Blizzard Entertainment's Internal Development Roadmap Leaked

[Nehkara]

Apparently the above roadmap along with other company information were leaked a few weeks ago.

Notably the above roadmap has release windows for Diablo 3 in Q4 2011, the Warcraft movie Q4 2012, and Titan Q4 2013.

Titan is rumoured to be an MMOFPS under development by Blizzard.

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by Nehkara

Titan is rumoured to be an MMOFPS under development by Blizzard.

What is a MMOFPS and how is it different from a normal MMO or FPS?

Or is it really just a MMORPGFPS, with less letters?

[sclitheroe]

Originally Posted by Rathji

What is a MMOFPS and how is it different from a normal MMO or FPS?

Or is it really just a MMORPGFPS, with less letters?

Take the persistent world of a MMO, and combine it with the non-stat driven combat of a FPS? Most MMORPG's have point and click combat where stats and probabilities, not reflexes and player skill control the outcome.

[Rathji]

That would be crazy awesome, and really crappy both at the same time.

Awesome because the advancement part of MMOs (level and gear) is what really appeals to most people and crappy because people who are not top of the line FPS players (like me) could face considerable challenges (especially in PVP).

I might be off base though, since the last MMO I played was toward the end of EQs life cycle and the alpha/early beta of WOW, and there might be enough understanding of how these things work by now that it wont suck.

[Blaster86]

Originally Posted by sclitheroe

Take the persistent world of a MMO, and combine it with the non-stat driven combat of a FPS? Most MMORPG's have point and click combat where stats and probabilities, not reflexes and player skill control the outcome.

Zuh?

Reflexes are a huge part of PvP in WoW and parts of events and scripts for boss fights.

The stats of the character are no different from the specs of weapons in FPSes imo.

[FlamesPuck12]

I wonder what SC2 Phoenix is.

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by Blaster86

Zuh?

Reflexes are a huge part of PvP in WoW and parts of events and scripts for boss fights.

The stats of the character are no different from the specs of weapons in FPSes imo.

Running around a corner and putting a bullet into a guys head at 50 feet is a lot different than clicking a mob/character and using an ability/power etc, regardless of the skill or precision of timing that might be required. Doesn't mean it doesn't take skill to play WOW, but it means that the skill set is different.

I am interested in seeing how melding the 2 concepts works.

[octothorp]

So it looks like the standalone warcraft series is dead then. That's disappointing. I have no interest in MMO games, but I loved the first three of the warcraft series.

[SebC]

Originally Posted by octothorp

So it looks like the standalone warcraft series is dead then. That's disappointing. I have no interest in MMO games, but I loved the first three of the warcraft series.

It's not dead. Warcraft IV is coming out in 2017. This is Blizzard we're talking about.

What is SC2 Phoenix?

[FlameOn]

Originally Posted by FlamesPuck12

I wonder what SC2 Phoenix is.

Maybe Blizzard is looking at reviving the space sim genre ala wing commander/freespace 2? Pheonix is a protoss space fighter??

Doubt it though.

[FlamesPuck12]

Originally Posted by FlameOn

Maybe Blizzard is looking at reviving the space sim genre ala wing commander/freespace 2? Pheonix is a protoss space fighter??

Doubt it though.

Maybe that's when they'll upgrade Phoenix from paper airplane to an actual unit.

[CaramonLS]

I'd be interested in playing an MMO FPS, but it would have to different from a lot of the other standard fare MMOs.

I can imagine that they would have skills like Marksmanship, Steady Aim, etc.

I'd try the PvP on that, but it wouldn't be much fun if it was all based on chip damage (i.e. takes 50 rounds to kill someone).

[Arbitor]

The only relevant MMOFPS is Sony's Planetside, which was released in 2003. It was an interesting concept and had some really fun moments, but once you reached the level cap it started to get boring (and the release of Wow certainly didn't help it). There hasn't been no real big additions to the game since 2004, but it looks like a sequel is planned to be released this coming March.

[OutOfTheCube]

Ah, I see they are starting to adopt the parent company's 'milk our franchises to death' policy.

[FlamesPuck12]

Originally Posted by OutOfTheCube

Ah, I see they are starting to adopt the parent company's 'milk our franchises to death' policy.

I've read some stories on how Activision is making the calls. Apparently it was Activision's decision to make 3 separate Starcraft 2 games by splitting up the campaign.

[FanIn80]

Originally Posted by FlamesPuck12

I've read some stories on how Activision is making the calls. Apparently it was Activision's decision to make 3 separate Starcraft 2 games by splitting up the campaign.

Are you sure? The biggest stipulation of the merger was that Blizzard was to be completely autonomous from everything else. The biggest-selling game studio of all-time doesn't really need to be told how to sell games.

[Coys1882]

Originally Posted by FanIn80

Are you sure? The biggest stipulation of the merger was that Blizzard was to be completely autonomous from everything else. The biggest-selling game studio of all-time doesn't really need to be told how to sell games.

I'm pretty sure that I read that too. If Activision had that kind of weight on Blizzard - Diablo 3 would be out already.

I also heard on a podcast that the new Star Wars MMO, although labeled as Bioware, has 90% nothing to do with them. Bioware is handling the cutscenes and that's pretty much it.

[Mazrim]

Originally Posted by FanIn80

Are you sure? The biggest stipulation of the merger was that Blizzard was to be completely autonomous from everything else. The biggest-selling game studio of all-time doesn't really need to be told how to sell games.

To add to this...the only thing I can think of that is related to Activision in Blizzard's new stuff is the new Battle.net...Activision wants to use it for their games as well, as a counter to Steam. Blizzard is also introducing microtransaction stuff in their games slowly, which I imagine has something to do with Activision. Otherwise yeah, I doubt Bobby Kotick gets any say in what they do IN the game.

Originally Posted by Coys1882

I also heard on a podcast that the new Star Wars MMO, although labeled as Bioware, has 90% nothing to do with them. Bioware is handling the cutscenes and that's pretty much it.

I'm pretty sure I read an article about Bioware's writers doing a ton of work on the game, which would make sense since it's using Bioware's typical story telling devices.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by Arbitor

The only relevant MMOFPS is Sony's Planetside, which was released in 2003. It was an interesting concept and had some really fun moments, but once you reached the level cap it started to get boring (and the release of Wow certainly didn't help it). There hasn't been no real big additions to the game since 2004, but it looks like a sequel is planned to be released this coming March.

Planetside was fun for a while but after a while, I found that winning and losing a battle usually came down to who had the most people on the map when the population cap hit.

Interesting that Wow X5 and Titan are being released at the same time. I also predict that 2013 will be a year of record revenues for Activision-Blizzard.

[GreenLantern]

Originally Posted by Blaster86

Zuh?

Reflexes are a huge part of PvP in WoW and parts of events and scripts for boss fights.

The stats of the character are no different from the specs of weapons in FPSes imo.

DO you even play WOW?

Why are we listening to you..