The Information is Leverage
A sad day has come: an opinion post immediately follows another opinion post. I have found all the Red 5 Studios information I can; I now thirst for more. In the meantime, I shall attempt to piece together bits of information to form some type of patchwork creature that may or may not even slightly resemble Red 5’s actual project.
It is known that Red 5’s project will be a massively multiplayer online game (MMOG) of some type. Of what type, it is not known. In spite of this, however, I shall present certain thoughts and then expound on what I mean by them.
First Thought: Red 5 Studios’ MMOG will be a shooter of some sorts.
I begin with the most outlandish thought. I have the thought that in terms of core game-play, that is, combat, Red 5’s MMOG will be some type of shooter. There are a number of things to support this: the hiring of Scott “Cornboy!” Youngblood who was lead designer for the cult shooter hit Starsiege: Tribes; Youngblood’s mention that fans of Tribes would like Red 5’s project; a mention of a “targeting reticle” in a job description; Red 5’s use of the shooter-friendly Offset Engine; Mark Kern’s expressed interest in action-oriented gaming; and recent mentions by Kern of a “sports-like” quality to their project. An MMOG with shooter elements with right game sense and great amounts of polish could quite easily bring the MMOG to those who prefer a more intense experience in their combat systems.
Second Thought: Red 5 Studios’ MMOG will be set in a science-fiction universe drawing on a number of inspirations and styles.
It’s not a secret that Red 5 has no intention of creating a medieval fantasy universe that the MMOG has become known for. With process of elimination in addition to what concept art exists, it only seems logical that Red 5’s MMOG will take place in a sci-fi setting. What type of sci-fi setting, I cannot tell you. My supposition is that the setting will be quite distinct (if William Petras’ previous work is any indication) and varied (such as it is necessary to keep players interested).
Third Thought: Red 5 Studios’ MMOG will possess preset factions.
Specific wording from Ed Stark, as well as some mentions by Ed Stark and Dave Williams in the Canon Puncture interview, leads me to believe that Red 5’s MMOG will have, like World of Warcraft, preset factions. How many of these factions is unfathomable knowledge at this point. I will say that I was almost expecting player-created factions (this was in response to all that I had heard about players controlling the world and the ilk). While the absence of such a thing won’t deter me in the least, I do think it would have been interesting to see the politics of the players dictate conflicts and peaces. While players could still rule the politics of preset factions, the alliances, betrayals, and different types of factions that would result from player-created factions remain as daydreamer fancies of mine.
Fourth Thought: Red 5 Studios’ MMOG will possess a PvP focus.
Mark Kern’s mention of a “sports-like quality” should be enough to suppose that Red 5’s MMOG will not likely be weak in the player versus player sector. In addition to the “sports-like quality,” Kern has also mentioned his favoring of endgame PvP over endgame raiding and PvE. As an extremely competitive person, this excites me quite a bit; I simply hope that Red 5 will craft an excellent combat system (see First Thought) to learn, master, and do battle in.
Fifth thought: Red 5 Studios’ MMOG will possess some sort of important resource system.
This is somewhat of a vague idea, but the Canon Puncture interview as well as a job description both mention resource systems: the job description explicitly mentions a resource system, and the Canon Puncture interview has Dave Williams mentioning collecting “minerals” for your guild. Collecting “minerals” reminds me of StarCraft with its economic systems and usage of resources for units, upgrades, and buildings. If such a system was placed at the forefront of Red 5’s MMOG’s PvP systems, perhaps we could see resource wars and even crafting and the like become a necessity for success.
Sixth Thought: Red 5 Studios’ MMOG will possess some sort of player-created quests.
Dave Williams mentioned player-created quests shortly after he mentioned collecting minerals for your guild. Both Williams and Ed Stark mentioned a similar thing to Gamasutra. I don’t think much needs to be said except for how much gravity (and how much potential for fun) such a system could have.
To be certain, my thoughts are based on fragments as well as hopes. I believe, however, that I avoided presenting anything without some form of evidence or grounding. So they are guesses; they might very well be good guesses, but they are guesses, nonetheless. But guess and guess I shall until Red 5 unleashes that golden machine they have been crafting: I don’t suppose I shall lose interest.
– The Author
Reset3 
