Ok, I'm not sure if anyone has suggested this or not, and I know it seems unusual perhaps..but I think it would be immediately succesfull and outrageously fun.

Pokemon.

Think about it, there's already different areas of the world, Hoen, Kanto, Orange Isle, Johto, Sinoh.  How many hundreds of pokemon exist? 

Customize your own character based on skills towards training, breeding, contests and research.  More importantly, customize the pokemon you capture, make patterns and color schemes a bit more varied and allow each breed to have a varying skillset so that they're not just copies of each other, everyone has unique pokemon.

plenty of opportunities for group content, going after rare pokemon for example not to mention a form of pvp in battling each other. 

Personally I thinkt his property already has such a ridiculously massive following, yea with a younger crowd, but i'm a parent and a gamer and wouldnt' mind playing a game that my child could play with me.  Besides, I know a lot of older folks that still enjoy the pokemon universe. 

You know that would probably would be a successful mmo. Not that I'd play it but I've said for

quite awhile that WoW is so successful because it feeds that "Pokemon Syndrome"

I've got to get it all,, fishing, cooking, gear,, mounts,,,, even if it does nothing to progress my character or story,, I"ve got

to get em All!!!!

Originally posted by Anthrage

This question has of course been put forth many times before, but in light of some recent happenings, I thought I'd pose it again. :)

For myself, I would have to say I'd most like to see The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, The Unbeliever made into an MMO. The tone of the work, the depth of the story and the wealth of characters to draw from for factions, races (I'm sure many people would love to play a horse!), characters and NPCs is just immense...The Land - it's nature and scale - lends itself very well to an MMO, and I can imagine all kinds of unique PvP dynamics that could manifest following the series' content.

That, or maybe John Steakley's Armor. :)

What say you?

I dont want to see any existing "property" turned into an mmo because doing so usually cheapens the original piece of work. I have not fully read any of the Thomas Covenant books but I know enough about them to know that an mmo would simply reduce all of it to a string of monsters that line themselves up to be killed by thousands of players on a level grinding treadmill.....even if it has little to do with the book. Do you really want to see the authors good creative work reduced to thoughtless trash for the masses? All of his work would simply get dumped into categories labeled "combat", "crafting", "pvp", "pve", "quests" and so on.

I would much rather see fresh new ideas that lend themselves well to the design of an mmo. Some of that inspiration could even be influenced by the work of other authors but I would prefer to see good written works left alone to be honest. However I understand the amount of work and effort that can be saved by using an already existing fantasy world so....hmmmm....its a tricky one I guess. I suppose if a games company actually went to the effort of making an intelligent & good mmo that isnt just a braindead monster slaying level grinding cheese fest then......perhaps.......but I'm a tad skeptical of that actually happening.

EDIT: Actually I just read a guy above me put forward Pokemon as a suggestion.....which actually isnt a bad idea at all. So....hmmm.....I take back my "I dont want to see any existing property turned into an mmo" statement. I guess I just dont want to see good thoughtful work get reduced to rubbish.

Originally posted by Anthrage

This question has of course been put forth many times before, but in light of some recent happenings, I thought I'd pose it again. :)

For myself, I would have to say I'd most like to see The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, The Unbeliever made into an MMO. The tone of the work, the depth of the story and the wealth of characters to draw from for factions, races (I'm sure many people would love to play a horse!), characters and NPCs is just immense...The Land - it's nature and scale - lends itself very well to an MMO, and I can imagine all kinds of unique PvP dynamics that could manifest following the series' content.

That, or maybe John Steakley's Armor. :)

What say you?

I'd say any MMORPG world created from previous works will have serious limitations.  This is due to the game need a certain amount of loyalty to the original work.  However, game developers recently are not thinking about these limitations.  The developers will happily release something that makes the money off the fans of the original work without much regards to anything else.  This is business model of the MMO industry.  I am not really criticizing it, I am just simply pointing it out.

However, the success rate can vary to an astounding degree as the history of the MMORPG industry in the past decade have demonstarted.

Originally posted by neonwire

Originally posted by Anthrage

This question has of course been put forth many times before, but in light of some recent happenings, I thought I'd pose it again. :)

For myself, I would have to say I'd most like to see The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, The Unbeliever made into an MMO. The tone of the work, the depth of the story and the wealth of characters to draw from for factions, races (I'm sure many people would love to play a horse!), characters and NPCs is just immense...The Land - it's nature and scale - lends itself very well to an MMO, and I can imagine all kinds of unique PvP dynamics that could manifest following the series' content.

That, or maybe John Steakley's Armor. :)

What say you?

 

I dont want to see any existing "property" turned into an mmo because doing so usually cheapens the original piece of work. I have not fully read any of the Thomas Covenant books but I know enough about them to know that an mmo would simply reduce all of it to a string of monsters that line themselves up to be killed by thousands of players on a level grinding treadmill.....even if it has little to do with the book. Do you really want to see the authors good creative work reduced to thoughtless trash for the masses? All of his work would simply get dumped into categories labeled "combat", "crafting", "pvp", "pve", "quests" and so on.

I would much rather see fresh new ideas that lend themselves well to the design of an mmo. Some of that inspiration could even be influenced by the work of other authors but I would prefer to see good written works left alone to be honest. However I understand the amount of work and effort that can be saved by using an already existing fantasy world so....hmmmm....its a tricky one I guess. I suppose if a games company actually went to the effort of making an intelligent & good mmo that isnt just a braindead monster slaying level grinding cheese fest then......perhaps.......but I'm a tad skeptical of that actually happening.

EDIT: Actually I just read a guy above me put forward Pokemon as a suggestion.....which actually isnt a bad idea at all. So....hmmm.....I take back my "I dont want to see any existing property turned into an mmo" statement. I guess I just dont want to see good thoughtful work get reduced to rubbish.

I'm inclined to agree with both of the above posts; most creative, original works are the best there is. Making something out of them just seems to depreciate the original works, because most game developers don't capture the universe as thoroughly as the original book/movie. Pokemon seems like a good idea, but it could easily be botched by the developers; that is one skeptical notion I will always have towards the kinds of projects that have Pokemon in it.

I mean, what's to say the Developers won't half-ass their project, create seemingly-unique 'Sprites' when every-bloody-other person looks the same, and all that other snazzy junk? Granted, there are some who actually care, and would stay truthful. To take a small example, TOR. The developers actually care, and aim to bring the Star Wars universe alive to people. I have my skeptical senses on that project, but it is looking to be increasingly good.

But that was just an example, as I said; back to the point, if given the right hands and the right people for the job, any existing Property -could- be made great; Wheel of Time, Robotech, Living World of Greyhawk, Black Magician Trilogy, Midkemia, Stephen King's 'The Talisman' and 'Black House' books that detail the 'Territories' part might even work; granted, might is a major 'might.' The Dark Tower series, too. Although all the later would be rated, easily, Mature.

Why? Dark and gritty messages, gruesome, blood. Without all that, it just feels empty, and void of Stephen Kingness, imo. I could think of a lot more, granted  with the right hands . Seriously. Give them to a good developer, and some ideas will be wonderful.

I could think of many more; Dragonlance, Dungeons and Dragons with Forgotten Realms, instead of Ebberron...minus every bloodytwit named Drazzt, Dr!zzt, Dr1zzt, Dr|zzt, or the-numerous-other titular characters. Hell, that could be alleviated by placing the setting long after Drizzt the Stupid Drow's dead. But alas, that is a dream I fear will never come true! D:

Exalted, also comes to mind, though it would definitely be AO. Half the crap in that book is sexual and dark and gritty. I mean, the first few pages are sexual and crap. But nonetheless, it would be a good AO MMO for those that wouldn't mind it. Lets see..World of Darkness also comes to mind. The Last Remnant, while not a spectacular game, has MMO-like qualities; granted, the union thing could be difficult to pull off, but otherwise, it has the perfect makings of a possible one.

Remnants, Armies, wars, a unique way of getting skills -- Using one set of weapons enough gets you skills later down in that category, and so on -- and it isn't level based, so it'd be skill-based. A lot of these ideas,  in the right hands  could prove to be great.

But like so many said before me, it could dillute the originals grandeur, and reduce it to rubbish. It would just have to be put in good, capable hands...hopefully.

I could name so many more, but I think that list would go on FAR too long.

-Syphon.

Originally posted by Greenie

You know that would probably would be a successful mmo. Not that I'd play it but I've said for

quite awhile that WoW is so successful because it feeds that "Pokemon Syndrome"

I've got to get it all,, fishing, cooking, gear,, mounts,,,, even if it does nothing to progress my character or story,, I"ve got

to get em All!!!!

http://www.pokemonworldonline.net/

Wow this is a huge question of possibilities..

So many incredible worlds out there that would make for a rich mmo content.

However if I had to pick one license that would make a fantasic MMO, would have to be Xanth by Piers Anthony.

Xanth is just so bizzare.

My follow up choice after a lot of thought would be Amber, as in the nine princes. The possibilities of mist and Chaos would make for an incredible game.

I think that a dark fantasy type setting like Ravenloft would make for a great game. I think the proper term is Gothic horror.

Also, maybe a Starship Troopers MMOFPS.

Originally posted by heartless

I think that a dark fantasy type setting like Ravenloft would make for a great game. I think the proper term is Gothic horror.

Also, maybe a Starship Troopers MMOFPS.

The term for it would be somewhere like Gothic Horror/Fantasy genre, I think. Not for certain on all the genres concerning Ravenloft, but it would basically be Gothic Horror/Fantasy, methinks.

Granted, I could be wrong, but mrh. The Starship Troopers might be a good idea, but I don't know. It could work, just as well as it couldn't. Give it to some experienced developers, and it might turn out wonderful.

Another series that comes to mind that'd make a great MMO in the right hands: Dune. Battlefield Earth, while not having had a spectacular movie, was a damn good book that -could- possibly be made into a decent MMO.

I know I'm going to probably get a lot of negativity for this next one, but..Power Rangers. While the show itself was bleh, an MMO could work with it possibly.  And if we were to go into historical-type genres, the entire Rome thing would work; not that Roma Victor wasn't good..Just that it could've been much better than it is.

Hell, one could be based entirely on Mythology itself, if you went that way. But other than the ones I mentioned above and now..hmn. It'd be difficult to think of many others. Romance of the Three Kingdoms could possibly be..possible. There is, of course, more possibilities, but I can't think of anymore right now.

And, on another note; the somethingorothermancy, by Branden Sanderson. Crap. I forget their name. Mistomancy? Something about being a Mistborn or other book. Those set of books could be made into an MMO, if given to the right hands. Perhaps even the Alchemyst books by Michael Scott? Perhaps. I could tell more, but..there's a lot to think of. D: And so little time.

 EDIT: Fixed a spelling error, added some stuff.

EDIT2: Added more stuff. Few new things, whole sentence. Man, I edit a lot.

-Syphon.

Originally posted by Teala

Firefly
Harry Potter
Age of Empires - ala Mount and Blade.  ^_^
Robotech -  During the time after the Invid have been defeated.
Conan - not Funcoms version - but a real seamless world version sandbox MMORPG that uses Mount and Blades combat system with some additional combat  tweaks to make it even better.
 

I think Firefly would make a great MMO, a good western themed MMO would be nice, too many MMOs seem to fall into the lore of goblins, orcs, elfs, monsters, swords, shields etc etc Zzzzzzzzzzz  Firefly had a great cowboy western feel mixed with smugglers in the future with space travel. Such a shame that series got canned when so many seasons of buffy and angel (aweful) where made. Makes me sick. The Reapers could make for pretty cool mobs too.

Originally posted by catfud

Originally posted by Teala

Firefly
Harry Potter
Age of Empires - ala Mount and Blade.  ^_^
Robotech -  During the time after the Invid have been defeated.
Conan - not Funcoms version - but a real seamless world version sandbox MMORPG that uses Mount and Blades combat system with some additional combat  tweaks to make it even better.
 

 

I think Firefly would make a great MMO, a good western themed MMO would be nice, too many MMOs seem to fall into the lore of goblins, orcs, elfs, monsters, swords, shields etc etc Zzzzzzzzzzz  Firefly had a great cowboy western feel mixed with smugglers in the future with space travel. Such a shame that series got canned when so many seasons of buffy and angel (aweful) where made. Makes me sick. The Reapers could make for pretty cool mobs too.

I agree with the Firefly, and Goblins and such part, but Buffy, Angel and those were good series. I don't actually think it was because of those series, but because of the crappy network that pulled the plug. So yeah.

But, now that I think it; the Buffy thing could work well as an MMO, granted. Charmed, too. All of them have some potential for MMOness, and in the right hands, like I've said a lot, would be great. In the wrong...well. You be the judge when they get in the wrong hands. <<;

Edit: Forgot to add something. Silly Syphon.

-Syphon.

I think the phantasy star games from sega genesis, not the psu or pso games we have around now, would make great game. I mean they have alot of promise as well as have enouph room to build up new history without destroying lore. Also i like the idea of magic as well as technology being in the same universe. Their race as well as monster designs were great and well done in my opinion. Also with three or more worlds which can be used for starting areas as well as places to put instances or outdoor raid bosses you can have alot of exploration, also you can use the space stations as places to explore as well as stand alone instances. The record of lodoss wars setting was always one of my favs for a game i wanted to see become a mmo. I like how the're three forms of magic (spirit summoning, tradisional, and holy) in the setting.

- The Dark Crystal

- The Secret of NIMH

- Time Bandits

- Dune

Yep I am dreaming big here. lol

No problem with dreaming big. In fact, some of the best things out there started out as a dream that became a reality. Not everything, but some of them. If I had to pick one to choose from, well..I couldn't. There's too many great things out there to really pick a definitive 'one' from them.

My biggest one would be Dune, then World of Darkness. Both of those are wonderful in their original publications, especially world of Darkness. WoD by White Studios is one of the best RPG settings, imho, out there. But you couldn't just include WoD. You'd have to include all the following. Like the Ancient Bloodlines book, Changling: The Lost, Hunter: The Vigil, Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Vampire: The Masquerade, Mage: The Awakening. All of them are based originally in the WoD so you'd have an expansive world, with many different races, classes, possibilities..So yeah. WoD would be one of the better ideas out there, if given to the right hands. ;D

-Syphon.

I must admit a Dark Crystal MMO would rock!

Choose the Mystics or Skesis to work for. Run missions, weird violent creatures, strange prophecies. Plants and Puppets. Damn I am in!

CCP White Wolf is making a World of Darkness MMO

Transformers.

Redwall

I win? Yes.

Battletech. It's the biggest robot IP in the west and you just can't go wrong with it. Rich story and YEARS of lore behind it.

The obvious answer is Wheel of Time.

The not so obvious would be The Night's Dawn Trilogy by Robert Hamilton.  Is anyone else famliar with this one?  Starts with The Reality Dysfunction and ends with The Naked God.  Amazing universe, lots of races, major conflicts... seriously, you should go read this if you haven't.  And then agree with me :)