Marvel MMO

[Melbosa]

Source: http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3146031

Marvel MMO To Be Developed By Sigil

Play versions of your favorite comic book heroes?

by Jane Pinckard, 12/01/2005



We've received word that Sigil, the development house behind Vanguard, will do the work on the upcoming Marvel Comics MMO. The team has many members who worked on Everquest, so they're accustomed to the MMO format.



We don't have much more information on the upcoming title - will you be able to play as Wolverine? What happens if there are five hundred Wolverines running around? Will it steal gamers away from City of Heroes? Do we really need another MMO?



The coolest thing we've heard so far is that the game will be out for both PC and Xbox 360, and players will be able to play with each other across both systems. Finally, console gamers and PC gamers unite!

[Cova]

If its Sigil doing it, I have confidence it will be done well.

[Lazybones]

It will be interesting to see how it plays out.



- Clearly you wouldn't play as a named hero just like in CoH/CoV

- CoH/CoV is really sort of filling out

- What will make this one stand out? I think they are going to have to introduce some new play elements to the mix to make it stand out from other MMOs.



We will have to wait and see. I guess.

[Cova]

I would guess most of the big differences will be in all the features that CoH left out.  CoH has enhancements and .. now I forget the name of those other things.  I assume this new one will have a full economy behind it like most other MMO's, with all kinds of gear and weapons, a crafting system, etc.  Knowing Sigil it'll also be primarily a PvE game, so I'm gonna guess that the Marvell bag-guys will end up being the main bosses, and the good-guys will be the quest-givers and npc's and such.

[Mr. Analog]

I think the only real appeal is the backdrop. Much like WoW which relies heavily on it's already established universe a Marvel MMO will be similarily themed.



A couple of things though I can make some educated guesses on:

-Young(er) target age group

-Simple battle system (like CoH/CoV)

-Crafting may be limited to archetype (all Wolverine made was trouble!)

-No playable villains



I would wager that they will set up "the world" in zones; like New York, The Savage Lands, Asteroid M, etc. I would also bet that New York would be the starting location for everyone. The other thing I would hazard a guess is a more flexible ability tree, I would bet that over time you can branch into several different things, rather than be locked into "archetypes".



As a bespectacled comic fanboy I have to say that the one thing of interest, to me at least, that I think would be a cool (but annoying?) feature would be that when you start you don't know anything about your powers and have to learn them by playing your character. What would be additionally cool is that as you grew your powers would change over time (maybe into something else). This would jive with the idea behind the problems characters face in the Marvel universe Everybody wants to be Spidey or Wolverine, but nobody wants to be Toad or Jubilee yet they're all there, nobody asked for the powers that they have yet they have to deal with them just like all the other mutants.



THAT would really seperate this game from others since each character you make would be a surprise at first and then a learning journey through the character's career. (Also, it would limit the number of SPYDORR MAN clones that will invariably occur).



Again, this is all just speculation and stuff I'D like to see out of a Marvel MMO. And no, I haven't RTFA yet.

[Cova]

I haven't read the article either, nor do I know very much at all about Marvel (never liked comic books), but I'd disagree a bit with ya Mr. A based on my knowledge of Sigil.  I don't think they'd simplify the combat system much if at all (they like games to be hard - like EQ 1 hard.  they believe that playing up to the max lvl should itself be fun, not just something you do so you can go raiding/etc.)  I also think the crafting system will be as large and complicated as any other crafting system, if not moreso.



I like the idea of having to find out what your powers are, but I doubt they'd do it as taking control away from the players is generally seen as a bad thing to do.  Again, based on past experience with these developers it'll likely be a class-based instead of skill-based leveling system.



I think the thing I'm most certain of though, is that items/lewt will be VERY important to your character.  I've read it in interviews and other articles, and seen it in their previous work - these guys believe that characters should progress not just through what they do (get xp/lvl up), but through what they aquire during the journey.

[Mr. Analog]

The only reason I conjectured a simplistic control system is that as of this time they are considering adding console support for the game, so the interface would have to be simplified for out of the box play.



The other reason I mentioned that the gameplay might be less sophisticated is that to date nearly every game released as a Marvel property is usually aimed at younger audiences (or at the very best a "Teen" ESRB rating).



On the plus side, they don't perscribe to the Comic Code Authority so there might be options for bloodier / sexier content? (though, it would seem that the CCA doesn't really apply to anything considering how graphic certain DC titles have been lately, not to mention that they wouldn't have control over a video game, but still)



And yeah, I doubt they would do the random character ability thing, that's just something I'd like to see.

[Shayne]

MrA's idea of a random draw would be a neat feature.  Granted not everyone would play it, but it would allow for some fun times, the issue would be balancing it i think, would sorta suck if your primary power was that you "glow" or could "melt" where others can swallow whole planets.