ea being in charge along with walton's comments about solo content and making the ui and game easy enough for wowtards does not give me warm fuzzy feelings... /pass

Found a very interesting snippet in the recent GDC interview on GameSpy. On page 2 we read:

That's the goal we're aspiring to with emotion, making people feel something, like they care about their squad mates, they feel a sense of awe at the discovery of new worlds, they feel pride [toward their] progression, or visceral fear in combat.

Two terms are interesting: "squad mates" and "new worlds". Well, you can of course discuss, whether this statement should be interpreted literally (or whether it just refers to Mass Effect), but like me this sounds clearly like a sci-fi game.

Originally posted by Teiraa

Found a very interesting snippet in the recent GDC interview on GameSpy. On page 2 we read:

That's the goal we're aspiring to with emotion, making people feel something, like they care about their squad mates, they feel a sense of awe at the discovery of new worlds, they feel pride [toward their] progression, or visceral fear in combat.

Two terms are interesting: "squad mates" and "new worlds". Well, you can of course discuss, whether this statement should be interpreted literally, but like me this sounds clearly like a sci-fi game.

Thanks Teiraa :) I agree it's not at all conclusive or anything but... hey I'd love if it were MASS EFFECT or pretty much any other Sci-Fi.  The genre hasn't been done to well in games... that includes HALO.  It's popular, but I'm not too sure why... ah well I was really hoping they'd dish some info at GDC.. maybe at E3.

Originally posted by Teiraa

Found a very interesting snippet in the recent GDC interview on GameSpy. On page 2 we read:

That's the goal we're aspiring to with emotion, making people feel something, like they care about their squad mates, they feel a sense of awe at the discovery of new worlds, they feel pride [toward their] progression, or visceral fear in combat.

Two terms are interesting: "squad mates" and "new worlds". Well, you can of course discuss, whether this statement should be interpreted literally (or whether it just refers to Mass Effect), but like me this sounds clearly like a sci-fi game.

But I do have to say I hope thier MMO is sci fi. I am a little tired of standard Sword/Elf/Dragon Fantasy settings. Gimmie a Pistol, a junky patchwork ship and a galaxy full of credits ready for the taking!

Originally posted by DeaconX

Originally posted by Teiraa

Found a very interesting snippet in the recent GDC interview on GameSpy. On page 2 we read:

That's the goal we're aspiring to with emotion, making people feel something, like they care about their squad mates, they feel a sense of awe at the discovery of new worlds, they feel pride [toward their] progression, or visceral fear in combat.

Two terms are interesting: "squad mates" and "new worlds". Well, you can of course discuss, whether this statement should be interpreted literally, but like me this sounds clearly like a sci-fi game.

Thanks Teiraa :) I agree it's not at all conclusive or anything but... hey I'd love if it were MASS EFFECT or pretty much any other Sci-Fi.  The genre hasn't been done to well in games... that includes HALO.  It's popular, but I'm not too sure why... ah well I was really hoping they'd dish some info at GDC.. maybe at E3.

My hope is Bioware makes a sci fi MMO. They did an awesome job with KOTOR and ME. All they have to do is apply that to thier MMO and maybe people won't fear giving Sci Fi a try...

Originally posted by fyerwall

 

Gimmie a Pistol, a junky patchwork ship and a galaxy full of credits ready for the taking!

Can i have a lightsaber instead of the pistol?

Plsssssssss?? ;)

SteamBase Real Time Event Processing Platform being used by BioWare for the MMORPG... not a new fact, but has anyone read up about it and what it can do? That in itself tells us the kinds of things the BioWare MMORPG could be capable of.

Steam Base site: http://www.streambase.com/solutions-onlinegaming.htm

From the site:

Interest Management: In order to provide a premiere game experience, each player’s actions must be unique and self selecting. What they do, who they interact with, what they accomplish, when, and in what order, must be their choice at as fine a granularity as possible. Systems must be able to keep up with the myriad detail and crushing data deluge whether there are 50 or 50,000 simultaneous players. StreamBase can assist with load leveling to manage these wide variations from launch throughout the lifespan of the game.

Real-Time Metrics: Monitor and manage game metrics in real time. Track each player’s movements and actions, and their interactions with others and the game environment. StreamBase can monitor for unexpected outcomes, manage or eliminate undesirable behaviors -- ensuring that players always have the premium experience they expect, and can help developers understand behavior patterns and plan future enhancements.

Managing User-Generated Content: In-game communications, avatars, and other user-generated content are a highlight of many games. But user-generated content must be closely monitored to maintain game quality. StreamBase can react in realtime, sending alerts or triggering an automatic response per developer preference.

-- Doesn't mean these things WILL be in the MMORPG, but could be...

From: http://vault.ign.com/fullstory.php?id=28031

With StreamBase, BioWare has gained instant intelligence into handling large numbers of player interactions and events within its MMO environment. As a result, BioWare is able to deliver a gaming experience unlike anything the industry has seen before. Through its use of StreamBase, BioWare is able to monitor the game environment in real time and immediately offer fixes for any game oddities, and to identify and react to malicious player behavior in real time to ensure game integrity. In addition, StreamBase’s graphical “point & click” development environment has enabled BioWare to achieve design and implementation times which are orders of magnitude shorter than traditional custom coding, and with fewer errors. This frees their programmers and game developers to concentrate on delivering the best possible stories and characters and to expertly extend their vision to the world of Massive Multiplayer Online gaming without worrying about the underlying infrastructure performance and scalability.

“StreamBase is designed to process enormous amounts of real-time information at blindingly fast speeds, making it an ideal platform for delivering a rich online gaming experience for thousands of players simultaneously,” said Barry Morris, Chairman and CEO of StreamBase. “BioWare’s MMO gaming initiative is an excellent example of the many kinds of real-time applications that can take advantage of the rapid time-to-value our CEP software offers.”

-- Should at LEAST mean no gold sellers annoying people in game...

Possible Star Wars KOTOR MMO Evidence Surfaces

http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3166834

Today, a tipster contacted 1UP with portions of a script for what was said to be a "Star Wars online" game. The script's description of the game reads:

"This is a role-playing game set in the historical past of the Star Wars universe. Jedi and Sith battle across the galaxy with the power of the Force and are joined by soldiers, politicians and nobles. Players must choose the destinies of heroes and villains in a thrilling and dangerous universe."

Follow Link For the rest...

Ohh yeah, I saw this today. Just a matter of time, now.

http://www.tomsgames.com/us/site/flash_videos/second_take_the_top_5_games_to_make_into_mmos.html

Even the guys at TomsHardware are takin very serious the rumor of KOTOR ONLINE, actually, they hype-it...

Hey thanks for that!

Well thats great. Seeing as they said this was heavy in dialog that would be a new for the MMO world. A true story driven game with dialog that will make you love MMO's again. Bioware, EA, letz do this u need a tester hit me up im all about KOTOR.

 This report came soon after the presentation leaked:

Addressing the alleged sequels to BioWare's Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Criterion's Black, publisher Electronic Arts has clarified that such products are not necessarily under development at this time.

Reports of the titles emerged yesterday, after a slide (pictured left) presented to analysts by EA CEO John Riccitiello suggested that future KOTOR and Black projects were underway at the EA-owned studios.

"The slide in John's presentation is titled 'Best Creative Talent'--it addresses future and past titles," EA told Shacknews. "KOTOR, Black, Boogie, Skate and some other titles on the slide speak to past portfolio releases and the pedigree of the studio but do not specifically address future sequels."

---But I donno, I just don't buy it...

reposting this in the rumor thread from http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/post/1911022/thread/172108#1911022:

Here's a new rumor: I was watching the dvd of the show firefly (serenity movie) the other day, and in the extras, the show's main producer says something about having a new medium to tell the story of his show, so he isn't too upset about it having been cancelled.. he perhaps was referring to the movie.. though other interviews mention the movie directly, and not "another medium".  So that got me thinking.. since firefly's world would make a great setting for a sci-fi space mmo.  Watch the 2 hour pilot episode of the show to get a feel for the world and its potential. As for timeline, it'd possibly be after the events of the movie, where the bad guys are hurt but not defeated, leaving room for epic conflict and story lines.

Is an mmo the 'new medium' of firefly?  Is Bioware's secrecy about their upcoming mmo related?  I believe there are rumors a plenty about it being sci-fi anyway.

And I just found out that there is a pen and paper role playing game based off it, with your typical dice rules etc.. easy to transfer to mmo?

Show info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firefly_(TV_series)

RP Game: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serenity_%28role-playing_game%29

Edit:

Oh look at that, I wasnt to far off track:

On December 7, 2006, The Multiverse Network announced that it had obtained the rights from Twentieth Century Fox to develop a massively multiplayer online game based on the series, which is currently scheduled for release in 2008.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiverse_Network

Anyone know of any relation between Multiverse and Bioware/EA?

randomt,

m8, tbh, if that was the project do you see any reason at all to have all the secrecy we face now?

so, i doubt this is Bioware project

Originally posted by randomt

reposting this in the rumor thread from http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/post/1911022/thread/172108#1911022:

 

Here's a new rumor: I was watching the dvd of the show firefly (serenity movie) the other day, and in the extras, the show's main producer says something about having a new medium to tell the story of his show, so he isn't too upset about it having been cancelled.. he perhaps was referring to the movie.. though other interviews mention the movie directly, and not "another medium".  So that got me thinking.. since firefly's world would make a great setting for a sci-fi space mmo.  Watch the 2 hour pilot episode of the show to get a feel for the world and its potential. As for timeline, it'd possibly be after the events of the movie, where the bad guys are hurt but not defeated, leaving room for epic conflict and story lines.

Is an mmo the 'new medium' of firefly?  Is Bioware's secrecy about their upcoming mmo related?  I believe there are rumors a plenty about it being sci-fi anyway.

 

And I just found out that there is a pen and paper role playing game based off it, with your typical dice rules etc.. easy to transfer to mmo?

Show info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firefly_(TV_series)

RP Game: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serenity_%28role-playing_game%29

Edit:

 

Oh look at that, I wasnt to far off track:

On December 7, 2006, The Multiverse Network announced that it had obtained the rights from Twentieth Century Fox to develop a massively multiplayer online game based on the series, which is currently scheduled for release in 2008.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiverse_Network

Anyone know of any relation between Multiverse and Bioware/EA?

I'd expect the Joss Whedon fans (there's a HUGE following from Buffy/Angel/SerenityXmen comics) would have been all over this but it's an interesting theory.

The Firefly MMO has already been announced.  There's even an official forum for it over on the Multiverse website.  It is not going to be developed by Bioware and as far as I know no developer company has even picked it up yet.

Plus it's on the Multiverse GFX engine which... looks like shit.  Honestly, I've never seen a Multiverse engine pic that looked any good. 

All this talk about "business end speculation" is (to me) absurd.

Look at how much buzz there is about a new SW MMO.  There must be a million topics on the web about a new SW MMO every day.

Think about this logically folks.  We all know there is only one IP that can topple WoW's success - Star Wars.  Even Conan can't do it on IP alone.  Star Trek MIGHT have been able to, but that hope is lost.  Stargate won't do it.  In order to topple WoW's success, you need an IP that can sell something by name alone - Star Wars can and has done that for almost 40 years now.  What do you need to make a great MMO based off of Star Wars?  Three things:

1. LucasArts' permission for the liscense.
2. A great developer who knows how to make a great game - Bioware.
3. Money - This is where EA comes in.  EA has money and lot's of it.

The peices are set folks.  It has been confirmed that LA and Bioware are making an MMO together, and yes, it's been confirmed that it is Sci-Fi themed.  Lucasarts wouldn't waste an opportunity for free advertising.  Everytime a thread is created about Bioware making a new SW MMO is advertising - the best money doesn't have to buy - rumors and gossip.  They would be fools to let this buzz die off.

The ONE thing we have to look forward to a crappy game out of this ordeal, is it will financially break EA, thereby giving freedom to developers around the world once again.  They will have no choice but to sell all those exclusive liscenses.  Though, the good news is - if it doesn't sway that way, we have nothing to look forward to but possibly the greatest MMO experience ever conceived.  FINALLY!  The gamers will win either way.

I really, really hope the next Star Wars MMO isn't KOTOR and doesn't force me into the role of a force sensitive.  I'd much rather have the next Star Wars MMO based off of Dark Horse's Legacy series.

BioWare keeping it as a Top Secret project due to still life StarWarsGalaxies.

Imagine if they will announce that they are indeed working on a new SW MMO and it will be released somewhere in 2009. That woul dbeen total destruction of SWG. So SWG still have 1 year to suck money from players, well atleast what left of them.