Earth and Beyond: Dead.

T

TyeDyeBoy

Spaceman
http://www.bluesnews.com/cgi-bin/board.pl?action=viewthread&threadid=47762

The Earth & Beyond Website (thanks Earth & Beyond Portal) has word that the plug is being pulled on Earth & Beyond, as the space-based MMORPG will now suffer the same fate as Motor City Online, the MMO driving game that was axed as the space game was starting up. Word is: "Starting September 22, 2004, Earth & Beyond will no longer be in service. After an amazing two years of galactic adventure, Electronic Arts has made the decision to close Earth & Beyond in order to focus resources on future games."
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Would PrivO still be running? I'd like to think so. E&B was never that great, and I'm surprised it lasted as long as it did. Perhaps this means EA will be looking for another SciFi MMOG concept, to try to compete with SWG....
 
EA recalling copies in stores and reassigning everyone on the E&B team to UXO last month was probably a good hint that this was coming. :)

I wouldn't bet on EA looking for another sci fi MMP game... more likely, the industry will finally realize that the MMP craze is just another fad that can't ultimately sustain itself (like FMV). (If Privateer Online had actually been 'privateer, online', then it could have been great... ultimately, though, publishers didn't understand the difference between a MMP space game and an MMPRPG where everybody wears space clothes... and I think it's too late to correct that mistake.)
 
It has gone too far. However, unlike FMV, MMP I don’t think will end. But the market will certainly not support all those games. The more successful ones like UO, Everquest and Star War galaxies will probably make it. Either way, some form of a subscription-based MMP will continue on the market, be it current games or new ones, and it shouldn't simply go away like FMV.
 
Bandit LOAF said:
I wouldn't bet on EA looking for another sci fi MMP game... more likely, the industry will finally realize that the MMP craze is just another fad that can't ultimately sustain itself (like FMV). (If Privateer Online had actually been 'privateer, online', then it could have been great... ultimately, though, publishers didn't understand the difference between a MMP space game and an MMPRPG where everybody wears space clothes... and I think it's too late to correct that mistake.)
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Though you probably have more experience in EA's dealings, I'm inclined to disagree. With this going down and the Sims Online having it's own problems, all they've got right now is UOX. It'll do well for them, but I doubt they'd want to miss out on the fat, juicy sci-fi plum. It's common knowledge that a lot of the SWG people are dissatisfied, especially given that the ships aren't in yet.

In the glut of MMOGs, only two so far have been anything like Priv: Jumpgate (which is winding down and never quite caught that fever), and EVE, which was plagued with problems in Beta and has a relatively low membership as a result. Its probably too late for EA to beat SWG to the space segment (well, maybe it is, SOE takes their sweet time about it), but if they can put together a WC-physics space sim, stably, then I suspect they'd be stealing tons of SWG players that are sick of waiting, not to mention the droves of space sim fans that have been sorta dead in the water recently. I just hope, with all my being, that EA recognizes this. They've got a critically acclaimed, fan loved license sitting around collecting dust, and this would be an excellent time to capitalize on it.
 
Oh, I agree that it would be great and I certainly believe it would make money - but EA doesn't see that, and the MMP{variable} genre has, in their minds, worn out its welcome. They look at the games you mentioned and say "no one has sold a game like this, we can't expend the resources on it".

(Incidentally, I give UXO a 1 in 2 chance of actually making it out the door (switching *development teams* in late alpha is a dumb idea)... and then a significantly lower chance of actually being accepted by the public. The market to support two Ultima-themed subscription games at once just isn't there. For some reason, they continue to assume that there's a limitless customer base for MMP games... instead of the pre-existing one they created with UO. Unless UXO is designed to 'steal' players from EverQuest or otherwise impress the public somehow, then I don't see it selling.)
 
It's very weird. First there was the World of Ultima Online: Origin, or something, that was supposed to be, or replace, UO2, but it got canned. Now they have UXO.
 
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