Licenses And MMO Games - A Good Pairing?

Thanks to GameSpy for their article discussing the realities of building MMOG world based on existing licenses. They point out: "The rush is on. Star Wars Galaxies, released this past summer, was only the beginning. Middle-Earth Online is gearing up to bring The Lord of the Rings to life... The Matrix Online, still secretive, is a real noodle bender: A virtual reality based on living life inside a virtual reality?" But, as Will Wright points out: "Books and movies are by definition very linear properties, as seen from a single protagonist's point of view. That's very hard to put into an online world." The article concludes: "Most agree that great licensed games have to be based on a sense of place, as opposed to character."

Re:Sorta

[t0ny]

I liked how Sony made that uberpass thing, where you can play all their MMOGs for one flat fee. Unfortunately, this doesnt apply to a licensed title like SWG (since they have to pay royalties to Luc-ass, I would imagine).

Re:Sorta

[shaitand]

yeah isn't that great!!! ummm wait, sony only makes ONE mmorpg that I know of.

Re:Sorta

[Foggy1]

http://www.station.sony.com/allaccess/

It's basically just Everquest and Planetside, but they do make more than one game.

Deja vu

[pommaq]

I remember seeing this in a Slashdot discussion just a couple of days ago - Burke's rant about SW:G. I don't remember if it was in the editorial itself or in the comments (and I can't really be arsed to search, perhaps someone could karma whore a little for me?). It was a point I found pretty lucid, however: movies will usually focus on a few exceptional characters, but... not everybody can play them. Of course everyone will want to be a Jedi, but having everyone run around with lightsabers won't work in a game. And everyone wants to be Legolas or Gimli, not $randomOrc[351].

It's very hard to convey a sense of being in the licensed universe, unless you get the hierarchy and the composition of trades and races right. For every Frodo you would need 50 resident farmers living in Bree to make it seem real, and NPC's will only get you so far. Until someone can think up a new way of doing MMOGs except the old fight-insects-for-a-couple-of-hours, these licenses will only be a gimmick to make the publisher take less risk and feel safer.

Just my 0.15 SEK.

Wheres our Immersion?

[Naffer]

I think that immersion is the largest problem in MMORPGs today. You wouldn't belive how large the percent "churn" (people who cancel accounts early on) is. The problem lies in the fact that it's difficult to really get into a lisenced game world when you feel like the actions that you're allowed to take are all superficial.

I played SWG for exactly one month after launch, just long enough to get out without having to large a time or monatary investment. Everything I was allowed to do in the game was su

Licence vs. Substance

[PawnII]

Quoting the article:

"A big name draws attention, it's really that simple," argues Sony Online Entertainment's Chief Creative Officer, Raph Koster.

Well some people will find atractive to live the same experiences that are on the movies/series/comics/etc, but sadly most of the licences today are really vague on content.

It looks like most of the games tied to an allready developed marketing campaing (SWG, etc) seem to lack a certain appeal to the mayority of the players.

I dont deny that some licences have

Who has the time to be an average hero?

[imperator_mundi]

IMHO Middle Earth has the great advantage that Tolkien's fans have plenty of well known places they would probably visit, the Shire, Bree, Rivendell, Moria, Smaug Mountain, Minas Tirit, just to name somes, so it's thinkable that people will hang around in the MMORPG just as tourists, just to say I was there... the world has been described in thousands of pages covering differents epochs, so the world itself isn't just a background for the adventures of Bilbo or Frodo...

Starwars's universe has been descri

Re:Who has the time to be an average hero?

[shaitand]

It's good to remember that 90% of the people who play these games don't actually roleplay or give a damn about the world, and neither will tolkien fans after a month playing. They go for the gameplay, if there isn't TON's of content and things to do than nobody will last for more than a few months. MMORPG's are VERY successful, they each have tens of thousands of players.

When their current model gets them that many players paying a subscription for YEARS (players who last a couple months never go beyond

Re:Who has the time to be an average hero?

[whorfin]

Tens of thousands of players is not 'very successful'. In fact, depending on who you talk to, a game that has only tens of thousands of customers may be described as an 'utter failure'.

Re:Who has the time to be an average hero?

[shaitand]

Sure, for a regular game, for a game that charges a subscription it's a bit different. Those tens of thousands buy all the expansions for the game, each of which is another game sale and they pay that on top of the subscriptions.

Good way to increase users

[jkcity]

I think making MMO based on existing fictional universes is a good thing, although I don't think many things will translate well to a MMO or Have enough fanatical fans to shell out money for them. I have never been intrested in a MMO before, but if they made a StarTrek one I'd definatly give it a try, I know alot of Star wars fan who would never play/pay for a MMO, but now do, so its a great way to bring new audiences into this type of game.

New vs Old worlds

[Baron_Yam]

I agree with many of the posts I've already seen - being in a fantasy world built around a few well known characters whose fates are scripted is boring!

For a MMOG to be truly great it must be new, and the well known characters should emerge during game play, from the players.

Re:New vs Old worlds

[shaitand]

Who says it has to revolve around a few well known characters with scripted fates? It could just be set in the same worlds. For instance after recreating middle earth, why have the scripted characters there at all? Sure maybe the timeless ones like Treebeard and the ents, and maybe the elves but the timeframe can be set after the books rather than before or during.

Why not the same setting?

[Baron_Yam]

I think using a popular pre-existing setting leads to people EXPECTING the scripted characters, or at least being able to turn their character into a replica of one of the heroes or villans they remember.

It also tends to invite nitpicking which decreases satisfaction. Just my opinion, of course.

The more detailed the setting...

[DigitalSpyder]

the more work the developers have.

Worlds (or Galaxies rather) for Star Wars have been so well defined in the books, rpgs, computer games, movies, etc. across sooo many mediums and in such detail it would be near impossible to create an MMORPG setting that remains true to all of it and has enough depth to keep hard core SW fans interested as well as appeal to casual gamers. Granted MMORPGs don't tend to lend themselves to casual gamers but my point is for someone who only plays a few hours a week and/or i

Licenses And MMO Games - A Good Pairing?

[Etone]

The easiest answer to that question is to play SW:G for a month or two.

-e-