Massively Multiplayer Grand Theft Auto 62
Voodoo Extreme has the story that earlier this week Grand Theft Auto creator David Jones announced the upcoming release of APB, a massively multiplayer game in the vein of Grand Theft Auto. It won't be out until 2007, but will make an appearance at E3 this year. Business Wire has details on the game's developer, Webzen, as well. The company sounds as if it's going to be making a major push into the market. From the article: "In addition to APB, Webzen, Inc. plans to bring multiple online game titles to the U.S. market. The titles include the massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), SUN, releasing in the third quarter of 2005, and a massively multiplayer online first person shooter (MMOFPS) called Huxley, that leverages the latest Unreal 3 game engine and is scheduled to release in 2006."
Dare I ask..... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Dare I ask..... (Score:3, Insightful)
This sounds cool, if..... (Score:4, Insightful)
Three things need to be possible, though:
1) Higher-level players have the ability to create and define missions for other (lower-level) players to complete. You could order hits on enemies (or friends), pay other people to take the rap for your dirty work, etc.
1) Cops need to be playable characters. (You could even become a dirty cops!)
2) Jail time has to COUNT. When you get caught by the police, the game has to turn into you sitting in the crossbar hotel sitting on a cot for 48 hours (or so) of realtime.
Re:Great... (Score:3, Insightful)
I think a GTA-esque MMORPG would work better by dropping the first M, and making it team based for the majority of it. (Wasn't that how PSO and Monster Hunter worked?) That way, your team could participate in an engaging and evolving story without being hamstrung by a overworld catered to holding a million player-thugs at once.
And you brought up the "beating a hooker to death" meme. What is it with that and the GTA games? You can beat anybody to death, most will drop money. There's no direct line, zero sum $ in the game where you pick up a hooker and then kill her to get your money back. And if you continue to kill random pedestrians, it will not be long before the game sends cops after you. At which point you must stop and run and take your punsishment. Why does the general populace think GTA is nothing but some kind of hooker-killing sim?
defeats the point entirely (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Great... (Score:3, Insightful)
Why does the general populace think GTA is nothing but some kind of hooker-killing sim?/i>
Probably because they have bought into the whole madonna/whore diachotomy and believe on some level that the 'dirty' whores' deserve it. After all, having sex with someone, either for money or not, is obviously much worse than killing people. It must be or the ratings systems would be totally different from what they currently are where even implied sex will get you banned but explicit violence will get you awards.
*sigh* And we wonder why society has fucked up attitudes to sex?