World's First Multiplayer Blobber? Really?
As briefly mentioned on the store page, and in a thread in the discussions section, Nevergrind Online (NGO) appears to be the world's first multiplayer blobber. Blobber is a comical, but apt, name for a specific niche of RPGs. Some prominent examples of a blobber are Wizardry, Might & Magic, and Legend of Grimrock. I think that Giant Bomb defined blobbers best:
Most blobbers have been single-player games where the player controls the actions of one hero or an entire party of heroes. NGO is special because it's the first game that attempts to apply this format to an online multiplayer experience with real-time combat. So how does it work? Simple! The party leader is in charge of navigating the dungeon. Followers can use chat to suggest which way to go. Once combat begins, everyone can use their skills in real-time and everyone can see the heals, buffs, fireballs, and swords flying during combat!
NGO's original gameplay format has the benefit of guaranteeing that everyone is always in the same position, assuring that everyone is sharing the same experience. Nobody is ever out of position. You're never waiting on your friend who is always afk. When the leader returns to town, everyone else does, too! It's much easier to keep everyone on the same page! I believe that this format, which originally emerged out of technical limitations, also has many inherent social benefits that help make NGO exceptionally good at keeping parties' gaming experience unified, which is very important in a multiplayer game. In many beloved multiplayer RPGs, players are often out of position, working on different tasks, waiting for each other, or trying to find each other. NGO's format keeps players on the same page to the greatest extent possible by simplifying the positional aspect of the game!
So what are you waiting for?! Get a group of friends, install NGO, and restore order to the kingdom! These dragons aren't going to slay themselves!
Blobber is a slang term that is used loosely to refer to first-person party-based RPGs in which the player controlled party is not represented as a distinct visual entity in the game world. As such, the game must stay in first-person view at all times within the game world (so that the camera can never be pointed at the party). Functionally, this means that the player's party always stays together and moves and acts as a single unit. No member of the party can be separated spatially from the rest, so, for instance, one party member cannot be commanded to walk down a hallway while the rest of the party waits behind. Thus, the party only has physical presence within the game world in the forms of walking around (i.e. having legs), swinging weapons or casting spells (i.e. having arms), and staying glued together as a solitary mass (i.e. being a blob). This artifice came to be called "a blob with arms and legs" and games that used it were in turn called "blobbers".
Most blobbers have been single-player games where the player controls the actions of one hero or an entire party of heroes. NGO is special because it's the first game that attempts to apply this format to an online multiplayer experience with real-time combat. So how does it work? Simple! The party leader is in charge of navigating the dungeon. Followers can use chat to suggest which way to go. Once combat begins, everyone can use their skills in real-time and everyone can see the heals, buffs, fireballs, and swords flying during combat!
NGO's original gameplay format has the benefit of guaranteeing that everyone is always in the same position, assuring that everyone is sharing the same experience. Nobody is ever out of position. You're never waiting on your friend who is always afk. When the leader returns to town, everyone else does, too! It's much easier to keep everyone on the same page! I believe that this format, which originally emerged out of technical limitations, also has many inherent social benefits that help make NGO exceptionally good at keeping parties' gaming experience unified, which is very important in a multiplayer game. In many beloved multiplayer RPGs, players are often out of position, working on different tasks, waiting for each other, or trying to find each other. NGO's format keeps players on the same page to the greatest extent possible by simplifying the positional aspect of the game!
So what are you waiting for?! Get a group of friends, install NGO, and restore order to the kingdom! These dragons aren't going to slay themselves!