MMORPG.com Managing Editor Jon Wood has looked over all the stories that came out this week with a focus on MMOs. While none jumped out immediately as a more all-encompassing story that captured the imagination of a host of readers, one certainly caught Jon's attention: Undead Labs' Richard Foge's thought that most of today's MMOs aren't much. Check out Jon's thoughts about that statement and then add a few of your own on the forums.

Going through this past week’s news offerings, there really wasn’t anything that stood out to grab me as the week’s biggest story. So instead, I turned my attention to the story that captured MY attention the most this week in the hopes that I’d be able to string together a few sentences that might entertain you folks this weekend.

The story that I came out with and that we’ll call our Story of the Week is one that comes out of Undead Labs.

Read more of The Story of the Week.

Please proofread your articles.

To a player that is more into action, MMORPGs would definitely seem to lack what makes a game a game. Foge doesn't seem to appreciate the differences between different types of games though.

Quite frankly we seen companies who tried to go the console mmo route and failed at it.  Even turbine at one time was looking into consoles,  for about 2 years the worked on something then poof, never heard anything else about it. then you run into folks like me. Married and the wife plays the games I do.  Well your going to have to program that console to where both me and the wife can play at the same time using different accounts, yes thats going to be a huge issue.

I got serious questions about how much a console game can be an mmo,  for the most part what I read it sounds more like a co-op.   I already have a zombie co-op game its called left for dead, yes both of them. 

Now lets get to the subject matter.   A zombie mmo.  Lets think really hard about this.  We got a plague killing humans turning them into zombies.  That means more zombies than  humans or at least that is the way it normal goes,  a group of humans trying to get to safe place.   The main problem I see with this game is ok MMO, that means tons of humans,  and that is your problem there,  if you got tons of humans running around killing zombies then yes right there is a huge problem.

I just don't see how this can work, unless you go mega areas of zombies thus forcing tons of grouping to get through the day.

Oh well thats the way I see it.  Two major problems first making a true mmo and not a co-op with a console, then the subject matter and the player base.  Two very huge obsticles to overcome.

In short, i think it's a fail that just needs to launch to prove itself a failure.

I don't like developers giving my genre shit. Its like having a brother, you give your brother crap but if someone outside the family does it you smash them in the mouth with your size 12 Doc Martain combat boot.

These guys are releasing a console only game and dare to give a PC styled genre crap. To top it off this game their developing looks nothing more than a mix of Borderlands and Dead rising slapped together and their calling it a mmo?

Whatever... ill laugh when they crash and burn.

talk is cheap. let them give it a shot. then we can have a chat.

Like I said in the other post, he bad mouths the existing MMO scene and then announces a zombie MMO on a console, can you just bath in the irony of such a statement?

First off, you need a keyboard to really play a MMO no matter what he says.  The entire idea of a MMO is to communicate with others, otherwise you might as well just play single player fps or rpg games.  Most consoles do not have keyboards, so most designers don't make that mandatory to play.  Hence I question whether his game will actually be a MMO because the game will obviously not want to exclude those without keyboards.

He basically wanted to stir up controversy to get his game noticed, so he made a ridiculous statement sure to turn some heads.  Hey if he wants to play the fool to get attention it is his business.

Comms can easily be done with a mic, no keyboard needed. Why do you think they're going with a shooter? No endless menus of spells to rummage through, no complex macro systems to worry about. Movement, couple of buttons for inventory and interaction and a trigger. Sounds like a very bland, watered down system that console users demand in the games they play. Most console gamers I know laugh at people that pay monthly to play a game. When putting this game up against Left4Dead/2 I don't see what they could possibly do to entice a player to spend cash every month to play it. 

Originally posted by Ozmodan

Like I said in the other post, he bad mouths the existing MMO scene and then announces a zombie MMO on a console, can you just bath in the irony of such a statement?

First off, you need a keyboard to really play a MMO no matter what he says.  The entire idea of a MMO is to communicate with others, otherwise you might as well just play single player fps or rpg games.  Most consoles do not have keyboards, so most designers don't make that mandatory to play.  Hence I question whether his game will actually be a MMO because the game will obviously not want to exclude those without keyboards.

He basically wanted to stir up controversy to get his game noticed, so he made a ridiculous statement sure to turn some heads.  Hey if he wants to play the fool to get attention it is his business.

 

Jeff Strain is at the helm of this company and this game, he doesn't need to seek attention.

I can't believe this nutjob of a "developer" is the "Story of the Week."  Why?  Because he's obviously one of the many CLUELESS devs out there?  That makes him "story of the week" worthy???

I need to write some arrogant piece of drivel so I can be poster of the week on MMORPG.com. Maybe I'll write an article about how posters should all use a certain style when they post, you know....use a lot of ACTION words and CAPS to express themselves, and anyone who doesn't do so is behind the times.

C'mon.....a zombie CONSOLE MMO????  And he thinks he's the gaming god's gift to gamers?

/facepalm

Well I guess I get to say it again, but first;  John you are obviously a really nice guy willing to give people the benefit of the doubt.   Unfortunately I am not.

So Mr. Foge's opinion is that MMOs today are "barely even games"

again I state my humble opion of Mr. Foge (who I have never heard of) he is "Barely even a developer".

In my mind Zombies have been done, and done, and done, and done.  Perhaps he and his new console creation are after the 6 to 10 year olds who have been sheltered from the world flood of zombies by overprotective parents.   Maybe the title can be Zombies Need Love Too.

or "Zombie Street"  With a Big birdlike Zombie.

Sorry, I just have to lol at the guy.  He did get a lot of time on this site though, maybe that was his intention. 

All I can come up with as a snappy reply is "SIGH"

I rather agree that this zombie console thing is .... almost unmentionable.  That being said,  I would inspect my 12 years of playing MMOs and find that the essential ingredients of MMOs were developed in EQ1 (not just that game, but the time period around its launch), were homogenized for the masses in WoW, and very little innovation has occured since.   The essential features of simplified combat, XP and loot grind, boss encounters, etc., seems to have gotten carved in stone.

So in a way I can see the point of view of the Zombie console thing guy.  Unfortunately, I see nothing in what he is doing that vaguely resembles any useful step forward.   Sigh.

Or perhaps instead of sigh I should have written, Ditto Wahala99.   LOL.

Well here are my opinions.  And that is all they are, just my point of vew. 

For one, I'm not a horror fan or undead fan except for vampires.  I don't see what the big deal is for zombies.  They are not my thing at all.

I prefer mmorpgs and mmo's than console games.  I've tried to get into console games and all they do is gather dust.   They are very consticting when it comes to rpging and not as open concepted as online gaming.  That's just what i feel about them.  I have not played a good console game in years.  Mind you i don't have the money to buy them either and most mmorps are free,   Still the ones that I have bought i tend to sell back to the store cause they are boring.   I don't  think there is anything wrong with console gaming, I just don't feel they are my thing.  Everyone has their prefrences.

The other thing is what makes an action mmorpg different from the average fantasy rpg?  They both have fighting.  What's the focus point. for the action ones?  What makes it an "action " mmorpg?  Just a question I was curious about? 

I tend to like fantasy rpg's and have played many over the years.  I like a good plot and story line to keep me interested in a game. 

The end of my rant.

Originally posted by Christopher8

Originally posted by Ozmodan

Like I said in the other post, he bad mouths the existing MMO scene and then announces a zombie MMO on a console, can you just bath in the irony of such a statement?

First off, you need a keyboard to really play a MMO no matter what he says.  The entire idea of a MMO is to communicate with others, otherwise you might as well just play single player fps or rpg games.  Most consoles do not have keyboards, so most designers don't make that mandatory to play.  Hence I question whether his game will actually be a MMO because the game will obviously not want to exclude those without keyboards.

He basically wanted to stir up controversy to get his game noticed, so he made a ridiculous statement sure to turn some heads.  Hey if he wants to play the fool to get attention it is his business.

 

 

Jeff Strain is at the helm of this company and this game, he doesn't need to seek attention.

 Considering he left NCSOFT in 2009, and its been almost 2 years hes been working at undead labs, and they are still no closer to what they started on 2 years ago.  I think him and the guys at undead labs need to see some folks who wear white coats.  

I just went to their website and took a good look around,  there whole entire player base they are shooting are the folks who love zombies,  you know the ones who go to parades and dress like zombies.

2 years of work on a console mmo,  rofl.  I know what I will not be buying any time soon. Then the enitre rant of if you dont like mmo's you will love this game rofl.  No thanks.

Originally posted by Ozmodan

Like I said in the other post, he bad mouths the existing MMO scene and then announces a zombie MMO on a console, can you just bath in the irony of such a statement?

First off, you need a keyboard to really play a MMO no matter what he says.  The entire idea of a MMO is to communicate with others, otherwise you might as well just play single player fps or rpg games.  Most consoles do not have keyboards, so most designers don't make that mandatory to play.  Hence I question whether his game will actually be a MMO because the game will obviously not want to exclude those without keyboards.

He basically wanted to stir up controversy to get his game noticed, so he made a ridiculous statement sure to turn some heads.  Hey if he wants to play the fool to get attention it is his business.

You don't need a keyboard to play MMORPGs. Unlike on the PC, voice communication is pretty much the standard on the Xbox 360.

Originally posted by Gameloading

Originally posted by Ozmodan

Like I said in the other post, he bad mouths the existing MMO scene and then announces a zombie MMO on a console, can you just bath in the irony of such a statement?

First off, you need a keyboard to really play a MMO no matter what he says.  The entire idea of a MMO is to communicate with others, otherwise you might as well just play single player fps or rpg games.  Most consoles do not have keyboards, so most designers don't make that mandatory to play.  Hence I question whether his game will actually be a MMO because the game will obviously not want to exclude those without keyboards.

He basically wanted to stir up controversy to get his game noticed, so he made a ridiculous statement sure to turn some heads.  Hey if he wants to play the fool to get attention it is his business.

You don't need a keyboard to play MMORPGs. Unlike on the PC, voice communication is pretty much the standard on the Xbox 360.

Uh, yeah, you do, because people don't always want to use voice communication.  Guess you nailed pretty much why consoles haven't worked well for MMORPG's afterall.

I've rarely seen game developers say bad things about the game they worked on.  Career limiting, perhaps?

Not all of us want to play action games.  And not all of us want to use a mike for every game interaction.

Glad he's not working on Guild Wars 2!

I will say the man has balls to talk-the-talk but can he walk the walk, personnally i don't think so. If he does pull it out i don't see how they can charge the money required to service the mmo as console players already pay for on-line service except for a few Sony users since you can play for free on line.

Console players like zombie type games so i can see why he would go that route. Personnaly i can't see it being a true essence mmo, more like a single player type game with open world.  Would like to see it happen but not even sure Sony can pull a rabbit that size out of the console hat.

He's wasting his time attacking the RPG genre. He should be trying to lure in the First Person Shooter crowd who has done more than nicely in the past years on consoles. Wait, is he going to ask for a monthly sub? If so, whoops.

About MMORPG on consoles, I think there will be a time where we'll see some good MMORPGs on those consoles. Their design is going to have to adapt to make it happen. I remember some forum discussions I had in 2003 where we were saying it would be impossible to play a FPS with a handle. It took a while but we all stand corrected today.

Lets see their game launch then they can lecture on whats wrong with MMO's.