Postby Glaucon » Thu Nov 03, 2016 9:30 pm
I have zero interest in wearing a VR headset. I mean... how will I drink coffee while playing with a thing covering my eyes? No typing? We are supposed to RP with voice? With a headset on all the time? Like that works. Most of us aren't members of the Royal Shakespeare Company. And we are used to actor's voices in our entertainment and stories. Ordinary people's voices don't come across great when you are used to that.
So, for our RP purposes, the headsets are pointless. Doesn't mean that this more game-focused approach is bad. I have always felt that was a part that was always a bit missing, in SL. Lots of guns to buy, but... can't really do a proper shooter. Loads of cars, but they drive like crap and hardly a sim that lets you rez em. The 'action' stuff was never great, and never got better, really, while 'gaming' in general moved forwards.
So, there is a lot of potential in this approach, but... I do wonder how much of what works about SL they might end up leaving behind. Clearly, people love creating their own avatars just-so, in SL. With the 25 max res textures that make up their 6 year old earrings. And while it might be cool to play a fish when entering a deep-sea sim, that isn't really what most SL players want. That 'comparison' didn't sound full of enthusiasm and awe.
I am also a bit worried if LL can deliver. I mean... this stuff is hard, high-level. I have no idea what their budget is, how many people they have working on it, how good those people are, etc. They made a pretty nice platform (SL), but they did that a long time ago, and many of the people from that time are no longer around. And something as 'new' as this... it sounds way harder than, say, the companies making triple A titles like Far Cry, Mass Effect, Skyrim etc. making another game of the type they have made before. And those games, building on things done before, still cost a lot of money to make. Here, LL is trying to do something quite novel. The sort of thing that will have you run into unforeseen problems, road-blocks and challenges. I haven't heard that much about Sansar, lately. The few things 'shown' aren't at all impressive. And that seems weird to me, because... well, given what they seem to want to create, it should be quite possible to show of some really amazing screenshots. Are they just not so good at presentation (not a terrific indicator in itself), or are they just... very far from where they want to be? I don't know.
Would be great if it turned out great, of course.