Empire magazine interviewed Blizzard’s Vice President of Development, Itzik Ben Bassat, and got some juicy information for all of us drooling, game-thirsty geeks. Read the interview here: Empire Interview
Now that you’re back, or still here if you’ve already read it, I want to speculate. I saw the interview in RSS, and then had the benefit of seeing some links on other blogs today. I have a slightly different take on this. Does Blizzard have the kahones to break out with something completely new at this point?
To bust out with a Starcraft MMO game is not really fitting in with the claim of bringing “entertainment to another level.” Another level is something that hasn’t happened since MMOs went to graphics. To go from Ultima Online’s old 2D engine to what we play today is not as big of a jump as the leap from text to graphics.
Maybe I’m taking this too literally, but I’m not sure how much of an improvement can be made to a nearly perfect genre. There will always be gripes on playstyle of the engine (i.e., flight points, hearths, portals, mounts, etc.) that allow for advanced or even unreal travel or time management, but aside from those things, gamers are being abundantly clear with their money that the top games available are working the way they should.
What could be more addictive than it is now? Real money? I don’t think so, because that would limit those getting into the game. Surely more people would want to play with the option of getting rich off a game, but not everyone will have the resources to get into the markets. Virtual Reality? Too far in the future as far as hardware requirements go. Isn’t speculation great?
What do you think he might be referring to.
Another write-up on the interview: Stropp’s World.
Well, Second Life you can take your own money and buy game credits, and vice versa as well. SOme people actually make a tidy bit of cash on the side. So, it’s not so much far off, as it is ALREADY here.
Personally, I never know what they (they being game developers) mean when they say things like “A whole new level” or “A brand new way of playing”. Usually it’s just an old way that’s been modified just enough to seem different. THey’re going to have to REALLY impress me if i’m going to believe it’s a new level.
So far as what it could be? I dunno. No more buttons I suppose? Maybe it will be level-less and skill based, but with no stats to track. So, you know you’re getting better, just not how much better. Or, perhaps instead of one main character, several? Perhaps not people at all, but some other form of being.
Interesting views. I’m an hardcore wow player that has played since closed beta, so ofc I’m very interested in his new unnamed mmo.
I don’t like the “real money”-idea. I wouldn’t get into it, that’s for sure. And I also don’t think that this is the new big thing.
Raborn’s post was perhaps more on the spot. I would like to see an mmo that was really a lot about frame-by-frame skills. Wow pvp today is fast paced and definitely takes skill. When I have tried other mmo’s I’m shocked with how slow they are, almost turn-based in some cases (Look at Guild Wars for example). But I would like to see this upped a few more notches. Maybe instead of letting a char start at 10 str and end at 1000, you could have a more smooth improvement, where a big part of the improvement will also be your own skill as a player. This might never work though, I’m aware of the problems.