Justin Webb: Why No Magic: The Gathering MMO?

 Because there's more money in the current model in which you buy packs to play online, and the current model is more stable than a traditional MMO setting.

Well, if they set up their Game like Mytheon it might work. Can't talk about it because of NDA, but there could be an MMO based CCG.

I just wish WoTC would have let Turbine or another company do a Forgotten  Realms MMO years ago or in the future even based on their terrible 4e game. I just want  to play in Faerun!

Yep Magic Online is already very good.

It could use a graphical revamp similar to the Planes walker game that recently released but It gets the job done.

The Magic game on Xbox Live seems to have done well enough. But it suffers somewhat from err "big corperate syndrome". Basically you can earn new cards, but can't actually customise the decks (not entirely true you can add the new cards, but nothing more). It looks like some higher up atoned "thou't shall not allow deck customisation... as it may affect physical sales". All but removing the first C from CCG.

The Microprose game was a masterpiece at the time, but if my memory serves it was years late and cost a huge amount to develop. So it at least had something in common with an MMO (inital release was buggy too) ;)

Wizards really go out of their way to create solid "worlds" for the various Magic expansions, far more than is strictly neccessary. Even the weaker examples would have made outstanding MMO settings (say Kamigawa Block). Alas the fiction's quality bounces around all over the place, somethings being genuinely solid, other times basically an extended product promotion.

Magic Online pretty much serves the "play MTG online" segment extremely well, which basically leaves the "MTG flavoured Wow-clone". Essentially letting the players "play" as one a member of one of the factions presented in each block (there tends to be thematic or color aligned factions each time out) and just encountering the major players in the world as it's normal residents would. This would allow both mediums to feed each other, while not canibalising market. Killing Gribbly monster X in a physical card game would more appealing if you'd been wiping on it's raid all week. And bypasses the problem of limiting the games "planewalkers" near deific powers.

While I could get excited about such a game, fitting into the ~1 year "block" turn around of the card game would be all but impossible. Even with the fantastic "head start" all the artwork produced for card game provides. Potentially targetting a simpler (and flatter) platform such as facebook games with such would be a possible avenue? Allowing a players social network as marketing (viral or not) as proven very cost effective so far.

Alas Hasbro, Wizards overlords havn't really seemed that interested in truly growing the brand.

Hell yes Magic:TG can be an MMO, and it's sad to see the game franchise only tap on RTS' up to now. The question is though - how do you make a traditional MMO that sticks to the card-games conventions? My version would use the following points;

• It'd be a combat MMO with pets as the primary weapon (as in the player only gets instant actions, artifacts and enchantments). You could have as many as you want out, as long as the mana pool holds up to a constant upkeep from keeping the summons out.

• Combat itself would be about draining the enemy's mana pool so that your hits actually connect for life. With that in mind, having a pet focus on him while his pet clobbers yours is not smart. Most battles would have pets fight each other and only go in for the kill if one player is empty or overextending his MP usage for a moment. Could take a while to fight, I'm sure.

• The mana pool would have to take the traditional route of "tapping land", so I would employ a bit of exploration as the route to getting stronger in that department. Maybe by exploring regions in a zone to unlock them, or by completing some quests in each one to unlock a greater event that grants it.

Meh, that's just a little, and I don't wanna get invested in the idea much more - cuz I used to to have a thing for the card game (nerd).

Edit; whoa, I didn't even know one was already out in MMO form.

Long answer - To much reworking required of a fairly simple ruleset and spell / mana system (not so simple anymore) to allow for players to use thier 1000's of avaliable spells in a variety of ways like most MMO's (in the card game you duel usually 1 on 1.. I dont see a system working for the plainswalkers to go out with thier army of monsters and array of spells to progress against mobs...thou it could. Since that isnt what the cardgame is about..

Short answer - Single player, rule issues, system reworking, ungodly powers, limiting choices, no classes, limiting spell progression and no trading (for the most part)

Basically it would lose alot in translation, if not gain a sort of new dimension to a very Artisticly deep game that is usually played for short periods of time.

Oh forgot the most important thing..........GOLD FARMERS, imagine what they would do with RARE card/spells if you could trade them or sell them....the cardgame was bad enough at one time, with cards in the many hundreds of dollars for something you would never even play with.  Or were restricted or banned...from tournament play.

But online...well that could change.

Yes if it was done like Mytheon or battleforge then yes I think it could work out.

Or even a traditional like MMO with monsters that come from actual cards, raids that are from actual decks (Anyone up for an iceage raid?), and monsters that not only drop gear but also cards to use in a most then have tcg mini-game. I also think magic would need lots of completely different areas. Red (lava/volcano/hellish/orc area), Blue (Water/island/icey/dwarv area), green (forest/mountain/grassland/elv area), white (city/human/tranquil area), black (swampy/graveyard/undead area), then Neutral (prolly pvp area). And of these I would think that also instead of weps having the traditional upgrades like +5% damage to Undead, or 10% bonus healing, they would instead get +10% damage to "green" type monsters or +5% bonus damage from instant type spells.

Basically I think MTG could be an traditional MMO. But I would think it would also need some very magic specific things (Enviorment bonuses, huge areas named after there decks, matching set bonuses (you all know those cards that say for every x amount of elf cards in your graveyard this card gets +2 atk/def crap)) With spell cards already being ones that are instant (can use whenever), cooldown spells (cards that can be used only on your turn), and spell cards that need certain conditions to be meant to be played (like once the other person plays a spell card you can negate its effect) also known as passive spells imo.

Magic is far more mmoey then you might think. But would need the lure and content that rivals WoW to get its full effect of the magic universe. Not to mention in no way, shape, or form could the mmo be cartoony, or wowish looking. But more horror MMO looking/life like looking.

I would play a magic mmo, that is what i thought magic online was gonna be, but instead it turned out for another way for a greedy company to take money for nothing.  i love magic and i love dnd, but i havent bought a single product of dnd since wotc took it over, mainly because i dont want the game to change every 6 months and have to go spend a thousand dollars on books.  wotc had a chance to really make dnd online a kickass online game, instead they put it in eberron and made you play with a robot.  welcome to dungeon and dragons meet final fantasy.  on top of that all the books and old writers are being told to kill your books  and characters cause we are sick of faerun, we want people to like eberron, and as long as faerun is there eberron will never take off, so they are gonna make people like eberron by leaving it the only world.

note:  all of that is just my opinion, i have no factual evidence they wotc is trying to kill faerun but it sure seems like it to me when i read the novels and stuff.

now for a magic online game, a real one not a boardgame simulator.

i have a basic mold for it.  when you start out as a level 1 planeswalker or whatever say you have ten cards to put in your deck.  the cards in your deck are your spells and each one takes mana which is land.  so in your packback you will have your deck which is your spellbook.  the lands in your deck will give you so much mana in a mana pool that replenishes over time during combat.  and you  just casts the spells, spells take effect just like in any other game.  as you level up and adventure you will find more cards to put into your deck and as you visit more lands you can get land cards to put in your deck.  say you are a red wizard and you start out in red wizard land, you can have mountains, but then later you go visit the island out in the middle of the blue wizard sea, you can add islands, but that involves moving into other wizards territory and you could get pvped. 

i think that could be a fairly good start to a game and make it a 3d adventure game not just a card game on the internet, but you keep the collectible card game format kind of still in it, and yes i would so play any real magic online game.  i loved that little computer game they had way back then and i think if they wanted to make a true online game like that computer game was they would make way more money than they think(gotta feed the legendary wotc greed). 

ps.  sorry for the rant above, hope yall read the second part of the post, i just get angry whenever i think about what wotc is doing to dnd.

Did they ever get Leagues back into Magic Online?  While I fully understand the need to get off the old limited original version of MtGO, there were a number of features that were put in the dumpster and have never returned.  Leagues were one function I loved and played in quite a bit.  Since the release of the 'upgrade' I've not spent a dime on MtGO.  No Leagues, horrible graphics, many other issues. 

I loved playing Magic back in the day, but it was when I had the disposable income to drop $100+ a month on it.  If you don't spend that much either online or on paper then you can't stay with the game. 

To the point of the article: Yes the Magic world does have enough meat to be made into an MMOish type game.  Just please don't let Wizards do it!

why does when something is succesful it also has to be an mmorpg. lets first get good other mmorpgs, with the success of wow and then talk further then trying to force a ccg into a mmorpg. the magic players will feels its not ccg like enough and the mmorpg players will feel it is not mmorpg enough. disaster waiting to happen, dont do it.

oh and bring leagues back to mtg online, missing it! probably was too cheap a way to enjoy the game.

That's the last thing I need! I spent over $400 a month at one time playing Magic: the Gathering. A friend of mine even traded his car for 10 rare Magic: the Gathering cards at a pawn shop. He had to get another friend just to drive him home.

I'm seriously not kidding about that.

Though, I did manage to sell a hand-ful of common dragons to another friend of mine for $172. That was a nice steal.

How would a Magic: The Gathering MMORPG even work exactly?

~Miles "Tails" Prower out! Catch me if you can!

Well, there are free multiplayer roleplaying game which have MTG as theme: MUDs. Several ones. :)

Also there is MTGO. MTGO is having a lot of flaws, but in the end, if you like MTG, it's worth it. I play MTGO every now and then, am there in a clan where we host weekly tournaments, leagues and similiar which is fun.

I think the biggest problem with an MTG MMO would be, that it's impossible to keep up to date. And a few years after release, most newer players couldn't really connect to it, since they only know the newer cards.

Still, there is BattleForge.

Ice Age was the last expansion I played.  I recently reinstalled Shandalar with the XP/Vista fix and am hooked.  I'm not sure if I would play an MMO but I would definitely keep an eye on it.  I just got tired of all the new rules they added with each expansion.  I still have all my cards but am locked into only playing people who didn't move on from 1995.

I think you all are missing the big idea. He's not talking about the card game into an mmo...You have Magic Online for that.

I think he is saying the world/story/lore from the cards/books and turning that into a world we could play in.

I envision taking the role of a new adventurer traveling around seeking knowledge and power playing toward the endgame where you have to take on the Planeswalkers or Legendary dragons.

At least that is what I took away from the article.

The Magic the Gathering world and lore that Wizards of the Coast created is vast and deep, it would be a perfect setting of which to base an mmo.

Nice write up.

I would play it if there was a subscription fee and no cash shop and if all the cards in the game were available only by playing the game.

But...they wouldn't do it that way would they?  No, just like the real world game they would want you to constantly buy new sets of cards.  Only in a mmo it would probably be worse because they would likely deliberately make old cards obsolete so you would have to buy new ones and you couldn't just say "screw it" and keep playing with your friends with the old cards.

I checked out that online game they have and when I saw that in order to play I would have to re-buy vitual versions of all the cards I had already bought physcal version of I just laughed and mentally told them to go to hell.

Originally posted by Socman75

I think you all are missing the big idea. He's not talking about the card game into an mmo...You have Magic Online for that.

I think he is saying the world/story/lore from the cards/books and turning that into a world we could play in.

I envision taking the role of a new adventurer traveling around seeking knowledge and power playing toward the endgame where you have to take on the Planeswalkers or Legendary dragons.

At least that is what I took away from the article.

The Magic the Gathering world and lore that Wizards of the Coast created is vast and deep, it would be a perfect setting of which to base an mmo.

Nice write up.

It sounds nice in words, but Magic as a game is in my vision really only awesome as a card game, and the lore is just awesome to bask in, not to be an actual part of. Then there's the issue of you, the player, who is a Planeswalker in the game. I don't see this happening, and if it would happen, I'd pray to the gods that it better be real, real good.

Originally posted by Neanderthal

I would play it if there was a subscription fee and no cash shop and if all the cards in the game were available only by playing the game.
You mean completly destroying the economy, the trade, the collecting part and so on would make the game better? oO Really?

But...they wouldn't do it that way would they?  No, just like the real world game they would want you to constantly buy new sets of cards.  Only in a mmo it would probably be worse because they would likely deliberately make old cards obsolete so you would have to buy new ones and you couldn't just say "screw it" and keep playing with your friends with the old cards.

I checked out that online game they have and when I saw that in order to play I would have to re-buy vitual versions of all the cards I had already bought physcal version of I just laughed and mentally told them to go to hell.
I know many people who switched from paper magic to the digital version or play both, and there are many reasons to do so. I started MTG in 94, switched to digital in 2002. I still got my paper cards but havent touched them for a loooooong time.
Later in the evening today I'll play some MTGO with friends, playing formats which as such can't exist in paper.

Originally posted by maji

Originally posted by Neanderthal

I would play it if there was a subscription fee and no cash shop and if all the cards in the game were available only by playing the game.
You mean completly destroying the economy, the trade, the collecting part and so on would make the game better? oO Really?

 

I don't understand what you're talking about.  I was talking about earning cards by playing the game (with a set subscription fee) as opposed to buying cards in a online store.

If you could explain to me why that would destory the economy, trade, and collecting part of the game maybe I could respond to your thoughts.

Isn't MTGO already a "MMO" (which seems to be a very loose term these days).

It's not an MMORPG. But it's definitely multiplayer, online and, depending on how you look at it, pretty massive.

Do we really need an RPG version of the game? MTG itself started out as a turn-based strategy variant of D&D. I don't think WoTC would want their successful CCG to compete for the RPG market with their already successful RPG.

Originally posted by Neanderthal

Originally posted by maji

Originally posted by Neanderthal

I would play it if there was a subscription fee and no cash shop and if all the cards in the game were available only by playing the game.
You mean completly destroying the economy, the trade, the collecting part and so on would make the game better? oO Really?

 

I don't understand what you're talking about.  I was talking about earning cards by playing the game (with a set subscription fee) as opposed to buying cards in a online store.

If you could explain to me why that would destory the economy, trade, and collecting part of the game maybe I could respond to your thoughts.
Sorry, I misunderstood you, I supposed you mean "play a subscription fee and get all cards for free instantly".

About playing the game to get cards: that's possible.
1) Just take part in tournaments, and there you go. If you are just an average player, you have, depending on the tournament, good chances to win stuff. If you are a good player, you can win loads and loads of stuff.

2) Also, you get free cards each month on mtgo anyway. Whenever you do stuff online, the game keeps track of that. The more active you are, the more bonus points you get (just for logging in you get some, for playing tournaments you get some more, for winning even more etc). At the end of each month, you get bonus cards for free depending on how active you were.

3) Also, there are bots and players giving free cards to newbies.

4) If you like trading, auction houses and similiar, you can also get cards for free if you are good at it.

5) And there are special events, where you can get bonus cards. Like when MTGO has it's annual birthday. Or last Halloween for example you just had to type into a thread "I want it" and you got some free stuff.

That's already 5 ways how to get cards for free on MTGO. And there is the option to pay money to buy boosters. I prefer all this stuff over a subsription fee any moment. I play MTGO now for 8 years. Get that, 8 years. The amount I'd have paid for subscription fees would be horrendous, and I'd feel pressed to play often. Without a subscription fee I can make a break for a month I too if I want to, without having to cancel any subscriptions and stuff, or I can play daily.

Also, some cards are online more expensive than their papery counterparts, but most are cheaper, because the competition among traders is higher (every mtgo player has access 24/7 to traders). You can get rares for like 5 cents already. You can get a deck that is powerful enough to participate in current tournaments for less than 20 bucks, and can create casual decks for just two or three bucks if you feel like it. Not to mention that you can tell WOTC to kill a set you have online, to send you the paper version. Cards online have a value. The system that is online, treating digital cards like paper cards, works and is successful. Changing it makes no sense. There is no reason why a digital version should be for free if a paper version is not. Many goods in our society exist only in virtual form and are still worth loads of money.
People shouting "they ain't real" are like people who saw a bank note for the first time, and say "but it's just colored paper! I stick to my gold nuggets!" Stuff is worth what people are paying. And people pay for digital stuff.

I'd love to play an MTG MMO. I've put so much time and money into MTGO as is, they could charge $100 a month and it'd still be cheaper.

Yeah, totally!

Lets turn MTG into Yu-Gi-Oh!

Wait a minute...

Honestly, I think it'd be interesting, but rather unnecessary. I've been playing the version they made for Xbox Live and thoroughly loving it, I really don't think they need to shove it into a 3D realm.

As Danabus said about Mytheon but include how Wizard 101 does their card based style game, it could possibly be a magnificent bastard child to make MTG a possible MMO with many ways to play.

To be fair - there are few games that have taken part of the Magic concept and made more grahpical versions of it.  Wizard101 has creatures and abilites played out in card form.  Battleforge uses card style even tho there isn't really much more to it.

I dont know if I would play MTG type MMO.  Basicly we are talking turn based gameplay and Im perfectly fine with that.  But I would rather see it done in the Atlantica way of doing it.  Or at least abit more graphical visuals than what Magic has to offer.

I highly doubt Hasbro would release the license to an outsider,they would have to remain in charge,that is why it would never be a good game.Even if they agreed to let someone make it ,while remaining in charge,it would most likely be  a cash shop game.There is no way a good game could come of this unless a developer was allowed a solely owned license and this will never happen.Merchandising would be included in a license or i should say not, as Hasbro would never let an outsider make any profits off the game.

If we get back to the license,i could only imagine how costly a license would be just to use the material such as artwork and mechanics,it would most likely be an unrealistic number,so large nobody would pay it.You probably are now aware tha ti cannot stand Hasbro at all,any kind of deal with them would leave a developer in chains ,bound to some unfair contract,one witch Hasbro could never lose money and the developer could gain little or lose large.

Originally posted by JonahFalcon

 Because there's more money in the current model in which you buy packs to play online, and the current model is more stable than a traditional MMO setting.

this, why change it.  As you said in the article they sell em for the same price as the RL cards even though they cost almost nothing to make.

Enough IP defiling has already been made!

LEAVE MTG out of it ffs!

I'd point out that Warcraft was not very "WoW-shaped" either.  They took the concept, audience and IP and made an MMO with it.

In a MtG MMO, I wouldn't make the players planeswalkers, I'd use them as the high-concept backdrop for the game - I'd make players the regular shmoo 1/1s going about their business who occassionally get randomly summoned off into the middle to duels between near-immortals only to be blasted randomly by cataclysmic spells.  Take a MTG expansion and treat each land as a zone and each other card as a major quest line/boss.  Make the story arc play out like a giant game of magic is being playing in the background.

Anyone here played Wizard 101?  Great game for the kids, but when I first tested it out I thought of Magic.   If you don't know what I'm talking about go look at some gameplay videos.  You use cards to summon creatures, cast spells, or buff yourself and teammates.  You can alter the cards in your deck and collect more in-game.  It's not exactly Magic.  You aren't battling other planeswalkers, instead  you are fighting simple ghosts with your card deck.  However, I could see this as some sort of base model for Magic to use.

I played magic from late 93 until 2000 or so and sold off my cards a long time ago. I turned my back on the franchise when I realized that 90% of my cards would never see a tourney again and most of my local friends stopped playing. I might try a mtg MMO as long as it was a box purchase and a monthly fee that let me gain cards/abilities more quickly than the current mtgo. The current online game is horrible because its like an MMO that is basically a side game with an item shop that sells things you can't use a few months down the road. 

Hasent this already been done with SOE's Legends of Norrath?  Or are we specifically talking about Magic as the IP?

SOE's Legends of Norrath was awesome...I just spent way too much time and money on it.  There is PvE, PvP and even Raid's with Raid Bosses that are challenging as all hell.

You can group to do the raids with up to 4 people last I played, but they had like 9 expansions now, so it might be more.

it is a F2P setup with ofcourse a store that sells card packs.  There is also an auction house setup that lets you trade and buy cards.

So again, unless you are speaking about specifically a Magic IP game...which I dont understand why you would unless you are nostalgic.......there is already Legends of Norrath out there that is VERY established and bug free that is plenty of fun as long as you have the time and money.

*EDIT*  I thought about it some more, and if you break it down to Money:Time, I think it actually was cheaper then a subscription model for me....it just was in bulk purchases as opposed to spread out which made me feel like it was more.  I think I dropped about $150 on this game on the store and played for about 12 months...so really $12.50 per month which is cheaper then the normal industry average of $15/month.  Just food for thought.

the idea of MTG MMO is perfect. I can only imagine how this could be awesome MMO. With the right implementation of game mechanics and sandboxy aspect this would be awesome. (mtg alone is very sandbox experience imho)

Originally posted by Timacek

the idea of MTG MMO is perfect. I can only imagine how this could be awesome MMO. With the right implementation of game mechanics and sandboxy aspect this would be awesome. (mtg alone is very sandbox experience imho)

Wonder why nobody mentions a Pokémon MMORPG with such enthusiasm? Sure, M:TG is more "Mature", but both are essentially the same.

~Miles "Tails" Prower out! Catch me if you can!

Originally posted by the_Riven

Originally posted by Socman75

I think you all are missing the big idea. He's not talking about the card game into an mmo...You have Magic Online for that.

I think he is saying the world/story/lore from the cards/books and turning that into a world we could play in.

I envision taking the role of a new adventurer traveling around seeking knowledge and power playing toward the endgame where you have to take on the Planeswalkers or Legendary dragons.

At least that is what I took away from the article.

The Magic the Gathering world and lore that Wizards of the Coast created is vast and deep, it would be a perfect setting of which to base an mmo.

Nice write up.

It sounds nice in words, but Magic as a game is in my vision really only awesome as a card game, and the lore is just awesome to bask in, not to be an actual part of. Then there's the issue of you, the player, who is a Planeswalker in the game. I don't see this happening, and if it would happen, I'd pray to the gods that it better be real, real good.

 You obviously haven't read the books. Yes it is a card game...but it is also a Fantasy world with real characters with a deep history. And I still am not meaning to bring any element of the card game to the mmo part of it. Who said you have to be a Planeswalker....I know that is the role you take as you play the card game. But what about just being one of the many races that inhabit the world?

I am talking about taking the card game out of it all together.  Where you maybe start the game as an elf whatever and have to battle orcs, goblins, angels, demons, dragons, soldiers, elementals, planeswalkers and maybe even legendary characters.

Not to mention the sights you could see....Library of alexandria, Ivory tower, the list goes on....

Just making a world off of the pictures and story on the cards and in the books. You don't have to be a wizard battling other wizards in a duel to the death.

I've hope I've made my point clearer now...I don't want a virtual card game.....I got that and I got the real thing...but to be able to exist in the Magic the Gathering world via an mmo  now that would be awesome.

Originally posted by Miles-Prower

Originally posted by Timacek

the idea of MTG MMO is perfect. I can only imagine how this could be awesome MMO. With the right implementation of game mechanics and sandboxy aspect this would be awesome. (mtg alone is very sandbox experience imho)

Wonder why nobody mentions a Pokémon MMORPG with such enthusiasm? Sure, M:TG is more "Mature", but both are essentially the same.

~Miles "Tails" Prower out! Catch me if you can!

seriously...they are not the same....if by same you mean they are both card games, then yes.....but then every mmog is the same?

They are not the same by any stretch of the imagination.

Originally posted by Socman75

Originally posted by the_Riven

Originally posted by Socman75

I think you all are missing the big idea. He's not talking about the card game into an mmo...You have Magic Online for that.

I think he is saying the world/story/lore from the cards/books and turning that into a world we could play in.

I envision taking the role of a new adventurer traveling around seeking knowledge and power playing toward the endgame where you have to take on the Planeswalkers or Legendary dragons.

At least that is what I took away from the article.

The Magic the Gathering world and lore that Wizards of the Coast created is vast and deep, it would be a perfect setting of which to base an mmo.

Nice write up.

It sounds nice in words, but Magic as a game is in my vision really only awesome as a card game, and the lore is just awesome to bask in, not to be an actual part of. Then there's the issue of you, the player, who is a Planeswalker in the game. I don't see this happening, and if it would happen, I'd pray to the gods that it better be real, real good.

 You obviously haven't read the books. Yes it is a card game...but it is also a Fantasy world with real characters with a deep history. And I still am not meaning to bring any element of the card game to the mmo part of it. Who said you have to be a Planeswalker....I know that is the role you take as you play the card game. But what about just being one of the many races that inhabit the world?

I am talking about taking the card game out of it all together.  Where you maybe start the game as an elf whatever and have to battle orcs, goblins, angels, demons, dragons, soldiers, elementals, planeswalkers and maybe even legendary characters.

Not to mention the sights you could see....Library of alexandria, Ivory tower, the list goes on....

Just making a world off of the pictures and story on the cards and in the books. You don't have to be a wizard battling other wizards in a duel to the death.

I've hope I've made my point clearer now...I don't want a virtual card game.....I got that and I got the real thing...but to be able to exist in the Magic the Gathering world via an mmo  now that would be awesome.

If we're talking about taking the lore and turning it into an MMORPG, then sure, I might give it a go.  But if we're talking the card game in an online setting, no, I never understood the draw of those games (my children did though) and it wouldn't work for me as a game.

Originally posted by Socman75

Originally posted by Miles-Prower

Originally posted by Timacek

the idea of MTG MMO is perfect. I can only imagine how this could be awesome MMO. With the right implementation of game mechanics and sandboxy aspect this would be awesome. (mtg alone is very sandbox experience imho)

Wonder why nobody mentions a Pokémon MMORPG with such enthusiasm? Sure, M:TG is more "Mature", but both are essentially the same.

~Miles "Tails" Prower out! Catch me if you can!

 

seriously...they are not the same....if by same you mean they are both card games, then yes.....but then every mmog is the same?

They are not the same by any stretch of the imagination.

In my defense I did say "essentially"! As both a hardcore Pokémon player and a veteran Magic: The Gathering player, I see the similarities in that you have "Monsters" that you use to attack your enemy. That's about the only comparison that can be made.

In retrospect, I should have worded it differently.

~Miles "Tails" Prower out! Catch me if you can!

Originally posted by hogscraper

 The current online game is horrible because its like an MMO that is basically a side game with an item shop that sells things you can't use a few months down the road. 

It's an MMO with an item shop, that's right. But also with the options to get everything that the item shop offers by other ways.

And "you can't use a few months down the road"? If you concentrate on playing only a single format, then that is your personal decision. It's you ignoring the largest part the game offers. In other words: the game is not horrible, your decision is horrible to pick only one of dozens of formats.

It's like saying "woah, what a rich feast I have here. Oh man there is cake, and there is soup, and here is prawn, and fresh bread fresh out of the oven, and there is some pizza and champagne and everything. Wait, there are noodles offered too? I dislike noodles, so I won't eat anything of the feast".

I dislike T2 too, the same as I dislike constructed tournaments in general as well as emperor. Does that mean I have no fun on MTGO? No, it just means that I play drafts instead. And elder dragon highlander, and tribal and momir basic and classic and rainbow stairwell and pauper.

Well, but as said, it's your opinion. If you enjoy a very narrow limited viewpoint, then stick to it. :) 

Magic's scale and scope will not cleanly map to a MMORPG, not saying another form of MMO couldn't be constructed (MMOStratigy) but the idea of a RPG based on the Magic IP (or rather derived from) I think is a much better option than trying to create a whole new sub genre.

From an RPG point of view the abstraction is prity strait forward and given the tone I assume the goal is a MMOStratigy (or what ever you would call it). There have been a few attempts at this Dramlords come to mined in Dremlords you played as a dreamlord not dissimilar to the Magic idea units and lands would map fairly cleanly to mana and monsters magics to the various spell/status/event cards so why isnt it done?

1. Magic makes good moeny the way it is
2. The current fan base wouldn't likely be satisfyed by the RTS like result since the turnbase system would have to go most likely
3. MMO Stratigy games have yet to find there nitch in the gamer community where most electronic stratigy players are used to the RTS build and conquer formula as opposed to the tactical use of a finite set of units, from the point of view of an old RTS player Dreamlords was not a good RTS

Now back to the idea of a derivative game as opposed to direct use of the IP, personaly I would prefer a RPG but back to the stratigy idea, by deriving from as opposed to directly using the IP you could avoid issue #2 listed above and issue #1 is no longer of concern at all but issue #3 is still a glaring problem and a bit beyond the scope of this thread but I think is why we dont have a notable MMOStratigy in the flavor Magic

 i dunno i keep think WoW or Chaotic prettymuch set a template for Magic: Online

Real cards have a code on them. Enter the code to get a digital power/item. Digitial items are seperate from physcial so if you loose or trade the digitial you don't have to give up the physical and vice versa. (thats all mostly from the Chatic TV show)

 I'd definately check it out.

Shandalar, i still play it would love to see them do something more with it. A mmo might be interesting.

sorry not that experienced in magic but one thing I thought of when reading this.

If you are gonna do these graphically how are you gonna handle situtations like when my merfolk swarm deck goes against my friends spore swarm deck. We could have over a hundred minions fighting against each other just for 2 players so you'd need to consider this when showing how they would fight. Also if i bring out a big creature load it up with equipment stick on a couple enchantments and use all my mana to pump up it's firebreathing ability I want this monster to look pretty awesome. How would you handle the swarm while still letting our big monsters look cool?

One thing I often hear about is people arguing over the exact rules, not just what are the official rules for cards but what rules people want to play by. Would we need a seperate server for each rule set or would we go into pvp and spend the first 5 minutes arguing which bylaws of the rules would applly in this battle before we even get started.

sorry if I got something just plain wrong, still sorta new to magic.

thing that worries me about SoE making the one game is that they are money grubbing whores when it comes to those types of games. Pox Nora got bought by thema few years ago and as soon as it happened about 5 different expansions got released with tons of new cards in about a year. they increased the amount of cards you could hold to move people towards buying more and more cards to get the rare and exotic ones to have amazing decks.

strategy did play a part in winning, but a person with tons of cards that has spent tons of money in game would steam roll anyone who didnt have those cards. so it forced you to spend a lot of money to be competative in the higher ranks unless you got lucky with a few packs.

I figure they will do the same thing with the game they are going to make for WotC.

one game that is similar (with the card collecting aspect) is saga online (playsaga.com) you can get free active accounts from different sites, just check the forums.

its a semi-persistant mmorts. the cards are your units and there are different tiers to the cards (common, uncommon, rare, legendary) you have your own town you can build and also different territories you can build up. you also can attack other people's territories to get different resources and there are PvP tournies. it isnt turn based but its still pretty fun imo.

.

Because they are too busy cranking out a new expansion every other day so it chases a lot of their playerbase away due to the insane cost of staying competitive.

I played years ago from Beta up until around Mirage, but I had to quit because I wanted to buy, you know...a house.

If they animate the brilliant artwork of the cards into 3D creatures, hell yes I would play this as an MMO. Magic was my favorite game ever...had to detox I was so addicted at one point.

Why would they do it? They want you purchasing boosters, not playing to acquire boosters. The core gameplay is fueled by money, not many people would be playing a MMO like this, there would be no point to achieve something better than the current Magic Online game, the revenue would be the same but the development costs would be far higher.

Well, that's why I wouldn't be playing it, I hate this concept of gameplay. I had my Magic times but they were mostly restricted to the trials you get with a limited card pool and connectivity time, or in RL with a deck purchase and a few boosters against a few friends with a similar budget spend on the cards (anyone with a far more complex *cough* that invested a lot more money *cough* deck would crush us like nothing), I'm not really going to spend 100$+ in cards just to become competitive, it's a ridiculous expense IMO, though I do admire the infinite strategies the game features (unfortunately it includes an infinite cost to support that infinity of strategies).

Didn't enjoy Battleforge for the same reason.

And that's why I enjoy and LOVE Guild Wars, its concepts comes more from Magic than DDO, and it doesn't charge you to acquire skill versatility (well, some time later they added the PvP unlock packs, but you can still become competitive VERY quickly without spending a single dime, not to mention anyone playing before the unlock packs would already be competitive), heck, to top it off it doesn't even charge a monthly fee (ok, it is not a MMO, but GW2 will be and still won't feature a monthly fee).

Would I play a Magic The gathering MMO?

Sure, if it weren't made in the WoW mold as you mention in your column. That'd be the dealmaker for me.

This card game is OK as it is now, let it be,  you know the fun of the game is the imagination of yourself as a Wizard vs another Wizard in a cataclysm battle of magic sorcery and summons, I see that not being able to virtualize on an MMO nowadays... sorry.

 I definitely would play a MTG mmo. I am a long-time fan of the table-top card game but I refuse to play Magic online and pay real money for virtual cards when I would rather buy real cards instead that I can hold in my real hands, lol.

I can only see card games like Magic functioning as mini games in an MMO..

Tough there is a good buiseness model possible.

You need to find the cards ingame from quests and drops and winning them somehow.  And later on you can buy those cards you find in the itemshop so you can add them to your real live gamepack...

This would be the future of the itemshop, you buy thing you got ingame and get a real life replica.. So the itemshop sells merchandise...

Originally posted by Lord.Bachus

I can only see card games like Magic functioning as mini games in an MMO..

Tough there is a good buiseness model possible.

 

You need to find the cards ingame from quests and drops and winning them somehow.  And later on you can buy those cards you find in the itemshop so you can add them to your real live gamepack...

This would be the future of the itemshop, you buy thing you got ingame and get a real life replica.. So the itemshop sells merchandise...

 

 

This happens with the current MtG Online. If you get one of every card in a collection, you can choose to be sent a physical version of every card (you need the full virtual collection to claim the real one). At least they offered that a long time ago, I don't know if this offer is still up.

Well... that's kinda like you idealized.

As I mentioned I don't see why they would let you acquire cards by playing the game, the current way MtG works is that you purchase the boosters from them or cards from other players, the essential fuel for you to "progress" is... money, not time. Time is the major factor for progression in a real MMO (money lets you bend time in F2Ps, but you will still need time, even if its half of what you would need with that extra XP, or half of what you would need to acquire certain gear without paying).

Of course, it would be great to be able to acquire cards by playing, but then how would they make the money? Extra stuff to destroy any balance? Or monthly fees and perhaps selling "access" to different collections? Kind of like Guild Wars if you think about it, each campaign gives you access to a pool of skills for you to acquire through gameplay or through unlock, but then it betrays screws up all the value of their franchise and the current customers (or if you want to think in a cold way, it completely changes how their business works), that is, if they make a MTG real MMO to represent the card game.

So it's not that easy or simple to make a real MMO for MtG.

Justin trolling MMORPG.com once again.

4/10

Oh hells yes, someone else in this thread plays Legends of Norrath. I swear that TCG has the smallest user base, barely anyone outside of EQ/EQII subscribers. 

It would make a very attractive open world sadbox full-loot pvp MMO. No mobs; players only.

Jump upon a player from an ambush, play a game of Magic with him and the winner takes the losers deck.

The loser has to start all over again with the Perl Unicorn, Merfolk of the Pearl Trident, Mons Goblin Raiders and their friends.

Instead of just reading a press release could he have not contacted SOE for a brief statement? What is the point of this site having staff writers if their insider knowledge is no greater than our own?

I would love magic: the gathering MMO

Originally posted by EricDanie

I'm not really going to spend 100$+ in cards just to become competitive, it's a ridiculous expense IMO, though I do admire the infinite strategies the game features (unfortunately it includes an infinite cost to support that infinity of strategies).

First, if you spend 100$ and become competetive, that's moneywise still more efficient, than playing an MMORPG for several hundred hours to become competetive. The subsription fee of the MMORPG would add up, not to mention how much you could have earned in these hundreds of hours of gamelpay.

Second, if you want to have the most expensive deck then that's your decision. Competetive tournament decks can be already aquired for 20$.

Third, there is are also limited formats like drafts. There, everyone got the same chances, and if you play well enough and win often, then it's absolutely for free (since you constantly win new boosters and can even sell the contents of the old ones).

And fourth: you make it sound as if the only way that exists in MTG are constructed tournaments. Apart from the already mentioned limited ones, there are actually also people who like to play casual or multiplayer games. And there you can have a working deck for a few €.

I don't understand it when people constantly say "to play magic, you need a 100$ deck which changes each month". Well if the only thing you have fun with is playing T2 constructed tournaments, then bad luck for you. :)

 It is certainly possible to spend 5$ or less and make a reasonably effective deck for MtGO. I play some but it's a rather shallow experience, mostly just 1 off duels, no one talks much, no "progression" like most other online type games and there certainly is an obvious difference between players that have spent big and those and don't. I'd love to see a MtG MMO, but seems pretty obvious that Wizards doesn't want it to happen.... sad because I think it could be a great and unique MMO. 

Absolutely I would play one [MTG MMORPG].

WotC does such great, quality work on all their IPs who *couldn't* test it out? Not to mention the extreme mathematical foundation to the game (Garfield was a math professor if I recall?), means balanced play (potentially someone with a solid foundation of discrete differentials to ensure all variables are 'kept in line' rather than constant, never-ending 'balancing'?).

And the artwork.... we know 3 things about WotC artwork. They do it big, they do it beautiful, they do it best. What fantasy diehard doesn't have wizards(dot)com as a location to browse pictorials or concept art? And we're not just talking detailed artwork, we're talking groundbreaking conceptual art that still maintains a footing inside acceptable boundaries where fantasy is concerned.

And, as OP touched on, MTG inspired most, if not all, MMORPGs. If not directly, indirectly. Granted, MTG was likely inspired from DnD to a severe degree, but it would be hard to argue against the titan-esque presence MTG has had, and continues to have, in the fantasy role-playing arena, cross-genres. With an *active* playerbase of 12million, that's a lot of loyal fans.

Finances. More than likely, as has previously been stated, there's no desire to build an MTG MMORPG because the cards provide a revenue that would be hard to match. Botch up the MMORPG (which already has a titan, and also the knowledge of how MMORPGs are so hard to 'get right'), and you potentially might see some of your loyal playerbase get turned off by the IP altogether. If it ain't broke, as they say, don't fix it.

The 5-color scheme with its symmetrical base (one color has 2 opposite colors as 'enemies') yet its asymmetrical playstyle, is a genius concept no other game to date has been able to match, at least not quite as well. To have the masters at WotC release a gaming product that has the variance and depth of play that we witness in the Magic card game would be... breathtaking inside the current, stagnant MMORPG list of offerings.

Oh! and the lore as well is so deep, so twisting, so rich. Multiple planets with iconic planeswalkers and a plethora of denizens would provide limitless expansion options by today's MMORPG standards.

The gameplay would obviously could not be allowed to stay 'true to form'. Collecting cards and doing online battle doesn't meet the computer-gaming medium on its terms- if I want to play a game of cards, I'll dust off some box sets and hit up the local comic shop for FNM. Why would I want to log into a virtual world and not be able to use the cards I actually have IRL? The game would need to be ability-based to meet the acceptable terms of the MMORPG masses, and only the lore and IP remain 'true to form'. Battle, clearly, would need to be tweaked. But perhaps this is why WotC claimed 'no plans for an MTG MMO'?

Regardless of if the statement was official, or a line, one could only hope.

Originally posted by xoring

Isn't MTGO already a "MMO" (which seems to be a very loose term these days).

It's not an MMORPG. But it's definitely multiplayer, online and, depending on how you look at it, pretty massive.

 

Do we really need an RPG version of the game? MTG itself started out as a turn-based strategy variant of D&D. I don't think WoTC would want their successful CCG to compete for the RPG market with their already successful RPG.

 Good shout - MTGO is an MMO, I suspect it is not thought of as one because it's not in the same mould as the vast majority. The multi-player functionality is not the same, as you're competing against a single opponent at a time, even in larger tournaments.

I put some thought into this a while back, because as an IP you struggle to find a stronger gaming brand - MTG holds probably holds even greater dominance of the Collectable Card Game (CCG) world than WoW does in MMOs. Gameplay ideas were as follows:

• You start off as a very weak generic character, progressing through tasks/quests/grind/equipment to higher power levels.
• You can develop abilities/skills which enable you to cast quicker, develop physical abilities, use complex artifacts etc through study or experience
• Your avatar is capable of combat and artifacts can be used to increase your combat effectiveness.
• You start with a small selection of spells and mana threads in your "library" and more can be bought, collected, won, looted and then the "deck" customised.
• Mana threads can be found and bound to you by travelling through various lands and types of environment (volcanic mountains - red mana etc)
• In any situation, you have a certain level of mana available to you, based on the number and power of mana threads in your deck. The number and power of these threads also determine how quickly these reserves of mana regenerate.
• Spells in your deck have a cooldown based on the number/efficiency/quality of the "cards" you have found/looted etc. EG, a low level bear spirit, captured after defeating a bear in the world, may give you a small black bear - the bear summoned once you've defeated the bear avatar of a particular demi-god might grant you a 15-foot rampaging Kodiak bear.
• Quests/Tasks can be used to introduce you to controls, develop skills, grant rewards and encourage travel.
• Combat can be handled between avatars and you can summon beasties to follow basic commands - attack, defend, fetch etc. Summoned creatures have a finite life-span and can be killed like regular mobs in the world.

That's a little thought behind the players, now the world....

• Dominara is an ideal perfect setting. Generic enough to be easily introduced, with a base set of conditions/rules.
• Further worlds are accessible through travel and can be opened up through expansions - just as WoW introduced Outlands in the Dark Portal expansion, a new sphere in the multiverse such as the city world of Ravnica could be an expansion, with new conditions to familiarise yourself with. Essentially as a new world, new physics and mechanics can exist, allowing the later card rules (flash, suspend, storm etc) to come into being.
• Multi-player activity can be encouraged through the use of dungeons or difficult/epic level encounters. The huge volume of characters (Elder Dragons, Legendary heroes, existing planeswalkers, Ravnica Guildmasters, Dragon Primarchs etc) gives a wide array of options for dungeon raids, environmental encounters etc.
• The card rarity naturally translates to a system which gives everyone quite simple access to the basic spells, but encourages travel and adventure to procure rarer and more powerful spells and abailities.

I'd definitely play it if it came along, but I'm not holding my breath over the next year or so!

Ads

As if we need more mmo's for folks to complain about and bury before they even see it.....

A MTG MMO is one of those things thats going to happen one way or another even if that means its just a MTG like MMO. It's one thats been talked about for way to many years by way to many people. I would rather see Wizards do one with the MTG IP and mechanics etc. But if they don't I am fairly confident that others will do so and create a some what similar CCG aspect for it.

 Heh , a MTG MMO as a card game would be in ruins after a week or so of launch. I can already see a sorry soul hacking in 400 black lotus or ancestral recalls and really screw up the economy.  Sorry but I cannot see a MTG MMO card based game being released only because of the human factor.

  On the other side you got the MTG MMO as a open world with spells and lore , it's a good idea and surely there is a good reason why Wizards haven't done one already. With all the expansions in their hands , they got enough content to keep us busy for 5 years and still not be able to reach end game.  But when I look at the big picture,what would make a MTG MMO any different then what we currently have? Someone mentionned a MTG MMO with a Atlantica Online battle system , I have to admit I've had a boner when I thought about it , it would seriously kick ass.

  Take STO and SGW for examples , pretty sweet TV series, but STO really kicked me in the balls and SGW looks dead in the water for the time being. And Star wars...let's just hope they do something good out of it. My point is it's really hard for anyone to take a real life concept and turning it into a fonctionnal MMO without screwing up the lore of the existing product.  STO really hurt me , you got more admirals then ensign currently online . And the damn thing was released for a month ! Good thing I still got EVE !

  Anyways , I'm not planning on seeing a MTG MMO in my lifetime.

Enjoy your debates ! 

I have played Magic since I was a kid and I have played Magic Online for a while now off and on.  I really enjoy the game, but never really got into the spinoffs.  I am really excited about Magic the Gathering Tactics, and if done right I could see it turning into a great MMO.  The problem is greed would probably rule over gameplay and instead of mechanics like going out and beating an enemy or doing a quest to learn a spell or summon players would buy them. 

Magic lends itself to tactics, and turn based tactics at that.  In an MMO I would imagine it would basically be a social game with a tactical battle system like what Magic Tactics would bring to the table.

YO, SOE did not make Pox Nora they just swept in, bought it, and then pulled an unwanted revamp of the entire game raping it of its customization and have since lost numerous players.  It was like SWG all over again accept this time I just had to sit and watch it unfold as I cried many tears when SOE bought it, then said that it didn't appeal enough to new gamers, and then burned the existing playerbase.

Those card games that SOE did make are blatant ripoffs of existing games, are undersupported, and have been left to slowly die while players lose their investments because there is no one to play with.  Instead of actually inventing a card game and doing something smart like implementing the same mini game across all of their games and in a stand alone client ensuring the game would live on and have a healthy playerbase they just stole others ideas, implemented them poorly, and after a time they again burned their existing playerbase.  I am sure you can find the Free Realms card game being supported and updated heavily for now until they move on again.

Now they are making Magic the Gathering Tactics with Wizards, and I hope to god they don't screw it up like they did almost every other online game they touched.  Please god keep all things SOE out of any talks of a MMO version of Magic.

A Magic MMO is as easy to create as they come.  Combine the Magic format with Heroes: Of Might and Magic design and you have your MMO. 

Combat can be turned base and you can move around as an Avatar on the different planes.  In order to collect mana you have to defeat other players or zones. I also say that when you have pvp, each player will randomly select a card from their deck.  This card will be your reward if you win.  And the card that is selected can not be played at anytime during this conflict. 

I've always thought it would be really cool to have an Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic type MMO. It has very similar qualities to Magic: the Gathering in that you use monsters and spells to do combat. But I've always thought it would be even cooler to be able BE the monsters. Some of them cast spells, some of them don't. As you "level" you gain access to bigger, badder monster/character types, but a good army would have lots of different monsters, so players could downgrade to Archer ( as an example) from a Dark Knight or Vampire. Same would be cool in a Civilizations type format in my opinion.

One of the drawbacks would be the "Wizard" or "Ruler". Who (if anyone) would get to play the Overseer or Commander type? Maybe a developer, or a hired person? They would have to have pretty thick skin. And who's to say anyone would listen to them or follow them, considering the amount of players who prefer to simply "do their own thing" rather than fight for the overall good of their chosen faction?

I would love this more than anything else ever, ever, if it were done even halfway well. I played in Shandalar for countless hours, and would still go back periodically if I could figure out how to make it work in Windows 7. (As an aside, if anyone knows, please please tell me?) I love that game. A great many changes would need to be done to make it fit, but it could work well, and yes there is just about all the concept work done already for locations.

But, as someone said, there is not really the potential for more profit in this, and there is certainly a great deal of work involved in bringing it to light. I do not expect to see this, ever. Duels of the Planeswalkers (not the awesome thing in Shandalar, the new one of the same name), if something I enjoy on the XBox and that is as close as it will get for me, I believe.

Originally posted by Cernan

Anyone here played Wizard 101?  Great game for the kids, but when I first tested it out I thought of Magic.   If you don't know what I'm talking about go look at some gameplay videos.  You use cards to summon creatures, cast spells, or buff yourself and teammates.  You can alter the cards in your deck and collect more in-game.  It's not exactly Magic.  You aren't battling other planeswalkers, instead  you are fighting simple ghosts with your card deck.  However, I could see this as some sort of base model for Magic to use.

 

 

 

 

Yes i played Wiz 101 to the end.The concept is nice but to be a good MMORPG using the same format,the game would have to be 100x bigger in every aspect including cards,mechanics,artwork needs to be more mature,better content than just running for miles to do boring quests.I do think the pet idea in W101 is nice,everyone likes those,but should be expanded to actually be useful.No matter ,it will never happen anyhow,we are just hoping/dreaming,Hasbro would release a pile of junk item mall game that would cost hundreds a week to play.

The answer to this is the same reason we will never see Warhammer or Warhammer 40K game like the tabletop

Because if there is an MMO of Magic the Gathering it lowers the reason to play the CARD GAME and they want people to keep palying the card game

@topic

I was hoping the same thing to happen.. It will really be a cool game when that happen.

I ALWAYS said that Magic would make a great MMO however they decide to do it.. as would Pokemon... hope to see one of them..

 Man it has been awhile

http://www.mmorpg.com/blogs/fansede/082007

Yes, Magic the Gathering Online could work. But its a buttload of work

Here's my thoughts on a MTG MMO:

While it may be tempting to directly translate the table game to an action rpg, you must resits that temptation. The way to do this would be to make it WoW / Guild Wars --esque. At character creation (or during beginning tutorial) you chose your main color (class) and then through a series of 4 other different quest arcs you chose your secondary color (sub-class). The spells you get would be loosely based on cards from their respective colors and have the special multicolored spells be either through cooperation of other people (I.E. one B/U person and one B/W person could cast a spell that was BWU multicolored) whereas the individual would have their personal special dual colored spells.

Furthermore, the enemies you'd face would be loosely based on MTG critters: Goblins, Kavu, Elves, Slivers, etc. And your big raid bosses would be the big named baddies: Nicol Bolas, Crovax, Yawgmoth, etc.

In addition to all of this normal fairly mainstream MMO, the mobs would have chances to drop loot like any normal game. However, this is where you can incorporate the more hardcore MTG & MMO junkies, the mobs have chances to drop their respective cards, or similar cards. You can then build your deck and duel players, have tourneys, etc etc. This way you draw the people that are one or the other into both. You pull people that only play MTG to play MMO's and you pull MMOers into MTG. Probably, the people that are MTG players will continue playing the CCG and continue to buy packs and such but the people that have never tried MTG are suddenly drawn into it and MAY start buying the boosters, play tourneys, FNM, so on and so forth. This is the way to make a MTG MMO. Not only that, but it would be fairly easy to produce (in the creating an MMO sense of easy, meaning, not at all--but not impossible) and it would be even easier to market and get people to play.

My idea for a MTG MMO would be this

Like any good MMORPG this game will need a very big world. In this case the land of Dominaria. This world was the starting area for the card game and I believe that should stay the same for this MMORPG.

For this game to really feel like Magic The Gathering it would need to be based on a Skill system not a Class system like other MMO's. With a skill system one could truly design a character that would feel like its one of a kind. Having the ability to mix and match what skills and colors you want. Also would give players who mix and match more specialized spells that are multi-colored. And with a skill system you could unlearn skills and learn new untill you find the right mix for you.

Anyone who has played the card game knows the differences between a players creature. Some have a very high toughness others have high power and a few have powerfull spells or abilitys.

In this MMO some things would have to be different from the card game. As a player you would not get to summon a legend to fight for you. Instead you would become the legend that does the fighting. For anyone who knows some of the storys that the card game is based on or have read any of the books they know what I'm talking about.

Players would be able to chose how they want to fight. One could sit back and summon a few creatures to fight for him or learn how to cast a lighting bolt. All of the choices would be up to the player and what kind of style of play they like.

Areas of advancement for the character could be broken down into a few categories.

1) The body of the charater would be one of the first areas for improvement.
You could chose from a very large field of skills in many different categories. For instance Health, Strength, Mind and others.

2) Magic would have a very large selection for categories such as Sorcery, Summoning, Enchantments, Healing, Curses. All of the different areas would change for the different colors and what they teach. For instance Red is well known for direct damage spells and would have alot of fireball spells while blue would have counter spells. All of the different colors would follow the same path and change based on what they are known for.

3) Combat would follow the same style the different colors would have new skills that you could learn. For instance white is known for having first strike and in MMO tearms would translate into fast speed. Every color would have some of the basics but would all be very different.

If a Magic the Gathering MMO was made right it could could easily be one of the best games ever made just because it is a great IP.

If made right a mtg game could really have some potential. I just fear that they would try to milk it for as much money as possible, and it would become the biggest cash shop mmo ever made. If they make it pay to play with no means of buying cards other than an in game auction house where people can sell and trade I would be interested. I do think that they would try to figure out a way to try and sell spells and abilities to the players though like they do with the regular card game.

While I am fine with buying card packs and collecting the real cards, I do not enjoy paying for extra things like that in my online games. Pay to play or I sadly will not play. Thats just my opinion though, as I know a lot of people like free to play games and buying things to get powerful. I am just not one of those people.

I believe MMO's spend too much time and money investing in established IP's. It usually means the game is a theme park style game and it's entire purpose is to indulge yourself into a strict and confined atmosphere. I play MMO's for the community and the flexibility in what I can do to shape the game.

Originally posted by JonahFalcon

 Because there's more money in the current model in which you buy packs to play online, and the current model is more stable than a traditional MMO setting.

Totally agree with this... Besides, it would be much better to spent your money on the things which you can really hold on to.. not on a virtual world... *Very unstable

Originally posted by corwindear

Originally posted by JonahFalcon

 Because there's more money in the current model in which you buy packs to play online, and the current model is more stable than a traditional MMO setting.

 

Totally agree with this... Besides, it would be much better to spent your money on the things which you can really hold on to.. not on a virtual world... *Very unstable

Obv that doesn't apply to MTG for their growing success with MTG:O. The accessability of MTG:O outweighs the physical value of the cards

Originally posted by Stradden

MMORPG.com columnist Justin Webb focuses his sights this week on Wizards of the Coast's Magic IP and why we haven't seen an MMO version of it yet.

The journey to bring the Magic: the Gathering game online has been a bumpy one.

The Microprose “Shandalar” game was a promising start. In this 1997 PC game (and its two sequels), players ventured across a large 2D landscape in search of the planeswalker Azarkon. Monsters were killed by defeating them at Magic. New cards for your deck could be found from NPCs, stores, and as loot from monsters. Players could also fight their way through dungeons, trying to get to the final boss while managing their health between fights (kinda like an instance). There were rudimentary attempts at character progressions, deck building, inventory, gold, towns, etc. Players couldn’t play in the world together, but there was a multiplayer matchmaking option where players could duel online. The best bit was that you could play with all the old power cards. Sounds quite MMO-ish in places, right?

Read Why No Magic: The Gathering MMO?

You know, I honestly do not believe Wizards of the Coast would want a MMO since it would hurt its current card industry. As proof I give you Wizard 101. Wizard101 is a very successful mmorpg that incorporates a card combat system. including buffs, debuffs, powerful attacks cards that act like artifacts. shields, creature cards. In all aspects the card system for Wizard101 is very similar to Magic the gathering. In fact one could only make a assertion that Wizard101 was inspired by MTG.

 I do not believe we will ever see a MTG MMORPG. Unless perhaps they follow a similar pay as you go system like Wizard101..  They already have that kind of system for the card game online.

Originally posted by xpowderx

You know, I honestly do not believe Wizards of the Coast would want a MMO since it would hurt its current card industry. As proof I give you Wizard 101. Wizard101 is a very successful mmorpg that incorporates a card combat system. including buffs, debuffs, powerful attacks cards that act like artifacts. shields, creature cards. In all aspects the card system for Wizard101 is very similar to Magic the gathering. In fact one could only make a assertion that Wizard101 was inspired by MTG.

 

 I do not believe we will ever see a MTG MMORPG. Unless perhaps they follow a similar pay as you go system like Wizard101..  They already have that kind of system for the card game online.

 

Well as for me, it will still depend on the pricing hopefully it will be cheaper compared to the real ones.

2 Words....

HELL YES!

I read all these posts focusing on the cards themselves.  What you are forgetting is there is a very rich world full of wonders that would be perfect for an MMO.

Each expansion in the card game has it's own story line and setting.  I'm thinking numerous expansions here.  Or many intertwining worlds through teh realm of the planeswalkers. 

Look past the rules of the card games and read into the lore.  This is something I have been wanting to see for a long long time.  They just need to do it correctly, hell....take it to blizzard and let them have the license.  They would at least do it justice.

Hell the card game could even be put into the game as an in game shop.  To where you could "duel" other players for gold or other goods that you as players would be willing to put up.  Forget using summons, pets, or whatever to play the game.  Create your own character, pick a class / color combination.  And become a part of the MTG World!

Nuff said!

Oh and just imagine taking a raid of characters through a dungeon to face Nicol Bolas......or a Shivan Dragon...how about a Crimson Hellkite?

Take your band of players into the Howling Mines to face the legions of goblins and their goblin king.

Seriously this game would be the end all be all of fantasy based MMO's.

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Originally posted by KryalisEssentially letting the players "play" as one a member of one of the factions presented in each block (there tends to be thematic or color aligned factions each time out) and just encountering the major players in the world as it's normal residents would.

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Hell yes.

5-way faction warfare. Black, blue, white, green and red, probably based on Dominaria (which has plenty of factions to side with for each color).

Fighting over Thran artifacts... Hmm.

I would really like to know who we would have to convince that this would be an very good game and that it should be made.

 WoW was about as far away from the RTS that bears its name as possible, and its done pretty well.  I think the lore and world possibilities in Magic could do the same thing for a 'traditional' fantasy MMO.  I'd play it, used to love the card game.

Because I am in such big favor of this idea I have created an online petition.  If you wish please sign! 

MTG MMMORPG ONLINE PETITION

SIGN SIGN SIGN!