No cross-platform play for The Agency Related content
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No cross-platform play for The Agency News
MMO PC PlayStation 3 News by Christian Donlan
Sony Online Entertainment's upcoming espionage MMO The Agency is not going to allow cross-platform play between the PC and the PS3, according to lead designer Hal Milton.
Speaking at SOE's annual Fan Faire in Las Vegas, Milton said, "There's no technological reason why you can't play cross-platform, but there’s a philosophical reason why design doesn’t want to do it. If we have to compromise one platform to support both, then we won't.
"A couple of members of our team gained a lot of experience working on Shadowrun, and no matter how well you fine-tune it, you end up with a player-base that's polarised," Milton said, referring to Microsoft's ill-fated cross-platform shooter for PC and Xbox 360.
"PC guys say, 'PS3 guys have aim assist and the controls nerfed for them'. And PS3 guys say, 'PC guys have a mouse and keyboard - it's all easier for them'. Even if it's not true.
"So what I would rather concentrate on is taking all that delicious persistent data and the community capabilities and try to find more interesting ways of putting that together," Milton added, and yes, he did describe persistent data as being "delicious".
When we quizzed him further on what kind of "interesting ways" he had in mind for combining the PC and PS3 player-bases, Milton said, "The community stuff's pretty easy - there's an economy, and there's chat. On the gameplay side, I can't talk about what we're planning. But there are metagame elements that allow us to say, 'Hey PS3 guys, the PC guys care more than you!' And they’ll be, 'No they don't! I'll show you!'"
During a Q&A session on The Agency, design director Matt Wilson also suggested that with a single account, you should be able to create characters on both PS3 and PC versions of the game. But as Milton confirmed, you will not be able to pick up on PS3 where you left off on the PC version or vice versa, and two different copies of the game will be required.
For more on The Agency - including an in-depth preview, and an interview with Milton and Wilson - visit the gamepage.
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The Agency
Latest Features
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The Agency Interview [18]
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The Agency Preview [41]
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The Agency Interview [18]
Latest Videos
The Agency teaser [4] 2 July, 2009
Latest News
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"No reboot" to The Agency as staff leave [14]
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No Station Cash for SWG, Vanguard [2]
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The Agency downplays subs, will have ads [18]
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The Agency to resurface next summer [13]
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All future Sony MMOs console-bound [11]
Latest Screenshots
12 June, 2007 [5]
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Comments: 1-17 of 17 in total
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SeesThroughAll
16/08/08 @ 17:14
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Looks shit anyway
Looks like you'd never want to play it anyway... |
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SoE are idiots. It's like they ask their employees to leave their brain at the door when they come in to work.
He doesn't want tension between PS3 and PC owners on controls (even though both paltforms support KB&M and Joypad); yet he does want to promote said rivalry for some 'metagame'... WTF is he talking about?
Edited 1 times,
most recently on 17/08/08 @ 02:02
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Stepharneo
16/08/08 @ 18:26
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damn....i'm going to have to get my mmo-loving friends to get a ps3...well thats never gonna happen....and my pc is shit....well i'm going to have to find someone else who has a console but likes mmo's...are there any, apart from me?
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autogunner
16/08/08 @ 18:30
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at stepharneo: if you like mmo's so much why did you get a PS3? also agency does not look too demanding, it looks only slightly better than wow
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"A couple of members of our team gained a lot of experience working on Shadowrun, and no matter how well you fine-tune it, you end up with a player-base that's polarised," Milton said, referring to Microsoft's ill-fated cross-platform shooter for PC and Xbox 360.
"PC guys say, 'PS3 guys have aim assist and the controls nerfed for them'. And PS3 guys say, 'PC guys have a mouse and keyboard - it's all easier for them'. Even if it's not true. Well that's a bit rubbish, to take the game you exampled: I have never noticed when an opponent as a pc gamer and according to the history that has been quite a few. |
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JediMasterMalik
17/08/08 @ 11:43
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I really like the look of this game, but this is a damn shame, splitting the user base is not a good idea for an MMO.
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"Personally I would rather have no cross-platform play (or at least an in-game option to avoid it) and only play with/against other PS3 owners. "
I think providing such an option would be the best way to carry on. As long as there's existing capability, to the extent that the game doesn't suffer for the connection; then the option could be welcomed. |
Comments: 1-17 of 17 in total
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