Green Monster Games (Curt Schilling)

[Azrayne]

Oh, another 6 months?

Lame.

[Ngruk]

Aye, at least another 6 months.

[Azrayne]

Please just promise you'll try something even remotely original? It can be medievil fantasy if it has to, but please no more 'there was nothing then a bunch of gods came and created a world and filled it with humans/elves/dwarves/*random furry race*/midgets then one of the gods turned evil and created *evil races, including orcs and dark elves*, and there was a big war at some point in history, the elves used to rule the land but now their mighty empire is fading, and now they all hate eachother but that doesn't actually impact on the game at all as they all gallavant off to slay dragons and undead together."

I'm so damn tired of the whole Tolkien model, it's like game devs don't even try, they just change the names. If I read one more fantasy back story that follows along those lines I think I'll break down and cry.

[Ngruk]

I'm pretty confident in saying that R.A., along with this design team, have gone off the charts in originality.

[darksensei]

Originally Posted by Ngruk

I'm pretty confident in saying that R.A., along with this design team, have gone off the charts in originality.

In the opposite direction, every character is named Dritzzt!

[Cowbell]

@ Ngruk,

Fun first. Create 1 zone and make it hella fun to play. There was a game released about 3 years ago who had this approach and they are doing quite well. Another recently released game took a different approach and sadly Brad McQuaids game sucked.

As far as another fantasy tolkien-esque MMOG, I could play them endlessly. I just want to play one that is immersive and fun.

As far as your unveiling at comic com, I can't wait !

[Agraza]

I have relatively little respect for R.A. since I don't care for his Drizzt novels. The original three are decent and then they just go nowhere. But solo work on a novel with invincible implausible characters and setting up a scenario or background for an MMO are very different. I doubt he can do that much harm. We don't sit back bitching about whether Veeshan is a gigantic cunt afterall.

[Ngruk]

I remember reading something recently, can't remember the game, where the lead on the project had stated "They knew they would need to devote time and effort to reclaiming players lost in beta" because they knew when they launched the beta the game wasn't fun yet....

Huh? What? Isn't that whole 'fun' thing supposed to be part of every feature of your game?

How do you move from concept to production, much less production to beta, without it being fun as hell?

When exactly are you supposed to patch in the fun?

[Agraza]

Don't you know they keep the fun on the internal test server, but eternally 2 weeks out of reach? The golden patch that will fix everything and rain starburst from the sky!

See Hellgate for an example of this strategy of ultimate win.

[Daezuel]

Originally Posted by Ngruk

I remember reading something recently, can't remember the game, where the lead on the project had stated "They knew they would need to devote time and effort to reclaiming players lost in beta" because they knew when they launched the beta the game wasn't fun yet....

Huh? What? Isn't that whole 'fun' thing supposed to be part of every feature of your game?

How do you move from concept to production, much less production to beta, without it being fun as hell?

When exactly are you supposed to patch in the fun?

Pretty sure you're talking about Richard Garriott and TR. (however he did make what I consider to be the best MMO in UO...until they jacked it up anyways) Oh and I beta'd TR and thought it was pure crap but ended up buying it anyways recently and am having quite a bit of fun.

You should check it out if only to see something different in current MMO design. The cloning system, lack of bound drops, and base defense/spawning system are all very cool.

[Cowbell]

Originally Posted by Daezuel

Pretty sure you're talking about Richard Garriott and TR. (however he did make what I consider to be the best MMO in UO...until they jacked it up anyways) Oh and I beta'd TR and thought it was pure crap but ended up buying it anyways recently and am having quite a bit of fun.

You should check it out if only to see something different in current MMO design. The cloning system, lack of bound drops, and base defense/spawning system are all very cool.

Lol, I could have sworn he was talking about Vanguard.

[Tyen]

TR was really fun for a few months, but thats it.

[Cowbell]

Originally Posted by Ngruk

I remember reading something recently, can't remember the game, where the lead on the project had stated "They knew they would need to devote time and effort to reclaiming players lost in beta" because they knew when they launched the beta the game wasn't fun yet....

Huh? What? Isn't that whole 'fun' thing supposed to be part of every feature of your game?

How do you move from concept to production, much less production to beta, without it being fun as hell?

When exactly are you supposed to patch in the fun?

I just hope you have the strength to truly listen to other people when they say a particular idea of yours isnt working even though you may think it is the end all greatest idea of all time: See slow combat system in Vanguard

If you don't then you may be patching in the fun in beta as well since you will be scrapping 2 years of work and basically starting over after you reached alpha and create a half ass game in 10 months with a completely rewritten game engine, all the while neglecting all polish and other much needed phases of the game because your basic idea sucked and you didnt have the sac to man up and admit you were wrong.

I do trust you though because that game should be a shining beacon of what not to do, not only with management but with design decisions as well.

[Ngruk]

Originally Posted by Cowbell

I just hope you have the strength to truly listen to other people when they say a particular idea of yours isnt working even though you may think it is the end all greatest idea of all time: See slow combat system in Vanguard

If you don't then you may be patching in the fun in beta as well since you will be scrapping 2 years of work and basically starting over after you reached alpha and create a half ass game in 10 months with a completely rewritten game engine, all the while neglecting all polish and other much needed phases of the game because your basic idea sucked and you didnt have the sac to man up and admit you were wrong.

I do trust you though because that game should be a shining beacon of what not to do, not only with management but with design decisions as well.

Your scenario would mean I would be telling these people, the experts, what to do. Not going to happen. I have a vision, have always had it, but I am by no means the smartest guy in the room around here.

These people are incredibly talented for a variety of reasons, my job is create the environment that allows them to do incredible things.

While there are things I want and like, they don't differ from these guys in many places because at the end of the day we are all gamers.

[Cowbell]

Originally Posted by Ngruk

Your scenario would mean I would be telling these people, the experts, what to do. Not going to happen. I have a vision, have always had it, but I am by no means the smartest guy in the room around here.

These people are incredibly talented for a variety of reasons, my job is create the environment that allows them to do incredible things.

While there are things I want and like, they don't differ from these guys in many places because at the end of the day we are all gamers.

I guess my rant, in the end, is that these decisions you make today have far reaching consequences. I wish you luck in getting them right. I liken the design decisions you make today and for the next few months the equivalent to pitching in a game 7 in the world series. It's bascially a make or break. And even though you can change some of them, it will be much harder the further you are along in your game.

BTW who do you think is a better pitcher in their prime?
Randy Johnson or Josh Beckett ? Since you have pitched along side of both of them.