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EA making Wheel of Time MMO
aulis
Member Posts: 3
http://www.gamespot.com/news/6203233.html
Red Eagle Games signs distribution agreement with EA on multiplatform adaptations, MMOG based on Robert Jordan's acclaimed fantasy universe.
Read the full story at the link. This is very exciting news!!!
Comments
Man, i have a huge hard-on for the wheel of time series, hope this gets to be a good mmo. But I think the devs are spreading themselves a bit too thin. They are making too much stuff at once. But I hope anyway.
I dont like EA, but hey, at least that means the funds are there. So i'll just keep my fingers crossed. If it turns out to be garbage, at least I'll always have the books.
I admit, im very curious on how they are going to balance Aes Sedai vs pretty much everyone else.
If you stand VERY still, and close your eyes, after a minute you can actually FEEL the universe revolving around PvP.
dam i had baught that game and i never got to play it i broke the cd before i could(ya shitty 2 cent box
could be fine i do hope the pace is faster then the book because the book so far we only have about when forward a bit and it took 13 15 book cant recall i stopped reading was tired of seeing the story not going forward but adding filler on top of filler!
The author of those books died, so I heard.
Well shave my back and call me an elf! -- Oghren
his son is finishing the last book, based on his father's notes.
If you stand VERY still, and close your eyes, after a minute you can actually FEEL the universe revolving around PvP.
It's (most likely) being made by Obsidian, devs of NVN2, KOTOR2, and Fallout: New Vegas.
Currently Playing: - lolol
Waiting For: Final Fantasy XIV
I personally couldn't get past the fourth or fifth book - seemed like the same stuff was happening over and over. Wouldn't play the game if it came out; and yes, Mr. Jordan did pass away in 1997.
This is true. He died before finishing the last one.
He had work for it and all sorts of notes. Apparently his wife invited a huge fan and fellow author to finish his work.
To give you an idea how long this series is, I started the book when I ented college in 1985.
I believe the last one by the authro was 2005 and now one has been finished by this other author and it looks like he is slated to finish two more. Not sure how they fit in though.
I have to say I enjoyed the series but the books had so much in them and it took so long between books that every time I would get closer to whatever was the new released book, I had to start over again because I forgot who some of the characters were.
I think in some ways this was a weakness and strength of the series because he really did flesh out a lot of his charcters. At least in giving them lots of story time and weaving them into the plot. However, I can easily see how some people might find the work meandering. I suppose it gets chalked to what you are used to as far as reading or just whether or not one listens to long songs, mucial pieces, reads large books, long movies, etc.
Of course they start out with the standard "Sauron evil guy is trying to rise back to power" and that is a pretty worn out story. However, as the books grew so did the story and I really feel it became something more than when it started out.
Of course, that's if one has the dirve and patience to finish the books ; )
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
EA is not making a Wheel of Time MMO, Red Eagle Games and Obsidian Entertainment in partnership are. The game is going to be distributed through the EA Partners Program, so they will be acting as distributor / publisher only.
[EDIT] Nevermind, already answered.
shame that you deted this I felt your post was better.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
I really enjoyed the Wheel of Time series, up until about book five or six, then it just started dragging. It didn't help that it took so long for the books to come out. The characters and world are well thought out, and I really liked the main plot, but overall there was just too much to keep track of. Jordan would add some random character's plot in one book, then you wouldn't see that character again for another one or two books, and as a result it would interrupt the flow of the book as you'd have to try and remember who this random character was. I also found his writing style to be very repetitive, I can't remember how many times the Aes Sedai "twitched at their skirts", or such. Still a MMO set in that setting would be interesting.
Not his son, some other author.
Well if it follows the series level 1- max will be leaving your house and take 400 hours of mostly reading padded text plagarizing every mythos,other fantasy novels and some scifi classics known to man.By the 3rd expansion you amy evne of left the first town!
lol.. wow, it's like you are in my mind.
He would do that a lot. There was always something that was said that would eventually appear elswhere or in another book, whether it was about how each one thought the other knew more about women or some catch phrase as you put it.
I chalk that up to the length of the books and the series. As a writer the books flow in a completely different way than if one is just a reader.
So he's repeating these things because he feels it helps with charcterization. However, we as the readers start picking up on these things and after a while they just aren't needed.
And yes, I can't help think about how I would be reading the newly released books and then try to go back and figure out who some character was who clearly everyone knew.
I have to say that I enjoyed that his characters seemed to live in the world and that they just didnt' vanish when their plot part finished. However, it made for a very different type of reading experience.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
Brandon Sanderson is now authoring the books with notes by Robert Jordan. The latest one by him I thought was great. The best so far.
After following the Shannara series by Terry Brooks I am no stranger to lots-o-reading.
I started reading the books with in the last 1 year. got addicted and had to read them all through back to back. The last book by the new author fit directly into the story, which he is doing a very good job wraping up of the plot lines with some major revalations along the way. there are two more books left that are supposed to be released very close to each other within this year. The movie is supposed to come out in 2011.
I am very much looking forward to see how they put it together.
Aes Sedai balanced by Asha'man.
Aiel as playable race/faction?
Ogier as a playable race?
Seanchan as a playable race/faction?
Warders as a class or will they be the tanking pet of the Aes Sedai?
Children of Light as a playable faction?
Will there be PvP or are the going to screw it up like LOTRO?
sooooo many questions.
Try 2007.
Google, its free!
PAST: UO-SWG-DAOC-WOW-DDO-VG-AOC-WAR-FE-DFO-LOTRO-RIFT-GW2
PRESENT: Nothing
FUTURE: ESO
And its these kind of questions that make me believe Devs need to steer away from IPs like this one, and many others. MMO dev teams are becoming like Hollywood, no new ideas, and the ones they buy/steal/corrupt just end up being lore-broken and ridiculed.
PAST: UO-SWG-DAOC-WOW-DDO-VG-AOC-WAR-FE-DFO-LOTRO-RIFT-GW2
PRESENT: Nothing
FUTURE: ESO
Here's hoping they don't do the horrible job that was done with the previous game. Or the RPG.
Otherwise I'll just balefire myself at the start.
But there are some interesting aspects to the series, however I don't think it'd work well as a straight conversion. Maybe if they did a post-TAR version, or an Age of Dreams one.
In the middle of events though? HECK NO! Some things should just not be done.
theyre makin what.
cits a pun gettit. [what, wot]
the only classes theyll be able to have are channelers or else the game will be severely unbalanded.
(Wall of text incoming. Feel free to disregard.)
I doubt this part will be much of a problem, provided they take a little poetic license. There have been Wheel of Time MUDs around since the early 90s, and every one I ever played managed to balance "channies" and "non-channies" somehow, usually with a "forms" system: sword forms (blademastery), spear forms (Aiel), et cetera to enhance the non-channies, and some sort of risk/problem system (burn-out, insanity, faction) for channies.
The big problem an MMO will have [with channeling] is that they probably won't feel able to use some of the channeling repercussions that MUDs used, primarily burn-out; a burned out character that was rolled as a channie may as well be perma-dead since they're cut-off from the One Power, but a lot of people are going to log in wanting to play "mages" with absolutely no tolerance for permanent loss of that magnitude. Since high risk won't work to balance high power, the developers' most likely choice will be to make channeling less powerful.
Whatever they do, it'll require tinkering with the IP to make the game "game-like" instead of "book-like." In Lord of the Rings Online, you see armor-clad elves riding goats through Michel Delving, and that's just the reality of playing in an MMO with any semblance of free choice. It may be that channeling is tweaked to be very difficult to perform (weaving flows), or hugely "mana-intensive," or some other such device that wouldn't make Jordan smile, but that will make the game more accessible.
As hopeful as I started this post off, though, I have almost nothing but doubts at this stage. There are just so many ways to strangle an IP, especially when you're beholden to investors and publishers. MUDs are owned and operated by people who absolutely love the IPs, people who not only don't need to make a dime from them, but are legally prohibited from it. As excited as I am to see Jordan's work enter my primary form of entertainment, I'm also very skeptical, and more than a bit cynical.
Can they balance channies and non-channies? Sure. Will they get the rest of it right?
Jenuviel shakes her magic 8-ball. "Outlook not so good."
There are so many variables. Will they get the world right? Will they get the skill system right? Will they have a billing/payment system I can tolerate? What's their stance on pvp? The list just goes on for days, and there are no answers for any of it yet. I love the IP; I've been reading it since "Eye of the World" came out in hardcover. An IP alone isn't enough to get me to play an MMO, though; it's just enough to get me to pick up the box and read the back.
Personally, I would like "weaving threads" as an aspect of channeling. Buttons 1-5 being air, water, fire, earth, spirit, and the caster needings to "weave" the spell, much like how a bard from the old EQ days used to play. Air and Spirit would need to be pressed alternately to "hold" a target, for an example. I feel it would show the difficulty in weaving multiple flows of the true source, as well as keep the Aes Sedai from becoming too powerful.
This is old news, BUT, I'm such a huge Wheel of Time fan I'll join in the convo anyway ;D
The latest book, by author Brandon Sanderson, rocks. For all those who quit reading at about book 5ish, I understand your plight. However, I advise/suggest you reread the series but don't be in a rush to finish it. Enjoy each and every book like it is a season of your favorite tv show. You will appreciate the "filler" books later in the series.
Especially now with how these last 3 books are wrapping it all up. I loved this latest book immensely and am jonesing for the final 2 books both due out in the next year and a half.
It will definitely be interesting to see which direction the developers go with the MMO and single players games as well as the movies. I hope they make the game a themepark/sandbox hybrid. There is a ton of depth to the world itself and even the lowly farmer had a part to play in the books, especially when a horde of trollocs was baring down on their town and lands.
I want to make a gleeman. That's probably a type of bard class for those unfamiliar with the term.
I would probably also want to make a Wolfbrother, but they are rare and might fall into the "too many Jedi" syndrome SWG created lorewise. Guess we'll have to see.
**POSSIBLE SPOILER**
I honestly don't think they will have an issue grappling with the magic weilders who were cut off from the One Power. Later in the books is started to become well known that those magic weilders who were cut off could be healed. Now I theorize, though maybe this was explained in the most recent book, that when a female heals a femals, the healed female only regains a fraction of her power back, whereas when a male heals a female (vice versa) the one being healed gaines their full strength back. It's plays into the whole balance, male and female side of the One Power. So I'm sure they could incorporate this into the game without much trouble. Track down a healer of the opposite sex and pay them to heal your connection with the One Power. Or, if they wanted to make "death" count for something, make you run a quest to obtain some "rare" item as payment for the healing. They could work it multiple ways...
But even the way casting is handled in TWOT series is different than most other books. Men seize control of it and women allow it to flow into them. That doesn't necessarily impact game play unless you factor in battle fatigue or the subtle uses of weaves and so on.
I could go on and on. Really anyone who has read a significant amount of these books probably could but I'm very much with Jenuviel. There are way too many doubts and questions and in the end I fear the developers will absolutely butcher this IP. There are just too many moving parts in this world!
Great.. yet another fantasy mmo in an otherwise completely over saturated market. Brilliant!. Well at least WoT's not your straight up elf and goblin story..
The books were ok, although I have no idea how far along I got, I got tired of fantasy before I got done reading that series many years ago :]