My 2 Copper's Worth

Well we're on a website dedicated to MMO's so I'll give you one guess as to what I'll write about. And no it's not mustard.

Author: ivan50265

   Hey all sorry I have been absent work has been a little nutty.  In my time absent I have still been keeping up with my MMO news.  So I thought today we'd do a little comparison shopping. 

  With two new super hero mmo's in the works one can;t help but compare the two as eventually they will be competing against one another for market share.  So I thought I'd fidn out just what makes these two games different.   Im my research I found alot fo differences and similaritites, but in the end I focused in on three diffeesnces that I think really seperate the two games from one another.  So why don;t we take a look at those. 

Powers: Total Customization vs Versatility

  One of the biggest differrences with the two games is how they handle their powers.  Champions Online has chosen to give the player the ability to completely customize powers deciding on what kind of damage or status effects you wish to tack on to them.  DCU has gone with a more versatile route choosing instead of customizing your powers they give you the ability to chnage the nasture of your powers from damage to defense to healing in an effort I think to alleviate role rigidity and make it easier to find groups. Either choice I think is a good one I love the idea of min/maxing and tweaking the heck out of my toon's powers, but I also really like the idea of being to change roles on the fly for party flexability.

Villains: The Nemesis System vs Player Bad Guys

   Another area of divergence were the choices made in how the bad guys will be represented.  Champions Online is offering us the Nemesis System which allows players to create their own personalized NPC villain to plague your PC hero on their journey through the game.  The DCU team has decided to allow players to play as either heroes or villains.  I have to admit I am very interested in trying out the Nemesis system to see just how tought my Nemesis cane get, but alos a part of me would love to give Superman some chaep shots.

PvP: Battlegrounds vs Open World PvP

   Finally we get to Player vs Player.  Champions has chosen PvP battlegrounds where as the DCU is using a mixture of battlegrounds and open world PvP.  I understand Cryptics call on the battlegrounds as there are no player villians and battlegrounds just make sense for the more PvE centered game.  I am excited about the open world PvP idea that DCU is working on.  In DCU as a villian you can choose to take on an open world mission and help some crooks rob a bank for a cut of the take, and as a hero you can try and foil the crime.  This actuall sounds like a fun way to introduce PvP to the game.  Although I don't put it past Cryptic to do some fun stuff with their battlegrounds as well. 

  Other areas that I saw divergent paths included graphics and  variety of locations, but those semed rather obvious to me.  I like the choices that both games are making and both appeal to me in different ways.  It is obvious to me that these games will be offering different experiences I wonder if they will be diferent enough to get us to play both at the same time.  Needless to say I am lloking forward to playing these games as well as reading feedback from their respective communities. 

   What are your thoughts on these two games.  Feedback is always appreciated below.

Until Next Time

Ivan

   Hello again all.  I hope everybody isa havig a fun weekend leveling toons and what not.  I myself have been finishing inFamous on the PS3 which I have to say I really like it.  I also had the chance to catch The Dark Knight on cable and have to admit I forgto just hw damn goo that movie is.  But I digress.  Enough about me.  I have been perusing the forums of some titles currently in developement and have seen the idea of consensual PvP bandied about.  So today I thought I'd dig into it a little bit.  So as always enjoy.

   As a player of MMO's I like to play in both the PvE and PvP worlds.  I enjoy tackling the challenges the designers of the game comes up with as well as taking on other players in some good old fashioned PvP.  As a player who like to play in both PvP and PvE I also understand that there are player who enjoy one better than the other, and even some who refuse to participate in one or the other as well.  I understand that this is a matter of preference much like the preference of solo or group play.   Now I'm guessing that developers want to maximize their existing gamespace allowing for PvE and PvP to coexist and not upset either population.  So the innovation of consensual PvP shps up to save the day and allow all players to live happily everafter and conflict only emerge when players were in the mood for it.  All in all on paper sounds good, right? Well sometimes.  Let's break down the good and the bad of consensual PvP.

   So let's start off by taking a look at the good, or more importantly where consensual PvP works.  The first place you can see consensual PvP at work in a good way would be in MMO's where there is no underlying conflict between factions of players.  Some good examples of this would be LOTRO, DDO, or CoH before CoV was added.  These examples show us a world where the players tend to be fighting on the same sides towards the same goal.  Consensual PvP in these MMO's tend to be in the way of dueling or in arenas, or in the case of LOTRO in the way of monster play.   All of these are excellent examples of what consensual PvP has to offer friendly competition among players no pride, equipment, or territory lost, and most importantly no hurt feelings of the players which makes developers happy.  Consensual PvP works very well in games without a factional conflict, and is a safe way to make PvP a less competative option, but still an enjoyable option for those who wish to participate in it. 

   For the record I would just like to say consensual PvP does not work in MMO's where there is factional conflict in its stroyline. Now I know that seems a little harsh, but stay with me on this one.  Let's take a look at one o the most talked about MMO's of all time Star Wars Galaxies.  Now when the game first launched there were always talks about the big galactic civil war.  Their attemot to iterate this in the game space were broken battlegrounds and consesual PvP everywhere else where you had to choose to flag yourself for PvP in order to participate.  What this led to was a galctic skirmish between the two factions at best.  Occasionally you'd see a fight break out, but the feeling of a civil war was really never accomplished.  Now can we blame it on all the idea of consent before fight not really. We could also look at WoW.  PvP largely there is considered a joke because it follows the rules of consesual PvP no gains to be had or losses to be endured.  WAR attempted to put loss and gian into their PvP with rewards for taking keeps but forgot to add the reward for successfully defending it.  One other idea they had that actually made sense was in the end game where the more ground you took the more areas of the city that would be unlocked with dungeons and the such in them.  Where I'm getting at is if you are going to have a game with conflict in its background a risk/reward PvP is needed for anyone to want to participate. 

   The inspiration for this blog came from the forums for Star Trek Online.  There is some disappointment surrounding an anouncement that PvP in the neutral zone ill be consensual PvP as opposed to open PvP.  Now this wouldn't be so disappointing but since the back drop of the game has the Federation at war with the Klingons.  Now someone with even the most basic Star Trek knowledge would guess that if there was going to be a war between the two the neutral zone would be the most logical place for the conflict to happen. With that conflict now being consensual in the one zone where you think the war would be the most intense and moved to the outer reaches of the play space the whole war seems to lose a little credibility in my opinion.  To me it seems devlopers of high profile titles at present are afraid of alientating any players from any aspect o their game so much that they are willing to defy simple logic in order to try and keep every potential player happy. 

   I'm not trying to say the mechaninc of consensual PvP is bad in every instance, but I will say that it is over used by devlopers and investors who have embarked on the futile quest to capture the same mega success as WoW.  As stated earlier consensual PvP works in envrionments that do not center around a factional system, but if you want to center a game on a conflict give the players a conflict they can see and be a part of with tangible rewards like territory gained and content unlocked rather than the same old play war get equipment we've seen for so long.  Give us the contested game space and let us fight for it with real gains that can be felt not only by the PvPers fighting for it but by the PvE palyers as well.

Well that's al for me for this week. I would love to hear what your thoughts are on conesensual PvP are feel free to leave a comment below. 

Until Next Time

Ivan

   Well thanks for stayin with us and welcome to the finale of the Smiley Awards for E3.  If you missed all the action in pasrt one I would reccomend reading that first and then jumoing back in here for the finale.  Ok now that's out of the way back to the awards. 

   Now we all know that the PC gets all og the MMO love every year, but it is a reality that the next gen consoles want in on the fun too.  This award goes to the gamin platform otehr than the PC who showed the most dedication to bringing MMO's to their platform.  And the Smiley goes to:

Sony: Playstation 3

   As it stands right now the PS3 showed a true dedication to bringing MMO's to their platform.  They plan on having Free Realms, The Agency, DC Universe Online, FF XIV, and APB on their platform with more MMO's in the works. Well done Sony.  Our next catagory please.

   We hear it in the MMO community all the time the screams for innovation in the MMO genre.  Some of us may even be an active voice in that couse.  This award recognizes the developer who is attempting to answer the call for innovation whic many of our comunity members feel so pasionate about.  And the Smiley goes to:

Real Time Worlds: APB

www.gametrailers.com/player/50050.html

   APB's ops and robbers sandbox mmo is about he furthest departure we saw from the traditional fantasy mmo at E3 this year.  This game offers a fresh new look at what can be done with the MMO space and I for one am looking forward to seeing more progress in the future.  Our next award please.

   One of the best perks of E3 is the gameplay footage we get to see of upcoming MMO's.  This Smiley is awarded to the MMO who showed us the most complete representation of gameplay in their MMOfor better or worse.  And the Smiley goes to:

SOE: The Agency

www.gametrailers.com/player/50720.html

www.gametrailers.com/player/50716.html

www.gametrailers.com/player/50714.html

    The devs at the agency were very forthcoming this year with the gamplay footage.  They gave us a good look at many different aspects of their gameplay and though it still seems like there is some work to be done there they did offer the most complete gameplay footage of E3 for an MMO.  Our next catagory please.

   With every E3 comes the rumor mill of game announcemnets and speculation.  Yet there is always one big announcment that flies under the radar just long enough to pop up and shock the hell out of us.  This award honors the buggest suprise MMO announcemnt of E3.  And the Smiley goes to:

Squar Enix: Final Fantasy XIV Online

www.gametrailers.com/player/50331.html

    Like anyone saw this one coming, and it fropped like a bombshell.  Who knew that FFXIV would be an MMO.  Oh and that it is scheduled for a 2010 release means they've had this ubder the wraps for awhile now. Good one.  And now for the Grand Smiley. 

  So here we are at the end.  E3 saw a number of MMO's attempting to get us excited about thier game this year.  The Grand Smiley is rewarded to the MMO whose announcement or footage creeated the most buzz throughout the community and the press alike.  And the Grand Smiley for Best Showing of E3 2009 goes to :

Bioware/Lucasarts: Star Wars: The Old Republic Online.

www.gametrailers.com/player/49937.html

   With a brilliant cinematic trailer that puts shame to Episodes I-III as well as the announcement that all NPC's will be voice acted it was easy to forgive the teams oozing of geek on the stage.  This trailer went viral within hours after it was shown and created even more buzz for a game that semed to be overflowing with it anyway.  For this SWTOR is awarded the Grand Smiley for E3 2009.

Well that's it for the first ever Smileys.  I have to admit this was a blast to do and is something I will defintely do again.  We here at My 2 Copper's Worth stand by our awards and have emailed each developer a congratulations for their individual achievments.  As always feedback is more than welcome below.

Until Next Time.

Ivan

My 2 Copper's Worth proudly presents:

   Hello and welcom to The Smiley Awards for E3 2009.  This years E3 was a huge success and with so many new announcments and updates within the MMO world we here at My 2 Copper's Worth thought it would be nice to honor the event with an awards ceremony dedicated to the best and the worst of E3 as it pertains to MMO's.  So get comfy, grab some popcorn, and enjoy. Our first award is coming right up.

   We all know developers are a lot like us.  Big nerds who love all things sci-fi, fantasy, and gaming related.  We also know that developers can get their geek on with the best of them, or even better since they have things like expense accounts for this stuff.  This award honors that devloper who oozed their nerd all over E3.  And the Smiley Goes to:

Bioware/Lucasarts: Star Wars: The Old Republic Online

www.gametrailers.com/player/50075.html

   In case you missed it Bioware and Lucasarts brought on about 20 or so jedi and sith to hang out on the stage for thier press conference announcements for SWTOR.  And just when you think their geek couldn't go any further both company big whigs came walking down the aisle dressed as jedis themselves.  Hats off to you guys your geek knows no bounds.   On to our next catagory.

   Technical achievment awards always sem to get the short end of the stick in awards ceremonies by being grouped with the "uncool" awards, and we here at The Smileys are no different.  The hardware techs are the unsung heroes of the MMO world making sure that all the working parts of the machine are running smmothly.  This award honors these selfless folk for their technical achievments. An the Smiley goes to:

SOE: DC Universe Online

www.gametrailers.com/player/50952.html

   What you may ask did this game do to get this reward?  Well the DCU had a playabl demo of their game playable on both the PC and PS3 with both systems sharing the same server effectively creating the first merger of two consoles for a next gen MMO.  Good job. What do we have up next?

   E3 and the developers who participate in ti visually assault us with gameplay footage and trailers all week in hopes of peaking interest in their games.  Most of these promos are well put together and leave us wanting more.....then there are the one's that leave us thinkng WTF?  This award honors the developer who left us confused and maybe a little disturbed by their efforts. And the Smiley goes to:

gPotato: Dragonica

www.gametrailers.com/player/50599.html

   For E3 the folks over at Dragonica offered up two promo cinematcis.  Was it gameplay? No. Was it a kick ass CGI? No. Instaed what we got was some bizzarre intro to three character classes that plays out like a messed up 80's kids cartoon short.  I'm only happy I quit doing drugs years ago as this visual may have caused some emotional scarring.  Hmm...Ok I'm better now on with the show.

   Every year at E3 may developers show up to give us a litle more taste of their wares and excite us about them, and every year there's a devloper who's working on something we really want to know about and they don' show up leaving us feeling abandoned and unloved.  This award honors the MMO developer that we feel should have been at E3 and wasn't.  And the Smiley goes to:

Cryptic Studios

   With two high profile MMO's in the works and one launching soon you would have thought we would have seen Cryptic making some noise at E3 with some gameplay footage or a trailer for one of thier upcoming titles, but no they didn't show.  Come on guys give us some love especially with Star Trek Online.  It's not like you guys couldn't use a break for some schmoozing, some alcohol, and booth babes.  They brought back the booth babes, and you missed it. Ok I'm good.  Next catagory please.

   Every year we get new MMO announcemtns at E3.  Some are eyebrow raising and exciting while others are the same old sh*t.  This award honors the developer whose thinking remians safely secure inside of the box.  Living happy in the land of repetition and unorginality.  And the Smiley goes to:

Trion World Network: The Heroes of Telara

www.gametrailers.com/player/49819.html

   Yes Trion takes the Smiley with their world exclusive unveiling of The Heroes of Telara another high fantasy MMO.  And of course this high fantasy MMO will be different from every other because of....blah,blah, blah we've heard it all before.  You guys would have had me perked up if it was a Weird West MMO, but instead you get a Meh.

And that's it for the first part of The Smiley Awards for E3 2009.  Be sure to stay tuned for part two later this evening where we'll be revealing awards for Best of Show, Best gamplay footage, and much more.

Until then. Thanks for reading.

Ivan

   We see it in developer's job listings and hear in their intentions that MMO's will be coming to the next generation of consoles.  Whether we like the idea of hate it we seem to be in the verge of inevitibility.  So with E3 already rolling I thought I'd take a look at the idea of the console MMO.  I will not presume to bore you with console MMO history, or with which system would best handle an MMO.  Instead let's take a look at the pros and cons of the multi-platform MMO the general obstacles that are in its way as well as the benefits for the genre as a whole. 

The Good

   There are obvious benefits for developers to take an MMO in to the console market.  The most obvious would be the number of new comsumers that would be exposed to MMO's some for the first time.  Just in the United States alone there are over 25 million PS3/Xbox 360 owners.  Throw in the Wii and you double the number to over 50 million.  As a developer hoping to make money you just can't ignore those numbers.   If a developer ever hopes to achieve Blizzard like numbers they  will most likely  have to make a multi-platform MMO.   Directly correlated with this is the benefit of expanded audience would probably come more games to the genre which is never a bad thing. 

    Another obvious benefit that comes jumping right out at you is that of innovation.  How many times do we hear the screams of we need more innovation in the MMO genre.  Including consoles as part of the MMO community would allow designers to rethink just how an MMO would be played.  We have already seen proof of this with Champions Online's more action oriented gameplay as opposed to the usual point and click UI.  It is of course no suprise that Champions Online also intends to launch on consoles as well.  The Agency also proves this point by choosing a more FPS style MMO in which they are developing for the PS3 and PC.  With consoles added to the mix we could see even more innovation in the areas of gameplay and genre choice with MMO's. 

   The last benefit that comes to mind rather quickly is that the consoles have pretty much caught up on the graphics end of things.  I'm not trying to say they are equal to or better than a high end PC I'm just saying the differences at present really aren't really as apparent as they used to be at least when it comes to the 360 and the PS3.  Both could run a modern day MMO on them maybe not up to max graphics standard, but at least in the medium graphics range. 

   Now with that in mind maybe you're asking why haven't we seen a next gen MMO launch on a next gen console? Good question.  Age of Conan at one time planned a release on the Xbox 360, as well Marvel Universe Online never saw the light of day which was to launch on the same system. Also let's not forget that NC Soft signed with Sony to launch exclusive titles on the PS3.   We hear all the time developers intending to launch on one console or another, yet none have surfaced as of yet.  The obvious question is why? Which brings us to the challenges that developers face when making a multi-platform MMO. 

The Bad

  I think the first big hurdle a developer comes up against when making a multi-platform game are the technical issues which are bound to follow.  I'm not talking about the big issues either those everyone are thinking about.  I'm talking about the nit picky issues like balancing control schemes between a 12 button controller and a keyboard and mouse so as to alleviate one system complaining another system has an advantage over the other in PvP or what have you.  Or we could look at hardware issues and the fact that you'll be programing for at least two different systems with their own little quirks and then get them to play nice with each other on a server if you want them on the same server that is.  I could go on, but I think you get the jist. 

    The next big hurdle is the console war itself in my opinion.  If the console war has taught us anything it is that the console companies love their exclusives.  So of course I am sure that the respective consoles would want exclusive rights to certain MMO's.  This of course would be couter productive to the ab0ve mentioned numbers in the good category.  So the delimma is if a third party can make a multi-platform MMO where all parties invloved could agree to coexist on the same server.  I know FF XI was able to pull this off, but with the console war so heated would the companies allow it now? 

   Then maybe we could look at the various business models of the consoles.  As they all have their own stores and thier own models of transaction.  Would we see  the typical westerns business model or perhaps would console mmo's usher in the RMT or F2P model into the west as the predominant model.  Either will have a publisher having to navigate getting revenue from a third party or trying to find a way to circumvent it.   

  In the end we know they are coming.  With the increasing popularity of multiplayer components in console games seems to point that the customer base could embrace the mmo genre.  But who knows I suppose we'll all find out soon enough.  I stayed pretty broad on this topic as I would love to hear what you all think about console mmo's and what pro's and con's you see with them.  Feel free to share your thougts below. 

Until Next Time,

Ivan.

   Hello again all.  I hope all of you are having a great Memorial Day weekend.  Memorial Day is a day of rememberance of people in our past and honoring their memory.  I thought for my weekly post this week I would keep with the tradition of Memorial Day and remember players of mmo's who have through their actions in-game have achieved a place in mmo history whether it be famous or infamous.   One thing these players have in common is that they used no exploits or cheats to make a name for themselves, but instead merely played the game within the given peramters in essence they out played the game itself, or the players within it.  So with out any further babble let's take a trip down memory lane shall we.

   Fansy the Famous Bard- Everquest

   Back in its peak EQ did a little experiment by creating a no rules PvP server names Sullon Zek.  This server was createed for the hardest of the hardcore PvPers siding good against evil alignments and was soon known as EQ's "penal colony".  The only rule on the server was written in the code making charcters level 5 and below invulnrable to PvP to give new players a chnace to get a hang of the game before getting destroyed by other players.  As I said before the server was set up good alignments vs evil alignments and it soon becam apparent that the good guys were outnumbered.  Some estimates had the server around 90 perent evil and the good guys soon found themselves backed into a corner. 

   And along came Pansy.  Pansy understood the aforementioned level 5 rule and also understood that Bard's were the best class for kiting and training large mobs of monsters at other players as well as the good guys were seriously outnumbered.  So began Fansy's reign of terror on the citizens of Freeport.  Fansy could be seen srpinting through mid to high level zones with a mob of ususally sand giants (high level creatures)  in his wake and no player could do anything about it.  Soon the persecutors became the victims and began petitioning the GM's about Fansy.  The only problem was Fansy was not breaking any rules since it was a no rule server.  After a period of time the GM's actually instituted a rule which ended Fansy's reign of terror, but his memory remians as one of EQ's most memorable players and MMO's first terrorist.

   Ahseron's Call:Shard of the Herald- Shard Vigil

    During Asheron's Call's height of glory there was an event known as the "Shard of the Herald" this was he culmination of a series of events where 6 shards were destroyed by players which brought new and more powerful items into the game world.  The Shard if the Herald was the last of these shards.  Turbine decided to spice thinsg up a bit by making players swear allegence to the demon Bael'Zharon (whic is the demon that would be released once the shard was destroyed) thus making players flagged for PvP.  The payers then could wither go and destroy the shard or try to defend it.  Most of the shards on other servers quickly fell except for one, and that one was on the Thisltedown server.  Players on this server organized what is known as 'The Shard Vigil" and defedned the shard from would be attackers 24 hours a day.  These player's defense of the shard was so stalwart that the developers had to include lore which allowed them to create NPC's which they controlled to help players break their lines and shatter the shard.  Impressed by this the developers rewarded the player's with a statue comemerating their efforts.  My hats off to the players who stood thier ground and made the devs have to cheat in their own game in order to win.

The Guiding Hand Social Club- EvE Online

   The Guiding Hand Social Club is a group of mercenaries in the world of EvE online who specialize as contract killers of characters in the game.  At one time the GHSC took a contract for the asassination of the leader of Ubiqua Seraph known as Mirial.  After 12 months of planning and agents of the GHSC infiltrating Ubiqua Seraph into high ranking positions within the Corporation all was set into motion.  One of the GHSC double agents led Mirial into an ambush and at the same time other agents were given the call sign 'Nicole" and stole creits and ships out of the Corporations safe holdings which they had gained access to.  The best part is that everything they did was completely legal in the game world.  I honor these members not for what they did, but for the 12 months of dedication to a plan that they saw to the end, and for out playing the players.  Who does stuff like that. I was going to only name two of the key players, but in my opinion the entire group deserves a kudos for the long standing coordianted effort which garnered the game and themselves a ton of publicity as well as their entry into MMO history.

Rainz- Ultima Online

   UO was the first love for many on this site.  Back int he day during a stress test in the late stages of Beta Lord British was making appearences in the game and giving speeches. In case you didn't know Lord British was the in game toon of UO's creator Richard Garriot, and the monarch of the world of UO.  Now most of you know that Devs in game characters are invulnrable to any damage so it is a fruitless gesture to attck them and so the devs thought until they arived at the town of Minoc.  At some point during Lord British's visit in MInoc some mayhem started in the crowd which led to a quick server crash.  When they came back up Lord British was not flagged as invulnrable by accident and a player known as Rainz launched a wall of fire at Lord British which actually killed him.  The result was hysterical laughter being typed across the town.  My hat's off to Rainz you killed the unkillable I guess that means you beat the game.  On a side note Rainz was subsequently banned for abusing exploits  in the game outside of this incident.

Dentara Rast a.k.a Cally- EvE Online

   Dentara Rast a.k.a. Cally in game was the creator of the Eve Interstellar Bank.  This bank allowed players to invest money and offered interest in return for thoer investments.  Falming wars raged on in the EvE forums with player claiming it as a fraud and other claiming ti as legit.  In the end the nay sayers were proven correct when Cally took off with an estimated 700 billion worth of in game currency.  It is considered to date the largest pyramid/ponzi scheme in the history of MMO's.  In the end the developers conceded that he did not violate the EULA and his actions were legal by all game standards.  His actions garnered the game and himself alot of press, and by my standards the title of the most infamous charcter in MMO history.

  Well that's all I've got.  With so many MMOs and so many servers I am sure we will see more great players emerge just as I am sure that I mised a few in my list.  Feel free to mention any player or groups of player who did famous or infamous deeds in the comments down below I'd love to hear what you think as always.  Thnks for reading.

Until Next Time,

Ivan

   Well here we are friends at the end of a long journey together.  For those of you who have made it through all three parts of this series I salute you.  If I could give you some token of appreciation I would, but unfortunately a virtual pat on the back will have to do.  In the last part of the series I want to focus on some classic IP's that have yet to be honored with an MMO that they can call their own. 

 IP's That Would Make Great MMO's: Pt.3 Classic IP's That Aren't MMO's but Should Be.   

   We have seen with the success of Lord of the Rings Online and World of Warcraft and the development of a new Star Wars and Star Trek MMO that the classic IP's still have some marketability in today's MMO landscape.  Classic IP's come with built in audiences excited about the idea of being able to adventure in a living iteration of one of thier favorite IP's in a way that only a MMO may deliver.  Most importantly though the classic IP's achieve what few other MMO ideas can achieve and that is the ability to attract new audiences to the MMO genre who may have never found thier way to it any other way.  Below is a list of classic IP's that have yet to be given a shot as an MMO, but should be. Enjoy.

   So maybe your thinking that the last thing the MMO genre needs in another fantasy title.  Or maybe your thinking that D&D already has a MMO and doesn't need another.  On both counts I disagree.  Whether you were introduced to The Forgotten Realms through the old pen and paper game or through its many successful and award winning video game titles one cannot deny the allure of thie IP.  Sure there's DDO, but its set in a city not in an open ladnscape in which you could set a Forgotten Realms MMO.  Heck you could even use one of the popular franchises like Never Winter NIghts, or Baulder's Gate to add even more of an existing fanbase.  With its many different landscapes and well developed lore it is just criminal The Wizards of the Coast have not tried to find a studio to put this MMO together.

   What once started as a pen and paper role playing game 20 years ago has since evolved into one of the better thought out and realized science fiction IP's. Through its well written books and successful video games Battletech offers a flavor to the MMO genre that few other IP's can.  That is little humans piloting big battle mechs and trying to blow each other up all set in a back drop of warring clans and political intrigue.  Its been awhile since we have seen an enrty in the video game market from Battletch's Mechwarrior series, yet I still see grumblings on forums from time to time about how this IP would be a great MMO, and if you ever had to chance to play any of those game you would agree too. 

   Now we all know that Blizzard is developing a new MMO, but we all also don't have the faintest idea of what it is.  So with that in mind Starcraft makes my list.  This IP sits fondly in my mind as I am sure it does with many of you as well.  This IP has it all.  3 factions vying for control over limitless space.  Well developed races with their own heirarchies as well as a wide variety of potential character classes.  The amount of people still playing Starcraft to this day should be enough to convince any business that this would be well recieved, but if that's not enough to convince you wait till you see the first month sales of Starcradt 2.

Continuing our conversation from above we still don't know what mmo Blizzard is developing. I waited five minutes for an announcment, but it didn't arrive.  Although this IP lacks any good faction material it makes up for it with a great mix of fantasy and horror.  The IP already has a great mix of original character classes wuth even more new ones on the way in Diablo 3.  As well there is a great story line and well developed land to explore.  Again if you aren't convinced by how many people still play the series wait till you see the first month sales of Diablo 3.  God I sound like a borken record. 

The Terminator

  With sci-fi being all of the craze right now there's got to be enough room for this classic IP.  With a TV show and yet another movie coming out there must be a consumer interest iin this frnachise still.  The war vs the machines would be an excellent backdrop for this mmo with player playing either man or machine.  And what fun would it be to have a feature of the game being going back in time to affect events inthe game world at the expense of your character.  Juat a thought.  This frnchise has not really been represented well in the game market and perhaps a MMO of this IP would change that. 

   And that's it for my series on IP's and mmo's.  I thank you all for your reading time.  I am sure I missed some great classic IP's,a nd would love to read any that you feel would be desrving of the MMO treatment as well and why. 

Until Next Time, 

Ivan 

   Hello again and welcome to part two of my three part series on IP's. When I was doing my research for this series I couldn't help but look at what other writers thought would make good IP's for a MMO.  While many of their thoughts confirmed what I was already thinking.  There were a few suggestions that ,though sounded good at first, the more I thought about it the more I thought how in the heck would they develop that thing.  The IP's that I will be discussing below fall into my "nightmare to develop" catagory.  Now don;t get me wrong friends nothing would make me happier than to see a developer pick up the gauntlet and try and make any of these IP's into an ass kicking game, but something about these IP's make me cringe as I think it would be a true challenge to express the spirit of these IP's as well as create a fun game while doing it.  Do note that all of the IP's that made this list were also mentioned by other writers in articles and blogs as IP's that they'd like to see made.  So now that the stage is set here's my list of nightmare IP's.

   Heroes tops my list of nightmare IP's for a couple of reasons.  First and foremost is that it is popular now but it isn't known how much staying power the series really has.  A studio could start making this game and before it's out the show is cancelled and a fond memory rather than a relevant IP.   My second reason is simply one word: balance.  The balance idea wil be a recurring theme throughout my list, but that's enough of that.  Balancing a Heroes MMO I think would be a nightmare why you ask? Simple pretty much every one has one power.  Now I know there's Peter and Siler, but let's be honest do you really think devs would allow ten thousand Siler/Peter clones to run around the game servers?  Proabably not. So the only other choise is the one power heroes.  One of the high points of the series is the unique powers that the characters possess, but to make the game work you'd have to blend figthing quests with quests of a different flavor in order to make it fun for all player powers.  The other major issue would be balancing these powers if you'd hope to have any semblence of of PvP.   On a good note this would be a great IP for grouping, but on the flipside it would be a hard game to make for today's more solo centered mmo's.  In the end the cons outweigh the pros and I just can's see a studio try making this a mmo.  Now the bright side of this is I think a studio could really truns this IP into a great series of single player games that could be a great mix of action and intellectual stimulation.

   In my research I did not come a across a more requested IP than Frank Herbert's Dune.  I myself in an earlier blog post about two years ago I think sited this as an MMO I would like ti see made as well.  The more I think about the IP though the more I find it falling into the "nightmare to develop" catagory.  Why you ask? Let me explain.  The Dune universe is full of fantastic and exciting characters that we the fans would want to play.  I don't want to be a plain soldier for one of the given Houses. I want to be an Imperial Sardauker, or perhaps a Swordmaster of Ginaz.  For a different flavor maybe I'd like to be a Mentat Master Asassain or a Bene Gesserit Witch.  Which brings me to our first issue.  Dune is a world of factions fighting and plotting against one another for control of the spice.  So the first issue to conquer is do you create a set of character classes that follow a more traditional role, and risk alienating your fan base, or do you allow the more epic character classes into the game from the beginning.  And if you do allow these epic characters then we come back to our old friend balance.  How would a fight between a Mentat and a Swordmaster of Ginaz be balanced or would it?  Then we could debate on the role the Fremen would play in all of this and whether or not players should be allowed to learn the weirding way fighting style which for the unfamiliar would be like allowing jedi in SWG.  Wouldn't everybody want a charatcer that could do that? Then of course we could argue about endgame would that be fighting over the planet Dune itself or look alittle different.  In the end this IP is very intellegent and subtle in its approach and I personally believe it would be very tough to translate into a MMO.

   The last IP on my list was quoted by a writer as "the mmo to end all mmo's" and he has a point.  The RIFTS universe has it all literally,  You can play practically anything in this PnP RPG.  From a full conversion cyborg to a magic user to a dragon hatchling in the world of RIFTS anything goes. The back drop of this game is equally appealing as it is set on earth about 300 year un the future.  The Earth has been ripped apart by dimensional rifts opening up which causes magic to reemerge, Atlantis to reappear, and a whole host of other fun stuff.  It all boils down to a classic magic vs. machine conflict between the Coalition States and the magic using dimensional beng friendly Tolkeen.  Sounds great right?  I agree.  Now here's where the nightmare IP thing comes inot play.  Just in the main book alone there are about 30 different character classes that you could play, and I went ahead and cut out about 15 others.  To include half of that number would be a balancing nightmare with people in power armor going up against mages, or dragon hatchlings fighting cyborgs there's just so much, and I didn't even include the vehicles.  As a developer you'd have one heck of a time shaving down the number of character classes and to top that off there are few that are faction specific as well.  Then we come to the geography of the game.  You have all of North America to deal with, Mexico, Japan, Atlantis, Africa, and Europe all which have thier own unique storyline to contend with, and more character classes,  I'm not saying you have to include all of this geography at launch and I'd be foolish to think that we could have an accurat map of a continent in an mmo, but you also can't run from Missouri to Minnesota in an evening as well even with a hoverbike that travels mach 2.  I just see a developer loosing thier minds trying to trim this IP down into a mmo that would do this IP justice. 

   In the end are all of these MMO's possible? Yes.  With enough of a budget, time, and the right talent any game is truly possible, and I for one would for sure like to see Dune and RIFTS made into mmo's.  I just found these three to be of the most challenging to accomplish and deliver a fun game that does the IP justice.  And I think when we hear of a new IP being created in the market that's the primary thing we want to see isn't it?  A game that brings the world we know to life in a playable space all the while making us feel as if we were in it. As always feedback is welcome below.

Until Next Time.

Ivan

   I always enjoy getting into conversations and reading articles about what IP's people think would make a great MMO.  I find the subject matter even more interesting now that we are seeing a surge in the Super-Hero and Sci-Fi categories of MMO's that our currently in production or soon coming to store shelves.  It seems or at least I hope that developers have realized that it is far better to create thier own niche rather than attempt to copy or infringe on the success of another.  My hope is that we will continue to see different and exciting new genres emerge in to the MMO market over the next few years and it is with  that in mind that my first of this three part series will be focused on some genres that we have yet to see in the MMO market , but I think would make excellent games for us to play.   So without further adieu here's the list.

Magic and Machine

  With all of the new Sci-FI titles soon to emerge into the market we will soon see that genre saturated much like the Fantasy genre in MMO's.  The thought I keep having though is that a company could definitely create thier own niche in the market by mixing the two together, and in my opinion there is no better IP out there that accomplishes this than:

  With its post modern setting of mega-corprations and technology mixed with the return of magic Shadowrun is the perfect blend of magic meets machine. I like to think of Shadowrun as Tolkein meets the Terminator in terms of character creation.  Let's say you want to make an elven mage no problem.  Now lets say you want to take that pointy eared tree hugger and jack them full of cybernetics and turn them into a katana/machine gun weilding delaer of death can do.  Not to mention humans, orc, trolls, and dwarves are also playable races in the game.  Players can take on challenges from hacking into the computer matrix with a character class known as a decker or drop a dragon with a rocket launcher or conjured power ball.  All of which just sounds like pure fun to me. 

Modern Day Fantasy

  Although we have a ton of MMO's set in the medieval times wouldn't it be nice to have a more of a modern day fantasy setting.  Fun Com seems to be delving into this a little with their new title "The Secret World" but I have to think there is room for more than one especially with FunCom's performance in their latest MMO entry.  Though it would be fun to run around in a familiar modern fantasy world, and the one I have a real hankerin to run around in is:

   Harry Potter I think would make a great mmo. The magical world that is Harry Potter's is absolutely fascinating to me at least, and I think it would be a blast to run around in. Now I'm not saying put the whole thing in Hogwart's maybe the front fourth of the game and then let us explore the world as an adult after we have graduated school. Give us the opportunity to dabble in the dark arts and we could get some great PvP between rival orders. The greatest part is you wouldn't even need the main charcters in it if you didn't want them just the instructors at the school and some mainstays in the grown-up world. You could even get the side game of quidditch which would be a blast in it's own right. Besides if the franchise has enough name recognition for a theme park then it has to have enough clout to enter the mmo market.

Military Conflict

  I think there would be definite room for a covert ops type military based mmo.  Not the open conflict like Planetside, but more of a secret war with assaults to control maybe quest hubs or something of that nature.  You'd need a good advesarial IP without really involving any named countries or the such and how could you go wrong using:

   GI Joe vs Cobra the idea just sounds like a blast.  Make your soldier specialize them in whatever and give them their kick ass callsign I think we would see some very original Joes and Cobras.  Then take that guy and try to stop Cobra's nefarious plot or try to further it you choose.  This IP just screams PvP to me as both sides could fight for objesctives which could open up quests or upgrade gear or what have you.  The right studio could really make this a heck of a game to play. Oh and I forgot to mention what about vehicles that would be a fun addition to any PvP battleground.

Weird Western

  I have read a fair share of articles that mention the need for a western themed mmo, and I can't blame them.  For me this is the most obvious of niches that could really be successful in todays MMO market.  Now I'm not talking some "how the west was won" type of mmo, but more of the weird western like the "Wild Wild West" with all of the cool steampunk machinations.  Now my first thought was "The Wild Wild West", but I thought that was a little gimmicky with the movie and all.  So instead I chose:

   Now for those of you who are unfamiliar with Deadlands let me paint you a picture real quick. 

Imagine that it is 1876 in the US wild west.  The Civil War ended with the South successfully seceeding from the union.  An Indian shaman has performed an acient ritual and unleashed evil forces on the earth that live off of human fear.  Half of California is now in the ocean and the rest is comprised of canyons of water.  Miners unearth a new fuel known as ghost rock which fuels the development of steampunk technology.  You are in a party consisting of a Lawman, a card playing sorcerer that gambles with spirits, an Indian warrior, a wandering evangelist who can perform healing miracles, and a mad scientist.  You are tasked with clearing out a town that is over run with zombie gunfighters.... 

And that is just a quick overview of the Deadlands.  What I really like about this IP is that you get the wild west and undead type of genres mixed together which could attract fans of both genres.  The character classes are original and well thought out, and the steampunk technology is inventive like the gatlin shotgun for example.  If a studio did this right I think this genre and IP would be very successful in the MMO market.

  Well there you have it for part one.  Congratulation you made it.  I am curious what you think so far and if there is a genre you think I missed feel free to comment below.  In part two I'll be discussing some IP's that may sound good but could be a nightmare to develop properly. 

Until Next Time

Ivan

   So I'm sure we all know Shadowbane will be shutting down on May 1 of this year to the shock of many of us, but I have to ask myself should we be shocked?  Let's be honest with ourselves although it is sad to see a classic MMO go is it not the natural evolution of the genre?  Much like every other industry  the rule of the new replacing the old is pretty much the standard.  Now I am not going to sit here and conjecture on the why's and how's of the end of Shadowbane I do however want to talk about if this is a trend we will start seeing with some new MMO's launching soon. So let's take look at some older games whose futures may be in question with the release of newer MMO's of the same genre.

   With Champion's Online in beta there are already whispers of drops in the server populations of this classic MMO.  This makes me wonder what will happen when we see the release of Champion's Online, The DC Universe Online, and then a little further down the road the possible release of the Marvel Universe Online.  I have to ask is there enough room for 4 super hero MMO's? And  if there's not I have a feeling this classic MMO will see its end.

   Star Wars Galaxies has a very interesting history to say the least.  From the alienation of its player base during the whole NHE debacle and then attempting to repair the bridge with plans to retunr some servers to the pre-NGE version the last thing this game needs is a competitor with the same name.  Let alone a competitor whose developer is the one that made probably the most popular games in the Star Wars franchise.  I have read an article or two that argues ther is room for both games and I would agree if one of these games didn;t have such a shady history with its player base.  If TOR is half the game it is touted to be I have a feeling SWG's days may be numbered.

   Now this one is my biggest stretch but follow me on this one and you may see my point.  AC's biggest claim to fame is thier skill based system and unforgiving PvP.  Now here comes Darkfall boasting many of the same features with somewhat updated graphics and the heir of political intrigue. Now I know Darkfall started off on a bad foot and has yet to discover if there's a good one on the other side, but eventually they will launch American servers and while this may not be the demise of AC if Darkfall can show there is still a market for this type of MMO a developer wil take notice and make a more up to date version that could possibly blow them both up.

  But in the end who the hell really knows.  The second we think the genre is getting too crowded is the day we see a whole new population of player show uo and start playing.  While I do not like seeing the older games close down shop I do understand that it is inevitable that they may be replaced by newer versions of their predecessors. But again who knows EQ is 10 years old and still going and UO the founding father of the modern day genre although quiet is still kicking as well.  Maybe one day we'll be blogging about how amazing it is that a game has kept running for 20 years but then again that 10 year away.  

That's all I've got. 

Until Next Time

Ivan