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General : Red 5 Studios Finally Reveals Its MMO
Posted Sep 03, 2010 by Suzie Ford
Red 5 Studios has been working on an unnamed title for several years and have finally revealed the name and type of MMO it will be. The game is an action, team-based shooter called Firefall. Firefall will be a free-to-play title with a microtransaction system in place for players choosing to utilize it. According to devs, the game will "thrust hundreds of players together into a lush, dynamic open world combining intense competitive multiplayer and large-scale cooperative gameplay."
Two of Red 5's 'big name' developers are former World of Warcraft team lead Mark Kern and Tribes lead designer Scott Youngblood.
CEO and Chief Creative Officer Mark Kern, a former team lead for World of Warcraft, says the project is a result of wanting to do something radically different. "I wanted to take the best of what I learned making online games and bring that to skill-based shooters,"he says.
Read more at Gamasutra.
Not bad looking imho. Will prolly keep an eye out for it
Looks pretty unimpressive to me, another generic lobby based shooter perhaps? If that's the case, it's going to fail just like all the other ones that have come before it. Even if it's not a lobby based game, that game play didn't seem to offer anything all that interesting. It's like... Tribes and Borderlands together, that's... Cool, I guess?
Looks like s lot of fun, lets see how it turns out in operation.
The video at the link was VERY impressive. I'm definitely keeping an eye on this one. (assuming the cash shop doesn't suck bawls)
Competitive multiplayer and microtransactions in the same sentence? Okay...
Wow, anymore I feel like nobody wants me to play their games =/
That looks...really awesome.
Simply looks amazing.
I'm afraid of the microtransactions model though.
looks good
I don't know where you got the idea it might be lobby based. That looked pretty much like an open world to me during the fly over with the ship. You could see that a lot of action was happening on the ground. I was impressed at how the "Chosen" or what ever they are called were attacking the town and think that is something alot of current mmos are missing.
I just hope they can get a good balance between mmo and fps. Tired of these games comming out with good fps combat but shallow mmo leveling systems or vice versa.
looks awesome
I thought it looked really fun. Loved the look and feel to it
Pretty impressive. Nice visuals and the action looks fun. As long as it has good character customization and progression it could be awesome.
Someone called it a lobby game, but it certainly looked open world to me based on the flyover.
I'll keep my eye on this one.
Yay.
Battlefield 2 with a larger world map.
PvP centric, yet it has a cash shop.
And I highly doubt there will be anything close to resembling "rpg" for them to tack on to the end of their "mmo", but it will be listed here just like every other non-mmorpg on this site.
Color me unimpressed.
To bad its a micro transaction based game, In one door and out the other. Oh well I putting my thoughts on rift.
OMG Scott Youngblood from TRIBES. Tribes is my all time favorite multiplayer shooter game ever. There is no other shooter game like it. I'm going to keep my eye on this one.
Tribes was awesome and ahead of its time, of course just because he worked on tribes doesn't mean the game will be tribes redux... but one can always hope right up until the soul crushing beta starts.
Yeah, don't forget to throw in a vague hint of TF2 with the artistic style too.
Honestly, Global Agenda will be a hell of a lot cheaper overall, considering its just buy-to-play... and thats what I'll play loooong before I play this...
Graphic look crappy but man... just seeing the fight in the town just gave me the itch to play haha. It's more fun when you're no where safe... Now just add pvp to this and you got a damn nice gameplay game.
You also nich the game from the start. Especially if its forced PvP. Lets see how this works out.
Alright, I'm confuse on the word "nich" ahha I've heard it alot but wtf does it mean :P
niche refers to only appeling to certain players and their playstyles like Darkfall for example is to those that enjoy full loot non faction based pvp type of game.
A "niche" game is one where it is made for a very small portion of the market. WoW is not a niche game, while Darkfall is an extremely niche game, for example.
It all depends on what is sold in the cash shop if its just stuff like cosmetics and xp items and pots I dont see a problem.In case you didnt know Global Agenda is beyond b2p now they are selling double xp and token boost packs now in 10,30 and 90 day time increments, of which the 30 day ones are 15 dollars.http://www.massively.com/2010/09/03/doubling-season-comes-to-global-agenda/
Imo I dont really care for GA this looks more interesting to me but hey to each his own
How is this a MMO though? looks to be only a Online Shooter.
Feel me in please.
" According to devs, the game will "thrust hundreds of players together into a lush, dynamic open world combining intense competitive multiplayer and large-scale cooperative gameplay." "
In case you didnt bother to read the article.Seems to be mmo enough for me it all remains to be seen tho.
It means that its attractive to only a smaller number of the player base. Forced PvP doesn't go over nearly as well in the west, as it does in Asia.
can't wait to see it perform!
I'm sure the Chinese studio buying them out had something to do with the microtransaction bent, as Asian games rarely adopt the subscription model anymore.
Making a PvP game fully cash shop based and still retaining the balance between the rich and poor is challenging to say the least, but it is doable.
Don't throw the baby out with the bath water just yet. If nothing else, they'll probably make a subscription based cash "item" that will even the balance.
Well, there could be multiple world, similar to Wow atm. Where some are full pvp and other are just "area" pvp or even instaced pvp... It's a ~3rdPS so it fit extremely well in pvp ahha :)
Resembles Global Agenda a bit .... i like that ... gonne keep an eye on this one.
A shooter?! Blah.... zero interest.
I usually dont get hyped by new MMO announcements but this looks awesome!
Finally a new MMO to look forward to, maybe there wil be atleast 1 intersting MMO coming out in 2011 :)
I'm sorry, but the concept of a PVE-based shooter sounds utterly unappealing to me. In fact, that would be the ultimate niche: Shooters are usually PVP-based games by tradition.
That gameplay video looks really good to me, though I have to say MT in a competitive game does sound potentially disastrous.
god. i sure hope it has no RPG elements.
please god, let it have no RPG nonsense hampering and crapping up the gameplay.
Alot of similarities to GA.
Will keep an eye on it.
being a shooter (sure HOPE its just a shooter) has nothing to do with how massively multiplayer (or not) it will be.
not aware of Planetside? altho IMO, thats a poor shooter (even moreso, poor, extremely unimmersive "world"), it still is a shooter. with unfortunate RPG elements strapped on.
yeah yeah, somebody start up a proper MMOShooter site so the majority of people here won't be so confused by all the action MMOs that are coming out and on the way. i know its hard to break things down into seperate parts for most people.
Wow I love how something comes out of the wood that is unique and interesting.
Original graphics/art direction, love the tight designs of the mining instrument and it being carried through to the final town. The gameplay was exceptional, sorry but how can you compare this to Global Agenda.
If this is the first glimpse of this game and it looks exceptional fine tuned and finished then I trust Red 5 to truly impress.
Sic!
Looks fantastic. Count me in.
I just wants to shoots stuff. That other stuff is too hard.
lol cuz RPGs are so hard. thats why 80 year old grandmas have multiple level 80 toons.
this isn't opposite day here, use that line when it IS.
the only question i care about is:
how do they plan to counter helios? no pvp?
To me this looks like what Global Agenda should have been at Launch. Can`t wait to get my hands on it.
What a let down. A team based shooter as if there are not enough of them already. I would not touch this game with a 10 foot pole. Microtransactions will kill it, guarenteed.
Wow - they made a Borderlands Online .... I think I will wait for the realy MMO Version of Borderlands (and I am sure that they working on such a game ;)).
It looks really like a Borderlands Clone. The graphics, the UI - the items with this little colored line over it ... *g*
Impressive - not ^^
OMG an orginal looking MMO with a persistant world, objective oriented gameplay, where pve has a point ?! I want see more of this.
I may actually forgive them microtransactons if it is any close to Tribes massive pvp experience and has some deepth.
Well it looks interesting, i really like the art style of the game , as long as they do not turn it into some item utilization cluster fuck like alot of the traditional mmo's out now i will be very happy.
Welcome Home
Rev
that looked very well done. And even if its shallow, so what - its f2p. Microtransactions wont kill it, it will make playable for most people who would otherwise not be inclined to pay a sub for a game like this. When I play a shooter with a monthly fee I am thinking "why should I continue paying for this when I can play Teamfortress2 for free?" Looking at you APB.
*edit: oh and the guy right above me has the exact same join date and nearly the same number of posts as me. Far-out man.
Just because they describe something that resembles an MMO dosen't make it one. Star Trek Online claims to be an MMO but everyone who plays it knows that it is a single person shooter most of the time and far from being an MMO, well atleast in the real world.
looks nice sounds nice, but all new games are the best thing since sliced bread until they are released, plus shooter type mmo's do not have good track record, will have to wait and see, I will most likely give it a look at least..
As oppose to what? The team based melee/shooters we call MMOs now? Whatever. Anyway this looks to be the union of mmo and shooter I've been looking for. APB and Global Agenda didn't do it for me and CO was too zoned for my liking. I just pray the cash shop is cosmetic based and doesn't limit the player base to certain zones.
I always loved stylized graphics over plolygons (plastic + polygons) any day of the week. Not saying I won't enjoy a good plolygon mmo every now and then, but stylized graphics have a certain aire of charm to them. Especially when the world and locals flow together as nicely as they did in that HD video!
Come on Red 5 Studios! Don't let the paper pushers screw up your vision!
Looks interesting, I hope they go full out shooter however, like some other people noted.
With only minimal RPG elements tacked on, storyline being an exception if they do it well.
The video looks good. As always time will tell.
so, large scale battles or just another 16 vs.16 lobby shooter with cash shop?
I've never been much of a shooter fan (I suck at them usually) but that HD looked impressive with the exception of the canned voices. I'll keep my radar on this one but I'm still waiting for someone to come up with a nice blend of MMO, RPG, & Shooter in an open, immersive world (lots of exploration) based on a deep, detailed storyline with a nice mix of PvE, PvP, crafting (alternate advancement oppurtunities) and fluff (with well thoughtout housing), extensive character customization, a player-driven economy, and a hardcore death penalty. Ah well, one can always dream.
They aren't "Beyond B2P", its nothing more than a bit of convenience, and considering you just said you wouldn't see a problem with XP boosters, I don't see how this is a sudden negative toward GA.
And true, it depends completely upon whats in the cash shop, but I'm doubting it'll be restricted to cosmetics, as no F2P MMO, no matter how much of a PvP side it has, wouldn't sell stat boosters and the like, at least from what I've seen so far.
Besides, nothings worse than WoW, or EQ2 now as well, $25 mount...
I'm glad you qualified that. The idea of a FFA PvP game IS totally unappealing to *me*. If you look at the modern western demographics, I'm hardly alone. What I really enjoyed about the late departed Tabula Rasa was its PvE shooter aspects.
The funny part of this is that I still to this day enjoy some FPS games(the Quake, and Unreal series). But I'm totally turned off by forced PvP in an MMO. There is just too much leeway for gankers and griefers to ruin other peoples play experience.
Hardly that new or enterprising. They are just jumping on the band wagon that most people haven't realised has started yet. I knew from their website and silly, community-happy terms like "the Tribe" that they would produce something that is fashionable. F2P and online shooter... lol. So innovative, yawn. How about a REAL sandbox? No one has done that yet. But I suppose every one wants the easy money and I can guarantee you these guys are seeing that genre as the new blockbuster success. These guys only do products that lends itself to polish, which means restriction, expect a lot of it.
F2P and judging by the companies struggles,there was not much expectations from within.
The 9 gave the m20 mil to save the project which would have died for sure.Personally i am not much for open world FPS action,it works great for army/military combat but for a normal FPS,it works best in the Unreal/Quake setup of inside controlled maps.I guess you can't jump on the MMO bandwagon unless you have the open air fighting,as closed in factory type maps are best with say 12 max players.
They need the MMO stigma to fule their micro transactions,but imo forcing peopel to out spend the other guy to have the best chance at PVP is NOT the way to go.
This type of genre will never surpass the unreal/quake setup where you can get a free game engine and tools and a great action fps game,that require NO extra spending and years of enjoyment/gameplay.
I was actually a bit psyched about this, but then I read the part about microtransactions :(
I'm on the same boat with you all. When I hear a game has Microtransactions I cringe. Perhaps the ideal balance of vanity items for sale vs power changing items will be found one day, but until a company has tons of fans telling me it's game is completely focused on personal investment to achieve goals, and that microtransactions are exclusively for vanity items, I will be leery of it.
TRIBES
Why everybody left blizzard creating their own studios?
So far I don't see much success from any of these ex-blizzard employees. Might be that the real talent stayed at Blizzard.
actually people can compare this to Global Agenda
"We also added another level designer in the form of Stephen O. With his extensive background in shooters, most recently Global Agenda, Stephen humbles us all with his expertise."
Most likely this.
They weren't getting the big bucks or credit, so they figured they'd leave, drop Blizzard and a few games in their applications, and use the money for themselves.
in the gameing or the entertainment industry in general people change jobs all the time.. blizzard is just one of the bigger names with a very big game. so when some people that could be from that game change and go somewhere else its noticed. Plus someone from a large company like blizzard starting there own studio would have a bit more credibility going in as to knowng what there doing than someone would leaving a smaller company. Even if there skills are equal
It's not that I hate cell shading at large but
1- I hate black outlines... they always come out all jagged... they are always applied to certain things but not others... it rarely emulates an illustration. More often then not it looks like someone drew a jaggedy black outline around a computer graphic with a sharpie.
2- I find it fits the cartoony style of games like Evil Genius, Tales of Vesperia, Wind Waker, Team Fortress and Battlefield Heroes better, all good but rare examples good cell shading.
3- It's rarely well implemented... too often it looks like a cheap cellshader plugin with very jagged shadow zones and not very artistic. Examples are, well this game so far, Champions Online, Jet Set Radio, Borderlands... those guys are getting it wrong.
Otherwise the game itself looks fun.
Ok I must be missing something cause I don't see where I can view anything to see what everyone is commenting on. :(
on the gamasutra link there is a gameplay video highlighted in green in the very first paragraph that shows a video dun!!!!
dont worry i missed it the first time two lol
Cool thanks don't know how I missed it found all the others. lol
Kinda looks cool. Not my kind of game but bet my son would like it.
And when you learn what an "rpg" game really is, you let me know. I can always tell the people who are not rpg fans, as they are the first to try to use the "any game you play is an rpg 'cause you control a character" argument. They're the same idiots that label Grand Theft Auto IV as an rpg.
M- well sry but hundreds of people together in a dynamic open world sounds massive enough to me to qualify for the 1st M ( sounds more massive than the single player shooter you describe or any of the 8vs8 or 16vs16 usual suspects).
M- multiplayer yep,that covers the other M.
O- online check that covers the O anything missing?
G- guess we can throw in game because thats what it is and seems like a certain amount want to leave out the RP,thats fine by me I am still onboard.
So let me take a guess here when you play a game that you consider to be an"rpg" lets say POTBS hypothetically speaking,do you dress up as a pirate and make a model pirate ship out of a cardboard box and put your computer chair in the center of it and break out your handy pirate thesaurus/dictionary to make sure you get the slang right as you play?
It looks like a lot of fun
Looks really fun.
Tribes was the best.
On the other hand the micro transaction model in a shooter has me worried.
So let me take a guess here, you sit alone in your basement sucking down Cheetos and Mountain Dew while typing"WTFBBQPWNED N00B!" when you manage to headshot a newbie in Counterstike before getting out the vaseline and the tissue paper to play with your girlfriend Rosie Palm? Amirite?
Well played hehe, Touche' dear sir Touche'
looks okay, perhaps even fun... but game will fail
I just make a quote from the official forums Q&A
Is Firefall an MMO?
No. Firefall is first and foremost an action shooter. We incorporated a lot of elements that you might find in various genres, including MMOs, but it is not an MMO in the traditional sense.
;P
I Shall be playing this game.
To be honest when you think that the studio almost went bankrupt I'm not surprised they are making such a eastern-gamer favouring style of gameplay, this title could well be a perfect start for them in the eastern markets even if it totally bombs in the west, & that might be what the company needs to secure enough capital to bring out a more western flavoured MMO's more in line with what the western markets want, or at the least fund development of the title so they can flesh it out enough to appeal to the western audience.
It will hinge on how well it goes down in Asia I think.
Looks awesome. Well worth the wait.
However not all too original, Halo, StarCraft, Starship Troopers, Tribes, with a little bit of Dune thrown in for good mesure, all put together and made as an MMO. But still on a huge epic scale and full of all kinds of badass. Also just looks better then most everything else out there right now in the F2P market.
This and Vindictus could finally make F2P shine.
Let's just hope the micro transactions thing doesn't screw it up.
Problem is the vast majority don't want to pay to play shooters, so how do they expect to finance this game? I doubt that box sales will do it, unless it is really good. As everyone can see just making a good shooter does not solve the fiscal issues, as APB can attest.
You can't just make a great game these days, you have to come up with a revenue model that works that the gaming base will accept too.
I think only about 5% of the people posting here actually watched the gameplay video.
some people are calling it "another lobby shooter" but if they had watched the video, it's clearly an open world and maybe seamless. When i read the artical I wasn't impressed by any means but as soon as I watched the video I got super pumped for this one.
Micro transactions make me shudder.
It shows so much promisse i'm kinda sad it's not going to be a proper MMO but more like a mission game.
Actually you don't see anything that shows it will be seamless, it might just be a big instanced area for that group.
My bet is something along the lines of Diablo.
That's why I said "maybe seamless" I never said it would be. Also they say it will be open world.
"According to devs, the game will "thrust hundreds of players together into a lush, dynamic open world"
To me, that doesn't sound like a big instanced area for one group.
Honestly they don't say how big the world is in the first place. For all we know the size could be equivalent to the size of a college for all we know. It doesn't matter if the world is "seemless" if its only as big as a Naxxramas or Ulduar, minus the warps, for instance.
And they are saying hundreds, which either means they have some LOOOOOW expectations for the game, or that it will be a lobby/instance based game.
They refuse to explain right now, far as I've seen at least, because they want you to go "OOOOO open world!" and ignore the rest.
I hope you had the same observations for APB because that was only 100 in a not very large world and Champions Online is only 100 per server.And hey I even wonder if you would even fit or see 100's of players in one of AoC's instanced zones.
According to devs, the game will "thrust hundreds of players together into a lush, dynamic open world combining intense competitive multiplayer and large-scale cooperative gameplay." I kinda doubt from their statement that they are planning on 100's of people in large-scale co-operative game play being shoved into a sardine can.
You claim they refuse to explain right now hehe come on the info was just released and your picking it apart like you want to find fault I am sure more info will come later jeesh people act like they are trying to get them to run out right now and purchase it or something
And I hope you know enough to actually read what I said, instead of some horrible attempt at sarcasm or wit, because I listed no other MMO as an example, just sizes of an area.
And I don't need to pick it apart to find fault with the game, the fact they want to bill themselves as a pvp game, yet include an item mall is fault enough.
I did read what you said but I doubt you read what I said because I didnt say you listed any other MMO as an example I listed them as an example it wasnt a attempt at sarcasm or a witty comment.And for one most every f2p shooter game has some sort of cash shop(and it is yet to be seen what will be in it) even GA has one now even tho its labeled a subscription. It is being billed as a f2p game not a b2p one so it needs funding somehow
That didn't look like a lobby shooter as some people are saying. That looked like an open world. It also looked better than a lot of the garbage being released lately. I dunno if I like the ftp model and micro transactions - I'll have to wait and see before making a call on this one.
I see a lot of people are already hyped over this but for me it just didn't do it.
First: I've never been a fan of the cell shaded look. What was worse was the characters were like this but not the landscape so it didn't mesh well together at all.
Second: I hate shooters that have a third person option. To me a shooter should be focused around your ability to aim and know your surroundings while in first person. Third person takes away the skill of aiming and let's you easily cover your back without having a clue of what is going on.
Third: And possible the most important fact people have mentioned, a shooter with PvP but a cash shop is going to be near impossible to keep it from being a pay to win situation. It just doesn't sound like a good mix.
I'll pass on this one, but if there are a lot of solid reviews after it has launched, and it isn't pay to win, I may end up trying it at least.
Have you ever played League of Legends? That game is purely pvp, is f2p, and utilizes a cash shop to bring in revenue, and the cash shop does not affect character power at all.
lol. yes, a real master of words & ideas this Zorvan is.
test
* EDIT *
weird. i couldn't see Toothman's text at all. i thought he was just wanting to quote me so it wouldn't get lost on the first page and wanted to get more people to see it on the second page. but he actually added something to it, but you can't see it (*I* couldn't anyways) unless you Quote/Reply to it and then the text shows up (like what i'm seeing in the box above, its NOT blank on my screen atm).
anyways, i don't know who is talking to me or talking to Toothman. make another comment aimed directly at me if you wanted a response. 8)
and here is what Toothman said:
---------------------------------------------
So you really are an intergalactic commando, ninja, jedi, orc who runs around the universe with a million pounds of ammo killing every thing in sight for no reason what so ever? No? Oh, you are just playing that in a game. You are assuming the role of that character. You are Role Playing. Thats what I thought. You may continue.
my response to THAT:
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i really don't care one way or another about ACTUAL role playing (only Second Life and other virtual worlds such as that are actually about role playing IMO), because it doesn't force a system of mechanics on you. you simply role play or you don't, depending on your tastes.
what i hate is "role playing games", which don't necessarily have anything to do with actual role playing, but are junky game mechanics based on dice rolling "simulation". stats, attributes, levels, experiences points, etc. all of that is forced on you, and is EXTREMELY divisive in a multiplayer setting. huge walls of segregation between the players based on their level and the mechanics employed.
the talk of this games strong emphasis on character progression has me worried. i'm hoping none of it is vertical. thats the kinda RPG element that would crap the game all up.
Looks like it might be fun. I loved tribes and I can see some of the elements of that game in this one. The comic book player graphics are kind of a turn off but it wouldn't stop me from trying the game out based one the gameplay I saw on the video.