Why no MMO?

[Harmor]

Doesn't World War 2 Online have naval warfare too? I used to play infantry in that game (was a blast while it lasted) and could see a naval sim work as MMO if you'd let the players choose between, say, surface ships or submarines, perhaps even extending it to carriers and the planes based on them. Then again .. the market is probably not big enough to warrant a Naval sim MMO.

[Ducimus]

Originally Posted by Harmor

Then again .. the market is probably not big enough to warrant a Naval sim MMO.

Ask yourself this:
How many FPS's do you see on gamestore shelves?
How many RPG's?
How many landbattle, WW2ish games in any form?
How many flight sims do you see?
And lastly,compared to all of the above,
How many naval and/or sub games do you see?

edit:

Originally Posted by SteamWake

I can see it now.

You can create your charecter and start out at level 1 with a canoe for a boat and a box full of rocks as weapons.

Go off and kill 20 seagulls to reach level 2 increase your "seamanship" attributes and you can paddle the canoe faster.

Now go off and kill 200 seagulls to reach level 3... at around level 10 you get your first "real" submarine type VII but can only carry one torpedo till you go out and sink 100 tugboatts and reach level 11.

Halarious. Honestly, though it would be closer to planetside, but even then you had levels which dictated how many things you could do, could use, or could carry.

[ParaB]

Wolves of the Pacific Online

A typical afternoon in the massively multiplayer submarine sim by UbiSoft:



General chat:< [DeAtHKill0R] how do u dive?

General chat:< [CaptainBoobie] LOLZ U N00b!!

General chat:< [DorkVader] press Ctrl-alt-del

General chat:< [JackBuar] ^^ lol!!!

General chat:< [Xfazycxasd] BYU CHEAP RENOWN AT WWW.RENOWNFARMERS.COM

General chat:< [SUB_PIRATE]: LFG Yamato, need one more Gato!!!!!!!

General chat:< [SUBCIPTAIN]: wrong channel dude

General chat:< [SUB_PIRATE]: yeah whateva...

Looking for Group:< [SUB_PIRATE] LFG Yamato, one more Gato needed!!!!!

Looking for Group: < [Capt. Smith] can I join? I got a Gato.

Looking for Group:< [SUB_PIRATE] are you SJ-radio specked?

Looking for Group:< [Capt. Smith] no, i bought a better deck gun

Looking for Group:< [SUB_PIRATE] dude, for teh hi-level raid content u GOT to put points into improved radar!!! nub.

General chat:< [Xfazycxasd] BYU CHEAP RENOWN AT WWW.RENOWNFARMERS.COM

[-=BiGWanG=-] send you a message:< NEED HELP!!!11

[ParaB] sends a message to [BigWangG]:< where are you, friend? I can't see you

[-=BiGWanG=-] sends you a message:< BAY OF TOKYO HELP ME NOW!!!1!

[ParaB] sends a message to [BigWangG]:< err...sorry. I'd really like to help you but I'm currently 50sm off Brisbane harbour.

[-=BiGWanG=-] sends you a message:< YOU SUCK!!!111

[-=BiGWanG=-] ignores you now

[TheSatyr]

I think the main reason you'll never see it is because not enough people wouild play it to make it viable financially.

Unless you run it like Freelancer...in which case you'd be limited to around 12-24 people a server.

[wetwarev7]

I think MMOs are a good way to ruin great games.

Just my two cents

[Ducimus]

ParaB has improved in "telling it like it is (100)!"

[Solonor]

WW2 Online (Battleground Europe now) does have some unique stuff with it, but naval part is not very well done. Everything else is though, would encourage everyone to try it. I will reactivate it again when I have more time.

Anyway, the game "Navy Field" with SH4/5 graphics is what I am looking for.
A massively multiplayer online tactics simulation game based upon WW2 of course, with all 4 major factions involved. Start out with your Frigate and work your way to the big Battleships and Carriers. And of course special job's that a Destroyer has, torpedo boats maybe and submarines, light/heavy cruisers etc.

The game system that Navy Field has now doesn't really give you the "feel" of such a game though, and would have to see some changes.

But this type of game (which I tried to my best effort to describe here, maybe not easy to tell but :p), is what I am essentially looking for. I would subscribe even before it launched!

[wetwarev7]

Originally Posted by ParaB

Wolves of the Pacific Online

A typical afternoon in the massively multiplayer submarine sim by UbiSoft:

General chat:< [Xfazycxasd] BYU CHEAP RENOWN AT WWW.RENOWNFARMERS.COM

[-=BiGWanG=-] send you a message:< NEED HELP!!!11

[ParaB] sends a message to [BigWangG]:< where are you, friend? I can't see you

[-=BiGWanG=-] send you a message:< BAY OF TOKYO HELP ME NOW!!!1!

[ParaB] sends a message to [BigWangG]:< err...sorry. I'd really like to help you but I'm currently 50sm off Brisbane harbour.

[-=BiGWanG=-] send you a message:< YOU SUCK!!!111

[-=BiGWanG=-] ignores you now

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

[XanderF]

I'm not sure why everyone seems to think I'm suggesting "WoW with submarines".

It seems to be where this thread is getting derailed, and I never implied (or want) any such thing - I said so specifically in an earlier post.

All I'm looking for is Sh3/Sh4 with a more expansive multiplayer component - expansive enough to be considered 'massive'. No 'grinding', indeed no levelling at ALL (who said levelling was a requirement of an MMO? How did that even come UP in this conversation?)

Again, we are not talking about changing the foundation of the game to try and target a 6 million+ install base. Nobody wants that. The idea is to just take what is already IN Sh3/Sh4, and just add onto the multiplayer. Ideally, we'd hit 50% of the target audience that ALREADY BOUGHT Sh3/Sh4. No more than that is needed, as each individual copy of any MMO title sold represents many times greater profitability to a company that individual copies of single-player/offline games.

IE., in a cost-benefit analysis of MMOs vs 'offline' games, you don't need to sell MORE copies to make the MMO more profitable, as each copy has much higher value over time. You only need to sell a significant fraction of the number that you would have sold anyway. An MMO is a license to print money for most companies (monthly fees, from every subscriber, for EVERY MONTH they play). What WE get out of it is a much more massive game, interaction with thousands of people playing at the same time, and more active, continued development than the half dozen patches we can at most optimistically expect of SP games.

[MikeJW]

No MMO because you'd lose more than half your sales. This is a series that appeals to SP people with a little MP thrown in for those who like it now and then. If MP was the main focus of SH4 I wouldnt have bought it because I hate MP.

[XanderF]

Originally Posted by MikeJW

No MMO because you'd lose more than half your sales. This is a series that appeals to SP people with a little MP thrown in for those who like it now and then. If MP was the main focus of SH4 I wouldnt have bought it because I hate MP.

Maybe, but, surely, you realize that even with half the players lost, the game would still be a WINDFALL for the publisher. Each of the ones they keep, after all, nets them 4 times the profit of the gamer they lost...each year

[SteamWake]

Originally Posted by ParaB

Wolves of the Pacific Online

General chat:< [Xfazycxasd] BYU CHEAP RENOWN AT WWW.RENOWNFARMERS.COM

Beautiful ! Complete with stupid typos ! Hilarious....

Now let me get a mop and clean up the soda all over the place.

[macky]

Originally Posted by SteamWake

Beautiful ! Complete with stupid typos ! Hilarious....

Now let me get a mop and clean up the soda all over the place.

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

I do play wow, thats my curse in life. But I can imagine the reknown sellers now

No, I am not sure an SH3+4 mmo would work, in fact I am sure it wouldn't. Then again, I cant see how WW2 online would work, and it obviously does...I would be tempted I guess but I would need a free trial first:p

[difool2]

Reading the "nay" opinions here does not fill me with confidence WRT future MMO games
(of whatever sorts). I guess we will all be forever in the thrall of the lowest common
denominator, getting the same basic kinds of content over and over just dressed up
in different clothing. Now perhaps because I've never really felt the urge to sign up
for one of these games* I have little to contribute to this idea (or against it), but it
certainly on the surface seems like it would be cool. In practice yeah maybe not so
much, and probably not profitable, but in any event I'd sure like to see a MMO game
come out which just shatters the genre conventions. Would that be a naval/air MMO?
Maybe not but I'd sure like to see some developer try.

I guess the game to look at for any sort of model (obviously) would be Dangerous
Waters. What do they do right which would translate to the WWII environment?
What wouldn't translate? I think the map would have to be much smaller and scaled
down from what we see in SH3/4, with significant enemy traffic about an hour's sail
away or so. But being in an environment where the Japanese are assaulting this
island over here, the Yamato shelling the beaches while the American fleet sneaks
up on them, suddenly unleashing a horde of Dauntlesses, while a few American subs
inch towards the troop transports, that would rock IMHO. But I don't want Battle-
field like arcade gayness, that is for sure, but the public probably would.

*[In the case of MMORPGs, the relative lack of true role-playing lies near the top of
reasons why I never wanted to get involved in those, as does the static unchanging
nature of the world, along with the "everyone is a hero so nobody is" syndrome. I
could go on.]

[Cakewalk]

Anyone heard of Enigma: Rising Tide?

I'm sure most of you have. It was scheduled to become an MMO. Never happened, even though the game enjoyed some commercial success.

It would have been interesting, to say the least, how it would have played out. I could certaintly have found it enjoyable.

But, its not everyone's cup of tea.