In reply to the following article, and I suppose my first weigh-in on the forever in development and it-might-as-well not bother ever going live MMO APB;
(Context: All Points Bulletin is a Massively Multiplayer online game where much like Grand Theft Auto, a very distant cousin, is ramping up towards going live some time in the next couple of years. Problem is what are you supposed to be doing in the game? It at least answers the call for being able to play the game from both sides of the law, something it's two cousins, Crackdown and Grand Theft Auto have shown us but merging both halves.. giving us something in between the two. What exactly does that actually mean though? We'll see. They've been dropping these little previews and walkthroughs but none really provide a proper in depth understanding of what the game is about. This again doesn't give me the greatest confidence in it over coming those big hurdles that face none fantasy MMOs (general lack of variety in game play and lack of enough realism in terms of what they are offering you). When the game is effectively supposed to be a multiplayer version of Grand Theft Auto and Crackdown... what do they hope to accomplish when both Grand Theft Auto and Crackdown already have online modes, not to mention Saints Row. Seems doomed to failure.)
http://www.mmorpgate.com/2009/09/sensuality-and-mmorpg.html
1 - It's marketing rule 1
2 - In order to sell something to adults, see marketing rule 1
SO after watching this, http://www.vgarabia.com/2009/09/06/watch-mark-rein-gives-more-in-depth-details-about-apb/
I was wondering, as an MMO, where's the girls?! Are they skipping rule #1?
While watching the Mark Reign walkthrough I was impressed by the game having gas stations... I
m wondering then if they have burger joints and random chicks walking down the street. If you take those ingredients in the context of a game which has enforcers (cops) versus gang thugs (criminals).. why isn't there more to do with women in terms of game play? As a cop you could see them being informants (and to be PC so could random ped guys), they could also work at gas stations... full service.. instead of there being some dorky on screen icon telling you your car is magically getting filled up. Ever street corner could have a hooters restaurant AND hooters gas station, to put it bluntly.
Given then that the game is focused on crimes, and what you get in Saints Row, kidnappings and escort services.. and they even have strip clubs for that matter, it's easy expect Realtime Worlds to at least obey marketing and game play rule number one that way. As it's already been done, this game would just do it much better.
If you're going to be a criminal by being a pimp, there should be enough peds (male and female) for you to kidnap some and turn them. Else just hold them for ransom while avoiding the enforcers.
It's like what else are you going to do if the majority of crime isn't centered around the sale, extortion, abuse etc of people. Not to mention more mundane fun things like being a taxi driver. With enough random peds walking the streets I'd be happy getting harrassed constantly for rides both as a ghost cabby and as an official cabby.. which I've not seen as being a game play element either.
I'm not to the point of dismay yet, but realising that the game may lack such simple activities does mak me wonder what exactly you're paying for when playing this supposed MMO.
(Context: All Points Bulletin is a Massively Multiplayer online game where much like Grand Theft Auto, a very distant cousin, is ramping up towards going live some time in the next couple of years. Problem is what are you supposed to be doing in the game? It at least answers the call for being able to play the game from both sides of the law, something it's two cousins, Crackdown and Grand Theft Auto have shown us but merging both halves.. giving us something in between the two. What exactly does that actually mean though? We'll see. They've been dropping these little previews and walkthroughs but none really provide a proper in depth understanding of what the game is about. This again doesn't give me the greatest confidence in it over coming those big hurdles that face none fantasy MMOs (general lack of variety in game play and lack of enough realism in terms of what they are offering you). When the game is effectively supposed to be a multiplayer version of Grand Theft Auto and Crackdown... what do they hope to accomplish when both Grand Theft Auto and Crackdown already have online modes, not to mention Saints Row. Seems doomed to failure.)
http://www.mmorpgate.com/2009/09/sensuality-and-mmorpg.html
1 - It's marketing rule 1
2 - In order to sell something to adults, see marketing rule 1
SO after watching this, http://www.vgarabia.com/2009/09/06/watch-mark-rein-gives-more-in-depth-details-about-apb/
I was wondering, as an MMO, where's the girls?! Are they skipping rule #1?
While watching the Mark Reign walkthrough I was impressed by the game having gas stations... I
m wondering then if they have burger joints and random chicks walking down the street. If you take those ingredients in the context of a game which has enforcers (cops) versus gang thugs (criminals).. why isn't there more to do with women in terms of game play? As a cop you could see them being informants (and to be PC so could random ped guys), they could also work at gas stations... full service.. instead of there being some dorky on screen icon telling you your car is magically getting filled up. Ever street corner could have a hooters restaurant AND hooters gas station, to put it bluntly.
Given then that the game is focused on crimes, and what you get in Saints Row, kidnappings and escort services.. and they even have strip clubs for that matter, it's easy expect Realtime Worlds to at least obey marketing and game play rule number one that way. As it's already been done, this game would just do it much better.
If you're going to be a criminal by being a pimp, there should be enough peds (male and female) for you to kidnap some and turn them. Else just hold them for ransom while avoiding the enforcers.
It's like what else are you going to do if the majority of crime isn't centered around the sale, extortion, abuse etc of people. Not to mention more mundane fun things like being a taxi driver. With enough random peds walking the streets I'd be happy getting harrassed constantly for rides both as a ghost cabby and as an official cabby.. which I've not seen as being a game play element either.
I'm not to the point of dismay yet, but realising that the game may lack such simple activities does mak me wonder what exactly you're paying for when playing this supposed MMO.