So is this is why Space Marine and Dark Millennium are too alike?

[Imperial Honour]

Long story short, THQ have basically announced that Dark Millennium is not going to be an MMO anymore but will be shifting to a something more akin to Space Marine broadly content wise, a singleplayer campaign experience with "traditional" multiplayer (for lack of a better description). Now you may remember how in the past THQ, or Danny Bilson to be specific, said that there was some overlap between Dark Millennium and Space Marine and that a Space Marine sequel was possibly unlikely even in spite of good sales figures due to said overlap. So with this recent news, something which we would assume THQ had on the backburner just in case they couldn't get the funding to bring Dark Millenium to market as an MMO unless it was a snap decision, it seems that the future of Space Marine as a franchise is now further up in the air due to how similar the two games rumouredly are, like the combat mechanics being quite similar to each other.

With this shift in emphasis from a MMO to something more akin to a "traditional" Action release both the development teams at Relic Entertainment and Vigil has been slashed in size, which should also theoretically save THQ some money on development of Dark Millennium. So basically, does this shift of focus and resources by THQ in regards to Dark Millennium basically put a nail in the coffin of Space Marine as a possible future long running successful franchise developed by Relic if the two games are as similar as rumoured?

[Axyl]

DMO was the one game i was most looking forward to.
Ever.
My entire gaming life (23 years now) i had never been more excited about an upcoming game.

This is now past tense.

/crushed

[Gorb]

Depends if they still call it Dark Millenium, or turn it into Space Marine 2. We basically don't know enough at this point to comment.

Krandy said something on IRC I (sadly) agree with: it even depends in Dark Millenium makes it to release now, with THQ's current state of affairs.

[Shuma]

If it does get released, i'll be surprised.

[CommissarRezail]

Yeah i was praying to the Emperor for A 40k mmo with every faction in there. As it seem i prayed too much and the Emperor said i was over zealous thus brought down thq sales figures as punishment. damn Well i wonder how t his would work out, or will they stall this and put out company of heroes 2? Than release this?

[FooF]

It will get released, but it will be a rush-job. They won't want to lose the entire investment so they'll churn out something that makes back what was put in. Don't look for Dark Millenium to be genre-changing though. I imagine it will be a slightly more "epic" Space Marine 2 (in scale) but the story and support will be about the same as what we got for SM.

[Shuma]

Well, if it's something like battlefield 40k ala the SW battlefront games, they'll make mountains of money.

[Imperial Honour]

I know I would buy that in a heartbeat. Warhammer 40,000 using a Battlefield/Battlefront style of gameplay? Totally there! It would practically combine my love of Battlefield's core gameplay ideas and 40k together in to one epic venture.

[xS1REx]

I mentioned this on the Space Marine forums and I'll say it again here.

A FPS with Dawn of War 2 environments/destructability/objectives with Battlefield 3 destructability/vehicles/classes/weapons set in Warhammer 40k would be the best multiplayer experience. Play as a Space Marine, Fire warrior, a Noise Marine, a Plague marine, Chaplain healers...scouts etc..etc... with all the various weapons from Warhammer 40k using the unlock mode and class system of Battlefield 3. Vehicles like a dreadnaught/predator/etc can be used or spawned into, when a player approaches it u take control similar to Battlefield 3. Imagine the destruction of buildings, crumbling with the weapons and art assets of Warhammer 40k, but FPS with similar class system as Battlefield 3. You could make massive amounts of money! Halo fans? check! Battlefield fans? check! CoD fans? check! Warhammer 40k fans? check! (Althougth the FPS idea might be a hard sell to some of these die hard RTS guys but lets be honest here... FPS is were the immersion is and the the general public is right now - it is a good investment. '

I hope this idea gets sent to the right people with the right minds to recognize an opportunity when they see it. (If the only way to get financial backing for another Warhammer 40k title will be Space Marine 2 make sure you write in code for full FPS option - and dont do it half assed either - go all out or people will hate it.)

[Pseudonymn]

If what I'm getting from this is true; that a WH40K MMO is knocked out of production in favor of something more traditional, all I can say is, "THANK-FUCKING-GOD!" MMOs are grindy, souless, cancerous wastes of time (IMO) and turning out a WH40K game in the MMO venue would effectively put an end to my enjoyment of the franchise in this medium (video games). WH40K a la Battlefield... Well, now that would be another matter altogether! *drools*

I still think I would prefer a more complicated, more sophisticated, more immersive SP campaign that tells a good story though. The 40K universe is so rich and diverse, there aren't enough games out there that really take the franchise to task to tell us a great story.

[Fenra]

Can't decide if I think the idea will be a failed flop or a success worth mentioning. For Relic's sake, I hope the latter

That said, I'm kinda curious where will relic go with the layoffs and how will they pickup from this colossal exodus of talent. Kinda need to make more money, but only got MMO assets to work off of, kinda think they should just go the F2P model of an MMO and just make some money, but THQ said no, so.... what then?

...and to the FPS idea, I don't think Relic's got the experience with FPS enough to make something AAA like that, it would require more assets, more polygons, and more detail than Relic has to punch out before they lose their brand. Also, FPS fans, truly enjoy immersion, 40k is the least immersive/realistic lore I can think of, short of like, a 3000 AD game, or something that has ridiculous scaling. Another RTS would be fine imo.

[Pocktio]

Tis a royal shame, I was looking forward to a 40k MMO. I do enjoy MMORPGs but the art style and background have to interest me to make me stick around. It's why AoC got me, the story and visuals were stunning, and went beyond the standard generic fantasy that I find cripples WoW, Kingdoms of Amalur (ok technically not an MMO) and Rift. Especially as Rift is a great MMO, but ah well.

I will neverthless enjoy a 40k game, so long as it is not utter garbage. I doubt we'll have that problem.

[dirtyprotest]

if: WH40K DM= swbf2 + space marine skin
then: DM > WH40k + TOR mmo
certainly enough panademic (RIP) developers looking for work.

[dams]

Also, FPS fans, truly enjoy immersion, 40k is the least immersive/realistic lore

Immersion and realism are different things.

When a game is immersive, you are able to feel part of it and 'get inside it'. It's more about the game being finely crafted and sparking an atmosphere. Infact, I'd say realism and immersion in video games have no relation whatsoever.

[Liljagare]

Both two really big licenses, major world, have suffered ending up with the wrong developers..

Dungeons And Dragons, and WH40k..

Really sad, imagine if Blizzard had gotten a hold of them..

[Gorb]

Blizzard did, if the Internet rumours of yesteryear are somewhat correct. 40k, that is. It's how Starcraft came to be.

[Aquila]

The rumors are not even slightly correct - they are nerd rage manifest. Blizzard set out to make its own game from the beginning. The Starcraft mythos is obviously influenced heavily by the Warhammer 40,000 universe, though.

[Pseudonymn]

They were "influenced" heavily enough that drawing parallels between the two franchises made saying that they were closely related altogether too easy. Nerd rage or no, it's hard to escape the reality of it all. I'm not saying, I'm just saying.

[Deunan]

I'll admit I'm massively happy that blizzard never got close to the WH40k license. Mostly because while their universes are good, they've shown that they can't really capture the feel of a dark setting like wh40k.

Plus Dow beats starcraft any day of the week.

to be honest those internet rumours have been around for a long time, including some out of court settlements.

[Wildcard84]

BF3 -> WH40k

One thing i would love to see as a Guard fan: Player being the sergeant of the squad, with guardsmen as pets/drones whatever AI controlled (but commandable)

Oh, and entry and exit of the vehicles via hatches / doors with animations, not just randomly disappearin and reappearing..

[Pseudonymn]

Wait a minute... Blizzard can't capture dark atmosphere and imagery? I guess that game they made where you're supposed to slay satan himself wasn't dark enough. (not commenting on D3 as I haven't followed it very closely and haven't seen enough to form an opinion, although I've heard reports that it's been dumbed down)

Granted, their warcraft franchise is somewhat kidsy but I don't think it's fair to say that Blizzard's creative departments are incapable of developing anything else.

[Shuma]

Blizzard can't capture dark atmosphere and imagery?

Not anymore. They could in the past, Diablo and Starcraft were both pretty dark and gritty, then after WoW they just don't seem capable of doing it.

[Pseudonymn]

I know right? I mean, beating the game and watching your protagonist shove Satan's soul crystal into his forehead as your reward was... unsettling, to say the least. WoW went to shits as soon as they took steps to take the "war" out of Warcraft - can't train high level creeps into lowbie camps (training Stitches into Goldshire was epic fun), can't kill quest givers, can't take towns by force; in short, can't do anything that threatens the other faction in any meaningful way. And there's no doubt in my mind that it's a game that now targets people "of all ages and walks of life." But I still think that bastardizing their own IP like that is a separate issue. If GW retained creative control over their IP, I'm sure that Blizzard could, in theory at least, produce something to do the WH40k franchise justice.

[Aquila]

Sure, but why would they want to? Their own IP can generate more revenue than any GW licensing would. It would be an inefficient use of resources for them to work on anything 40k related and take personnel away from their own projects.

[Pseudonymn]

Well we can dream, can't we?

And out of all the publishers mentioned who could run with the WH40k IP, Blizzard just seems to be the lesser evil, IMO. I guess my message is that I trust their commitment to quality and artistic integrity than I do the others, especially against EA as an alternative.

[Sparki]

Hmm. I was wondering why they couldn't curb the enthusiasm enough down to make at least a decent lightweight MMORPG.
I mean for emperor's sake, there are a crapton of lightweight (asian) mmorpgs.

In any way, missing a decent World of Starcraft/ World of WH40k'ish game, regardless if it is a WoW clone :/

[Arbit]

Yikes, a major shift in design years into the development process does not bode well for the final product. If Dark Millenium was already planned to be pretty FPSish, you could just strip out the RPG number crunching and have a serviceable FPS... but if it's an 11th hour attempt to convert an MMORPG into an FPS by scavenging assets and scraping together an FPS, I predict disaster.

I hope this game doesn't turn into an albatross around the franchise's neck. It's already in bad enough shape with THQ spiraling the drain

[laszers]

they should make an rts, fps, like rise and fall, you have heroes that you can control directly (fps) yet you still build up your base.
also i would love to see a galactic conquest mode, with both space and ground battles. (like SWBF2)

[Pseudonymn]

there are a crapton of lightweight (asian) mmorpgs

"Crapton", emphasizing the "Crap" in "ton". That right there should be a red flag for this idea. The last thing GW is going to want is to see their IP wind up alongside some of the shittiest games ever created.

[Funkosapien]

A mmo I'm not that fussed about, I've never liked mmo's that much, they seem very grindy, but a game as satisfying to play as Space Marine, possibly even Space Marine 2, now that could be incredible.

Yo laszers - Battlezone 2