I would like to see a Discworld mmo mainly because the IP doesnt limit the potential developer. Almost anything is possible in Discworld. Truly amazing IP
The First Law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie would be nice too.
Stephen King is all well and good but for a horror MMO I really think the works of H.P. Lovecraft would go further. Lovecraft's "Cthulhu Mythos" is filled with so many places, dimensions and monsters there would be expansion packs for years to come. The only downside is that in most of Lovecraft's stories, the main character either dies or goes insane - which just won't do in a MMO!
Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. - Marie Curie
Originally posted by TarotMage Stephen King is all well and good but for a horror MMO I really think the works of H.P. Lovecraft would go further. Lovecraft's "Cthulhu Mythos" is filled with so many places, dimensions and monsters there would be expansion packs for years to come. The only downside is that in most of Lovecraft's stories, the main character either dies or goes insane - which just won't do in a MMO!
Disney, Harry Potter, Fairtales and the like I would pass, they'd probably be money makers in the tween department but marketing would drive that one.
Dune is a MOST loved series for me, and I honor Herbert's writings in my own way in my MMO.
The Dark Tower would be a nice choice as well, although I'm not fond of King at all, this one is one that I could see working well, but i'd much rather have something of a deadlands flare to it.
Fantasy =so overdone in this genre, but as many of the others have stated. The Pern, Fire and Ice and the like all would make out well in the genre.
I agree that the "Sword Of Truth" series would be a great one. Also the Belgarad(SP?) series by David Eddings and the Shannara series would be great also.
What about "The God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins. Theres only one playable class, "Atheist", and you get to go round beating up various extremist right-wing religious nutters.
Don't you mean the religious nutters get to play in teams going around unbeliever's homes (finally - housing again in an MMO!) trying to cast conversion spells on them?
If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.
Don't get me wrong, i really liked the books, but an MMORPG? I doubt i'd play it.
What could be really good if it was done right:
- Call of Cthulhu/Cthulhu Mythos: although really hard to deliver the right kind of atmosphere
- Cyberpunk / Shadowrun (if you want a magic element) : I'd REALLY love to see a well done game in this genre.
- World of Darkness: As I understand it's already being done by CCP. Let's hope they get all aspects right! Then it'll be a winner.
As an afterthought, The Death Gate Cycle by Weiss & Hickman was also a very interesting idea. Not so much waiting for yet another fantasy based MMORPG though. It'd have to be remarkable....
I think I only saw a single comment back on page 2 with Battletech listed... there are several series of books by a variety of authors written on the BT universe, it's NOT fantasy (which I think we're a bit inundated with at the moment), it has very rich lore, a rough timeline with lots of gaps to be filled in, and there's not a single "hero" that the books follow, but rather they seem to all be focused on a collection of random heros for a book or three...
I've always enjoyed the Mechwarrior games - to bring that level of FPS to an MMO set in the BT universe would be pretty awesome. They could start out with a game focused on the inner sphere, and then the clan invasion could be a future expansion...
Not bad, I agree with more then a few of the author's choices, particularly Dune and Starship Troopers. Most of these I haven't read though. However, I know some decent canidates for a Sci-Fi MMOG:
- Starfist by David Sherman and Dan Cragg: It's the 25th century and humanity's spread across several dozen worlds, but the Marines (and other branches of the Confederation's military) could use a few good PCs. Between the alien Slinks and insurrections on numerous worlds, there's plenty of opprotunity for adventurers.
- Vatta's War by Elizabeth Moon: In the far future, humanity has settled a region of space light years away from Earth. Conspiracy and piracy are abound and there's a conflict between several different religious sects regarding the existence of modified humans. Has potential as both an Elite-styled ship game and a SWG-style RPG.
Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter (minus the eroticism ofc) - This one was werewolves and Vampires... tho I can't quite figure out how they would do Vampire leveling, unless it were all instances for them, when it is day for all others - unless all Vampires are NPC mobs... which if you read this series, you know it's not true.
I would NOT play Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - watched the movie and fell asleep - the ONLY movie I ever fell asleep to in a movie theater.
Fairytell games... no thanks, thats what FreeRealms are for.
i think unfortunatly fantasy book worlds dont make great mmos . because they have to follow the story and law too much . i mean middle earth online would have been a great mmo but lord of the rings online follows a constrained side story . which is fair enough but it has limited appeal .
Battletech anyone? I think I only saw a single comment back on page 2 with Battletech listed... there are several series of books by a variety of authors written on the BT universe, it's NOT fantasy (which I think we're a bit inundated with at the moment), it has very rich lore, a rough timeline with lots of gaps to be filled in, and there's not a single "hero" that the books follow, but rather they seem to all be focused on a collection of random heros for a book or three... I've always enjoyed the Mechwarrior games - to bring that level of FPS to an MMO set in the BT universe would be pretty awesome. They could start out with a game focused on the inner sphere, and then the clan invasion could be a future expansion...
A) If the Clans aren't in it at the start, I'm not interested. Daddy needs his Timber Wolf II with a PPC and shoulder-mounted LRMs.
The rights on this franchise are so borked right now (Gee thanks, WoTC) that I don't see it happening. But I'd buy it in a heartbeat if done right.
Speaking of little gems from FASA....SHADOWRUN. The world needs a cyberpunk/fantasy MMO done RIGHT.
I think the Soul Rider series by Jack L. Chalker would make an amazing and original MMO. It would give players a feeling of true godlike power to progress in that world.
Sorry for the double post but uh...I thought I was the only person on earth that had heard of this series.
Isaac Asimov's Foundation series would be a solid baseline for an mmo, the technologically superior foundation vs the mentally superior 2nd foundation.
Lots of people have mentioned the Forgotten realms, I'd love to see an mmo based solely around the Bloodwar between Demons and Devils of the lower planes:-
I imagine it's all about Licensing agreements. Do you have any idea how tightly the Harry Potter franchise is controlled? The game would have to be hugely successful for the developers to make any money. Of course....a Potter MMO would have them flocking to it in droves.
Interesting poster and trailer (saw it on YouTube) but unless Chaosium has some sort of sayso in the development, I'll have to say "Secret World" is "Lovecraft-esque", not "Lovecraftian"
Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. - Marie Curie
I propose: Waiting for Godot The ultimate sandbox. No hand-holding here.
Perfect!
The devs could promise mind-blowing up-coming content with no fear of protest from the community when it fails to arrive, since they'd be absolutely true to the lore.
AmazingAveryAge of Conan AdvocateMemberUncommonPosts: 7,188
I think a Dune MMO would work if you did it in the ten years between Dune and Dune Messiah. Then you could have Fremen, Lansraad, Tleilaxu and Bene Gesserit as factions, and you wouldn't have to deal with the LotRO symdrom of following in the paths of the greats instead of living your own story. I do think that was what made SWG a good idea. You weren't pigeonholed into the storyline of the Trilogy. For me, that was what was kind'of limiting about LotRO. I like the PvP aspect that Dune would offer.
I think that TR was closer to Halo than Starship Troopers. In fact, TR may have been what killed the production for a Halo MMO, first in its conception, then in its failure. The issue with Starship Troopers is that, sticking to the lore, it would work as a PvE MMO, but as a PvP MMO, all you would have are the troopers. Unless you want to have the bugs as a race, which I doubt would be very popular.
I think a Dune MMO would work if you did it in the ten years between Dune and Dune Messiah. Then you could have Fremen, Lansraad, Tleilaxu and Bene Gesserit as factions, and you wouldn't have to deal with the LotRO symdrom of following in the paths of the greats instead of living your own story. I do think that was what made SWG a good idea. You weren't pigeonholed into the storyline of the Trilogy. For me, that was what was kind'of limiting about LotRO. I like the PvP aspect that Dune would offer. I think that TR was closer to Halo than Starship Troopers. In fact, TR may have been what killed the production for a Halo MMO, first in its conception, then in its failure. The issue with Starship Troopers is that, sticking to the lore, it would work as a PvE MMO, but as a PvP MMO, all you would have are the troopers. Unless you want to have the bugs as a race, which I doubt would be very popular.
Those are the same concepts I would apply to a Wheel of time MMO. Since there are manny ages one could be created where there are none of the characters from the book from that age but they could make apperances from a past age. You could have Aiels, Seanchan, Tar Valon, White Coats, Dark Fiends, commeners( to cover the rest). White Coats might be the only ones with a faction disadvantage as the rest could have classes that used the one power in different forms. They could have some form of herbal healing though. LOTOR online seem to get around the limited magic users in the world . Seanchan could have "pet" class that would be a Sul' dam with a damane filling the role of a pet. commerns woudl hav e wisdoms and wilds. even men who could channel ( just possible have issues with npcs and such if they did it around them in say a town square.
Magic is impressive, but now Minsc leads! Swords for everyone!
No real complaints about your choices. I think they're all good.
But I have a few I'd change, or think would make better.
10 and 9 dont really belong there but man I'd really love to see them as a MMO. So I put them last although they should be 1st.
10) A Mechwarrior- Battletech MMO
One based off all the IP (Battlespace, Citytech, Aerotech, Battletech, Mechwarrior, Mercenaries, on and on) The IP is as rich as Star Wars. God it could be the ultimate MMO
This in my opinion would make the best MMO EVER and deserves the #1 spot. But all the novels are based off the boardgame/PNP game. *sigh*
9) AD&D Greyhawk Setting
I'd love to put this at #2 but...its an AD&D book which is based off a PnP game. Not a stand alone (original) novel. We (I) need a sand box MMO based off of the early AD&D. Not the piece of turd that is barely (and doesnt deserve) the AD&D title that we now have as a MMO.
So I still have reservations on whether this would make a good MMO (no matter how much I love the books).
The only way could see it working is if they used a system sort of like TMxO combat interlock. Because there is no magic in the books. At least magic like the average MMO player knows.
So combat would have to focus on melee combat (and ranged of course). And it would have to have 100's of different animations for the different fighting styles. Water dancer, vs armored knight classic style, vs Dothraki , vs Unsullied, vs Meereen pit fighter, vs Dornish spearfighting, etc.
And then how would the players be? Hedge Knights, Mercenaries, ect. That wouldnt be to hard, GRRM flesh out a whole world, all the way from Westros to the Jade Sea.
But the key would be combat, it would have to be based in reality, and like I mentioned above it would have to have 100's if not 1000's of combat attack and counter animations. If done right it could be absolutely ground breaking and f'n awesome. I dont think we are there yet with the technology much less the creative innovation to produce it though.
7) Dune
Dont really need to add anything to what you already said.
6) Michael Moorcock's works. Hawkmoon in particular.
Ive always been a big fan of Elric. And there has never been a more awesome sword or swords than Stormbringer and Mournblade. But I dont think the Melniboné setting would make a overly great MMO.
But the Hawkmoon setting I think would. Magic as technology, a world at war and mostly conquered by obscene and perverse overlords, hell yeah I say.
5) The Deathgate Series by Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman
Loosely based (in my opinion) on their semi-D&D-ish writing much like the (Dragon Lance series). I think it would make an okay MMO. The settings are interesting. As are the different magic styles.
4) The Witcher by Andrzej Sapkowski
Geralt is a lot like Elric of Melniboné but this fantasy setting would make for a better MMO. Almost nothing like the rated 'M' PC game. Would be a good adult MMO.
Man its hard to explain, if you havent read it. This could be done in the very classic fantasy MMO way. Just with a fresh new setting. Could be called a fantasy horror MMO.
2) The Guardians of the Flame by Joel Rosenberg.
This comes in second as my favorite series behind GRRM.
A low-magic setting with a mix of early gunpowder technology. Its a dark fantasy written story not unlike a Song of Ice and Fire. I put it as close to a Greyhawk AD&D setting (classic). Swords and magic along with wizards and clerics.
Its a story of what would happen if D&D was about a real alternate world and you got sent there. Well for the people throwing the D20 it was a version of hell.
1) The Cthulhu Mythos by HP Lovecraft
Cthulhu nuff' said.
If you can find it, Cast a Deadly Spell, HBO movie is what made me fall in love with the Cthulhu mythos. Not 100% accurate on how Lovecraft did his stories, magic was more secret.
But I think a more open magic setting like this movie would make a damn good MMO.
"I understand that if I hear any more words come pouring out of your **** mouth, Ill have to eat every fucking chicken in this room."
One has to consider popularity when one is looking at creating a video game based on an IP. If you make something based on an IP no one has heard of, no one will play it.
That actually sounds like a statement against game developers creating their own IP.
Comments
I would like to see a Discworld mmo mainly because the IP doesnt limit the potential developer. Almost anything is possible in Discworld. Truly amazing IP
The First Law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie would be nice too.
Stephen King is all well and good but for a horror MMO I really think the works of H.P. Lovecraft would go further. Lovecraft's "Cthulhu Mythos" is filled with so many places, dimensions and monsters there would be expansion packs for years to come. The only downside is that in most of Lovecraft's stories, the main character either dies or goes insane - which just won't do in a MMO!
Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. - Marie Curie
Lovecraft universe got its mmorpg game already.
http://cache.kotaku.com/assets/resources/2007/05/secret_world_poster_500.jpg
# A GRIM, ODD, ARCANE SKY
# ANY GOD, I MARK SACRED
# A MASKED CRY ADORING
# A DREAMY, SICK DRAGON
Starship Troopers I could do.
Disney, Harry Potter, Fairtales and the like I would pass, they'd probably be money makers in the tween department but marketing would drive that one.
Dune is a MOST loved series for me, and I honor Herbert's writings in my own way in my MMO.
The Dark Tower would be a nice choice as well, although I'm not fond of King at all, this one is one that I could see working well, but i'd much rather have something of a deadlands flare to it.
Fantasy =so overdone in this genre, but as many of the others have stated. The Pern, Fire and Ice and the like all would make out well in the genre.
http://www.forceofarms.com/index.php
I agree that the "Sword Of Truth" series would be a great one. Also the Belgarad(SP?) series by David Eddings and the Shannara series would be great also.
Don't you mean the religious nutters get to play in teams going around unbeliever's homes (finally - housing again in an MMO!) trying to cast conversion spells on them?
If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.
Harry Potter as #1? =/
Don't get me wrong, i really liked the books, but an MMORPG? I doubt i'd play it.
What could be really good if it was done right:
- Call of Cthulhu/Cthulhu Mythos: although really hard to deliver the right kind of atmosphere
- Cyberpunk / Shadowrun (if you want a magic element) : I'd REALLY love to see a well done game in this genre.
- World of Darkness: As I understand it's already being done by CCP. Let's hope they get all aspects right! Then it'll be a winner.
As an afterthought, The Death Gate Cycle by Weiss & Hickman was also a very interesting idea. Not so much waiting for yet another fantasy based MMORPG though. It'd have to be remarkable....
Battletech anyone?
I think I only saw a single comment back on page 2 with Battletech listed... there are several series of books by a variety of authors written on the BT universe, it's NOT fantasy (which I think we're a bit inundated with at the moment), it has very rich lore, a rough timeline with lots of gaps to be filled in, and there's not a single "hero" that the books follow, but rather they seem to all be focused on a collection of random heros for a book or three...
I've always enjoyed the Mechwarrior games - to bring that level of FPS to an MMO set in the BT universe would be pretty awesome. They could start out with a game focused on the inner sphere, and then the clan invasion could be a future expansion...
Not bad, I agree with more then a few of the author's choices, particularly Dune and Starship Troopers. Most of these I haven't read though. However, I know some decent canidates for a Sci-Fi MMOG:
- Starfist by David Sherman and Dan Cragg: It's the 25th century and humanity's spread across several dozen worlds, but the Marines (and other branches of the Confederation's military) could use a few good PCs. Between the alien Slinks and insurrections on numerous worlds, there's plenty of opprotunity for adventurers.
- Vatta's War by Elizabeth Moon: In the far future, humanity has settled a region of space light years away from Earth. Conspiracy and piracy are abound and there's a conflict between several different religious sects regarding the existence of modified humans. Has potential as both an Elite-styled ship game and a SWG-style RPG.
Sword of Truth series
Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter (minus the eroticism ofc) - This one was werewolves and Vampires... tho I can't quite figure out how they would do Vampire leveling, unless it were all instances for them, when it is day for all others - unless all Vampires are NPC mobs... which if you read this series, you know it's not true.
I would NOT play Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - watched the movie and fell asleep - the ONLY movie I ever fell asleep to in a movie theater.
Fairytell games... no thanks, thats what FreeRealms are for.
Spitt
Uber100.com - Add your MMO site today!
i think unfortunatly fantasy book worlds dont make great mmos . because they have to follow the story and law too much . i mean middle earth online would have been a great mmo but lord of the rings online follows a constrained side story . which is fair enough but it has limited appeal .
A) If the Clans aren't in it at the start, I'm not interested. Daddy needs his Timber Wolf II with a PPC and shoulder-mounted LRMs.
Speaking of little gems from FASA....SHADOWRUN. The world needs a cyberpunk/fantasy MMO done RIGHT.
Sorry for the double post but uh...I thought I was the only person on earth that had heard of this series.
Also mad props to whoever mentioned Necroscope.
Isaac Asimov's Foundation series would be a solid baseline for an mmo, the technologically superior foundation vs the mentally superior 2nd foundation.
Lots of people have mentioned the Forgotten realms, I'd love to see an mmo based solely around the Bloodwar between Demons and Devils of the lower planes:-
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_War
Ha, the old Demogorgon vs Asmodeus conundrum!
Back to scf fi, Iain M Banks culture universe would make for an awesome and totally limitless mmo setting.
I imagine it's all about Licensing agreements. Do you have any idea how tightly the Harry Potter franchise is controlled? The game would have to be hugely successful for the developers to make any money. Of course....a Potter MMO would have them flocking to it in droves.
i have always hope on a Harry Potter Mmorpg.
Interesting poster and trailer (saw it on YouTube) but unless Chaosium has some sort of sayso in the development, I'll have to say "Secret World" is "Lovecraft-esque", not "Lovecraftian"
Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. - Marie Curie
Perfect!
The devs could promise mind-blowing up-coming content with no fear of protest from the community when it fails to arrive, since they'd be absolutely true to the lore.
Dana's picture in the editorial fits well
I think a Dune MMO would work if you did it in the ten years between Dune and Dune Messiah. Then you could have Fremen, Lansraad, Tleilaxu and Bene Gesserit as factions, and you wouldn't have to deal with the LotRO symdrom of following in the paths of the greats instead of living your own story. I do think that was what made SWG a good idea. You weren't pigeonholed into the storyline of the Trilogy. For me, that was what was kind'of limiting about LotRO. I like the PvP aspect that Dune would offer.
I think that TR was closer to Halo than Starship Troopers. In fact, TR may have been what killed the production for a Halo MMO, first in its conception, then in its failure. The issue with Starship Troopers is that, sticking to the lore, it would work as a PvE MMO, but as a PvP MMO, all you would have are the troopers. Unless you want to have the bugs as a race, which I doubt would be very popular.
Those are the same concepts I would apply to a Wheel of time MMO. Since there are manny ages one could be created where there are none of the characters from the book from that age but they could make apperances from a past age. You could have Aiels, Seanchan, Tar Valon, White Coats, Dark Fiends, commeners( to cover the rest). White Coats might be the only ones with a faction disadvantage as the rest could have classes that used the one power in different forms. They could have some form of herbal healing though. LOTOR online seem to get around the limited magic users in the world . Seanchan could have "pet" class that would be a Sul' dam with a damane filling the role of a pet. commerns woudl hav e wisdoms and wilds. even men who could channel ( just possible have issues with npcs and such if they did it around them in say a town square.
Magic is impressive, but now Minsc leads! Swords for everyone!
I agree with most of these. Though I kinda wish Myth, the fallen Lords (remember that?) could be turned into an MMO. I could never beat that game.
No real complaints about your choices. I think they're all good.
But I have a few I'd change, or think would make better.
10 and 9 dont really belong there but man I'd really love to see them as a MMO. So I put them last although they should be 1st.
10) A Mechwarrior- Battletech MMO
One based off all the IP (Battlespace, Citytech, Aerotech, Battletech, Mechwarrior, Mercenaries, on and on) The IP is as rich as Star Wars. God it could be the ultimate MMO
This in my opinion would make the best MMO EVER and deserves the #1 spot. But all the novels are based off the boardgame/PNP game. *sigh*
9) AD&D Greyhawk Setting
I'd love to put this at #2 but...its an AD&D book which is based off a PnP game. Not a stand alone (original) novel. We (I) need a sand box MMO based off of the early AD&D. Not the piece of turd that is barely (and doesnt deserve) the AD&D title that we now have as a MMO.
8) A Song of Ice and Fire
I said in the other thread you did www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/post/2798342 that A Song of Ice and Fire would be a 10 spot.
So I still have reservations on whether this would make a good MMO (no matter how much I love the books).
The only way could see it working is if they used a system sort of like TMxO combat interlock. Because there is no magic in the books. At least magic like the average MMO player knows.
So combat would have to focus on melee combat (and ranged of course). And it would have to have 100's of different animations for the different fighting styles. Water dancer, vs armored knight classic style, vs Dothraki , vs Unsullied, vs Meereen pit fighter, vs Dornish spearfighting, etc.
And then how would the players be? Hedge Knights, Mercenaries, ect. That wouldnt be to hard, GRRM flesh out a whole world, all the way from Westros to the Jade Sea.
But the key would be combat, it would have to be based in reality, and like I mentioned above it would have to have 100's if not 1000's of combat attack and counter animations. If done right it could be absolutely ground breaking and f'n awesome. I dont think we are there yet with the technology much less the creative innovation to produce it though.
7) Dune
Dont really need to add anything to what you already said.
6) Michael Moorcock's works. Hawkmoon in particular.
Ive always been a big fan of Elric. And there has never been a more awesome sword or swords than Stormbringer and Mournblade. But I dont think the Melniboné setting would make a overly great MMO.
But the Hawkmoon setting I think would. Magic as technology, a world at war and mostly conquered by obscene and perverse overlords, hell yeah I say.
5) The Deathgate Series by Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman
Loosely based (in my opinion) on their semi-D&D-ish writing much like the (Dragon Lance series). I think it would make an okay MMO. The settings are interesting. As are the different magic styles.
4) The Witcher by Andrzej Sapkowski
Geralt is a lot like Elric of Melniboné but this fantasy setting would make for a better MMO. Almost nothing like the rated 'M' PC game. Would be a good adult MMO.
3) The Coldfire Trilogy by CS Friedman en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coldfire_Trilogy
Man its hard to explain, if you havent read it. This could be done in the very classic fantasy MMO way. Just with a fresh new setting. Could be called a fantasy horror MMO.
2) The Guardians of the Flame by Joel Rosenberg.
This comes in second as my favorite series behind GRRM.
A low-magic setting with a mix of early gunpowder technology. Its a dark fantasy written story not unlike a Song of Ice and Fire. I put it as close to a Greyhawk AD&D setting (classic). Swords and magic along with wizards and clerics.
Its a story of what would happen if D&D was about a real alternate world and you got sent there. Well for the people throwing the D20 it was a version of hell.
1) The Cthulhu Mythos by HP Lovecraft
Cthulhu nuff' said.
If you can find it, Cast a Deadly Spell, HBO movie is what made me fall in love with the Cthulhu mythos. Not 100% accurate on how Lovecraft did his stories, magic was more secret.
But I think a more open magic setting like this movie would make a damn good MMO.
"I understand that if I hear any more words come pouring out of your **** mouth, Ill have to eat every fucking chicken in this room."
That actually sounds like a statement against game developers creating their own IP.
--
Delanor