*grasps forehead*

"They also denied that they are developing any MMOGs as of the moment by saying loud and clear that they " do not currently have any MMO development plans beyond the upcoming expansion for World of Warcraft, and furthermore, we don't have any intentions to focus on only one genre or platform with our future games."

Source

That article was Posted Jun 15, 2006 at 02:22AM...

Also at
http://www.blizzard.com/jobopp/ they are looking for
Lead Engine Programmer – Next-Gen MMO
Lead Tools Programmer – Next-Gen MMO
Lead Technical Artist – Next-Gen MMO

So to say that the other article is false because of this old article saying that they are not working on any MMO's just isn't true. Clearly even on their own website they are advertising jobs to work on this upcoming MMO.

lol i didnt look at the date tbh .... and i didnt mean it was false, everything is pure speculation atm . wait and see i guess :)

I guess this is all about hyping sc2 even more up :]

idd :)

Maybe they are false job ads to confuse people :)

these might as well be WoW jobs...

hahahha

guess we will see what comes, i'd rather see MMO over SC2 tbh

to have another wow on the market? no, thanks.
I'd prefer seeing more "good" games rather than having even more MMOs popped out.

the chance of SC2 being better than SC instead of a WC3 clone is slim :(

People seem to forget what blizzard is about. They define and reinvent genre's.

It is quite possible to make a MMO that isnt an MMORPG. It is rarely done, but it is this kind of thing that someone like Blizzard can do right.

There have been previous attempts at MMORTS's :

* Mankind - A 1998 title developer and publisher by Vibes
* Shattered Galaxy - A 2001 title developed by Kru Interactive
* Starships! - A 2004 title developed by Rabid Panda Ranch.
* Navy Field - A 2006 title developed by SD Enternet
* Ballerium - A 2006 title developed by Majorem
* Boundless Planet - A 2006 title developed by BoundlessPlanet
* Dreamlords - 2007 title developed by Lockpick Entertainment
* Darkness and Light - A 2007 title developed by N-Log Inc.

I personally played most of them, but they all lack the kind of polish, easy to access and play, scale and complexity that Blizzard seem to be complete experts at getting right.

What I am trying to say, is that just because a game is an MMO does NOT mean it is going to be a WOW clone set in the future. It can have a range of game types (MMOFPS maybe? that would certainly be very interesting). They are looking for MMO developers, not MMORPG WOW CLONE developers.

They really don't reinvent genres. They highly refine and polish them.

That is arguable, but even if that is the case, that would be enough for them to make a successfull MMORTS.

I don't think enough groundwork has been laid down in that genre for Blizzard to risk it. They've pretty much been playing it safe since they released the original Warcraft.

I'm not sure there is that much of a market for an MMORTS yet either since RTS players seem to like how online RTS games work. In the case of RPG's/FPS it was an easy decision/migration, whereas an RTS would be far more complex to get right I would think.

RPG and FPS players liked the way their games worked too, that is not to say MMO version's of them aren't successfull. They might not stray too far also, for example the game Granado Espada is pretty much exactly half way between MMORPG and MMORTS, and based on the english beta and its success in korea, it will be a big hit.

Blizzard are in a position where they can slap the word Starcraft and Blizzard on any game and make it successfull, guaranteed. People will play it, they will make money.

What I meant by that was, not much needed to be changed to make it "MMO" and it was fairly natural evolution. (E.g. RPG's were always meant to be multiplayer anyway and FPS games have so much scope really as long as it's first person and you shoot stuff)

Maybe they'll do like a MMO RPGFPS with RTS sections, like xplayers command the other guys what to do and then the other players carry it out (Like Savage or whatever but mixed with planetside and starcraft/WOW)

koreans will not stand for this!

Prediction:

"New WoW expansion released:
- Now with added Starcraft 2 units to the game!
- You can travel a lot further now, to the stars and planets!
- Don't worry, your Warcraft karacters can reach it aswell!
- etc"

..

Ahh HI!
own, not really, just said you were good, that's all.
not on config, listening to music, etc. ^^

public CA players are good? one in a million tbh

Nope... but Quake 4 is like... ehm... empty?...

oohh.. You're talking about q4! lolz.

Everything clear now? Nice... saves a lot explaining.

I pray to the gaming Gods that it's StarCraft 2 they're bringing out, not some WoW knockoff.

See my post a bit above this.

It's just bs so I guess #2 got the correct quote on this topic. A big company like Blizzard/Vivendi wouldnt even dream of going after the exact same scene thats currently playing WoW. It would just result in a bigger income the month when everyone buys the new "WoW" and then a normal montly fee once again.

Diablo 3, thats where they would make the most money.

yes, blizzard plz give us diablo 3

An SC MMO wouldn't go after the same market.

You cant for a single second deny that they would get more people to play their games if they went with a Diablo 3 Hack'n'Slash or a Starcraft 2 RTS instead of a World of Starcraft MMORPG which they already got one of.

The Hack'n'Slash-people are still waiting for a new game to play. Many of them went to WoW, some are still playing D2 and some are trying to play games like Sacred instead. But all of them, together with lots of other fans of the RPG-genre would buy a new Diablo-game the instance it gets released. So would many others, including me.

The RPG-fans would all celebrate a new SC-RTS, as would many other "normal" gamers. The RTS-people still got W3 but its way older than WoW and Blizzard doesnt get any monthly income from that game anyway.

If a WoS got released you would find most of the fans in WoW. None of those would consider playing both games for more than a few months so in the end they would choose which one to play on. Therefore they would just change the name on that monthly payment they do to Blizzard each month.

You're assuming that all MMO players are A) Playing WoW and B) Like fantasy.

Sci-Fi MMO's have a market but are split across a few mediocre titles. Also annoucing the game is unlikey to mean it will be out in the next two years anyway (Since it says they are making a next-gen MMO).

Diablo3 is unlikely to outsell A SC MMO and wouldn't make the same amount of cash as they wouldn't charge for it, if they did D3 would just be the same as WoW for the most part.

Sure theres a market for everything and I admit I dont know how big the Sci-Fi MMO-scene really is but I doubt they would get more people to join their ranks with a WoS compared to D3 or SC2.

Remember, even if there is a big Sci-Fi MMO-scene the number of people that have played D2 or SC1 is just so much bigger. I mean, its two of the most sold games in the world and its also something for the normal gamers. Like me, like my friend in the room next to mine and most other people I know. People that dont want to spend money every month to play a game. Those are the people that would buy a D3 or a SC1 in an instant.

The second a game like SC2 got released it would also directly be one of the games played in all major tournaments all over the world. Here you got some extra money and also lots of attention.

Sure Blizzard would make loads of money no matter what game they create, but I still believe people would like something thats not a MMO for a change.

Of course people who don't want MMO's would like it to not be an MMO. That doesn't change the fact that the returns on Diablo3 in comparison to a SC MMO is much smaller (And probably the same with SC2). The market value of D3/SC2 just isn't as big as a SC MMO.

Also your speculation on SC2 being picked up for competitions is a very bold claim and I'd say totally wrong. WSVG/CPL clearly wouldn't, The SC pro leagues probably wouldn't, I doubt ESWC would and WCG I don't think I'll try to call.

I however think they would pick it up for comeptition as soon as it gets released. :)

I also think that they would get more people to play their games and make a bigger profit in the long run (depending on how many people that would go to a WoS from other games than WoW and also depending on how much of the monthly pay that is pure profit)

We're not getting anywhere else with the discussion, lets just see what happens. Just know that I will eagerly await a D3 or a SC2. Or why not the start of something new? We could both be hitting a solid rock here, maybe they are making a console game? :)

Starcraft Ghost 2?

Well I doubt they'd make a WoS, they'd probably do something more akin to Planetside so it could quite easily pick up a lot of players (and quite a lot of mmo players do play multiple mmo's).

I'd love them to announce D3 but I can't see them doing so. They would for certain make more money out of a SC MMO.

"Sure theres a market for everything and I admit I dont know how big the Sci-Fi MMO-scene really is but I doubt they would get more people to join their ranks with a WoS compared to D3 or SC2."

The difference is that if people buy D3 or SC2 it would just be a one time income for Blizzard. While if they had WoW as well as WoS going they would get a steady stream of incoming for likely a very long time, as well as completely dominate both the fantasy mmorpg and the sci-fi mmorpg genre.

The MMO genre is simply much more lucrative

You are also assuming that WoS = Wow clone MMORPG. See my big post above, if it is to be an MMO, I am sure it would be a new genre, like MMORTS or MMOFPS.

Yes, they will not try to compete with themselves, they are not that dumb.

Thats something I've been thinking of aswell. Just wasnt what I discussed. :)

An MMORPG would be interesting to see.

SC and WC are examples that they can 'compete' with themselves. People that like sci-fi play SC people that like fantasy (and heroes) play WC3. I know it's a bit simplified argument but whatever.

In the case of WC and SC, each game was the 'next gen successor', i.e.: WC1 -> WC2 -> WC2EXP -> SC -> SCEXP -> WC3 -> WC3EXP. Their profits come purely from the game sales, there would be no financial competition even if they released a new WC/SC RTS every 3 months.

With WoW they are making the vast majority of their profits from the monthly subscriptions. If they were to release another MMORPG, it could directly compete with their current MMORPG, and studies shown that most players tend to only subscribe to one 'pay per month' game.

If all they were to do is move some of their existing playerbase from one of their MMO's to another, it wouldn't be that financially successfull. Bringing in new players, to whom WoW did not appeal is what I recon they would like to do.

Well I doubt they would release it too soon anyway, a short overlap perhaps.

Some people play SC and some play WC3. Some play WoW, some would play WoS. When WC3 came out not everyone stopped playing SC. They're both different games. If WoS isn't just a WoW clone with better graphics it will bring new people to Blizzard's empire.

Yes, but a LARGE number of people switched from SC to WC. In that case, that is totally fine for blizzard, since the income for the games came purely from the box sales, so moving from one of their games to another is no loss to them, just gain.

In the case of MMO's, their players moving from one of their MMO's to another is not a success, since the box sales are just a small part of the profits. (Due to the scale of development for an MMO, box sales alone dont tend to cover development costs. The monthly payment's aren't just to cover servers and service, they are a big contributor to making the overall development financially successful).

Well moving from wow to sc mmo wouldn't lose them.
box sales+transfer of wow income = profit.

No it wouldn't loose them money, but it would not gain them as much in those cases. The people who move from one of their MMO's to another are just increasing blizzards profit by the box sale, which as I mentioned is only a small part of the profits with MMO's (due to the scale of their development).

In case of RTS's, yes, the box sale is 100% of the profit.

Erm, they'd still be getting new people into the game, the sci-fi MMO scene is pretty much crying out for a big budget well made MMO. That's just for people who are currently playing MMO's (And not including ex-wow players). There is still a lot of room for the MMO market to grow and lets face it, the industry is heading in that direction.

I'm not doubting that its an MMO, I am doubting that it will be an MMORPG. I'm thinkin MMORTS/MMOFPS or maybe just a very different MMORPG to minimize the competition with themselves.

It won't be a traditional mmorpg, it will almost certainly have rpg elements though.

D3 \o/

We need another decent top-down, high speed f2p game like d2. I'm tired of third person tbh. ;)

No

maybe the game for CPL WT '08?

Starcraft MMO... I can only say "wow" nice idea.

probably to destroy the dm community once and for all.

You all brought it on yourselves.

it would be stupid to bring out another mmo imo. (maybe i'm only thinking this because i hope it will be starcraft 2 and not another mmo ;P)

lets hope for starcraft 2 everyone!

hope not.

Am I the only one who hates the term "MMO"? "Massively Multiplayer Online" doesnt really mean a lot, and there is no reason you couldnt have a MMORTS or MMOFPS.

That's why I was saying MMO and not MMORPG :P

Also I don't think Blizzard are brave enough to try a MMORTS they always seem to play everything safe.

They dropped the Warcraft Adventure game, they dropped the original plan for WC3 to be an RPG where you controlled an army and changed it to a conventional RTS with the hero units.

Still needs a G at the end for it to make any sense tho ;)

Certainly the majority here are assuming MMO = MMORPG, which could be a false assumption.

Ok I missed the G :P

Yeah it almost certainly won't just be WoW in starcraft.

Isn't it 'Massively Multiplayer Only'?

Nope

humm a sc mmo wouldnt be that bad because a lot of the sci-fi mmos out there arent very good (eve online for example). i'd still rather see a sc2 though perhaps

[img2]

WHAT THE FUCK?!
Ok wait....
Hahah lol these are nice fakes I guess
the backgrounds are used in SC1 as loading screens already, for example the cloudy planet thing must be Aiur (correct me if I'm wrong) and the protoss carrier is the Gantrithor which Tassadar flew into the overmind. The 3d models are probably from wc3 since they were included in a hidden cutscene aswell :)
PLUS those symbols on the status bar are 1:1 copies of the WoW statusbar
So its either a bloody alpha screenshot or a fake (remember the first Starcraft screens, they looked like a bad wc2 with black background as "space")

Looks awesome though!

Well, these screens come directly from Blizzard ;) And I'm not lying ;)

So they give screenshots to gamespot before they announce the game for the first at this event?

Thought the same, its either (like I said before) leaked stuff or fake.
For me I would probably give this at least a try if it had something to do with aiming (Starcraft goes Tribes 2 ooh wee...)

If it is leaked and isn't a "HAHA TRICKED YOU!" leak then it just shows how much of an impact the main guys leaving has had on Blizzard.

Hehe ;) These screens are more than one year old ;) They were released on 1st April 2006 and that says it all ;)

The second announcement from that day was:
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/burningcrusade/townhall/wisps.html

Soo they are fake. BUT its a good appetizer for things that might come..

"1st April" :P

Well I wouldn't put it past Blizzard to do a "fake" April 1st either :P

hehe ye "if we post this on April 1st ppl will think we are joking"

wtf :)

No...that can't be real.

http://kotaku.com/gaming/nooooooooooo%21/star...257902.php

reliable source m8

as soon as i see google ads on a site it loses all credibility

i will be a tank, gonna bury myself somewhere, and wait for SC2 or UT3.

"Well placed US sources..."

No.

think im gonna cry if its neither SC2 or D3

Now that I think of it it could actually be a MMORTS. ;)

Few months ago they said they're going to have a game in Starcraft universe.

And such MMORTS would work for example like OGame. You have your own planet, you can conquer other planets, build alliances, etc etc etc.

And anyway, RPG wouldn't really work in SC? I mean, how do you see Zergs trading items? :D Especially, that afair from the story, they are one big collective mind so you can't really control a single one...

rpg's NEED items?

just wow at all the news as of late. gg video game industry

april fools? oh wait

seeing as how korea loves competitive SC, I hope there are fucking riots if they announce starcraft 2 is an MMO

I actually think many koreans will be more happy with SC MMO than with SC2, which would compete directly with SC.

Not to mention that SC is well estabilished and is considered to be a perfect game by some.

Yeah most games that have run for a few years get this "untouchable" status among fans for some reason ;( Which has generated a very split eSport scene.

If the games were continously upgraded and paid for on a subscription-basis maybe it would work better..

...and maybe... just maybe starcraft is an awesome game and needs no updating. just an idea though :)

haha.. wanna start again? ;)

I personally think starcraft is a great game, but having some experience with different RTSes, imo SC has a few obvious and for me "fatal" weaknesses

(like the pointless 4 minute startup phase or the lack of random factors / variation from game to game)

stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid

Yawn -- =_=

if you had an actual argument (to counter the obvious facts above), you would use that argument in stead of just trolling, literally, like a 5-year old.

You lose, tard. ;P

rgd. ownd.

stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid

if it'll be a SC MMO Blizzard won't be safe, all koreans will stand and kick some blizzard ass :P
I just hope it'll be some kickass RTS

Also i'd like to stated this:

http://www.meetyourmakers.com/en/scene/5028.html

so I guess no MMO (God Bless the Gaming Community)

Edit
Lol, i just notice some else has already posted this here aswell, but i guess it's kinda reliable since they say they don't have ANY MMO projects after the Burning Crusade

Well many game companies that focus on the PC have realized that the future is in services, not games. MMO is a very broad definition but the point is that charging monthly is one of the few ways to combat the decline in game sales.

And what is a MMO? Look at a game like Battlefield 2142. You advance through gathering points and gain ranks. Getting higher ranks allow you to unlock new weapons and abilities. Seems very close to a MMORPG, but the focus is on action instead of role playing (not that there is much role playing going on in WoW).

I don't mind if they add MMO like features to SC2, as long as it's fun.

BF isn't an MMO. The massive refers to massive. In BF you don't get over 64(?).

I never said it was an MMO, just comparing and saying it has similarities. But think about it, in how many "real" MMOs do you have more than 64 players in the same area? The only difference is that you can't easily travel to adjacent areas where there are ~64 other players.

you can always talk to anyone in the game and trade with everyone etc.
You can't fly from one island to the other to meet the "other" 64 players in bf for example... The world isn't a world but a map etc.

Still, I never said it was a MMO, just that it had some MMO like features...

but it doesnt.

What about persistence? You don't get that in ordinary online games but it is paramount in MMOs. BF2142's unlocks and upgrades together with rank are persistence features.

but the world isn't.

But that makes it a feature!

Looks like it might be SC2 after all

gotta love hype beyond hype

watch your mouth boy! :>

watch both your o-rings there boy!

They said it won't be sc2, something different :[
Starcraft: Ghost for PC :D

Did they even finish that?

No, development was cancelled/stopped.

Starcraft meets avp (original) would own.

A mmo shooter like planetside in the starcraft universe (balanced though) would own too imho..Guess we mean the same, predator = dark templars, marines= terrans, aliens=any zerg lol

Yeah, would be awesomes

Yeah if it had stuff that would be destruct/raidable like the keeps in Daoc that would actively influence the game (for example more ressources to buy better weapons, better technology and so on)...oooh :)

Yes that's one of the problems with WoW in my opinion, there's meant to be a war going on and yet nothing ever changes etc. :s

Yeah WoW is a pretty solid (not good) PVE game, but PVP-wise its still (after 1 1/2 years it got released) utter shit.
To the WoW-Bois: I mean open pvp, not arena ganking.

url?

http://kotaku.com/gaming/nooooooooooo%21/star...257902.php
+ http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=163207
+ "We do intend to announce a new product at the Worldwide Invitational next month in Korea, and we appreciate the enthusiasm and interest in getting an advance look at what that will be, but players will have to wait until May 19th to find out more. Also, we have a very strong connection with the characters and settings of StarCraft, and we do plan to revisit that universe at some point in the future, but we don't have anything new to announce in that regard at present."
One product, not two. So its either a MMO or, after all, SC2 :)

edit: this is some contradicting shit http://www.sk-gaming.com/scene/12403/
+http://sc.gosugamers.net/news/6224

Sooo its either really SC2 (I do hope so) or some.... Starcraft Tribes? :)

The way it's phrased suggests to me it's not a starcraft universe game at all. "at some point in the future"

Which leaves a New IP or Diablo 3 (Although they probably have an SC game in the works too just not ready to be announced).

Also:

We have dug into the news archives and found a statement where Blizzard officially denied previous MMO rumors circulating less than a year ago. Rumors yesterday stated that their next game, supposedly a StarCraft sequel, would be in MMO-style. MMOs can not be made this fast.

Isn't that just the dumbest comment ever?, it's pretty much assuming that because they are announcing it it means it will be released straight away, when in reality this game could come out 2009-10.

Slowly I begin to think its Diablo 3 too, there have been numerous leaks about the game itself and "soundtracks being recorded" (although that one was for Burning crusade...

Hah I wondered what had happened to that rumour, didn't know it was TBC soundtrack.

D3 would rock too

But it would make all the wow nerds stop playing :)

would make me start:> Let's just keep our fingers crossed for SC2

I REALLY REALLY REALLLLLLLLLLY HOPE NOT

Wow, see? This is what stupid speculation does. You idiots were dumb enough back in '07 to believe this crap? Seriously? Come on now. Even if Worlds of Starcraft WAS in production back then, everyone knows that blizzard doesn't announce any plans for future games until they are good and ready (usually alpha stage).

I hate speculators.. especially in the game industry. 95% of the time they are completely wrong, yet use whatever available information they have to twist the truth and speculate even more. And on top of that they write these so called "previews" as if it's completely, 100% true.

"We have previously reported that on the 19th of May, Blizzard would announce Starcraft 2 as the sequal to one of the most celebrated and played game of all time. However, if computerandvideogames.com is to be believed, that will not be the case. Instead, the announced Starcraft game will be an MMO."

Who the hell told you that to begin with anyways? I'll tell ya who, the stupid voice in your pea-sized brain.