Realtime folds?

[MYstIC G]

BBC News - Realtime Worlds games company goes into administration

It looks like spending 5 years working on APB has successfully brought the once promising Realtime Worlds to it's end.

 

[ECA]

Posted about it in an APB thread, but yeah is it really surprised when they spend so much money on "HEY GUYS MMOS ARE REALLY POPULAR, SO IS COUNTERSTRIKE, LETS MAKE MMOSTRIKE!" and it flops as predictably as a fat man from a diving board.

 

[nath]

Interesting read from someone claiming to have been part of RTW until the end.

Redundancies At Real Time Worlds | Rock, Paper, Shotgun

 

[Dreamor]

A number of my company have been sent up to help people 'move' and find other jobs, I know a few people have already left RTW in a bad way (court cases etc).

A few people that worked for RTW told me the treatment to staff, as EA joined in, got pretty bad.. shame.

 

[Wazzerphuk]

But EA have a stellar record for treating their staff well!



(Allegedly)

 

[cHodAX]

Was APB any good?

 

[Dreamor]

Was APB any good?

Not really, it really is a lot of shooter but with a monthly sub/microtrans option.. you can find tonnes of other games that are better designed. The only thing it had going for it was the car design stuff, which isnt that fun after a time.

 

[Dreamor]

But EA have a stellar record for treating their staff well!



(Allegedly)

Its a load of rubbish, they might treat the top lot well, but not the bottom 2 3rds of the branch. A few that left from us to Blizzard are saying how amazing that place is.. the ones that left for RTW are very upset (naturally)

 

[Mabs]

Was APB any good?

yup but certainly an aquired taste, and had some probs at launch

im still playing it, waiting to see what happens

 

[MYstIC G]

The only thing APB had going for it was that you paid for what you used, which I think will become more commonplace with MMO's now there's more competition.

 

[nath]

The only thing APB had going for it was that you paid for what you used, which I think will become more commonplace with MMO's now there's more competition.

I'm not convinced that was actually a good system. Dunno about you, but I don't want a PAYG game where I'm concious that dicking about in game is actively wasting money. I can understand a monthly fee, if it's warranted like with WoW but PAYG seems lame unless the game has no initial cost.

 

[MYstIC G]

Well that would be my criticism of APB. I was actually, despite its flaws, prepared to play it and pay for it, however I wasn't prepared to shell out £40 for a box copy before I could even begin.

It's weird how different games go. With STO, I've been perfectly happy to both buy a box game and subscribe. I think with APB they over estimated how badly people wanted to play it. I didn't have a "must have, giv now!" vibe for it, but the demo was fun.

 

[Exioce]

PAYG hourly in a MMO seems horrible to me. Like the bad old dial up days.

Saying that I've got a mate who refuses to play anything with a monthly subscription, because he feels pressured to play all the time to get his moneys worth...

 

[Mabs]

its endlessy amusing how people spout about something they clearly dont know shit, as gospel

the PR people fucked it up royally at the start so it was never explained.

i will endeavour to do so now

You buy game time with RTW points.
it comes in "20 action time hours" bundles (which is where you pvp, not craft)
or AN ENTIRE MONTH (zomg how novel)

you get RTW points from:
buying them (zomg how novel)
selling things on the auction ingame - which includes - unique clothing and cars you design, and also music you can write ingame.

so if you are a crafty type arty person, you can pay your way entirely by in-game items, the 20 hours is more for people who dont want to pvp much / want to buy smaller chunks with craft-generated-points, rather than the usual £8/month sub

the other thing people missed/was a bad decision, is it can be played solo, but its MEANT to be played in a group, and everyone knows hows PUGs can be so :/

 

[Calaen]

its endlessy amusing how people spout about something they clearly dont know shit, as gospel

the PR people fucked it up royally at the start so it was never explained.

i will endeavour to do so now

You buy game time with RTW points.
it comes in "20 action time hours" bundles (which is where you pvp, not craft)
or AN ENTIRE MONTH (zomg how novel)

you get RTW points from:
buying them (zomg how novel)
selling things on the auction ingame - which includes - unique clothing and cars you design, and also music you can write ingame.

so if you are a crafty type arty person, you can pay your way entirely by in-game items, the 20 hours is more for people who dont want to pvp much / want to buy smaller chunks with craft-generated-points, rather than the usual £8/month sub

the other thing people missed/was a bad decision, is it can be played solo, but its MEANT to be played in a group, and everyone knows hows PUGs can be so :/

And there lies the problem!! That is wasy to complicated for some kid who just wants to pick it up and kill people in the face People don't want to have to think nowadays, they just want it to work with minimal fuss!

Even if it appears that it's no different to a standard monthly subscription over the space/cost of a standard mmo payment. The fact that they explain it as being different just confuses people.

 

[Mabs]

Even if it appears that it's no different to a standard monthly subscription over the space/cost of a standard mmo payment. The fact that they explain it as being different just confuses people.

yea, it was a massive PR fuck up. and when they said "novel payment plan" people ASSUMED it meant free/p4items, etc

 

[Calaen]

Yeah, it's such a shame the people that are supposed to be hyping/selling the idea of these games, don't know what it is the gamer wants.

 

[Ch3tan]

The main problem was not PR, or the payment model, it was the fact that the game was an unfinished pile of massive shite, worse even than STO.

the RTW guys blog had it spot on.

 

[Mabs]

The main problem was not PR, or the payment model, it was the fact that the game was an unfinished pile of massive shite, worse even than STO.

the RTW guys blog had it spot on.

so how exactly was it "not finished" ?

 

[Ch3tan]

Seriously? The main elements may have all been there, the crafting and missions etc, but the playability was awful. Movement on foot and in vehicle is awful, graphics were meh.

It didn't play like a game that had been in development for 5 years.

There is nothing in that game worth paying for. If you want team based shooters there are lots to choose for, that you don't have to pay a sub for.

 

[Bugz]

I never understand the despair towards the sub-based systems.

It's like 1-1.5 hours of work for a month of game time. Or if your on benefits, like an infinitely small percent of the money they throw at you The only complaint is the young'uns need a debit or visa to play it and their mums or dad don't let them. I remember using Splash Plastic back in the day! Anyone else remember them?

 

[dysfunction]

I remember splash plastic but I never used it...

 

[Mabs]

Seriously? The main elements may have all been there, the crafting and missions etc, but the playability was awful. Movement on foot and in vehicle is awful, graphics were meh.

It didn't play like a game that had been in development for 5 years.

There is nothing in that game worth paying for. If you want team based shooters there are lots to choose for, that you don't have to pay a sub for.

dont know what u mean by "movement", but its fine on foot. the -slight- problem with cars being server side to prevent exploiting has been tweaked to improve it massivly.
graphics wise, its fine.. its unreal 3 engine, dont know why thats suddenly "shit" ?
its not brilliantly optimised atm, and will look a bit squiffy on a shitty PC, but thats not their fault

as for the rest, its modification options, etc, that make it more fun than standard shooters etc, but its your call

2 things come to mind tho:
1- people who complain its "boring" will happily play DE-DUST for 10 years - thats fine, but it doesnt mean you can complain about other things having limited content
2- a lot of people havent actually played it, and are going off "someone said that.." which is a bing mong tbh
2b- and a side note, people who say it looks shit (which, as above, it doesnt) will happily play 486-level-textures-WOW

 

[Roo Stercogburn]

This game's concept just didn't excite me. Got some friends that really love it but I've not seen anything that makes me want to spend my hard earned on it.