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Auto Assault sunsettingJuly 2nd, 2007 |
It is always sad to see an MMO have to close its doors. It’s now been announced officially that Sept 1st will be the last day that Auto Assault sees service.
There are further details here, from an interview with NCSoft.
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I played some in the auto assault beta, but never bought the game at retail because i realized that in its heart, it was a great single-player game stuck in an MMO. If I hadn’t played the beta, most likely I would have bought the game at retail and played a few months before canceling the account.
Tis sad to see another retail MMO go… This game never really stuck with me or anyone I know for that matter so its not overly shocking… Its sad to see a game that went against the grain going under; queue WoW clone #98982
It’s unfortunate to see it closed. I played in the beta and didn’t buy it at release because of the problems it had that just weren’t worked out, but it always seemed from what I’d heard that a lot of those things were worked out as time went on. Of course, some people are spelling doom and gloom for any non-fantasy title now using this as an example to prove their case, which I don’t think works either.
Sad, yes.
Surprising? No.
They did a really stupid thing – they made Warcraft (or everquest, or diku) on Wheels, and expected their audience to like it, when their audience was expecting an MMO Car Wars.
It’s not because it’s non fantasy, it’s because they weren’t brave enough to make it not just another diku.
I would agree with the another-diku comment, and add that a clumsy control scheme and pseudo-twitch playstyle were diku-derived problems with this game. Current single-player driving games are all about physics and precise aim, and many prospective players likely expected that instead of dice-rolling — an expectation barrier that games like City of Heroes didn’t have to leap for their more traditional MMO audience. If Auto Assault had felt more like SWG’s Jump to Lightspeed, I think it would have fared better.
Wasn’t Auto Assault supposed to be supported by in-game advertising?
Richard
I wouldn’t be surprised if in-game advertising was a plan of theirs, but I think that, when it came down to it, even that wouldn’t have been feasible. I remember someone commenting on a forum that they once went online one of the servers and did a /who during primetime, and ended up coming back with only thirty or fourty people – and this is a game with three factions, mind you.
They did a really stupid thing – they made Warcraft (or everquest, or diku) on Wheels, and expected their audience to like it, when their audience was expecting an MMO Car Wars.
Wow, “stupid” doesn’t begin to say how bad an idea that was.
I actually avoided playing the game because I heard the guys on f13 talking about it having ‘cleric cars.’ WoW/EQ on wheels just did not do it for me. i wonder who else avoided it due to word of mouth?
I was a huge Car Wars fan back in the day when all Steve Jackson games were played with cardboard punchouts. An MMO Car Wars would have been fun, but tough to do. Maybe an MMORTS, though.
Not surprised, but yes, it is sad to see an MMO close. I feel bad for the players.
Auto Assault was suppose to be funded, in part, by in-game advertising. I believe said advertising was a supplement to the monthly fee players were paying. Thus, it had both a subscription fee and in-game advertising. I know a few people who were turned off from it simply because of that. Regardless, even with in-game advertising, an advertiser isn’t going to pay big bucks if the audience of the game isn’t that big. Granted, PlanetSide is still alive and kicking with it, but they also removed the fee to a certain extent, which I imagine helped.
Also, to add on to the news, NetDevil, the developer, is not buying the rights to the game as they did with their previous title Jumpgate in order to keep it running.
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As reported lots of places, Auto Assault will be shutting down come August 31. I never gave the game serious consideration, but having played and beat Autoduel about 20 years ago, I had a passing interest in it, and even picked up the box a few times and thought about buying it.
As reported lots ofplaces, Auto Assault will be shutting down come August 31. I never gave the game serious consideration, but having played and beat Autoduel about 20 years ago, I had a passing interest in it, and even picked up the box a few times and thought about buying it.
[...] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/RaphsWebsite/~3/129915997/http://www.raphkoster.com/2007/07/02/auto-assault-sunsetting/It is always sad to see an MMO have to close its doors. It’s now been announced officially that Sept 1st will be the last day that Auto Assault sees service. [...]