Analyzing Mortal Online: Is it for you?
by Shawn Schuster 
May 18th 2009 at 12:00PM
Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Culture, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, Crafting, Mortal Online
In a recent feature article at IncGamers, they take an in-depth look at what the game has to offer, thanks to a recent presentation by Star Vault, Mortal Online's developer. "We would like you to please forget your preconceptions of MMORPGs." Star Vault begins the presentation by saying. "Mortal Online deviates from most modern fantasy MMO's, and although it contains a lot of elements from let's say World of Warcraft or Age of Conan, the playing experience is very, very different from those games." Check out the complete 3-page article to learn more about what Mortal Online has to offer. You might find it's just the game for you, if released with everything they claim.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Pingles said on 1:17PM 5-18-2009
Very PvP-oriented it seems. All players flagged for combat all the time, Friendly fire and your killer gets to loot your corpse.
Sounds like they are pimping a lot of "features" that may be toned down once it goes live.
Your mount can be killed, is always around and, if untethered, can wander off.
Sometimes realism and fun don't go hand-in-hand.
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Skypp said on 1:18PM 5-18-2009
no mini-map
see now, I like that, most games are making it easier and easier, which means no one explores and no one learns areas, in the long wrong its a detriment to point everyone within a pixel of the objective(Conan specifically), I like a game where learning things is encouraged
it also means that when you build your homes, if you choose a good spot they are relatively safe from wandering jackasses, old school Shadowbane was like this before they made the rules saying you couldn't have houses outside of cities
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NT_ said on 7:41PM 5-18-2009
Yes, and it's a shame that most of those kind of changes to Shadowbane were made for "performance" reasons and not because they necessarily wanted to remove flexibility from the game. In the same general time period, they removed guard dogs. Much more recently, tower archers and the number of guards per guard captain were reduced, again to reduce the load on the servers.
Hypester said on 1:54PM 5-18-2009
Sounds interesting. I'm a casual guy, but it sounds fresh enough to actually get my interest. I think the bent on realism could get a little choppy... but if this is EvE in WoW skins, as it appears to be, the reversal seems to have merit all on its own, even if the game offers a rewarding experience instead of fun, as we typically define it for video games.
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Yahree said on 2:15PM 5-18-2009
Sounds like a game I'd never touch in a million years. They had me with the whole city building blah blah.. every game that's claimed that got my attention but they've always been poorly run, poorly designed or had some major flaw or another.
First person combat with aoe friendly fire? That sounds like pure, unadulterated pain. No thanks. If someone ever makes a Star Trek Holodeck then it might be reasonable, but until then I don't think it'll work.
I wish them all the luck, I hope they have something ingenius going that pulls in millions of subscribers, but I really, really don't think I'll be one of them.
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derella said on 2:17PM 5-18-2009
This will be another ultra-niche title.
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THAC0 said on 2:23PM 5-18-2009
The screen shots look cool and i like the fact they are going for realism. This looks like what Darkfail was trying to do but done correctly. Only time will tell however.
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freakinsyco said on 2:45PM 5-18-2009
I like what I hear about it. I hope they polish it before release unlike some other recent MMOs *cough*AoC*cough*.
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Uatakata said on 3:14PM 5-18-2009
I think MMO's are one of few products you can get away with by going backwards. For example, imagine this game was a new "next gen" car, where the sales person states that it comes with no doors, no windows, no engine, no brakes and not way to steer it. Instead you're handed a pair of reins and told to go find a horse to pull it. "But you can do what ever you want with it!" I think most prospecting buyers would run screaming in the opposite direction.
I personally like games that move forward and understand that "brass ring" of realism and immersion are currently unobtainable due limiting technology. But instead improves upon MMO's that proceed it, not remove all it's advances.
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Rhaegar said on 4:09PM 5-18-2009
I hear people say this a lot. People think that the changes that WoW brought made the genre "better" because they brought in the most subscribers in the history of the industry. The reason for this isn't because they're "better" than the old mechanics, but because they make the game easier and more accessible.
While there's certainly something to be said for accessibility and polish, there's no reason that it can't be done without sacrificing gameplay depth and challenge. These are the things missing from today's MMOs, scrapped in the name of attracting the most players they possibly can. This is what games like MO and Darkfall are attempting to bring back to the genre. These kinds of games aren't for everyone, but they're not a "devolution" they're simply a different design philosophy that's been temporarily forgotten in the rush to score big money.
Utakata said on 4:58PM 5-18-2009
(Odd...I just noticed a bad typo in my handle. Spelling is not my strong point. /sigh.)
You know...I hate tp point out 11 mil subs can't be all that wrong. And the bad assumption that WoW is not challenging is a bad assumption; not all apsects of that game is easy.
That being said, I stand by what I say. I consider anything a devolution by stripping it of it's advances and even basics. But if players want to play in that environment they are free to do so. I'm just saying it's unlikely to be a platform that a majority of MMO players would appreciate. Most players like to play on things that move forward and improve on it's predecessors. Therefore, the game that has the better advancements will more likely to succeed then those that strip those away. Blaming capitalism in this case is rather short sighted; they are only trying to supply the demand.
Josh said on 11:47AM 5-19-2009
Sorry, I'd have to disagree; all aspects of WoW are easy.
Also, "generations" or "technology" or "advancements" in the MMOG genre is not linear; it's a multi-dimensional, subjective tree. WoW advanced in some ways and went backward in others, depending on who you ask.
Utakata said on 8:54PM 5-19-2009
@ Josh:
You brought no evidence to your claim that WoW is easy. Myself and many experienced players I know will disagree. Then again, maybe your claims to this are subjective as well.
As for the subjective nature of "generations" or "technology" or "advancements"...let's say for the sake of of arguement AO and DF are a "no frills" MMO. They lack the essentials to create a minimalist feel that certain players like. As often tooted; it's not for everyone. But my issue is the claim that MO is a next gen MMO. "Old skool," yes; "back to basics," yes; "hardcore PvP," yes; "next gen," most certainly not! This is where I have issues with it's devs' claims, and this why I used my "new car" sales example to point out this flaw'd thinking at the beginning of my post.
Rhaegar said on 6:45PM 5-19-2009
I agree that it's not something the majority of MMO players would enjoy, because the majority of MMO players weren't even MMO players, or possibly weren't even born when games like UO and EQ dominated the market. Games like MO don't conform to their picture of MMOs. WoW is most definitely a better game than those titles, but not in every aspect.
When it comes down to it all "next-gen" really measures is the graphic quality. As far as gameplay goes, you can't really know what the true next generation of games will be like until they've already come out.
mm said on 3:34PM 5-18-2009
housing, a robust crafting system, player customization with consequences, and mounted combat seem very cool...and the game world looks great so far...but must every new offering go further down the pvp/fps rabbit hole? last i heard way more people in wow participate in pve endgame than in arena or other forms of pvp endgame. and plenty of us like bg's or open world pvp but still prefer to spend our time on carebear servers where we don't have to look over our shoulders every two seconds.
in conclusion, not everyone fits the pk profile...where's our new mmo? (the one that's not totally softcore, not a wow-ripoff, and doesn't pander to kids?)
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Disataste said on 3:57PM 5-18-2009
Well the crafting, city, and mount systems seem really cool. The turn off factor for me is Full player looting(why even make the stuff you your going to lose it all on a death), no 3rd person view, and friendly fire. Oh they will be a murderer? That won't stop griefers.
I love PvP and I don't mind dying but severely penalizing death doesn't work in MMOs. Lag, exploits, OP classes, etc can all play a MAJOR role in how/if you get killed. I don't want to lose everything I worked for because on some rainy day an exploiting OP class killed me while my internet connection was lagging out.
snowleopard233 said on 4:22PM 5-18-2009
Very little about this game looks appealing to me. Open world pvp always sounds appealing and epic until you’re getting tea bagged and corpse camped while all the goods you worked hard for are being looted by someone with the name “Secksurmom”. Call me a carebear, but if I’m going to enjoy pvp, I need a system that’s a lot less punishing and personal to the loser. I need something as painless and enjoyable as respawning and jumping back into the action. Or in the very least where I don’t see someone ride away on my prized palomino while I lay in a pool helplessly in a pool of my own blood.
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mikejl said on 4:26PM 5-18-2009
All but the full on PvP looks very good, if they do a non PvP server I'm in.
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bartillo said on 11:31PM 5-18-2009
they dont plan to have a non pvp server. the whole game centers around pvp. from crafting to taming its all about pvp at its core.
Jason said on 6:19PM 5-18-2009
This does sound interesting. I've recently gotten into EVE a bit, but I feel like I'm so far behind everyone else... It might be nice to be on the "ground floor" of a new sandbox game like this.
Of course, the success of a game like this will hinge on the implementation of a lot of these skills and combat. If it were truly lifelike, then a single good hit with a sword would kill someone. I doubt that will be the resulting experience, since that would certainly take away the fun for new players... I'll probably be jumping on board with this one to check it out.
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