Enter Camelot Unchained

Late last week, I finally got around to backing the Camelot Unchained project.  It's been around two years since it started.  Wow, has it been that long really?  It has gone quick.  Anyway,  the main reason I didn't back at the start was the sheer amount of time it takes to make a MMO.  Putting money up for something I may not get to play (in any form) for several years is a tough proposition for me.

However,  the game is going strong and beta is coming up soon.  There was a delay, and the new date has not been announced yet.    However, it is a timeframe that I am more comfortable with.

Long ago, when Warhammer Online was still alive and kicking, I had a plan.  I've always been a two subscription MMO kinda player.  I wanted them to be WAR for PvP and SWTOR for PvE.  I've been missing the front part of that equation though.  With Camelot Unchained on the horizon, I will hopefully be able to fix it.

The thing I really like about CU is their philosophy of not pleasing every MMO segment.  They want a RvR focused MMO and that's what players are going to get.  It's all about that.  No PvE areas like we had in WAR.  That's fine with me as I never really ventured out of the RvR lakes.

The development team is quite open, so that should keep me busy until Beta happens.

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Camelot Unchained Kickstarter

The Camelot Unchained Kickstarter is a go.  I discussed CU once before on this blog.  As of this writing they have raked in about 725k out of 2 million.  That's not too shabby.  I still have not decided if I am going to throw my money into the pot.

One of the major reasons I am undecided is that they game is just so far off.  The delivery dates for most of the beta access are in 2015.   That's a long time to wait and a lot can happen between now and then.  If the project was farther along and delivered a bit sooner I would be more inclined to pony up some dough.

I am certainly not going to give enough to get 2014 access, that's just way too much for me to spend on an idea of a game.

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Camelot Unchained

Recently, former Mythic co-founder Mark Jacobs has been on a media blitz talking about his next MMO project: Camelot Unchained.  Sound familiar?  It should, as Mythic still runs Dark Age of Camelot.  As you can imagine, this has stirred up a bit of controversy.  I am of two minds on the subject.  First, I'll put on the Blogger hat.

Blogger.  Over the years, Mythic has been very good to me.  Through the core tester program and several visits to the studio, they have really made me feel involved with a game I love (WAR).  That has earned them some loyalty from me, which is only natural.

During one of Mark's early interviews about CU, he basically threw his team under the bus for WAR's shortcomings.  I don't know Mark, so I can't say if it was intentional, but as the leader the buck stops with him.  So using your team as an excuse is pretty weak.

I also find it strange to be going up against your former company by making pretty much the same game.  The working title even has Camelot in it, and we know it has 3 realms, which happen to be the some of the same as the original title.  Again, I'm a bit biased when I have my blogger hat on, but come on.

Now, time to slide on the gamer hat.

Gamer.  I can't help but be interested in what Mark is selling.  I never played DAoC during it's heyday. The game feels too dated to try and get into now.  So a new version of DAoC definitely piques my interest.  I love progressing via PvP, I also love distinct classes and lots of them.  Those are both features Camelot Unchained is offering.  It would seem to be right up my alley.

On the downside,  the game has no funding at the moment.  A kickstarter is planned to go live in March where they hope to earn millions of dollars.  That's a pretty lofty goal which only a few games have managed to pull off.  What happens if they don't reach it, is CU kaput?  Even if they do reach it, the game still needs to be built.  So it'll be a while before anyone gets to play it.

So yeah, I'm a but torn over Camelot Unchained.  It sounds like it could be very interesting, but it also seems wrong to go after your former company like that.

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