Some thoughts.

thebigchin11

I have recently started watching Battlestar Galactica (the new one) again and there is know way I could reacte the same way to a game as the show.  I remember reading LOTR (some time ago) and the game could not possible match my own imagination.  I also remeber watching the 1st of the Philip Pullman films and having one of  my favourite books ruined by a camp polar bear.  Do we want games to take on established worlds, and perhaps ruin them for us, or to create something new and interesting?

arcanist

I don't mind using existing ips. But what I don't like is using the existing chracters and stories as "props". I'd rather it be set a couple of centuries before or after the events that happen in the originals. It gives more freedom in terms of game design and doesnt rip off the original storyline.

Akaronia

     I really don't like games where I have to create teh entire world never have.  I prefer being able to decorate and craft over making my world.  So I don't mind having a set world at all.  I think if you do a world where you have to make everything you are going to end up having a struggle of graphic problems especially if you are implementing RPG.  One thing I have noticed is I said I like crafting so people start saying then you should try yhis game or that game so I tried a couple and could not see what int eh world people saw in them because that was all there was almost was crafting no RP no nothing adn there was no one else even around and these are MMOs it was like ummmm where are all of hte other people I am supposed to play with other than my daughter next to me.

   The worlds in them we bland and flat.  Looked like I was in the back yard of the house I grew up in.  No imagination what so ever,  So if your comparing to those games then yes I would want my choice to make my own world lol.  But say like EQ2 I don't mind the set world in that game ay all.  It is actually pretty cool looking.  So I guess you would have to look at it in 2 ways if you are me as to how to answer what you asked.  Flat plain world verses a really imaginative world.

   So I guess my final answer would be yes and no LOL.

Warmaker

A good dev team with imagination and proper direction can make a good game regardless of using an established IP or not.

Using a brand new setting made specifically for the game can work.  You have total freedom on what to do and no established rules.  You have total, free reign.  But on the other hand, you don't have the instant recognition to lots of people if you don't use an established IP.

Using an established IP do 2 major things:

1. Possibly give you a rich background to work with.  Characters, events, locations, even art direction.

2. Name recognition to lots of people.  I.e. Star Trek, Star Wars, etc.  Fans of those IPs will automatically at least glance at your product.  You already have a foot in the door of their mind because they are a fan of the IP that your game takes place in.

But you also have constraints.  Namely respect to the IP's established "canon."  Certain IPs demand heavy respect to canon.  With LOTRO, I still recall the whole mess on having Loremasters and magic in the game, since Middle Earth isn't abound with magical abilities / spells like alot of fantasy settings do.  As an old SWG player, I still recall the mounting "Screw Canon" policy SOE did with the Star Wars name as time progressed.  Then there's Cryptic's twists with their alternate timeline with STO.  On and on.  Players do leave a game if they find it deviates too much from what they like about the IP.

Personally, I can take alot of "Rules Being Bent" in terms of canon making way for gameplay.  But completely breaking the "rules" of established canon for an IP that I like is a big no-no.

SOE with SWG was a shining example.  Set during the Original Trilogy timeframe, Jedi were pretty much kaput.  They were hunted down by the Republic / Empire.  SWG did have playable Jedi early on in the game's life.  A developed Jedi character could wipe the floor against more numerous "normal" player characters.  But their power was kept in check by visibility (too much exposure and it opens you up to Bounty Hunters which can get missions on you; not to mention the Empire hunting you) and Permadeath (3 deaths, your Jedi was gone for good).

It all kept Jedi in check.  They were powerful.  They were extremely rare in the game.  They were, at these early days of SWG, revered by the community because playing a Jedi was a completely different experience and challenge in itself.  Life was dangerous because the galaxy was hunting for you.

But SOE, with the blitz after the movies, Ep.II and leading into Ep.III, got into this Jedi mentality where so much attention was being focused on Jedi that fixing the game and other professions took a back seat.  For a long time the Patch Notes from SOE read only on Jedi matters.  It got to a point where Jedi were now running all around the game, despite the game being set in the height of the Empire.

That's a bit of a break from canon.

Edit to add:  Some will inevitably come in complaining that using an established IP is too restrictive on creativity.  I say hogwash on that.  BioWare with the first KOTOR I was set in the Star Wars universe.  It made its own setting within the IP while still respecting the general feel of Star Wars.  Look how KOTOR I turned out.

Look at it this way.  Some people say, "What can't you do?" with an established name like Star Trek or Star Wars.  They have years of background built up, along with books, games, all heaped on over the years.  But I say, "What can you do?" with those big names.

Some dev teams can't do much with an IP.  Some can take an IP and run very well with it.  And it shows in the failures and success stories of various games within certain franchises.  Star Wars itself is a perfect example.  There are some oustanding games that lent to the feel of the IP, the movies, while using established characters or brand new ones.  And there are some that are absolutely abysmal.