Blizzard designing new MMO... place your bets....

[Shauk]

http://blizzard.com/us/jobopp/

New Position - Technical Artist - Next-Gen MMO
Blizzard Entertainment is looking for an exceptionally skilled 3D technical artist to work on its next-generation massively multiplayer online game. The ideal candidate has experience developing and refining the art content pipeline from 3D application to finished game. The technical artist will be working with engineers and artists to develop new techniques and optimizations to improve workflow and game performance while improving the quality of in-game art content. This position will also require an individual who has experience rigging characters and writing scripts. The ideal candidate works well in an environment of peers who are passionate about making great games. For more information, check out the posting.

New Position - Lead/Senior 3D Character Animator - Next-Gen MMO
Blizzard Entertainment is looking for an exceptionally skilled lead or senior 3D character animator for a team focused on next-generation massively multiplayer online games. The ideal candidate has experience animating both human and non-humanoid characters. A solid grasp of the principles of body movement, anticipation, overshoot, follow-through, squash and stretch, forward and inverse kinematics, and other facets of both 2D and 3D animation is essential. The lead animator must have experience managing a team of animators and skills in another character art task as well -- illustration, modeling, texturing, or rigging -- and be well-versed in Maya and related tools. The ideal candidate works well in an environment of peers who are passionate about making great games. For more information, check out the posting.

World of Diablocraft?
World of Starcraft?
World of Rock n Roll Racing?
World of Lost Vikings!?
Blackthorne, the (e)mmo!

[Willravel]

Probably Diablo. It's a shame, I was really looking forward to Diablo 3.

Battlestar Galaxy? A man can dream...

[Church]

I've actually read and seen a lot on rumors of World of Starcraft and if that were true I would be so excited so I'm hoping its that. Although I have to admit that WoS doesn't have the same ring to it :S

[Shauk]

I find it utterly stupid as a business decision for blizzard to go in to competition with itself.

MMO's have always had the motto "There can be only one" (omg highlander MMO?)

cuz really, who wants to maintain 483175 subscriptions?

[Gabbyness]

Diablo!

That would be pretty sick, haha.

[Baraka_Guru]

Originally Posted by Shauk

I find it utterly stupid as a business decision for blizzard to go in to competition with itself.

MMO's have always had the motto "There can be only one" (omg highlander MMO?)

cuz really, who wants to maintain 483175 subscriptions?

They're calling it "next generation." The technology's changing. It should make WoW look like Doom.

It could eventually replace WoW. (If they don't fuck it up.)

[SecretMethod70]

if it's based on Starcraft, it wouldn't necessarily be competing with WoW. Diablo would be sorta similar, but Starcraft could potentially be very different.

[YaWhateva]

Well they have said that for a future MMO they want it to be unlike anything they have done. We might get an original title from them. I would cringe at a Diablo MMO and a Universe of Starcraft or whatever would be kind of weird seeing as how they have been working so long on SC2. Or who knows maybe it will be a WoW2.

But either way, this would be several years off so it probably would have little competition from WoW by then. The hardcore will have stuck to WoW but it would be reaching Everquest type levels at that point.

[Lasereth]

This MMO won't be released for 5 years so it won't be a competitor to WoW. I highly doubt it will be StarCraft related. So basically I have no idea. It doesn't really matter though because like I said it will be 5 years before it comes out.

[Ustwo]

WoW as an MMO was the same old same old but done better (at least until end game, then they made the same old suck fest).

A new Blizzard MMO thats something different may well fail just as badly as all the other 'something different' MMO's.

So far the only long term viable MMO has been time sink progression, even when Blizzard seem to be changing that with WoW they reverted to it for their end game.

Hope for the best but just because it has Blizzard's name on it, don't expect it to be great, if you recall the guys who made WoW what it is (1-50 anyways) are gone.

[msa]

meh, i hope its not diablo.
i dont play pay-to-play mmog and i dont want to start when world of diablo comes out.

so i dont care, i guess world of starcraft or so.

i just want diablo 3....

[SecretMethod70]

hehe, yeah...a Diablo MMO would tempt even me, and I'm the same way.

[Shauk]

K so more details came forth. Basically they're in their 3rd year of development on it, a lot of the high end devs from WoW went to this project with the mindset of "if we could do it all over again, what would we do differently?" and it has nothing to do with any of their current franchises.

completely new cannon.

[Baraka_Guru]

This would be a good direction. The next generation--the more I think of it--has to be a departure from what we've come to expect.

If you take a look at the other MMOs in development*, due for release soon, Blizzard will have to leapfrog them to keep ahead.

It will have to be something entirely new.


*to name a few:

• Aion (NCsoft),
• Final Fantasy XIV (Square Enix),
• DC Universe Online (Sony Online Entertainment),
• Champions Online (Cryptic Studios),
• Guild Wars 2 (ArenaNet),
• Marvel Universe (Gargantuan),
• Star Wars: The Old Republic (BioWare / Mythic) and
• The Agency (Sony Online Entertainment)

[Shauk]

Originally Posted by Shauk

I find it utterly stupid as a business decision for blizzard to go in to competition with itself.

MMO's have always had the motto "There can be only one" (omg highlander MMO?)

cuz really, who wants to maintain 483175 subscriptions?

I also have to retract this statement.

They summed up the proper approach to this question, being that someone is going to cannibalize the WoW Market eventually, if anyone should do it, it should be themselves.