I thought I read somewhere that this was going to be the big PS3 game NCsoft has in the wings?
A pulp sci-fi MMO theme would be great.
Barsoom Online, anyone?
As long as they make a new kind of MMO that isn’t just the same kind we have been playing for almost a decade now. IE: Kill things to get XP to Level to get phat lewets to help you kill things.
WoW has taken the current model to its limits with respect to this model of game. About the only thing people will do with it is to just add “more” with better graphics and sounds.
Even a slight change would be welcomed. IE: Take the game WoW is, and Diabloize it. Sheeping, sapping, shackling = gone. Pulling = gone. Add waves of monsters, where a single player expected to deal with 5 or 10 baddies at once. No casting times, huge aoe Nukes. Warriors whirl-winding through a group of 50 monsters. Etc… Loot is plentiful and random. All bosses in all dungeons have the same chance of dropping the same phat lewets. You do not just farm Diablo because he is the only one who drops X. That would be a hack and slash MMO Id play.
I’m happy to see Tim Cain with a nice gig, but as far as I’m concerned, this is terrible news, since it takes him out of the running in making a future RPG.
Tim Cain, BioWare, Bethesda, all working on MMOs - bleh.
Sort of like how I feel when I hear that PC developers are working on console titles. Bleh.
Everyone sees people wearing money hats and wants to join in.
Yeah, I know. Can’t blame them. I wonder how the developers feel? I know they like the money, but I wonder if Ken Levine worries that his next three games over the next 5-8 years of his life are likely to be Bioshock first-person shooters?
I’m sure Levine could get a job making something fresher - if he’s not already contractually obligated to make whatever he’s told for the next decade.
Well, it may turn out to be like movies. You develop one movie, maybe two, then exit for other projects and someone else takes over the helm once it’s fairly established (and possibly ruins the third sequel).
But probably not as bad as I will feel when this turns out to be a Console MMO. /cry
His comments on both of the Gamers With Jobs podcasts he’s been on since Bioshock came out make me think he’s pretty happy with what’s next and that is after he said he’s not a big fan of sequels.
Yeah, I hear he prefers “spiritual successors”.
OH SNAP
Necro!
Carbine Appoints Fallout Producer As MMO Design Director
Developer Carbine Studios, an NCSoft North America division, promoted former Fallout series producer and designer Tim Cain to the position of design director for an unannounced MMO.
Cain has worked with Carbine since its inception in 2005, serving as programming director. He is best known for his work as producer and designer on Interplay’s PC RPGs Fallout and Fallout 2.
(…)
Based in Aliso Viejo, CA, Carbine Studios was formed by Cain, NCSoft executive producer Jeremy Gaffney, and ten former members of Blizzard Entertainment’s World of Warcraft core development team in 2005, but wasn’t formally announced until October, 2007.
Was there any studio (other than ArenaNet) founded by former Blizzard employees that succeeded?
I used to feel this way, but then I solved the problem by buying a console.
Every time an MMO starts development, an angel loses its wings.
I would love to see an MMO in the oddworld universe, everything seems really moody and organic in that series.
I don’t think there have been any successful former Blizzard founded studios other than Arena.net but I have a feeling you’ll be able to add Carbine to that list soon enough.
I know you work there and all, but it really is ArenaNet now :) They lost the . because it caused issues with paperwork, I was told.
As for the original question, AFAIK ArenaNet and Flagship are the only Blizzard successor companies that have shipped a game, so I guess the batting average is .500.
Throne of Darkness was made by ex-Blizzard people. And it sucked.