So Robot and Gameforge are starting to come around. With the latest patch they have installed Survival Mode which is basic OMD gameplay. For some reason I cant take an actual gameplay screenshot and Steam wont let anyone watch (guessing because its still in development). The best I can do is menu screens:
There are the traditional weapons and traps from the first 2 games but they look much better. There are also several new traps. Instead of collecting Skulls to buy new traps and weapons, you have to collect items that drop from gameplay and actually build the items, kind of like an MMO. I don’t mind this actually.
There are 5 maps currently but they are divided up into several different difficulties up to level 100.
All in all, I enjoyed the first map I tried and it did feel a lot like the classic game so I’m encouraged that maybe they will fix this game after all.
Well, that’s certainly great (and I must say very strange) news. That company mystifies me. I can’t imagine what’s going through their heads.
They came up with OMD1, a really great game. It combined good design with silly frantic fun in such an effective combination that it was an instant hit. People clamored for more and wanted multiplayer.
So they made OMD2, which in most ways was a better game, but they limited mp to 2-player co-op and basically ruined things with bad DLC instead of giving people modding/mapping tools. They watched their community wither to a few Euros and a handful of die-hard fans. Did they fix the problems and rescue themselves? Erm, no.
Instead, they jumped on the MOBA bandwagon and completely threw out the formula that had sold OMD1 and gave OMD2 its early momentum. Not only that — they’ve kept OMD:U in beta forever like some kind of joke Kickstarter project, refusing to listen to anyone and apparently unaware — or unconcerned — that no one has evinced any interest in this thing.
Now they seem to be waking up and making something like OMD3, except not really. I’m really glad to see that they’re putting in sp campaign and survival elements. They have my attention. But how long can they stay in development and closed beta? Where is their funding coming from? How are they going to make up for lost time and lost fans? How self-destructive can they remain?
I can only assume that they’re subsisting on vested Microsoft rewards from their Ensemble days. This is what allowed Valve to scrap Half-Life and start completely over — Gabe’s Microsoft money. Maybe this also accounts for their insouciance in relation to fans and marketing. They don’t seem to care. Therefore, they must have their own money and lots of it. But this is no more than a theory. Maybe they’re broke and living on loans. Any revenue they might have gotten from “Founder” purchases or whatever has to be long gone.
They are a great mystery.
Well, they are making some money because of the king of micro transactions Gameforge being involved. You see the “Store” tab on a couple of those screens. There are certain things you have to pay money for in the game. Most of it is cosmetic like player skins or heros or special trap effects but in my experience, people eat that stuff up for some reason.
Another addition to the survival gameplay is rift guardians. These are pretty much just like bosses but they are on your side. You place them in front of your rifts as a last line of defense. You get a basic guardian but there are several different ones with different abilities and looks that you have to pay for if you want them. Ahh, Gameforge….
Hm. Then microtransactions must be more profitable than I thought. I still don’t see how that pays for much. It’s not like they’re doing League of Legends or even Path of Exile. Have they picked up an audience I don’t know about? Well, I forget they may still be making money on their other titles, too.
The main thing I don’t get is why they’re not marketing this more aggressively. Common sense says they need to get a campaign in high gear and start selling what they’ve got rapidly and vigorously.
My guess is there are a couple of people there who insist the MOBA is still a good idea even though zero customers seem interested in it. I actually think in some twisted way they might be thinking that if they tack on the traditional survival mode they might attract old customers like us to play the stupid MOBA.
This is actually how they should have built the game all along. Make OMD3 which you already have a gigantic customer base for, then add on your lame brain MOBA to that and see if people would actually be interested in it.
Again, why am I not in marketing?
I found a thread this morning with a developer explaining why the push for MOBA and listening to complaints about a lack of OMD in OMD:U. Most of the comments were posted before the last patch release. Some interesting comments:
http://forums.orcsmustdie.com/discussion/4723/what-is-this-moba-stuff
Hm. I don’t really know what to make of that. It sounds like this:
HONEST FAN: “You’re splitting your priorities. Do you want to be a MOBA? tower defense? what?”
NICE FAN: “It would be so super to have toggled sprinting and a better crossbow, but you guys are the BEST YAY GO ROBOT!!”
ROBOT: “We’re making what we want. You’ll like the next patch. These are not the droids you’re looking for.”
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It will certainly be interesting to see what they come up with when they get through messing around. Meanwhile, I think Cookie Clicker™ will be the next big thing.
http://orteil.dashnet.org/cookieclicker/
I don’t know what that nice fan is talking about. I don’t miss the sprint at all and there are sprint boosts placed throughout all the levels Ive played. Also all the weapons are supposed to be weak when you start. The game is more about killing things with traps, not OP weapons. Your weapons get more powerful as you kill things and get combos, skulls…etc.
The honest fan was asking the same thing I wanted. Please make OMD3 and add on your stupid MOBA and then see if people like it instead of doing it backwards.
In Robots defense: they did say that if people didn’t like things about the MOBA to please post them. At least they are listening.
I actually clicked on the Cookie Clicker link. WTF is that?
My highest score so far:
Bigger size: http://s27.postimg.org/94rpnrlxv/OMDU5.jpg