GC 2007 - Day 3: Sega Rally, Spellborn and MMO money
Bounty Bay OnlineThis isn't actually a new game - Bounty Bay Online first appeared for the Chinese market, a few years back. Since it was quite a big hit there, it's not surprising that the licence to publish it for the European market was taken up by German companies Yusho and Frogster. However, much of it has been rewritten and expanded for the Western market.
It's a... wait for it... MMORPG! Hurrah! The setting for this one is some time between the 14th and 16th century, sailing the high seas around Europe, Africa and Asia. You play the role of newbie captain, with (quite literally) the whole world to explore. Naturally you'll want stuff to do and there's the usual round of quests to do, guilds to join and battles to complete. But since this is the Earth, as in "real", there are no orcs or elves to hack up - other than some basic animals, the combat revolves around other humans. Combat isn't a necessity though and the PvP element actually thrives on co-operation, especially at the lower levels. If being a military hero or pirate isn't your thing, you can always go off and be an explorer or simple trader; your path through the game is quite open to begin with, and it's only at later levels that you really need to pick a profession and specialise in it.
Combat ranges from armed melee to ship-to-ship cannon blasting; the former is very simple but naval warfare at least takes into account that the guns can only be fired in certain directions and have limited ranges. All of these factors though can be improved, and not just by purchasing a better vessel or equipment; your ships gain experience and levels, much like your character. Bounty Bay Online is currently in open beta (so you can try it for yourself here); the system requirements are very low, so it'll run on just about anything, but don't be expecting LOTRO-levels of graphics. The full launch is expected to be around the 14th September for the UK, and the end of October or early November for the French market. The EU payment method will be the standard monthly subscription, with pre-orders gaining extra free time.
US players will also be offered real-money-shops in the game, although whether that will replace or run alongside a subscription wasn't clear. There are various free expansion packs in the works, each one opening up more parts of the world to explore (the first will expose America) and it is expected that this newer content will be more detailed and richer, as the devs won't have to worry about engine coding any more. Okay, it's a bit of a quirky title (for example, reindeer can be hunted in Greece...) but the appeal of going arrrr, Jim lad! with every login is going to appeal to an awful lot of people.
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