A.P.B. Catch-All

Developed by David Jones, creator on the Grand Theft Auto series, APB is a massively multiplayer online game based in living, breathing cities replicated from famous locales all over the world. Set in a persistent living, breathing open-world urban environment where fame and fortune awaits all players. Some players will achieve this by feeding on the city, its people and its businesses…the Criminals. Some will live by a higher code and instead feed on the criminals and their organizations ... the Enforcers. This dynamic where players become the core content for other players is one of the many unique features of APB. Its deep, rich customization system provides players with the ability to completely personalize their identity.

E3 Trailer

I was psyched about this game when it was first announced as they described it as a GTA-esque, cops vs. robbers MMO. Essentially it would involve your character starting life from the bottom rung, doing odd jobs, joining other players to form gangs and criminal organizations, and causing all sorts of mayhem in a massive multiplayer world. After watching the trailer, it now looks like it's merely 100 players co-existing in an online world and the scope is scaled down much more than the original reveral. I'm still holding out hope for it though.

I really didn't care about this game until I saw this trailer, but now, after years of hearing about it, I'm finally excited.

Am I the only one that was hoping this would be a remake of the original A.P.B. ("All Points Bulletin")? I have fond memories of playing this game during one of my family's camping trips.

IMAGE(http://farm1.static.flickr.com/64/152942614_ee76b8b3de.jpg)

"TOO MANY DEMERITS. YOU ARE FIRED."

I do too but sadly there's no remake in the works.

Is it persistent? What does 100 player limit apply to? Do they mean that on any given server only 100 people can be online at one time, or that only 100 people can make a character on a server before that server is locked?

I really like the idea of a medium-sized multiplayer RPG. With smaller populations you have the opportunity for something like a community. Over time you'd be able to recognize a larger portion of the players that you happened across, and would be unable to fall back on complete anonymity to dictate your social behavior.

I'm glad to see something other than a screen shot on this, but I still haven't seen or heard enough about how the game actually works to be interested too much. It plays like GTA, got it, but how does the 50 man team work out? Is the game varied enough? Does it control terribly? etc. etc.

Also, APB the arcade game was awesome.

My understanding is it's 100 players and every man (and woman) for themselves...unless of course you want to link up with other players and coordinate efforts for carrying out mayhem or jointly arresting and killing "bad players". In other words, no set teams or groups of players.

The way your describing it, it sounds almost like it is going to be Crackdown, with a ton of people running around at the same time. If so, I will be disappointed. I do like the idea of several small servers limiting the world to 100 people.

Man, This looks really neat. I imagine warriors style gangs raoming the streets. I'd love to see the GWJ gang!

That said, I'd prolly style myself a mod, ride a moped and attack anyone with sideburns.

93_confirmed wrote:

After watching the trailer, it now looks like it's merely 100 players co-existing in an online world and the scope is scaled down much more than the original reveral. I'm still holding out hope for it though.

This game has been through a lot of iterations. Was supposed to have been released 2-3 years ago. It may be 100 at a time, but it'll probably be instanced worlds where they'll have multiple copies, and people will have to meet up together have to choose which one they goto.

This looks great! I like the idea of not needing to necessarily level up, but the way your character looks is a direct representation of their accomplishments.

Danjo Olivaw wrote:

With smaller populations you have the opportunity for something like a community. Over time you'd be able to recognize a larger portion of the players that you happened across, and would be unable to fall back on complete anonymity to dictate your social behavior.

This seems to be the idea. Keep in mind that beyond the 100 people there are supposed to be thousands of NPCs living out their lives in the city too.

I'm looking forward to more information on this one. I'm curious how they'll keep their hooks in users for long term play. I guess the RvR mechanics might keep folks around as it does for Warhammer Online.

Atomicvideohead wrote:

That said, I'd prolly style myself a mod, ride a moped and attack anyone with sideburns.

We are the Mods, we are the Mods, we are, we are, we are the Mods!

doubleplusungood wrote:

Am I the only one that was hoping this would be a remake of the original A.P.B. ("All Points Bulletin")? I have fond memories of playing this game during one of my family's camping trips.

IMAGE(http://farm1.static.flickr.com/64/152942614_ee76b8b3de.jpg)

"TOO MANY DEMERITS. YOU ARE FIRED."

I talked to their lead artist at GDC this year, and asked him exactly that. He laughed and said he'd like to do a remake, but this is a new IP.

"To register your interest in the APB Beta Phase, please click here."
I just found this nugget if anyone is interested.

Count me in.

elewis17 wrote:

"To register your interest in the APB Beta Phase, please click here."
I just found this nugget if anyone is interested.

Great find!

Aha...found it.

Ignore the other thread I ressurected

copied from the other thread...

Just wanted to point out they announced that APB going subscription-free on release according to RPS:
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2009/08/14/no-money-no-problems-apb-is-sub-free/

On checking out the FAQ they reference it doesn't mention anything about costs other than the initial price of the game...I wonder if it really will be the Guild Wars model? Be pretty good it it was. It certainly means I'll be giving it a go.

Interesing news, indeed. Since the article links to the beta application, I filled it out.

Thanks for the link. I've been watching this game for a long time and hoping it's the GTA-esque MMO that we've all been wishing for.

Hey, it's Mattias and Chris! Nice to see they got some work after Mercenaries 2.

I'll give this a shot.

Did somebody say free?

The character customization looks like a whole lot of fun.

Rat Boy wrote:

Did somebody say free?

As long as "free" equals Guild Wars style & not microtransactions...

A subscription fee was the only thing that could have kept me away from this game. I'm all over this now.

I'd be surprised if there weren't microtransactions. They're a perfect fit for the in-depth character and vehicle customization. This could be a rare game where I might actually partake in microtransacting.