CCP and White Wolf Games To Merge 131
Evod writes "Crowd Control Productions, maker of the MMORPG EVE Online, announced today at their annual fanfest in Reykjavik, Iceland that a merger between White Wolf Publishing and themselves is a done deal. From the White Wolf Press Release: 'The merged company will enable CCP to integrate White Wolf's leading expertise in offline gaming development to enhance and create physical products for its MMOG, EVE Online. Products to be introduced in 2007 will include strategy guides, enhanced collectible card games, role-playing systems, and novels all based on EVE Online. White Wolf will leverage CCP's industry-leading technologies to bring its offline role-playing titles online. Conceptualization and early development has begun to bring White Wolf's World of Darkness, one of the world's strongest gaming properties, into the online world.' Each company will keep its own name and Hilmar Petursson, Chief Executive Officer of CCP, will step up as CEO of the merged companies." If you're a MMOG fan, or a table-top RPG fan, this is some interesting stuff right here.
My prediction (Score:3, Insightful)
In a few months, we'll get an announcement *with screenshots* about a "World of Darkness" online MMORPG game. They'll never specify a release date, and over the next couple of years, we'll hear less and less about it, until it is finally quietly cancelled. At that point, the companies will split up again.
Honestly, I don't expect either company to be around much longer no matter WHAT happens. EVE Online is getting long-in-the-tooth, and really doesn't have mass-market appeal. And White Wolf is just screwed in general, because pen-and-paper RPGs that aren't Dungeons & Dragons are almost completely dead.
Re:My prediction (Score:4, Funny)
Re:My prediction (Score:4, Funny)
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Dunno if that's going to work.
Spaceships in vampires, though, that has some legs. It's the kind of out-of-the-box-man-bites-dog thinking we need around here.
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It'll be interesting to see where they put those points however, as that's what really matters.
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You know, in 3-4 months, I can have a character up to 60 in full tier 1 and enjoying end game content. And a few decent alts. And that's not even with obsessive life-controlling playing either, just casual play. I don't have the attention span to drudge through "the first 3-4 months". If they can't make a game that's interesting in a day, I'm not interested at all.
What does that level 60 character get you? What impact do you have on the game? What does trudging through yet another elite complex actual
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I just hope this White Wolf does not add more of the one thing Eve online players lothe. Dice rolls...
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Maybe the fact that you have a job is putting a downer on things ;) I haven't played it myself, but aren't long trips are just a matter of fact when it comes to space travel? Maybe you're missing a hyper/warp/whatever-drive? Anyway, to be involved in a game at the level the GP mentioned requires other parts of life to take a back seat IMO.. very difficult to live 2 lives fully, it's probably one or the other (I used to love gaming, still do enjoy them, but I don't want to get into anything too deep just no
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None of the stuff in WoW came close.
"There's always deniability" Lets see who remembers that little gem.
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Guess you missed out on the Gates of Ahn Qiraj event, the introduction of cross-realm battlegrounds, the invasion of the Scourge when the Lich Kings fortresses were over Ironforge itself, the continuing battles between the Horde and the Alliance in Silithus and Eastern Plaguelands, and so on. No, you heard that people fight Onyxia once a week, and based off that decided that there's no way to have a lasting effect on the world.
No.. actually I was well aware of those. Not bad for GM driven events too.
Ta
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> tier 1 and enjoying end game content.
How fast you can get to end game is not an indicator of the quality of a game, because if the levelling up is not itself enjoyable, it's a crap game.
Chris Mattern
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AFAIK, the end game in WoW consists of raiding elite dungeon X for Y months until you have the best set you can get from said dungeon, and then moving on to the next dungeon. This, and the lack of a player-based crafting economy has kept me away from WoW. Correct me if I'm wrong, but that doesn't really sound enjoyable.
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1) Build a outpost at a moon to extract raw materials. This requires fuel that can be bought or mined. (A moon can yield 1-3 different raw materials, out of approximately 12 IIRC)
2) Combine 2 different raw materials at an outpost to create a complex material. If you are extremely lucky, you can mine 2 raw materials and process them at one outpost. Most likely, this will require 2-3 outposts.
3) Combine 3 different com
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The reason behind this is closly tied to efforts of several communitys including the something awful goonfleet (over 1500 members strong) as well as fans of the game telling other people to try it out as well.
Other factors include the sandbox nature of the game, the somewhat steep learning curve, the true hard core pvp system and the large market theory.
Its true th
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http://www.raphkoster.com/2006/04/12/interesting-
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There's good reason WW joined with CCP, it is simply following the consumer base.
Try to back up your
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I'm not trying to say it's not a complete rout in this case, because I don't follow WW, but many content companies have cyclical businesses based on their hot properties. For example, if you just look at year to year figures, Sony-Columbia appears to have bad years between releases of the Spider-Man movies... but are they really hurting, or is Spider-Man just that much more successful than their other offerings?
Again, no clue if that's the case here
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The pen-and-paper gaming industry is certainly hurting, but things are improving for the companies that have sur
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Good thing they've been publishing a lot of d20 material then.
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The D&D-style fantasy settings have dominated for several years now. And d20 drives a certain vision of playstyle and progression that also has a deadly sameness if it's the only system you use. So while I love D&D 3.5, I do hunger for something different and would love to see something new pop up. Not to replace D&D, just to bring something fresh in.
The time is ripe for a new fad
Ah, yes. Long in the tooth. (Score:3, Insightful)
Yes, EVE lacks mass market appeal. However, EVE is the only game of its kind. It doesn't need mass market appeal. It's been successful, it is successful, it will continue to be successful. Despite what the morons of Slashdot will
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The CCG has been available for a while already.
The player counts disagree with you http://eve.coldfront.net/status/tranquility [coldfront.net]
Sure it's not World of Warcraft, but it's fan base has been steadily growing since it was launched and continues to do so.
As for long in the tooth, they keep du
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In other places I've read that MMORPG designers should expect 20%-25% of their subscribers logging in simultaneously at peak times. If we apply this rule the other way, Eve might have 120.000 to 150.000 subscribers. Not a WOW but certainly big enough to keep things going.
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EVE is small, but as one of the other posters said, it's been constantly growing.
When I first quit EVE in mid-2004 (about a year after release) my opinion was that it was a great concept with crap implementation. After hearing lots of good things about it this past summer (many from Slashdot posters), I decided to come back in Ju
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RPG vs Online RPG (Score:2)
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This game would likely be a break even operation on 30,000 subscribers. While it's not the license to print money the way World of Warcraft is, it started on a much smaller budget [wikipedia.org] and doesn't have to pa
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Anyways, CCP is doing fine, they are conti
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Sure, agreed. Not sure that's as bad as you make it sound - these are RPGs, you can run campaigns with them for years without anything but the book.
"In a few months, we'll get an announcement *with screenshots* about a "World of Darkness" online MMORPG game."
Well, that's precisely what the article said..."Conceptualization and early development has begun to bring White Wolf's World of
I need to start playing more games (Score:2)
So when I looked at some of the screenshots of EVE Online [eve-online.com], I was blown away. Are these in-game shots? If so, wow wow wow.
Hopefully this merger helps them create better Online RPGs with those type of graphics, rather than detract fr
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It's actually getting a graphics face lift, but that is unfortunately tied to Vista and I'm afraid I probably won't get to experience it. (Yep, going to be duel client engines, but they promise to maintain both...)
Eve has some similarities to UO in regards to characters being decided on skills and there is no limit to what you can learn. However, skill points are earned in real time whether you are playing or not. The luxury of having a persistent univ
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What is bothering about Eve's graphics is that it yields almost no relevant gameplay information, after some time playing you start to ignore the imagery and fill your whole screen with windows and stuff. This is a problem with many games, Doom 3 for example, where you have all that intricate machinery being rendered in real time but the only way you can interact with it is shooting and through some interactive surfaces here and there.
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Eve has also managed to keep the client and all upgrades
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If you where, in that time you would know that someone who's only been in game for a couple months can take on a 3 year vet without a problem.
EVE's game model is based on Tactics, and the lack of grinding levels.
No, you can't spend a South Park style 3 months grinding pigs in the forest to max level, but during that 3 months you can still, most of all if you get some friends during that time, take on anything and anyone, and have a chance. Unli
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Yeah and you'll be blown away by how bored you get after playing it. I couldn't stand how slow paced and non-action oriented the game was.
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I played the "training game" (grinding missions, etc.) for a while at the start, just to make sure I understood the game controls and could help in a fight. Then I joined a 0.0 corp and the action level went through the roof. Admittedly, the mining/ratting isn't overly exciting, but whenever I'm up against another person in a PvP fight, my heart starts thumping and I get my daily adrenaline fix in a hurry.
I found lots of things to intere
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> Are these in-game shots? If so, wow wow wow.
I played the EVE beta, and then the game proper, from day one, for about a year.
Made a couple of thousand dollars selling ISK on ebay, as well as enjoying the game immensely.
However, in the end I quit, because the game was progressively buggered up. The in-game economy, combat *and* travel were utterly borked by the decisions that had been taken. I was so disappointed, not only
well... (Score:2, Interesting)
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Two very neat game companies. (Score:4, Interesting)
I do believe a well-minted 'Exalted Online' could be a competitor to WoW. I don't know if CCP can pull it off though. Spaceships and Planets are easy compared to a MMORPG like WoW. I'd be happier if WW had teamed up with Arenanet and their GuildWars line. A GuildWars MMORPG based on Exalted would totally kick ass and would be fitting aswell.
Then again they could combine the Trinity/Aeon Universe with Eve - which would rock just as much I suppose. Nice prospects indeed.
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Have you played EVE Online? The amount of time and effort the developers spent on the economy system alone blows World of Warcraft out of the water. EVE isn't some "me too" MMO from a company that has made it's name on rip-offs, it's a highly-sophisticated and sometimes overwhelming *simulation*, and to suggest that its all just "spaceships and planets" is to miss the whole point of the game.
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But the fact that the developers have grasped this and let the market forces sort it out so to speak, is what makes Eve such a cool game.
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Most of the talent that was at White Wolf for their big successes is long gone. I'm a big fan of the WoD, but we have to be honest about their ability to create new content. Certainly, WoTC brought D&D back from boredom-- but they did it with a top-notch development team. White Wolf could be well-positioned as an alternative to D&D now that they're so dominant again if they get the talent.
Honestly, this might be a cheaper way for CCP to be buying the gaming rights to the WoD. The assets are worth mo
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A perfect match (Score:1)
I hope CCP doesn't screw this up... (Score:1)
I for one... (Score:2, Interesting)
Reykjavik (Score:1)
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Benefits to CCP, not WW (Score:1, Interesting)
-A
Great news! (Score:1, Flamebait)
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Thinking isn't knowing...or understanding. (Score:1, Informative)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_Union/ [wikipedia.org]
Re:You know you've thought about politics too much (Score:4, Informative)
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World of Darkness's next MMORPG (Score:1)
Contract details (Score:3, Funny)
EVE CCG (Score:1)
Reychavik (Score:1)
No comments on technical expertise? (Score:3, Interesting)
What I don't get though is the reverse. CCP has experience with building an MMO true but in terms of building good game clients CCP has only ever touched the space genre. I'll fully agree CCP has great artistic vision going on but rendering space takes a few less polygons than rendering some grass.
I personally doubt they have the technical know-how to create the software that would be required for one of White Wolf's games without a significant learning period. It's too much of an apples and oranges thing.
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Could the Masquerade function as an MMO? (Score:1)
Just given the secret nature of the World of Darkness, could an MMO survive?
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But the story outlines provided with the game have everyone starting out as mortals, plain and simple, who have a 'psychotic break' into the world of the supernatural and can *occasionally* demonstrate some supernatural powers that they can neither predict or control for a good long while, if ever at all (a major feat is trying to surv
CCP started out as a board game producer (Score:1)
It's Reykjavík, not "Reychavik", FFS (Score:2)
Zonk, it's so sad you're illiterate, but maybe you could USE SPELLCHECK. Please.
Yay for White Wolf (Score:2)
at the fanfest (Score:1)
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WW, eh? (Score:1)
If it's anything like their MUSHs... (Score:2)
I'm not worried about a P&P game based on EVE Online, as WW has already done P&P based on Everquest, and though no one plays it, I think they made money on it.
And looking at the new WoD lineup, it does look like they designed the games to be more MMORPG-friendly, with emphasis on every supernatural creature being based on five "races" and five "groups" each one having a "power" stat, each one having a limited choice of roughly the same number of powers (Ma
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The fact that you didn't have problems sounds to me like either "A" you were one of the in-crowd, or "B" you're Conrad Hubbard.
They made me the Dark Prince of Muncie (Score:2)
Chinese Communist Party (CCP) (Score:1)
World of Darkness MMO? (Score:2)
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