I got a little concerned when he started talking about 'working' in the game as a blacksmith. In an MMO one can justify it as they compare thier stuff to thier friends and want to have higher 'social status.' - as well as be compliment by real people on their gear. It's hard to say if putting time into obtaining things in a game that isn't only online, will really be as rewarding as it is in an MMOrpg. Yea you can invite friends to play online, but I think the majority of players won't have many online friends into the same game. I'm thinking this game will be very polarizing between people that love it and people that think its garbage, and will receive mixed reviews.
It's like he's trying to make an MMO without being online. Yea this stuff seems interesting, but also seems very time consuming - something the shooter crowd probably won't dig. Just make a MMO already.
