Yes. I suggested doing so in a couple of comments yesterday. The world of CP2077 would be Mega as an MMO. To me an MMO seems the natural environment for this game. The Devs are apparently aspiring to translate the tabletop RPG experience into CP2077, and seem to have done an amazing job from what we have seen. but it deserves to be open-ended. One of the best aspects of tabletop RPGs is that they are without limit. No one would suggest making an MMO is easy, but all the groundwork is already in place with this game. Expanding is (pretty much) all it would need. There are different types of Gamers, of course. Many of them are purely 20 hours - 40 hours per game players, who have no interest in anything beyond main story lines, and certainly not MMOs. That's where most of the no thanks will come from. But for Gamers who enjoy the format... Cyberpunk 2077 Universe would be the greatest thing ever. Sign me up for the Lifetime Membership Package.
There are plenty of other companies doing MMORPGs right now and not enough doing SP RPGs. I think that CDPR should stick with what they're doing now and let the other AAA game titles (EA and Sony, looking at you) burn themselves out.
I don't want to underestimate CDPR (love you guys) but a MMO is such maintenance high? I just get tired by just thinking about it. Like really.
I play a lot of free MMO's. Mainly Blade & Soul, but also Aion, TERA, Revelation Online and Black Desert online. Ok the latter is not free, but lol 3 euro is less than a beer, so basically it is free.
BnS is my main. I have played it since the EU/NA release and I have a few complains that apply on a lot of MMO's. My post will be chaotic, but I hope it sheds some light on why I DON'T want CDPR to make on. It's more because I care about them, not because I personally don't want it. Please take note I am not a pro in marketing, I have never worked on a game before. This is all based on personal experience and what I heard from others.
I was doing some points about what I dislike about MMO's what I worry about. But I cannot phrase it right. So put it in a spoiler. You can skip. But also not, Idc. Just know it is not well explained. Forgive me.
1. Will this MMORPG be free to play OR monthly subscription? Personally I prefer F2P but with a solid Premium option (1 week - 1 month - 3 months - 6 months - 1 year). A lot of F2P MMOs have premium but it's lame.
2. What's the gain for CDPR here financially? MMO's are very expensive to maintain. Not only server-wise but you consistently need to make storyline updates, new cosmetics, update items/weapons, new places on the map. A lot of costs, constantly unless you abandon the servers/take them down.So you need a lot of income. How to generate that? Selling lootboxes? Those are illegal in most EU countries by now. Selling cosmetics? Make your game p2w? I think compared to mobile games, MMO's are not that profitable. My "proof" is the sudden move of BnS, Tera, etc to mobile and other new companies just doing mobile MMO's or just mobile gaming in general.
3. I loved the Witcher because of the storyline mainly. How are they going to keep that up in an MMO. Everybody makes their own character. What personality will MC have? How can everybody recognize themselves in their character and yet have character development. I feel like MMO heroes are always bland as hell.
4. The storyline will be more linear and not so much about personal choice. I know the Korean version of BnS had choice options to influence your storyline however they took it away in EU/NA. (not sure why if it was because too much effort or because they wanted to cut costs on translations and English voiceactors). Also has to be update regularly. If not updated every few months people will quit playing.
5. MMO's are super grindy and nobody likes it. Want that nice costume? Oh sorry the drop chance is 3% so you wil have to run this same dungeon for 13234732468 times. Or farming for upgrade materials for gear.
I could go on but the more I am typing the more I am annoyed by myself and who will ever read this anyway.
I am just worried that the effort it takes to make and maintain will never find a balance with profit for CDPR.
I actually would trust my life and money to CDPR if they would attempt an MMORPG. Paid or not paid to play.
It would be a challenge. And maybe I just want the employees to chill a bit more than tackle the difficulties of a genre that has been considered "dead".
Edit 1: I know I say alot about Blade&Soul, but please no dirt to NCsoft. I mean there is a lot of tea about them. But I can assure the employees of NcSoft West are doing their very best to create and maintain content. It's just kinda hard sometimes.
I haven't played any MMORPG for years, but the reason I quit is because, with the exception of WoW, all of them are pay to win games, relying a lot on in-game purchases. Loot boxes/gambling aside, the moment when in-game purchases are the X-factor regarding becoming competitive in a decent timely manner or be forced to grind and spend a lot of time to become one, then that is a no.
We already see with Gwent that the direction is towards micro-transactions in order to progress, CDPR making a MMORPG would be even worse. Unless there is a chance they would copy the WoW business model. Paying a subscription to play while in-game purchases are not mandatory in order to become strong is a good trade-off, probably one of the reasons, if not the main reason why WoW, even though Blizz released some awful expansions lately, still thrives.
If this MMORPG is based on the Witcher games, then that is a big NO! The Skyrim universe was ruined with ESO, although the game did not start bad. Bethesda turned more corporate, greedier, thus it started viewing the game as a quick cash grab.
The MMORPG niche is dead because the business model is poisonous.
As a fan of singleplayer games watching many of my favorites get ruined by companies trying to chase WoW $$ (Elder Scrolls, Fallout... Ultima) and multiplayer crowds (anything EA touches), I'm an emphatic no. Not to trash anyone's idea of fun, but it is not mine. I've found SWTOR occasionally enjoyable, but only to the extent I can enjoy the content solo. Otherwise, people want to skip the stories, dialogues, movies, rush through things, scream if you don't time everything perfectly, and drop all kinds of racist, sexist, homophobic drivel.
does there need to be an mmo? I mean, cool if that's your thing, but I'd rather get CDPR work on a sequel to ANY of their games rather than pooping out an mmo, even if it's amazing
Even if they have good intentions at the start, most game devs become greedy when they see how easily MMORPGs (and mobile games) make money, and that would translate into implementing mechanics that promote grind/gambling etc., so the game quality would become worse and worse. I don't want cdprojekt to go down that route. So no, please no mmorpg in the future.
That is a horrible idea. if they started working on a mmorpg then they wouldn't be able to properly work on their other projects. I think that is what happened to bioware when they started their work on SWTOR. With MMO their usually a free model and sub model. The free model are always limited even tho you brought their game but with video games you just buy it one time. At least people used but then came loot boxes and microtransactions.
That is a horrible idea. if they started working on a mmorpg then they wouldn't be able to properly work on their other projects. I think that is what happened to bioware when they started their work on SWTOR. With MMO their usually a free model and sub model. The free model are always limited even tho you brought their game but with video games you just buy it one time. At least people used but then came loot boxes and microtransactions.
Not at all. I think the idea would be that they would build a team that worked exclusively with the MMO. Swapping people in and out of multiple projects is not always untenable, but it's not a great way to handle anything creative. Ideally, what I'd want are departments of people that do a job for project 1, beginning to end, then move on to a similar job for project 2, etc. Sor an MMO core team, that would be a pretty dedicated position. MMOs are (ideally) constantly growing and being polished. The only, truly responsible and sensible way to handle that is to build a team that focuses exclusively on that.
For things like art departments, 3D modeling, sound and music, etc., it can often be fun to shift gears between projects. Keeps the blood flowing. Keeps any one thing from "going numb".
since CDPR is one of very very very few developers i still trust on making great games without trying to screw players over like most others do with cheap reskins and ripoffs called preorder and whatnot i think they could do it, although it is a challenge different from single player games since being online in itself is technically a totally different thing. netcode ruins so many games, cheap implementation of a chat too. sounds hilarious right ? when a chat is poorly implemented -> stuttering. generally netcode is not to be underestimated imo. poe and d3 have that issue for example and its mindblowing.
i think it would be reason to hype and i would trust CDPR to be able to make a great mmorpg...i still hope for a vampire focused mmorpg someday since projects in the past have gotten cancled. i loved blood and wine....so i have a sliver of hope left that CDPR takes another look at the vampire genre, even if just as part of another fantasy game where it would fit.
I have it, including the expansions, it gets dull after a while and the grind is ever present.
As I've gotten older, I can no longer spare the time on such low-yield activities, I can't afford to grind anymore. If I play something, it has to be good. Even a good game, if it turns dull I will abandon it.
I have it, including the expansions, it gets dull after a while and the grind is ever present.
As I've gotten older, I can no longer spare the time on such low-yield activities, I can't afford to grind anymore. If I play something, it has to be good. Even a good game, if it turns dull I will abandon it.
I've been there. Totally understand. And during such times, I've mostly fallen back on XCOM, Kingdoms of Amalur, and TW3 for "most bang for the buck". Every minute I spend in those games feels so progressive and rewarding. (Even when I'm losing on XCOM! )
But Guild Wars 2 introduces a lot of cool stuff:
Blend of humor and fun without ever getting truly "silly" -- as far as I've seen.
Very unique classes and builds that have visual representations of your chosen approach. When I discovered that the attack animations of a Ranger with a sword were totally different than a Warrior with a sword...I immediately felt immersed. Love little details like that.
A world that keeps delivering. Granted, it's not the most "revolutionary" gameplay or gameworld in history, but it's really diverse and cool. It's like the best, casual coffee you can find on the street. No, it's not going to win awards in Paris for cullinary mastery...but it's hella better than "Starbucks".
Inspiration. The first time I entered my central city (as a human ranger...yes...I'm classically lame...) I was blown away. They made my "home" feel amazing. I immediately wanted to "fight for this". Very cool design.
A wildly ambitious game is announced. Later, it's announced that the game will take longer than expected. A few years later, it's delayed again. And maybe again. Finally, it's released. And, while not 100% perfect at release, it's amazingly good. A few patches later, the game is basically an instant classic.
On topic:
No.
MMORPGs are gargantuan undertakings, and I've yet to see a good one. The requirement for content is so ridiculously large, that it would be unavoidable to create repetitive or procedurally generated content. I would much rather see CDPR make a multiplayer online game with reasonable amount of people (f.ex. <100) on a single server, which would focus on player interaction (for emergent content).
Model which is largely based on microtransactions. You can grind stuff ingame, or you can buy ingame currency with real money and get stuff instantly. You are not forced to, but it is there.
I look at all news involving Tencent with trepidation. I think its practically the next EA, in that it will gobble up good IPs and turn them into microtransaction travesties. Look at whats happening with Valorant... (Valorant was an original IP developed by them, but getting stuff without paying extra money requires ridiculous grinding. And there are some pretty silly prices in there.)
Aren't they working since forever on something behind close doors? Isn't this somewhat known?
There is this interview, ( i think this is this one ) with with Danny O'dwyer, in that interview they discuss Mmo and online genre as a whole and if they were into the idea of getting into that world of Mmo games. They are working on it for sure, but it is a small team. Now this is me coming from that interview. There Marcin states something on the lines of "if we do it, one day will be ourway" lets you know the idea is floating, or who knows. It's already being formed.
