Ain't no mountain wide enough?

by: kiara

What is Gods and Heroes about? Where is it set? What's its genre? Is it fun?
Will it hold my interest? Why do I want to play this game?

These are all questions people will ask themselves when they see Gods and
Heroes on the shelf at launch. The answers to those questions will be vital to
whether or not that box stays on the shelf or goes home in a little plastic bag.
So let's answer a couple of those questions. The really important ones that are
make or break.

What is Gods and Heroes about?

Well, according to what I've read, Gods and Heroes is about being a Roman
citizen. You fight to advance yourself and to bring glory to Rome, yourself, and
your god. Your god gives you special skills and powers and other perks from
being a loyal, grovelling servant. You get a built in group, in the form of
minions. So what do you do with all that, Brain? Well, Pinky. You try to take
over the world.

Will it hold my interest?

This is probably the most important question one can ask about a game.
Because for a MMO to succeed, it has to have staying power. If you can play it
and get bored because you "beat the game" too quickly, it will fall onto the
little lonely island where the misfit toys go. Oh... sorry. Wrong movie. But you
get the idea. A MMO can't make it in this market without a little staying power.
It needs to grab the players and hold on to them.

That leads to another question. We all know that GnH is going to be a niche
game. But the question is, will it be too niche? Or will the appeal be broad
enough that it will be successful?

It's hard to say one way or the other. Fans of the game, naturally will think
it's fantastic and won't be able to understand how anyone could not find it
fascinating. Detractors will say that it's far too narrow in it's focus and
target audience.

Which is an interesting point to address. A game based on the history,
culture, and relgion of anceint Rome is rather specific. It doesn't fall into
any mainstream gaming genre like fantasy or sci-fi. Even major history buffs
might take exception with how historically accurate (or inaccurate) the game is
and how much things are altered to suit the designers' vision. I had a professor
in college who wouldn't let us mention Hercules or Xena in class. And when
Gladiator came out... Oh my god. The man literally frothed at the mouth for
twenty minutes before outlawing discussion of the movie in class. I'm sure there
will be a few of those folks out there. Don't look at me like that.

Is this deviation from the mainstream of MMO subject matter going to help or
hurt GnH?

Personally, I'm not certain one way or the other. I can't really decide. On
the one hand, I think that it could be huge and amazing simply because it's so
very different from what's already out there that it can't help but have a pull.
On the other hand, I worry that it's too different and that only a small
minority of people will find it entertaining. The chances of it being able to
battle against WoW is, sadly, about the same as my chances of winning the
lottery (mental note: get lottery ticket).

We'll have the answers to these questions when the game goes gold. Hopefully
it will be able to hold it's own. And... if it's really good? It'll answer the
most important question of all time. How many licks DOES it take to get to the
tootsie roll center of a tootsie pop?