General Discussion

The last day of E3 has become the day I rushed around trying to catch all the titles I didn't have a chance to check out yet, and to run by if I could, the titles I wanted to see again.

I hadn't found enough time, this year, to visit with SoE the previous two days as I had in the past (shame, shame, I know) to catch up with old friends, meet up with and interview interesting game developers,  receive off-the-cuff comments and such.  Not to mention they have a great slushie machine.

I started off with a meeting with Runestone to talk about their Non-combative MMORPG Seed Online which is a Sci-Fi role-playing game with an interesting concept - players will determine the way the storyline moves.

Then it was a merry-go-round.  Since I was already in West Hall, I visited with Dream Lords - another Nordic product which combined off-line web based development - the accumulation and build of resources such as towns and combat units, and the online, real-time need to defent your towns with your combat units with an RTS feel.

Then it was off to South Hall!  *shudder* Thank goodness I have a haven there in the SoE booth.  To this aging gamer, South Hall has always been too loud, too bright, too many strobe lights, too, too, too.  But that is also where the "big boys" are.  NCSoft with their always fantastic booth together with stage and fire-eating band - loud, but always a treat, EA, Funcom, and SoE - my much-appreciated haven from the crowd and the noise.

I swung round the NCSoft booth, chatting with developers, watching the upcoming games, getting some hands on where I could, turning down the XXL tee-shirts and picking up information I could use later. Aion graphics looked quite marvelous with some lovely environmental graphics, and for those who love the genre - Exteel will put you back in a Mech, but this time, against other online players. 

I saw a bit of Dungeon Runners and when discussing it with Jon Wood, he came up with the perfect description of it.  "Wheeee!  Hack!  Slash!  Wheeee!"  It is indeed a game which looks like it could be a lot of fun to jump into from time to time.  Given that it is a free to try / free to play model, players might want to give it a try when it is released.

Then it was time to retreat to the SoE booth where I gratefully sat down with a slushie and a plate of salad with devs and community managers to chat and kibitz about their games and games in general.

SoE's Platform publishing arm - as many know, has taken on Sigil's Vanguard:Saga of Heroes. But how many have been following Perpetual's God and Heroes:Rome Rising?

This game looks... fine.  It was interesting that I was reading the May issue of Develop which I picked up at the free magazines section of E3 the night before and one of the articles was about the animation flaws that, as the author Caleb Lowe stated, destroyed "the immersive potential of a popular genre..." Caleb was talking about the FPS genre, but his statement applies equally to the MMORPG genre.

In most MMORPGs, the player avatar or NPC you are fighting barely flinches when your sword hits it.  The most you might see is the gratitious spray of blood.  Gods and Heros:Rome Rising, has changed all this.  Stieg Hedlund, Lead Game Designer at Perpetual was proud to show off this "Reaction Animation System" where every action had a reaction. 

Strike your opponent in the thigh, and he stumbles before recovering.  An arrow to the shoulder, he reels back clutching at it.  When asked for my opinion of it, I summed it up in one word... "Preeeeeety!"  before going into more as we discussed the various games at dinner.

Whew... this may be my longest blog entry yet, as I also checked out Webzen's Huxley and had some hands on time with SUN.  Both which looked also to have excellent graphics systems.  But not to steal anyone's thunder or tease before Dana has had a chance to publish my fellow writer's articles, Carolyn "Sylvene" Koh calling it a day for E3 2006.  Keep your bookmark on MMORPG.com for all the follow-up articles to come!

Yeah mutant is right, the site is at: http://www.seedthegame.com/

Some juicy info here, I didn’t know most of the titles you mentioned Sylvene. What perked my interest the most was Exteel, I watched the awesome lengthy trailer at Game Trailers, but the game play seemed like it could get repetitive. I don't know I'll have to try it to be sure.

Aion has the most elegant artwork I have ever seen. It reminded me of old Squaresoft concept art from the late 90's. The concept artist must have been a fan no doubt. I'm really interested in the way the world will change via player interaction. On a level it sounds an awful like RF Online’s current system with the mines and how guilds can work together to change the game world. Again, must wait until retail. The Ultimate PvPvE MMORPG slogan is clever. It makes it sound like the player will be fighting other players and the environment at the same time.

The animations in Gods & Heroes is excellent! I browsed through the site and what impressed me the most, apart from the web design, was the squad combat. They had a group of melee characters charge while their archers filed a hail of arrows - looked like fun. Well, for the ones attacking anyway. From reading in the forums it sounds like they will have intricate minion management functionalities imitating real life. You have to keep their morale up. This games stability worries me a little since this title was slated for release September last year. Now, on the forums members are guessing at a release in December this year or July next year. I hope everything works out for Perpetual.

Thanks for all the cool info Sylvene. You guys must be workin' over time. Have a wonderful weekend.

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Originally posted by mutantmagnet
The seedonline link is wrong. I don't think the typical MMORPG players are into gardening as much as I am :D

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