Microsoft Announces Mythica MMORPG

Several readers have pointed out the announcement (Gamespot story) of a new PC MMORPG from Microsoft, centered around Norse mythology and called "Mythica." There's a detailed preview on Gamespy which expands greatly on the press release and includes some first looks at in-game and concept art. A title to watch for 2004?

new section?

[PD]

So, is this a new games section?

Re:new section?

[alphaseven]

Looks like it, the colors are pretty.

Re:Too many MMORGPS

[johnkoer]

That is why you are seeing different types of MMORPGs showing up. No doubt everyone has heard of Everquest [sony.com] and some of us have heard of Dark Age of Camelot [daoc.com]. Now I would put these games in the D&D genre, but there are a new crop of games coming out such as Star Wars Galaxies [sony.com] and City of Heros [cityofheros.com] which will appeal to different types of people.

Now you are right that the people who play these games (myself included) can only play one or two at a time, but I know that my interest fluctuates in the games. So

Sounds like fun

[LearningHard]

The ultimate quest for power... godhood. This could definitely be a good game. Especially if it is done the right way. Something about gathering followers to propel me to godhood just makes me drool. On an OT sidenote. I love the new games section.

DAOC Midgard Comparisons

[Thrasymachos]

Midgard was always my favorite realm in DAOC, and Mythica looks to be kicking it up a notch, Emiril style. I'm not sure how they're going to deliver on their promise to avoid the "bunny killing" of other games. I mean, your character has to start somewhere, and no matter how much you dress up a low level creature, it's still a low level creature, and the underlying level treadmill remains the same. The private realms seem promising though, although mightn't this disqualify the game from the first "M" in MMORPG? Oh well, I'm still looking forward to seeing how this one turns out.

Looking forward to this...

[TopFlite211]

I'm really looking forward to this. Compelling & rich fiction to draw from, quality talent, and the bucks to back it - it's a good combination.

Playscapes? Godhood?

[Chokma]

The system for playscapes, ie group oriented mini-worlds, seems interesting. But how can my group wreak havoc in their own little universe and than emerge, telling everyone "We did this" when there is no way for the other players to visit our world?

Imagine six parties going for a dungeon. Each one reappears and tells tall tales. The seventh group visits the dungeon - will they
a) find an area littered with trash discarded by six groups.
b) get their own clean dungeon?
c) meet five other groups bashing the overlord?

a) would be new, but hardly exciting. b) would be new, but not a thing to tell your grandchildren about. c) would be the conventional style of current MMOGs.

MMORPGs need to be semi-persistent, so there is a dragon to kill for every player joining the game. Having a really persistend world, where all dragons are extinct, is not fun at all to the aspiring newbie.
Somehow I think that cubicilizing the adventures into "everyone can quest and not see everyone else do it" is not going to be the big solution. Granted, you get fewer griefers during your quest, but when you leave a module and form another group, you get the problem with inconsistent worlds - if two play the same module and one does not kill the dragon, does it not irritate the hero who did?

As for the godhood-thingie that gets brandied about - OMG! The developers must be smoking something really strange if they think that 3000 people playing on a server will ever feel 'godly'. The best you can hope for is to be part of a semidevine class of powerlevelers in a sanitarized environment.
To be a real GOD you would need to have POWER to create and destroy. Now, being some little attention grabber for a village of goat-shaggers does not sound that godly to me, especially if I cannot wipe out all those other so-called Gods and usurp their villages, too!
Try being a god in a MMORPG and you will find out what playing soccer with 22 referees and one player is like.

If the chat and login systems work...

[korebantic]

If the chat and login systems work it will be a vast improvement over Ac2 -- where both these systems are constantly going down. It's obvious Ac2 was released way to early, and now the users get to pay for the privilege of playing a beta quality game. I hope MS doesn't repeat the same mistake again.

When is Bethesda gonna...

[Slime-dogg]

Have you seen those shots? They look very much like the new expansion to Morrowind. 'Course, the graphics aren't quite the quality that Morrowind has, but it seems that the world has the same atmosphere.

I would love it if the world of the Elder Scrolls made it onto the 'net somewhere. It's got extensibility, and if they used that in conjunction with some centralized servers, they could ensure that everyone has got all of those cool unique items.

Another thing about the MMORPGS... I don't see why making an extensible world is so impossible. Just keep a team of designers employed full time, adding chunks of land here and there. I imagine that there'd be a point where storage becomes an issue, but storage solutions are not a static technology. New areas = new dungeouns. New area = new weapon base styles. It'd be cool if users could submit graphical suggestions for items, skins and models and such, if they make it in to the game, they could be like those completely unique items (Aegis Fang style).

I'm not sure if some of that type of stuff is going to show up in World of Warcraft, but it'd be nice to see them as a general trend in world/system design.

Shows promise

[kc78]

I think this game definitely shows promise but the fact that its being run by Micro$oft does concern me. However, I'm not a big enough penguin lover to overlook the game if it reaches it's potential. Granted when you start your lower levels it's still lower levels, but at least you're not getting killed by a rat. That's just a little ridiculous to me.