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Sci-Fi Role Playing (Games) Entertainment Games

Buffy MMO Announced, Firefly MMO Delayed 209

Posted by Soulskill from the you're-my-kinda-stupid dept.
Zonk brings word that Multiverse, the developer who in 2006 acquired the rights to make a Firefly-based MMO, has announced that a Buffy: The Vampire Slayer MMO is now under development. An interview with Corey Bridges from Multiverse seems to indicate that the Firefly MMO, though delayed, is not dead. He also provides a few details on what the Buffy game will be like. Quoting: "What we're doing with the Buffy game then is releasing it in stages. It will first be a flash-based virtual world, with the full Multiverse server behind it. ... So it will start as a 2D flash-based MMO where you can go on missions and interact with other players. This will extend even once we have the 3D client working, where you can both interact with players using the other point of view. We're going to have these shared spaces where 2D and 3D people can interact. All of this will come out in phases, with staged gameplay coming out. We're sort of blazing a path with this concept, and we're really interested in what this might mean for players of the two versions. ... I'd love to get [a public beta] out to players by the end of the year."
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Buffy MMO Announced, Firefly MMO Delayed More

Buffy MMO Announced, Firefly MMO Delayed

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  • Buffy? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by SomeJoel ( 1061138 ) on Thursday September 04, 2008 @01:07PM (#24877121)
    This seems like kind of a flimsy IP to base an MMO on. Aren't there dozens of better choices?

    • Re:Buffy? (Score:5, Funny)

      by moderatorrater ( 1095745 ) on Thursday September 04, 2008 @01:12PM (#24877209)
      Agreed. I would think that an IP based on a single person in each generation would make for a lousy MMO. Everything in the Buffyverse is about exceptions to rules, and that's believable when you follow a few characters around. But when you get into an MMO environment, the exception quickly becomes the rule as everyone takes the "chosen one" class or the "vampire with a soul" class.

      If only there were an IP they could acquire where it's a whole ass-load of people in far flung areas, maybe like the old west, or space or something, where small groups of people move around performing missions. That's the sort of IP that'd make for a great MMO, IMHO.

      • Re:Buffy? (Score:5, Funny)

        by Babbster ( 107076 ) <aaronbabb@NOspaM.gmail.com> on Thursday September 04, 2008 @01:25PM (#24877439) Homepage

        Agreed. I would think that an IP based on a single person in each generation would make for a lousy MMO. Everything in the Buffyverse is about exceptions to rules, and that's believable when you follow a few characters around. But when you get into an MMO environment, the exception quickly becomes the rule as everyone takes the "chosen one" class or the "vampire with a soul" class.

        To be fair, BTVS ended with the creation of thousands of mini Slayers. And, as a bonus, it would finally give dudes a good excuse to play a hot chick in an MMO.

      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        by hr.wien ( 986516 )
        Well the series pretty much ended with the creation of thousands of slayers so it doesn't seem that far fetched with bucketloads of them running around. Makes being a slayer a little less special though, which I guess was your point.

      • Starhunter Online would be awesome.

      • Re:Buffy? (Score:4, Funny)

        by Zenaku ( 821866 ) on Thursday September 04, 2008 @01:43PM (#24877743)

        I think there would be plenty of other popular choices for class. I'm pretty sure lots of people would choose witch, hyena-person, ex-demon shopkeeper, cyberdemon, goddess, or dude-who-just-wants-to-be-a-big-snake.

        I'm a tenth level werewolf guitarist!

        • I'm a tenth level werewolf guitarist!

          Is that like electric guitarist? Like, the guitar is a werewolf? Can you only play it on a full moon?

          • Oh, there'll be problems, alright.

            Post 3269: Nerf Watchers!!!
            Posted by SMGRulz416, 3:44 AM 12 July 2010

            the watcher class is supposed to be a support/utility class but they can beat a purped slayer easy!!! (Ed. Note: loaded with purple quality equipment and upgrades) Once they get the att accolade (Ed. Note: Ancient Tiki Taboo accolade, a reward for completing a long quest arc) they can use it to stun or debuf (Ed. Note: refers to the ATTs power to debuf the defense of a target by 90% or stun the target, ei

      • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

        by k1e0x ( 1040314 )

        Yeah, I don't know about Buffy, I think Firefly could be a much more complex and creative universe with people owning ships and being sent out to do job.. maybe even jobs against each other. There is so much there to work with..

    • Forget Buffy MMO! When does the Duke Nukem Forever MMO come out? I mean, after all this time, DNF ought to be single, multi, MMO -- pretty much the works, right?!?!
    • Yes, but there are no vampires in World of Warcraft, Star wars galaxies, eve online, warhammer (I think), etc, etc. Sad to say, there's a massive crowd of emo kids they're probably looking to tap into, and it just might work. If it's anywhere near as fun as the Vampire Slayer mod for Half-life, then it's a sure fire hit.

    • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

      by BobMcD ( 601576 )

      This seems like kind of a flimsy IP to base an MMO on.

      How so?

      Aren't there dozens of better choices?

      Such as?

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by PrescriptionWarning ( 932687 )
        Vampire: The Masquerade would be a better vampire theme based MMO
        • For the emo, Goth, or tabletop gamer crowd, yes. However, for the mainstream crowd, probably not as attractive.

          • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

            by Lemmy Caution ( 8378 )

            No, VtM is better structurally as the basis for an MMO. Either the Buffy MMO is going to be a bad MMO, or it's only very, very superficially have anything to do with the Buffy stories.

            • I think a VtM would be a better MMO, but I think a Buffy MMO would sell better.

              • Actually, while I'm no fan of the choices of the mass market, I think that widespread disappointment will be the main response to Buffy, and I don't think it will sell well - while I think VtM actually has a bigger long-term market. But we will see.

                • I'd agree that VtM has a nitch market, which if made with proper quality, would last for a long time. I also believe that a Buffy MMO will sell better initially then VtM, but will prove to not have nearly as loyal of a fan base as VtM for the long run. So, it is my belief that they are attempting to make as much as possible as fast as possible versus making possibly more profit over a longer term.

            • You have been eaten by a grue^h^h^h^hvampire.

          • Are you serious?

            Go to TPB, download Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines, and play it. Beat the game. It gets better and better with every mission. Seriously, try it.

            Now tell me if that wasn't the best RPG experience you've ever had. I went into Bloodlines expecting the cheesiest, lamest excuse for a vampire game ever (I'm not a fan of White Wolf or vampires in general), but it is now far in a way my favorite game ever. The plot, the masquerade, the characters are all simply flawless. Theres very little

            • I take it you did not see my other psot where I said:

              "I think a VtM would be a better MMO, but I think a Buffy MMO would sell better."

              :-)

            • Is it based on The old WoD or the new one? (Did you see/hear the words "Mekhet" or "Daeva")

              • No one knows any details for certain (IIRC the game isn't even in development yet, just announced), but it will almost certainly be in the new WoD, as White Wolf is (to my understanding) no longer publishing material for old WoD. Have a look for yourself: facts [warcry.com] and rumors [gamespy.com].

        • Re:Buffy? (Score:4, Informative)

          by Mechanik ( 104328 ) on Thursday September 04, 2008 @02:05PM (#24878119) Homepage

          Vampire: The Masquerade would be a better vampire theme based MMO

          Agreed. Thankfully, it appears that they are working on one [wikipedia.org] already. Although I assume it's based on the new World of Darkness and not the old one.

    • Re:Buffy? (Score:4, Funny)

      by philspear ( 1142299 ) on Thursday September 04, 2008 @01:49PM (#24877837)

      There are dozens of other choices, but none where I can virtually fight vampires AND do virtual cheerleading. Also Buffy has lesbian witches. Therefore no, there aren't any BETTER choices.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by PMuse ( 320639 )

      The robustness of the IP as a basis for development in a new media is best measured on its audience size to date. Check all that apply [wikipedia.org]. Any dollars spent on one medium will double as a marketing investment for the next.

      [x] feature film
      [x] soundtrack
      [x] TV series
      [x] comic book
      [x] novelizations
      [x] dolls, toys
      [x] logo merchandise
      [ ] animated series
      [x] arcade game
      [x] MMORG
      [x] collectable card game

      In the immortal words of Mel Brooks, "Merchandising, merchandising, where the real money from the movie is made.

  • repeat after me (Score:3, Insightful)

    by jollyreaper ( 513215 ) on Thursday September 04, 2008 @01:08PM (#24877147)

    NO MO' MMO's!

    Seriously, I ain't got time for 'em, does anyone else? Just getting through a great single-player game like Oblivion kicks my ass, let alone this multi-player time-sink crap.

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by arth1 ( 260657 )

      If someone could invent an MMO that was immune to being overtaken by koreans and 13 year old boys (of any age), perhaps I would want to play it. As it is, the AGGR0, LULZ crowd ruins every single one of them -- there's no way to pretend you're part of a story when a kid runs up to you and asks you whether you want him to powerlevel you "reel cheep", or is named YO M0+H3R.

      As for the kind of people who are Buffy fans, that should speak for itself.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Khuffie ( 818093 )
        13 year old boys of any age?

      • There's always MMOs like Merentha [merentha.com].

        Or for something more modern, you might consider City of Heroes.

      • Aren't there RP servers for WoW that enforce things like that?

        • No. The RP servers for WoW selectively enforce character names for "inappropriate" (means "The blizzard monkey who saw it didn't get it") character names. Doesn't stop the PvPtards from flooding Ironforge (or whatever the Dwarf/Gnome capital is called. Been over 2 years) when a pair of dolts gets caught cybering in the tram tunnel.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by arth1 ( 260657 )

          Dunno? Do they kickban people who use words like "aggro", "gank", "pwn", "epic phail" and "lulz"?

          • No, but those people are naturally more rare, because the kinds of people who act like that are the kind of people who think rolling on an RP server makes you a dork, as if that ship didn't sail the moment they installed WoW.

            It's really night and day, from quality of chat to quality of pick up group members. Sometimes the trade channel will get pretty bad, and I'll think the lustre is gone. Then I'll make the mistake of logging on with one of the characters I foolishly rolled on a normal server and it tak

      • Roll on an RP server.

        I'm not joking.

        It's amazing what getting rid of all the people who think there's a "cool" and "dorky" MMO server to play on does for the quality of the game.

      • overtaken by koreans and 13 year old boys

        But I thought that in Korea, only old people played MMOs?

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Cecil ( 37810 )

        Play on an official roleplaying server. Most MMOs have at least one. On WoW, they were pretty well policed and people who were actively damaging to other people's roleplay experiences (including people with unrealistic names) were normally quickly dealt with, either through warnings, forced name changes, or server bans. Maybe it's changed in the few years since I stopped playing, I don't know, but it used to be pretty good.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by brkello ( 642429 )
      Obviously people do. Why should you care what other people have time for and you don't? I'd say to you NO MO' telling people how they should spend their time.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AP31R0N ( 723649 )

      Yes. Hundreds of thousands of people are playing MMs as you read this. Maybe that time could be used for something else. But books, movies, comics and TV are all passive single player entertainment. MMs are (somewhat) interactive, what the player does (sort of) changes the story.

      Not all MMs are time sinks. PlanetSide is an MMFPS (the O is a given) that i play to *play*, not to gain this or that widget or epeener, only to get the next widget. Been playing that every Thursday night for about 5 years and

  • Flatland: An MMO of Many Dimensions (Score:5, Funny)

    by Qzukk ( 229616 ) on Thursday September 04, 2008 @01:11PM (#24877193) Journal

    shared spaces where 2D and 3D people can interact

    So what do the 2D players see when the 3D players jump?

  • Can Hardly Wait(tm) (Score:5, Funny)

    by goose-incarnated ( 1145029 ) on Thursday September 04, 2008 @01:13PM (#24877213) Journal

    ... it will ... so it will start ...this will ... once we have ... we're going to have ... all of this will come out in phases ...we're sort of blazing a path ... I'd love to ...

    To be honest, DNF has a lower vapourware coefficient.

  • 2D people (Score:4, Funny)

    by Alsee ( 515537 ) on Thursday September 04, 2008 @01:14PM (#24877241) Homepage

    We're going to have these shared spaces where 2D and 3D people can interact.

    We already have that here on Slashdot whenever an evolution-related story crops up.

    -

  • Man, what is the point of going through all that trouble? This reeks of wasted effort spent on getting the 2d side up and running, assets they can't re-use, and the trouble of bridging the 2d client over to the 3d client. Seems like a huge timesuck to me.

    • From the article:

      They're the same assets in 2D and 3D. We take the 3D assets and we 'shoot' em from a locked-down isometric point of view, then we turn those assets into 2D sprites. It looks very similar between the two formats.

      So they intend to render the 3D stuff and use that. But honestly that whole "interview" strikes me as odd. They can't talk about this, can't show that, they are not allowed to tell what happened with Firefly. They can't tell us the style of their artwork or the game play.

      For me it so

  • Question (Score:4, Funny)

    by Sta7ic ( 819090 ) on Thursday September 04, 2008 @01:19PM (#24877339)

    How did this get modded up past the firehose? Buffy, Firefly, and MMOGs have nothing to do with-

    Oh, wait.

  • Hey, now. (Score:5, Funny)

    by Rob T Firefly ( 844560 ) on Thursday September 04, 2008 @01:19PM (#24877341) Homepage Journal
    I'm flattered and everything, but I'm not sure I really lead the sort of life that's all that worth making an MMO about.

  • The status is *not* quo... (Score:4, Funny)

    by Jupiter Jones ( 584946 ) on Thursday September 04, 2008 @01:20PM (#24877357)
    Both of those MMOs sound nice. But if you really want my gaming dollars, how about one taking place in the Dr. Horrible universe?

    (Every five minutes your in-game chat would have to rhyme, of course.)

    JJ

  • Most MMOs (Score:5, Interesting)

    by PhasmatisApparatus ( 1086395 ) on Thursday September 04, 2008 @01:23PM (#24877413)
    Most MMOs focus on two concepts: a unique combat system and different skills to level. A Buffy MMO sounds interesting enough, until you realize that the developers would have to stray too far from the TV series in order to make it a good game.

    First, the combat in the Buffyverse has always been minimal. Buffy explains in painful detail to the vampires why they can't win, and she'll kick their heads in if they try anything. Once an episode, one of them tries somethings. Buffy kicks heads in. End of episode, at least as far as fighting goes.

    As for skills, well, there's not much of that in the series, either. Buffy has always been killing vampires. It's what she does. Giles is always the librarian who has read every book on the occult, but still never notices anything wrong until someone points it out first. +3 intellect/+1 cluelessness. But I am getting silly here.

    The point is, the game will either conform to the Buffyverse, or the game will distort the Buffyverse to make it work. Either way, it cannot end well.

    • Most MMOs focus on two concepts: a unique combat system and different skills to level

      And then they settle on D20 and call it a day.

      • And then the company goes under because they chose one of the worst systems for actual story and character development and end up tied to it and players realize they just spent $30 on something that is just like every other wannabe game developer out there and have nothing original. Then they either leave the industry or find a real RPG.

  • Flash? (Score:2, Insightful)

    by cyber-dragon.net ( 899244 )
    Does he really expect anyone to play a flash game? Or even pay for it? Might as well make it a facebook app where you "complete offers" to power up your character.

    • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

      by Earered ( 856958 )

      You mean, like dofus? http://www.dofus.com/ [dofus.com]

    • With a property like BTVS, you have to strike while the iron is hot! If they wait to have a worthwhile game to offer, Buffy's relevance may fade.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by fm6 ( 162816 )

        Buffy's relevance faded a long time ago. When it was a cute little low-budget fantasy series, just a little bit more imaginative than the competition, it was fun. When it turned into a franchise, it got boring.

  • give us Firefly ! (Score:4, Interesting)

    by savuporo ( 658486 ) on Thursday September 04, 2008 @02:05PM (#24878117)

    Spacesim genre on PC has been basically dead since the late great FreeSpace 2. Okay, there was Freelancer which was semi-decent, but nothing compared to the old great hits like Tie Fighter, best of Wing Commander, Privateer, Tachyon, Independence War or even all the way back to Elite series.

    Do not even start about recent flops like Tarr Chronicles, SpaceForce : Rogue Universe or even the entire X series. Eye candy and insance technical requirements bundled with unworkable control schemes not a playable game make. ( A side note: EVE is not a space sim, not the kind that im talking about here )

    Now Firefly universe would be a perfect setting for Privateer-like game. You dont even have to be goddamn revolutionary game designer to pull a triple-A hit on this. Just use the best gameplay elements of the past, make a good story ( hey its not like good sci-fi writers are hard to come by), half decent graphics and playable controls and you have a sure winner on that currently barren field.

    Yes, i we know Elite 4 and Infinity ( infinity-universe.com ) will be ready Real Soon Now (TM) but i dont think advances in life prolonging medicine are happening fast enough to tide all us space simmers over until then.

    • C'mon, I know what you really want, but are afraid to ask for. It's okay. Let it out, and you'll be free. I know it's hard. I'll help. We can say it together. 3...2...1...

      Battlecruiser MMO!

  • Um, more like boldly going where angels fear to tread. At best you're going to create a shitty little flash game that acts as a teaser for the full-fledged client, and then discover that there is virtually no reusable code between the two. Nobody's done this before because it's a bad idea on its face-- at best, you're wasting precious coding resources on hype, which is what your PR department is for.

  • So.. (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Tsoat ( 1221796 ) on Thursday September 04, 2008 @02:37PM (#24878611)
    you know when people are high and they come up with really great ideas like breeding and selling hamsters? This sounds kinda like one of those ideas...

  • Two levels (Score:5, Funny)

    by cybereal ( 621599 ) on Thursday September 04, 2008 @02:46PM (#24878719) Homepage

    The Firefly MMO was in private beta but they couldn't seem to figure out why just as you were about to ding level 3 the game would exit abruptly and show you a confusing array of cutscenes from the rest of the content...

  • If I absolutely had to choose one, it certainly wouldn't be a Buffyverse. I don't even see how you could populate the game world realistically. I mean, how many Slayers can you really have? Does everybody have to be some red-shirt vampire? What is there to do? Do you need to collect money? Why? To pay for bigger stakes? Everybody but Cordelia was broke most of the time and that worked out just fine. And Sunnyvale is pretty small. . . In the first episode, it was put plainly that there was only one

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Gewalt ( 1200451 )
      Actually, MMO's kinda flail when "guns" come into play. The combat turns into nothing more than a race to see who shoots first. Unless of course, you insist that the strongest gun in the game is no more powerful than an air powered bb gun. Then it balances nicely. (or you make up some ridiculous energy based armor) Historical MMO works because there is no expectation of technology. Mythical MMO works because we love to believe in magic.

  • get past the 2d/3d crossover stage and to the done stage.

    While I have no hopes at all for a good Buffy game(I'm bias, I thought the series sucked) I can see where the could move it more global and have 'Vampire Empires'. I think making it more like angel might be wiser. Many demons running around, most of them neither good or bad along with the vampires would create more story opportunities.
    I'm bias, I really enjoyed Angel.
    They could incorporate destinies as personal goals.

  • I hope in the Buffy MMO you can wander into Lorne's club and play a karaoke minigame, something like the singing portions of "Rock Band". It would fit perfectly.

  • Too Many MMOs (Score:3, Funny)

    by hoofinasia ( 1234460 ) on Thursday September 04, 2008 @05:24PM (#24880951)
    seriously? Lets make everything an MMO.

    Just announced! Slashdot MMO! play any one of 5 classes informative, funny, insightful, interesting, troll!

    Epic level cap of +1 to +5! Ability to ignore comments I mean players below level 2!

  • Buffy doesn't make sense for an MMO (Score:3, Insightful)

    by RobinH ( 124750 ) on Thursday September 04, 2008 @06:55PM (#24881983) Homepage

    If you play an MMO based on a movie/TV show where there's a very small number of super powerful characters, then everyone wants to play the game as those characters and be super-powerful compared to everyone else. But you can't do that well in an MMO because not everyone can be uber. Obviously everone wants to play as a vampire slayer (or a vampire, I guess) just like in Star Wars Galaxies everyone wanted to play as a Jedi.

    I think something like a Harry Potter MMO would make more sense. You start off with little to no powers but earn them at every level, and you can make every character go through the same levelling (i.e. Hogwarts school). It would make more sense that the main character (you) is just like everyone else in the game.

    Most American action movies don't really lend themselves well to MMOs because there tends to be a single hero character with clear advantages over everyone else. Hard to model that in an MMO.

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