What about "The God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins. Theres only one playable class, "Atheist", and you get to go round beating up various extremist right-wing religious nutters.
got spell-check?? Man, proof-read yer articles, mate. :-)
Since we are including series, I will put my Vote in for the Shannara Series by Terry Brooks. Early on, they felt like a real LotR rip-off (especially the sword fo Shannara). But later, they started having airships, and things got more original. Magic is rare and powerful and typically gets you shunned by the populous. It could be a very interesting world to play in.
I'd also put a vote in for Anne Maccaffery's 'Dragonrider's of Pern' series. THis is a really fun series of novels, but its lack of genuine international conflict would make it a PvE game, except for duels..which WOULD be to teh death.
Frank 'Spankybus' Mignone www.spankybus.com -3d Artist & Compositor -Writer -Professional Amature
My choice would be the culture novels by Iain M Banks, lots of lore but with so much scope and leaway.
I like them, but they seem like they wouldn't have a cohesive enough set of ideas upon which to develop an MMO. I mean - the Culture is cool, but exactly which parts would be an MMO? It's just too undefined IMO (which works well for the books, but not an MMO).
I understand what you're saying but I guess for me that was the main reason I chose it. I look at many of the other suggestions and while I can see them making good single player game or films imo they are just too restrictive. I always think when devs have just the very, very basics of an idea the better the mmo is.
It would imo be more about instilling the attitude of being a gland using, ai dependant culture citizen pitting their way of life against societies (could also be player chars, there are some very nice examples in the books which I would love to play) that have very different views ideals etc.
I guess its more about stealing bits from the books than actually recreating them. The thing about picking existing IP's is they require a certain adherence to canon and this can only restrict possible gameplay imo. I much prefer total freedom for mechanics with influences for design (skills/profession/back story, etc) and artwork (general look of chars and world).
----- The person who is certain, and who claims divine warrant for his certainty, belongs now to the infancy of our species.
My choice would be the culture novels by Iain M Banks, lots of lore but with so much scope and leaway.
I like them, but they seem like they wouldn't have a cohesive enough set of ideas upon which to develop an MMO. I mean - the Culture is cool, but exactly which parts would be an MMO? It's just too undefined IMO (which works well for the books, but not an MMO).
I understand what you're saying but I guess for me that was the main reason I chose it. I look at many of the other suggestions and while I can see them making good single player game or films imo they are just too restrictive. I always think when devs have just the very, very basics of an idea the better the mmo is.
It would imo be more about instilling the attitude of being a gland using, ai dependant culture citizen pitting their way of life against societies (could also be player chars, there are some very nice examples in the books which I would love to play) that have very different views ideals etc.
I guess its more about stealing bits from the books than actually recreating them. The thing about picking existing IP's is they require a certain adherence to canon and this can only restrict possible gameplay imo. I much prefer total freedom for mechanics with influences for design (skills/profession/back story, etc) and artwork (general look of chars and world).
The Culture books are just great. Above all, they're great literature. And on top of that, they have a solid vision and manage being both passionate and sceptical about their utopia at the same time, which is something very few science fiction books have any more.
Of course, by no means does this make them a good candidate for an MMO. However, their vivid imagination does. Come on, it's got great species, sentient machines that run the whole show behind the curtain, wonderful articificial worlds and plenty lore for designing them, all sorts of interesting games (hey, who wouldn't want to see their characters compete in Azad?)... They've got on-the-fly boosts in the form of glands! Sex changes that take a few months to complete - that's an MMO mechanic right there if I ever saw one!
They've got exploration and first contact strategy in the form of Contact...
They've got political muscle, a universe the history of which is fraught wars and still running system-wide grudges... Hey, they've got ships that name themselves, how cool is that? Here are some hilarious ship names from the books: So Much For Subtlety...Just Read The Instructions... Youthful Indiscretion... Size Isn't Everything... Who's Counting... Hand Me The Gun And Ask Me Again... Come on, you could even play a ship in this game and it would make sense!
One major catch is, they're built on what Banks calls post-scarcity economy, so there's practically no ownership and no currency. But to me, that could be a relief - I'm tired of playing the economy in MMOs anyway.
An MMO based in the sprawl trilogy by Gibson (Neuromancer, Count Zero and Mona Lisa Overdrive), would be my fix for some good sci fi.
Instead of King I'd have put up Lovecraft his works are much darker and probably carry more suspense in them aswell.
I'm currently reading through the wheel of time series at the behest of a friend and so far I'd definately enjoy an mmo in that setting. Other than HHGTG however, none of the other's interest me much... especially H.P... ughh
I'm CONVINCED that "the wheel of time" universe could be made into an Epic Sandbox type game..
I would also like to add another fantasy series that would be awesome as an MMO, namely "the Malazan books of the Fallen" series. It's universe is MASSIVE with many magical realms and lot and lots of nice stuff. My favorite fantasy
There are also other Sci-fi books that could be made MMO. Revelation Space and the other books in that universe written by Alastair Reynolds would be great as a game at least, perhaps MMO.
I think the reason why there are few book MMOs is that an MMO requires a lot of freedom for the creators. It is dificult to make a good MMO if you are stuck within the confines of already defined lore. There must be room for new content.
Well, at this point in the fantasy genre George RR Martin's Song of Ice and Fire books are prolly the best you will ever read, followed i think by Steven Erickson's Book of the Fallen ( Malazan Emire ) serie.
Both of them are offering incredible lore, awesome background, more than credible storyes... None of them were yet brought to public as a movie ( at least yet, HBO's Song of Ice and Fire is schedued for 2010 ) or a game - so it will kinda offer a lot of freedom to the developers. Also, both writers can be contacted and they can help develop the MMO's - it's not like the LoTR's saga where you have to stick to what was writen 60 years ago.
I will really give any price on a premium MMO's set in any of those 2 universes ... dead serious on this statement.
I'm fairly convinced that untill some major dogmas about how MMO should look like die off, I would not like to see any more great IPs devastated to fit into the perfect neveredning grind MMO conventions.
Thing is that once they make a MMO with a single IP, it is most likely either not done again for a very very long time, or in the worst case not ever, especially with some less known ones.
There is ofc SW coming ... I am convinced that we will see another LOTR in a decade or so ... Conan? ... most likely never - that IP is ruined for good as far as MMOs are concerned.
Think again wether you would really like to see Dragonriders of Pern butchered into 50-60 levels, batlegrounds and epic raids.
"The universe of Dune is set two thousand years from the present day..."
Err, more like 20-25 thousand years, not 2... and as much as I love this IP I don't think an MMO could possibly do it justice. How about something a little more cyberpunk like Neuromancer or Otherland?
UGH!!11 WOT AND ASOFAI are both horrible series (I cannot fathom why people like them so much)
Of the list presented Starship Troopers would be be my first choice. But only if it stuck to the book and totally ignored the movies...
My picks would include:
Bas Lag From China Mieville (Perdidio Street Station, The Scar, Iron Council)
The Hobart Floyt Alacrity FItzughh adventures by Brian Daley (Jinx on a Terran inheritance, Requiem for a ruler of worlds, Fall of the white ship avatar)
The Many Colored Land Series by Julian May (perfect 3 faction pvp game setting)
Interesting read, my only complaint, the works of SK and 'fairy tales' are not a book. Those two were far too vague to be on the list.
Out of morbid curiosity, did you actually read the article where I gave reasons for each of them? For Stephen King, I even suggested a specific series of his. So, actually not vague at all.
I dont know if it's already been said, 16 threads is a lot. However, George R. R. Martin's series, "A Song of Ice & Fire" would make a wonderful game in my opinion.
Comments
Because you said the movies suck, I take it you didn't read the books. The books were great.
You also based an IP solely on the movies which were first created from the books which is pretty blind-sighted.
Think ya mean " short sighted "
wow so many posts.... i would like a F2P starwars and harry potter
NARUTO MMO FTW.
ya man.. Naruto and Dragonball too
What about "The God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins. Theres only one playable class, "Atheist", and you get to go round beating up various extremist right-wing religious nutters.
Some guy said many months ago (it could have been last year, I can't remember) that Turbine is working on Harry Potter as their next MMO.
For me, it would have to be The Discworld Series by Terry Pratchet.
It'd be great to play a light-hearted MMO with a great sense of (British) humour.
Ahh, to walk around Ankh Morpork, or visit Deaths cottage.
btw even if just a collection of short stories, I think Bruce Sterlings Shaper/mechanist universe would be an awesome setting as well.
The Shaper/Mechanist solar system/setting would be freakin brilliant!!!!
BRILLIANT!
got spell-check?? Man, proof-read yer articles, mate. :-)
Since we are including series, I will put my Vote in for the Shannara Series by Terry Brooks. Early on, they felt like a real LotR rip-off (especially the sword fo Shannara). But later, they started having airships, and things got more original. Magic is rare and powerful and typically gets you shunned by the populous. It could be a very interesting world to play in.
I'd also put a vote in for Anne Maccaffery's 'Dragonrider's of Pern' series. THis is a really fun series of novels, but its lack of genuine international conflict would make it a PvE game, except for duels..which WOULD be to teh death.
Frank 'Spankybus' Mignone
www.spankybus.com
-3d Artist & Compositor
-Writer
-Professional Amature
Snowcrash, Neuromancer, Hyperion, Vurt all would make great MMOS (as well as movie pictures).
There is no right or wrong -
There is only fun and boring.
Ringworld .... discworld ......dune ...... i hope to see all of these turn into a brilliant mmo one of these days.
Maybe also Tchai from Jack Vance ? I loved that book.
I like them, but they seem like they wouldn't have a cohesive enough set of ideas upon which to develop an MMO. I mean - the Culture is cool, but exactly which parts would be an MMO? It's just too undefined IMO (which works well for the books, but not an MMO).
I understand what you're saying but I guess for me that was the main reason I chose it. I look at many of the other suggestions and while I can see them making good single player game or films imo they are just too restrictive. I always think when devs have just the very, very basics of an idea the better the mmo is.
It would imo be more about instilling the attitude of being a gland using, ai dependant culture citizen pitting their way of life against societies (could also be player chars, there are some very nice examples in the books which I would love to play) that have very different views ideals etc.
I guess its more about stealing bits from the books than actually recreating them. The thing about picking existing IP's is they require a certain adherence to canon and this can only restrict possible gameplay imo. I much prefer total freedom for mechanics with influences for design (skills/profession/back story, etc) and artwork (general look of chars and world).
-----
The person who is certain, and who claims divine warrant for his certainty, belongs now to the infancy of our species.
I like them, but they seem like they wouldn't have a cohesive enough set of ideas upon which to develop an MMO. I mean - the Culture is cool, but exactly which parts would be an MMO? It's just too undefined IMO (which works well for the books, but not an MMO).
I understand what you're saying but I guess for me that was the main reason I chose it. I look at many of the other suggestions and while I can see them making good single player game or films imo they are just too restrictive. I always think when devs have just the very, very basics of an idea the better the mmo is.
It would imo be more about instilling the attitude of being a gland using, ai dependant culture citizen pitting their way of life against societies (could also be player chars, there are some very nice examples in the books which I would love to play) that have very different views ideals etc.
I guess its more about stealing bits from the books than actually recreating them. The thing about picking existing IP's is they require a certain adherence to canon and this can only restrict possible gameplay imo. I much prefer total freedom for mechanics with influences for design (skills/profession/back story, etc) and artwork (general look of chars and world).
The Culture books are just great. Above all, they're great literature. And on top of that, they have a solid vision and manage being both passionate and sceptical about their utopia at the same time, which is something very few science fiction books have any more.
Of course, by no means does this make them a good candidate for an MMO. However, their vivid imagination does. Come on, it's got great species, sentient machines that run the whole show behind the curtain, wonderful articificial worlds and plenty lore for designing them, all sorts of interesting games (hey, who wouldn't want to see their characters compete in Azad?)... They've got on-the-fly boosts in the form of glands! Sex changes that take a few months to complete - that's an MMO mechanic right there if I ever saw one!
They've got exploration and first contact strategy in the form of Contact...
They've got political muscle, a universe the history of which is fraught wars and still running system-wide grudges... Hey, they've got ships that name themselves, how cool is that?
Here are some hilarious ship names from the books: So Much For Subtlety... Just Read The Instructions... Youthful Indiscretion... Size Isn't Everything... Who's Counting... Hand Me The Gun And Ask Me Again... Come on, you could even play a ship in this game and it would make sense!
One major catch is, they're built on what Banks calls post-scarcity economy, so there's practically no ownership and no currency. But to me, that could be a relief - I'm tired of playing the economy in MMOs anyway.
An MMO based in the sprawl trilogy by Gibson (Neuromancer, Count Zero and Mona Lisa Overdrive), would be my fix for some good sci fi.
Instead of King I'd have put up Lovecraft his works are much darker and probably carry more suspense in them aswell.
I'm currently reading through the wheel of time series at the behest of a friend and so far I'd definately enjoy an mmo in that setting. Other than HHGTG however, none of the other's interest me much... especially H.P... ughh
I'm CONVINCED that "the wheel of time" universe could be made into an Epic Sandbox type game..
I would also like to add another fantasy series that would be awesome as an MMO, namely "the Malazan books of the Fallen" series. It's universe is MASSIVE with many magical realms and lot and lots of nice stuff. My favorite fantasy
There are also other Sci-fi books that could be made MMO. Revelation Space and the other books in that universe written by Alastair Reynolds would be great as a game at least, perhaps MMO.
I think the reason why there are few book MMOs is that an MMO requires a lot of freedom for the creators. It is dificult to make a good MMO if you are stuck within the confines of already defined lore. There must be room for new content.
Well, at this point in the fantasy genre George RR Martin's Song of Ice and Fire books are prolly the best you will ever read, followed i think by Steven Erickson's Book of the Fallen ( Malazan Emire ) serie.
Both of them are offering incredible lore, awesome background, more than credible storyes... None of them were yet brought to public as a movie ( at least yet, HBO's Song of Ice and Fire is schedued for 2010 ) or a game - so it will kinda offer a lot of freedom to the developers. Also, both writers can be contacted and they can help develop the MMO's - it's not like the LoTR's saga where you have to stick to what was writen 60 years ago.
I will really give any price on a premium MMO's set in any of those 2 universes ... dead serious on this statement.
/salute
I would agree, the setting of The Dark Tower would be a nice change from the current and future fantasy and sci-fi MMOs.
I would add "Coldfire Trilogy" by C. S. Friedman, with the world as it is during the trilogy rather than what it becomes at the end of the series.
An other that'd make a nice MMO:
Earth's Childeren by Jean Auel (did I spell her name right?).
Ir would be nice to see how a pre-historic setting like that would work out
harry potter /lol
I'm fairly convinced that untill some major dogmas about how MMO should look like die off, I would not like to see any more great IPs devastated to fit into the perfect neveredning grind MMO conventions.
Thing is that once they make a MMO with a single IP, it is most likely either not done again for a very very long time, or in the worst case not ever, especially with some less known ones.
There is ofc SW coming ... I am convinced that we will see another LOTR in a decade or so ... Conan? ... most likely never - that IP is ruined for good as far as MMOs are concerned.
Think again wether you would really like to see Dragonriders of Pern butchered into 50-60 levels, batlegrounds and epic raids.
"The universe of Dune is set two thousand years from the present day..."
Err, more like 20-25 thousand years, not 2... and as much as I love this IP I don't think an MMO could possibly do it justice. How about something a little more cyberpunk like Neuromancer or Otherland?
UGH!!11 WOT AND ASOFAI are both horrible series (I cannot fathom why people like them so much)
Of the list presented Starship Troopers would be be my first choice. But only if it stuck to the book and totally ignored the movies...
My picks would include:
Bas Lag From China Mieville (Perdidio Street Station, The Scar, Iron Council)
The Hobart Floyt Alacrity FItzughh adventures by Brian Daley (Jinx on a Terran inheritance, Requiem for a ruler of worlds, Fall of the white ship avatar)
The Many Colored Land Series by Julian May (perfect 3 faction pvp game setting)
Edgar Rice Burroughs John Carter of Mars Series
Out of morbid curiosity, did you actually read the article where I gave reasons for each of them? For Stephen King, I even suggested a specific series of his. So, actually not vague at all.
Cheers,
Jon Wood
Managing Editor
MMORPG.com
I dont know if it's already been said, 16 threads is a lot. However, George R. R. Martin's series, "A Song of Ice & Fire" would make a wonderful game in my opinion.