Long before the advent of mainstream video gaming, another form of game reigned supreme. Pen-and-Paper roleplaying games like Dungeons and Dragons captured the imaginations of generations. One player would narrate the story, called the Dungeon Master, and the others would direct the actions of their characters. However, other roleplaying games proved popular too. In the 1990s, Vampire: the Masquerade saw blood-hungry vampires unleashed upon an apocalyptic version of the real world, known as the World of Darkness.
Now, over twenty years later, plans have been set in-motion to release a Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game (MMORPG), based upon the 90s’ vampire craze. Rumours and conceptual teaser trailers (both genuine and fake) have been floating around since 2010, but a number of key features have been announced by developer which have piqued the interests of critics. Firstly, and perhaps the thing that sets it apart from other MMORPGs, such as World of Warcraft, is the statement that the game will be based more on “social interaction and player-politics” than ‘grinding’ to become the highest possible level, or fighting monsters before selling loot. This is an original idea, and fairly in-keeping with the source-setting, which sees the supernatural creatures manipulating humanity from masonic cabals. Secondly, that the tentatively-named ‘World of Darkness Online’ will have players take the role of the quest-giving nobles and aristocrats. The world will also be a “sandbox” style open one, set in a large city which looks, by the concept art, to be a slightly more gothic-looking San-Francisco.
The World of Darkness’ history of video game adaptations is turbulent to say-the-least. The year 2000 saw the release of Vampire the Masquerade: Redemption, a top-down RPG with strategy elements which, though hailed as having good graphics and an enjoyable story, never saw a huge surge in public-interest. The most well-known game in the WoD setting (and a spiritual successor to Redemption) was released four years later. Bloodlines used an adapted version of Valve’s Source Engine, and became very popular, despite several literally game-breaking glitches. Its developers actually went bankrupt part-way through its development cycle, and the project was only finished due to programmers and kind-hearted fans working without pay to finish the final few stages. Despite its flaws, Bloodlines retains what amounts to an ‘air of nobility’, given its dev-story, and many fans expressed disappointment that a sequel would not be made.
A third video game, based-upon Vampire’s sister-game, Werewolf: the Apocalypse, was set for release around 1999, but it was dropped due to lack of funding, disappointing fans of its tabletop version. Some have claimed that CCP (who are developing WoDO) might add Werewolves to its game using Downloadable Content (a medium which the company frequently uses in-conjunction with its bestseller ‘EVE Online’. The model of a freely updated MMO with no subscription fee is proving a popular one, as paid MMORPGs such as World of Warcraft and Star Wars: The Old Republic have seen a pretty sharp downturn in new users of-late. The so-called Free-to-Play model is the fastest growing style of online game on the market, and the only one which has seen much success in the current market.
While CCP are veteran MMO-devs, they must take great care with WoDO. It has the potential to be greatly successful, given the following that its progenitor Pen and Paper game still has. Provided they match industry trends, WoDO could succeed where so many online games have failed.
