The MMO Horizon

You may have noticed a lack of MMO posts here lately.  Let’s fix that!  There’s a huge wave of MMOs on the horizon, and I’m looking forward to… well, just about all of them.

EverQuest Next and Landmark

I’m such a fanboy.  I love EverQuest.  I love Norrath.  And although this won’t make me the most popular kid on the block, I really do like SOE.  I’m simply anxious to see how all of their ideas meld together to form some kind of new sandbox.

Landmark still confuses me.  Whatever it ends up being, I’ll just consider myself lucky that two EQs are coming and one will last me until the other comes out.

The Elder Scrolls Online

Here’s another one of those “what the heck is this going to be” games.  MMO?  Single-player instanced story experience?  Multiplayer meets MMO?  In the end, I have to shelve a lot of my angst that I feel over missed opportunities and bad design and just enjoy a game.  Two of the biggest factors I care about:

  • An experience true to the Elder Scrolls franchise
  • Adventures I can play through with Graev and my friends

Are those present?  Okay, I’m good.  I’ll enjoy building a characters and exploring Tamriel.  I’m not interested in the PvP at all anymore.

WildStar

I think WildStar will be interesting to watch.  Clearly the core gameplay is mega-themepark. That’s not a negative, except for the fact that I am extremely turned off by the huge emphasis placed on large end-game raids.  If there’s a way to play WildStar and never, ever, participate in that nonsense then count me in.

What I really do think looks fun are all of the housing features and base battles.  The housing alone would be a reason for me to get WildStar, and being bale to jump in and build a base with guildies then go head to head and see how our base stacks up to another guild seems like it could be a great bit of fun.

Camelot Unchained

CU is so far away that it might not belong on the horizon — I think I need a telescope just to see it.  It’s still on my radar though, and I’m just waiting for Mark Jacobs to throw us a bone.  Right now we’re seeing a lot of talk about race stories and animations.  They’re all intriguing, but I need mechanics to really begin theorycrafting.

I think that sums up my MMO radar.  Did I miss anything?

  • I share the same feeling with you about Elder Scrolls online 🙂 I still play skyrim but I think the reason is the modding community or I should stop playing long now..

    I never played Everquest but I respect that it was there in the dawn of MMOs and I am willing to try their Everquest Next. I am afraid though that the game may receive bad comments/loud forums from the die hard fans of the original Everquest if the game does not satisfy them or if it is very different than the old one.

    I am not fan of wildstar though…I don’t like so much the cartoon style of it…or the lore if it has any

    I am also waiting Blade and Soul from NCSoft!There is a little Korean botter hidden in me 🙂

    For now I am more than happy with Final Fantasy except from the huge lag problems that prevent us playing on peak hours.

  • The only ones on that list that I will certainly play are EQLandmark and EQNext. I share your feelings for both the franchise and the developer, too.

    I have never liked the Elder Scrolls franchise or games and I especially dislike the combat mechanics so I’ll skip TESO.

    I was quite interested in Wildstar for a while but almost every new piece of information that comes out about it diminishes that interest. The housing is about the only remaining hook for me but with EQLandmark coming out first and free it seems highly unlikely I’d want to pay a sub to Carbine just to play with their housing.

    Camelot Unchained could be interesting but I’ll wait for the reviews when it actually launches. Whenever that is. Certainly not following it pre-launch.

    There must be a bunch more MMOs on the way besides those. MMOs come out all the time. Most of them get roundly ignored by the cadre of bloggers I follow and I no longer have the time or diligence to try and keep up.

    The big one you didn’t mention must me Trion’s Western Conversion of ArcheAge. That does interest me somewhat although it will have to be F2P to get a look-in.

    Black Desert also seems to be building up some traction. It looks gorgeous but the gameplay as described doesn’t light any of my fires.

    What I really want to see are some good, full-feature, graphically rich conventional MMOs for tablets. The selection at present, particularly on Android, is dismal.

  • @Rohirrim: The original EQ crowd is so small compared to the vocal majority found in the WoW generation of entitled players who want nothing but frag boxes and loot pinatas. I’m more afraid that SOE will capitulate to the angry mob’s demands.

    @Bhagpuss: I go back and forth with ArcheAge. Some weeks I’m anxious for the sandbox experience, others I snap out of it and convince myself it will be an Eastern culture meets West catastrophe. I really don’t know what to do.

    I agree with you about Black Desert. Noting has me going yet.

  • @Rohirrim
    “I am afraid though that the game may receive bad comments/loud forums from the die hard fans of the original Everquest if the game does not satisfy them or if it is very different than the old one.”

    I can’t imagine that there are many original EQ fans left who think SOE has any idea what they’re doing anymore.

  • Taking a similar approach to TESO as you; I don’t really expect it to be an MMO, but if its a half-decent Elder Scrolls experience I can enjoy with a small group, it will be worth the cost. Beta will be worth the download for me at least, which is a step up from everything else right now.

  • not new per say but WOWs next expansion if it hits the mark i will play it over all the others and if more follow suite which im sure they will it could effect these games

  • I agree with KennyG. Somewhat oddly, and although I largely skipped MoP, I am really looking forward to hearing about the new expansion for WoW. Maybe its because its the only game where I’ve been able to recruit a large group of friends to play with me or maybe its missing how the PvP combat feels or my attachment to my character. Anyone heard any rumors about it yet? Didn’t they just recently release the final boss raid for MoP? Based on past experience, they should be getting ready for the one-off raid patch typically released a few months before they announce the next expansion.

    I am still enjoying FFIVX and looking forward to hitting 50 (39 now), although FATE grinding has dimmed my interest somewhat. I have a feeling though once I get to end game the dungeon grind will burn me out.

    The only game on your list that I can say I am really looking forward to is EQNext. And although I love the Elders Scrolls games (particularly Skyrim, which I enjoyed about as much as any game I ever played), I can’t help but think that the TESO is going to disappoint. I will probably give it a shot when it comes out though, unless I happen to be immersed in something else at the time.

    I think Camelot Unchained has some potential, although even though I love PvP, I am still concerned about whole “no PvE” thing. It sounds almost like they are trying to make what took DAoC years to degrade into and is today, rather than the what I recall fondly about DAoC (which includes strong PvE and PvP elements).

  • It seems like most of the upcoming MMOs are trying to be more action / twitch combat. I don’t necessarily see this as better. I feel like instead of hitting 1-2-3 over and over, I’ll just end up hitting 1-2-3 over and over while circle strafing out of the telegraphed red areas.

  • Lego Minifigures and Warhammer 40k: Eternal Crusade are both on my list as well.

    As for your list in order I’d go CU, ESO, EQN. Wildstar is for a different demographic than me.

  • There does not seem to be much on the horizon. Only a few games. And a couple that will not make it. All those titles seem to have pretty weak concepts.

    Camelot Unchained seems like the best of the bunch but I am not sure if it will ever make it to market. And needless to say I don’t believe in Mark Jacobs any more.

  • Star Citizen.

    That game scares me like none other. On the one hand, the premise is the exact game I’ve been wanting for more than a decade. I tried EVE like five years ago and the lack of free flying sim feel/combat made me lose interest quickly. Star Citizen seems to have it all.

    But I’m afraid the game can never live up to its promise. I love the idea of Kickstarter and crowdfunding but I don’t believe in it yet.

  • Repopulation? It’s indie and will probably be rough on the edges but the games systems look pretty good. I’m just happy to see another game with player made cities and robust crafting. More scifi is always a plus for me too.

    • @Ender: Oh we definitely are. I don’t know much about Albion, though. I’m waiting to get into the beta to see what it’s all about.