Fallout MMO apparently has been discussed and is in production at Bethesda. They do realize that the appeal of Fallout has everything to do with it being a single player game of awesome sauce right? That it's the story that makes the game so fantastic and the complete ability to lose yourself in a non static world?
MMOs by nature are the very bane of these two traits.
I hope it tanks.
This "Let's make an MMO!" thing has gotten way out of hand. The market is overly saturated with MMOs. **** I hate Wow. I wish it had never been invented.
I don't know what you mean by MMO's being the opposite of a "non-static" world; I think traditional games are more static, unless I'm misunderstanding you.
Anyways, I think it's a neat idea, and Bethesda did wonderful with Fallout 3, so I think they would stay true to the wastelander way in an MMO.
I would check it out, more than others.
I don't hope it tanks. I hope it does well and makes money. That way, the company wont go bankrupt and they can continue to make fun games. It only takes one ambitious game that doesn't sell to ruin a company (Clover, Okami). Besides, didn't Bethesda sell the fallout license to the people who made KotOR?
Micha tends to over-react when he sees something he doesn't like, and he generally wishes for the company to go under. It's nerd rage. Most of the people here got it.
IIRC Some of the original gang are helping.
Wait, isn't the Fallout MMO an Interplay project?
IIRC Some of the original gang are helping.
That's what I thought. I feel that Interplay could do a good job with it.
I don't know what you mean by MMO's being the opposite of a "non-static" world; I think traditional games are more static, unless I'm misunderstanding you.
Really? I can't speak with certainty, seeing how the only MMO I ever did was RuneScape, and more as a curiosity than seriously, but it feels to me like these are pretty static: it doesn't matter how often you save the Kingdom, the quest will always be there for the next player to pick up. Compare that to, say, Morrowind or Gothic (can't quote Fallout, as I haven't played any), where every quest changes the world - sometimes radically... what do you mean with it being more static?
EDIT: bane, what's up with your avatar? What was wrong with the raging orc?
Really? I can't speak with certainty, seeing how the only MMO I ever did was RuneScape, and more as a curiosity than seriously, but it feels to me like these are pretty static: it doesn't matter how often you save the Kingdom, the quest will always be there for the next player to pick up. Compare that to, say, Morrowind or Gothic (can't quote Fallout, as I haven't played any), where every quest changes the world - sometimes radically... what do you mean with it being more static?
EDIT: bane, what's up with your avatar? What was wrong with the raging orc?
That's why I asked for clarification. That makes sense in terms of MMOs now.
What I was thinking was of static interactions - ie, when I turn my game off, the world stops. Thanks for clarifying, if that's what the OP was talking about.
That was one thing I liked about Shadowbane... The world changed. Cities were built, roads were etched, and in general it never really felt like the world was static and stuck in place.
Of course, there was the lack of content if you weren't involved in the big guilds on your server, but still.
Besides, didn't Bethesda sell the fallout license to the people who made KotOR?
You mean Bioware? Not that I heard about.
Bioware IS however working on The Old Republic, an MMO that takes place in the KOTOR universe, so you might have gotten that confused.
That's why I asked for clarification. That makes sense in terms of MMOs now.
What I was thinking was of static interactions - ie, when I turn my game off, the world stops. Thanks for clarifying, if that's what the OP was talking about.
Cherub said my views on it quite nicely.
MMOs don't suit the kind of game that Fallout is. Also it kinda ruins that whole isolated desolate wasteland feel of Fallout.
And then there's the whole it would turn the game into a mindless level grind. Which is pretty much how MMOs function at all. (And people pay to play this monthly? You can do that just as easily in Diablo type games people.)
It's not "nerd rage" when it's something that really, that would turn the game from being Dark Knight good, into Scifi Original Bad. What makes an mmo "good" (by industry standards. MMOs aren't really games the only one that came close in concept was Warhammer...) is what would make Fallout no longer Fallout. Then there's the whole your character isn't normal thing. Which MMOs ruin. (Because after all there's only 54k people at most generally speaking on a given server.. kinda hard to be special when there's 54k other characters just as powerful as you)
Then there's... Raids.. dear god.
Micha tends to over-react when he sees something he doesn't like, and he generally wishes for the company to go under. It's nerd rage. Most of the people here got it.
No, Nerd Rage is something that happens when you're very hurt. Your strength goes up to 10 and you gain a damage resistance of 50%.
I could see a Fallout MMO being good, and also being bad. To be bad, I fear, would be much easier than to be good. Especially since every Fallout fan has a different definition.
My thoughts on a "good" fallout MMO:
For starters, I don't think it would stay huge. Perhaps settling for a smaller MMO would be better quality, though I know numbers are neccessary to make the big bucks.
1) Aloneness: You can freely speak with people in your line of sight and those 25 yards farther away (consider this yelling). To interact even farther away you must have a hand-held radio, which uses a battery. Stationary radios, like those at a broadcast tower, can talk all across the map, to anyone tuned in. If you want to 'whisper' someone then it automatically adjusts to their channel, so long as they're within range of whatever radio you're using. Thus, if you want to cluster around a broadcast tower you're set, otherwise it's about distance.
2) Raids: Do do this thing huge raid thing. Drop the 40, 30, or even 25 man raids (I'd say forget even 20 and 15 man raids). Keep instances small group oriented. If someone wants to actually raid something, they can get a big group together and go raid it on the large map, like a city or a settlement. Joining a group locks in your radio station unless manually retuned. Other than that, it confers no bonuses. You can equip stimpacks, 'firing' a stimpack uses it on someone else, 'using' a stimpack uses it on you. You can still hotkey stimpacks.
3) VATS: Tricky tricky tricky. Changing VATS into a duel. If someone targets you with VATS, you also enter VATS, targeting them. They get to fire first (or it rolls randomly). To avoid it you can also use your AP to run away a certain distance per point. If you leave their VATS 'range', then VATS ends and you can run as normal.
4) I like repair the way it is.
5) To make characters more unique, get rid of all but a few skill books (maybe 5 per skill) and have them spawn in random places (or as random loot). Return to the older system where Tagged Skills go up twice as fast and drop perks like Almost Perfect and No Weakness. If possible, return the downsides of a few perks.
Cherub said my views on it quite nicely.
MMOs don't suit the kind of game that Fallout is. Also it kinda ruins that whole isolated desolate wasteland feel of Fallout.
And then there's the whole it would turn the game into a mindless level grind. Which is pretty much how MMOs function at all. (And people pay to play this monthly? You can do that just as easily in Diablo type games people.)
It's not "nerd rage" when it's something that really, that would turn the game from being Dark Knight good, into Scifi Original Bad. What makes an mmo "good" (by industry standards. MMOs aren't really games the only one that came close in concept was Warhammer...) is what would make Fallout no longer Fallout. Then there's the whole your character isn't normal thing. Which MMOs ruin. (Because after all there's only 54k people at most generally speaking on a given server.. kinda hard to be special when there's 54k other characters just as powerful as you)
Then there's... Raids.. dear god.
I wish I could be constructive and say something insightful or witty, but the only thing I could come up with is QQ more.
3) VATS: Tricky tricky tricky. Changing VATS into a duel. If someone targets you with VATS, you also enter VATS, targeting them. They get to fire first (or it rolls randomly). To avoid it you can also use your AP to run away a certain distance per point. If you leave their VATS 'range', then VATS ends and you can run as normal.
No VAT's no PIP boys. Noone gets to be a freshly emerged Valut Dweller.
How is Fallout 3? (Preferably from someone who's not a Bethesda fan.)
For reference, I think Fallout 2 is one of the best games EVER. When Fallout 3 was coming out I was at first greatly disappointed that Bethesda picked up the rights (since I hated Morrowind). Although I have to admit, I was really excited by the first teaser. From the previews, it seemed that they focused too heavily on ultra power weapons and blowing stuff up.
Anyway, my main gripe is that its made by Bethesda, which I hate. For example, if you compare Morrowind to Fallout 2, in Fallout, you can kill anyone and often times you gain access to BETTER stuff. But in Morrowind, if you kill some shop owner, you normally can't even get the same stuff that you wanted to buy. Fallout was just so immersive while Morrowind reeked of an empty world. I remember my roomates used to call its an empty MMORPG that you play by yourself.
Anyway, for the idea of an MMO, I think it'd be against it. I think the whole point of Fallout was that you were super awesome and could do whatever you wanted. If you were simply one of thousands, then what's the point?
Someone said that you shouldn't be able to take out entire cities by yourself, but wasn't that part of the appeal of Fallout?
I thought Oblivion was rather boring to watch. And abit too easy to abuse. So I never got into it. (my friend told me about how easy it is to max out everything in Oblivion while he played)
Fallout 3... I can blow hours upon hours just roaming about. Actually I think it's one of the most gripping games I've ever played and I compare it more to being addicted to an illegal substance than simply calling it a videogame. It's so damned hard to stop playing it once you start.
It's also incredibly fun to watch (which most videogames really can't say).
I'm pretty sure you can kill everyone in Fallout 3 if you wanted to.
Regarding the NPCs and versimilitude... they went halfway. Most NPCs are killable, and from what I saw (I didn't experiment with this too much) if you killed a shop keeper you got the key to their locker (which contained their inventory) off their corpse. You could not pick pocket such key, but if you murdered them you could get at their stuff that way. That said, there were some NPCs that were unkillable. They just got 'knocked out' instead. But the vast majority of NPCs were killable.
For refernece, I haven't found a Morrowind game I liked, I didn't finished Fallout 2, but I loved Fallout.
Anyway, hope that helps.
Thanks for the reviews. I might pick it up now.
I think I was just very iffy with how Morrowind seems like it was trying to do certain things like Fallout (killing shop owners), but did them halfway.
And Cpt_Micha, I understand what you mean about Fallout being a drug. There were times in college (probably around finals) where me and my roomates would wake up, play Fallout only to stop to eat in which we'd be talking about Fallout. Also, I think we talked about Fallout in later years more than we probably actually played the game. Just thinking about it makes me want to play it again!
Cpt_Micha, EscherEnigma:
Thanks for the reviews. I might pick it up now.
I would recommend it, but DO NOT BUY THE BROKEN STEEL EXPANSION YET!
Right now installing the expansion pack causes the game to crash when you try to exit it. Its frustrating as hell, and you have to finish the main game to get to the Broken steel content anyway (or get past level 20, which will take time).
Bethesda tends to take their sweet frelling time when it comes to patches, so I suggest getting through most of the other content first.
Eh, since I have to buy fake money just to get the expansion, I don't think I will. Call me crazy, but I refuse to buy into their crazy alternative economies.
IT'S THE WAY OF THE FUTURE!!
GET YOUR KGM DOLLARS NOW!! :D
I would recommend it, but DO NOT BUY THE BROKEN STEEL EXPANSION YET!
Right now installing the expansion pack causes the game to crash when you try to exit it. Its frustrating as hell, and you have to finish the main game to get to the Broken steel content anyway (or get past level 20, which will take time).
Bethesda tends to take their sweet frelling time when it comes to patches, so I suggest getting through most of the other content first.
Meh... got it, beat it. I do highly reccommend the OP:Anchorage DLC, the Chinese Stealth Suit and Gauss Rifle are very handy indeed.
Also its worth the trip in the base game to fight your way to the bottom that place with those big nasty monsters to pick up that really awesome weapon called Vengence.
now on to the subject at hand.
I could dig an FO MMO as long as its done decently well. It'd have to involve being more than a vault dweller though. I could see room for dwellers, ghouls and wastelanders and being able to join one of the many factions (BoS, Raiders, Traders, Cannibals, ect. Hell a nice step forward in any MMO would be to play a monster, maybe as some form of unlockable content as you reach certain milestones in the game.
Also IMO a big fun part of FO3 is the mature content, it'd be a shame to strip that away.
Also IMO a big fun part of FO3 is the mature content, it'd be a shame to strip that away.
Doubt they would. Heck Age of Conan had topless women.
I really liked the atmosphere of that game and the fatalities. IMO AoC had some of the best music of any MMO, particulalry the Cimmerian zones which I used to take my stygian ranger to just so I could listen to the zone music.
http://cdn.funcom.com/aoc/audio/The%20Arrival%20-%20Cimmerian%20Welcome.mp3
I'm totally using this for when my players enter the Tomb of the Snake Kings.
I just hate the fact that you have to have a bunch of friends (or strangers) along in order to complete some or most aspects an MMO.
I can't argue there, thats what killed DDO for me. I get that MMOs are supposed to be a social affair, but there are times I like to go it alone. City of Heros is good in that respect, alot of the content can be solo'd if you like with only the Task Forces requiring a team (and depending on the build of the toon even a team might not required for the task force).
.P.S. I'd try a Fallout MMO, but it's a moot point anyway because my computer wouldn't be able to run it.
Its possible to play a MMO solo style. Yeah you'd be cut off from things like Raids bu its possible.
Not really. I played Guildwars for a while (a pricing model I like) and once you get to a certain level you need companions. Now you can choose to hire NPCs but the AIs are often dreadfully stupid. No MMO I have played has been really solo-capable.
Movement is the left stick, looking around is the right stick. This has been how it's been done since we got sticks on our console controllers, it's intuitive because it's been that way forever and there's nothing wrong with that movement scheme. Before that, movement has always been left/ the Dpad side. Ya'll got it backwards... and if you do decide to make it backwards in Fallout4 let me reset the damn thing so that it can be on the proper stick.
The really odd thing is that whenever a truely solo capable MMO comes out it tanks and critics complain that "there's no reason to group up so people just wander off by themselves". I'll give you City of Heroes, but that's the exception rather than the rule.
One mechanic COH gives you are XP rewards that increase with the size of the group in addition to the increase in mobs as well as thier difficulty (which again increases rewards of all sorts).
IMO, solo or grouped, if I was an MMO publisher I'd want to grab and keep as many customers as possible so I'd build my game around grabbing both.
Lol, like I said about the monster bit above, I wouldn't mind running around the wasteland as a Deathclaw, that'd be real fun when you showed up in Megaton :P
And I've heard tha FO4 is in the works and might be Las Vegas this time.