Gamasutra reveals that NCSoft have announced the formation of a new studio, Carbine games who are – as are NCSoft’s wont – developing an undisclosed massively-multiplayer game. It’s formed around a mass of World of Warcraft veterans (er… we mean Ex Blizzard Alumni, not just people who’ve hit the level cap) and Tim Cain, ex-Troika of Vampire: Bloodlines infamy. What are they up to? Well, a nose around their site reveals a few clues. Firstly, they’re not strictly speaking new, having been existent since 2006. Secondly, there’s the download section, which includes some arty desktops and some music. The latter, entitled “The Awakening” doesn’t give any real clues – being generic rousing gaming-orchestral music, which would fit into anything from Halo to Guild Wars. Then after about a minute and a half it goes into a hard-as-hell beat, which strikes me as a strange change of direction, until I realise that it’s finished and we’ve skipped onto the next track on Itunes, Jay-Z’s 99 Problems. And, for the record, I’d be first in line to play a Rap/Fantasy MMO. Though, admittedly, possibly last in line too. The actual concept art, well… looks fantasy. No visible Elves, but still fantasy, perhaps with a touch of a 40s-pulp-sci-fi vibe too.
Speculation in comments thread – Go!
I wonder if the Spice Girls really re-united just because they felt it’d be fun or if there’s more to it? I would say that there’s more to it.
Also, will the newly signed treaty between North and South Korea actually lead to real peace? Hopefully it will but given how the North Korean government operate it might be a long ways away.
Wow, two wallpapers and an MP3! If I knew launching a new MMO was this easy, I’d have done it months ago!
Tim Cain’s name always makes me perk up, but unless it follows the Guild Wars model, I’m not interested. I’m too commitment-phobic to sign up to anything involving montly fees. Short, torrid affairs and sporadic booty calls is how I prefer things to play out.
Is there an OMM style rule for fantasy games and elves? There should be.
I quite like the idea of a critical failure chart, where you add up cliches as they appear and when you cross a certain mark, the game is annihilated.
I still use the crate-marking system occasionally.
KG
“The latter, entitled “The Awakening” doesn’t give any real clues – being generic rousing gaming-orchestral music, which would fit into anything from Halo to Guild Wars. Then after about a minute and a half it goes into a hard-as-hell beat, which strikes me as a strange change of direction, until I realise that it’s finished and we’ve skipped onto the next track on Itunes, Jay-Z’s 99 Problems”
^^ classic!
If this is a Pulp MMORPG, then I will squeal with joy.