Basketball MMO

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Hoop Dreamin'

When you think "massively multiplayer" or "persistent world," your mind probably calls up a series of images: Swords. Dragons. Wizards. Basketball. Knights. Hold on, rewind -- basketball? As in an online massively multiplayer basketball game?

I crap you negative. The name of the game is Freestyle Street Basketball, and it's already a huge hit in Asia with over 32 million players. No typo! That's over four times as big as World of Warcraft. Freestyle is poised to cross the ocean to return to basketball's birthplace in the coming months, but you can try it out earlier by signing in to the closed alpha test on FilePlanet.

Having grown up in Pittsburgh, my knowledge of b-ball is circumspect at best ("Insert the orange globular device into the hoop-shaped receptacle -- hey, can you put that into hockey terms for me?") But I've been enjoying the alpha test most of the weekend. It's a persistent online community, so your progress as a player is tracked game after game. As you build up experience you can customize your b-baller, learn more special moves and slam dunks, and even buy more bling or crazy street clothes.

What's nice about online sports games like this is that winning isn't everything. Even when you lose -- even when you get your butt handed to you on a platter, as I do nearly every game -- your character still gains experience that you can apply to your skills. That's the key to making a game a mainstream success: you need to make sure people are having a good time even if they're not winning.

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Sounds interesting. Like the idea that you improve, despite losing.

Does sound interesting. I'm not one to play many games on the PC, off or online, but I'd like to check it out. Got any links?

Mavs -

I got info about it from a Gamespy column.

But as it says, you can try it out earlier by signing in to the closed alpha test on FilePlanet.

I think you may need to be a paying subscriber though.

More info ...

Link to article

If the link to the article doesn't work, here is the article -

Spiffy
Entertaining game mechanics; low system requirements; surprisingly deep; no subscription fees.

Iffy Somewhat dated graphics; in-game prices still being determined; susceptible to lag.



Although basketball was invented by a Canadian living in the U.S., it took the Koreans to turn the sport into a massively multiplayer computer game. A huge hit overseas, FreeStyle Street Basketball boasts over 32 million players in Asia -- it's free to play but you can optionally buy in-game items for cash (presumably 32 million is just the number of registered accounts). Sierra is banking that the title can gain an equally rabid following over here in the home of basketball. The company is gearing up to release FreeStyle in North America, billing it as "Online Community Basketball" and retaining the free-to-play model, and we've been playing it for ourselves. (A closed alpha test is currently running on FilePlanet.)

So How Does MMOB-Ball Work?

FreeStyle focuses on street basketball: that means a loose interpretation of the rules and no slowing down for fouls. In the games we've played, teams play half-court b-ball in matches of either 1-on-1, 2-on-2, or 3-on-3. Players create a character to represent themselves, with a huge array of clothes, hairstyles, and even tattoos to use to customize their avatar.

Success in the game requires a combination of both player skill and the skill of your character. For example, blocking a shot requires you to hit the block key at just the right time. If you do, your character's blocking ability is measured against your opponent's shooting skill and the weighted result is randomly determined in real-time. Each victory (or loss, for that matter) earns you experience points, and you can visibly see your character improve as you advance through the levels. But FreeStyle is still ultimately a sports game where player skill makes the big difference: It doesn't matter how good your character's block skill is if you're not right up in your opponent's face. Good players can dominate the court even when playing against characters of a higher level.


Graphically, FreeStyle is designed to run on very basic PC setups, so it lacks next-gen razzle-dazzle. However, the cel-shaded look of the game is timeless (albeit pixely), and the animations are great. Even at low levels players will throw wild behind-the-back passes or shoot crazy no-look three-pointers. A big part of the game focuses on player customization, so your avatar can deck him or herself out in any of hundreds of combinations of shoes, pants, shirts -- even dreadlocks or Santa hats. No two players look alike, much less any two teams.

Earning Skillz and Paying Billz

FreeStyle will work on the free-to-play model that's popular for Korean-based MMOs. That means no subscription fees, but you can pay for in-game goodies. Items in the game can help your character out. For instance, a good pair of running shoes will give you +5 speed, or the right shirt will give you slightly better odds of nailing a three-pointer. There are two types of "currency" in the game: "Points" and "Bills." Points are earned by, natch, scoring points in the game. Bills will be paid for with real money (the rate hasn't been determined yet) -- because microtransactions aren't so big in America, we're anticipating that you'll be able to, say, pay $10 bucks from a credit card to buy a pile of bills.

Some of the more ordinary items only cost points to buy, but the really nice stuff will also cost bills. Additionally, certain items periodically expire, such as tattoos that earn you bonus experience with each game. This means that casual players will be able to play for free while the really hardcore fans have incentive to spend a little cash every month. Some of the really great gear is restricted to players of a certain level, so if you see a guy on the court with dreadlocks and a velvet-purple pimp suit, look out.

Aside from outfitting your character with extra bling, you can also learn new skills as you advance from a level-one scrub to a bona-fide street-Shaq. Diving catches, ridiculous dunks, alley-oops, fade-aways and other wild passes, shots, or moves become available as you climb through the levels. At level 15 a forward can specialize as either power forward or small forward, and guards can choose to be point guards or shooting guards. Each position change comes with its own skill set. While low-level matches are fairly straightforward street scrambles, high-level games rapidly turn into screamers with guys doing off-the-knee trick shots and two-handed reverse tomahawk dunks every other play.

Timing is crucial, especially the hair-trigger reflexes required to nab a rebound out of the air or block a shot right after a pass. For this reason the game is susceptible to lag if one or more of the players are not on a good connection. The alpha test is busily ironing out a lot of network hitches to make the game smooth, but Sierra will need to keep their eye on this one to make sure the final product plays well.


Teamwork and Tactics

For such simple gameplay, a lot of genuine basketball tactics emerge, which helps explain the popularity of the game throughout LAN centers in Korea. For instance, anyone who's got a wide-open shot to the net can usually score, so you really have to plan your defense to make sure nobody scrambles into the clear. It's also important to play your position! A character who's a center best serves his team by hanging out in the paint, blocking shots and snapping up rebounds -- he's almost worthless outside the three-point line.

Really good teams rock the court like well-oiled machines, always passing to an open man on offense and never giving an inch on defense. Even within the small alpha-testing community, star players are emerging and teams are gelling together. The game balance is certainly present; what remains to be seen is if U.S. gamers, who don't normally play together in cafes, will click with the game the same way Asian audiences have. From our experience, playing together is a riot -- the game's rapid pace and crazy moves spur on an endless hail of smack-talk and jump-out-of-your-seat booyahs. "Just one more game" is never enough.

The final game should roll out live in early 2007. In the meantime, the FreeStyle Street Basketball closed alpha test continues to run on FilePlanet. Will the Asian hit prove to be a big deal here in the States? Stick around GameSpy for more coverage.