According to Massively.com, G4TV's X-play has recently did a preview of Eskil Steenberg's "Love". While both articles(Massively and X-play's video preview) show off how impressive the project is as well as how impressive Eskil is, they didn't even mention some of the very negative points of the game. No character customization, no beta invites/free trials, and the fact the game will probably cost MORE than your standard MMO.
I'm very happy however that Eskil is getting the spotlight he deserves. With both Massively.com and X-Play mentioning the game as well as the name of the man making it, this may be the marketing that he needs to overcome the lack of "Try before you buy.".
Sunday, January 25, 2009
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If Love is not an RPG (the game description on its own site says it is not) then why should it have "character customization" which is an RPG staple?
ReplyDeleteJust because MMOGs began and have prospered with RPGs doesn't mean every single MMOG is therefore by definition an RPG.
I haven't seen information about pricing though. Are you saying it will have a higher monthly subscription than the standard $15/month? Or a more expensive box price?
Regardless if it's successful or not, the point is that it's unique, innovative and not Yet Another Generic DikiMMO(RPG) which is very welcome in my book -- even if I never actually play the game.
While character customization is something that generally falls into an MMORPG(as you stated), many MMOs still have it because when people play as a character they like to be able to personalize it. To not have that seems like a poor choice, but that's my opinion.
ReplyDeleteTo address your other point, according to Eskil Steenberg himself in my interview with him
(Which you can read at www.NegativeGamer.com)
the subscription fee may be more expensive than your standard MMO. There is no set price yet, but he did state it may be higher than your average $15/ month. He did not however mention how much it would be to purchase the game itself.
I utterly agree with your last statement. I've went on about both in this post as well as my opinion about interview(an older post) that I like Eskil Steenberg, I like what he is doing and I like the concept of Love. However with that in mind I just feel he is making a few bad choices in marketing his game. For example there will be no beta trials, no "try before you buy", etc.
You essentially have to purchase the game and THEN find out if you like it or not.
That isn't entirely unheard of though. In fact, demos of non-MMOGs are increasingly becoming a rare animal, unfortunately.
ReplyDeleteAs for beta, I couldn't help but to notice your phrase "beta trial." While I'm sure his game could use actual beta testers (and perhaps he has some "in-house" personal testers?) to try to illuminate some problems that will certainly become apparent when actual players hit the servers, the increasing tendency that is fairly exclusionary to the MMOG industry to use "beta" as a "trial" or marketing tool greatly offends my sensibilities.
While I agree demos are becoming rare * On the PC format, demos for console games are a dime a dozen, I just tried the FEAR 2 Demo on the PSN, for example*, It's just smart business sense to have some type of demo of late.
ReplyDeleteFor example, I bought Warhammer: Online a few months ago. I was told by a friend it was an excellent game. I couldn't find any type of demo/trial to find out first hand if I would enjoy it, so I took my chances and paid for the full game.
And it was horrid.
While I'm not calling for Eskil to have public beta testing, some type of "try before you buy" would attract more customers who may be wary of trying such a game. However he isn't interested in ANY form of that except MAYBE inviting a friend to play after you've paid for the game.
Maybe.
My use of the phrase "beta trial" was really just reinforcing the fact there will be no way for the public to experience this game before they buy it. And if the experience turns out like my Warhammer Online one did, it will make one unhappy gamer who will voice his negative opinion.(As I have about my Warhammer one.)
Just a small note to you Scott, stop on by more. I love having intelligent conversations with people, it's hard to find on the net!
ReplyDelete