Originally posted by vaultbrain

As of late, it has become more and more evident that Richard "Lord British" Garriott is adamant about going forward with his plans to focus his efforts entirely on "Social Games" for facebook. Now, to an old ultima and UO fan like myself, this news is extremely disheartening. After watching one of his most recent interviews on Youtube.com, he seems to have himself conviced that Social Games are the future of on-line gaming.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_ak0WR7vbI&feature=related

The interview comes in 3 parts.

In the interview, he speaks of 3 eras of gaming. The first being single player games that you buy at retail and play alone. The second era, which he thinks is over, is the era of the MMORPG. The third era, the one he believes is the future, is social games.

Now, any gamer worth his or her salt knows that the social games on facebook are hollow at best. They are stale, repetitve, and to be honest, stupid.  The types of players he is going to attract are the usual facebook attention whores many of us have come to know and loathe. Not to mention that these social games are a fad, like Myspace was. Eventually, they are going to be beaten out by the next "big thing" flash in the pan to catch the attention of pop culture. If social games are indeed the future, then it is a bleak future that awaits gaming.

And how is the age of the MMO over? Currently, every game company out there is focusing on making some form of MMO game. However, most keep following the same EQ clone model that WoW did. If anything is killing the MMO market, its the lack of originality. The age of the MMO is far from over, its actually just beginning.

But true MMOs, ones like UO, have proven they can stand the test of time, but only if they are made correctly. This brings me to the question of the poll:

If Richard Garriott were to abandon this social game craze and focus on and release an MMORPG that measured up to, if not surpassed, the quality of game play of UO with modern graphics, would you play it?

I know I would, in a heart beat. If he could deliver the same experience that he managed with Ultima Online, I dont think I would ever log off.

 I voted yes, but under the realization that it's not likely to happen.  Richard Garriot is not beholden to the specifc nature of hard knocks Sandbox MMORPGs.  He believes that time of gaming was special, but not for the features of UO.....but because it's what was on the cutting edge of gaming.  He also believes that social networking games is the new cutting edge of gaming.

In a previous interview, he speculated why MMORPGs have gone the way of EQ instead of Ultima Online....but he was mainly talking about an open ended skill based system vs. a class level based system.  Since the name of social networking gaming involves entertainment for the lowest common denominator...I doubt seriously that Richard will be putting any full loot ffa PvP games out anytime soon.

I think you make a bad assomption when you think a social game can't be as good as a mmo. I already played web browser game that were as good as most mmo out there on an overall scale. The tools now are just way more developed than you think. And the kind of content RG is talking about have nothing to do with the medium, it is about design, idea and concepts.

I'm just glad RG is considering this, the interview is very interesting, i wish him all the best in his new project.

I think he wants to take that route because he can't make a 3d AAA game. Easier for him to make another Super Nintendo game.

Lol j/k.

but on a real note. I hope he knows, hes just going to attract abunch of douche bags from facebook who might play it for a week and move on when Farmville 2 releases.

Originally posted by Requiamer

I think you make a bad assomption when you think a social game can't be as good as a mmo. I already played web browser game that were as good as most mmo out there on an overall scale. The tools now are just way more developed than you think. And the kind of content RG is talking about have nothing to do with the medium, it is about design, idea and concepts.

I'm just glad RG is considering this, the interview is very interesting, i wish him all the best in his new project.

 There is a difference between the social game Richard Garriot wants to make, and the social nature of nearly all MMORPGs made to date.

Ultima Online was a game that relied HEAVILY on the social dynamics of having real life players instead of a bunch of NPCs....but is a COMPLETELY different type of social game that Richard is talking about.

For example...

Ultima Online was a game that primarily focused on a player's game experience in a virtual world (filled with a-holes & friendly people alike).  The hardships that players endured caused strangers to band together and form meaningful relationships.  There was social networking present, but the networking occured IN the game, and as a result of some challenge in the game.

What Richard Garriot is talking about is making a game that a network of already established friends can all play together.  In this dynamic, the social interaction already happens outside the game......and the game has to be appealing to the lowest common denominator in a player's network (or group) of friends.  In other words, the game has to have MASS appeal in order to be successful.  Look at games like Farmville, Mafia Wars, etc.  as an example.  These are typically shallow, short cycle game experiences that the majority of a person's social network would be able to play together.

Both examples involves social interaction in a MMORPG.....but the little difference in where the socializing happens has a HUGE effect on what type of game is developed.

Nope.

The man that made UO is not the same man that exists today.  He had accomplished much in the RPG genre and was a pioneer with the MMORPG genre.  But that was then, this is now.

The man I called "Lord British" has been gone for over 10 years now.

Originally posted by JthX

I think he wants to take that route because he can't make a 3d AAA game. Easier for him to make another Super Nintendo game.

Lol j/k.

but on a real note. I hope he knows, hes just going to attract abunch of douche bags from facebook who might play it for a week and move on when Farmville 2 releases.

It is pretty fast and easy money for someone that made the Ultima series actually. I think he does it to get back some self confidence after TR, he will be back to PC gaming again eventually.

As I say  at the time, cheated after Tabula Rasa,  Mr. Richard Garriott is a scammer and I do not want to know anything about him anymore. 

Rest in peace and get drunk in your super-partys pretty boy.

ultima online with 3D unreal engine 3 updated graphics would be nice to play

All said and done , one thing cannot be disputed. Garriot is genius of game design.

If he makes another game - i will surely check it out

Originally posted by JthX

I think he wants to take that route because he can't make a 3d AAA game. Easier for him to make another Super Nintendo game.

Lol j/k.

but on a real note. I hope he knows, hes just going to attract abunch of douche bags from facebook who might play it for a week and move on when Farmville 2 releases.

True. Social games attract mostly ignorami who have the attention span of a moth. They are just attracted to the next shiny thing.