I've been hearing some rumors going around that Blizzard is soon going to be unveiling a new line of franchise. Has anyone heard anything about it? I imagine if they are unveiling a new franchise, they'll be telling us next month during Blizzcon '08. To be honest, I'm kind of worried that it would be a new franchise that they just pulled out of their ass. They're already have enough trouble as it is keeping the Warcraft lore correct.
Well there's usually something up their collective sleeve for Blizzcon, and seeing as how we already know about SC2, D3, and the release of Wrath, a new franchise is a distinct possibility. That or we find out that SC2 and/or D3 are farther along then they previously let on. Or, it's just a boring Blizzcon in terms of announcements. I guess we'll see. As far as keeping the lore "correct," it's their lore to do with as they wish. I think they do a pretty good job with that actually.
They keep changing the storyline. Dalaran shouldn't have en existed in Warcraft 3, anyone who played the Horde campaign in Warcraft 2 will recall destroying Dalaran. Now, there is the argument it could have been rebuilt, but there was nothing I could find saying it was rebuilt. Not to mention characters who you've seen with your own eyes die and magically come back to life. Blizzard never explained how Magtheridon and Illidan survived. Illidan killed Magtheridon, and Arthas slashed Illidan's chest open and left him dead at the foot of the Frozen throne.
Actually the Arthas/Illidan fight was supposed to be a CGI cutscene in which you see Illidan raise his head and watch Arthas walk away toward the Throne after the fight. However, they couldn't get it together in time for TFT's release so they did the fight using the in-game models, which didn't lend themselves to the ending they wanted. The point is, Arthas didn't kill him. As for characters coming back from the "dead," that happens all the time in other stories and worlds, not just in the Warcraft universe. Turns out Magtheridon was only captured so Illidan could use his blood to make Fel Orcs. Even Mal'Ganis is back in WotLK disguised as the leader of the Scarlet Onslaught, even though Arthas supposedly killed him right after obtaining Frostmourne. It happens.
I'm starting to worry about the direction Blizzard is taking. If Blizzard wants to have characters live on, they shouldn't have made it so you actually killed them in previous games. It seems to me Blizzard just decides to bring characters back at the last minute. Also, I'm not sure I'm excited about a new line of franchise from Blizzard. I get the feeling it might be a complete rehash of their previous games.
A non-Warcraft based MMO is probably the best bet. Whether it will be in one of their other existing universes is the question.
MMO and MO and MMORPG are all terms that aren't exactly definitive. The thing that makes a game an MMO, in my opinion, is a persistent world. WoW, EQ, FFXI, Warhammer, AoC, etc all have persistent worlds. Diablo, Diablo II, Hellgate... Do not.
This news is getting reposted on several sites recently as if it was previously unknown, even though the blue post which spawned this recent syndication states that this was already announced. Slow news day? http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2009/05/unannounced-blizzard-mmo-to-be-a-new-ip.ars Way to contradict yourself in your own article.
The new MMO is apparently having problems. Blizzard is doing a development overhaul. http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2013/...ject-titan-launch-it-in-2016-at-the-earliest/
