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RO:HoS to become mainstream?

DirtyRat

Grizzled Veteran
Jan 12, 2006
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With much of the features in RO:HoS now confirmed I think the game has a real chance of redefining the current multiplayer landscape.

Ok So TWI doesn't have EAs marketing budget, but with Steam and word of mouth alone I think there is a real chance that this year our friends "currently playing" lists on xfire/steam/raptr will look drastically different.

Unlike other "realistic" multiplayer shooters RO is the only franchise I've played which seems to understand that whilst people want realism, they still want simple controls, and immediate and satisfying gameplay.

WW2 shooters have had a bad name of late but it's obvious so far that the press are responding very positively to RO:HoS.

Forum goers, prepare yourselves for an invasion upon release of RO:HoS, I don't think this place will be quite the same again.

Not one step back.
 
I certainly hope so. I mean who knows, they could completely underestimate how many people this game might attract from different communities. It would be really great to see once this game comes out that ROHOS is top of the board in players. While I think RO1 was configured a little too well for a certain type of people, from the videos it looks as though RO2 will be that but players from battlefield and call of duty will find it just as attractive. I think that a lot of people got tired of ww2 shooters because they started to really suck, after Call of duty WAW I don't blame them. Maybe all they need is an awesome game like RO2 to bring them back.
 
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I also hope so..from what I understand they have made the learning curve a little less steep. None of us will know exactly what that means until we have already bought the game, but it likely means that the average tween can get on and enjoy the game. So perhaps it will be more mainstream.. or at least more popular than Ost was.
 
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As they said in one interview. The latest games are all great, for console games but not a single one touched the possibilities of a PC game. RO exactly does this and will hopefully be very succesful. I only hope for not to much custom content. I think RO got destroyed by the crazy amount of custom things that you had to download when you joined a server and most of that at low speed.
 
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do I sence some lamenting in your textual tone?

Either way the forums are what we make them, and new players cannot overwhelm the ranks who are already here unless they stream in at an ammount that doubles the forums every few weeks, which I highly doubt. So as to where these forums go and what they become, that is up to how we respond to all those new players.
 
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Ah! I was expecting a "RO2 is selling out to the casual gamers! TWI as abandoned its loyal fans!" kind of thread. I'm pleasantly surprised :D

DirtyRat said:
Unlike other "realistic" multiplayer shooters RO is the only franchise I've played which seems to understand that whilst people want realism, they still want simple controls, and immediate and satisfying gameplay.
That is so true... "what is easy to do in real life should be easy to do in a game" (and vice-versa, if it's to be deemed "realistic"). If you need to use the full keyboard in a game where you play as a Soviet infantryman carrying only a rifle, ammunition and some grenades, then there might be a game design problem lurking somewhere... Of course, I'm all for custom key binds: it gives more accustomed players a little "edge", but basic controls should be as simple as possible, whilst giving the player as much control as possible. I think RO2 will absolutely excel at that: intuitive cover system, weapon collision, MG rotation around bi-pod once deployed, mantling over obstacles, etc. It all looks very good indeed :)

Nicholas said:
I don't look at realistic military games as "niche games", theres so many CoD and BF players out there who only play hardcore modes, they would love something like RO but know nothing about it.
[rant] I think the reason why most "realistic military games" are "niche games" (i.e. don't sell so well) is because 99% of them are so convoluted they are nearly unplayable. The paradox is killing me: how can so-called "realistic" games be amongst the most unapproachable games with the steepest of steep learning curves? I mean... reality is approachable: it's extremely complex, more so than any video-game can ever hope to capture, but it's draped in a very simple presentation, unlike most "realistic" video-games which more often than not suffer from a nauseating interface and frustrating controls overall. Then on the other hand, you have games like Battlefield and CoD in which the interface is comprehensive, the controls are silky smooth, but the overall gameplay is so full of logical incoherences and absurd concepts that it falls apart immediately when submitted to outside logic (i.e. "common sense"). [/rant]

In my opinion, RO2 is going to be the best of both worlds: realistic, believable mechanics with a comprehensive interface and simple controls. It blows my mind why other major developers have never tackled that.

If TWI goes the "free weekend trial" road for RO2, then I can forsee flocks of gamers migrating to the promised land; and if RO2 has a demo version of its own as well, then the games's glory will be made absolute, unquestionable in its majesty and sovereignty over all other PC FPS, foregone, present and forthcoming. [/ro2praise]
 
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I don't look at realistic military games as "niche games", theres so many CoD and BF players out there who only play hardcore modes, they would love something like RO but know nothing about it.

Hardcore mode in CoD or BF is hardly realistic, it just reduces the damage you can take before you die and removes the 3D hud elements. I agree many of these players will love something like ROHoS, it's partly the reason for my post, I know a ton of them...and they have all noted a LOT of interest in ROHoS.
 
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With much of the features in RO:HoS now confirmed I think the game has a real chance of redefining the current multiplayer landscape.


Not a chance, unless they where to completely scrap the "normal mode" and go with "relaxed realism" only. Even then, I think TWI would have to dumb the game down further.

"Mainstream" games like CoD cater to people who are not gamers as well as dedicated gamers, and keeping it as simple as possible is what the non-gamers like. RO2 will just be too complex for those people who only play games for a few hours a week.
 
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Sorry flogger but that is utter tosh :) ROHoS isn't complex, it will be a simple game to learn, but hopefully a hard one to master, much like RO and much like most classic games.

Features like adjustable sights and whatnot will leave a large portion of the mainstream gamers confused and bothered with the amount of detail in the game. They'll go back to CoD.

A game like RO2 will never be the next Halo/CoD/another extremely straight forward game. Maybe many gamers will pick up on it, but the non-gamers will skip right past it.
 
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In the future (down the road a piece) gamers will demand games/systems that can best simulate real life situations of past present and future. Like the holodeck on Star Trek. It sounds wild and fantastical now but I guarantee, this is the trend of the future. Simulations and virtual reality are the 'endgame' of gaming.
 
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Personally, I don't think so. I don't see "the market" craving the kind of realism TWI wants to bring to FPS. At least not now. Maybe in 10 years when the tech is so far advanced, a lack of realism implies people don't know what they're doing.

But for now, much of what people judge a game on isn't how well it simulates reality. It's this weird balance between aesthetics and the general sensation of a game. The faster and more flowing it is, the quicker those endorphins get pumping and the quicker people start having "fun." For some people, just putting a round in someone or having a bullet go by their head gets that going. For others, merely having a set up where one person gets to shoot another isn't enough.

That's not to say realism isn't good for the genre, but I don't think your average player craves a deep level of realism or historical accuracy. The crave action and success.

I think RO2 will be good chance to TWI to go the next tier of development however, to basically make them one of the biggest competitors in the indie FPS scene.

But competing with EA and Activision means playing their game...and I just don't see TWI doing that. I don't see them putting that kind of money into advertising, the absolute newest tech or making compromises based on what the average player wants. I also don't see them adopting the easy trends that make most major FPS look alike today either. (The "floating + points" stuff.)

So yeah. I think as long as TWI prefers hardcore historical accuracy and realism as far as they can push it, TWI will always appeal to a segment of the FPS population.

Much to the same extent, as long as COD and BF prefer the ease of entry and play (guaranteeing everyone gets their 5 kills a map or whatever), those games will never appeal to a segment of the FPS that wants something more demanding.

In the future (down the road a piece) gamers will demand games/systems that can best simulate real life situations of past present and future.

And in the end, "gamers" are the ones that dictate what's hot in the market. They don't dictate how good a game is for it's intended market and demographic. When gamers are sick to death of what they've already seen and already played, they'll go looking for realism. The numbers say that gamers have not nearly had their fill of generic, gamey FPS experiences yet. Modern warfare lite is still selling...and it's even spawning a spoof genre of FPS like Bulletstorm. Yeah, Bulletstorm. That's the next evolution of average player preference, I think, sadly.
 
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Unfortunately being a major publisher-developer or a major game also does not guarantee anymore that you as a customer get a flawless product delivered home to you.
I think mentioning HoI3 or SH5 simply as examples outlines the problematics relatively well. I just expect a product to get shipped to me that I am not a Beta tester of and which will after minor and uncomplete patching just rot in my shelf.

I really do not care whether you call a game mainstream or not as long as I get a finished/polished product that does not randomly crash, creates unusable savegames or inhibts you to play a simple quick multiplayer game.
 
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In the future (down the road a piece) gamers will demand games/systems that can best simulate real life situations of past present and future. Like the holodeck on Star Trek. It sounds wild and fantastical now but I guarantee, this is the trend of the future. Simulations and virtual reality are the 'endgame' of gaming.


I honestly doubt it. I don't see DCS A-10 selling over 1 million copies. And if that is not a good simulator, then I don't know what is.

You keep thinking of what gamers might want in the future. You're forgetting that many of the people who buy Halo/CoD are not gamers, they just play 2-3 of the most popular and simple games every now and then. They want to be able to pick up something they can learn in 5-10 minutes and be good at it. And that is what makes a mainstream game mainstream. :)

Maybe RO2 might (and I am extremely doubtful) become the new standard for PC gamers, but I doubt it will be of much interest to those who only own 4-6 games on their console or PC.
 
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Yeah I agree, you would need FFA to bring them over. lol :eek:;):p:D

I honestly doubt it. I don't see DCS A-10 selling over 1 million copies. And if that is not a good simulator, then I don't know what is.

You keep thinking of what gamers might want in the future. You're forgetting that many of the people who buy Halo/CoD are not gamers, they just play 2-3 of the most popular and simple games every now and then. They want to be able to pick up something they can learn in 5-10 minutes and be good at it. And that is what makes a mainstream game mainstream. :)

Maybe RO2 might (and I am extremely doubtful) become the new standard for PC gamers, but I doubt it will be of much interest to those who only own 4-6 games on their console or PC.
 
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I honestly doubt it. I don't see DCS A-10 selling over 1 million copies. And if that is not a good simulator, then I don't know what is.

You keep thinking of what gamers might want in the future. You're forgetting that many of the people who buy Halo/CoD are not gamers, they just play 2-3 of the most popular and simple games every now and then. They want to be able to pick up something they can learn in 5-10 minutes and be good at it. And that is what makes a mainstream game mainstream. :)

Maybe RO2 might (and I am extremely doubtful) become the new standard for PC gamers, but I doubt it will be of much interest to those who only own 4-6 games on their console or PC.

That said, we won't exactly be cloistered anymore. Before, RO was looked at warily, but now it should be opening up a lot more. Mainstream? Probably not. But it will appeal to a wide range of gamers and semi-casuals, but the "mainstream" market is probably still under the control of well....mainstream games.
 
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I honestly doubt it. I don't see DCS A-10 selling over 1 million copies. And if that is not a good simulator, then I don't know what is.

...


I'm speaking about some ways into the future. The standard will eventually become both realism (an intense, believable simulation experience) and truly '3D' virtual reality or "holographic" graphics technology. This is regardless of the actual game setting or theme. What I mean is that as we go into the future there will be an ever increasing interest and demand by gamers for an experience that makes them feel like 'they are there'. It's the same reason we watch movies, the same reason why 3D movies are on a slow but steady rise. Entertainment is something that temporarily takes you away from the serious business of your real life to explore a world that isn't real but in a way, seems real.
 
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I'm speaking about some ways into the future. The standard will eventually become both realism (an intense, believable simulation experience) and truly '3D' virtual reality or "holographic" graphics technology. This is regardless of the actual game setting or theme. What I mean is that as we go into the future there will be an ever increasing interest and demand by gamers for an experience that makes them feel like 'they are there'. It's the same reason we watch movies, the same reason why 3D movies are on a slow but steady rise. Entertainment is something that temporarily takes you away from the serious business of your real life to explore a world that isn't real but in a way, seems real.


There is a big difference in immerse games ("game that make you feel just like you're there") and realistic games. Graphics don't play much of a role in a realistic game.

I found FEAR 1/2 to be immersive. But they certainly where not realistic. I felt like I was there at parts. But FEAR is a rather generic, mainstream game. Better graphics? Sure. Better music? Yeah. Bullet drop, adjustable sights, no cross hairs, and free aim being standard in FPS games? I doubt it.

I think you're confusing realistic/tactical/simulator games with high tech/immersive games (which can be something like FEAR).

I'll just agree to disagree. :)


That said, we won't exactly be cloistered anymore. Before, RO was looked at warily, but now it should be opening up a lot more. Mainstream? Probably not. But it will appeal to a wide range of gamers and semi-casuals, but the "mainstream" market is probably still under the control of well....mainstream games.

I feel the same. RO2 might influence games designed for gamers, but as you said, I doubt it will influence mainstream games very much.
 
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