The many MMOs of Blizzard
by Mike Schramm 
Jul 21st 2008 at 6:00PM
Our good friends at Massively have put together a feature on "the many MMOs of Blizzard," and we can hear you now: You're asking what they could mean by "many MMOs," since Blizzard only has the one. But Blizzard is working on, as you probably know, a next-gen MMO, and their writeup is all about the many possible MMOs they might have rumored to be in the works.As much as everyone would like a Lost Vikings MMO, or even a World of Warcraft 2, or a long-rumored Universe of Starcraft, I'm going with the last answer: none of the above. Blizzard could adapt any of their worlds to the massively format (well, except for Rock N' Roll Racing, but Massively has included it anyway), but considering that Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3 are already in the works as non-MMOs, my guess is that Blizzard is going to break new ground with a brand-new IP whenever they return to the MMO format with another game.
Of course, this being Blizzard, they're not likely to give any hints until they want to give them to us, and if for some reason the next-gen MMO never does come about, we'll probably never even know what it was. But speculation is half the fun. What would a Blackthorne MMO even be like -- maybe a free-to-play sidescroller?
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Fan stuff, Odds and ends, Blizzard
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Elixir Jul 21st 2008 6:17PM
Don't forget they were finishing up WCIII when they announced WoW...
Badger Jul 22nd 2008 10:14AM
True, though under the circumstances, that would suggest that either "WOW 2" or "SC2" could be up for consideration, as Blizzard is still working full-tilt on "finishing up" these titles.
Radicalex Jul 21st 2008 6:29PM
Hmmm, well looking at their past history, WCIII and WoW were planned simultaneously in order for the two games to work off of each other and expand Warcraft lore. This simultaneous development cycle and intentionally staggered release schedule allowed for an appropriate lead in from WCIII into WoW.
It makes sense that they might use a similar strategy with SCII (or D3 for that matter, but decidedly less likely). They can flesh out the lore and the truly massive universe in which Starcraft takes place as primer. Storyline creating interesting hooks and ties that can be further developed in an MMO.
While is is mere speculation at this point, it seemed to work for Blizzard the first time. They certainly know what they are doing, and have show a trend for foresight and meticulous planning.
Heilig Jul 21st 2008 6:33PM
A respected Chinese Business journal listed some internet company as a good stock buy going into 2009 because they won the rights to be the portals for "Starcraft Online." It was just a small mention in a small article on a business journal that few (although apparently not none) gamers would even read.
I couldn't even find the link anymore when I looked for it, it's probably already been deleted fromt ehir server since it was a few weeks ago, but my money is on the next-gen MMO being "Starcraft Online."
Heilig Jul 21st 2008 6:35PM
This is the best link I could find, the original article I saw had a link to the actual business journal page.
http://lagorama.com/starcraft-online-is-a-definite-maybe
pudds Jul 21st 2008 6:35PM
Rock 'n Roll Racing was AWESOME.
haust Jul 21st 2008 7:30PM
I trully hope that this next Blizzard MMO will be 100% original IP, not based on existing ones :)
I think blizzard developpers need to get some fresh air from something totally new. I guess it would be something fun to work on.
But Blizzard being Blizzard they could still want to go the existing IPs way. Your guesses are as good as mine.
BookhouseBoy Jul 21st 2008 7:56PM
World of Herocraft, a new superhero IP to take on games like CoH, DCUO, Champions Online, etc...
jrb Jul 22nd 2008 6:21AM
the superhero mmo space is getting almost as crowded as fantasy mmo. I doubt blizzard would go for that, to be honest.
BookhouseBoy Jul 22nd 2008 6:52AM
Really ? Do you think one released game (CoH/CoV), one upcoming game from the same company that most of the older game's players are likely to jump to (Champions Online) and one other game (DC Universe) really that crowded ?
I think comparing a genre with only one released game (note: CoV has been rolled into CoH) to Fantasy is kind of overstating it... let's look at Fantasy...
WoW, EQ, EQ2, Final Fantasy XI, Lineage II, DAoC, Vanguard: SoH, Age of Conan, Warhammer... and that's not even all of them. That's 9 fantasy titles versus 3 superhero titles. Three times as many.
figure Jul 21st 2008 8:30PM
I am more that sure that the next-gen MMO is gonna be WoW2. Furthermore, i am more than sure that they gonna use the starcraft 2/diablo 3 engine which has everything that WoW lacks now: shadows, dynamic lights, havoc physics, etc...
A reworked Azeroth, Outland and anything else that is gonna come out before WoW2 is gonna sell like crazy. Add more polygons to characters, better facial animations, make damage that u take viewable on armor, like scratches etc... Make the water look like water, add realistic grass and make stranglethorn vale look more or less like crysis.
Im not saying they should make it just like that, we can all use our imagination and come up with something and anyway Blizzard will do a million times better.
What im saying that they will need to keep up with all the next-gen stuff thats coming or already came out, like age of connan. And one day it will just sneak up on us like Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3 did.
CvijaFaQ Jul 22nd 2008 7:06AM
Look at all the other games made by Blizzard, so far they do not care about pretty graphics, they wanna make their games fun.
alex Jul 22nd 2008 10:13AM
Well Warcraft 3 was released in 2002 and WoW 2 years after that and i think that the graphics were more that ok for an RTS and a MMO back then.
Starcraft 2 looks great same goes for Diablo 3. Yes, Blizzard doesnt push the graphical boundaries, but the graphics are up to date i would say.
Badger Jul 22nd 2008 10:52AM
"Furthermore, i am more than sure that they gonna use the starcraft 2/diablo 3 engine which has everything that WoW lacks now: shadows, dynamic lights, havoc physics, etc..."
Look through the "Wrath" posts from the last few days. You'll find that the graphics engine has been dramatically improved, allowing for things like dynamic lighting and improved shadow textures.
http://www.wowinsider.com/2008/07/21/my-shadow-is-following-me/
alex Jul 21st 2008 8:30PM
I am more that sure that the next-gen MMO is gonna be WoW2. Furthermore, i am more than sure that they gonna use the starcraft 2/diablo 3 engine which has everything that WoW lacks now: shadows, dynamic lights, havoc physics, etc...
A reworked Azeroth, Outland and anything else that is gonna come out before WoW2 is gonna sell like crazy. Add more polygons to characters, better facial animations, make damage that u take viewable on armor, like scratches etc... Make the water look like water, add realistic grass and make stranglethorn vale look more or less like crysis.
Im not saying they should make it just like that, we can all use our imagination and come up with something and anyway Blizzard will do a million times better.
What im saying that they will need to keep up with all the next-gen stuff thats coming or already came out, like age of connan. And one day it will just sneak up on us like Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3 did.
Blayed Jul 23rd 2008 10:56AM
WRONG! You're basing your opinion ENTIRELY on graphics and visual splendor. If you've noticed in many of Blizzards games, that is NOT their primary concern! To re-work Azeroth and have everything look pretty would hold peoples attention for a month or 2, until the novelty of a pretty looking world wears off, then Blizzard will realize "Oh crap! We used all the WC lore in WoW1! /max exodus from WoW2. Blizzard needs a lore-rich environment to base their next MMO. Systems of Starcraft anyone? Dimention of Diablo?
alex Jul 23rd 2008 8:00PM
i dont think that next-gen means lore-rich, thats a totally different topic.
kabshiel Jul 21st 2008 10:13PM
I'm betting that their new MMO is going to be WoW2. I wouldn't be surprised if they made Warcraft their MMO IP and completely abandoned the RTS part of it, leaving that genre to Starcraft.
Dave Jul 22nd 2008 4:06AM
What new properties have Blizzard developed in the last 5 years? (hint: none)
Last 10? (hint: Starcraft, everything else were sequels)
Last 15?
Okay now we've made progress... with Diablo and Warcraft. Are we really expecting a Lost Vikings or Blackthorne game to be dug out from the grave? How many players right now in the target demo are interested in either, even slightly? How many even remember the original games? We're not talking about top selling games...
Blizzard hasn't had a team making new things for 15 years in other words. They've been just developing and re-developing the same properties over and over and over since the original creators made them and bailed on Blizzard a long time ago. It's a successful and popular strategy, and honestly why put out the risk of making a new franchise when people are still buying the hell out of the old one? It makes absolutely no sense, at least not unless there's going to be a decline in the popularity of the Warcraft, Starcraft or Diablocraft franchises, and judging by the frenzy around SC2 and D3... I'm not sure why anyone at all would come to the conclusion that their "next gen MMO" is anything but WoW 2.0 at best, or a Diablo or Starcraft based MMO at worst. (likely Starcraft since the Diablo world seems to me to be bad for MMO's).
cowy Jul 22nd 2008 6:16AM
I'd love to see blizzard do a modern mmo. In the same sort of vein as the Earthbound/Mother series by Shigesato Itoi (superNES). Instead of clubs, you have baseball bats. Instead of swords, you use frying pans.
Rather than fighting magic using mages, your enemies are cranky old ladies, biker gangs, or drugged up hippies.