I think it is going to be difficult. It is not that developers are lazy. In fact, i bet there are ones who are actively pitching ideas of Roman/Greek MMORPGs.

It is about whether they can get funding to actually build one. It takes like $30-40M to build a good MMORPG and it is difficult to convince investors. They care about ROI and you have to demonstrate to them that it is likely they will make their money back.

That is why if you look at all the new AAA MMO development, there is often a known, popular IP connected. (Stargate Worlds, Warhammer, Star Trek, Marvel, DC, LOTR ...)

Originally posted by nariusseldon

I think it is going to be difficult. It is not that developers are lazy. In fact, i bet there are ones who are actively pitching ideas of Roman/Greek MMORPGs.

It is about whether they can get funding to actually build one. It takes like $30-40M to build a good MMORPG and it is difficult to convince investors. They care about ROI and you have to demonstrate to them that it is likely they will make their money back.

That is why if you look at all the new AAA MMO development, there is often a known, popular IP connected. (Stargate Worlds, Warhammer, Star Trek, Marvel, DC, LOTR ...)

 

AoC is a great example of how a Roman/Greek style game could thrive. As others have said...it is very Roman-esque. It had nearly 800K customers at launch. If it had been a better game...it could have obtained even more. There is a market for low-fantasy Roman type game.

I think the current cookie cutter style mmo wouldn't translate very well into that genre.  It might be hard to make it interesting enough with no spells, healing, magic lootz ect.

Surely you guys have not forgotten the attempt at one the largest Roman mythological MMORPG's ever that failed. I will leave it at that and see who can come up with the name first.

I would email MMORPG companies directly and ask them this question.   Usually larger MMORPG companies have some type of research / development department, they would most likely be able to answer your question. 

Gods and Heroes. I beta tested it and it was awful, just another boring linear task driven experience game. It also suffered from the SOE curse because they partenered with SOE's publishing division, Platform publishing.

If you are going to make a historical genre game, you need to make the emphasis combat experience with real quests added, but not being the main source of earning experience.

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Originally posted by Tyres100
Surely you guys have not forgotten the attempt at one the largest Roman mythological MMORPG's ever that failed. I will leave it at that and see who can come up with the name first.

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ROMA VICTOR!!!!!!!!!! ya i remember that game....they even crucified a character IN THE GAME...which was cool...i heard they also kept that character on the same cross for many many days lol

Originally posted by gamerman98

 

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Originally posted by Tyres100
Surely you guys have not forgotten the attempt at one the largest Roman mythological MMORPG's ever that failed. I will leave it at that and see who can come up with the name first.

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ROMA VICTOR!!!!!!!!!! ya i remember that game....they even crucified a character IN THE GAME...which was cool...i heard they also kept that character on the same cross for many many days lol

Roma Victor is not based on mythology, it's a Roman vs Barbarian combat game with a lot of crafting.

Roma Victor is one of the worst stinkers ever produced, you should read the original reviews. It was designed around a RMT revenue system called the "Verm", with the game itself being the afterthought, and the revenue model being the focus. It's poorly designed and completely boring. About 50 people play it.

Ok but I see greek what is realistic about greek mythology? Also if you use egypt they also have had many mystical tales and beliefs therefor you cannot really have a pure historical mmorpg with those, but anyways there is nothing wrong with a game going part historical and part magic mmorpgs should appeal to many not only one type of mmorpg player.

There NEEDS to be a Rome MMO (better than Roma Victor). Cmon, the Romans made the freakin Mediterranean Sea their b*tch for, what, 300 years!?

Poor Gods and Heroes. That looked so awesome.

My biggest wish is for a Greek Mythology MMORPG to be made. I always loved the lore of Greek Mythology. All the gods and goddesses and heroes. It would most likely be very successful. You could choose a specific god as your patron perhaps. They would grant you special abilties. I really would love for an MMORPG like this to be made.

I'm telling you all, I've got the formula for perhaps the badest MMO of all-time.  Well most of you may not have been aware of it because you may be pretty new to this forum.  But the reason I originally joined this site was to post my idea for an MMO based on ancient History.  It may sound like I'm exaggerating when I say it would be the sweetest thing the MMO world has ever seen, but I have it completely mapped out and it all fits together beautifully.  Unfortunately, I have no programming experience and I'm not rich (yet), so it just sits on my desk in written form.  I posted this link in the development section just to see if it might catch someone's eye, but it was really just wishful thinking.  I've pretty much stopped talking about it now, but every once in a while a thread like this will pop up and I'll bring it out again just to show the gaming industry what it is missing.

http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/77967

Most fantasy games take things from history.  Ancient civzlizations all had thier own gods and exacgerated stories.  Most fantasy games pull from the exageration with things like magic because it makes things a little more interesting.  I beliieve you don't see an exact representation of ancient civilizations in an MMO because it's not quite as interesting.

Exactly, and even if someone did come out with this your going to have unrealistic things in it anyways, in real life you cannot get hit by a sword multiple times and not be injured, if they went realistic they would have to do 1 to 3 hits and your dead thats it.

And what about respawning? If you die then how are you going to rise from the dead without any mysitcal imagination at all? I really think its a great idea and dont want you to feel down or that you dont have alot of imagination, the game sounds awesome trust me and you really have some wonderful ideas but there is a reason why people always add some form of magic, and if its sci fi its cloning and so on.

Originally posted by Samuraisword

Because the current crop of developers are too lazy to design a historical based MMOG with realism.

It's easier to copy and paste another version of a Fantasy based game and claim it will be better than the rest when in reality it won't be because they don't apply any innovation.

Flying Lab failed with their opportunity at making a historical based Pirate MMOG with PotBS because they didn't stay true to the realism factor of a large sailing world which should take time to travel in and a Caribbean where trade abd exploration played a major factor. Instead they released a WoWified Pirate game with instaporting and super speedy travel which made the game world very small with a limited  economy based on NPC purchases and sales of goods and materials without harvesting or real crafting.

Agreed sadly this is the state of the industry.WoW  based their model on the most successful mmorpg at that time -EQ and now all mmorpg are basing their mmorpg on the current champion WoW.If WAR breaks the new record then it too will be the model for all mmorpg .

But all we will be having are revised versions of EQ and it will be a vicious cycle .

I would a change honestly .

you guys may laugh but I strongly believe that I could create a very great game set in that time period 100-50bc or in the dark ages for that matter.

it would combine real physics driven combat such as you see in Mount & Blade http://www.taleworlds.com/ and elder scrolls IV. where you control your  spear or weapon/projectile  thrusts/swings/parry/shield blocks manualy. your stats dont decide the battle they just help your situation. everything has advantages and disadvantages all things have their counters for balance.

no levels, purely skills would be raised by doing the task, like Ultima Online had done it right, to hell with these level based systems making you hugely more powerful each level, maybe works for some games but not my prefered method

each guild or clan would be like a cohort or equivilent for barbarians. able to claim outposts or npc towns which pay the clan taxes depending on th town some more valuable then others. even have mines, gold, silver, salt, copper, bronze etc to be faught over as resources

the economy is largely player driven of course, intelligent checks have to be put in to keep farming down, seen too many games ruined to gold farmers. but all the best weapons and armors are player crafted. only drops you would get would be perhaps some of your enemies gear. all gear would wear and tear to keep crafters busy

all guild/clans of a certain size would have to start paying their members wages, people didnt die for free unless they were slaves, armies cost money. so the need for sacking player or npc towns is necessary to sustain your guild/clan. some kind of penatly could be placed to ensure that you pay your players and also npcs if you have them as guards or whatnot and also you need to pay taxes from your estates/towns to the regional lord. who can be elected i would imagine, an actual player. perhaps would could make players even be the kings/emporers themselves instead of npc. this way it would feel like Shadowbane. where you actualy control the destiny of your people go to war, make peace, make alliances

subterfuge play a large role also, cloak and dagger stuff, assassins and thieves are a big part of the time period. your guild could just be a small band of thugs who steal and murder or extort for money and power in rome or wherever you are, outlaws.

perhaps it could be made that like in gods & heroes you have some npcs as small army if you have the proper leadership skills and charisma, where you can upgrade them and command them to fight for you. obviously it would take a lot of real players to make impressive armies to fight it out so then youd have a lot of players that also have their own npc soldiers with them that could make for big battles.

and the crafting would be like you see in a Tale in the desert 3 http://www.atitd.com/ , very in depth, mostly all buildings made by players, certain parts of the world map could be allowed to build if meet requirements, you can grow flax for clothes and crops for food or sell, Yes you would need to eat periodically or suffer side effects. (no not die, just reduces stats perhaps temporarily) you can make your own tools and equipment, lathes, ovens, forges whatever. right down to collecting sand and mud and straw to make your own bricks. like i said look at tale in desert 3 crafting system its awesome. that game would be better but it as not combat system its purely social builder game.

anyway everything is possible with this. you can be gladiator as profession if you desire. no MAGIC, it would be dangerous and gritty and realistic as the times were. combat would be fast paced and gruesom, of course not make it so you die very quickly that wouldnt be fun. However it could be possible to include the gods in there somewhere perhaps you worship/align to certain gods of the era and you could get increased bonuses depending on the god. and perhaps you do certain things to appease them and gain favor. not direct magic though. Ares or Mars favor? kill people :) something like that you get the idea, gives you perhaps better stamina or more hitpoints maybe even random effect

as you can see this type of game doesnt need magic to be really fun! id love to present all my ideas to a company witht the money to make it happens and make it right.

bump for my dreams to come true.

A greek mythology game would be awesome.

Originally posted by Snipan

If you add fantasy elements, like magic or monsters, to a historical game, then you have yet another fantasy game, not historical.

Adding in strange monsters, I suppose - but not magic. Tribes in Africa still have black magic warlocks and spirit healers. I wonder why? They work (to some extent). You can even go on youtube and search 'vodoo' and watch mediums do their thing. Also, Christianity is full of miracles; the inbreaking of the supernatural realm. "Magic" (or the supernatural realm) has been around since the foundation of the earth - and usually gladly accepted. Why are westerns so blinded?

Blessings,

Originally posted by MarleVVLL

Originally posted by Snipan

If you add fantasy elements, like magic or monsters, to a historical game, then you have yet another fantasy game, not historical.

 

Adding in strange monsters, I suppose - but not magic. Tribes in Africa still have black magic warlocks and spirit healers. I wonder why? They work (to some extent). You can even go on youtube and search 'vodoo' and watch mediums do their thing. Also, Christianity is full of miracles; the inbreaking of the supernatural realm. "Magic" (or the supernatural realm) has been around since the foundation of the earth - and usually gladly accepted. Why are westerns so blinded?

Blessings,

Well now, to see where your opinion truely lies, since you sir have left yourself quite open on this one. Would you consider if there was an African Tribes MMO it to be historical is they had Warlocks Spitting green fire from the finger tips? To me that would be Fantastical Magic, and would not be historical. Historical Magic could not be used in combat, its more of a Tricks type thing for maybe a skill based game. See real magic is all Illusion, its the perception that you are doing fantastical things, Fantasy Magic, you really are doing things like shooting fireballs, or casting a healing spell. So it really does not belong in a historical game.  Now though I am through being nice, as I still took offense to your comments about "Westerns being blind". to me it seems as if you just played off this discussion to talk more about Religion and God, you subtlety hi-jacked the thread. I do not find this appropriate or entertaining, and I have no problem with you spreading thoughts and wisdoms of your religion, but please do not stick in hurtful phrases to certain groups, it comes off as pure elitism. 

That was quite a response.

Roosevelt wrote: Well now, to see where your opinion truely lies, since you sir have left yourself quite open on this one. Would you consider if there was an African Tribes MMO it to be historical is they had Warlocks Spitting green fire from the finger tips?

I figured I'd get commented someone along those lines. That is the issue with a loose word such as 'magic'. I wasn't necessarially referring to lighting/fire cold posion guk bolt issueing out of someone's hand, although I find that possible. I was more referring to the overtly supernatural aspects to what 'magic' is. How it manifests itself is completely different.

To me that would be Fantastical Magic, and would not be historical. Historical Magic could not be used in combat, its more of a Tricks type thing for maybe a skill based game.

It could be either or. The Bible and the Qu'ran, along with many other religious texts contain outrageously majestic miracles and those who follow those faith would consider the texts historical. Its up for debate.

Now though I am through being nice, as I still took offense to your comments about "Westerns being blind". to me it seems as if you just played off this discussion to talk more about Religion and God, you subtlety hi-jacked the thread. I do not find this appropriate or entertaining, and I have no problem with you spreading thoughts and wisdoms of your religion, but please do not stick in hurtful phrases to certain groups, it comes off as pure elitism.

I had no intention of hi-jacking this thread to talk about God and the religion that I am apart of. If I wanted to do that, I'd do it rather bluntly. Also, I did not mean to direct that statement to include a specific group of people. I am a westerner myself. I was referring to a mind-set that many westerners possess. I am not condemning anyone. I'm merely highlighting a fact.

Blessings,