One of the Blizzardians has been getting a bit talkative over on the Blizzard boards and has stated that the next MMO is an entire new property. No WoW2, no World Of Starcraft. He seems to think that the Internet already knew that, but I can’t recollect when it was confirmed. Blizzard poster “Zarhym” said: “We have nothing to advertise for the new MMO because it’s a shell of a game thus far. We’ve already stated it’ll be a brand new franchise, which means the lore, art, and game play are being developed entirely from scratch. It’s an overwhelming process, but a process through which we excel. Our track record supports this.”
Oh, and Grunty The Spacemarine Murloc (above) will be the in-game gift for BlizzCon attendees this year. Cute.
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Warhammer 40,000 has more in common with WarCraft than StarCraft. They both have green skinned creatures with names starting with Or and ending in s.
I look forward to any and all Blizzard products, what with them having never made a bad game.
I so desperately want them to make a game like Planetside.
I just hold on hope that they know they’re not going to make money by doing something like WoW ’cause they’ll just cannibalise their own revenue. Has to be something really different.
I hear it’s an MMO racing and trading game: World of Carcraft.
@Jeremy.
“uninformed”? No. Maybe the ‘lore’ as it stands NOW is different, but back when Blizzard was developing the games, they are clearly based/ripped off of Games Workshop.
Who wants to bet that ‘next-gen’ means ‘console’?
I think Blizzard making a new MMO could actually be one of the more interesting moves in the genre, as they are one of the few companies with a desire NOT to muscle in on WoW’s territory; a tactic which not only tends to prove unsuccessful, but is ultimately unimaginative.
Of course, all this doesn’t necessarily mean that we’ll see anything original, as Blizzard could easily decide to take a move polishing up the Eve pie, or some other non WoW based snack. However if they do manage to capture WoW’s success in another field, at least in may provide encouragement for more companies to take similar risks.
Of course all this comes from someone with little interest in MMOs as I can’t be having with the time/financial comitment.
Original? Are there any other Games Workshop franchises left to steal?
My dream would be on a Steampunk / Cyberpunk but blizz aren’t really known for taking risks, so I’d say something along the lines of generic sci-fi too bad really..
Though, I hate to admit it WoW was good for a time, and when I have nothing else to do I generally do find myself nearly signing up, but that just leads to realising that I hate the game again and leaving…. its a strange relationship.
@Chaossmurf Warhammer 40k – space marines, tau and tyranids and you have starcraft.
I’m just left with one underlying and indismissable question: how do you follow WoW? Even in six or so years’ time…
It’s going to have to seriously break the mould, possibly with a free-to-play pricing model, a rarely used theme, and some seriously good high level ideas (like having large amount of players warring lag-free in a single area, which no one has really done well outside of EVE to my knowledge).
“Blizzard have excelled in advertising. Their game is not special in any way really,”
Dude, you are smoking. I completely ignored WOW on release for at least a year, and was quite happy playing City of Heroes. Then one day I played the WOW demo… played it solid for a week, then once it expired, ran out and bought it full price retail in a bricks-and-mortar store (something I _never_ do).
P.
“Blizzard have excelled in advertising. Their game is not special in any way really,”
That’s rubbish, and you know it.
The advertising around WoW was nothing special at all for at least the first couple of years in its life cycle.
Yes, in the past year or two they have pulled it out the bag and done an exceptional job with mainstream TV ads, Ozzy, Mr T etc, but that was on the back of an already supremely popular MMO.
A) In the mists of time Warcraft and Starcraft may have started out as ripoffs of Games Workshop properties, but by now they’re iterated and fleshed out enough that the only real similarities involve both using things like elves, orcs, space marines, and giant bugs. Which you must admit are hardly original to Games Workshop.
B) WoW is in most respects not particularly original, this is true. And yes, many other MMOs boast at least one or two areas in which they excel beyond the scope of WoW, in part because they -have- to to draw players. But those other MMOs, for the most part, have just those one or two new, better elements….whereas WoW is firing on all cylinders in almost every aspect of the game.
It will definitely be interesting to see what Blizzard comes up with. I was kind of hoping that their next new IP was going to be a non-MMO game (until Diablo III was announced, I was hoping that one was going to be new.), but oh well. One of the many charms of WoW is that you can go to places (especially in the Caverns of Time instances) and see from a personal level various relics of famous events in prior Warcraft games. If they’d launched a new IP, -then- turned it into an MMO, you could get a similar experience there.
We could probably do without assuming bad faith. I don’t “know” it’s rubbish that Blizzard aren’t good at advertising and that WoW is secretly very good. You believe that and I’m not going to dispute your opinion. It’s not mine.
I think it’s the iPod phenomena again: a mediocre product gets stellar press coverage and becomes more than it’s worth. The entire WoW argument has been done to death though and we’re scarcely going to change each others’ opinions on it. Perhaps we ought to just agree to disagree.
James G makes a good point about the likelihood that Untitled Blizzard MMO (UBMMO) is probably not going to be in competition with their existing vastly successful product. Based on their track record, I think we might see them attempting to yoink an interesting idea from somewhere else and make it their own. I’m not sure what they might have in mind though: space opera is going to be covered by BioWare’s Star Wars MMO; generic fantasy is covered by World of Warcraft and the million other existing products; superheroes will potentially have City of Heroes, Champions Online, DC Universe Online and a Marvel MMO which is surely a saturation of the market.
They may opt to, as Butler`says, put an MMO up that totally breaks convention. This I’m not sure about, because Blizzard tend to refine and refine rather than revolutionise.
It’s going to be a new Anarcy Online type game ;P Watch you’ll see
I think someone’s a fan of the Temeraire books?
+1 for the Earthbound idea
90% of the posters here will bash it, 100% of you will buy it
Since this was announced 5/2009 the game should be ready around 11/2034, just after they have milked SC, WC and Diablo 14 entirely dry of cash return
“Also, to say that Blizzard has no experience creating “Lore” is also pretty uninformed. They have done a great job fleshing out all the “worlds” that their IPs exist in.”
You mean recycle their lore. They’ve basically reused the one plot they have over and over – and they’ve started to reuse their art over and over (see Draenei/nu-Protoss).
Original they are not.
Plus, they have absolutely no idea of story progression. They killed off all major characters that the entire Warcraft series built up within 2 MMO expansions – including the main big-bads.
About the possible setting: I think you can safely strike “GTA-style MMO” from your list, since Blizzard doesn’t do non T-rated games anymore.
Sci-fi would be kind of stepping on their own future toes if they ever decide to do Starcraft MMO.
Cyberpunk would be awesome, if only because they’d spark a revival of the setting – but the current exposure of it is incredibly low.
I’m hoping for “Rock’N'Roll Racing Online”. Post-apocalyptic-space-cyberpunk-combat-racing-game.
I’m sorta doubting sci-fi.
Received wisdom says the fantasy market is factors larger than the sci-fi market, and there is a glut of sci-fi titles steaming to market, all of whom are angling to swim in the pond most famous for being the place where Tabula Rasa’s $100M body was found floating belly up.
I’m gonna say some fantasy rework with a twist designed to slowly siphon off of vanilla WoW’s fanbase, as that franchise is starting to really show its age. Not WoW2. But not not WoW2, if you get me.
I foresee Imperator Online that’s actually fun to play. Just so they can casually step on Marc Jacobs’ balls yet again.
I’m all for Blizzard ripping off Necromunda and making a sci-fi gang warfare cyberpunk MMO. Shame that it can’t be that because it’s not mass-market enough. I’m guessing it’ll be somewhere around a kind of generic aliens’n'politics Babylon 5/Mass Effect style thing.
I’m not really sure where people are coming from when arguing that genres like space opera, superheroes, etc are covered by existing and upcoming games. Sure, they are. So? WoW entered an MMO scene where there were already plenty of fantasy MMOs. That sure didn’t slow -it- down any.
@Pzykozis
Anyone who says Space Marines and Terrans are anything alike has either never played either game universe or is just trolling. Space Marines aren’t even human – there’s a closer relationship between Imperial Guard and Terrans, but then you have the massive artistic differences.
Tau and Protoss? Really? There’s nothing “greater good” about the Protoss, and last I checked the Tau weren’t all linked mentally or had no mouths or had an offshoot that were deadly assassins who had cut their psychic link.
Zerg and Tyranids. Now we’re getting somewhere. They’re both giant bugs with “broods” and “hive fleets”. That’s all that’s the same. Their leadership, art, unit styles, attack methods, descriptions in lore are all completely different.
Whoever said “Rip off Eve” (or something to that effect), I’m with you, sounds like a brilliant idea.
Oh, @DK Protoss/Draenei are about as similar as Ragnaros and Diablo or the Zerg and Kobolds. If you mean the artistic style that was introduced in the Burning Crusade (in Shattrath and various pieces of armour), there is a small similarity I suppose – they’ve both got crystals and pretty lights, but it’s hardly direct ripping off. Inspired by, perhaps. It is the same artists after all.
@ChaosSmurf; Don’t bother, it’s a lost cause. One an Anti-Blizzard AIM, always an Anti-Blizzard AIM.
I really hope that it’s not a fantasy mmo.
Well they have bucket loads of mullah so who knows they might pull off something that does indeed make us all go “woah – where the feck did that come from, raise and eyebrow and then tuck in”
I’m sure when it happens there will be many a farcebook “Can we get 1 million people to agree this new game has the following same bits as WoW, therefore its not a new IP” group but come on guys- stop being curmudgeons and have a little hope they might pull it off…
Seriously – dragons in space FTW.
Protos are very eldar in all but visual. Shields. Teleporting psychics. Tau are games workshop ripping off japanese cartoons. Terrans sit uncomfortably between imperials and marines. But i’d say imp based off details. Zerg are very nid. But maybe you could argue that the 3 sides are really just default. Humans, organic aliens and clever aliens.
@Seniath mleeeeeeeergh, I know :<
@Heliocentric – I don’t see much correlation between Imperials as a whole and Terrans, other than them both being in space. The combat doctrines, psychology, where the guys come from is completely different. Not to mention the massive differences between the galactic situation of the Terrans and the Empire of Man.
Protoss don’t teleport. They’re, admittedly, all psychic – but you really could compare them to any one of the races that fit that “clever alien” template and find similarities. Christ, take the aliens from Independance Day: smart, vital weaknesses, psychic, wipe out whole planets – would you say they’re similar to the Protoss as well?
As for Zerg, very Nid like it that they’re giant bugs? Their basic psychology is totally different – the Tyranids consume and feed, the Zerg evolve. You would never have, for example, a human-tyranid hybrid (certainly not one with the power to control the entire race) that’s just not how it works.
I think both sides of the ‘Blizzard ripping off Games Workshop’ argument are treating things a bit too simply by looking for direct correlations to support their argument. On the one hand, what Blizzard calls lore, I call fluff. All those redneck terran voices and cerebrates plotting against each other aren’t fundamental distinguishing features, they’re just a different slant on established pulpy sci-fi ideas. Are Terran Marines inspired by Imperial Space Marines? A lot more than they are by the Colonial Marines from Aliens, although that’s totally where the SCV comes from.
That leads on to the other side of things. Blizzard didn’t just take ideas from 40k – both worlds share a similar, derivative heritage of space opera and sci-fi horror – and what ideas they did take, they didn’t always leave in the same place. I mean, a dragoon IS a dreadnought, dying soldier put into cybernetic shell to keep fighting, but put into a very different type of army.
@Legionary: It’s funny that you mentioned the iPod. It and WoW are very similar, but not for the reason you gave. They are both excellent products that are easy to use and easy to have fun with. I started my search for an mp3 player by deciding not to buy an iPod. They cost too much and it is an annoying closed system. After doing research and trying things out I bought an iPod. For 95% of the stuff I want to do, “it just works”. WoW distills the basics of the MMORPG into something that just works for people as well.
And still they try to cover their tracks.
It is NOT a new franchise. It’s a Starcraft-based MMO. Anyone working in the game industry that knows anyone at Blizzard already knows this.
I believe the current WOW will be the biggest problem for Blizzard. It’s just like Sony trying to sell Playstation 3’s to Playstation 2 owners. The PS2 is well established and the PS3 had to compete against its younger brother. There is no competition to WOW and unless investors can put up a billion or two dollars and 3 to 4 years development there will never be a competitor to WOW. Blizzards challenge is to keep the majority of MMO players playing Blizzard games. If they make another good MMO then it will take away from WOW and gain some new customers but Blizzard can only compete with itself as no one else is even in their league when it comes to MMO’s.
I just hope for a break away from fantasy based MMO’s. Imagine something with a large futuristic universe where you develop a character avatar “and” a ship. I hope freedom of exploration on a large scale is the next big thing in MMO’s. Dont get me wrong, WOW, WAR, EVE are all large and explorable but if anyone can make a dynamic universe worth of exploring its Blizzard. With the advancement of technology over the last decade why stick with a single world to explore and for that matter why stick with fantasy. Here’s to hope and original ideas.
TariqOne:“Not WoW2. But not not WoW2, if you get me.”
Ladies(?) and Gentlemen, an Acti-vlizzard Board Member.
I’m not saying ideas aren’t borrowed, or that even Blizzard is the best lore maker around, that wasn’t my point, but the world of Starcraft is quite different from 40k and Warcraft is quite different from Warhammer. The Warhammer storylines are built on a foundation of religion and deities, eldritch magicks(they even spell magic different!), men becoming gods by fusing themselves into thrones, etc. That is what makes it unique from other stories, not the fact that there are space marines … in space. You could argue that Blizzard simply stole their basic ideas from the same place that Games Workshop stole theirs. Oh yes, heresy has been spoken. You can hardly rant and rave about the originality of certain concepts within Warhammer, the originality comes not in the “space marine vs chaos vs neutral alien overseers vs elves vs dwarves vs honorable humans” but within the context of religion that ties everything together.
The stories and worlds are so different, and that is why I say “uninformed” when people jump on the “Blizzard stole from Game Workshop” bandwagon. How many people who claim that even understand the Warhammer world? This isn’t even an argument in defense of Blizzard, it’s more a defense of the Warhammer world.
This was announced a long while ago.
Also I’m thinking The Sims online (not The Sims but a rip off of – House building etc.) Totally different (very large) gaming crowd… The Sims crowd.
@Jeremy
Blizzard were developing the first Warhammer RTS when Games Workshop pulled the plug. Blizzard rehashed the work they had done and sold it as Warcraft Orcs & Humans.
Okay, but that still doesn’t negate the fact that the stories are nothing alike. Only the fact that there are humans and aliens in space, with technology.
Are there actually links with statements by either GW/Blizzard to back the WarCraft originally a Warhammer RTS thing up? Kieron said it in a comment thread a while ago that there don’t seem to be. I’ve always just accepted it as true, but I can’t remember where I first heard it.
Well, what we can be sure, is that it won’t be a sandbox mmo, or a mmofps, or whatever idea you have about a game that your mom wouldn’t be able to master.
My guess is that this new MMO, no matters what the background/genre is, will be another theme park MMO with some social-network features.
The whole new “facebook’s public” is an incredibly huge market. Facebook’s mini-games showed the way and there is clearly a big wide open window for the money-maker that blizzard is.
So well, i think that some people should stop dreaming about this game. Casual gaming is the answer.
I’ll need to see Diablo III before I’m convinced that Blizzard can make dynamic content generation interesting. The previous Diablo games have incredibly boring dynamic content which is all the same. They last as long as they do (for me, at least) by delivering very satisfying clicky kill-and-looting with interesting classes as well as a somewhat interesting setting/plot. That means I’ve managed to beat both games exactly once before getting very bored indeed.
People don’t play games for plots anymore. The Adventure genre died for a reason.
I think that if Blizzard moves into the casual gaming market, they would expand and create a new entity altogether. They guard the name Blizzard very closely(rightly so) and doubt that casual gaming is something they want associated with the brand.
Casual gamers represent the majority of wow’s community.
Personally I think they’re making up a new IP so the shorthand of their new title can be either OMG or LOL.