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Stargate Worlds: Goa'Uld Interview
Recently, News Manager Keith Cross had the opportunity to sit down with Kevin Ballentine from Cheyenne Mountain's upcoming MMORPG Stargate Worlds to talk about the Goa'uld.
I recently had the chance to sit down and talk with Kevin Balentine, Public Relations Manager for Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment, where we talked about all things Goa’uld in the upcoming MMORPG, Stargate Worlds. Chances are, if you’re reading this, you’ve watched and enjoyed enough Stargate to know full well who and what the Goa’uld are. Still, for those who aren’t familiar with Stargate or for those who need a refresher, the Goa’uld are snake-like parasites that squirm into a human’s brain stem and take over. They are selfish, evil, and megalomaniacal, with little regard for the lives and rights of others. They were the main villains in the galaxy when Earth rediscovered her stargate and first stepped out into the universe.
At that time, the bulk of our galaxy was controlled by the empires of these flamboyantly dressed parasites who ruled by posing as gods and enslaving the populations of entire worlds. The first eight seasons of SG-1 pretty much charts the downfall of the Goa’uld Empire and their status as supreme gods of the Milky Way.
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In light of the failings of the Goa’uld during this era, the Goa’uld of Stargate Worlds have decided to take a different approach. To start with, like several of the Goa’uld that were still alive late in the series, they’ve decided to drop the whole god act. After so many of their kind were killed by a small band of lowly Tau’ri (Ancient for Earthlings), it’s hard to keep up the charade. Kevin described this new breed of Goa’uld as having learned from the mistakes of their predecessors. Instead of sitting on their thrones issuing orders and bragging about their awesome might while sending minions out to do their dirty work, they’re more willing to go out and do the dirty work themselves. In fact, Kevin revealed that Goa’uld behaving in this manner are the ones that create the circumstances that put the main story of Stargate Worlds into motion, although he couldn’t be more specific about what they are actually up to.
I asked Kevin if this means that the Goa’uld will no longer be making some of their classic blunders, such as capturing the heroes, then going down to the dungeon dressed in the cumbersome garb of an Egyptian God to gloat to their new captives, only to discover that the their prison turns out to be quite easily escapable, and the Goa’uld often ends up getting shot for its arrogance along with many of its minions.
Turns out old habits die hard as Goa’uld may still continue to use some of these tactics, they are megalomaniacs after all. But they won’t be dressed as gods. They’ll still be dressed in outlandish clothing, but Kevin described the fashion statements of these new Goa’uld to be more along the lines of high fashion here on earth, think “Paris runway fashion models gone wild.”
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Many fans, including myself, were surprised and elated when Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment announced that players would be able to play as more than just humans working at the SGC. Players can be Humans, good or bad, Jaffa, free or loyal, Asgard, and of course, a Goa’uld. The Goa’uld’s changes in behavior go deeper than simply learning from the mistakes made while fighting the team on SG-1, these are literally a new breed of brain snakes. They have their own queen, and their own artistic and architectural flavors.
The changes are also a necessary to make the Goa’uld playable, and to take them beyond the realm of villainous NPC’s. It’s hard to have fun posing on a throne all day while you send your minions out to do the fun stuff. Of course the Goa’uld can’t deny their true nature, so even though they’ll be getting their hands dirty, they’ll have plenty of help. That’s because the Goa’uld are the main ‘pet’ class for the bad guys, where ‘pet’ is defined as ‘burly Jaffa with a staff weapon’. You might be wondering why any Jaffa in their right mind would want to follow a Goa’uld since they dropped the god delusion. The answers reside in the Stargate series and established Jaffa behavior. We see time and again in the show that many Jaffa weren’t good people in a bad situation, they were just plain bad people. Many of the still loyal Jaffa follow the Goa’uld because they are powerful, and provide a path to glory in battle.
Aside from providing an overview of what’s going on with the Goa’uld, Kevin also spoke about a few of the things that are still in the works. It has been said before that CME is in regular communication with the producers of the Stargate series, and they get advanced copies of scripts. Kevin mentioned that Co-Executive Producers Brad Wright and Robert Cooper were pleased with many of the ideas that are coming out of Cheyenne Mountain, and we shouldn’t be surprised if we see Goa’uld in future episodes behaving in the manner described above. Even Ba’al, the last remaining system lord of significance dropped the god act a few seasons back. Likewise, we’re told to expect to see some ideas airing one week on Stargate Atlantis or other spinoffs to show up in the game a few weeks later.
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I’ll take the closing line of this article to pass along the PR line Kevin used to describe where they want Stargate Worlds to sit on the Stargate continuum of success. He described the original Stargate movie as a moderate success, calling it a 5 on no particular scale. SG-1 became the longest running American sci-fi series, calling it a 10 on the same scale. Stargate Atlantis has built on the success of SG-1, at times pulling in higher ratings while the shows ran concurrently. He called Atlantis about an 11 or 12. On that scale, Cheyenne Mountain is shooting for Stargate Worlds to be in the range of 15 to 20. They’re still fairly tight lipped on game specifics, but Kevin said to expect the flow of information to begin to increase early in the next year as they prepare for their recently announced fourth quarter 2008 release.
P.S. – I thought it was pretty cool that the Goa’uld you play will be the snake and not tied to a specific host. This means that players will be able to swap hosts. Not sure on the specifics of this mechanic yet, but still wanted to mention it.
Below, please find concept sketches of some Goa'uld architecture and tools: Towers, Tools and Walls respectively:
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Below, please find Earth-based Hangar & Weapons Range Designs, and Military Huts:
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I cannot wait for this game to come out, this could be the next "WoW killer
tired of the usual MMORPG type of games, this will be a refreshing change, plus the fact I am a huge SG-1 fan, love the latest screenshot. 
Woooohooo I can't wait, I'm a huge stargate fan and hopfully it won't go belly up like SWG, and from what i'm hearing it won't.
I hope they are watching Tabula Rasa and won't make the mistakes they made with "fast action combat" in a mmorpg.
Now I am Torn as to which side I would want to start as.
Yea this game looks better and better. Cant wait to see some in game stuff fairly soon, considering the game is do out late next year, though I'd be the first to suggest it'll never make that date lol. Playable Asgard.. I mean damn. How are they gonna keep them from being uber? Will be interesting to see. :D
I'd have to disagree with the guy he interviewed when talking about SG1 being a 10 and Atlantis being an 11 or 12. Maybe an 11 or 12 compared to the last season or two of SG1. But season 1-6 or so, SG1 would be a 20 on that scale. Atlantis sucks in comparison, I'm sorry. But yea, compared to the last season or two (I HATED the Ori story-arc. Nothing better then bringing over-bearingly evil christians into scifi with super powerful weapons and followers that believe 100% that they are good and anyone who doesn't believe is bad and should be killed outright. Ugh.. hated it. I know, not actually christians, but can it be denied that they were JUST like the real hard-core christians?
Love SG-1 and Atlantis, and would like to believe that SGW will be as good as the series. So far this interview sounds like a concept art of a concept art, kinda good looking but too early to say what shape it will be.
Hope to see more details later on.
This is just entirely too cool.
I can't really say anything but what others have said. I'm sitting on needles.
I can only hope that the requirements will not be too high so I can run it on my computer as well.
I followed this game since the day they announced it. I am a huge sg1 and MMO fan....but,
I stopped following it as lead desinger, what's his name, compared it to WoW and how they are basically making a sci fi WoW. To my amazement some have told me I'm wrong about that, yet it was clear to me.
He plays world of warcraft and pointed out how STO will try to improve on WoW's model. He elaborated.
Not to mention it is not bringing back immersion in any way I saw. Admittedly I gave up following it as it made me grumpy.
What is different about this game other then the stargate theme?
It makes me really bummed as if I were making ths game I would take the very exciting possibilities that come with SG and use them to set this game far apart from the clones of clones we have everywhere. Bring back immersion! Instead of us LIVING the life in a stargate world, we will be fighting and leveling.
Anyone notice that korean grinding really has infiltrated the US market? Anyhoo has the game changed any?
The fact that they are still putting Asgard in the game is ridiculous. This already shows that they are deviating from the continuum. All Asgard are dead as of Unending.
And the Goa'uld are few and far between. What of the Ori? What of a tie in with Atlantis. The Wraith? After all, the Intergalactic Gate Network is up and running.
Sadly, I see another SWG where they make up their own stories and do not stick with the original continuum.
Stargate as a whole is awesome based on the endlessness of space exploration much like Star Trek in the sence that space knows no end. Think about the typical Fantasy MMO, you are always gonna have elves and fairies and good and evil. You know what to expect. Where as in Stargate enemies are endless and allies are who you least expect. Over all, I do agree with another post in this dicussion, SGW will be an amazingly fresh MMO with many years of fun!
I was thinking the same thing.. I've been playing CB(closed beta) and I guess allot of people are X-WoW player.. seems like everyone is, me.. I never played WoW so I kant or wont compare anything to it, especially a totally different TYPE of game with whole new features that fit more into this type of field of game play.
AANNYYWHHOO... TB(Tabula Rasa) is a fast pace shooter, 3rd person... like I said, it’s different from WoW but in no way at its current point "good". I've played PlanetSide and NeoCron so it's better to compare it with games almost like it.. given that.. TB has a lloooonnnggggg way to go. Now lets see if SG kan some how break over what TB missed so badly.
This is the main reason behind all this. Its Pay 2 Play and some key factors come in vs F2P games:
* Player housing - Bonks, Houses, Mansions, buyable-furniture, all give a player a semi-home feel and a place to rest ur items when not in use. a quick relief from grinding all day which IMO is just a F2P game. FFXi, and NC did a good job.
* Crafting Systems - that’s actually worth something. Being able to basically make anything in the game if you wanted to and have it turn out better then the shop version. NeoCron aced this ******
* Strong PvP system, not just a PK system - I've never seen PK/Ganking lead more to a games death but a good PvP like Outpost capture or a guild war always works well. Or a "Quake" like map just to go all out.
* Good marketing system - easiest thing, an Auction House. personal stores lag the towns & keep the servers overly full. Dont do it!!! ArchLord did an ok job, FFXI did a good job
* Mounts/Pets - not really a P2P thing as more free mmo's have them but being more diverse with it always helps. like multi-mount (cars, bikes, beasts, etc.. ) NeoCron & PlanetSide did a GREAT job of this.
These are only a few I'd say... able to play music, in-game trading card game, fishing, basically anything to take ur mind off the grind and more on the game its self with a wide variation of features and enjoyment for its gamers.
Will SG be able to pull all this off.. kan TB still pull it off? lets see... i'd like to know/see who's the better game maker.
I think i watched the first SG series but wasn't aware that they were making a game based upon that. I'm certainly interested to see how it turns out.
I wouldn't hold my breath... LOTRO was based upon a popular book/film and imo looked the part but was oh so dull. I think the jury is still out on whether MMO based on TV concepts should be avoided to save disappointment as rule of thumb.
I don't understand why you'd cry about them making a SCI-FI WoW... that would be amazing. Why people begrudge WoW so much is something i don't think i'll ever understand. It was a lot of fun and still is to millions of people above the age of 18 :P
Actually, if a company said just that "We are making a game based around WoW with a few tweeks, better graphics and a different theme, i'd be there!".
I guess i'm the only one who thinks this will be INCREDIBLY difficult to pull off successfully considering the massive amount of hard and fast Licensed Lore they have to conform to. Even more importantly the reason the show was interesting was that each week you tuned in to see the ongoing saga of O'Neil, Carter, Teal'C, and Daniel Jackson. That doesn't exactly translate very well into a mmog other than the standard tired "gofer missions" that they may give you. It's the same reason a Babylon 5 or Battlestar Galactica MMOG would be bad - the tv experience doesn't translate well to MMO. I give it a 25-30% chance of ever being released before they either run out of money and/or the license holders get tired of waiting and pull the license,.
I doubt that this will happen, simply for the fact CME is working closely with the writers of the SG-1 where they are putting their stamps and giving their feedback on what is coming out from CME, they are working closely with MGM, plus the fact they had raise over $30 millions and the lead investor is also on the board.
All sounds very nice and intresting but im not holding my breath hopefully it will be great when its all said and done,