Titanfall and Respawn in general

[Jangles]

Played the Beta, love it.

 

[Pink Gregory]

Much as I don't know much of the situation, as I have no interest in Titanfall and therefore know nothing about it; can any modern shooter not, consciously or unconsciously, 'rip off' Call of Duty?

Also, is it possible that MS may have offered something for that platform exclusivity? Infinity Ward alumni they may be, but it's still a new IP and therefore risky, not many AAA-level developers would be willing to turn such an offer down, if it existed.

 

[Evonisia]

I don't think it will be a yearly installment series. Granted I can see the similarities to CoD already (the HUD is near enough the same) but it is giving itself a different enough identity.

The reason I don't think it will be a yearly thing is because (believe it or not) Call of Duty games aren't made in a year. Treyarch revealed that they had began working on Black Ops II after the Annihilation DLC was released for Black Ops (which was June 2011 for the Xbox 360). Black Ops II was 'finished' in September, so that leaves it with a 15 month development cycle. Unless Microsoft funds Respawn and gets more workers for them (like Ubisoft gives to the developers of Assassin's Creed), I don't think they will be capable of making a game in less than a year without just copy pasting the game.

 

[Shadow-Phoenix]

Honestly I've not touched a COD game in a long time since at least early BLOPS 1 but even then I'd lost interest by then and stopped.

Now I know what COD's been up to and I've had a look at Titanfall and I've gotta say Titanfall interests me more than what COD's still trying to offer us at the moment.

I don't really know much about his arrogance but a lot of devs can be these days.

Also wondering why we're still going on about the exclusivity, both platforms have theirs along with PC, then again I forget this is a world in which PC magically gets to keep theirs due to unbound logic.

 

[WouldYouKindly]

My understanding was that it's a bit like a first person MOBA with the ability to leave your mech and have the AI control it while you go do other stuff.

Also wondering why we're still going on about the exclusivity, both platforms have theirs along with PC, then again I forget this is a world in which PC magically gets to keep theirs due to unbound logic.

The only games I believe should be exclusively for the PC are the ones that all but require a mouse and keyboard to play effectively. This pretty much means RTS. Also, I'd effectively call the PC a Microsoft platform. The vast majority of gaming PCs run Windows because it's just easier and has a lot more games offered.

 

[yamy]

My understanding was that it's a bit like a first person MOBA with the ability to leave your mech and have the AI control it while you go do other stuff.

Also wondering why we're still going on about the exclusivity, both platforms have theirs along with PC, then again I forget this is a world in which PC magically gets to keep theirs due to unbound logic.

The only games I believe should be exclusively for the PC are the ones that all but require a mouse and keyboard to play effectively. This pretty much means RTS. Also, I'd effectively call the PC a Microsoft platform. The vast majority of gaming PCs run Windows because it's just easier and has a lot more games offered.

But the thing is Microsoft doesn't have anywhere near the amount of control that any of the console makers have on their platform. They do not control distribution, licensing or anything apart from GfWL, which is dying soon anyway. If anything I'll call the PC a Valve platform due to them controlling a majority of the distribution, but even then it's a very hard argument to make as that is not exclusive (there are many other ways to get games).

PC (by which we usually mean Windows)is indeed magical because it's essentially a (mostly) neutral platform.

 

[Saltyk]

It's my understanding that Zampella and Respawn were not involved in the negotiations to make Titanfall exclude PS4 (that's basically what the deal amounts to). That was between Microsoft and EA and the staff at Respawn learned about the deal when we did. Apparently, they aren't happy and were working on a PS4 version at the time.

You can check Zampella's (I think it was his) Twitter account. Unless he or someone else deleted his comments, they should still be there and make it absolutely clear that he hates the deal.

As for Titanfall, I have no real opinion on the game. I MIGHT have bought it for PS4. But now that isn't an option, it's no longer on my radar at all. From what I've seen it's just CoD with Double Jump, Wall Running and mechas. The only thing that makes it look cool is the mechas.

Seriously not hating on the mechas. I think mechas can make a game cooler and/or better just by virtue of being mechas. Xenogears, anyone?

 

[Vigormortis]

snip

Ooph. There's a LOT of misinformation in this post. I scarcely know where to begin.

If Zampella doesn't check himself he is going to wreck himself.

And I think you need to check your sources before you embarrass yourself.

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2012/05/24/respawn-39-s-west-and-zampella-sound-off-on-upcoming-activision-lawsuit.aspx

http://www.joystiq.com/2012/05/31/west-zampella-settle-with-activision-in-infinity-ward-lawsuit/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_of_Duty#Call_of_Duty

http://www.reddit.com/r/titanfall/comments/1vi947/titanfall_alpha_discussion_thread/

http://www.spoilerfreemoviesleuth.com/2014/01/gaming-titanfall-alpha-impressions.html

http://slumz.boxden.com/f13/titanfall-impressions-2027736/

What do you think? Do you think Titanfall will end up being a yearly or yearly-ish game like CoD? Do you think it will be close to a clone of CoD?

Probably not and most assuredly no; respectively.

Simple enough.

 

[MysticSlayer]

I find the way Respawn studios is handling the Titanfall beta, and actually Titanfall in general, is like the way Activision and Kotick handle Call of Duty.

Considering Call of Duty hasn't had any actual Beta testing since World at War, the fact that Titanfall is at least having one makes it different than the way Kotick has been treating the CoD franchise.

If anything, the vague information and lack of a start date even within a couple months of release reminds me more of how DICE handles their Betas, which given that we are talking about two companies working with EA here, doesn't surprise me at all.

Titanfall is a brand new unproven IP that essentially rips a bunch of stuff off from COD.

And Call of Duty took a lot of inspiration from Medal of Honor: Allied Assault, the game many of these people worked on before going to Infinity Ward. They have a tendency to hold onto the best aspects of their previous IPs while trying to bring something new. If anything, Titanfall seems to be diverting more from CoD than CoD did from Allied Assault, and if the fact that CoD was still able to differentiate itself from MoH is any indication, I think we should at least wait until release before condemning the game.

People are genuinely interested in taking Titanfall for a beta test. Respawn should be different than Activision and let people see how good the game actually is. If people had tried ghosts beforehand, it would have failed.

Like I said above, they are doing one [http://www.gameranx.com/updates/id/20288/article/respawn-explains-how-you-can-easily-be-part-of-titanfall-beta/].

Moreover, I also find the similarities between Titanfall and COD continue into the exclusivity of Titanfall. I believe that the first Call of Duty was originally Xbox and PC exclusives as well.

For starters, the original Call of Duty was PC exclusive, and even CoD2 was for a time before becoming a launch title for the Xbox 360. Still, I don't see how that's relevant.

Anyways, it was EA's decision, not Respawn's.

Any rational developer of a new IP should want cross platform distribution. Respawn thinks so highly of themelves for being Infinity Ward alumni that they can be CoD killers through only the Xbox and PC. Call of Duty's explosion in popularity came with the cross platform distribution of CoD: Modern Warfare.

You said it yourself, Titanfall is an unproven IP. Microsoft apparently offered EA a very good deal to make the games exclusive to their platforms, and when testing a new IP, that is quite a blessing. It drastically minimizes the losses if the IP doesn't catch on. Chances are, if it goes over well, then Respawn and EA will take it to more platforms, unless Microsoft offers an even better deal next time. All of this is incredibly old news that Respawn already addressed.

And although CoD, CoD 2, and CoD 3 were cross platform eventually, I specifically remember CoD 3 being the flagship launch title of the 360.

As mentioned above, the first game was PC exclusive until the Classic Edition was released on LIVE and PSN. CoD2 was the major release title for the 360. CoD3...yeah, let's just forget that ever happened.

What do you think? Do you think Titanfall will end up being a yearly or yearly-ish game like CoD? Do you think it will be close to a clone of CoD?

Worst case scenario, EA will put it on a two year cycle to complement the Battlefield series, which is a position Medal of Honor is no longer filling. Not to mention, if you're honestly expecting Respawn to follow in IW's footsteps in every way imaginable, that's already what they're used to (IW and Treyarch trade places every year).