Cuppy of Areae (why isn’t this Area E? That would sound so much cooler…) posted some Metaplace wallpaper. Their game engine is built around 2D art assets (think Super Nintendo games in your browser), and presumably, their world-y reference MMO will be as well. Lessee… from the wallpaper… what can we guess about their game… Orcs… and Dwarves! Revolution! World of Meta Warhammer 🙂 I guess we shouldn’t read too much into that. It could have been elves.
SOE is giving out 50% extra experience in EQ2 for the next two… Sundays… Because SOE thinks you should spend Saturdays with your kids, not playing EQ2. SOE, always thinking of the children. I bet they started off with DOUBLE EXPERIENCE for the WHOLE WEEKEND, but you know, what with inflation and the plummeting value of the dollar, HALF AGAIN experience for HALF the weekend was all they could afford. That and a dozen batwings will get you a cup of Kalish in Qeynos.
LucasArts and Bioware announced a mysterious partnership innovatively named LucasArts-Bioware. Naturally, though speculation is rampant they are working on a Knights of the Old Republic MMO, neither company would actually confirm or deny. Bioware has had a long experience developing games in the Star Wars universe, of course. No idea if they are planning on farming the expansions out to Obsidian Entertainment.
This is the new strategy for MMO companies, apparently. Announce, hype, tease, but never actually TELL you anything. Remember, if they make no promises, they can tell you no lies.
Of course, they could be working on an Indiana Jones MMO. That would be a monster hit, right up there with Pirates of the Caribbean Online. MMOs as movie tie-ins? Genius! We can get the cereal, the Happy Meal toys, the video games for the xboxwiiplaystationpc, and cap it off leveling NevadaJones107 by finding religious artifacts and shooting Nazis. Well, it’s that or three hundred Padawans swinging paisley-colored lightsabers because, really, what other IP does LucasArts have?
Speaking of movie tie-ins, Pirates of the Caribbean Online did get released this week. Movie tie-in MMOs(*) are now the latest way to exploit an IP. It’s harder to find a good game with a bad IP than a bad game with a good IP. I guess every movie has to have an MMO now.
(*) You think this is unfair, but would LotRO have been released if the three films had not been made and been successful? Think again.
Everyone is going, “gosh, you know, I played UO, EQ1, EQ2, DAoC, FFXI, WoW, LotRO, Shadowbane, Horizons, Guild Wars and Vanguard, and what I’m really looking for RIGHT NOW is another game just like all of those.” Well, guess what, your wish has been granted.
Enjoy.
2 thoughts on “The First (and maybe Last) Friday Snark — things that make ya go, hmmm…”
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I promise, what we’re making is not orcs and elves. 🙂
I was just stopping by to say “Hi” after found your blog through SUWT12.
Have to say I agree with everything you’ve written up there… frankly I’m to scared to diagree 😉
(50% extra XP on Sunday.. I can hear the players on the EU servers getting up to full whine power as they’ll be left playing into the wee small hours of Monday morning. Assuming the EU servers get the XP switched on at all…)