MXO Forum Archive Community forum archive

MMOs from shows/movies. Smart or just money milking?

2 posts ยท 2006-12-19 06:09:00 to 2006-12-19 06:53:00

#36300123660 12/19/2006 06:09 Re:MMOs from shows/movies. Smart or just money milking?

Having played Galaxies and Matrix, I feel that its both a genuine attemt to connect the community together, as well as grasping at easy money.

If the developers do the game right, like Pre-CU galaxies then a lot of people will be happy with a small minority complaining about things.

All it takes for a game to succeed is for one of the major developers to care about the movie and players, however when they leave, it becomes a "how can I milk this for longer" contest for the most part. Sad but true.

#36300123672 12/19/2006 06:53 Re:MMOs from shows/movies. Smart or just money milking?
Franchise-based games has its advantages and its inconvenients. Taking a rich setting to base your story allows the developpers to focus more on development than creative writing. And fans of the license will be more curious to see what the company could have made with their favorite license. The real problem however is that this is not your universe, and you have to respect the property owner's will. I am fairly sure that MxO would have prefered to never have Morpheus dead. Or that some story elements brought by Chadwick might not always interrest them. But they have to comply. On another hand, if the gaming company own the setting (EQ or WOW for example), they have the disadvantage that they have to prove to the world that their environment is worth making an MMO from, and often, it's through an excellent gameplay that they will lure their players.

Here are my views on a few license MMO environments coming.

Lord of the rings : this is a no-brainer. Nearly everyone and their grandmother likes LOTR, especially since the movies have made it a mainstream icon, and not only a fantasy masterwork. If the gameplay is good, this will be terribly popular.
Warhammer : The tabletop miniature game isn't as mainstream in North America than in Europe, but this extremely rich license, full of colorful elements and a focal point on combat will probably make this game a good game for the lover of battles.
Age of Conan : Based on what I read, this will be the next MxO in term of appeal toward more mature roleplayers. When I show MxO to a roleplayer friend, what they say is wow, this kicks *CENSORED*. The Conan license isn't as appealing nowadays that it was when I discovered it when I was young and huh, wanted to be a barbarian myself, but the gritty style might make it a good "word of mouth" game, like MxO.
Star Trek : Nah... Not my cup of tea. Maybe great for trekkies fans that want to live like their favorite characters, but I fail to imagine this as a popular game to the common masses.