Some of you may remember Sigil as the company started by Brad McQuaid when he left SOE. They currently have a MMOG in development, though to date there has not been a lot of press. I was pretty skeptical about anything that Sigil would be able to put together until I had a hot tip at the LV FF from an SOE employee who's friends with Brad. He told me that he'd seen the game and, that this was definitely a game to watch.
The FoH homepage, http://fohguild.org/ has Furor speaking about Sigil, and their product in typical Furor fashion.
Furor wrote:I took a nice long shower, shaved, put on a little of the man lotion, and got in the car.
I'd just like to make a personal recommendation that no one ever use the term, 'put on a little man lotion' in casual conversation unless you're gay or a woman. Also, please remember to wash up and put on clothes before hopping in the car!
That said, the buzz on this game is very positive.
Oh, my God; I care so little, I almost passed out.
Furor just has some friends in dev positions in the MMORPG world, so he gets to see this sort of stuff. He has to be the single most "famous" player character in the MMORPG genre. His page gets as many hits a day as some gaming pages, so its good advertising really. They are hitting the right crowd with this sort of information that's for sure.
They made him sign an NDA (non-disclosure agreement), that prevents him from really speaking about anything he saw....so stating his impression is as good as it could get unfortunately, no specifics allowed.
And what exactly is "man lotion"? I mean it's obviously not what it sounds like...
Pilsburry wrote:They made him sign an NDA (non-disclosure agreement), that prevents him from really speaking about anything he saw...
Yes I understand that. But what is the fucking point of letting anyone see anything if they aren't allowed to talk about it.
WOW I WENT TO SIGIL AND CHECKED OUT THEIR NEW GAME AND IT LOOKS TOTALLY K-RAD GUYZ.
Gee thanks for the hot tip.
Furor would shill himself for Little Boy Touching Online if he got some developer attention from NAMBLASoft. I really don't give a rat's ass how "leet" he thinks a game is, since he constantly changes his mind about EQ depending on how much its current producer is acknowledging his existance.
I agree wholeheartedly that there was minimal hard information in Furor's post. My purpose in drawing attention to it was simply to point out that:
1) Sigil exists.
2) They have a MMOG in development.
3) It's far enough along that they're able to show it to a Furor who was impressed by it. For all of his (perceived) flaws, he has at least a bit of experience with gameplay in MMOGs.
For the record, I believe you hit the nail squarely on the head in your last sentence, Kyoukan.
I am probably as far from fanboiism as one can get for any game, but I am looking forward to seeing what Sigil is able to put together from a game design perspective.
Oh, my God; I care so little, I almost passed out.
I think McQuaid and Butler have enough brains and microsoft money to make something really nice.
McQuaid has a very nice paradigm he sticks to of designing a game around world instead of the other way around that most MMOG developers stick to. I remember reading previews for EQ years and years ago where they talked about the reams and reams of backstory and world design for shit they haven't even created yet.
I hope they don't make it too nice looking though. The more graphics you push into it the less people you can have around before it gets laggy and gay.
We know the men in charge, were familiar with thier last project, they do good work...doing a similar product but making use of new higher technology limits....we know if has promise.
And I bet if they showed a glimpse of it to any of us...we would have said the same.
I mean what did they likely show him? Some walking around in a small section of the world? Thier favorite parts...
And then probably a lot of *talking* about thier goals and plans.
I'm sure any of us would have been impressed...
Now I personally think Sigil can deliver. And I don't think Furor is playing the part of fanboy really....I'm sure what he saw was impressive, it's not enough to really make any judgement calls on....but what they showed was probably top notch for those of us used to EQ.
The game world is supposed to be so big that it dwarfs every other game out there. The devs also like to post on the boards about the depth of lore they're putting in.
IMO, lore is important, not because I get a boner putting together the history of the Iksar Empire or whatever, but because it gives the game world a sense of history. It just makes it feel like the world is actually alive, and not just some virtual playground.
Of course, it's also the new home of Teh Vision(TM), so we'll see if they manage to put a product out without any bastard stepchild classes...
I will look at whatever they're able to put together, but I think you have to take into account how unyeilding that group of individuals was on all of the issues players in EQ complained about for years. I personally don't think EQ was all it could be until Hartsman and co. took over the reigns. I also remember reading somewhere that Butler was the man behind the Luclin expansion.
I have no doubt McQuaid/Sigil can put together software. The interesting thing will be seeing whether said software shows he learned anything from designing EQ. Even more interesting will be seeing if lightning can strike twice.
Oh, my God; I care so little, I almost passed out.
Aranuil wrote:I will look at whatever they're able to put together, but I think you have to take into account how unyeilding that group of individuals was on all of the issues players in EQ complained about for years.
Yeah, don't you remember their slogan, "You're in our world now." I think that's telling. But, you have to admit, when it came out, EQ was the height of MMORPGs. So, if they can pull something on that magnitude, I will be impressed again. I'm sure they can get the investors too...
EQ is a better game now than it has ever been as far as I'm concerned.
McQuaid was too stubborn to be an effective producer. A degree of stubborness is definitely needed so you don't cave in to every fucking whiner on your forums, but McQuaid would go as far as lying and hiding game mechanics when he knew he was wrong just so he wouldn't have to change anything.
I remember on the old whineplay boards where he was arguing with this person who had logged and parsed (and posted them) a night of fighting, and he was actually disputing the results of the parse.
Hopefully, he won't take the shit as personally this time around. I swear sometimes it was like pulling fucking teeth just to get him to admit the POSSIBILITY there might be a problem.
"There is at least as much need to curb the cruel greed and arrogance of part of the world of capital, to curb the cruel greed and violence of part of the world of labor, as to check a cruel and unhealthy militarism in international relationships." -Theodore Roosevelt
But, you have to admit, when it came out, EQ was the height of MMORPGs. So, if they can pull something on that magnitude, I will be impressed again. I'm sure they can get the investors too...
