Farewell, Auto Assault
All massively multiplayer games have to die someday, but for some, that closing comes prematurely. Right now, that MMO is Auto Assault. Farewell, Auto Assault. There were some aspects of the game that were good, but it didn’t stick enough with enough people to last. For those of you who were dedicated players, I know what it’s like for a game that you enjoy to die. For those of you who were developers, I know what it’s like for a game you’ve worked on to die. It sucks. I’d love to hear from anyone who played (or worked on) Auto Assault why you think it failed, and what aspects of it you enjoyed. Goodbye to another MMO.
Auto Assault seemed like a really good idea that went awry at some point in development. I remember reading up on it while it was in development and then playing in the beta, and months afterwards and each time it was virtually a different experience.
I think the key problem that was in Auto-Assault is also the same in other futuristic/modern MMGs out on the market right now. Ranged combat, when compared to melee, is really a detached experience. Even in games where you are allowed to `aim`, there doesn’t seem to be any emotional attachment to the characters or your enemies.
Games like Ultima Online, EverQuest, and even World of Warcraft seem to understand the mechanics of making people care for their characters and feel emotion through their characters through combat. In the simplest possible terms, I never felt scared for my vehicle when it fought a dune buggy that shot acid or something at me in Auto Assault, but I assure you, when I got posioned by an Ophidian in Ultima Online I damn near shat my pants. Until a developer figures out a way to bring intimacy into ranged combat, I just don’t see any mmo that relies on it ever succeeding.
But then again, I could be wrong.
I have to agree to a point, you never really developed an attachment to your character. The game felt like just another shoot-em-up. Perhaps if the game was more about characters, with adventures outside the car as well as within You could get out of your car, but only in ‘safe’ zones, to pick up quests, wasn’t really part of the experience I felt.
I’m hoping that TR manages to bring the ranged combat / close character-ness that Valentino above talks about. But not sure it will.