Uh. Yeah.
Okay, so limp trailer that shows us nothing and tells us we're going to be waiting a year for the game ASIDE, what does this really mean for the ardent Firefly fan base? Will we get to have mighty adventures in a resurrected universe that people have been mourning for the last 10 years? Or will we ultimately be set up for yet another crushing disappointment? Join me below the cut for chats.
From KeepFlying.com:
In Firefly Online, players assume the role of a ship captain as they hire a crew and seek out adventures, all the while trading with and competing against the millions of other players to try to survive in the Verse: find a crew, find a job, keep flying.
FFO provides a variety of gameplay activities and systems so that players can fully experience life in the Verse.
- Assume the role of a ship captain - create a crew and customize a ship
- Aim to misbehave in space and planet-side adventures
- Cross-platform player experience across devices (pick-up and play from anywhere)
- Unique social features connecting Firefly fans
- Create a shiny ship and explore the Verse
While I'd love for it to be something along the lines of Star Wars: The Old Republic where you get to pick your class and then go nuts in an open-plan world, the fact it's being released only on mobile devices raises a lot of alarms. Sure, the official game that was released on mobile devices for Thor was pretty fun, so it's not impossible to make a good franchise game for phones, but that was a 'get from point A to point B, beat the living bejeezus out of a boss, repeat' kind of thing. A good RPG is a totally different kettle of fish. The thought of playing something like World of Warcraft on my phone makes me feel lightheaded. Where are they going to fit all the on-screen STUFF?? There's a lot of limitations.
The involvement of Fox does put a bit of a sour taste in my mouth too. Maybe it's just me, but it feels like they're trying to actively wring every dollar they can out of a franchise they didn't think was worth their time in the first place. 'Hey, those Jayne hats that fans are making sure are popular! Let's license them so we get the profits and sue anyone who decides to make their own!' 'Sure you can make a game of a franchise we stomped on! Let's make sure people have to spend real money to make any progress in the game though!'
I hope I'm proved wrong. I hope in a year's time this thing comes out and I lose weeks of my life to it, but at the moment it's really hard to get excited. If Joss or the cast give their blessings/voices to the project then it might make things a little more interesting, but for the time being I'm keeping my expectations set very very low.
It looks like nothing to get excited over, unfortunately. Looks more like a cheap cash-in for mobile devices, like many licensed games. I've seen a lot of "MMO" games on phones which are nothing more than pay-to-win card games. If there were to ever be a good Firefly game made, I would love to see an epic single-player game like KOTOR, but it seems like most companies are more interested in milking a famous franchise for all it's worth. If nothing else, at least Firefly is finally getting some attention. :P
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