Oh Dear Fucking God, Sonic MMORPG.

[Zeta]

RUMOR #4: A Sonic the Hedgehog online role-playing game is in the works.

Source: The Web site for Panovation Studios.

The official story: "While we wish we had the time to come up with such interesting and innovative ideas, Sega cannot confirm the development of any MMORPG relating to the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise."--Sega spokesperson.

What we heard: This week, the ever-vigilant and still-rabid Sega fan base spotted the Pannovation site, which seemed to indicate a Sonic online role-playing game is in the works. At first, the evidence was sketchy, merely being the inclusion of such words as "sonic," "hedgehog," "sonic mmorpg," and "blue hedgehog network" in the page's metatags. Instantly, Dreamcast-era rumors of a Sonic MMORPG were resurrected, even though sources close to Sega attributed them to "folks with too much free time on their hands." But that all changed later in the week, when a message appeared on the Pannovation site saying the rumors were true. "You should expect a launch of the Sonic ORPG possibly near the end of this year as a beta," read the message, which is signed by Pannovation "Head Founder" Mark Grieg. In an interview on the official Sega forums, Greig lays out his plan for the as-yet-unnamed RPG. "The storyline isn't focused on the Sonic Adventure series," he said, although he promised "all of the game stays true to how Sonic used to be...to know more about the story you will have to wait and see." The Pannovation site now also links to a teaser page for the company's new Web site, which clearly says "Sonic ORPG announced!" In exchange for being up front, Grieg asked one thing of visitors to his site: "Please stop e-mailing Sega about this project."

Bogus or not bogus?: Not bogus. That or someone is going to get their pants sued off.

AAAAAHHHHHH!

[Spazz]

http://news.sonicstadium.org/index.php?full=71

This affects nothing.

[Delphine]

The ORPG has no name for it yet, but it is codenamed Project Mobius. There is an in-depth storyline which takes place on Mobius and the twin moons. The storyline isn’t focused on the Sonic Adventure series, and to know more about the story you will have to wait and see... The way you play the game is different then standard MMORPG’s, or ORPG’s out there.

omg best game evr

[Gaz]

Isn't this the thing SegaSonic was posting about?

It sounds fucking stupid anyway!

[big_smile]

This is the game SegaSonic mentioned.

Although Sega supposedly provided Panovation with a license to produce an official Sonic web site, the MMORPG has been created without Sega’s knowledge and so isn’t really anything more than a fan game. ^_^

[Zeta]

Of course, knowing how lienient and eager to milk the Sonic cashcow Sega is right now, it problably won't remain that way. If they'll greenlight Shadow, you better believe they'll greenlight anything.

[Final_Cosmos_the_Ultra]

The Sonic games just piss me off now. Screw Sega I've been a Sonic gaming whore too long to be treated like this. Just damn this shit. I'll go play a Mario, Zelda, or Megaman game until a good Sonic game comes along again. First they try to market Sonic Heroes to us, then a Shadow the Hedgehog game where a gun is used (optional or not), they keep creating new meaningless characters, continually screw over the loyal long time fans, and now this crap which sadly, sickly, and disturbingly actually has a high chance of happening. Just fuck Sega. Sorry, but for me at least this is too much. I' am a Sonic loving freak, but I can not take this shit anymore. God I just give up on this meaningless crap. Sonic this and Sonic that, just damn it all I mean Sega is just so willingly whoring Sonic out it’s like chaining an animal down and letting a line of people rape it non-stop with each concept being worse then the last and being executed in a somehow even more poorly done way making the last failure look better and better until we expect complete, total, and absolute crap. Is that Sega's plan? Is it? I’ve been living in denial too damn long. Sonic is gone, Sega is dead, and what’s left of Sonic team has no fucking idea what in the hell their doing. Someone please just hit me. Please.

[Neo Yi]

Wait, I'm stil trying to figure this out. I'm not big on MMORPG, but how are they gonna imput Sonic characters? Are there gonna be classes of different furries or 12 Amy Roses in the same area in different outfits and s/n of what? Well, provided the info of a Sonic MMORPG is true...
~Neo

[Final_Cosmos_the_Ultra]

Wait, I'm stil trying to figure this out. I'm not big on MMORPG, but how are they gonna imput Sonic characters? Are there gonna be classes of different furries or 12 Amy Roses in the same area in different outfits and s/n of what? Well, provided the info of a Sonic MMORPG is true...
~Neo

I fear Sega would use that as a way to create even more new characters based on fan characters. I now feel very cold with that thought as I wonder what great and powerful force of evil is controlling Sega. This is far too evil for any known force in existence.

[Omni Hunter]

I'm guessing that it's the former if, and it's a big "if", the game is actually in frution. The whole thing doesn't add up though, with PSU coming out the in due time, former "Sonic Team" or Sega shouldn't really need to release yet another MMORPG.

[Final_Cosmos_the_Ultra]

I'm guessing that it's the former if, and it's a big "if", the game is actually in frution. The whole thing doesn't add up though, with PSU coming out the in due time, former "Sonic Team" or Sega shouldn't really need to release yet another MMORPG.

Sega didn't need to release the Sega CD or 32X either. Then there is the Nomad...

[Baba O'Reily]

Don't be such a pissimist.
Yes, that's supposed to be spelled that way.

[Brazillian Cara]

Whoa, I can even imagine it...it's so surreal...

[Omni Hunter]

I first read that as "piss mist", you know, that steam that rises from where you piss outside on a cold morning.

[Ngangbius]

Fangame.

Think about it, why would Sega allow their biggest property to be made into a free MMORPG from some no-name, small-time American "company"? Not to mention, Sega as a whole has no clue about this project(I mean they did know then it would have been mentioned in E3 or placed any of the official Sega Sonic sites). I predict Panovation will probably get a C&D from Sega--if this project actually come into fruitation.

[Squirrelknight]

This is the stupidest fucking idea for a game that I've ever heard. In fact, it's so stupid, I'm surprised Sonic Team didn't think of it first.

[Professor Machenstein]

(A giant passage caused by a bleeding vagina that contains the same bitching the GHZ members do about modern Sonic games, except this time, the poster means it.)

And people say I'm the drama queen. Hell, I'm not the one proclaiming the mortality of a company that's the theme of the site just to avoid receiving the title "fanboy". You think Sonic fans have it bad with the whole "Classic VS Modern" debate? Think of those poor Star Wars fans, or the people who still play Rockman games.

I'll go play a Mario, Zelda, or Megaman game until a good Sonic game comes along again.

Ironic, isn't it. You contempt "mascot whoring" so much, yet you consider getting into Mario. Okay, good luck with Mario Tennis Advance, as well as hundreds more Mario Parties coming our way. (EDIT: Just in case someone accuses me as a Mario hater or something, I'm a Mario fan too. I just happen to have the same issue as everyone else as to Miyamoto's decision to put Mario's face in every genre possible, let alone porting it to GameBoy Advance).

I don't know about the rest of you GHZers. You scorn modern Sonic games because they're not like the classics, but you continue to do so when Sonic doesn't do anything new? So what is it, to evolve or devolve? I guess in some situations, you just can't win.

EDIT: Sonic Heroes may have been a dumb idea, but at least Sonic Team knows we didn't like it. Otherwise, they'd be making Sonic Heroes 2 right now.

[Delphine]

(A giant passage caused by a bleeding vagina that contains the same bitching the GHZ members do about modern Sonic games, except this time, the poster means it.)

...I think I love you, Professor.

[Professor Machenstein]

Love is for the weak. Power comes in h@tr3d.

[Delphine]

You're the man now, dog!

Those sites just never get old!

[Squirrelknight]

Ironic, isn't it. You contempt "mascot whoring" so much, yet you consider getting into Mario. Okay, good luck with Mario Tennis Advance, as well as hundreds more Mario Parties coming our way. (EDIT: Just in case someone accuses me as a Mario hater or something, I'm a Mario fan too. I just happen to have the same issue as everyone else as to Miyamoto's decision to put Mario's face in every genre possible, let alone porting it to GameBoy Advance).

The difference between Nintendo whoring Mario out and Sonic Team whoring Sonic out is that most (keyword: most) of the Mario spin-offs have actually been good. Mario Party is obviously a little played out, but Mario Tennis, Mario Kart, and even fucking Mario Golf are some of the best games in their genres. Paper Mario is a great RPG, and unlike Sonic, the main Mario series hasn't taken a complete nosedive-- Mario Sunshine wasn't as good as Mario 64, but there certaintly wasn't the same drop in quality as there was between the SA games and the shittastic Sonic Heroes. Both Nintendo and Sonic Team are guilty of whoring out their franchises, but the big difference is that Nintendo still turns out good games based on their IP's, while Sonic Team continues their legendary sucking streak. It's not that I don't like the new games because they don't play like the classics (I actually prefer SA1 to most of the old 2d Sonics...), its just that most of their new games outright suck.

Sonic Team hasn't learned anything. They only replace their crappy ideas (Sonic Heroes) with even crappier ideas (Shadow the Hedgehog).

[Dark Crow]

I don't know about the rest of you GHZers. You scorn modern Sonic games because they're not like the classics, but you continue to do so when Sonic doesn't do anything new? So what is it, to evolve or devolve? I guess in some situations, you just can't win.

We whine about the new Sonic games because they suck, not because they're new. There has been nothing but a constant degradation of all of the qualities that the original games stood for after Sonic Adventure's release, with the unnecessary gameplay styles in SA2, to the core gameplay (and graphics) being absolutely ruined in SH, and the final brutal rape of premise and theme in Shadow the Hedgehog. Granted, evolution of a genre can certainly provide better gameplay experiences depending on how well it is accomplished, but the question is where and why. Honestly, shooting and team-play actions? Just who in the hell thought these were good ideas that would enhance the concept of Sonic? Sonic is about going through interesting levels without having to stop for no one; to be able to maintain good pace without the need to stop every 10 seconds to pickup and manually aim Shadow's gun, or to slow down because of a death pit. Most of all, Sonic was just about being fun, and not taking on weak gameplay features to compensate for the lacklustre levels, bad graphics or whatever. Squirrelknight is completely right in saying Sonic Team hasn't learnt anything with their mistakes. They just keep making worse ones.

[Double-S-]

The last videogame I've experienced (and still experience) to be just plain fun to play is OutRun 2.

[Green Gibbon!]

The difference between Nintendo whoring Mario out and Sonic Team whoring Sonic out is that most (keyword: most) of the Mario spin-offs have actually been good.

I don't think that argument can be used anymore. Did Nintendo show anything at E3 that wasn't a goddamn Mario game? I'm just sick of seeing the character.

Boy, that it's come to this, when I can say I'm fucking sick of Mario.

[Professor Machenstein]

I actually like Sonic Adventure 2, despite that you can't choose which characters to play as, and I won't go anywhere near the hunting stages. I only choose the Stage Select feature and select the Sonic/Shadow stages only. You can't say those were bad. I just pick-out the things I don't like from the hamburger and eat it.

Sonic Heroes, granted, it was a disappointment... But it doesn't mean it sucked. Maybe a little, but it had everything I expected from a 3D Sonic game; the hang-time, the loops, the grinding, all of the basics. Nothing new from it's older brother, Sonic Adventure 2. I'll just pretend Sonic Heroes was the Flickies' Island of this generation and assume there will be better games later on. I do see what you all mean about stopping to avoid bottomless pits. I despise them too.

Sonic Advance, I've heard your complaints about the "Hold-Right Syndrome" from Sonic Advance 2 and up. So I decided to give those games a try. I've found out that while you can blaze though those stages with a holding of the D-Pad, you can also take some time to explore the stages, just like in the classics. It's best playing Sonic Advance games on the GameBoy Player. That way, you won't feel claustrophobic from that small-screen. Honestly, playing Sonic Advance 2 on the big screen makes you feel like you're playing Sonic the Hedgehog 5... Well, to me anyway.

As for Shadow the Hedgehog, I reserve my judgement until playing. But I see a great focus on the weapons. I think the main focus should be the whole "good-and-evil" dealio, hence the Chaos Bars. This whole panic-attack about the guns is just like worrying Sonic Adventure 2 will suck because you can pick up items and throw them at enemies.

So what's my opinion on the new Sonic games? Hell, I love the classic Sonic games as much as you, him, her, Jesus, Buddha, the sky, and that monkey over there, but I cheerish the old and the new. I don't think the new Sonic games suck or anything, but they could use a lot improvement. With this era of Iizukadom, I reckon Sonic Team is using these "experiments" to see what we like and dislike. Don't like treasure hunting? Gone. Don't like team-action? Gone. Like grinding? Keep (Well, not when there's too much of it).