THE BORE
General => Video Game Bored => Topic started by: Smooth Groove on July 01, 2010, 10:44:46 PM
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Anyone gonna try it out? I can't find a review.
$50 for 50 hours of Action District gameplay and unlimited Social District gameplay. Also includes 100 RTW Points. Additional time purchase required after promotional time expires.
50 hrs only seems like total fail.
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I actually like the idea of charging by the hour instead of monthly. Unless it's an rpg I probably spend less than 15 hours on most games. I'm pretty sure if I ever bought APB (which I won't) I would never, ever hit the 50 hour mark.
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it should be an option, though
i like the idea of a tiered subscription plan
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yeah, options would be nice. the way I play games at least is usually in bursts. so, 15 hours now, 15 hours in a few months, something like that.
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yeah, options would be nice. the way I play games at least is usually in bursts. so, 15 hours now, 15 hours in a few months, something like that.
True, but I was under the impression that the 50 hrs are only for the 1st month. I'm used to MMOs giving me unlimited playtime in the 1st month. Since I hardly ever renew, I want to get the most bang for my buck, or at least feel like I did.
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yeah, fuck all that cellphone plan bullshit, i was thinking more along the lines of "pay for 50 hours, use them whenever you want, even six months from now if this game still exists then"
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Anyone gonna try it out? I can't find a review.
$50 for 50 hours of Action District gameplay and unlimited Social District gameplay. Also includes 100 RTW Points. Additional time purchase required after promotional time expires.
50 hrs only seems like total fail.
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/apb-review (http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/apb-review)
6/10
But lately EG scores are all over the place...so read
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Seems like they fucked up this game concept. Sad. At one time I was very interested in seeing and playing this.
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Eurogamer hasn't been that good with their MMO reviews of late though. Still sounds like a game that lost the plot somewhere.
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Anyone gonna try it out? I can't find a review.
$50 for 50 hours of Action District gameplay and unlimited Social District gameplay. Also includes 100 RTW Points. Additional time purchase required after promotional time expires.
50 hrs only seems like total fail.
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/apb-review (http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/apb-review)
6/10
But lately EG scores are all over the place...so read
PC Gamer gave it 55%
Pass.
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I've been hearing from many places that this game isn't that good.
Very unfortunate
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Seems like they fucked up this game concept. Sad. At one time I was very interested in seeing and playing this.
yeah, but most of my interested was from years ago when it was like "multiplayer GTA game? you can't lose!" then there was saints row, gta4, etc. and a bunch of games that already used that idea.
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Seems like they fucked up this game concept. Sad. At one time I was very interested in seeing and playing this.
yeah, but most of my interested was from years ago when it was like "multiplayer GTA game? you can't lose!" then there was saints row, gta4, etc. and a bunch of games that already used that idea.
I think the problem is that if you are going to do this concept your game still has to have actual good shooter mechanics. None of those games you mentioned included apparently APB have learned this lesson.
If you can't do that then you might as well go the wow route and change the combat to that style of game.
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Realtime Worlds' Dave Jones has responded to criticism of APB in a wide-ranging interview due to be published on Eurogamer next week.
Jones blamed disappointing review scores on "misconceptions" and "huge expectations".
Eurogamer gave the game a 6/10 this morning, criticising the combat, matchmaking, and vehicle handling, but praising it for "the vast amount of intelligent thought and clever design that has gone into the structure of the game".
"It's not for absolutely everybody," Jones admitted. "If some people are diehard FPS guys and Modern Warfare is their life, they're going to struggle to make the change.
"But Splinter Cell players, or guys who are in to more tactical combat and they just love being online with their friends in a multi-player game, we're finding we're really resonating with those guys. There are a lot of misconceptions.
"Funnily enough I'm just reading the Eurogamer one just now, and there are misconceptions about more powerful characters and more powerful guns.
"There are no more powerful characters and there are no more powerful guns in the game. But people die and they see a rating on a player. Rating has nothing to do with the kind of equipment they have. Our weapon system is exactly the same as Modern Warfare. We don't have more powerful weapons. We just have a different range of weapons."
Jones said APB suffers in comparison to Grand Theft Auto, a series he helped create while at DMA Design (later Rockstar North).
"Some people had too high expectations. The game years ago was initially tagged as GTA MMO, which we'd never said. Obviously people put two and two together - our history and the fact it was online - and said, 'Oh it's going to be like a GTA MMO'. I think that's set huge expectations. That's not what we were building, so I was expecting that."
Despite the less than stellar reaction to APB thus far, Jones remains upbeat.
"I remember on GTA 1, people laughed at it because it was a 2D game when Ridge Racer appeared. They laughed at the screenshots. They said, 'These guys are crazy releasing a 2D top down game'. But once they played the game a fair bit they go, 'Well actually it's kind of good fun'. And they saw past that. Crackdown was the same. Every game - I think it's a bit of a curse of mine. We just try and make sure we do something different every time."
Expect more from our interview with Dave Jones when it goes live next week.
:rofl :rofl :rofl
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/dave-jones-defends-apb
My game is getting shitty reviews! You people don't understand how genius it is!
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I have to admit, I'm still curious. And if the MMO aspect is not grind-oriented, fifty hours is a lot of gameplay.
My biggest worry would be maintaining anything like a populated server when you're counting every minute of gameplay against the player's tab.
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Edge gave it a 7.
I will say I'm sick of these new "MMOs" that are just PvP games with basic stat tracking/character building and a subscription cost.
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I will say I'm sick of these new "MMOs" that are just PvP games with basic stat tracking/character building and a subscription cost.
Particularly when your competition has dropped their subscription costs.
http://www.globalagendagame.com/
http://www.crimecraft.com/
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They dropped them because they're shit games with no reason to keep playing.
No one would suggest charging a monthly subscription to TF2.
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Those games both look really fun. CrimeCraft gets minus credibility for using "craft" in the name though.
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APB has the best character customization ever.
Can you make a fat, Mexican, cheeseburger, midget like in Saint's Row 2?
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APB has the best character customization ever.
Can you make a fat, Mexican, cheeseburger, midget like in Saint's Row 2?
:wtf
Dat a bit racialist, innit?
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Well shit, I thought APB was supposed to be really good, and the most expensive MMO ever made to boot
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It was only expensive because of the egos involved and their paychecks.
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APB is nowhere near the most expensive MMO made.
Maybe it's the cost-vs-expected-profitability ratio?
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http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/realtime-worlds-dave-jones-interview (http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/realtime-worlds-dave-jones-interview)
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They should have taken more time to polish it. It's not like PC gamers are clamoring for a new MMO.
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I was listening to the Giant Bombcast today and they seemed reeeeally down on it. There are like multiple in-game currencies and the payment methods are really confusing. Geez how did this go wrong?
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Eurogamer: Last year you went on record saying you will talk about your second MMO at some point this year. Is that still the case?
Dave Jones: Hopefully yes. Now we're still focused on APB.
Eurogamer: You have two teams though, right?
Dave Jones: We have two teams, that's right.
Eurogamer: Will we hear about your second MMO at one of the trade shows this year?
Dave Jones: We haven't even decided upon or put too much thought into that to be honest. It's effectively a project that's just quietly in development. We're just focused on APB just now.
They have a second MMO in the works...hmm
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http://www.giantbomb.com/quick-look-apb-all-points-bulletin/17-2889/
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http://www.giantbomb.com/quick-look-apb-all-points-bulletin/17-2889/
Looks unbelievably bland.
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Holy shit. That looks horrible. I thought this was massively multiplayer, what is this instanced shit? Boring as hell.
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http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2010-08-17-realtime-worlds-enters-administration-article
Realtime Worlds enters administration
Dundee-based APB developer Realtime Worlds has entered administration, GamesIndustry.biz can confirm, following the failure of the online title to draw in strong enough subscriber numbers.
The company is currently being advised by Begbies Traynor Group's Edinburgh office. It is understood that CEO Gary Dale is now at the Dundee head office following a trip to Colorado to speak to staff there.
The game, which was worked on by a very large team for several years, was met with mediocre reviews following a strained launch process that had games press initially embargoed from scoring the title until after it had launched.
But after that confusion was cleared up, gamers failed to take to the PC title, and a first round of lay-offs from the company was announced last week, while the developer's other project - MyWorld - was reportedly rejected by two publishers earlier in the year.
However, despite that action, sources hinted at further trouble, claiming that Dale had flown to Colorado to 'strip the staff' from that office.
A full statement from Begbie Traynor is expected later today.
This is very sad, but: All your eggs, one basket, etc. etc.
Yeah, I know they had a 2nd project going, but its cancellation/hiatus was announced just prior to the 60 redundancies preceding this "going into admin" notification.
I'd like to say, "They had a good run," but they really only nailed one game, knocked it the hell out of the park (with MS' cooperation on Halo beta), and then they spent 5 years working on one major title in an insanely competitive space.
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It's listed above, MyWorld which was a social networking thing
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Yeah, despite the obvious similarities, I rarely group social games with MMOs. Maybe that's a mistake, since their goals are so closely related, but the scale tends to be vastly different.
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Re-hired on lower wages I guess
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Possibly not. Maybe, depending on the employment possibilities of the area, and the skillset of those employees.
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Wow the game bombed in the US at near 10k
Still, games have survived worse results if the fans liked it. Perhaps the hardcore audience would be more forgiving than the reviewers and go out and buy it. Here are the sales figures for the US for July 2010:
Units
Revenues
July 2010
4,361 $216,557
YTD 2010
9,181 $455,891
article here
http://www.gamesbrief.com/2010/08/hubris-ambition-and-mismanagement-the-first-post-mortem-of-realtime-worlds
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Who would have thought sinking tons of money into an unproven franchise on the PC wouldn't be a great idea!
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Who would have thought sinking tons of money into a fundamentally-broken MMO wouldn't be a great idea!
Fixed.
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What a bunch of fucking dumb asses.
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Who would have thought sinking tons of money into a fundamentally-broken MMO wouldn't be a great idea!
Fixed.
Nice FUD
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Who would have thought sinking tons of money into a fundamentally-broken MMO wouldn't be a great idea!
Fixed.
Nice FUD
Thanks!
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I was trolling a bit but it was a dumb idea to release that project solely on the PC. But then everything about that project outside of the core idea was really dumb.
Torchlight is the beginning of a good new franchise on the PC. But it wasn't crazy big budget. It knew its market. It was the proper size of a game relative to the team and what the market wanted. The team had expertise in that game type, etc.
APB was none of these things. It seemed like a console game mismatched with the PC market with a bunch of dumb decisions to go along with that with an impossible business model.
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Interesting Article from eurogamer i found while scrolling GAF
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2010-08-20-realtime-crisis-article
Excerpt talking on how much of an impact RTW's crash has been on the UK and the location of Dundee.
The demise of developer Realtime Worlds is something of a seismic shock for the UK games business, and especially for the town of Dundee - one of the locations where game development has particularly thrived in this country over the past decade.
In the immediate term, it means that hundreds of developers are out of work. The human cost of a company of this size collapsing is immense. Families will be uprooted and relocated, and some will struggle to keep their heads above water, especially since the firm apparently lacks the funds required to pay wages and redundancy packages.
In the longer term, however, I suspect that the impact of RTW's demise will be felt by the UK games business for many years to come. The company's failure is not entirely a shock - it launched an MMO-style game which was hugely expensive to develop, but which received poor reviews, a combination which would be a fatal blow to most game companies. The scale of the failure, and the context in which it has happened, however, will have a major impact on how the industry does business.
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HEY GUYS I HAVE A GREAT IDEA LET'S DO AN MMO!!!
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APB, the crime MMO published by now bankrupt developer Realtime Worlds, has closed.The following was posted today on the game’s forum:
APB has been a fantastic journey, but unfortunately that journey has come to a premature end. Today we are sad to announce that despite everyone’s best efforts to keep the service running; APB is coming to a close. It’s been a pleasure working on APB and with all its players. Together we were building an absolutely amazing game, and for that, we thank you. You guys are awesome!From all of the Realtime World staff we thank you for your continued support.The servers are still up, so join the party and say goodbye!- Ben ‘APBMonkey’ Bateman (Community Officer)
No specific timing was given for a final shut-off. The game is now free to play. APB was released in late June and early July.
“24 hours
”GI has now published quotes from administrator Begbies Traynor, who said today that depsite interest from 300 parties, none of a final shortlist of six were “comfortable with buying it as a live operation.”Able added that “staff had been told what the position is”, and the game is expected to be shut down within the next 24 hours.
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Yeah we know
Don't care about MMOs but still
Ahhhh :(
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Wow. That's incredibly harsh. In terms of MMOs, can we count this as the most expensive blunder ever? How about the fastest closure?
Got feel bad for the few people who bought it, and now instead of a DVD have A DECORATIVE DRINK COASTER.
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Wow. That's incredibly harsh. In terms of MMOs, can we count this as the most expensive blunder ever? How about the fastest closure?
Probably both.
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hahahahahaha. Oh god. Hilarious.
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Hey, we just created a great game that has sold a ton of copies! LET'S IGNORE THAT SUCCESS AND WASTE 3 YEARS MAKING AN MMO.
Did no one step up and just say "Wait... why the fuck are we doing this?"
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Hey, we just created a great game that has sold a ton of copies! LET'S IGNORE THAT SUCCESS AND WASTE 3 YEARS MAKING AN MMO.
Did no one step up and just say "Wait... why the fuck are we doing this?"
Even though its extremely implausible a lot of companies look at Blizzard and are jealous. They see that steady income flow from WoW and that's what they want in on. Security. Even though actually making an mmo is the most unsecure move you can do for your company. Ironic isn't it.
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Yeah, big-time MMOs bomb and die off all the time, even ones with big-names involved or well-known licenses.
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Not the fastest closure, there's been plenty of MMO's that don't even launch after years of beta testing.
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Ive always believed that Blizzard was successful with WoW because they built such a fan base and name for themselves with quality games. Perhaps that is the secret to MMO success.
So you're saying the bungie mmo will make billions then.
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Not the fastest closure, there's been plenty of MMO's that don't even launch after years of beta testing.
But what about MMOs that got an actual retail release?
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What about Auto Assault, that didn't last long. The list would be pretty short if you limited it to retail releases.
edit: looks like APB wins!
http://www.mpog.com/showFeature.cfm/feature/4549/The-List-Shortest-Lived-MMOs-Revisited.html
Auto Assault: 507 days
Tabula Rasa: 484
Fury: 294
Seed: 149
APB: 79
:lol not even 3 months
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The thing was that everyone knew the game was broken in a couple of very serious ways. And they still shipped it. If they had spent a few months fixing that shit up, APB would have been amazing.
Lesson learned, I hope.
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Even if it turned out to be decent, APB just had 0 fucking buzz for like the entire 3 years of its development. The writing was on the wall. Shit was doomed from day one.
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Hey, we just created a great game that has sold a ton of copies! LET'S IGNORE THAT SUCCESS AND WASTE 3 YEARS MAKING AN MMO.
Did no one step up and just say "Wait... why the fuck are we doing this?"
Even though its extremely implausible a lot of companies look at Blizzard and are jealous. They see that steady income flow from WoW and that's what they want in on. Security. Even though actually making an mmo is the most unsecure move you can do for your company. Ironic isn't it.
Yeah. To most game industry execs, "recurring revenue stream" sounds exactly the same as "Megan Fox completely naked."
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What a disaster. Seemed doomed from the beginning.
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This is like the weirdest situation ever. I'm interesting in hearing a RTW employee dish all about the history of this game.
http://lukehalliwell.wordpress.com/2010/09/16/where-realtime-worlds-went-wrong-part-3/
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If you’re looking for your first job in games, it’s worth thinking very carefully about your future employer. Do you want to work on jaded, derivative titles that receive scathing reviews and go straight to the bargain bin? Do you want to work large amounts of unpaid overtime because your project is underfunded and poorly managed? Do you want to work on codebases that are messy and poorly-designed because there’s never time to do things properly? Do you want to live in fear of your company’s financial security?
It’s sad that these and other games industry horror stories are more frequent than they should be, but it’s not like that here. We only work on original, ambitious projects: our first title, Crackdown, was a number-one hit, winning critical acclaim and multiple awards, and our best is yet to come, beginning with our first online game, APB. And while making games is great fun, we take our work seriously. We pride ourselves on our unusually sensible, sustainable and professional development practices, resulting in smoothly-run projects and far less overtime than is normal for many game developers. We’re passionate about engineering and crafting our games to the highest of standards. We cultivate an open working environment where ideas are valued on their own merits, no matter whose they are. The growth of our company and size of our projects allows us to provide a wide range of opportunities. And the investment we’ve raised puts us in a strong financial position with security and creative control over our projects.
Wow. :lol
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:( :-\ :'(
We'll always have Crackdown.
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Yes, they'll really rake in the dough when all 5,000 APB players migrate to their game.
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Sooo basically Dave Jones scammed a bunch of companies for $100m because he's "Dave Jones"
Sounds like a certain "Tim Schafer"
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"$10,000 this month! A new company RECORD!!"
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Sooo basically Dave Jones scammed a bunch of companies for $100m because he's "Dave Jones"
Sounds like a certain "Tim Schafer"
Except that Tim's games are fun to play and people who work on them don't feel like they've been cornholed for the duration of the development.
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Who would even PLAY the game?
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Should have been F2P from the start, really.
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Who would even PLAY the game?
Well, I'll be giving it a try for sure.
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http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/31564/Interview_APB_Reborn_As_GamersFirst_Microtransactions_Game.php
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I'll probably check it out once it relaunches, won't spend any money though.
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Did anyone start this up again? Apparently it re-launched in December, but I don't recall hearing anything about it.
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I played it for a few minutes, then deleted it.
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What about it was not compelling?
Is it GTA-like? Crackdown-like?
Are all the low-level baddies ammunition sponges?
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It's an utterly janky open-world game with an utterly janky MMO bolted to it.
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I still want to give it a try. My curiosity is overcoming my common sense.
It just seems like an MMOGTA should not even be able to entirely suck.
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Most of the missions seemed to involve you driving somewhere, getting out, walking somewhere and pressing F.
Shooting and driving was closer to GTA III than The Third. Or Saints Row 2.