A few years ago, a highlander mmorpg was in production but was canceled

http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/highlander-the-gathering/

Anyways, I think still think the ip has potential and is the ultimate setting for a mmorpg

Here are my reasons for the franchise making a great mmo

-Experience is very explainable. You become more powerful as you slay other immortals due to quickenings

-No need to be ressurected upon death or some other wonky system, since your character would be immortal. One would simply retreat to holy ground.

-Pvp could be handleded very uniquely, one could have arena style combat or some other challenge to prove youre worth among other immortals.

-The soundtrack could potentially be the best any mmorpg has ever known

-instances could be handeled through flashbacks (ie, while the game is set in modern day an instance could be set in ww1 or any period in time

Issues with the franchise

-Most immortals don't wear armor around town, so a gear system could be difficult to creat. Also, due to the time differences in the series, items would not translate very well

-the highlander sequals are sketchy and conflict with each other and the tv series and finding a suitable time to set it in could be a challenge

-Chances are you would not be aloud to be beheaded (ie perma death) due to obvious reasons in mmorpgs

Originally posted by Cpt_Picard

A few years ago, a highlander mmorpg was in production but was canceled

http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/highlander-the-gathering/

Anyways, I think still think the ip has potential and is the ultimate setting for a mmorpg

 

Here are my reasons for the franchise making a great mmo

-Experience is very explainable. You become more powerful as you slay other immortals due to quickenings

-No need to be ressurected upon death or some other wonky system, since your character would be immortal. One would simply retreat to holy ground.

-Pvp could be handleded very uniquely, one could have arena style combat or some other challenge to prove youre worth among other immortals.

-The soundtrack could potentially be the best any mmorpg has ever known

-instances could be handeled through flashbacks (ie, while the game is set in modern day an instance could be set in ww1 or any period in time

Issues with the franchise

-Most immortals don't wear armor around town, so a gear system could be difficult to creat. Also, due to the time differences in the series, items would not translate very well

-the highlander sequals are sketchy and conflict with each other and the tv series and finding a suitable time to set it in could be a challenge

-Chances are you would not be aloud to be beheaded (ie perma death) due to obvious reasons in mmorpgs

I kind of think it would be permadeath.

The only way I could see doing it without being ridiiculous is that it would be more skill based and less about gear. So that the gear would always do a certain amount of damage regardless of whose hands it was in.

The charachter would be become more powerufly but since there never seemed to be an expalinable idea of what "more powerful was" I would say it would add to a hit point pool.

this way a character that managed to stay alive forever wasn't so godly over a new comer. However, the new comer would have to be very good to out damage the opponent.

It would be open world pvp except for holy ground.

In the end the idea just wouldn't work as the whole idea of including clans/guilds seem to be in direct opposite of the Highlander story. At least from what I know.

I also wonder if there really is enough out there to make it interesting. Would players want to sign up for a permadeath mmo? And if there was no permadeath then wouldn't that fly in the face of what Highlander was about?

That would be a lonely game when there was just one toon left per server. Also...I mean, seriously? What's next Krull?

Clearly the only way to do it would be to take it as a snapshot in time. So the story doesn't move forward. Its not THE time but close to it, maybe like 10 or 20 years before the end (of the first movie) but updated for current timeframe. That way don't have to worry about permadeath, being only one, etc...

Love the idea of historical flashbacks as instances for various pvp or pve events/quests/mish.

Edit: now that I think of it, would be a great mod for multiplayer in GTA4. City is there, weapons are there (just add a bunch of swords) and mod the damage dynamics so only killed by head removal.

Ok, how about this.  It's open free for all PvP.  When you get beheaded you are automatically transfered to a "holding" server.  When there is only one player left on the starting server he gets a mark by his name or some cool looking trinket as recognition that he was the ONE and then he gets transfered to the holding server at which point it all starts over again.

People on the holding server can still fight and do whatever else there is to do while they wait for the resolution on the other server but nobody gets transfered off untill there is ONLY ONE on the original starting server.  When the conflict starts over on the holding server it becomes the conflict server and the other server becomes the holding server.

Just tossing that out there because I'm bored.  I'm sure there are lots of problems with this which would have to be ironed out.

Originally posted by Neanderthal

Ok, how about this.  It's open free for all PvP.  When you get beheaded you are automatically transfered to a "holding" server.  When there is only one player left on the starting server he gets a mark by his name or some cool looking trinket as recognition that he was the ONE and then he gets transfered to the holding server at which point it all starts over again.

People on the holding server can still fight and do whatever else there is to do while they wait for the resolution on the other server but nobody gets transfered off untill there is ONLY ONE on the original starting server.  When the conflict starts over on the holding server it becomes the conflict server and the other server becomes the holding server.

Just tossing that out there because I'm bored.  I'm sure there are lots of problems with this which would have to be ironed out.

Sounds fine except it sounds more like a fps with multiplayer than an MMORPG. Does sound fun though.

Originally posted by dhayes68

Originally posted by Neanderthal

Ok, how about this.  It's open free for all PvP.  When you get beheaded you are automatically transfered to a "holding" server.  When there is only one player left on the starting server he gets a mark by his name or some cool looking trinket as recognition that he was the ONE and then he gets transfered to the holding server at which point it all starts over again.

People on the holding server can still fight and do whatever else there is to do while they wait for the resolution on the other server but nobody gets transfered off untill there is ONLY ONE on the original starting server.  When the conflict starts over on the holding server it becomes the conflict server and the other server becomes the holding server.

Just tossing that out there because I'm bored.  I'm sure there are lots of problems with this which would have to be ironed out.

 

Sounds fine except it sounds more like a fps with multiplayer than an MMORPG. Does sound fun though.

Yeah, maybe, I guess it depends on how much stuff they put in it besides just duking it out with other players.

Originally posted by dhayes68

Originally posted by Neanderthal

Ok, how about this.  It's open free for all PvP.  When you get beheaded you are automatically transfered to a "holding" server.  When there is only one player left on the starting server he gets a mark by his name or some cool looking trinket as recognition that he was the ONE and then he gets transfered to the holding server at which point it all starts over again.

People on the holding server can still fight and do whatever else there is to do while they wait for the resolution on the other server but nobody gets transfered off untill there is ONLY ONE on the original starting server.  When the conflict starts over on the holding server it becomes the conflict server and the other server becomes the holding server.

Just tossing that out there because I'm bored.  I'm sure there are lots of problems with this which would have to be ironed out.

 

Sounds fine except it sounds more like a fps with multiplayer than an MMORPG. Does sound fun though.

In the first film and the series its all about "The time of the gathering" which Neanderthals idear sounds like. Maybe this idear could be worked in as some kind battlefield or server wide event that could start when a predetermined set of objectives or situations are met. Also to do with perma death, I think it could work in the sense that in the films and series the more powerful the imortal who got killed the more power the victorius imortal got in his quickening. So in game terms you can get loads of xp or skill points for killing a high lvl imortal and hardly anything for a new player. Odviously there would still be a lot of players running round killing lowbies, but in the context of the films this may work also. Remember in the first film where The Kurgan travels all the way to scotland to kill Connor before he is trained and a threat to him.

I would ONLY play this game if there were permadeath, and no alts allowed.

Originally posted by Cpt_Picard

A few years ago, a highlander mmorpg was in production but was canceled

http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/highlander-the-gathering/

Anyways, I think still think the ip has potential and is the ultimate setting for a mmorpg

 

Here are my reasons for the franchise making a great mmo

-Experience is very explainable. You become more powerful as you slay other immortals due to quickenings

-No need to be ressurected upon death or some other wonky system, since your character would be immortal. One would simply retreat to holy ground.

-Pvp could be handleded very uniquely, one could have arena style combat or some other challenge to prove youre worth among other immortals.

-The soundtrack could potentially be the best any mmorpg has ever known

-instances could be handeled through flashbacks (ie, while the game is set in modern day an instance could be set in ww1 or any period in time

Issues with the franchise

-Most immortals don't wear armor around town, so a gear system could be difficult to creat. Also, due to the time differences in the series, items would not translate very well

-the highlander sequals are sketchy and conflict with each other and the tv series and finding a suitable time to set it in could be a challenge

-Chances are you would not be aloud to be beheaded (ie perma death) due to obvious reasons in mmorpgs

That sounds terrible, it has to be perma-death or it just wont work.

Originally posted by madeux

I would ONLY play this game if there were permadeath, and no alts allowed.

Yep. A struggle to survive. May the best immortal win and all that. Of course all the high lvl pc's would camp on the noob areas and just slash and burn them as they came through. This would be a problem. But permadeath in a game like this would make it very interesting!

Originally posted by madeux

I would ONLY play this game if there were permadeath, and no alts allowed.

And only one char per person. So once you die, the game uninstalls from your machine.

Probably, but there will never be a sequel, because of course "There can be only one".

For this idea to work there would need to be permadeath. Permadeath is financial suicide to MMORPGs. A single player Highlander game would be great. The Highlander universe just would not work as an mmorpg, at least not without changing the basic concept of the world so much that it becomes completely unrecognizable from its source. And we saw how well that idea worked in the Highlander sequels*  as well as the television series.

*especially Highlander 2, if I ever get stinking rich I'm hiring a team of ninjas to hunt those idiots down, nowhere will be safe... not even Ziest.

Originally posted by dhayes68

Originally posted by madeux

I would ONLY play this game if there were permadeath, and no alts allowed.

 

And only one char per person. So once you die, the game uninstalls from your machine.

And unleashes a code that would control your body to decapitate yourself IRL.

 permadeath: you could hack npc's to peices and they might hack you up a bit but not chop your head off. Maybe chopping ones head off is something you only can do in certain arenas, as if the quickening had become a blood sport. Sure, one of the people actually die and actually have to start again, but that would just mean less attachment to ones character and more attempts and different play styles. Ok nobody gets to be a super high character unless they are actually a super high skilled person sitting behind the keyboard (or just dumb lucky). you would have pvp all over the shop but an "understanding" that quickening only happens in an arena.

Good v's Evil immortals would work too

Originally posted by bloodaxes

Originally posted by dhayes68

Originally posted by madeux

I would ONLY play this game if there were permadeath, and no alts allowed.

 

And only one char per person. So once you die, the game uninstalls from your machine.

And unleashes a code that would control your body to decapitate yourself IRL.

Better, someone from Gamestop comes over to decap you. You know they'd love it.

Highlander is the one IP I have spent too much time thinking about how to make into an MMO. It's got so much meat to work with, and every time I think about it I feel Iike I am wasting my time. Definitely something I would like to see though, even if I totally think it would be mishandled.

The way i envisioned it is a level-based game where PvP death gave a level ratio to the victor that gets the killing blow. In this way there could be walking gods on the battlefield at a cap of about 2000 levels that would never be reached, but one death means losing just as much and pumping a dude up. Kinda hard to sploits since it's a zero sum XP economy where only PvE XP enters the tradeoff. Also I had a good idea for a support skill where you kill your own teammate with a deathblow skill, and if it kill him you get a super buff for the duration of batte - good for if someone is gonna die no matter what, you can take the kill on your own teamie to spite the enemy.

There would [have to] be a permadeath server, but for the most part it's an unwelcome idea to any MMO. The PvP xp tradeoff just sweetens the deal where the heavy hitters die hard, it'd hurt.

I doubt that one would ever get made which is bad as there are plenty of good ideas listed even here.

Good -

- instances being flashbacks

- PermaDeath going to another server until there is only one.  Kind of a PoTBS map win like thing.

Something I think would help would be to forget all about levels.

I always got the impression that when you took someone's head you got their KNOWLEDGE, which we'll call skill.  So when you start you pick a weapons style (hack & slash, rapier, katana etc...)  Each style gives you a unique fighting style.   If you take someone's head you gain access to their fighting style which would open up more attacks to you (some being not compatible to the weapon your equiped with).  This may cut down on Noob killing as you wouldn't get anything.

OR

Go straight skill based fighting like Mount and Blade/DDO uses.  You control your weapons attack angle, strength etc....  via the mouse, blocking is the same.  Your toon gets nothing from a kill but YOU gain in your fighting skills.

Only thing I can think of to cut down on gank squads would be to allow new players the choice of where they enter the game.  Be it covering the whole world which would allow you to pick a country and major city or having the game in say NY or LA and allowing you to pick where on the map.  No set newbie areas, start points etc.....  If someone wants to pay $15.00 a month to camp Vienna, Austria or 15th St & Orange Ave on the off chance a Noob may show up eventually while they are on line go for it. 

Well people need to quit thinking that theu have a chance vs groups if they choose not to group.

In every game, ever ever, if you group you will stomp on people that don't have the numbers to compete. The only way to stop that is to make the game less of an MMO, and more of a lobby like Diablo where people log into your game and are forced to 1v1 one you... not happening in any game given the chance to dole out the unfair advantage - ever, ever.

~and this has to be the 100th time I've explained this. Groups pwn, so group up or find a love for arena battles, because open world PvP [will be] dominated by groups.

Originally posted by GTwander

Well people need to quit thinking that theu have a chance vs groups if they choose not to group.

 

In every game, ever ever, if you group you will stomp on people that don't have the numbers to compete. The only way to stop that is to make the game less of an MMO, and more of a lobby like Diablo where people log into your game and are forced to 1v1 one you... not happening in any game given the chance to dole out the unfair advantage - ever, ever.

 

~and this has to be the 100th time I've explained this. Groups pwn, so group up or find a love for arena battles, because open world PvP [will be] dominated by groups.

Ah, but highlander is special, once combat has started between immortals no one else is allowed to interfere therefor illiminating this problem

Originally posted by Cpt_Picard

Originally posted by GTwander

Well people need to quit thinking that theu have a chance vs groups if they choose not to group.

 

In every game, ever ever, if you group you will stomp on people that don't have the numbers to compete. The only way to stop that is to make the game less of an MMO, and more of a lobby like Diablo where people log into your game and are forced to 1v1 one you... not happening in any game given the chance to dole out the unfair advantage - ever, ever.

 

~and this has to be the 100th time I've explained this. Groups pwn, so group up or find a love for arena battles, because open world PvP [will be] dominated by groups.

 

Ah, but highlander is special, once combat has started between immortals no one else is allowed to interfere therefor illiminating this problem

Damn, that's a fine point.

~but what if a group initiates with another with less people, or a soloer, and for that matter would PvP be declare-only?

This is the one setting I do believe there should be no other PvP option to eat levels beyond a fair duel, or any kind of PvP really... but will people buy that? (some will surely)

Kinda hard to explain any larger group combat function with that rule, especially when considering FFA combat zones.

I love the concept of Highlander. Most of the movies (with the first being the best imo) were good. The series was ok....the one anime I saw kind of sucked tho. I just don't see how this would work as an mmo....where everyone would be running around playing an immortal...like when SWG became Jedi infested...it would just seem ridiculous. Most MMO's already have the lame feeling of everyone as the hero. Maybe if they could some how make it where you could play various characters..doctors...police...occult researcher....then randomly generated actions or ahcievements would ..perhaps..unlock the quickening. This way everyone wont be immortal....and if they are...it is not immediately known. Permadeath with a skillfully acquired decapitation...etc. Even in the lore tho...it seems the quickening came pretty early in life..so I don't know how it would work. Maybe as many instanced arenas..various time periods and settings...but mainly a fighting game...where slight skill...or more plus a little luck.. could allow success over a more powerful immortal...and grant even greater power/skill increases.  Or you could just stick to even rankings..Hrmm.?..Seems like it would be hard to nail down exactly...hard to please die hard fans and general gamers alike ( tho isn't this usually the case?)....and likely become a niche game no matter how it plays out. Still.....I'd give it a go.