Everquest Next's demise was when I stopped getting excited for MMOs and now sit in a "we'll see if/when it comes out" holding pattern. I'd love being thrilled to play one again, but it's been so many years of them either dying before release, turning out to not really be MMOs or feeling far too familiar and samey to what I'd already spent hundreds of hours on in the past...
A new 90 day plan has been made, and Citystate is now working from home to complete it. Mark is determined to convince us that Ragnarok will not deter CityState from developing Camelot Unchained in the future.
I believe the game will be created on time personally, and haven't asked for a refund from my original purchase. I believe CU is well on its way, and is closer than we think.
Let me tell you about Overgrowth, a game by Wolfire Games (they of Humble Bundle and Receiver fame) I "backed" in 2008 that finally got released in 2017, practically on the day I'd originally backed it.
The fan communication was actually excellent, they had a very active YT channel where they posted periodic videos of their progress, discussing the tech (they built their own engine, that was before the days of cheap/free engines), the concept art, the backstory, they had a web comic that was exploring the character's history, the game's visuals, movement and combat system were all in a playable-if-unpolished state since, like, 2012 if not sooner. They had an ongoing blog that discussed technical aspects with fans that is still a really good resource for game dev.
After Receiver got them some extra cash they brought in a new artist to redo the assets, because at that point they were starting to show their age, all was peachy.
Then, a couple of years before release it all went silent. Occasional video update that showed little if anything, because they were working on the campaign (and if you know game dev, leaving that content until this late is likely ringing alarm bells). Then bam, release date announced, game is out in a few days, no fanfare.
And yeah, it's... not great. It looks and plays little different from how it played 5 years prior if not longer (no sign of these new assets), the "campaign" is just a series of linear missions with barely any level design, just an excuse to fight stuff or do really unfun platforming that does not fit the game's parkour movement at all, all over in 4 hours if that. All that character backstory resulted in a protagonist that is the most edgy "grr, I am dark and want to kill all my enemies" dullard. There's maybe a single level that actually looks visually interesting and takes advantage of the tech they'd built, otherwise it's all bland and featureless.
I do not understand how the game has a Very Positive rating on Steam, especially at its price point, because woof.
All that said, I paid up to make the game possible, and it's not like I feel ripped off for it not being good, just disappointed that it's immense promise fell so, so short of the mark. It hasn't stopped me from backing other projects once actual crowdfunding became a thing. But if you feel backing an MMO that's years late, try 9.
Let me tell you about Overgrowth, a game by Wolfire Games (they of Humble Bundle and Receiver fame) I "backed" in 2008 that finally got released in 2017, practically on the day I'd originally backed it.
The fan communication was actually excellent, they had a very active YT channel where they posted periodic videos of their progress, discussing the tech (they built their own engine, that was before the days of cheap/free engines), the concept art, the backstory, they had a web comic that was exploring the character's history, the game's visuals, movement and combat system were all in a playable-if-unpolished state since, like, 2012 if not sooner. They had an ongoing blog that discussed technical aspects with fans that is still a really good resource for game dev.
After Receiver got them some extra cash they brought in a new artist to redo the assets, because at that point they were starting to show their age, all was peachy.
Then, a couple of years before release it all went silent. Occasional video update that showed little if anything, because they were working on the campaign (and if you know game dev, leaving that content until this late is likely ringing alarm bells). Then bam, release date announced, game is out in a few days, no fanfare.
And yeah, it's... not great. It looks and plays little different from how it played 5 years prior if not longer (no sign of these new assets), the "campaign" is just a series of linear missions with barely any level design, just an excuse to fight stuff or do really unfun platforming that does not fit the game's parkour movement at all, all over in 4 hours if that. All that character backstory resulted in a protagonist that is the most edgy "grr, I am dark and want to kill all my enemies" dullard. There's maybe a single level that actually looks visually interesting and takes advantage of the tech they'd built, otherwise it's all bland and featureless.
I do not understand how the game has a Very Positive rating on Steam, especially at its price point, because woof.
All that said, I paid up to make the game possible, and it's not like I feel ripped off for it not being good, just disappointed that it's immense promise fell so, so short of the mark. It hasn't stopped me from backing other projects once actual crowdfunding became a thing. But if you feel backing an MMO that's years late, try 9.
Hah! I have a key for this *somewhere* from when they did a cross promotion bundle thing with Natural Selection 2. It it never seemed more done than a tech demo, good to hear it's still in the same state a billion years later.
Since there are a lot of good pictures being posted in the news recaps that are not being seen by a lot of people, I am going to start linking the art the art being made.
People can still be upset when you screwed up, and honestly announcing a new project when you are five years late on your own ETA for the current project is always a PR disaster.
I long since learned never to get hyped for an MMO. It's so hard for an indie studio to make anything better than mediocre.
Well it depends, Albion Online, Elite: Dangerous and Valheim were created by indie studios and they are pretty solid games. I agree however that indie often equals lower budget so a big barrier to create something great.
Yeah it's kind of shocking that this one is still going. Hooray for being too poor in college to afford the kickstarter! Because I would have done it.
There are some big thriving DAoC servers with a lot of...pretty robust development efforts into taking the best version of that game and improving it with New Stuff, to the point that it's getting harder to see an audience for this thing. I mean yeah eventually if it comes out, but the dev teams of those servers just look a lot more competent than anything Mark Jacobs has done in the last 15 years.
Posts
I had managed to forget about this. Thanks for tearing my heart open again.
I want to play it before my grandchildren do.
They’re either a grift or failure. Buyer beware.
A new 90 day plan has been made, and Citystate is now working from home to complete it. Mark is determined to convince us that Ragnarok will not deter CityState from developing Camelot Unchained in the future.
I believe the game will be created on time personally, and haven't asked for a refund from my original purchase. I believe CU is well on its way, and is closer than we think.
After Receiver got them some extra cash they brought in a new artist to redo the assets, because at that point they were starting to show their age, all was peachy.
Then, a couple of years before release it all went silent. Occasional video update that showed little if anything, because they were working on the campaign (and if you know game dev, leaving that content until this late is likely ringing alarm bells). Then bam, release date announced, game is out in a few days, no fanfare.
And yeah, it's... not great. It looks and plays little different from how it played 5 years prior if not longer (no sign of these new assets), the "campaign" is just a series of linear missions with barely any level design, just an excuse to fight stuff or do really unfun platforming that does not fit the game's parkour movement at all, all over in 4 hours if that. All that character backstory resulted in a protagonist that is the most edgy "grr, I am dark and want to kill all my enemies" dullard. There's maybe a single level that actually looks visually interesting and takes advantage of the tech they'd built, otherwise it's all bland and featureless.
I do not understand how the game has a Very Positive rating on Steam, especially at its price point, because woof.
All that said, I paid up to make the game possible, and it's not like I feel ripped off for it not being good, just disappointed that it's immense promise fell so, so short of the mark. It hasn't stopped me from backing other projects once actual crowdfunding became a thing. But if you feel backing an MMO that's years late, try 9.
Hah! I have a key for this *somewhere* from when they did a cross promotion bundle thing with Natural Selection 2. It it never seemed more done than a tech demo, good to hear it's still in the same state a billion years later.
[img][/img]
Also, they completed an overmind of the sort to battlegrounds. It reacts to attackers and defenders just like the game Left 4 Dead did.
A good amount of progress was talked about in the newsletter.
Volumetric fog was added to the game.
The Reddit/refund drama still seems to be in full swing. Which is too bad. I think people didn’t understand what it meant to ‘back’ a project.
Well it depends, Albion Online, Elite: Dangerous and Valheim were created by indie studios and they are pretty solid games. I agree however that indie often equals lower budget so a big barrier to create something great.
MJ promises that the game will be a lot like what backers were asking for when it went into testing, starting after the end of the summer.
Classes, races, caravans, rvr battlegrounds, abilities, weather, have all been added to the game. MJ said soon there will be a good game loop in CU.
They got more funding.
*sees timestamp*
There are some big thriving DAoC servers with a lot of...pretty robust development efforts into taking the best version of that game and improving it with New Stuff, to the point that it's getting harder to see an audience for this thing. I mean yeah eventually if it comes out, but the dev teams of those servers just look a lot more competent than anything Mark Jacobs has done in the last 15 years.