I am huge Traveller fan but I find it hard to believe that any company can create an MMO with the same depth and scope as Traveller.
""But Coyote, you could learn! You only prefer keyboard and mouse because that's all you've ever known!" You might say right before you hug a rainforest and walk in sandals to your drum circle where you're trying to raise group consciousness of ladybugs or whatever it is you dirty goddamn hippies do when you're not busy smoking pot and smelling bad." Coyote's Howling: Death of the Computer
That would be my ideal all the way. Fun, strategic fights... 4/5 nation choices for players, 1 onslaughting AI nation, and a "neutral" party that always has backdoor politics doing on... politics... and just an interesting total world.
If my choice had to be based on an IP, then I'd say both Firefly and Babylon 5 are probably two of my favourite Sci-fi settings. Both have enough lore, grit, flexibility and depth to be good foundations for a game. Primarly base them in space (thus keeping dev time on enviroments down to a minimum in order to concentrate primarily on the actual gameplay and mechanics). Then bring in planetside interaction later.
If my choice had to be non-IP based, I'd say Anarchy Online 2 using the AOC engine. A new colonised world, factions (for PVP), a common enemy (for PVE) and this time actually weave the ongoing stories more into the gameplay. The opening story of AO was absolutely fantastic (18 chapters!!!) However when playing the game, you felt it didn't really have that much connection with your in-game experience. It would start out as a land based game but later on would envelope seamless transistion into space interaction.
Ok, Glad to see at least one vote for Space 1999 before this post. I think a remake called 2099 would be the next sci-fi series they should film. I want to see how they update the Eagle Transporter the ubiquitous multi-mission configurable vehicle.
I voted before for a Firefly MMO. Buck Rogers MMO better have disco tech dance clubs. BSG and Star Trek would be cool too, if executed properly. I always hoped the Galactical wouldnt arrive at our 1980's but instead during our 23rd century. Put them Cylons on a hasty retreat. How nerdy is that?
I Would like to see a FPS version of Dawn of War (Warhammer 40K) in a Planetside format with small battles during the week leading up to all out mega battles on the weekends. Builders would be responsible for the base building, Soldiers defending and making attacks getting their equipment based on what structures and technology was authorized through research, with drivers and pilots showing up later in the battle. Space Marines could "drop" in where ground commanders designate them to drop.
I would also like to vote for a Homeworld version of E V E Online. I liked E V E's game concept, but never really took to their ship designs. I like the old mega size ships with geometric shapes and striped paint jobs. The Homeworld RTS series seemed to flesh out a intriguing background history and I loved the names of the factions they came up with, the Taiiden, Kushan, Bentusi, Turanic Raiders and the Kadeshi. A re-skin of EVE online should be able to handle all the aspects the Homeworld RTS series had to offer. One option I would like to ask for would be the option for manual pilot controls whenever we decide to use them.
A Starship Troopers MMO would be cool if battles always began with coordinated drops from orbit. Thats a requirement of mine. Too bad the Movie couldn't afford to do that.
I don't want any MMO based on an established IP to be honest. They always fail. When I say established IP I mean like Star Wars, Star Trek, et cetera, not something in house like Mass Effect or Warcraft.
I don't want any MMO based on an established IP to be honest. They always fail. When I say established IP I mean like Star Wars, Star Trek, et cetera, not something in house like Mass Effect or Warcraft.
In my opinion, MMO's based on IP's often fall short because the audiences/players preconception of what they are expecting from the MMO, is not mirrored in the artistic licence used by the MMO developers.
I would REALLY like to see another Star Wars MMO. SWG had the right idea on a few things, but fell WAY short of what it could have been (due to several reasons). But mostly, I think it was just a little before its time, but that's just me.
Anyhoo, aside from that, I would like to see the following:
Fifth Element (I love the Fifth Element lore, but there might not be enough there for an MMO)
Final Fantasy Sci-Fi (in the veign of VII, XII, or XIII)
The Matrix (based on a Prequel like setting where you have the Real World and Dream World)
Star Trek (something about this just doesn't seem MMO material to me, because it doesn't deal with individual characters enough, but it could be cool, and it could be great if someone could figure it out)
Cowboy Bebop (I'm not really into anime all that much, but this one I have to admit, was pretty awesome)
The thing about Sci-Fi that's different than Fantasy is, Sci-Fi lends itself to either Wild West scenarios or Super-Mecha, One-World Government type stuff where everything is perfect. Fantasy is more like Old World, Kings and Queens stuff. Those types of settings are things that almost anyone can enjoy, and I think that's why Star Wars is sort of the best there is when it comes to Sci-Fi. It borrows from so much in history. If you really think about it, no other Sci-Fi franchise really does this. That's why when some new Sci-Fi movie or something comes out, they always coin it as "The Star Wars for the time".
FireFly is my choice on your list...but I'd love to see a Robotech based MMORPG using the same style of art we see in the show...and it should be set during the Invid envasion! Cyclones FTW! Oh and it should be a FPS based combat game - true FPS! Not this psuedo FPS we see in games like TR and SWG/NGE.
I've brought that up before but few even know what Robotech is. I grew up watching the cartoons myself and got a little nerdy about it years ago and bought the entire novel and DVD series. It would be cool to play a big production Robotech MMO since there is tons to draw from in the story and think people would really love it. There is an Indie (fan made) Robotech MMO being worked on but they've been in production forever now and may never finish.
I want to see a Star Wars mmo. But no KOTOR (=ligthsaber wielding kids game)...
Something from within the time frame of the films..
And I actually dont mind SOE doing it if only they really apologize for CU and NGE and promises never to do things like that again. SWG was a great game. If they could revive the ideas and make a skill based one like before.
Also mmos should come with FULL content at release, incl. space travel and vehicles, player cities etc. It just makes for better game experiences...!
Full rvr, pvp, with some consequences...
Oh and jedis need to be restricted. No more holo grind. I want jedis to be something that only pops up by a random selection each month. Say 2-3 jedis pr. server pr month. And maybe with some limitations ...
I want to see a Star Wars mmo. But no KOTOR (=ligthsaber wielding kids game)... Something from within the time frame of the films.. And I actually dont mind SOE doing it if only they really apologize for CU and NGE and promises never to do things like that again. SWG was a great game. If they could revive the ideas and make a skill based one like before. Also mmos should come with FULL content at release, incl. space travel and vehicles, player cities etc. It just makes for better game experiences...! Full rvr, pvp, with some consequences... Oh and jedis need to be restricted. No more holo grind. I want jedis to be something that only pops up by a random selection each month. Say 2-3 jedis pr. server pr month. And maybe with some limitations ...
You mean something grittier, down-to-earth, without so much dependancy on light sabers and jedis? With vehicles and ships that look like they've been put together in an episode of "Junkyard Wars". Where towns look like they've been slapped together with old corrugated iron and bits of old ships. Where space travel takes time and markets can vary wildly between systems........Almost sounds like Firefly to me
On a different note, I think every developer would love to release their products with a magnitude of features that are polished until they gleam. The same goes for the playerbase. Personally I'd love to see a competitor to SWG kick its ass. But unfortunately, devs realise all to near the launch date that the magnitude of their dream has left it lacking lustre and quality because they've spread their resources too thin.
Hermann Peterscheck, Executive Producer of Jumpgate Evolution, said something similar recently:
"The other big lesson we learned is that features don’t save you. This means that development needs to be a progression where you work on a few core features and stay on them until they are done and working. This takes a lot of discipline because developers always want to work on the “next cool thing.” In addition there is always enormous pressure to have all the features that every other game has. Once again you can see a number of high profile failures where games had a ton of features, but that didn’t save them. Conversely, there are example of games with very limited features that did quite well - Portal is the recent example, but there are lots of others."
I agree with this to a point, but the game still needs "hooks" to set itself apart from the competition otherwise it will just be classed a "clone" of a previous game.
The moral is: Time is a premium. Don't jump in feet first, running round try desperately to get 1000 unique features working, only to achieve a level of mediocrity, when you could have been polishing only 100 to the point where they are gleaming. After launch is when the good stuff comes in because your engine is purring like a kitten.
Could this be the reason why Eve's design model is seen to be a success to a degree? I.E. Launch with an empty sandbox with interesting graphics engine and combat system. Give the players ways to create guilds and a means to earn money. Then add a regional market to promote trading between systems that are distances away from each other. Later on add a quest-based system. Eventually bring the graphics engine more up to date and add a walking avatar system.
Sure another company could have attempted to do all this prior to launch date. But it would take far longer to develop to the point where it may never actually achieve launch date. By that time the MMO market has grown tired of waiting. When you do launch your product, its viewed as mediocre because you're already established competitors have mixed your ideas into their own products.
Comments
Space: 1999
Maya, the Psychon metamorph, was hot. That's enough reason for me.
I am huge Traveller fan but I find it hard to believe that any company can create an MMO with the same depth and scope as Traveller.
""But Coyote, you could learn! You only prefer keyboard and mouse because that's all you've ever known!" You might say right before you hug a rainforest and walk in sandals to your drum circle where you're trying to raise group consciousness of ladybugs or whatever it is you dirty goddamn hippies do when you're not busy smoking pot and smelling bad."
Coyote's Howling: Death of the Computer
I am huge Traveller fan but I find it hard to believe that any company can create an MMO with the same depth and scope as Traveller.
Agreed. that would be like trying to turn The Foundation series by Asimov into a 2 hour movie.
What... no Battletech/Mechwarrior choice?
That would be my ideal all the way. Fun, strategic fights... 4/5 nation choices for players, 1 onslaughting AI nation, and a "neutral" party that always has backdoor politics doing on... politics... and just an interesting total world.
If my choice had to be based on an IP, then I'd say both Firefly and Babylon 5 are probably two of my favourite Sci-fi settings. Both have enough lore, grit, flexibility and depth to be good foundations for a game. Primarly base them in space (thus keeping dev time on enviroments down to a minimum in order to concentrate primarily on the actual gameplay and mechanics). Then bring in planetside interaction later.
If my choice had to be non-IP based, I'd say Anarchy Online 2 using the AOC engine. A new colonised world, factions (for PVP), a common enemy (for PVE) and this time actually weave the ongoing stories more into the gameplay. The opening story of AO was absolutely fantastic (18 chapters!!!) However when playing the game, you felt it didn't really have that much connection with your in-game experience. It would start out as a land based game but later on would envelope seamless transistion into space interaction.
Top 10 Most Misused Words in MMO's
As far as scifi MMOs go someone needs to make a Neil Stevenson / Snow Crash game.
And a White Wolf Mage: The Ascension (which includes the Technocracy) giving you a modern day magic / scifi hybrid.
Speaking of Fantasy / Scifi Hybrids Piers Anthony’s, Apprentice Adept series would be very very very cool.
Ok, Glad to see at least one vote for Space 1999 before this post. I think a remake called 2099 would be the next sci-fi series they should film. I want to see how they update the Eagle Transporter the ubiquitous multi-mission configurable vehicle.
I voted before for a Firefly MMO. Buck Rogers MMO better have disco tech dance clubs. BSG and Star Trek would be cool too, if executed properly. I always hoped the Galactical wouldnt arrive at our 1980's but instead during our 23rd century. Put them Cylons on a hasty retreat. How nerdy is that?
I Would like to see a FPS version of Dawn of War (Warhammer 40K) in a Planetside format with small battles during the week leading up to all out mega battles on the weekends. Builders would be responsible for the base building, Soldiers defending and making attacks getting their equipment based on what structures and technology was authorized through research, with drivers and pilots showing up later in the battle. Space Marines could "drop" in where ground commanders designate them to drop.
I would also like to vote for a Homeworld version of E V E Online. I liked E V E's game concept, but never really took to their ship designs. I like the old mega size ships with geometric shapes and striped paint jobs. The Homeworld RTS series seemed to flesh out a intriguing background history and I loved the names of the factions they came up with, the Taiiden, Kushan, Bentusi, Turanic Raiders and the Kadeshi. A re-skin of EVE online should be able to handle all the aspects the Homeworld RTS series had to offer. One option I would like to ask for would be the option for manual pilot controls whenever we decide to use them.
A Starship Troopers MMO would be cool if battles always began with coordinated drops from orbit. Thats a requirement of mine. Too bad the Movie couldn't afford to do that.
I don't want any MMO based on an established IP to be honest. They always fail. When I say established IP I mean like Star Wars, Star Trek, et cetera, not something in house like Mass Effect or Warcraft.
In my opinion, MMO's based on IP's often fall short because the audiences/players preconception of what they are expecting from the MMO, is not mirrored in the artistic licence used by the MMO developers.
Top 10 Most Misused Words in MMO's
I would REALLY like to see another Star Wars MMO. SWG had the right idea on a few things, but fell WAY short of what it could have been (due to several reasons). But mostly, I think it was just a little before its time, but that's just me.
Anyhoo, aside from that, I would like to see the following:
The thing about Sci-Fi that's different than Fantasy is, Sci-Fi lends itself to either Wild West scenarios or Super-Mecha, One-World Government type stuff where everything is perfect. Fantasy is more like Old World, Kings and Queens stuff. Those types of settings are things that almost anyone can enjoy, and I think that's why Star Wars is sort of the best there is when it comes to Sci-Fi. It borrows from so much in history. If you really think about it, no other Sci-Fi franchise really does this. That's why when some new Sci-Fi movie or something comes out, they always coin it as "The Star Wars for the time".
I completely agree with heaps of you, I would love to see a Star Wars game that is awesome, oh and babylon 5, firefly and of course a star trek MMO.
But my greatest Sci-fi MMO hope rests on the shoulders of Stargate Worlds, woot.
http://www.robotechmmo.com/
I would really love to see the Star Wars KotOR made into an MMO. As long as SOE didn't get their grubby hands on it I think it could be great.
Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Give a fish a man and he will eat for a month!
Firefly
Rifts would be awesome .... and while we r at P&P RPGs Shadowrun would be cool too but Rifts would be my first choice
I want to see a Star Wars mmo. But no KOTOR (=ligthsaber wielding kids game)...
Something from within the time frame of the films..
And I actually dont mind SOE doing it if only they really apologize for CU and NGE and promises never to do things like that again. SWG was a great game. If they could revive the ideas and make a skill based one like before.
Also mmos should come with FULL content at release, incl. space travel and vehicles, player cities etc. It just makes for better game experiences...!
Full rvr, pvp, with some consequences...
Oh and jedis need to be restricted. No more holo grind. I want jedis to be something that only pops up by a random selection each month. Say 2-3 jedis pr. server pr month. And maybe with some limitations ...
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CASUAL CONFESSIONS - Draccan's blog
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You mean something grittier, down-to-earth, without so much dependancy on light sabers and jedis? With vehicles and ships that look like they've been put together in an episode of "Junkyard Wars". Where towns look like they've been slapped together with old corrugated iron and bits of old ships. Where space travel takes time and markets can vary wildly between systems........Almost sounds like Firefly to me
On a different note, I think every developer would love to release their products with a magnitude of features that are polished until they gleam. The same goes for the playerbase. Personally I'd love to see a competitor to SWG kick its ass. But unfortunately, devs realise all to near the launch date that the magnitude of their dream has left it lacking lustre and quality because they've spread their resources too thin.
Hermann Peterscheck, Executive Producer of Jumpgate Evolution, said something similar recently:
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/?p=1508
"The other big lesson we learned is that features don’t save you. This means that development needs to be a progression where you work on a few core features and stay on them until they are done and working. This takes a lot of discipline because developers always want to work on the “next cool thing.” In addition there is always enormous pressure to have all the features that every other game has. Once again you can see a number of high profile failures where games had a ton of features, but that didn’t save them. Conversely, there are example of games with very limited features that did quite well - Portal is the recent example, but there are lots of others."
I agree with this to a point, but the game still needs "hooks" to set itself apart from the competition otherwise it will just be classed a "clone" of a previous game.
The moral is: Time is a premium. Don't jump in feet first, running round try desperately to get 1000 unique features working, only to achieve a level of mediocrity, when you could have been polishing only 100 to the point where they are gleaming. After launch is when the good stuff comes in because your engine is purring like a kitten.
Could this be the reason why Eve's design model is seen to be a success to a degree? I.E. Launch with an empty sandbox with interesting graphics engine and combat system. Give the players ways to create guilds and a means to earn money. Then add a regional market to promote trading between systems that are distances away from each other. Later on add a quest-based system. Eventually bring the graphics engine more up to date and add a walking avatar system.
Sure another company could have attempted to do all this prior to launch date. But it would take far longer to develop to the point where it may never actually achieve launch date. By that time the MMO market has grown tired of waiting. When you do launch your product, its viewed as mediocre because you're already established competitors have mixed your ideas into their own products.
Top 10 Most Misused Words in MMO's