Originally posted by lethys

 Add armies!!  Rawr!  In all honesty though, I think they should implement some sort of competition system, I know that the site features one city every however often, but it seems like every MMO but this is really trying to make me be the best at something....GW makes me try to be best at GvG, WoW tries to make me best at dungeon raiding and gear, EVE tries to make me be the in the most profitable situation I can be in, but there are forms of competition and being the best at things such as combat in that as well.  This game seems to lack that....everybody is just hunky dory in their cities with no real conflict.

 

Add some conflict, maybe the ability to band with other cities to form countries, and also add some violence.  Honestly, cities are made in the first place so that we don't have to be ganged up on by wildlife when we go hunting for berries.  Also, cities are the reason we have armies, to protect our interests in the cities from others.  This game seems to really miss out without some sort of combat, even if it isn't player controlled, but just the playerr has to buy the army's mats with currency or tokens.  Then the most prosperous cities would eventually take over, but since you can't stockpile resources, then new cities that would band up could eventually fight back and get bonuses from the GEMs.  All in all, this seems like such a great MMO.  If the game were anything like what I described, the I would DEFINITELY pay $15 a month to play.

First, not everything needs conflict, carnage, and competition to make it interesting.  One of the less endearing aspect of MMO-gaming = bumping into competition-crazed individuals who are so cutt-throat it takes the fun out of the game...  I think a game that emphasizes creativity and player-driven cooperative achievement would be a REFRESHING change of pace from the endless rat race scurrying so prized by the sheeple....

Also, I'm not sure where you draw your conclusions about the formation of cities, but I imagine most anthropologists would beg to differ with your points.  Warfare and brutal competition between societies almost always DESTROYED settlement and the stable trading relationships necessary for trade centers to flourish.  Cities are specialized centers where division of labor and COOPERATIVE exchange can benefit the whole.  Of course, some of that labor and the resources benefitted by the higher efficiency of a city allows for it to raise and maintain and army/militia, but that isn't the sole reason cities were formed.  Mutual defense and, yes... even aggression, were the aim of many cultures/cities.  But, by and large, cities represent a grouping of individuals who are INTERdependent on each other, versus the independence that warfare and chaos breeds.

While war and competition would provide an interesting dynamic, I don't think you *have* to link both with city building.  People can create just because...  Artists paint or compose music because they want to... yes, some do it to "be the best" or "the most famous" or whatever... but, some of us just want to splash paint on the canvas, have a neighboring artist trade one of our rare colors for one of theirs... no juvenile pissing contests about it...

Originally posted by MustaphaMond

Originally posted by lethys

Also, I'm not sure where you draw your conclusions about the formation of cities, but I imagine most anthropologists would beg to differ with your points.  Warfare and brutal competition between societies almost always DESTROYED settlement and the stable trading relationships necessary for trade centers to flourish.  Cities are specialized centers where division of labor and COOPERATIVE exchange can benefit the whole.  Of course, some of that labor and the resources benefitted by the higher efficiency of a city allows for it to raise and maintain and army/militia, but that isn't the sole reason cities were formed.  Mutual defense and, yes... even aggression, were the aim of many cultures/cities.  But, by and large, cities represent a grouping of individuals who are INTERdependent on each other, versus the independence that warfare and chaos breeds.

I was about to say the same, but you did it so much better

Right, and I wasn't talking about PvP types of "conflict" above either. I know you were referring to him and not me, just wanted to make sure my own post was clear. :)

Well written article.

Not to sound trollish, but I don't get the MMO part of this game.   It seems to me like it's a single-player game with it's online aspects being the ability to trade with others, the ability to "visit" other players' cities, and a leaderboard of some sort.   Obviously there's no combat, so it's like.... competitive modding?

I could see it being fun from a creative standpoint, but I really don't understand the MMO part.   I'm guessing there's no 'teaming' of any kind, which is certainly odd for an MMO.

Originally posted by SwampRob

Well written article.

Not to sound trollish, but I don't get the MMO part of this game.   It seems to me like it's a single-player game with it's online aspects being the ability to trade with others, the ability to "visit" other players' cities, and a leaderboard of some sort.   Obviously there's no combat, so it's like.... competitive modding?

I could see it being fun from a creative standpoint, but I really don't understand the MMO part.   I'm guessing there's no 'teaming' of any kind, which is certainly odd for an MMO.

 

Nope, you don't sound trollish at all, a perfectly common mindset. And in my opinion, that's the mindset that is hampering the MMO genre. We've become so accustomed to the "traditional" type of MMO that most companies aren't willing to try something new, and most players overlook/disregard anyone who does as not really an MMO. It's definitely something we have to get past for this genre to truly grow IMO.

This wouldn't be the first MMO without combat. As for teaming, that's what the trading aspect of the game is at it's core. You have to work with other cities around you to do certain things. Sure, it's definitely more of a cooperative rather than competitive MMO. But at it's core, is it really any different than a "traditional" MMO that doesn't have PvP? You have things you need to do in Cities to progress, like building more office type businesses for your executives to work at. As opposed to questing in a regular MMO. You seek help from other people in Cities to provide the resources you need to progress your city... As opposed to seeking help from other adventurers in a regular MMO to help you complete a quest arc to progress your character.

Originally posted by Kunou

Right, and I wasn't talking about PvP types of "conflict" above either. I know you were referring to him and not me, just wanted to make sure my own post was clear. :)

Very clear, though I can't say as much for my own rambling mess of a post (thanks for the sympathy, broeman... haha).

Still, this is a promising concept.  I've read others express concerns that MC isn't really all about the hardcore aspects of city building, but I'm willing to take a long look at this before passing any judgments.

Thank you for your article (and it is good to see many posters have interest in a game like this).  First game in awhile to make me hope I actually get chosen to beta test it... ^_^

Im interestred in this game, since you are building cities/countries are you able to wage war or are there any forms of politics, pve conflicts that require city leaders to work together?

They hinted at other forms of conpetition/conflict but wouldn't give details. I'm working on getting their CM set up over here with an official account to answer the occasional question for you guys. :)

This game peaked my interests a while back. Frankly, it seems like it could be a much needed breathe of fresh air for the genre.

It'll also be interesting to see how they scale the game as it evolves. I would like to see some form of player driven evolution of technology, potentially leading to space areas, where players can create space based colonies. Also, it would be nice to have some form of warfare in the game that allowed for conventional warfare to take place, alliances to form and politics to become common place.

Hopefully, this game will be as intricate as Eve in this regard, once it has evolved fully.