Well actually the thought of a Mythical MMO like Harry Potter would be sound in design i think. Make the Structure like SWG sandbox with skills and professions with the trainers to go to.
You could make it so that as you level you can get better capes wands, potions depending on what class your in, diffrent mounts and some sweet PVP.
You could have Wizards vs Warlocks like the Rebel and Imperial setup, and make like 4 factions to be a part of. Elves, Warlocks, Demons, or Witches, or somthing along those lines.
Mounts could range from Brooms to Flying dragons depending on your alignment and skill level. All in All i think something like this would be kewl to play.
What in heavens name is so wrong about a Harry potter MMO? Its not like you HAVE to play it. That does not take away that the IP definetly has potential for an MMO. Sure it might turn into a kids MMO, but so what? Its not like there are many MMO's for children out there. The game can take place in hogwarts, keep it simple.
I don't see how they can turn the harry potter series into a mmo. The series is very linier and only a few places are ever actually mentioned in the books, which is probably why they have only made single player games out of them.
I can see a multiplayer quiditch or whatever that broom football type game is called, as a succesful fantasy sports multiplayer game. But it would be more like guild wars diablo etc, which aren't mmos.
edit: oh to that guy who asked how you felt about the ending of the books, tbh it sucked, was as predictable as i thought it would be, ended up finshing the book in little over 6 hours, good time killer though
first of all for the age thing yes you would get alot of people playing who are younger but just because it was orginally aimed at the younger generation 9-15 in 1997 dosn't mean its the only people reading the books my grandmother my mother and myself all read the books and im sure if i gave my great grandmother the book to she would absaloutly enjoy them lets not forget that lotr was orginally aimed at children too.
as for the class thing in harry potter there are many "sub classes" i guess you could call them of mage transfiguer, herboligist,forute teller, ect... or they could do it on they way you cast spells (agressive,defensive,acrobatic) kind of like the diffrent jedi/sith fighting forms. plus the world has sooo many secrets to it like hidden chambers and passegway that would be very intresting to discover. as for hogwarts it could either be the first 20 levels or what ever or many other ways of doing it. i would like to see an exciting story to it but i don't no if the voldomort one would work or not?
if you just think of all the guild crafting dueling quiditch leagues working for the ministry and being able to jynx anything then having aurors hunt you down lol
I'm a 30 something guy and I enjoyed the book. I've known of people from various age groups from teens all the way to to 60s enjoying the book. My favorite spell in Harry Potter is the patronus charm .... EXPECTO PATRONUM! But a harry potter mmo.. I rather leave it as a book. A very specific IP like this just doesn't translate well into a good MMO.
The part that you are all missing is that the core audience has aged 10 years since the first book and the newest ones are written for young adults. Moreover, Harry Potter as a fictional universe has the exact same appeal to adults that Star Wars does (minus the nostalgia of course) in that both were aimed at children (ask George Lucas) and both have always been enjoyed by an extremely wide audience. This oddity owes itself to the fact that both settings are explorations of mythic archetypes that would make Joseph Campbell proud! Even if they characters are children, the story they create is timeless. It's human.
Sure, you may all feel better about yourself ridiculing these books as childish, but it is an extremely hallow criticism. The evidence of the audience, the author, the quality, and the themes of the books themselves starkly contradict such easy dismissal.
As for an MMO - it isn't possible. EA actually started one years back and Richard Garriot was briefly affiliated with it... It was scrapped before it was even announced. The books are serial, each one representing a school year, and the characters age. They go to class, the learn magic slowly, and they rarely venture outside the school grounds. If one of you can figure out how to schedule thousands of players for classes AND account for linear passage of time in an Online RPG, I would LOVE to hear it.
I like the books (lots i read the last within 24hours) and know that it COULD be done well. just like they DID make a good film out of the lotr books. unfortunatly from the fact that all the games and films of harry potter suck and don't live up to the books, I have great faith (until shown otherwise) any mmo of this game will suck BIGTIME. i'd love to be wrong.
Yeah, I'm not sure how they could put classes into an MMO, but otherwise I think the Harry Potter universe has some potential for an MMO. As other posters have stated, perhaps they could have more than just Hogwarts - include the other schools as well and then add some more. Also, could have different races, I suppose (Giants, Centaurs, House Elves, etc.) although the vast majority of players would play a human and probably would want to go to Hogwarts. But if each school/race had its own bonuses, maybe that could help offset some of that.
Also, there would not just be one 'class'. I'd call them jobs, actually. As you know, there were lots of different career opportunities in the books, they'd just have to flesh some more out, make them compatible with an MMO. The school you attend could be somewhat of a 'newbie' area (that lasts longer than most newbie areas, say, 1/4 - 1/3 of the actual game) and while at school you would be able to learn different skills and eventually choose your job. (I'm not going to try to limit what jobs would be available, but I can see some being more defensive, others being offensive, some being conjurers, animal tamers, herbalists, etc.)
IMO, you should have the choice to be aligned as a good wizard or a dark wizard. Each side works together to bring down the other side. Better yet, your alignment would be somewhat hidden. (Just like in the books, where certain followers of Voldemort were able to masquerade as good wizards.)
As far as actual gameplay, I think the typical 'grind' we all know and love would come more into play after you graduated from school. They could add mythical beasts to forests and mountain areas - quite a few were mentioned in the books. While in school, I can see having a raid boss or two somewhere in Hogwart's dungeon. I also think being in a school like that would be a great opportunity for an active GM team to run events (pixies are loose in the school! or there's an ogre in the girl's bathroom!, etc.) Or we could have the opportunity to accidentally create our own events, like if we're trying to make a potion and wind up creating some kind of flesh-eating plant that overtakes the classroom. Also would be cool to have cross-school competitions, or cross-country competitions once out of school.
Like I said, I think there is definitely potential, the devs would just have to put some thought into it - and NOT rush it to get it out before all the Harry Potter hype dies down.
Harry Potter MMO, it sounds like a fun game. As long as they do it when our technology is better. Imagine participating in the Tri Wizard Cup, Imagine flying around Hogwarts campus. Theirs tons and tons of ideas to go with. The professors can give you quests and such. Forbiddon Forest.
Another thing, people often thing that Hogwarts is the only school for wizards and such. Your wrong. As dumbuldore or someone said, its the #1 school for it. So yeah, you could go to other campus's and schools for missions and the idea is not a bad idea, they'd gross a lot of money, i know i'd get it. Its just they need to do it with uptight graphics and better technology.
---------------------------- Time is a great teacher, but unfortunately it kills all its pupils ... - Louis Hector Berlioz
Comments
Never say never...
Well actually the thought of a Mythical MMO like Harry Potter would be sound in design i think. Make the Structure like SWG sandbox with skills and professions with the trainers to go to.
You could make it so that as you level you can get better capes wands, potions depending on what class your in, diffrent mounts and some sweet PVP.
You could have Wizards vs Warlocks like the Rebel and Imperial setup, and make like 4 factions to be a part of. Elves, Warlocks, Demons, or Witches, or somthing along those lines.
Mounts could range from Brooms to Flying dragons depending on your alignment and skill level. All in All i think something like this would be kewl to play.
What in heavens name is so wrong about a Harry potter MMO? Its not like you HAVE to play it. That does not take away that the IP definetly has potential for an MMO. Sure it might turn into a kids MMO, but so what? Its not like there are many MMO's for children out there. The game can take place in hogwarts, keep it simple.
I don't see how they can turn the harry potter series into a mmo. The series is very linier and only a few places are ever actually mentioned in the books, which is probably why they have only made single player games out of them.
I can see a multiplayer quiditch or whatever that broom football type game is called, as a succesful fantasy sports multiplayer game. But it would be more like guild wars diablo etc, which aren't mmos.
edit: oh to that guy who asked how you felt about the ending of the books, tbh it sucked, was as predictable as i thought it would be, ended up finshing the book in little over 6 hours, good time killer though
first of all for the age thing yes you would get alot of people playing who are younger but just because it was orginally aimed at the younger generation 9-15 in 1997 dosn't mean its the only people reading the books my grandmother my mother and myself all read the books and im sure if i gave my great grandmother the book to she would absaloutly enjoy them lets not forget that lotr was orginally aimed at children too.
as for the class thing in harry potter there are many "sub classes" i guess you could call them of mage transfiguer, herboligist,forute teller, ect... or they could do it on they way you cast spells (agressive,defensive,acrobatic) kind of like the diffrent jedi/sith fighting forms. plus the world has sooo many secrets to it like hidden chambers and passegway that would be very intresting to discover. as for hogwarts it could either be the first 20 levels or what ever or many other ways of doing it. i would like to see an exciting story to it but i don't no if the voldomort one would work or not?
if you just think of all the guild crafting dueling quiditch leagues working for the ministry and being able to jynx anything then having aurors hunt you down lol
but it would definatly work
I'm a 30 something guy and I enjoyed the book. I've known of people from various age groups from teens all the way to to 60s enjoying the book. My favorite spell in Harry Potter is the patronus charm .... EXPECTO PATRONUM! But a harry potter mmo.. I rather leave it as a book. A very specific IP like this just doesn't translate well into a good MMO.
The part that you are all missing is that the core audience has aged 10 years since the first book and the newest ones are written for young adults. Moreover, Harry Potter as a fictional universe has the exact same appeal to adults that Star Wars does (minus the nostalgia of course) in that both were aimed at children (ask George Lucas) and both have always been enjoyed by an extremely wide audience. This oddity owes itself to the fact that both settings are explorations of mythic archetypes that would make Joseph Campbell proud! Even if they characters are children, the story they create is timeless. It's human.
Sure, you may all feel better about yourself ridiculing these books as childish, but it is an extremely hallow criticism. The evidence of the audience, the author, the quality, and the themes of the books themselves starkly contradict such easy dismissal.
As for an MMO - it isn't possible. EA actually started one years back and Richard Garriot was briefly affiliated with it... It was scrapped before it was even announced. The books are serial, each one representing a school year, and the characters age. They go to class, the learn magic slowly, and they rarely venture outside the school grounds. If one of you can figure out how to schedule thousands of players for classes AND account for linear passage of time in an Online RPG, I would LOVE to hear it.
How do you kill that which has no life?
It already exists, it's called Flyff
----
MMORPG's I've Played: World of Warcraft: 10/10 - Rappelz: 7/10 - Ragnarok Online: 8/10 - DnD Online: 2/10 - Runescape: 6/10 - LotR Online: 5/10 - Anarchy Online: 7/10 - CoV: 8/10 - Rohan Online: 8/10 - Guild Wars: 7/10 - Flyff: 8/10 - Warhammer Online: 8/10
My HARDCORE Story
Flyff doesent have Hogwarts nore Dumbledore!, no Harry Potter without Hogwarts or Dumbledore, no no
I like the books (lots i read the last within 24hours) and know that it COULD be done well. just like they DID make a good film out of the lotr books. unfortunatly from the fact that all the games and films of harry potter suck and don't live up to the books, I have great faith (until shown otherwise) any mmo of this game will suck BIGTIME. i'd love to be wrong.
My blog:
Yeah, I'm not sure how they could put classes into an MMO, but otherwise I think the Harry Potter universe has some potential for an MMO. As other posters have stated, perhaps they could have more than just Hogwarts - include the other schools as well and then add some more. Also, could have different races, I suppose (Giants, Centaurs, House Elves, etc.) although the vast majority of players would play a human and probably would want to go to Hogwarts. But if each school/race had its own bonuses, maybe that could help offset some of that.
Also, there would not just be one 'class'. I'd call them jobs, actually. As you know, there were lots of different career opportunities in the books, they'd just have to flesh some more out, make them compatible with an MMO. The school you attend could be somewhat of a 'newbie' area (that lasts longer than most newbie areas, say, 1/4 - 1/3 of the actual game) and while at school you would be able to learn different skills and eventually choose your job. (I'm not going to try to limit what jobs would be available, but I can see some being more defensive, others being offensive, some being conjurers, animal tamers, herbalists, etc.)
IMO, you should have the choice to be aligned as a good wizard or a dark wizard. Each side works together to bring down the other side. Better yet, your alignment would be somewhat hidden. (Just like in the books, where certain followers of Voldemort were able to masquerade as good wizards.)
As far as actual gameplay, I think the typical 'grind' we all know and love would come more into play after you graduated from school. They could add mythical beasts to forests and mountain areas - quite a few were mentioned in the books. While in school, I can see having a raid boss or two somewhere in Hogwart's dungeon. I also think being in a school like that would be a great opportunity for an active GM team to run events (pixies are loose in the school! or there's an ogre in the girl's bathroom!, etc.) Or we could have the opportunity to accidentally create our own events, like if we're trying to make a potion and wind up creating some kind of flesh-eating plant that overtakes the classroom. Also would be cool to have cross-school competitions, or cross-country competitions once out of school.
Like I said, I think there is definitely potential, the devs would just have to put some thought into it - and NOT rush it to get it out before all the Harry Potter hype dies down.
Harry Potter MMO, it sounds like a fun game. As long as they do it when our technology is better. Imagine participating in the Tri Wizard Cup, Imagine flying around Hogwarts campus. Theirs tons and tons of ideas to go with. The professors can give you quests and such. Forbiddon Forest.
Another thing, people often thing that Hogwarts is the only school for wizards and such. Your wrong. As dumbuldore or someone said, its the #1 school for it. So yeah, you could go to other campus's and schools for missions and the idea is not a bad idea, they'd gross a lot of money, i know i'd get it. Its just they need to do it with uptight graphics and better technology.
----------------------------
Time is a great teacher, but unfortunately it kills all its pupils ... - Louis Hector Berlioz
wow another harry potter post
...that you bumped 3 weeks later...