The disintegration of THQ put an end to the uninspiring game discussed previously in this topic, which is a better result than the one I'd speculated. However, it seems another steps in to take its place:
I saw this a few days ago and didn't think it was worth mentioning because a) it gives hardly any information, and b) it made me sad. However, rumours seem to be cropping up here and there so I thought I'd bring it up. The key points are these:
MMONG persistent war experience for PC, PS4 and Xbox One
3rd person persistent online action
Players choose a Warhammer 40,000 race and fight directly as one of their warriors in massive conflicts for territory.
It will be up to each faction’s community to determine their own destiny as they vie for control of an entire planet.
Which sounds to me sort of Planetside-y, but as a console game. I'm not thrilled by it, but it stands a chance of being decent so it's not all bad.
Quote from the front blurb, apparently said by a Space Marine
"We go where we wilt, we slay who we wilt"
Which kinda implies that the formula for viagra is amongst the forgotten technologies and I think is what this game will ultimately do - as much as I want a 40K MMO (playing a fucking space marine so fuck you - Blood Angel mind, not one of those Inquisition toady smurf bastards) these guys are not the ones who should be doing it. For this game I am wilt.
I could imagine something like Planetside gameplay with an Eve like meta game in the background working quite well. It would also mean you could have progression without fucking about with cannon too much: instead of having a persistent character that goes from being a scout to an assault marine to a detestator to a terminator (or whatever) you could have all those roles unlocked for your account as you play, with no suggestion that they are all the same person.
FatherJack wrote:Isn't the Eve game on the Playstation a bit like Planetside? I haven't played either, so I don't know.
I believe so, although I think Dust is more Battlefield than Planetside though, it's only 32 player. I'm assuming it's persistent since it apparently affects stuff in Eve. I do like the idea of that. Sony's aim is to make a lot more of PS2 as well, but they're taking it one step at a time. Back on topic, this one could go either way, but the third person perspective and console development doesn't fill me with confidence about the actual manshoot aspects.
Ok, some extra info was posted on in the comments on RPS.
I find it very interesting what they're doing with their pay model:
Free players get to play as orks, and low level ones at that, so boys and maybe Nobz
Paying players (I assume subs), get to play as other races and so far Space Marine (Dark Angels chapter interestingly enough) and the Eldar are confirmed.
This is intriguing because they're actively planning balance around the fact the F2P players will outnumber the paying characters, the current ratio being banded around is that it'll take something like five orks (f2p players) to take down a single Space Marine.
I think this asymmetrical warfare might prove to be a bit of a unique selling point.
I think nobody will want to play a shitty ork whose only purpose is to be cannon fodder for griefing Space Marines who've paid to win, and that the model will cause the game to die on its arse in its first month of release. If that's the case. Just my considered opinion though.
It's an interesting idea. I think it all depends on how fun playing as a shitty ork is. If its kept pacey with quick respawns etc it might not matter that you are demonstrably less good than a space marine, as the satisfaction of taking something down as an underdog would be all the better.
Makes me think of the old AvP game. Predators were way better than aliens, but swarming someone as a group of aliens was a lot of fun. As the predator you often got situations where you thought "ah, an alien, excellent. Oh, two of them. No wait, five. Holy shit, twenty! Cheese it!"
Short version: I don't think it's an inherently doomed idea, but it's not going to be easy to pull off.
Presumably everything above basic ork you have to pay for. If they expanded the free options to Imperial Guard, Chaos cultists, other basic troop types, then it could work. Free players need to be able to feel they can win in a 1-1 fight with someone, even if it's only noobtroops from the other side (which would make up the majority). To use a Planetside 2 analogue, since it seems similar in style, if orks were the only free type and the other sides were made of pay-to-win marines and such, it would be like all of one side being in MAX suits. That would prevent anyone lone wolfing it, and make it seem very unfair to anyone who tried. And since the players coming into the game new probably won't be part of an organised unit they'll be doing exactly that, and bounce off the game hard. They'll go away and comment on blogs and forums about how massively unbalanced and pay-to-win it is, and lots of potential players will be put off and never even give it a chance.
This is all speculation of course, as we don't know any details, but that's why I think the model being suggested here won't work.
