Curse

LifeInfusion · Oct 30, 2005, 03:22 AM // 03:22

Quote:

What Makes Society Special?
Here’s a 10 item list of what makes Society unique.

1. It is the first massively multiplayer RTS (that we know of) that combines the elements of a city building game and a traditional land-based civilization style strategy war game.
2. It provides a way for gamers to play for free. It’s not adware. It’s not nagware. Stardock’s perspective is that a high quality, fun, massively multiplayer strategy game that is free can generate a large user base which will take on a life of its own and generate more opportunities for Stardock’s other products and services.
3. It lets players design their own societies at a level few games have ever attempted. Games like “The Sims” allow players to design a given house, but Society allows players to design the functionality of a whole range of structures.
4. It is designed so that casual players do not have to worry about being conquered. While up to 25% of a player’s society can become contested, that means that a player who simply wants to have a 3 province society can never be attacked at all and can just play the game as a international trader, city builder, etc.
5. Its design allows itself to be ported to many different devices. Because the strategic world map is not graphically intensive, players could manage trades, royal marriages, and resource allocation from a PDA, cell phone, or other portable device. This also means that a player can check in on their society and its people anywhere, anytime.
6. It’s much more collaborative than most MMO games are. Empires (Society’s version of clans/guilds) truly mean something in Society. Players protect and help one another as part of the game. Society will provide out of game tools to help empires coordinate communication amongst each other.
7. It’s incredibly scaleable. Even the province level map could be represented with either minimalist graphics or with the latest/greatest 3D engine. That makes it possible to play Society in all kinds of environments.
8. It supports user created content to a high degree. Players will be able to upload their own models, textures, user interfaces, and other customizations to SocietyGame.com for other players to download and use.
9. It will have an open beta. Players will be able to openly participate without NDAs in stress testing the system so that when it’s officially launched, downtime and other problems can be minimized.
10. Players can design their own citizenry at the beginning to control what their people will look like, what they’re called (which will make for some interesting children in inter-society marriages), and more.

Q: You say that Society is going to be free. How are you going to do this? What’s the business model then?

A: Stardock makes a lot of products and services. A successful MMO can deliver hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of visitors to our websites. The Alexa ranking of WorldOfWarcraft.com is 515. That means tens of millions of people are visiting that site every month. That kind of user base creates opportunities of its own. Stardock is hoping that the popularity of Society will help TotalGaming.net and our other ventures become even more successful.

Q: Will there be any pay-versions of the game?

A: Yes. We are going to make the free version extremely moddable. That is, players will be able to create their own models and graphical content to upload and share with others. We will provide a base set of content for the free client.

However, to be competitive in the market, and to be able to justify a retail presence, we will have a premium version of the game where we create high quality visual content for it. Much of the cost in today’s games come from the art requirements. This is the same with us. So users who want stunning, state of the art graphics will be able to get it via the premium version.

Moreover, the premium version would come with a $9.95 monthly service charge that will provide players with some additional benefits, such as the ability to set a small percentage of provinces as untouchable (for players who have a few provinces that they really care about) along with some automated server conveniences that we’ll flesh out as we move forward.

Like Guild Wars... for RTS's

http://www.societygame.com/

EchoSex · Oct 30, 2005, 03:35 AM // 03:35

Interesting.. Just wish it wasn't post-modern. Would prefer to have a sci-fi setting for once x.x

nightrunner · Oct 30, 2005, 05:02 AM // 05:02

I took one look at it and went back to GW XD

Aracos79 · Oct 30, 2005, 05:09 AM // 05:09

I'm not good at RTS games as it is... a MMO version certainly wouldn't interest me. I just don't have super fast reactions like those crazy Koreans.

nightrunner · Oct 30, 2005, 05:27 AM // 05:27

RTS's require the least amount of skill button-pressingwise... you don't really need fast reactions at all.

Aracos79 · Oct 30, 2005, 06:05 AM // 06:05

Are you kidding me? The "to the second" precise build orders... the unit micromanagement during rushes... resource optimization... you've got to be perfectly precise and accurate. You may not need "twitch" reactions, but you need very accurate and perfectly timed ones.

SOT · Oct 30, 2005, 06:36 AM // 06:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aracos79

I'm not good at RTS games as it is... a MMO version certainly wouldn't interest me. I just don't have super fast reactions like those crazy Koreans.

And I myself do not have the time to starve myself to death in a cafe' whilst simulating doing what my peers are outside doing...LOL...

I still wanna look into this though, if nothing else than a timesink when wow or gw servers are down

nightrunner · Oct 30, 2005, 06:38 AM // 06:38

Well... I don't think that you'd need the same reactions as in an FPS anyway.

But I really shouldn't be talking - I'm horrible at RTS's. I can barely beat the computer at skirmish Starcraft XD

SOT · Oct 30, 2005, 06:44 AM // 06:44

I literally played Starcraft so much in the olden days that my monitor died. I loved that game for so long, that I memorized all of the trigger sounds :P

Starcraft II would probably destroy lives. LOL. I wouldn't mind seeing a MMO based on Starcraft, but naming it would be hilariously precarious. Here are some ideas:

Starcraft Online
Stracraft Galaxies
Starcraft: Race Wars
Star Craft: Nebulae
Star Craft: Planetside
Star Craft: Mankind's Fist
Star Craft: You've Got Protoss
Star Craft: Those Damn Zergling Rushes!
Star Craft: Internet Ganking Clan

LMAO!