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MMOGology: Leaving home
Persistent, virtual worlds fascinate me. There's something mind-blowing about the simple fact that they exist without us. They evolve over time; refining rules, adding new areas of the world to explore, and new goals for players to achieve. That evolution makes them feel like a living entity rather than a static stage for events, and makes MMOGs unique among video games. The successful evolution of a persistent world is important because it is the key to retaining its player base. As long as players can consume new experiences and grow their avatars they'll keep paying their monthly fees to the publisher. If handled correctly, that influx of cash can be used to further develop and enhance the virtual world. It's a cycle of success breeding future success. Players continue to play and developers continue to grow the world. As game worlds evolve and grow, player expectations expand as well. We look for refinements in avatar class structure, new quest content, and new lands to explore, among other things. The more we continue to play in our world of choice, the more time and effort we invest in our avatars. We work hard to obtain gear and levels and become more powerful. As we level ourselves up we build memories of our play experience. We join guilds, make friends, and take down rivals in PvP. The memories of all these play experiences grow fond and we become further and further attached to our avatars and the world in which we play. In short, we invest ourselves heavily in an MMOG in a way that we don't invest ourselves in other games. They become second homes to us.But new virtual worlds pop up frequently. They all compete for their share of that sweet revenue stream. This year we'll see Age of Conan, Warhammer: Age of Reckoning, and Mythos (among others). Their potential for genre innovation and new content will inevitably pique our curiosity. Many of us will try out one of these new worlds. However; more often than not, moving to a new game means leaving the old one, or giving up a substantial amount of time in the old world to invest in the new one. Given an infinite amount of playtime this might not be an issue, but for most of us time is a precious commodity. Leaving an old world and old friends behind can be rough. As games evolve and continue to improve, leaving them seems to become more and more difficult. How do you kick an old game (and avatar) to the curb when you've invested so much of your time and energy into it?
Another look inside Mythos
Lots has been written already about Mythos, a free-to-play Diablo-esque MMO from Flagship Studios (makers of Hellgate London), and there are plenty of guides (including our own) to look through if you want some insight on what the game is like. And here's another-- our friend Stropp has punched up another preview of levels 1-5 in Mythos.Like a lot of other people who've played the game, Stropp compares it directly to Diablo 2-- lots of running around, clicking, and just generally crushing everything in your path. As we've heard before, there are three classes and three races in the game, so while the game itself is a little simpler than the major MMOs (it is F2P, after all), the gameplay is solid and well-traveled enough that it stays fun. There's also an achievement system, apparently, in which you can win titles that actually grant attributes for your character. Sounds cool, even if it's not quite as developed as some other games yet.Mythos is currently in very, very open closed beta-- they'll give away a beta invite to almost anyone if you ask nicely enough. The buzz just keeps going-- it may be the free-to-play game of 2008.%Gallery-10781%
My 2008 MMO hopes and wishes
2007 was an incredible year for MMOs, with tons of updates to existing games and a benign rash of new titles as well. I'm not much for predictions, but I'll tell you what I'm hoping for in 2008, since you all asked so nicely:Blizzard to out-Diablo Mythos with their new MMO -- Let's face it, playing Mythos is ten kinds of fun, and most of that fun revolves around the type of gameplay that the original Diablo invented, and Diablo II refined. Mythos currently fills the gaping void left behind by Blizzard's continuing not to update the Diablo universe with a new game, but wouldn't you like to see it done up properly?Google to provide some real competition for Linden Lab -- Right now, Second Life is the only cat of its breed, and it's snoozing in the sun. The ability for users to create their own content is arguably SL's biggest draw, and it's fueled many careers, but the interface issues, rolling restarts, updates that fix things only to break other things, and age verification problems leave me wanting someone to learn from these mistakes and bring us something better. We know Google's working on something ... here's hoping it's a Third Life.A new genre -- So far, we've had Fantasy MMOs rule the day, with Science Fiction a close second, and a hodgepodge of other titles kind of experimenting with concepts a little bit. And pirates. But I'm looking for something new. Something that combines my love of cryptography with Cthulhu, perhaps. Or something that lets me relive my days playing cops and robbers. Whatever it is, this is the year to strike!Resolutions? Hmm. I guess I resolve to keep playing those smaller MMOs and telling you what I think of them, and trying not to be too dismissive of those I find lacking. Ooh, that's gonna be difficult -- I'm quite fond of the snark, I am. What are your New Year's MMO hopes and wishes?
Definitive's new Mythos "surroundbar"
The way the svelte profile of a flat panel display blends into the decor makes many folks look to "slim down" the rest of their setups. Target number one is usually the collection of speaker cabinets in the room. We love the look of serious speakers (not to mention the performance), but for everyone else a "surroundbar" is appealing. Definitive Technology has introduced its entry to the field, the Mythos SSA50. Tuck the 46-inch array underneath that new FPD and you not only get LCR audio, but also some sense of surround thanks to psychoacoustic trickery built into the unit. Add in a subwoofer and say good-bye to all your old speakers. There are only nine drivers in the array, so it's using a different approach than, say, Yamaha's "Sound Projectors." Definitive is known for its bipolar designs, so they know how to deal with acoustic phase -- hopefully they'll keep the pseudo-surround from being too phasey or just plain weird. Available in February for $1099.
Mythos gets Crunched, levels 1-10
Just in case you missed it earlier this week, MMOCrunch attacked the first 10 levels of the Mythos beta and posted their main thoughts about the game so far -- which seem very positive.My own brief impressions: when people say it's similar to Diablo, they're really not exaggerating! Mythos is Diablo 2, except free, online-only, with better, brighter graphics, and most pretenses of story discarded. Plus no Deckard Cain. You could argue that's a major list of improvements, actually.If you want better images of how Mythos looks in-game, check the official site or the Massively Gallery from Akela Talamasca's first impressions of Mythos last month.Beta accounts are still flying out, so the wait is minimal if you sign up for one. Though, be warned if you're on an outdated operating system -- Mythos won't work on anything less recent than Windows XP Service Pack 2 or Vista.
New MMOSG: Sociotown
A new MMOSG (that's Massively Multiplayer Online Social Game, which I don't recall seeing before, but sure, why not?) has sprung up, and it's called Sociotown. Now, not to knock something before it's even been released, but when I hear 'socio-' anything, I immediately think sociopath. And that's not the image you want to send across for a virtual world.Regardless, from looking at the latest footage, there are a few things I need to comment on. Won't you follow along with me? First of all, point-and-click movement is awkward. I've never liked it, despite the fun to be had in Diablo and Mythos, and prefer WASD movement. Second of all, the look of this world is similar to a lot of other similar social spaces, so no innovation there. Third, there is some interest in not being able to immediately see another person's name, forcing you to introduce yourself to him/her. Fourth, 'Socio dollars' is just more awkwardness -- why not SoBucks?
Mythos gets a giant update
Mythos, the free-to-play MMO from developer Flagship Studios, has just announced a new update to the software, and the list of features, improvements, and bug fixes is extraordinarily long and satisfying. I'll embed the list after the jump, but here are a few of the things that stood out to me: Hardcore Mode: If you play in this mode, your character can die, and that's forever! Maybe someone was reading my post and decided it sounded like a good idea! Guilds are now available to create for the cost of 5 gold Hardware mouse cursors: No lag for me anymore, yay and my favorite for a laugh: 'Ants are now more interesting as monsters' Best part of all, Mythos promises no patch download is necessary; simply logging in will provide you with the update. Nice work, Flagship, and keep it up!Full list after the jump!
Blizzard was only expecting 1 million WoW subscribers
Former Blizzard producer Bill Roper described the early days of World of Warcraft's development to CVG, saying, "we were hoping we'd be able to sell a million copies of the game." He pointed out that at the time, EverQuest was the gold standard for MMOs, and it only had 500,000 subscribers. "It would have been impossible to predict that World of Warcraft would take off as a cultural phenomenon as it did," he said.He's right; people knew World of Warcraft would be a comparatively big deal, but how could they have predicted 9.3 million players? Throughout the history of persistent world online games, we've been surprised again and again at just how large the market for them can be. There are studios out there who think they can take it even further -- BioWare, for instance. Or maybe the industry will fragment into niche games now. The point is, you can't always predict this stuff. That's what makes it so exciting.In case you were wondering what Roper is up to now, his company Flagship Studios recently released Hellgate: London -- more of a niche title than a mainstream record-buster. Flagship is also working on Mythos, a Diablo-esque-dungeon-crawler.
Mythos CM handing out beta invites in IRC and forums
Mythos beta invites are starting to fly out hot and heavy, and West Karana has two ways for you to get in on the Diablo-inspired hack-and-slash fun. As of yesterday afternoon, the community manager for the game was hanging around in their IRC channel (#mythos on irc.forthegamers.org) giving out invites, and if you (like me) missed that opportunity-- although it might be worth a try just to sign in and see if there's any left-- then supposedly a post in the Mythos Guru forums' Official Invite thread will get you hooked up with an invite.Now, I signed up on their website way back when, and I'm a little bummed that they didn't send an invite to me via email before tossing them around random IRC channels and forums. But then again, I guess it's a rat race out there-- every beta tester for him or herself!
Cinemassively: Mythos trailer
In a press release found on WarCry Network, Flagship Studios Seattle released a new trailer for their free MMO in closed beta, Mythos. The video features new footage of gameplay, and narration by a producer, Brock Jones, and programmer, Marsh Lefler. If this game seems familiar, that's because Flagship was responsible for Diablo II many moons ago.According to the press release, you can play as one of three races, Human, Elves, and Gremlins, in this free-to-play MMO. Players must take on heroic quests in search of gold, armor, and weapons in the fantasy-land of Uld. It is currently in closed beta, but you can sign up on their official site.The video is included after the jump, as it may contain ads ...
Mythos buzz and beta invites
Both Tobold and West Karana are buzzing about Mythos, the free-to-play hack and slash RPG from Flagship Studios subsidiary Flagship Seattle. It's supposed to be good, clean, monster-killing fun Diablo style, with random customizable dungeons (as in, ask for a solo dungeon and you got it, or ask for a group dungeon for your level, and you got it) and lots of fun spec choices and loot. I've played a bit of Dungeon Runners, and enjoyed it, but as fun as it is, it still sticks a little too closely to MMO conventions, and it seems like Mythos just might be the simple hack-and-slash refresher to the growing ever-more-complicated MMO genre.Unfortunately, the game is still in invite-only beta, but as we reported the other day, invites are getting spread around pretty fast, so your chance to check it out should be coming around soon. In the meantime, Flagship is accepting signups on their site. As we said before, it's not clear how the microtransactions they plan will work, but from everything we've heard about it, the free-to-play part of Mythos is more than worth a look.Update: Bildo claims in our comments that he's the one that turned everyone onto Mythos, and he's got a good writeup, too. Plus, he's apparently getting more beta invites soon, so we make nice!
Flagship's other MMO - Mythos nearing release
With all the buzz about Flagship Studios' upcoming game, Hellgate: London, it hasn't been difficult to forget their subsidiary studio Flagship Seattle, who are currently beta-testing their own new MMO, Mythos. Mythos, due to ship later this year, is a free-to-download, free-to-play, casual MMO which will be distributed by another Flagship subsidiary Ping0 LLC (in North America and Europe) and HanbitSoft (in Asia).
