Jack Emmert, GameInformer, and Me
By
Alimistar,
Posted on: 2007-04-20 09:55 in CoH and CoV General Discussions
An elegant synopsis. I think I'm going to have to go find this article. However, I doubt Jack will be reading this, which is a shame.
Part of Sister Flame's Clickey-Clack Posse
The English language is an intricate high-speed precision tool.Stop using it to bang open coconuts. ~Tokamak
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An excellent synopsis of what sounds like a fascinating article. While we may not always agree with the decisions the developers make, it can't be denied that they love this game and will support and improve it to the best of their abilities.
Any game that can keep my interest for 3 consecutive years is one that is worth watching. I usually only play other games for a matter of weeks. Can't wait to see where CoX will be in another three years!
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An elegant synopsis. I think I'm going to have to go find this article. However, I doubt Jack will be reading this, which is a shame.
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*ahem* I read the boards every day!
**screams and falls over from being snuck up on**
Member: Mutant Force Five, Chaos Legion & Team Awesome
Moggie was probably goading ya, States. 
Sweet!
Is this an infringement on Gameinformer, though?
Nice synopsis Kenja.
However, I think it is important to point out that while CoH has had more free "expansions", it would seem that WoW shipped as a more complete game content wise. Additionally, so far we have yet to see or hear about much that was supposed to be in the originally pay for expansion to CoH, powersets anyone?
Additionally, again, you could in a way call CoV a paid for expansion, and then the two games would be equal.
Don't get me wrong, I am posting on the CoH boards because it is the better game, however I just feel like comparing them based on expansions doesn't compare the two games fairly, not that they need to be compared in the first place.
Dominators don't need mitigation from their secondaries. Even if they did, there's ice (slows), psi (-recharge), and fire and elec (death).
-Talen_Lee commenting on Energy Assault's Utility
I got my May 2007 Game Informer today. I'll have to take a look at it when I'm done my forum-hopping and crime-fighting for the afternoon.
Currently published Mission Architect arcs:
Arc ID# 70466: From the Abyss.
Arc ID# 403174: The Serpent's Revenge.
Arc ID# 534236: The Clockwork Angel.
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It began with the first MMO, EQ
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EQ wasn't the first MMO - not by a long shot. Not only did UO preceed it by two years - the earliest version of Neverwinter Nights came out six years before that! (And that's ignoring the long history of MUD's, MUSH's, MOO's, and BBS door games stretching back a decade and more before that.)
You must also keep in mind that Superhero gaming is a pretty small niche in all forms of gaming - pen 'n paper, video (console as well as computer), etc... Thus is it unsurprising CoX is as small and fringe as it is. (But there is no particular reason why a small game cannot last for years.)
But the biggest killer of games (that I have seen in twenty plus years of varied forms of MMO's and persistent states worlds) is technology. Sooner or later the physics and/or graphics engines reach exhaustion - and can no longer compete with games with newer and/or better engines. (Such games can still last for years and continue to fund expansions - witness UO.)
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I have never before seen such a game or online community that works so integrated.
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I suspect that is due to your lack of experience with such games. UO has a community fairly well integrated with it's Dev's - and the Dev team for Puzzle Pirates shames the CoX Dev team when it comes to community involvement.
http://derekl1963.livejournal.com/
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An elegant synopsis. I think I'm going to have to go find this article. However, I doubt Jack will be reading this, which is a shame.
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*ahem* I read the boards every day!
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BOOM! Take that!
Holy smoly I had no idea the devs visited the boards that often.
No wonder I still love this game after 33 months of bringing Justice to Paragon City!
Can I get a WOOT?!?
For those who have fought for it
Life
Has a meaning the protected will never know.
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the earliest version of Neverwinter Nights came out six years before that!
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What game is that? NwN isn't that old
Wonderful piece, CuppaKenja! THIS is a sterling example of what I come to the boards hoping to find! Thank you!
Some days I just wake up cranky. Today might be one of those days...
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...eloquently showing that an MMORPG can be successful by breaking the norm and thinking outside the box.
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Now how is introducing loot and PvP thinking outside the box again considering WoW and Lineage had it prior?
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the earliest version of Neverwinter Nights came out six years before that!
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What game is that? NwN isn't that old
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Ain't no school like the Old School!
Six bucks AN HOUR, baby! 
Agua Man lvl 48 Water/Electric Blaster
"To die hating NCSoft for shutting down City of Heroes, that was Freedom."
Ohh that one. Barely remember it. I was woanting to play the Mechwarrior game on prodigy until I saw my first bill
YIKES!!!
I was looking through my magazine today and went "Ooh! That's a picture from CoH!" then I glanced at the author and knew why it was there 
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the earliest version of Neverwinter Nights came out six years before that!
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What game is that? NwN isn't that old
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Ain't no school like the Old School!
Six bucks AN HOUR, baby!
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wow i learn something new every day. and $6 an hour? ouch!
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It began with the first MMO, EQ.
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Minor nitpick, I'm pretty sure Ultima Online was out a year or two before Everquest.
Neat post, good thoughts.
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An elegant synopsis. I think I'm going to have to go find this article. However, I doubt Jack will be reading this, which is a shame.
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*ahem* I read the boards every day!
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Apparently by starting with a vanity search*.
*Vanity Search: A search of your own (user) name to see if people are talking about you.
Speeding Through New DA Repeatables || Spreadsheet o' Enhancements || Zombie Skins: better skins for these forums || Guide to Guides
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An elegant synopsis. I think I'm going to have to go find this article. However, I doubt Jack will be reading this, which is a shame.
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*ahem* I read the boards every day!
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Apparently by starting with a vanity search*.
*Vanity Search: A search of your own (user) name to see if people are talking about you.
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Careful. He might be looking this way..
Everyone look natural!!!!!
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It began with the first MMO, EQ
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No, not NWN, 50 players at a time isn't really Massive IMO, or UO, the first was Meridian 59.
That game sucked, but was hella cool back then. You can still play it btw...
edited for clarity
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An elegant synopsis. I think I'm going to have to go find this article. However, I doubt Jack will be reading this, which is a shame.
[/ QUOTE ]
*ahem* I read the boards every day!
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YAY! Got him!
<goes back to baiting traps with old copies of Alkabeth>
Part of Sister Flame's Clickey-Clack Posse
The English language is an intricate high-speed precision tool.Stop using it to bang open coconuts. ~Tokamak
Dark_Respite's Video page
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the earliest version of Neverwinter Nights came out six years before that!
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What game is that? NwN isn't that old
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Ain't no school like the Old School!
Six bucks AN HOUR, baby!
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Hahahaha. God those were the days. The best MMO ever to date, hands down baby. Which tells you, the state of the gaming industry is just sad when an old game on EGA graphics outdoes games run on modern technologies. Man do I ever miss the PvP from that game and all the times spent fighting in the shack and in the sewers. And perma death PvP in the DM Room baby!
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It began with the first MMO, EQ
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No, not NWN, 50 players at a time isn't really Massive IMO, or UO, the first was Meridian 59.
That game sucked, but was hella cool back then. You can still play it btw...
edited for clarity
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It was a few hundred actually, not 50.
NWN on AOL was the first MMO ever. Followed by Shadows of Yserbius & the Fates of Twinion on TSN/INN, then Multiplayer Battletech on GEnie. Then Meridian 59, and then the Ruins of Cawdor on TSN/INN, the Realm, Dark Sun Online on TEN (which I believe is now Pogo), and then UO, then rest of games as we know it.
My god, what I'd give to be able to go back and play those games. They rocked so hard.
As to the article, I find myself not often in agreement but sometimes in agreement with Jack. However this is definitely one of those times I do find myself in agreement with him. Definitely have to go look up that article for certain.
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An elegant synopsis. I think I'm going to have to go find this article. However, I doubt Jack will be reading this, which is a shame.
[/ QUOTE ]
*ahem* I read the boards every day!
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::gets ready to shout then whispers::
STTTTAAATTTEEESSSSMAAANN!!
I thought States was like Hickman...you have to intone his name 3 times for him to appear. Watch!
Hickman.
Hickman.
HICKMAN!
*pants fall down*
As some of you may know, our very own Statesman, Jack Emmert, wrote an article for GameInformer Issue 169 - May 2007. He wrote an Article titled The Future of MMOs. I have tried to find this article online but have been unsuccessful. Therefore in absence of the whole article and short of retyping the whole thing (Mr. Emmert, please feel free to cut and paste your saved article here plz plz plz) I will just post my opinions with relevant snippets from the article
). For those that think ZOMG DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!! At every nip and tuck the developers make, it is for the overall success of the game. Do you think that the game would have gone far if they left Tanks uber duber and left controllers to count the pixels per square inch on the floor? If a game is to succeed through even the roughest waters, it must remain balanced or will capsize. Jacks article, although briefly mentioned CoH in the article, he did so in the gentlemanly of ways eloquently showing that an MMORPG can be successful by breaking the norm and thinking outside the box. He did not mention the cost of the development of CoX nor did he need to. We may not be one of those huge rivals in the epic size of WoW, but we are strong enough to set the standard of success if a developer looks at the players before their portfolio.
)
[Statesman, Insert Article Here]
I get this issue monthly and was glancing through when I saw a picture of a Family consigliore punching a Zeus Titan. After I stopped laughing I started reading. Halfway through I looked up to see who authored this and was shocked to see Jacks name. I ecstatically kept reading. Ironically it was not City of Heroes the forefront of this article, but The success of World of Warcraft [that] has forced the video game industry to re-analyze the MMORPG genre and thus this article.
It began with the first MMO, EQ. It was a daunting task to come anywhere near the accomplishments of this game in the online market. SIMS, although extremely popular, didnt fare well in the online market. Personally, my first experience with an MMO was Jacks next mention, Star Wars Galaxies.
SWG, being a big SW fan myself, was a natural choice. But the game was lacking and left me with a bad taste in my mouth. So when this seemingly exciting title City of Heroes hit the pre-order block, I was really tempted to get it, if only on the premise to be a hero. But given the bad experience I had with SWG, I was reticent. My friend finally urged enough that I bought it. And OMG from that first moment with the Atlas theme and building my character (a good 2 hours or so, back then) then going through training map, but nothing was so engraving in my memory as my first sight of Atlas Park, Ms. Liberty and all the heroes some flying, some teleporting, and some dashing away at super speed. I knew then, this was not only a keeper, but a game with boundless potential.
I was right. In [April] 2004, City of Heroes launched to much acclaim and phenomenal sales City of Heroes seemed to prove that another MMORPG game could, in fact, succeed. MMOs then began to spring up like hotcakes. Even attempts via console games, like XBOX Live, tried to snatch this growing market but its initial attempts werent too successful. MMOs were everywhere. I stayed with CoH. Then came the one. The game that would blow the industry out of the water, and no its not Pirates of the Caribbean. Its ok go ahead we all know which one I mean World of Warcraft.
Now this article is not only about the success of MMOs but what it takes to make them successful. Namely the cost of developing an MMO. It was not just the formula and mechanics, like (phat lewt, grinding) that made game like EQ successful and the modernized polished version made WoW a success, it was something that no other game had [done]. According to [my research] Blizzard spent between $50 and $70 million on development alone. I was flabbergasted by this. Jack continues to the final points by precisely stating, Cost is the number one issue of MMORPG development. This is where we are going to see the MMORPG market begin to bifurcate.
Synopsis of article done, I want to interject my opinions with Jacks final two points. In short, WoW has become the new standard in which MMORPG will be judged. In every possible aspect, from subscribers, to game mechanics, and to game community, developers want to have the next WoW. I cant possibly imagine the budget for the next big thing. Nor do I think there will be another blow out like WoW. I agree with Jack in saying that the MMO hype will eventually die down and stabilize, with games [that] will either be cancelled or drift along with minimal success. I personally believe CoX will not be one of those and here is why.
SWG and WoW had 2 major things to make them insanely popular (at least more the latter than the former), a huge fan base and a long history. Warcraft, however, had more game knowledge than and gamer fan base than SWG did. I, like many others, likely got SWG because we though it would be cool to be a Jedi. The game ended up a disappointment. WoW used an existing formula that was integrating and familiar to all the players, so going from commanding an army to being part of them seemed a natural transition. I played Warcraft III, and although it is a fun game, it just didnt get my adrenaline flowing. It is for these such reasons that I feel CoX is an unparalleled success.
How? City of Heroes was literally the new kid on the block. The name wasnt very known, the developer was new to the scene (for many), and the only thing the title had going for it was the premise of being a unique hero in a city full of heroes! Every player was a new player. Every experience fresh and unlike anything before. Three years later, the game is still strong, with a nice consistent player base, and a community to set the standard to any industry. I have never before seen such a game or online community that works so integrated. I have seen amazing progress in the game and it is because of this community. Yea there will be those that complain and gripe (remember the explosion when ED was introduced...a necessary evil) but think of this. We have had 8 issues of enhancements, progress, and proof of commitment in these 3 years and about to get the 9th. We have also seen the introduction of the villain side of the coin. WoW in these years has had, count with me, one. (chirp chirp) and you had to pay for it to boot. If some of you may remember, CoH planned an expansion that we had to pay for as well, but nixed the idea and decided to give us those goodies for free in intervals through upcoming issues.
Many developers are looking for the success of WoW because of the revenue they bring in and forget the players. Cryptic and NCSoft has, to this day, always had the players in mind when they develop their games (please all ye naysayers leave Auto Assault out of this that is a topic in it of itself
Wonderful article Statesman! We the heroes of Paragon City are behind you! (You are the uber duber tank after all
[i]Edit: w00t!! 1800 Post!!
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