Quote:
Originally Posted by t0lkien
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Yes true if the players on P99 were the only group waiting on such a game. They are a tight core group, and proof of the viability, but are only a very small fraction of the niche demographic I'm referring to. I would guess there are millions at least. I think the first game to hit the right balance will be a " surprise " success so emphatic the rest of the industry will start pumping out clones. As usual.
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Let me play devils' advocate here. Who exactly are the "niche demographic" you're referring to? You guess there are millions of them at least, so who are they?
Also, what exactly is the "right balance" for a game? Perhaps more important, would all those millions in your niche demographic agree on the same parameters for a game to be balanced right?
For example, do all those millions of people you suppose are out there yearning for an old timey game agree that melee classes should be unable to bind themselves as it was in good old EQ?
Do they all agree that medding to full should take as long as it did in EQ?
Do they all agree that the death penalty should be just as harsh as in classic EQ?
If they don't all agree about all of these things then what do you do? What do you change and what do you keep the same? If you change anything people will scream that it's not old school enough anymore. If you don't change anything will you really get enough people to play it? Really?
Part of the problem, as I see it, is that your niche demographic is surely not uniform. They also are not new to MMORPGs. People know what they like and what they don't like and can be pretty stubborn about it. I don't think a perfect game could be made because we don't all agree on what "perfection" is.
I don't know, I miss the good old days too and I play on project 99 off and on but I'm not sure if I would pay to play a EQ remake. In fact, I know I wouldn't. While I loved some things about EQ there are other things I hate about it. Playing for free here off and on when I feel like is one thing but I'm quite certain I wouldn't be willing to pay for a new game which is basically classic EQ redone.