Wizardry Online announced

Japanese publisher Gamepot announced Wizardry Online today, an MMO based on the classic RPG series and developed by the makers of Radiant Historia. It's due out this summer in Japan, and in 2012 in North America.

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Japanese MMO publisher Gamepot announced Wizardry Online today, a MMO based on the classic RPG series. It's currently being tested, and a private beta is planned for sometime this month. It will launch in the summer in Japan, and follow in 2012 in North America. It's being developed by Headlock, Inc, a developer probably best-known in the west for Radiant Historia.

The announcement sounds like the update features what you'd expect from an MMO revamp: PvP combat, winding dungeons, and homages to the series roots. It also promises permanent death, for those seeking a challenge. We call these "crazy people."

"Wizardry Online hearkens back to the original allure of the groundbreaking Wizardry RPG series, but brings an updated flare for modern gamers," said Gamepot president Shuhei Ueda in the announcement. "Now, for the first time ever, players around the world can step into the impressive action and captivating lore of this world in a free-to-play, online format. We're confident the return to hardcore role-playing elements will be a shot in the arm for gamers looking for a new challenge in the genre."

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  • reply
    June 14, 2011 12:30 PM

    Steve Watts posted a new article, Wizardry Online announced.

    Japanese publisher Gamepot announced Wizardry Online today, an MMO based on the classic RPG series and developed by the makers of Radiant Historia. It's due out this summer in Japan, and in 2012 in North America.

    • reply
      June 14, 2011 12:38 PM

      Don't forget to put points into swimming.

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        June 14, 2011 1:17 PM

        I really want to laugh at this, but I'm not confident I got the joke..

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          June 14, 2011 1:26 PM

          Swimming was a skill. If you didn't have enough points in it, you would start to drown after covering too many water tiles.

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            June 14, 2011 1:47 PM

            And if you didn't put points into it you were fucked later in the game.

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      June 14, 2011 12:45 PM

      I really like this trailer for some reason \m/ that guitar rift was pretty rockin by the way, loved it.

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      June 14, 2011 12:58 PM

      [deleted]

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        June 14, 2011 1:11 PM

        I'm in my early 30s and played Wizardry I (though admittedly, it was on a Mac, and not the original version, which I only played later).

        This game sounded interesting until the combo of permadeath and PVP was mentioned...

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        June 14, 2011 1:13 PM

        Pretty much every year that goes by, the average age of gamers goes up by one, or at least has for the last 5 years. Don't be so sure.

        And as a love letter to another mid-30s gamer:

        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTS-cs-SbLM

        Never forget.

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        June 14, 2011 1:15 PM

        I was 13 when Ultima 7 was released and still to this day I remember how freaking awesome it was when I first played it.

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          June 14, 2011 1:19 PM

          I still feel sorry for Christopher, the smith, to this very day.

          The sense of discovery that I felt in games like Ultima IV and Ultima VII may have been more about my youthful exhuberance than anything else, but GOD, I never got tired of exploring, finding a cabin out in the woods, surrounded by Wisps, going in there, and LOOTING THE DAYLIGHTS out of all the potions and wands inside.

      • Ebu legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
        reply
        June 14, 2011 1:45 PM

        Best market for them.

        Disposable income, less time to play so while they're still getting $15/mo they're not having to handle as high a server load.

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        June 14, 2011 1:59 PM

        It's not really for us I'd imagine. Cf. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wizardry#Series_in_Japan

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        June 14, 2011 2:00 PM

        Even though we don't really see games in the franchise anymore in the West, it's an oddly big franchise in Japan. There's more Japanese Wizardry games released than exist in the original series actually. They really like their roguelikes over there. That's why it's no surprise that this is coming form a Japanese developer.

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        June 15, 2011 3:33 AM

        Hah.. close. I'm 37 and Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord was pretty much my first game EVER. I had it on the Apple II+ and played the SHIT out of that game. I actually played and finished Wizardy 8 which was an awesome game that nobody played. The game plays like a 3d version of Jagged Alliance with magic (which makes sense because it's the same people who made it I think).

        This video does get me a little bit excited.. I'm just not sure how a Wizardry MMO would work. I like the video though.

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      June 14, 2011 1:02 PM

      Yes pls.

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      June 14, 2011 1:13 PM

      Please don't be azngrind please don't be azngrind, please don't be azngrind AZN

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        June 14, 2011 2:21 PM

        the hell you talkin bout?

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          June 15, 2011 7:04 AM

          AZN (asian) mmo's are usually just stat/item grinds...which can be boring...

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      June 14, 2011 1:17 PM

      Ok now I can hear the "roll the dice for stats" music from Crusaders of the Dark Savant running through my head. God, i could statroll for hours on games like that, back in the good ol' days.

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      June 14, 2011 2:16 PM

      Permadeath in a MMO will be really interesting. Developers have talked about doing this before, but they inevitably shy away from it for various (good) reasons. It's somewhat fitting for a Wizardry game to actually go ahead and implement it.

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        June 14, 2011 2:18 PM

        That would suck on a PVP server.

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          June 14, 2011 2:21 PM

          Actually, now that I think about it this was tried way back on a EQ PvP server. The experiment did not go well IIRC.

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      June 14, 2011 2:59 PM

      Anyone know if Wizardry 8 is playable (and worth playing) on modern systems? I remember having fun with the demo version some 10 years ago, even though the sheer number of stats on the character screens made my head swim.

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        June 14, 2011 6:56 PM

        I played it again a few years ago on my xp system. Haven't tried it on 7. One of my favorite RPG's from that era. The beginning is brutal. Now I'm going to have Wizardry 8 music stuck in my head.

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        June 14, 2011 9:08 PM

        [deleted]

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          June 15, 2011 3:34 AM

          Somebody really needs to get that game up on GOG. Such a great game and not enough people have played it.

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      June 15, 2011 5:19 AM

      [deleted]

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