1

http://www.bluesnews.com/cgi-bin/board.pl?action=viewstory&threadid=101043

   CCP Games reveals their [B]World of Darkness[/B] MMOG, confirming  [indications from earlier this year](http://www.bluesnews.com/cgi-bin/board.pl?action=viewstory&threadid=94926) that such a project is in the  works (thanks [ World of Darkness Online](http://www.wodonlinenews.net/Home/tabid/36/ctl/ArticleView/mid/367/articleId/88/UPDATE-WoD-MMORPG-confirmed.aspx)). [In 2006](http://www.bluesnews.com/cgi-bin/board.pl?action=viewstory&threadid=72774) CCP merged with White Wolf,  creators of the pen-and-paper World of Darkness RPG, paving the way for this  move. The confirmation of the World of Darkness MMOG is a side-note in [a post about CCP's  contributions to the economy in the state of Georgia](http://ccpgames.com/worldofdarkness/georgia.asp) that says the  following: "Its flagship property, the World of Darkness, has a rich history of  over 18 years of creative development and is now the basis of one of CCP's major  virtual world projects. Currently in preproduction, The World of Darkness is the  undying heart of the development efforts in CCP's North American office."  [The earlier story](http://www.bluesnews.com/cgi-bin/board.pl?action=viewstory&threadid=94926) about this project was based on a document that  described it, though keep in mind this is from July, 2008, and may not reflect  current plans (for instance it mentions a 2010 release date that is undoubtedly  inaccurate). So here's a bit from that summer 2008 document:[INDENT]"In the  World of Darkness, you are the monster, struggling to remember the memory of  your humanity while you struggle against the evil that lurks within us all. CCP  and White Wolf are now hard at work in pre-production on the World of Darkness  the persistent world. Given the World of Darkness legacy, its large fan base,  and proven appeal to both genders, we estimate the subscriber potential of this  product to be two to three times that of EVE Online, without competing head on  with CCP’s existing products thus enabling wider total appeal."[/INDENT]

Expected, but still excellent news. CCP are the only company making MMOs that I have any faith in at this point.

2

Vampire MMO could work. Werewolf MMO could kind of work, depending on where it was set. Wraith MMO would be great.

A Vampire/Werewolf MMO might work, depending on how it was done.

A Mage MMO is just a terrible idea. A Changeling MMO isn’t much better.

A World of Darkness MMO that tries to do it all? Stillborn.

3

The problem with a vampire/werewolf MMO is how would they handle day/night cycles? The easiest solution is just to make it always night (which kind of fits the name), but it’s the most boring solution. It’d be cool to have underlings you could level during the day as a vampire. It’d be more squad based in that regard or strategy based (they could own establishments, etc).

Still, I’m curious how it’d work. It’s not like the storyteller games are geared around combat progression. It worked relatively well in Bloodlines, but that’s a along a specific story arc for your character. I’d gather they’d want to utilize the social dynamics that EVE is known for. Perhaps there’d be a layer of a political game, so you’d socialize in clubs/hangouts with your vampire, but you’d play some kind of MMO rts/strategy game from a larger map. I don’t know. But that’d be way too experimental and likely a pit for development resources.

4

I have faith in CCP. They are the only company to make an MMO that never stopped growing even after a long period of time. They get it. I don’t think other people do.

5

Ugh. All the praise for CCP kills me. I can’t stand them as a maker of MMOs. Sure EVE has it’s great points. But there’s an absolute lack of solo player content in that game. Everything is based on being in a Corp and having to be in a fleet to do anything worthwhile. That has it’s place, and there’s a ton of folks who enjoy the whole grouping/pvp type of gameplay. I just don’t get how they can continue to ignore the solo player market. It’s huge.

6

I think you are doing it wrong.

7

I think the point is that CCP is working their own niche withing the FUCKING HUGE MMO market, and doing it well. There are a ton of companies competing in the “strongly solo” portion of the market, so I don’t see why we have to be upset that someone is serving a different niche.

8

You seem to hold onto the same principles that most MMO develoeprs have; that “massively multiplayer” games have to involve grouping and pvp. Blizzard is one of the few to get it right. Many people love being able to solo in these games while still having a large community to chat with, trade with, and just generally play along side of. That doesn’t mean that all the content has to involve grouping and player vs. player.

Personally, I love raiding in WoW. We’ve been hitting Ulduar for months now, a couple of times a week. But most of the rest of the time, I enjoy levelling alts and solo play. That’s why Blizzard continues to get my monthly subscription, and most other MMOs don’t.

9

EVE is a specific type of MMO for a specific type of person. If you aren’t into the open-world, make your own fun through interactions with other people, type of person, then I can see why you wouldn’t like CCP. But they do that type of game better than anyone else, so you have to at least respect that. And they have been trying to expand their base by gradually adding a lot of solo stuff. But at its heart it’s still a PvP game that requires interacting with other people to get by. Who knows how close to this formula World of Darkness will stick, though.

10

It’s not a zero-sum game, Spect.

11

When people say they want solo content in an MMO, I think it’s generally understood that they don’t want only solo content. People always bring out the snark about “But it’s massively multiplayer,” but in a genre of games that tends to be heavily geared towards organized group play, I think it’s pretty valuable to have content that you can play when nobody that you know is online, or when you have only one or two people to play with.

12

And you are holding on to the same principles that most whiny solo players have; that “massively multiplayer” games have to involve solo content.

Anyway, you are wrong about Eve Online. There’s a fuckton you can do in that game solo. Playing with other people is just more interesting and allows for further advancement. But… that’s the same in WoW. You can only get so many toys playing alone.

13

Oh, for sure. But this is a far cry from expecting MMOs to simply have solo content, or to cater specifically to people who don’t play with others. And like I said above, it’s not even true that Eve doesn’t fill your criteria.

14

I found EVE solo friendly. It’s about as solo friendly as CoX. You just have to be satisfied with space ship porn, or money, being your primary rewards.

15

Why is a Mage MMO a terrible idea? Of all the elements of the World of Darkness, I’ll only be interested in this game if it has decent support for Mage gameplay.

16

Yeah there is a lot you can do in EVE on your own. It just gets boring as fuck.

17

So will it be Band of Brujah versus GoonPack?

18

The social dynamics that CCP have built up in EvE revolve around PvP and to a lesser extent, the insane economy. World of Darkness won’t have that level of social interraction without a similar PvP system. Unless, you consider fat guys pretending to be hot chicks having online sex with fat guys pretending to be hot guys socially dynamic.

Level 27 Malkavian looking for coterie?

19

Oh Charles, I knew I could count on you to bring the insults and name calling into an otherwise intelligent conversation.

So, people who enjoy solo content are whiny about it? If you say so. I’m not whining about Eve at all. I’m merely stating that I hold no interest in an MMO being developed by CCP since they cater only to the PvP crowd.

Sure, it’s a niche market. I get that. I don’t have a problem with that. But it does irk me that people say they’re then only MMO developer they have faith in.

20

Piracy, trade, mining, merc work… not too shabby really if you insist on ignoring everyone else.