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If there ever was a full-fledged Harry Potter MMO, who would you like to see develop it?

travdotytravdoty Member UncommonPosts: 274

Forget your personal opinions on the series. Ask yourself objectively--knowing what you do about the world of Harry Potter, which development company do you think would be most successful at creating a living breathing full-fledged MMO? And while we're at it, would you like it to lean more towards sandbox, more towards themepark, or somewhere in the middle? I've attached a poll for the latter question.

Personally, I think the series is alright. Nothing special, and nothing to write home about. I'm just not into the whole tween fantasy setting type stuff. Even knowing that, I'd still be down to play a Harry Potter MMO.

I don't really have an opinion on the developer, but I'd like it to be somewhere in the middle as far as sandbox/themepark goes. RVR style pvp is practically built into the IP with the different houses, so I would hope to see that in the game. As far as skills go, I'd hope to see a system akin to SWG's/Skyrim's skill based progression with different perks you can pick for each skill as you level it up. If I remember right, there's tons of different "schools of magic" from the books, such as divination, defense against the dark arts, potions, etc., so that would all fit in nicely. Of course, one would need to have the choice of going more toward the 'dark side of magic' or whatever they call it in the books.

Meh, thought I had more to contribute to the discussion than I did lol. What do you guys think?

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Comments

  • ClerigoClerigo Member UncommonPosts: 400

    The books are great, the movies are kind of good, why you want to downgrade this franchise by making an mmo?

  • travdotytravdoty Member UncommonPosts: 274

    I dont know if it would make the franchise worse. Anything could happen, but I guess that really depends on the developer. IIRC, the author left a huge gap in lore with the last chapter of the book (didn't she jump ahead like 20 or 30 years?). That leave a loooooooot of room to add additional lore and keep the franchise alive. Obviously much love and care from the author (cant remember her name) would need to go into the game to make sure it lives up to fans' expectations.

  • travdotytravdoty Member UncommonPosts: 274

    Originally posted by parrotpholk

    Would make a horrible MMO

    That's all? No explanation as to why?

  • lennpelllennpell Member UncommonPosts: 111

    I would like NCSoft to do graphics, and like the visual mechanics and such, but the gameplay Bethesda (If they went into MMO's) because quite frankly Bethesda is probably the #1 game maker atm. So mix in NCSofts beautiful MMO graphics and their visuals and movements and such, with Bethesda's gameplay design philosophy and how well they capture the point of a game. 

     

    T'would be epic.

  • travdotytravdoty Member UncommonPosts: 274

    Originally posted by lennpell

    I would like NCSoft to do graphics, and like the visual mechanics and such, but the gameplay Bethesda (If they went into MMO's) because quite frankly Bethesda is probably the #1 game maker atm. So mix in NCSofts beautiful MMO graphics and their visuals and movements and such, with Bethesda's gameplay design philosophy and how well they capture the point of a game. 

     

    T'would be epic.

    Bethesda would be awesome, but I hope they would add new flavor to the combat system. Maybe it's just me, but the combat in most Bethesda games I've played just feels bland and copy/pasted from their last game.

  • travdotytravdoty Member UncommonPosts: 274

    Originally posted by parrotpholk

    For one JK would have complete control so every little thing good for the game or not would have to go through her as well as having input much like Lucas.  This would limit the scope of the game. Unlike Star Wars the Harry Potter universe is fairly limited.  Also I just could not see running around as a teen/child as I would doubt you could be an adult.  I could see how crafting my work but then what of the economy?  Your a kid in school so its not like you are running around with tons of gold.  Just lots of things would not work IMO and to many issues with having JK involved.

    I don't see JK being as much of a control freak as Lucas (don't even get me started on him lol) but I guess we'd just have to see. Obviously the game would need to be able to progress past the 7 'years' of school or whatever for it to work. How they would do that I do not know, but with all the lore surrounding Harry Potter and the extend of JK's imagination, I'm sure they could figure something out. As far as economy goes, there is the usage of coin and money in the books. Just look at the twin Weasley brothers, they opened up a prank shop, didn't they? Player run shops could help the economy (wand shops, cauldron shops, candy shops, etc). 

  • ProstiProsti Member Posts: 45

    To be quite honest, playing as the devil's advocate. This sounds like a terrible idea. BUT, for the sake of the argument, IF I had to choose which company should make it. I could see NCSoft or Bioware make it. NCSoft has there money in a lot of places atm. And Bioware is doing really well for itself nowadays. Maybe more or less Bioware.

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  • kzaskekzaske Member UncommonPosts: 518

    For my part, I would love to see ArenaNet (part of NCSoft) do it.  Good quality graphics, nice game play and simple interfaces.

  • OdyssesOdysses Member Posts: 581

    WB owns Harry Potter, WB owns Turbine, therefore WB would use Turbine to develop it.  It may also have been one of the main reasons WB bought Turbine.

  • CalerxesCalerxes Member UncommonPosts: 1,641

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  • travdotytravdoty Member UncommonPosts: 274

    Originally posted by Odysses

    WB owns Harry Potter, WB owns Turbine, therefore WB would use Turbine to develop it.  It may also have been one of the main reasons WB bought Turbine.

    That's a good point.. although I cannot say that sounds good. I wasn't impressed at all with LOTRO and was disappointed they shut down AC2. Guess we'd just have to see.

  • TeiloTeilo Member Posts: 284

    Originally posted by travdoty

    I dont know if it would make the franchise worse. Anything could happen, but I guess that really depends on the developer. IIRC, the author left a huge gap in lore with the last chapter of the book (didn't she jump ahead like 20 or 30 years?). That leave a loooooooot of room to add additional lore and keep the franchise alive. Obviously much love and care from the author (cant remember her name) would need to go into the game to make sure it lives up to fans' expectations.

    It's not really a gap in the lore - setting the game in the time after the books (pre the final chapter) would be like making a Lord of the Rings game set after Frodo destroys the ring: pretty pointless, the villain is dead. 

    Structurally  an MMO based on Harry Potter would be tricky; sure you have your Good Witches and Wizards & and your Death Eaters, but what are the player characters? Adults? Students? And are they stuck in a never-never land where the story doesn't progress, or like LotRO where the player moves through the plot of the books?

    Basing the game on the books, it would make sense for players to be students at Hogwarts, but what year are they in? 

    Do they 'level up' (learn more spells, become more powerful) by progressing through the school year? That seems natural, but presents a problem as the world changes drastically as the books go on: you couldn't have 'Year one' students sharing the same school as 'Year Five' students - the school is destroyed by the end - unless you abstracted the game from the books, maybe setting it some years before the first one.

    I'm sure it would be possible to make a half decent MMO, whether anyone would still care by the time it saw the light of day I'm less sure about.

     

    Now, a Discworld MMO, that has possibilities. ;)

  • JarazarJarazar Member Posts: 231

    I was talking about this just the other day actually. I would love to see the original SWG development team tackle this and make it similar to pre-CU SWG.

    someone needs to take what was an awesome concept that was SWG and re-introduce it in todays mmo market.

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  • ProstiProsti Member Posts: 45

    Originally posted by Odysses

    WB owns Harry Potter, WB owns Turbine, therefore WB would use Turbine to develop it.  It may also have been one of the main reasons WB bought Turbine.

    Well played sir, well played. I forgot to see that side of it. Thanks for clarifying it for us. Much appreciated.

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  • asmkm22asmkm22 Member Posts: 1,788

    I think it would make a great MMO for kids, but probably not so much for adults.  Maybe a step up from the JumpStart game world.  Legos had (has?) an MMO for the audience, but they closed down (or are closing down) due to lack of interest.

    Long story short is, I'm not sure the IP would translate well into a traditional MMO where you go around attacking things and defeating bosses and such.  I think it would be a good candidate for a console MMO, with lots of quests and story arcs that change up every few hours for people, and focus on investigative and social stuff.

    You make me like charity

  • JarazarJarazar Member Posts: 231

    Originally posted by Prosti

    Originally posted by Odysses

    WB owns Harry Potter, WB owns Turbine, therefore WB would use Turbine to develop it.  It may also have been one of the main reasons WB bought Turbine.

    Well played sir, well played. I forgot to see that side of it. Thanks for clarifying it for us. Much appreciated.

    Agreed. And...I hadn't even thought about the LOTRO team. They could do an amazing job.

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  • TheLizardbonesTheLizardbones Member CommonPosts: 10,910

    Cryptic. Because I'm a little tired of the whole Harry Potter thing. I really enjoyed the books and movies and everything, but I'm just done.

    I can not remember winning or losing a single debate on the internet.

  • travdotytravdoty Member UncommonPosts: 274

    Originally posted by asmkm22

    I think it would make a great MMO for kids, but probably not so much for adults.  Maybe a step up from the JumpStart game world.  Legos had (has?) an MMO for the audience, but they closed down (or are closing down) due to lack of interest.

    Dunno how much I agree with that. The books (and movies) seemed to get more and more of a dark ominous tone as the story progressed--which to me suggests a more mature audience to some extent. I think adults would still play it, yes, but you're right in implying that the majority of players would be younger.

  • KenFisherKenFisher Member UncommonPosts: 5,035

    Originally posted by Odysses

    WB owns Harry Potter, WB owns Turbine, therefore WB would use Turbine to develop it.  It may also have been one of the main reasons WB bought Turbine.

     

    Ditto.  My personal suspicion is that it's already in development.


    Ken Fisher - Semi retired old fart Network Administrator, now working in Network Security.  I don't Forum PVP.  If you feel I've attacked you, it was probably by accident.  When I don't understand, I ask.  Such is not intended as criticism.
  • jerlot65jerlot65 Member UncommonPosts: 788

    Not an MMO.  But an epic Bioware type game where JK Rowling wrote more chapters just for the game would be great.

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  • DredphyreDredphyre Member Posts: 601

    As others have pointed out, WB owns Harry Potter and Turbine.  In fact, I'd be willing to bet Turbine is already working on a Harry Potter MMO of some sort.

     

     

  • jerlot65jerlot65 Member UncommonPosts: 788

    Originally posted by ActionMMORPG

    Originally posted by Odysses

    WB owns Harry Potter, WB owns Turbine, therefore WB would use Turbine to develop it.  It may also have been one of the main reasons WB bought Turbine.

     

    Ditto.  My personal suspicion is that it's already in development.

    Well WB doesn't own Harry Potter but bought the rights to distribute JK Rowling's IP if SHE chooses to do so.

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  • CuathonCuathon Member Posts: 2,211

    There is already a wizards in school sim game being put out by an indie company. Of course its single player, although you could change that, and its text based. Why would you need the HP IP to make a wizard school game?

    Personally if I thought it was necessary to use an established IP I would absolutely go for the A Wizard of Earthsea. Its already way more suited to an mmo with magic and crafts and politics and its magic system isnt as stupid and limiting as HP. It has a massive archipelago with many factions, many of whom are at war and a great magic system and shitloads of lore and way better dragons.

  • gladosrev2gladosrev2 Member CommonPosts: 203

    HP is not compatible with MMO's. Of course you could make one if you really wanted to cash in, making Hogwarts as big as a city, so it can hold tens of thousands of players. Wouldn't running around the castle and perhaps the local forest all day be a bit boring in the long run though?

    My Guild Wars 2 First Beta Weekend "reviewette" : http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/post/4944570/thread/349125#4944570

  • travdotytravdoty Member UncommonPosts: 274

    Originally posted by Cuathon

     

    Personally if I thought it was necessary to use an established IP I would absolutely go for the A Wizard of Earthsea. Its already way more suited to an mmo with magic and crafts and politics and its magic system isnt as stupid and limiting as HP. It has a massive archipelago with many factions, many of whom are at war and a great magic system and shitloads of lore and way better dragons.

    You might be right, but can you honestly say it isn't a matter of time before we see a Harry Potter MMO, knowing the size and popularity of the franchise?

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