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[GCQuinton]

Canadian videogame developer BioWare Corp. has announced the opening of a new studio, BioWare Austin, based in Austin, Texas. It is the second of BioWare's studios and the first to be located outside of Canada.

BioWare Austin has already begun work on a Massively Multiplayer Online roleplaying game (MMORPG) title; the new game will mark BioWare's debut in the Massively Multiplayer Online space. BioWare has recruited some of the top talent in MMO and RPG development, both to manage the development efforts at BioWare Austin and to collaborate with the experienced team at BioWare Edmonton, to develop a game that combines the best of BioWare's great past games with a compelling persistent online experience....

http://www.syncgaming.com/index.php?page=viewnews&id=3920

Hadn't seen this anywhere.

 

[PhoenixDark]

Reggie did say the Revolution needs MMOs. I smell exclusive.

 

[poppin fresh]

The baldur's gate license isn't held by them anymore right?

 

[uncdeez]

WTF? I'm not surprised that BioWare/Pandemic are getting into the MMO market but opening a new studio in Austin?

 

[Waku]

Another MMO?

Jezzuz.... isn't the Market, pretty oversaturated allready and with the Upcoming MMO like Warhammer and Vanguard?

 

[Pedigree Chum]

MMO is the new WWII FPS.

 

[Ghost]

I hope its a console game.

 

[syllogism]

I hope its a console game.

Not bloody likely, but multiplatform is a possibility

 

[Oni Jazar]

Just what the world needs another frikkin MMO.

 

[uncdeez]

The baldur's gate license isn't held by them anymore right?

They never held the license.

I'll try to condense this down as much as possible so I'm probably missing a few things.

Baldur's Gate is part of the 'Forgotten Realms,' a setting in D&D.
The D&D license was owned by a company called TSR and Interplay was the sole(?) licensee of D&D (in games) at the time Baldur's Gate was released.
TSR went down the shitter and D&D was bought up by Wizards of the Coast (Magic: The Gathering people).
BioWare and Interplay had a falling out of sorts after Throne of Bhaal was released (rumors are they couldn't pay BioWare for their milestones) which resulted in Neverwinter Nights (also a D&D Forgotten Realms title) switching publishers from Interplay to Atari.
Interplay goes down the shitter.
Atari becomes the sole licensee of D&D games.
Hasbro buys Wizards of the Coast all the while making sure that D&D games are "family friendly" (i.e. no fucking and no brothels).

 

[Draft]

Something needs to break with MMO pricing. Only the hardest of the hardcore are going to maintain more than one $15 subscription per month. The first company to come along and offer an "MMO-lite" experience for $5 a month is going to be swimming in it.

 

[Kung Fu Jedi]

Something needs to break with MMO pricing. Only the hardest of the hardcore are going to maintain more than one $15 subscription per month. The first company to come along and offer an "MMO-lite" experience for $5 a month is going to be swimming in it.

The six million subscribers of WoW disagree with you. But, yeah, I know what you're saying. My biggest concern isn't that there is another MMO game coming out, but that it is something different. While WoW seems to have the Fantasy version locked up, maybe someone could make a name for themselves in a Science Fiction theme. Say, Cyber-punk for instance. With BioWare at the helm, I'm interested in seeing what they have to offer.

 

[Razoric]

Something needs to break with MMO pricing. Only the hardest of the hardcore are going to maintain more than one $15 subscription per month. The first company to come along and offer an "MMO-lite" experience for $5 a month is going to be swimming in it.

Uh World of Warcraft has sold more than most console games.

 

[Borys]

Something needs to break with MMO pricing. Only the hardest of the hardcore are going to maintain more than one $15 subscription per month. The first company to come along and offer an "MMO-lite" experience for $5 a month is going to be swimming in it.

You are so wrong it isn't even funny.

Yeah, only "hardcore" people pay for WoW, if by "hardcore" you mean women, artists, mac users and people who haven't touched a PC game since The Sims in last century.

Of course $5/ month for a MMORPG would be kinda interesting.

 

[pilonv1]

Second Life is $9.95/month and seems to be doing well.

 

[Marlowe]

Why is it that no one is actually reading his post? He's saying for people to pay for MORE than one MMO -- of course, millions are playing WoW -- for those millions to play one of the host of OTHER MMOs, someone is going to have to break with the current scheme.

 

[Draft]

so I guess reading comprehension for the lose?

Only the hardest of the hardcore are going to maintain more than one $15 subscription per month.

My point is that right now, the MMO market consists of one giant, 8,0000 pound gorilla, and a bunch of little rhesus monkeys eating its scraps. The problem is, at $15 a pop, the "casuals" aren't going to play WoW and CoH, or WoW and Star Wars Galaxies. They're just going to play WoW. Now, if CoH costs $5 a month, all the sudden it's a much more attractive side-game.

edit: looks like Marlowe paid attention and studied hard. Here's your gold star buddy :lol

 

[Razoric]

so I guess reading comprehension for the lose?My point is that right now, the MMO market consists of one giant, 8,0000 pound gorilla, and a bunch of little rhesus monkeys eating its scraps. The problem is, at $15 a pop, the "casuals" aren't going to play WoW and CoH, or WoW and Star Wars Galaxies. They're just going to play WoW. Now, if CoH costs $5 a month, all the sudden it's a much more attractive side-game.

edit: looks like Marlowe paid attention and studied hard. Here's your gold star buddy :lol

Haha... I wanted the gold star but failed.

Buuuuut, I dont think monthly fee is the only thing deterring multiple MMOs. Most non-hardcore people only have enough TIME to play one MMO. Not only would you have to make it $5 a month or less, you'd have to completely change the style of game and make it not such a timesink.

 

[Maximilian E.]

I smell a 360/PC game..
Bioware has been very pro MS but still supporting the PC plattform. I can totally see a MMO game where 360/PC-gamers could meet from Bioware...

 

[ToxicAdam]

What's the lead time for a MMO now? Like 2 or 3 years? Most of the recent ones have taken that long from initial funding until launch date (Star Trek and Matrix come to mind).

So, we will get to see this in 2008-2009? Yay?

 

[Piper Az]

i'm surprised that MS hasn't announced any MMO for the Xbox360. They should do one, preferable under the Dungeon Siege label.

 

[poppin fresh]

They never held the license.

I'll try to condense this down as much as possible so I'm probably missing a few things.

Baldur's Gate is part of the 'Forgotten Realms,' a setting in D&D.
The D&D license was owned by a company called TSR and Interplay was the sole(?) licensee of D&D (in games) at the time Baldur's Gate was released.
TSR went down the shitter and D&D was bought up by Wizards of the Coast (Magic: The Gathering people).
BioWare and Interplay had a falling out of sorts after Throne of Bhaal was released (rumors are they couldn't pay BioWare for their milestones) which resulted in Neverwinter Nights (also a D&D Forgotten Realms title) switching publishers from Interplay to Atari.
Interplay goes down the shitter.
Atari becomes the sole licensee of D&D games.
Hasbro buys Wizards of the Coast all the while making sure that D&D games are "family friendly" (i.e. no fucking and no brothels).

Nice condensed wrap up, I always got lost with the D&D license stuff for BG.

 

[Draft]

Haha... I wanted the gold star but failed.

Buuuuut, I dont think monthly fee is the only thing deterring multiple MMOs. Most non-hardcore people only have enough TIME to play one MMO. Not only would you have to make it $5 a month or less, you'd have to completely change the style of game and make it not such a timesink.

Yes, I agree. I think you'd see a lot more Planetside type games at that price point. Something you can sit down and get into within a couple minutes, and accomplish something in a half an hour (even if it is just blowing shit up.)

 

[borghe]

the monthly fee is definitely the only thing from deterring me from maintaining multiple subscriptions/accounts. at $15, I only pay for one mmo at a time. if the fee dropped to $5 I would pay for, you guessed it.. up to 3, maybe even 4 mmos at a time.

the problem with this is the only person who benefits is the consumer. CoH isn't all of the sudden going to see WoW's 6 million subs if they drop the price. Neither is EQ2. They will see more subscribers, but most games probably won't see 3 times the subscriber numbers.

 

[Vark]

the monthly fee is definitely the only thing from deterring me from maintaining multiple subscriptions/accounts. at $15, I only pay for one mmo at a time. if the fee dropped to $5 I would pay for, you guessed it.. up to 3, maybe even 4 mmos at a time.

the problem with this is the only person who benefits is the consumer. CoH isn't all of the sudden going to see WoW's 6 million subs if they drop the price. Neither is EQ2. They will see more subscribers, but most games probably won't see 3 times the subscriber numbers.

Yea its kind of hard to predict. Its entirely possible though that a lower monthly fee would lead people to consider retaining an account when they're not playing instead of cancelling outright *shrugs*.

 

[Xiaoki]

If Bioware took the NWN gameplay and made that into a MMO I would quit WoW and piss on the discs.

I am SOOOO freakin tired of Auto Attack "real time"(ie actually turn based but real time sounds more sexy) MMOs.

Well, I'm also pretty tired of fantasy MMOs(who isn't) but if you came out that was skilled based(and has depth, sorry DnDO) then I'll be happy.
WoW is so easy a retarded, one armed monkey could play it.

We just need a MMO that is successful(in the US) that doesn't follow the EQ mold(you were so close CoH) to turn things around for the genre and Bioware has the potential to do it.

 

[Dr. Kitty Muffins]

Austin is a pretty good development scene. Alot of good talent floats around there. They should be able to build a pretty good studio there. I believe alot of former Ultima online devs used to call the city home?

 

[Tiktaalik]

I wonder why they picked Austin over local development hotspots like Vancouver or Montreal?

 

[zabuni]

Austin has had a piece of the MMOG pie ever since the UO days. They even made off with a couple of refugees from the sinking ship SS SOE. Including one former UO guy, Gordon Walton.

 

[GashPrex]

wow bioware mmo game - i'm intererested

 

[PhlegmMaster]

Bah, as if we need another MMORPG. Bioware should focus on single-player games.

 

[Borys]

Argh, Draft, reading comprehension FTL indeed, sorry.

Anyway here's my question:

Did Blizzard actually predicted (believed in) such amazing WoW numbers? I mean neither Diablo 2 nor War3 sold *that* much , plus they were FREE to play online unlike WoW.

Did any of Blizz's head honchos (or market analysts) thought to himself:

"Hmm, we will make a game that costs $50 off the shelf and requires people to pay $15 monthly to play it.

And it will be an even bigger succes than Diablo 2!"

I don't believe it myself.

 

[Odysseus]

boooooooooo

Single player ftw

 

[Tabris]

so I guess reading comprehension for the lose?My point is that right now, the MMO market consists of one giant, 8,0000 pound gorilla, and a bunch of little rhesus monkeys eating its scraps. The problem is, at $15 a pop, the "casuals" aren't going to play WoW and CoH, or WoW and Star Wars Galaxies. They're just going to play WoW. Now, if CoH costs $5 a month, all the sudden it's a much more attractive side-game.

edit: looks like Marlowe paid attention and studied hard. Here's your gold star buddy :lol

To be fair, it's not just WoW that rules the market.

The korean market is ruled by Lineage 1 and 2
The japanese market is ruled by Final Fantasy XI (which also has the 2nd or 3rd biggest chunk of the mmorpg market in America)
The western market is ruled by WoW.

 

[LakeEarth]

Yeah the market is gonna be oversaturated in no time, but if your game catches on, $$$$$$$$$.

 

[Wafflecopter]

:\


Why not another sp PC Game?


Oh and fuck Hasbro. The brothel in BG2 was great.

 

[madara]

Another console plus game to add to the pile? Maybe if they keep pushing them out we'll finally get a few that are not so lackluster with the hand holding instance fest lack of z-axis like features.