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World of Darkness Online

Hold your breath no longer, World Of Darkness fans. According to a leaked ccp financial document they are planning to announce the release the MMO sometime in 2010.
If you’ve ever played Eve-Online, then you are aware that is the most player driven MMO ever created, and to this date has one of the largest collection of devoted players next to WOW.  CCP, the Iceland based company and creators of Eve-Online, are going to announce sometime in 2010 the release of World of Darkness. World of Darkness originally started out as a pen and paper RPG game in 1991 with its release of Vampire: The Masquerade. The World of Darkness universe is set in a similar contemporary world as our own, but is populated by supernatural beasts whom prey upon the humans.  Another prominent aspect of the game is the origin of secret societies formed through various factions and allegiances.  I assume this is what will qualify as the faction or race system that is popular amongst MMO’s.

Don’t expect another pvp oriented MMO like Eve Online. According to CCP CEO Veigar Pétursson “with more professional males in the 25-35-year-old age range losing their jobs, he has seen the number of subscribers soar since the economic crisis began. CCP Games has been profitable since 2004, but all profits are currently invested in Eve Online and also into creating World of Darkness, a new online subscription game about vampires targeting an 18-25 year old, female demographic”.  If the target audience is 18-25 year old females the chances of World of Darkness being a hardcore pvp game like Eve is slim to none. And I don’t believe I’m being sexist by stating this, it’s just that I know very few females whom are extremely competitive or enjoy pvp as much as the male counterparts.

CCP is a company that likes to cater to its customers so fans can expect to get what they want out of the game. But will World of Darkness be as well versed as Eve-Online in allowing itself to stand out among its competitors?  Eve-Online is  a unique game in many respects.  It has the most sophisticated market system one can imagine. It has pvp that leaves all other mmo’s in the dark.  And, it has the most loyal and hardcore player base you will ever see in a game.  But the thing that makes it stand out beyond it all is that it is set in space. It is the space that scares other MMO creators to go there. Eve already has such a handle on it that no one else has made a significant attempt to make the leap out of our atmosphere. But what CCP plan on doing is jumping into Blizzard, Turbine, and Ncsoft’s playground. Does CCP have what it takes to match their success? Will they fall into the trap that most copy cat mmo’s end up in; having multiple features of many mmo’s but few of their own.

Ultimately it comes down to the developers desire to succeed. If they just want a fast cash cow to carry them through a couple of years of I’m sure they could manage a reasonable player base by luring hardcore WOW fans into another copycat mmo. And of course, one man’s junk is another mans gold, Nostalgia can go a long way with selling a product.

If the game is targeting females, there is a chance that the recent craze over Twilight might help sell World Of Darkness.  Vampires are now popular to a young female population who might want to catch on the bandwagon of the mmo.  That group is now susceptible for marketing on such territories.  If Twilight fans get lured to play, the appeal of World of Darkness could be lost to the average gamer.  The game might not seem as interesting if a new type of gamer is brought in.  The average gamer might feel it an insult if the Twilight is included. 

Although, Eve Online is a unique and respected game which alone could catch the interest of the average gamer.  Eve is a game almost in a class of its own, which will make a new game from the company sought after.  What will they do with the concept of vampires and darkness?  World Of Darkness is a different genre than Eve, but that only intrigues the interest.  What will the platform be like?  What will the visuals be like?  How is the mood of the game going to be?  Seems to be a game worth looking into.