We currently maintain about as many ports as we can sanely manage.

    http://www.vendetta-online.com

  15. Re:Linux and Mac support. by Solra+Bizna · · Score: 1

    I'm still waiting for the Solaris port.

    -:sigma.SB

    --
    WARN
    THERE IS ANOTHER SYSTEM
  16. City of Heroes is doing this as well. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    http://www.cityofheroes.com/game_update14.html
    Mission Architect:

    First the City of Heroes Character Creator set a new standard for player creation and customization. Now, Issue 14 takes another giant step, allowing players to design their own missions and story arcs to share with the entire City of Heroes community. Using an intuitive interface similar to the gameâ(TM)s detailed Character Creator, players can create missions from the ground up. Players will determine details ranging from environments, mission objectives, and enemies, to written fiction and character dialogue; giving their stories nearly infinite depth and personalization.

    Among other rewards, authors and architects who create the most extraordinary content will garner acclaim and reputation. Community feedback will be paramount and some missions will elevate in status unlocking new rewards and benefits for their creators.
    More details to come!

  17. A veteran take on Vedentta-Online by ratonu · · Score: 0, Informative

    For those of you who don't know Vendetta, here are some pointers:
    - NSMMORPG where the NSM stands for "Not So Massive"
    - a really well-done modern remake of the ZX Spectrum Elite game.
    - allows guilds, teaming, missions, owning stuff
    - will feature soon: dynamic in-game economy, player-owned capital ships, stations
    - fight outcome is based on actual skills (and ship capabilities), not player advancement in the game, the advancement does however allow you to acquire better ships.
    Hope this will help those that have no idea what this game is about. I know I was looking for exactly this type of game when I discovered Vendetta, and although I don't play a lot, when I play it's Vendetta-Online.

    --
    set your threshold at -1 if you want to see me
  18. More then missions by drazed · · Score: 1

    I've been playing VO for some time, and I probably would have gotten bored long ago. But seeing as I love space, and EVE is just way too boring and slow imho, I've stuck with VO for over 2 years now.

    Part of the reason I'm around is because of the player content creation, it's more then just missions btw. The community also has access to create client plugins (using lua, much as in WOW). Additionally, the PCC has access to additional interface lua code and player changes to this code have been accepted in the past (and honerable mentions given).

    If you are looking for an mmo where you can be involved in more ways then the average game, plus you love space, then this might be just what you're looking for.

    May want to check out http://vo-wiki.com/ (game info, plugin downloads, etc) and http://vo-wiki.com/racecar (VO specific lua documentation), once the slashdot effect wares off as these are community sites and seem to be slow responding at this time.

  19. Re:Linux and Mac support. by LingNoi · · Score: 1

    I tried getting into vendetta but I just found it difficult.

    Maybe because I don't like flight sims enough, or perhaps there was too much reading to do when I first entered the game with tutorial and all I wanted to do was start flying, at which point I didn't really know what to do because I skipped the boring tutorial.

    Anyway this is just a heads up to tell you why I didn't stay with the game after 15 minutes of bored flying not knowing what to do.

  20. Here's my wow submission by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Quest Name: Biblo's Dildo

    Steps:

    1 - Talk to Biblo and get the quest
    2 - Fetch Biblo's Dildo +1 str
    3 - ....
    4 - PROFIT!!

  21. Re:Linux and Mac support. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    We did one, but we didn't see enough interest in it to add time to our release process (since we go through it at least once a week). Maybe if the client ever settles down in terms of executable code changes, or if Solaris on the desktop suddenly takes off, we'll reconsider.