It seems that there are few in the world who don't know at least a little about Game of Thrones. Now that it's being turned into an MMO, even more folks will learn of the duplicity of the Lannisters and more. We caught up with Max Pfaff to talk about Game of Thrones Online. See what we discovered!

MMORPG.com: How has your relationship been with HBO and George R.R. Martin? What input did they have in the game?

Max Pfaff: We have a great relationship with both HBO and George R.R. Martin. Mr. Martin is not involved in the day-to-day workings of our project, but he’s been a great influence in the direction that we’ve taken the game. Bigpoint has the license to HBO’s show, and they are a wonderful partner. We collaborate with HBO in every step of the process, from the production to business elements of the Game of Thrones MMO; we receive valuable feedback from HBO as everything is reviewed and approved before launch. Naturally, with any licensed IP, we want to ensure that the game represents the lore as authentically as possible, while keeping the community and fans enthusiastic.

Read more of Bill Murphy's Game of Thrones: Interview with Max Pfaff.

Link leads back to home page?

http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/790/feature/6418/Game-of-Thrones-Interview-with-Max-Pfaff.html

Sorry...had brain fade. Link is fixed now. :)

Hmm, well I suppose there are always options for implementing magic in ways that aren't actually magical, provided they intend to go that route; vials of oil combined with a flint, disease powders, poison gas, etc. 

My question is, how involved in the lore for Game of Thrones is the general gamer population? I'd never even heard of it until I saw gifs all over the net of the little dude slapping someone. I keep meaning to get into the show but never managed. Is the lore widespread and important enough for people to make up for a fantasy game without the elements people have come to expect from a fantasy game? That's not a rhetorical question, I'm genuinely asking. I don't know much about the universe nor its popularity, but if the combat boils down to everyone is a melee knight-type, I don't see its appeal. At least not for gamers like me who prefer mages and/or more subtle gameplay, like crowd control.

Honestly Gaean, if you haven't read the books or watch the show just do it. It's well worth the 10 hour investment (or 3 if you read the books).

And to the other point in your post - no idea. It's certainly been popularized by the show (for the mainstream), but has always been a constant in the fantasy lit community. My guess is that the lore is important and widespread enough for people to be accept the lack of magic - in fact it could even be a selling point; it's a staple in the series.

Not sure if that answered your question or not @_@

Originally posted by star
Now that I've thought about this - I'm curious to see if/how they're going to move the story along. Does this take place during the War of the Five Kings? Will House Greyjoy make an appearance? Is Renly dead - so does siding with Baratheon mean associating with Stannis? Is Ned Stark dead?

Very curious now...

Has already been answered previously.

It will be set in the War of Five Kings during which Renly is alive. Greyjoy is still out of the picture at that stage. I imagine based on the time frame it would be Renly and not Stannis that you align to, and Ned Stark should be dead (hence the war in the first place).

BigPoint is developing "Game of Thrones: Online"....

That's essentially at that needs to be said for us to move on with this fading shadow of a product before it's even out the door. I know I'm known for being very..."negative" on these forums, but when a company like BigPoint, whom ruined a good chance at a game for BSG:Online, no one should ever take them seriously.

Look at all of the products they've made. They can't be trusted with any sort of decent product, ever. 

If you need proof, go play BattleStar Galactica: Online made by BigPoint, and then tell me I'm wrong. PLEASE!

Originally posted by evilastro

Originally posted by star
Now that I've thought about this - I'm curious to see if/how they're going to move the story along. Does this take place during the War of the Five Kings? Will House Greyjoy make an appearance? Is Renly dead - so does siding with Baratheon mean associating with Stannis? Is Ned Stark dead?

Very curious now...

Has already been answered previously.

It will be set in the War of Five Kings during which Renly is alive. Greyjoy is still out of the picture at that stage. I imagine based on the time frame it would be Renly and not Stannis that you align to, and Ned Stark should be dead (hence the war in the first place).

Ah, thank you! Didn't know and good to hear :)

Bigpoint and sandbox ???

strange ....

It is a browser game, hence considering how fast they intend to get the game out it will have very little content.  I don't even think George Martin has any idea how shallow this game will be.

Maybe I miss something but the only "sandbox" I read about is PvP/sieging which does not equal sandbox to me and simply means it is all about battle. We have lots of this already out there. 

What about real sandbox things like the stuff the ... smallfolk (to stay in role) is doing, crafting, building houses, farming, affecting the landscape? For me "sandbox" means I have a moldable world and not just some props and scenery to stand in front of crossing swords. 

I think it's sweet that there is an mmo of Game of Thrones coming out. I just it was a full mmo with all the trimmings including blood, fatalities, nudity, etc. This is what the mmo industry is sorely lacking at the moment and I think it would be a huge hit if done right. With either a mega-server or cross-server functionaltiy.  With a combat game-play being a cross between age of conan and tera online.  Age of Conan had nearlly a million subs it's first few months of launch so the demograph is there, and with a name as popular as Game of Thrones is at the moment it would be huge.   

Will keep an eye on this one..

Was not a massive fan of their battlestar game but it worked well..

Originally posted by Fadedbomb

BigPoint is developing "Game of Thrones: Online"....

 That's essentially at that needs to be said for us to move on with this fading shadow of a product before it's even out the door. I know I'm known for being very..."negative" on these forums, but when a company like BigPoint, whom ruined a good chance at a game for BSG:Online, no one should ever take them seriously.

Look at all of the products they've made. They can't be trusted with any sort of decent product, ever. 

 If you need proof, go play BattleStar Galactica: Online made by BigPoint, and then tell me I'm wrong. PLEASE!

^^ I have to agree.

CGO of bigshot F2P company Bigpoint, Philip Reisberger, has hit out at big publishers trying to get into the free-to-play arena, taking a shot at Valve as he did so "There are millions, hundreds of millions of people willing to invest even though they aren’t obliged to. The crucial part of the design is not having to invest, but wanting to. Most people in the Bigpoint universe don’t ever pay. But if they want to pay, don’t just offer hats – offer them something that will help them.” Reisberger believes that players should be allowed to pay for a competitive advantage: “If selling an advantage ruins the game, you haven’t done the balancing right,” 

Below is the Link

Bigpoint CGO Criticises Big Pubs, Valve