Quote:
Originally Posted by Sarius
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The bazaar also killed live for me, hanging out in the tunnel and selling shit was half of the fun of the game.
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Agreed. I worked on an MMO with a guy (who was lead designer) who was so intimidated by the genre that while "trying" WoW, he freaked out because someone was following him. He literally freaked out. It was an NPC from a guard quest he had just picked up. I tried to show him EQ and he pretty much threatened to sack me for even looking at it (not that he had the power) because it was everything he hated about games. The company's GM hated MMOs, and thought he could rescue the genre for the "normal" people. You can guess how that all worked out. That guy was a good designer by the way, he just shouldn't have been anywhere near an MMO.
This is what is happening - MMOs are being designed to the lowest common denominator by people who like the idea of them (abstractly), but have no clue, and money people who dream of the billion dollar gravy train. I'm not saying that was the reason for the bazaar being implemented, but it was the thin edge of a really nasty wedge. They probably didn't realize that at the time though. Things can look good on paper and end up being bad once implemented.
All that to say, it's *totally* possible to make a game on the same level as EQ and for it to be successful - CCP have proved that. You just can't make it for any other reason except you want to play it, and you want it to be great, and you understand that you won't be mass market and don't care. I was at E3 in 2003 and tried to interview the guys from CCP for a website at the time. There was a bit of a buzz about them. But I couldn't get even 5 minutes. They weren't interested in the media. They didn't care what people thought, or to jump through any hoops. They were certain of their own direction and screw the rest of the industry and the way it did things. I remember thinking they were either going to be spectacular failures, or maverick successes. And they succeeded, because they loved what they were making.
I wouldn't be surprised if another EQ is being made right now actually, but by an independent. If not, I
know one is being designed and pitched
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