briannewton

Agreed, appreciate the attention to this topic this post provides. I do think one part not really focused on is that many people who enjoy both RP and PvP (me) feel that a truly immersive RP MMO world can't really exist without PvP. As you mention, when you play a themepark MMO, if you try to RP, you are fighting against the system. It's not that the Darkfall devs are hardcore gankers, it's that they believe in freedom. The game systems should support what type of playstyle you want to play, and provide you the freedom to do so. Only in a game like Eve with PvP, can you have the stories that came out of that, all in-game roleplaying. Pirates are only really scary when they are real people and can take your stuff.

Trying to design an idyllic world without fear is trying to design one that doesn't feel real. Danger is exciting and necessary for true RP. We play these MMOs because we can play with thousands of other people and yet most MMOs severely hamstring our modes of interaction with those people. As one poster mentioned, the key is that the game needs to be designed with FFA PvP in mind from the ground up so that systems exist that make being a mass murderer a dedicated, difficult venture, just like the real world. Most people's experience with FFA PvP is not games like EvE or Darkfall where it's designed in, but themepark games where there is an FFA PvP server, and no consequences to being an insane ganker. The game is the same, it's still a PvE themepark, but then you've got people running up and killing you. That's not real FFA PvP in a well designed game, and it's a shame that that's what most people have experienced.

But yeah, I don't think PvP is something to be "stomached" to have an indie RP MMO. It's something to be embraced as something that allows for full RP if done right.

@Invigilator To say you have to spend 60 dollars only to find out the game doesn't play well is pretty much just flat out wrong. First of all, I have seen no games, even new full price ones, over 49.99. Secondly, that is why there is a 30 minute trial playing the full version of the game for every game. And if you still haven't decided, rent it for 5 bucks.

People complaining of games being "unplayable" are one of the 3 circumstances:

1. They are too far from one of Onlive's 3 current datacenters (The guy in Canada).
2. Their connection is laggy/they are playing over wifi (which adds extra lag).
3. They are using a mouse/keyboard and expecting the instant response 0 latency you get on a PC for an FPS (that is not going to happen). Plus if you use a wireless mouse/keyboard, add on that latency.

I just wish people would take their own situation into account and not assume their particular experience is exactly what everyone else has. I've used the service near their servers (northern Cali), in Southern Cali, and in Seattle and it has always been highly playable.

@zerosuitsammich Had the exact same thought when reading it. I think they already beat him to it, with extra twists like having to pay attention while being stalked yourself and 8 people in a game. Sorry dude. =(

@Chazzr
Haha, no I don't work for them. I am however a fan of the tech and want it to succeed. I think it's an amazing achievement that nobody said would work at all, and yet here it is. I also think retail specialty stores like Gamestop need to go the way of the Dodo, and I think this is one piece in that puzzle. I think the fact that I can play high end games on my 13 inch macbook or through my HTPC on my TV is pretty rad. Is it a 1:1 experience to playing games locally on my Desktop? No, and, as a hardcore gamer I'd never play a game I was super anticipating on OnLive. I own Prince of Persia and Just Cause 2 on there, and I think they're both really well suited to the platform as games I can play for a bit on a bunch of different platforms.

But as a way to rent a game and beat it in a couple days or instantly demo games to see what I think? Sure, and I hope it does succeed because the tech has a bunch of applications, works and is bound to only get better from here, which is why it bugs when people dismiss it out of hand or say they want it to go out of business.

@Chazzr
How far are you from a datacenter? We all have very fast connections to our ISP. And what is "shitty"? If you're playing on a desktop computer with a mouse and keyboard, yes of course playing locally from Steam will be way better both in terms of graphics and control lag. Use a controller on a TV, or play on a laptop and see how it is. OnLive is not meant at this time to replace Desktop PC gaming.

It's meant to provide an alternative where you can buy/rent/demo a game and play the same game across all kinds of playforms. You can play it on a netbook, on your TV, on a mac, with all your saved games intact etc. I admit the case for paying full retail for an OnLive game is not very enticing at the moment and it will be a long while before this replaces your desktop gaming PC. But for renting games/demoing instantly or even buying a game at 50% off, as is often the case? Starts to get pretty appealing to me.

Haters. =) I don't know what's up with everyone complaining about "crippling lag". Use a controller, it should be pretty much imperceptible. And lag has much more to do with the quality of your connection to their datacenters than your Mbps speed. That's only for the quality of the video. Anyways, in answer to the original post, I'm pretty sure OnLive pays a flat rate to sell a license for the game just like GameStop does. Gamestop buys the game, then chooses their price.

So, if they sell an Indie Game at 75%, they're probably cutting their profit as a company hugely. But I can see why they're doing so to draw Indie Devs to develop games for their platform in exchange for lowered profits. They need more games, and this is one way to do so.

As an aside, I don't understand the "This will make sense in 2 years". Why? Their minimum Mbps requirement is 3-5 mbps, DSL speed. If lag is your problem, that's for them to continue implementing datacenters and lowering latency between your connection and theirs.

I don't think 3-4 carriers counts as a "rush". :P

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To all of you complaining about lag:

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-onlive-lag-analysis

150ms

Weird, I have rented Just Cause 2 three times and found it very playable. I also played Borderlands earlier today with a mouse and keyboard and while if I paid close attention I could see a little bit of lag, I was headshotting people left and right.

Then again I'm in San Francisco, so maybe that makes a difference.