While I agree with all of your selections as being great 'worlds' for video games, I disagree with your genre selection:
Highlander - while I could see some elements of the story/universe working well in an MMORPG setting, it would be more suitable in a Battle Royale game. The reason why Highlander is a good story is that the Highlander is playing the long game not the short game, but Battle Royale still fits this universe more than an MMORPG.
Terminator - A Terminator themed MMORPG would limit the scope of the storytelling to the point where it would diminish the impact of being in the Terminator "universe", crippling the overall experience. Terminator is best suited for a suspenseful, action-driven FPS, perhaps with RPG Elements (Last of Us).
Aliens/Predator - This one falls prey to the same issues that face the Terminator IP. Pigeonholing a universe into a genre that has elements and design features that run contrary to the overall tone of the storytelling virtually cripples the universe to the point where it is lost on the player. This IP wast best executed in the survival horror release, Alien: Isolation in 2014.
Mad Max - Mad Max is one of your better picks of the lot: the world is open-ended and is a literal sandbox, where the narrative is driven by the environment and cultural implications of a post-apocalyptic world, more than the character development or style of storytelling. The world of Mad Max is at it's best, however, when the suspense and action is at it's highest point. MMORPGs are prone to long bouts of inactivity and make the most efficient use of content by recycling, refacing, and retooling content. Mad Max would be best suited to an action-based linear or open-world single-player storyline ergo Grand Theft Auto or Need For Speed.
Tron - This is your single best pick and perhaps the only pick that would suit the MMORPG genre equally to other competing genres. The method of storytelling is not critical for player enjoyment, the world is free-form and open for a wider interpretation and development, and the scope of possibility for immersive gameplay elements leaves me wanting to hear more about the possibilities of a Tron MMORPG.
My top 5 picks (Excluding MMORPGs based on movies already: i.e. Matrix Online, Star Wars, Conan, LotR etc.):
5. Constantine - Open-ended world worth more exploration.
4. Underworld - Vampires vs. Werewolves, what more can I say? Has a conflict built in, a modern setting, and a world open to more exploration.
3. Firefly/Serenity - A space-opera that focuses on the little man and making it in a government-oppressed culture.
2. Harry Potter - I have always thought that this IP would lend itself to a cool setting for an MMORPG. Going through school and eventually developing your wizarding skills out in the world. The design would have to focus on a different setting from the current movie IPs, because they are too focused on well known characters that would distract from the player's role in the wizarding world. Perhaps the 19th century?
1. Naruto - Choosing a village, style of jutsu, and growing your character over time while engaging in missions is exactly the type of elements that perfectly inject into the MMORPG genre. While there is technically a Naruto Online...it focuses on the show's characters rather than the show's setting, so in my mind it is still open for an actual full-fledged MMORPG.
Mad Max for sure and maybe Tron, but the others? Eh .. I don't see it, especially Highlander. I just don't see fleshed-out worlds in Terminator or AvP, and while Highlander was a great movie, I *really* don't see how you make an MMO out of that.
As others have stated, Blade Runner would make a fantastic MMO. That's why I'm very interested in Cyberpunk 2077, as it seems to take a lot of inspiration from Blade Runner. Additionally, Anarchy Online was one of my favorite games back when, and it definitely had some Blade Runner influences in it, IMO.
Mad Max for sure and maybe Tron, but the others? Eh .. I don't see it, especially Highlander. I just don't see fleshed-out worlds in Terminator or AvP, and while Highlander was a great movie, I *really* don't see how you make an MMO out of that.
As others have stated, Blade Runner would make a fantastic MMO. That's why I'm very interested in Cyberpunk 2077, as it seems to take a lot of inspiration from Blade Runner. Additionally, Anarchy Online was one of my favorite games back when, and it definitely had some Blade Runner influences in it, IMO.
I agree with you except for the AvP point. The alien and Predator lore is very expansive in the books and comics they developed in the 90s. I was a huge Predator fan and have a few books and a bunch of comics. An mmo based on this world would be so easy to do. You could even have 4 factions: Aliens, Engineers, Humans and Predators.
In the books/comics the Predators have been to countless worlds and countless hunts for different creatures/beings. That could easily be explored in an mmo. Each faction having their own homeworld. Space travel, Weyland/Yuntani corp, Alien infestations, Great Predator hunts, shake and bake colonies. Honestly, this world is almost as big as Star Wars. You just have to look past the movies.
Mad Max for sure and maybe Tron, but the others? Eh .. I don't see it, especially Highlander. I just don't see fleshed-out worlds in Terminator or AvP, and while Highlander was a great movie, I *really* don't see how you make an MMO out of that.
As others have stated, Blade Runner would make a fantastic MMO. That's why I'm very interested in Cyberpunk 2077, as it seems to take a lot of inspiration from Blade Runner. Additionally, Anarchy Online was one of my favorite games back when, and it definitely had some Blade Runner influences in it, IMO.
I agree with you except for the AvP point. The alien and Predator lore is very expansive in the books and comics they developed in the 90s. I was a huge Predator fan and have a few books and a bunch of comics. An mmo based on this world would be so easy to do. You could even have 4 factions: Aliens, Engineers, Humans and Predators.
In the books/comics the Predators have been to countless worlds and countless hunts for different creatures/beings. That could easily be explored in an mmo. Each faction having their own homeworld. Space travel, Weyland/Yuntani corp, Alien infestations, Great Predator hunts, shake and bake colonies. Honestly, this world is almost as big as Star Wars. You just have to look past the movies.
Totally fair. Honestly, I didn't even know AVP had a comic series or anything outside of movies and (relatively) crappy games. And I even read comics!
I'd like to add "Princess Bride" but I don't think you could capture the magic and expand the world...
How about Narnia? That's got a lot of territory, many different creatures and races, and history.
"Fifth Element" is another that I would love to see, but it would be really hard to translate properly into an MMO.
OH! TOY STORY! Now, now, don't say no right away... think about the potential... all the different toys you could be, set in (more or less) our own whole wide world (only bigger, because of being little toys), all the different problems to overcome (as suggested by the movies and TV specials), quests to overcome them, and an infinite world of "let's pretend" play... huh? yeah?
Does the author have a clue what a MMO is? Beyond Mad Max none of those would make a good MMO story.
Where do you get these clueless authors?
totaly disagree with you here.
no idea how you can not see tron's potential there
I don't know, how could you possibly make an MMO out of a movie where computer users create and control computer avatars and instruct those avatars to fight one another or play mini games.
...oh ...wait.
As the article states Tron is the perfect movie franchise for an MMO. You could even make it part of the game where your Program talks directly to you, the User. The self aware meta of it would be worth it alone.
Does the author have a clue what a MMO is? Beyond Mad Max none of those would make a good MMO story.
Where do you get these clueless authors?
totaly disagree with you here.
no idea how you can not see tron's potential there
I don't know, how could you possibly make an MMO out of a movie where computer users create and control computer avatars and instruct those avatars to fight one another or play mini games.
...oh ...wait.
As the article states Tron is the perfect movie franchise for an MMO. You could even make it part of the game where your Program talks directly to you, the User. The self aware meta of it would be worth it alone.
But, sadly, Disney has killed Tron.
I actually liked the updated Tron. I thought it expanded the universe and added to the experience.
I have a hard time coming up with movies that would make good MMOs aside from the ones already out. Of all of your picks, Tron would make an excellent themepark style MMO, I think while Mad Max would make a great sandbox MMO. I still want a good wild west MMO, so I'm gonna pick Tombstone for my 2 cents.
Now book series on the other hand, we could go on forever with the possibilities. The Wheel of Time, for example, would be an amazing MMO setting.
Mad Max for sure and maybe Tron, but the others? Eh .. I don't see it, especially Highlander. I just don't see fleshed-out worlds in Terminator or AvP, and while Highlander was a great movie, I *really* don't see how you make an MMO out of that.
As others have stated, Blade Runner would make a fantastic MMO. That's why I'm very interested in Cyberpunk 2077, as it seems to take a lot of inspiration from Blade Runner. Additionally, Anarchy Online was one of my favorite games back when, and it definitely had some Blade Runner influences in it, IMO.
I agree with you except for the AvP point. The alien and Predator lore is very expansive in the books and comics they developed in the 90s. I was a huge Predator fan and have a few books and a bunch of comics. An mmo based on this world would be so easy to do. You could even have 4 factions: Aliens, Engineers, Humans and Predators.
In the books/comics the Predators have been to countless worlds and countless hunts for different creatures/beings. That could easily be explored in an mmo. Each faction having their own homeworld. Space travel, Weyland/Yuntani corp, Alien infestations, Great Predator hunts, shake and bake colonies. Honestly, this world is almost as big as Star Wars. You just have to look past the movies.
Totally fair. Honestly, I didn't even know AVP had a comic series or anything outside of movies and (relatively) crappy games. And I even read comics!
Here's a small list of some of the comics. They were published by Dark Horse comics.
And the trilogy of books is pretty awesome. Noguchi (Female lead) goes from corporate employee to a full fledged Yautja (Actual name of the Predator species) member that lives her life with them and goes on their hunts. I own all 3. Loved them as a kid.
There is only one world i would love to see encaptured in an open game world... with faction based quest system... And thats the frogotten realms.. 3rd edition... with all the main NPC characters still active..
And no D20 rules for combat.... but with all the spells of the spellbook...
Best MMO experiences : EQ(PvE), DAoC(PvP), WoW(total package) LOTRO (worldfeel) GW2 (Artstyle and animations and worlddesign) SWTOR (Story immersion) TSW (story) ESO (character advancement)
There is only one world i would love to see encaptured in an open game world... with faction based quest system... And thats the frogotten realms.. 3rd edition... with all the main NPC characters still active..
And no D20 rules for combat.... but with all the spells of the spellbook...
That would be interesting...some of the spells are quite open to interpretation.
Mad Max for sure and maybe Tron, but the others? Eh .. I don't see it, especially Highlander. I just don't see fleshed-out worlds in Terminator or AvP, and while Highlander was a great movie, I *really* don't see how you make an MMO out of that.
As others have stated, Blade Runner would make a fantastic MMO. That's why I'm very interested in Cyberpunk 2077, as it seems to take a lot of inspiration from Blade Runner. Additionally, Anarchy Online was one of my favorite games back when, and it definitely had some Blade Runner influences in it, IMO.
I agree with you except for the AvP point. The alien and Predator lore is very expansive in the books and comics they developed in the 90s. I was a huge Predator fan and have a few books and a bunch of comics. An mmo based on this world would be so easy to do. You could even have 4 factions: Aliens, Engineers, Humans and Predators.
In the books/comics the Predators have been to countless worlds and countless hunts for different creatures/beings. That could easily be explored in an mmo. Each faction having their own homeworld. Space travel, Weyland/Yuntani corp, Alien infestations, Great Predator hunts, shake and bake colonies. Honestly, this world is almost as big as Star Wars. You just have to look past the movies.
Plus I think the Alien and Blade Runner worlds are the same- there are easter eggs.
Personally, I always wanted a Barsoom MMORPG.
This series of books is amazing.
And it already has everything for a good MMORPG.
Extremely good and deep story (at least in my opinion) that sucks you in real good.
Detailed characters.
Different races, "abilities" and "classes".
Tons of monsters, including "bosses".
Great evil characters in the story that could act as raid bosses.
The series has 11 books, which can easily be the base-line for enough content for years (through expansions of course).
Great background story for faction warfare (be it PvP or just story-wise warfare).
"Ock ohem ocktei wies, Barsoom!"
Ahhh such a good series. So unique! I just love it!
Edit:
A large number of the books in the series (could be all, depending on where you live) are in the public domain.
So I highly recommend picking those up.
Comments
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Highlander - while I could see some elements of the story/universe working well in an MMORPG setting, it would be more suitable in a Battle Royale game. The reason why Highlander is a good story is that the Highlander is playing the long game not the short game, but Battle Royale still fits this universe more than an MMORPG.
Terminator - A Terminator themed MMORPG would limit the scope of the storytelling to the point where it would diminish the impact of being in the Terminator "universe", crippling the overall experience. Terminator is best suited for a suspenseful, action-driven FPS, perhaps with RPG Elements (Last of Us).
Aliens/Predator - This one falls prey to the same issues that face the Terminator IP. Pigeonholing a universe into a genre that has elements and design features that run contrary to the overall tone of the storytelling virtually cripples the universe to the point where it is lost on the player. This IP wast best executed in the survival horror release, Alien: Isolation in 2014.
Mad Max - Mad Max is one of your better picks of the lot: the world is open-ended and is a literal sandbox, where the narrative is driven by the environment and cultural implications of a post-apocalyptic world, more than the character development or style of storytelling. The world of Mad Max is at it's best, however, when the suspense and action is at it's highest point. MMORPGs are prone to long bouts of inactivity and make the most efficient use of content by recycling, refacing, and retooling content. Mad Max would be best suited to an action-based linear or open-world single-player storyline ergo Grand Theft Auto or Need For Speed.
Tron - This is your single best pick and perhaps the only pick that would suit the MMORPG genre equally to other competing genres. The method of storytelling is not critical for player enjoyment, the world is free-form and open for a wider interpretation and development, and the scope of possibility for immersive gameplay elements leaves me wanting to hear more about the possibilities of a Tron MMORPG.
My top 5 picks (Excluding MMORPGs based on movies already: i.e. Matrix Online, Star Wars, Conan, LotR etc.):
5. Constantine - Open-ended world worth more exploration.
4. Underworld - Vampires vs. Werewolves, what more can I say? Has a conflict built in, a modern setting, and a world open to more exploration.
3. Firefly/Serenity - A space-opera that focuses on the little man and making it in a government-oppressed culture.
2. Harry Potter - I have always thought that this IP would lend itself to a cool setting for an MMORPG. Going through school and eventually developing your wizarding skills out in the world. The design would have to focus on a different setting from the current movie IPs, because they are too focused on well known characters that would distract from the player's role in the wizarding world. Perhaps the 19th century?
1. Naruto - Choosing a village, style of jutsu, and growing your character over time while engaging in missions is exactly the type of elements that perfectly inject into the MMORPG genre. While there is technically a Naruto Online...it focuses on the show's characters rather than the show's setting, so in my mind it is still open for an actual full-fledged MMORPG.
As others have stated, Blade Runner would make a fantastic MMO. That's why I'm very interested in Cyberpunk 2077, as it seems to take a lot of inspiration from Blade Runner. Additionally, Anarchy Online was one of my favorite games back when, and it definitely had some Blade Runner influences in it, IMO.
In the books/comics the Predators have been to countless worlds and countless hunts for different creatures/beings. That could easily be explored in an mmo. Each faction having their own homeworld. Space travel, Weyland/Yuntani corp, Alien infestations, Great Predator hunts, shake and bake colonies. Honestly, this world is almost as big as Star Wars. You just have to look past the movies.
Lord of the Rings...uh oh
Star Trek...oops
Conan...uummm
Stargate...yeah remember that one?
Arkfall (TV show) cant wait
yeah because movies are no brainers for MMOs that will last forever.
oh and then there is this.......
http://www.mmogames.com/gamearticles/movies-make-great-mmos/
How about Narnia? That's got a lot of territory, many different creatures and races, and history.
"Fifth Element" is another that I would love to see, but it would be really hard to translate properly into an MMO.
OH! TOY STORY! Now, now, don't say no right away... think about the potential... all the different toys you could be, set in (more or less) our own whole wide world (only bigger, because of being little toys), all the different problems to overcome (as suggested by the movies and TV specials), quests to overcome them, and an infinite world of "let's pretend" play... huh? yeah?
Blade Runner, Fifth Element, Stargate, Star Trek (properly), a new SWG (which was the perfect way to do SW).
...oh ...wait.
As the article states Tron is the perfect movie franchise for an MMO. You could even make it part of the game where your Program talks directly to you, the User. The self aware meta of it would be worth it alone.
But, sadly, Disney has killed Tron.
Two I'd like to see are the Universal Monster universe and James Bond.
Loved those old Ray Harryhausen movies back in the day
"Be water my friend" - Bruce Lee
Now book series on the other hand, we could go on forever with the possibilities. The Wheel of Time, for example, would be an amazing MMO setting.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aliens_Versus_Predator_(comics)
And the trilogy of books is pretty awesome. Noguchi (Female lead) goes from corporate employee to a full fledged Yautja (Actual name of the Predator species) member that lives her life with them and goes on their hunts. I own all 3. Loved them as a kid.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aliens_vs._Predator_(novel_series)
Sorry lol, the Yautja nerd in me got a bit excited
Where's our damned Everquest 3!?
And no D20 rules for combat.... but with all the spells of the spellbook...
Best MMO experiences : EQ(PvE), DAoC(PvP), WoW(total package) LOTRO (worldfeel) GW2 (Artstyle and animations and worlddesign) SWTOR (Story immersion) TSW (story) ESO (character advancement)
Babylon 5
Dune
Game of Thrones
Blade Runner or Cyberpunk 2077
I can w8 for Cyberpunk 2077
This series of books is amazing.
And it already has everything for a good MMORPG.
Extremely good and deep story (at least in my opinion) that sucks you in real good.
Detailed characters.
Different races, "abilities" and "classes".
Tons of monsters, including "bosses".
Great evil characters in the story that could act as raid bosses.
The series has 11 books, which can easily be the base-line for enough content for years (through expansions of course).
Great background story for faction warfare (be it PvP or just story-wise warfare).
"Ock ohem ocktei wies, Barsoom!"
Ahhh such a good series. So unique! I just love it!
Edit:
A large number of the books in the series (could be all, depending on where you live) are in the public domain.
So I highly recommend picking those up.
I self identify as a monkey.