The List: Top 10 Books That Should Be MMOs
In this week's list, MMORPG.com Managing Editor Jon Wood takes a look at ten IPs from the world of books and literature that would make good candidates for future MMO projects.
Editorial By Jon Wood on June 16, 2009
advertisement In 1984's Ghostbusters, Egon Spengler blithely announced that "Print is dead." Fifteen years later, even with the rise of the internet, the medium is still alive and well. Literature has been telling stories and creating vast and unexplored worlds for years. Literature, it could be argued, is the forefather of all storytelling media from television to movies to video games.
Hollywood has been mining the world of literature IPs for decades: Independence Day, Jurassic Park, The Da Vinci Code, Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, A Beautiful Mind, The James Bond series, The Bourne Series, the list goes on. So why then, when scanning the vast list of games on the MMORPG.com game list, do only Turbine's Lord of the Rings Online and Funcom's Age of Conan stand out as a novels-turned MMOs?
The absence of novel and literature IPs is made even more surprising given the success that Turbine has found in LotRO. Granted, The Lord of the Rings was an obvious choice for a transition from the written page to the virtual world, but the possibilities don't end there, and this list was built to prove it.
Not just any book or series of books would make a good MMO. In order to be made into an MMO, the IP in question would have to have created not just a few memorable plots or even characters, but would have had to have created a vibrant and living world above and beyond the immediate plot of the story or the people within it. That's the mistake that people most often make when discussing this subject. Often, there is an assumption that if the story was good and enjoyable, it would be a prime candidate for conversion. The truth is though that it isn't. The Bourne series from novelist Robert Ludlum is a prime example of this. While the books themselves were action packed and enjoyable (moreso, say many who have read them, than the movies), they centered heavily on the series protagonist and the world behind the scenes really wasn't anything exceptional or interesting enough to serve as the virtual setting. Ditto James Bond.
#10 Starship Troopers
;)
Do you want to live forever?
While many are familiar with the somewhat campy 1997 film of the same name, the Starship Troopers IP actually started in 1959 in "The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction". The "Terran Federation" is at war with a race referred to in the stories as "the Bugs".
The IP's universe is explored in the novels through the eyes of young Johnny Rico as he joins the military and advances through the ranks as the war progresses. While a first person narrative might at first appear to be quite character-centric, it is through the character's eyes that readers learn the details of the universe, from brutal punishment to extensive training to the style and pace of battle and the political climate of the world at large.
While it may have been tried before, the MMO world is probably ready for another full scale futuristic War MMORPG and if Richard Garriott's name wasn't enough to carry the idea, maybe the Starship Troopers IP will be.
#42 - Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
;)
If you're gonna play
bring your trusty towel.
The number ten spot on the list goes to an author whose name is near and dear to many fans of the science fiction genre and the series that put a humorous face on the sci-fi genre: Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
Adams' Hitchhiker books center around the universe's favorite whipping boy in hapless Arthur Dent, a character who learns that humanity represents but a small fraction of the strangeness in a vast, bizarre and ultimately quite dangerous universe.
The universe of The Hitchhiker's Guide "Trilogy in Five Parts" would serve as an excellent backdrop for an MMO. Not only would the MMO landscape do well to have an MMO (Dungeon Runners notwithstanding) that infuses its setting with humor, but the very nature of the books saw its protagonist learning more and more about the universe around him, creating a rich tapestry from which developers could draw to create a functioning, immersive game world.
#8 Fairy Tales
;)
Fairy Tale Chicks Pwn.
Perhaps the best known stories in literature are fairy tales. Nearly everyone, in one form or another, is familiar with a wide variety of these tales we tell to children. Snow White, Goldilocks, Rumpelstiltskin, Rapunzel, Hansel and Gretel, are just a few well known classics.
Every individual fairy tale is steeped in its own traditions, setting and story but are held together as a genre through common themes and ideas.
Making an MMO out of a single fairy tale might not seem feasible, but creating a gaming universe using fairy tales and their lore as a background might prove an interesting diversion for adult and child alike. The idea isn't a new one. Disney was actually extraordinarily successful with its Shrek franchise based upon a similar theme.
;)
The wheel and Father Time.
#7 - Wheel of Time
Robert Jordan's epic Wheel of Time series has already spawned a Multi-User Dungeon (MUD) in its own image. With more than a dozen novels, the story and the world that has been woven are understandably vast.
Aside from the fact that Jordan's universe is popular and expansive, a Wheel of Time MMO would give players the opportunity to play in a world that skirts real life history (no elves or gnomes or Halflings, just humans), and fantasy (the premise is held together by a mystical prophecy).
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I totally agree with Wheel of Time and Song of Ice and Fire!!! Those could be epic mmo's. I hope that perhaps this company that purchased the rights see this as an opportunity to make their first mmo :) cause it could be really cool.
A Song of Ice and Fire MMO would be amazing, especially given the fact the Lore is 1000 times more gritty and interesting than most "fantasy" MMO's or stories out there. I'd play it.
The Idea of using as established IP sounds like a great idea but it has its many flaws as well. Most good IPs will have a high $$$ just to buythe IP then you will have the hordes that will not be happy with the MMo for not being true to the game. Then you have all the problems of trying to be true to the IP. You have so much freedom when you create your own IP that you dont have to worry about what come before that said a good IP will bring in alot of fans of the IP will bring in the fans of the IP so you have an established player base but depending on your IP may keep people from playing IE i have friends that will never play Star Trek Online cause they like Stargate better and vice versa. It sounds like a great idea and I know i love to play a game based on any 10 of those you listed but I think that most would never make it as an mmo except maybe HP how can anybe bet against its success.
There are some true classics in your list, like HHGTG and Dune. The only issue I have with them is that they are such classic and dear IPs, not just to me, but to many people I am sure, that I would hate to see them destroyed by some botched attempt at an MMO.
most would be better suited to be single player rpgs
I hope Steven Spielberg doesn't reading these forums... Shrek comes from Spielburg's DreamWorks studio's. That's why it's so well done - no Disney work :D
I propose:
Waiting for Godot
The ultimate sandbox. No hand-holding here. :)
Snowcrash would be at the top of my list.
Battlefield Earth by L. Ron Hubbard.
The novel, not the movie, of course.
btw even if just a collection of short stories, I think Bruce Sterlings Shaper/mechanist universe would be an awesome setting as well.
Simon R Green - Deathstalker series would make a good mmo imho
I agree completely with Harry Potter as the #1. Theres just so much that can be done with that universe. Dragons, Dementors, Trolls etc would all make for good raid bosses i think.
The Wheel of Time is also a very good one. Although i don't know how they would implement character classes, as Aes Sedai, Wise Ones or anyone who uses the One Power would be infinitely more powerful than anyone else in the world. It would be cool to be able to be a darkfriend though and be on the evil side...
Not only that, but the whole point of Shrek was making fun of Disney cartoons' conventions in the first place. It was a good move for DreamWorks SKG to set themselves apart from reigning tradition - which was, yep, Disney (not to mention it must have made Katzenberg feel good). The story in Shrek is a keen antithesis of Disney movies' messages. Even visually you can spot the mockery easily. The scene where Princess Fiona begins to sing with the little bluebird, and in the end burst it with the high pitch she strikes? Yep, a send-up to Snow White and the bluebird.
In the end, Shrek is funny, but it's sort of a parody, that's why all that mixing blending works.
only one i can agree with is Wheel of Time
Books to be MMOs...
To me it'd be the DragonLance saga by Weis & Perin, and Forgotten Realms by Greenwood & Salvatore (the best 2 writers for FR IMO)
....yeah... AD&D player here ;-)
The Wheel of Time mmorpg is in the works, it was even announced here on mmorpg.com. Stradden, how did you miss this?
Wheel of Time MMORPG Announced
Absolutely!
Great writeup!
I am an avid reader and have read most of what you mentioned, Stephen King's works going back to Carrie and when he wrote as Richard Bachman. Would make a dark and very deep MMO, Lovecraft without all the shogthoth's and stuff
Also, Dune, which I felt was boooorrrrrring, makes a great setting and the different houses would make for great pvp.
Martin, I read all of the Song of Ice and Fire books and I'm waiting for him to finish with the newest installment, "Dance with Dragons" that was pushed back to September. He wrote from points of view and it would be interesting to actually roll a Crow and live primarily on "The Wall" but fight the ice wraitths of the north.
World War Z, awesome book, going to be a great movie. MMO? Fallout meets Left for Dead? Heck, I'd play it. I'll play anything.
However, What about the Piers Anthony "Xanth" series? Everyone was born with a unique magical power and everything was a pun. Wouldn't it be fun?
See you soon, I've gotta run!
Before you leap into that pit of zombies, just think!
Play safe,
Ink
My #1 book that would be fun to play as a MMO
Elric of Melnibone series
"Song of Fire and Ice" is the best fantasy literature since, well, for many decades. I'd give my left nut to play an MMORPG in that universe.
"Dune" I'd give my other nut to play.
I was thinking the exact thing as well.
As for a "Harry Potter" MMO? No thanks. I'm not a pre-pubscent teen. I'm an adult who has liquid income. Create a game for me, and you'll get my money.
I'd go Dragonlance (as in Chronicles and Legends Trilogy era) by Weis & Hickman, the two that created the DL world. I've not read any of Perin's work within DL, but I'd prefer to go with both of the world's creators instead of one and a guest author.
As for the list, I'd like to see a non-themepark Dune as well as a Stephen King novel game. The others on the list didn't interest me so much.
100% agree! Add in the "Sword of Truth" series by Terry Goodkind for good measure :)
First off I read alot and you picked some really off the wall IP's.
I don't know how in the world you missed Firefly. There is enough fantasy out there right now and very little well done Sci-Fi..
As to the Wheel of Time MMO, don't hold your breath, the IP is owned by a completely unknown company with no known industry names associated with it. Chances are that you will never see a live server for this game as long as it is in the hands of these people.
I agree with some others, Forgotten Realms and Dragonlance have far better IP's suited to a MMO than those you listed. Even the Michael Moorcock seriers with Elric of Meliborne has a better IP.
...books, man. Firefly was a TV show. And I believe it may have been on some previous list Jon did (although I could be wrong).
Sorry to say this, but the author did not do a lot of reading in his lifetime. It's mostly big hits or hearsay titles.
How about these:
Philip Jose Farmer - Riverworld series setting and idea. Would be a top-notch sandbox mmo.
Serge Brussolo - you pick a title, they're all equally disturbing.
Philip K. Dick - The Man in the High Castle (or Fatherland by Robert Harris).
Not to mention Shogun, The Long Ships, Winnetou, The Three Musketeers, even the Illiad ffs!!
And what happened to the SciFi genre? Have you seen the polls on mmorpg lately? Most voted for a SciFi MMO. So how about giving some credit to Asimov? And Van Vogt? Carl Sagan? Arthur C Clarke anyone? They have invisioned worlds beyond EVERY game designers widlest dreams (while stoned). Aren't you just about sick and tired of spells, wizzards, elves, pure PvP CounterStrike clones? Don't you crave for some shred of realism?
I have put so much faith in Mortal Online just to be utterly dissapointed when I saw gameplay videos featuring some spell casting during a PvP encounter. And Fallen Earth... FPS aiming & RPG damage? 'The hell's that? "Target too far" while I'm standing 20 feet away from the target? How about some Shift-Delete on your install folder?
Don't mind me, I`m just a too-mature-bitter-gamer waiting for a real MMO.
...books, man. Firefly was a TV show. And I believe it may have been on some previous list Jon did (although I could be wrong).
I rescind my comment about Firefly, I most definitely got caught up in the moment. Thanks for catching my mistake.
Beermangler has some good ones I did not think of either.
I believe The Labyrinth from the Death Gate Cycle (Weis&Hickman) would be quite nice to be turned into a MMO.
Just The Labyrinth though, the rest can't be made into an MMO at all.
The producer is EA which is good and bad. It means they have the money to complete a big budget MMO but they also have a track record of forcing games out early. Then again it could be worse and be connected with SOE or Funcom.
I agree with some, but I think a few got left off that might be great such as the worlds of Pern, Xanth, Shannara, and Landover (to name a few).
The producer is EA which is good and bad. It means they have the money to complete a big budget MMO but they also have a track record of forcing games out early. Then again it could be worse and be connected with SOE or Funcom.
Was referring to the developer who's staff is completely unknown. Does not matter how much EA funds it, if the people writing the game don't have the correct skill set.
Whoa! I totally forgot about Pern and the Shannara series. High fantasy both. In Pern, you get a toon, hit level 10 get a quest for a dragon, finish quest for a dragon egg and the rest of the game you and your dragon level up together. Epic Dragons FTW!
I'd trade in 1/2 of WoW, 2 AoC's, 10 runes of magics and 150 darkfall's to play that.
I have to agree, the Dragonriders of Pern would make for an awesome MMO.... battling threadfalls and each other....
For Sci-Fi/Fantasy mix with endless worlds to discover, Golden Queen by Dave Wolverton is hard to beat, already setup with a world will skills can be purchased, worlds where technology is dominant, and worlds where it is shunned and cannot be used without penalty.
I agree with the other posters. Fantasy has been done and done. However I would add the Shadow Dawn Series (Chris Claremont / George Lucas) as a Fantasy world.
How about
World of Tiers - Piers Anthony
Dresden Novels - Jim Butcher
Honor Harrington Series - David Weber
Warlord of Mars - Edgar Rice Burroughs
Helmsman Series - Bill Baldwin
Gor Series - John Norman
Myth Series - Robert Asprin
Magician - Raymond Feist
There are tons of interesting settings, some moreso than others.
I'd like to see a lot more Sci-Fi/modern MMO's come out in the future. All this knights and magic crap has turned me away from mmo's for a little while.
I think Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game series would be fantastic.
Hell, I think a Harry Turtledove MMO regarding the 2nd civil war in America would be fantastic. Southern Confederates and Britons versus Yankees and Germans!
I concur, there so much to work with, would be quite easy to continue expanding on it as well.
Why the frak would you want to take a great novel like Dune or the Song of Ice and Fire books and turn them into an mmo? Yeah, let's reduce these kick ass stories to a bunch of fedex quests, peen vs. peen, and shatting all over the established conventions and lore in the name of 'balance.'
No thanks.
I can see why game executives would want to make these games (built-in fan base), but I've no idea why any fans of the books themselves would clamor for them to be butchered as they're turned into level treadmills with only surface similarities to their source material.
This genre has already made a mockery of Tolkien and Star Wars (though LotRo is a well-made mmo, its laughable as a representation of Tolkien's work).
I'd love to play an epic single player game based on any of these IPs, or even a NWN-style persistent world shard that is controlled by players and not devs, but AAA mmo's are good for nothing more than time-sink grinding and item accumulation. They are piss poor at storytelling, immersion, and provoking emotional involvement/response, which is why these books have been so successful.
Seeing Harry Potter there... One thing is certain, good IPs for games need not come from accomplished books.
For example, there's this series I'm reading right now. It's called Nightside, and is written by the British author Simon R. Green. Its setting is a sort of hidden and completely weird, supernatural part of London. The place also is called the Nightside, and - interestingly, somewhat like the magical community in the Harry Potter books - is not known by the ordinary folk of the city. It has special folk, the total outcasts, freaks, weirdos, magical beings, fallen angels, crazed killers, what have ya... It's an astonishing place where anything can happen and that anything is usually horrifying.
Now, Green writes these books in the vein of old hard-boiled detective novels - the protoganist is a man named Taylor, who has the gift of finding anything - and the style is a bit overdone for my taste, but the setting would be amazing for an MMO:
A macabre fantasy setting in a hidden otherworldly pocket in the middle of a big city... All sorts of beings, all sorts of odd places and all sorts of strange phenomena. Hey, it even has an overarching story to it with a lot of "side-quests" employing colorful characters. :)
Many good names in Sci-Fi and Fantasy have been put forth. All very good. Here is my choice
Larry Niven's Known Universe
features of this are Ring World and the Kzin Wars. Larry has written many short stories published in novel's and journals that feature his Known Universe as the backdrop. There is a huge source of matterial for it.
This article was really going well up until #1, then it totally killed itself by naming Harry Potter as #1 on the list. Gods there were some good choices there but harry Potter...could have just left that off there hehe.
The writings of H.P. Lovecraft would make for an interesting and rare horror based MMO, with the option for a myriad of gameplay types within the gameworld itself.
Anyone read the Dragon and the Unicorn series by A.A. Attanasio? That series would make for one unique and strange MMO set in the Authurian era, albeit with a lot more crazy fantasty elements.
Anne MacCaffery's Dragonriders of Pern books and/or the world of the Eragon books would make for some interesting MMO's, but a lot of people would probly come down with "I wanna be a Jedi" syndrome and want to play as a dragonrider in one game or another (I know I would hehe).
The best suggestion in the article I think was the MMO idea for Stephen King's "A Dark Tower" series, that would be very unique and interesting if done right and could perhaps become an alternative of sorts to the standard fantasy MMO template the is ovresaturating the market today.
Perhaps we could remove Harry Potter from the #1 position and put The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy MMo idea up as #1, because if I am going to play a silly and zany MMO then I would want it to be Hitchhiker's Guide silly zaniness...not Harry Potter goofy dumb.
Why not Harry Potter? Dumbed down literature ftw. After all, a certain dumbed down mmorpg is currently #1 in popularity.
Nice write up.
I personally would like to see Wies and Hickman's Death Gate Cycle. I think they could do alot with that work. It's got history, lore, very different well developed characters, races and worlds, hell its even got Merlin :P. I wouldn't carry over the storyline too much just the world.
My English Lit professors from university would beg to differ with you. I do, in fact, have aquite a healthy list of books under my belt.
One has to consider popularity when one is looking at creating a video game based on an IP. If you make something based on an IP no one has heard of, no one will play it. What i'm trying to do with these lists is create a list of IPs that could feasibly actually be made into games both from the perspective of "wow, it'd be cool if..." and with finances in mind.
No need to insult me.
Sword of Truth series written by Terry Goodkind
Ah, you beat me too it! I was gonna say Larry Niven's universe has to be made into a MMO. Someone else mentioned Aspirin's Myth series which could be cool too, also HP Lovecraft stuff. I remember back in the day there was actually a pen and paper rpg for both Ringworld and Lovecraft's Ctulu so it wouldn't be too hard. Also around that time I was into Steve Jackson's Car Wars and would like to see something along those lines as well but that's just me (and I know, it's not a book either, heh) tho he could bring back his Illuminati stuff into an online MMO perhaps.
HG Wells and Jules Verne had some interesting stuff that could be translated well I think...perhaps even Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (tho a Holmes game might be a solo rpg at best).
Been awhile snce I read Asimov's Foundation series, so can't recall if that would make a good MMO or not.
raymond e feist, starting with the riftwar saga and other saga's as expansions imo
i wish id see a goo dune mmo more then anything else, even more then a good SW mmo. I know a few years ago there was a project guess it got scrapped. On the other hand i'm affraid they'll butcher the books if they try making a mmo
Magician Raymond E Feist would be cool or a Call of Cthulhu Mmo.
As for #8 (fairy tales), Wonderland Online seems to be doing quite a fine job, with more than a few references to many of them.
I cannot believe there was only one mention of the Shannara series. Awesome opportunity to introduce the "passage of time" concept in which you level through one trilogy and "graduate to the next". The "physical" world of the Four Lands stays the same through the first seven books.
And best of all...it has Elves and a Wizard/Druid.
I agree with Raymond , the two worlds would be great and also Terry Goodkinds Sword of Truth Series.
Now that could work!
Some of the suggestions could work but are heavily tied to one character in most people's minds (ex Harry Potter).
Song of Fire and Ice could work well as it is a well-defined world with no singular character (Martin keeps killing them off). The one potential problem I can see is low magic (most people seem to prefer high magic fantasy games).
For the people clamoring for a Forgotten Realms MMO, I suspect you will see one (D&D 4e was pretty much written as an MMO so not much conversion needed) but I doubt you will be happy. I'd be very surprised if they don't use the 4e FR setting which was advanced 1000 years so that they could make whatever changes they felt like and remove Greenwood's influence.
Well "The Wheel of Time" MMORPG is supposedly in developement:
http://www.mmorpg.com/newsroom.cfm/loadNews/12213
So.. wait... Independence Day was a BOOK before it was a movie? I'm sure there was a paperback out based on the screenplay and a series that followed it but I don't recall any book prior to that that was related.
The closest thing I found to a novel preceding the movie: www.amazon.com/Independence-Day-Avon-Flare-Book/dp/0380829908/ref=sr_1_22
And I'm pretty sure that was closer to their production of Godzilla than ID4.
I'd go with a decent Dune MMO. There's a slew of lore that could provide loads of quests and many different world-changing events that could take place over a several year span. However, it might get old trying to throw down thumpers in the hopes of catching my epic Shai-hulud mount. :)
"Wicked" by Gregory Maguire
An MMO based on The Wicked Years by Gregory Maguire. The books are much more adult and take place in a twisted darker Oz. There is also the looming civil war going on, Loyal Oz and The Free State of Munckinland.. the oppression of Animals and magic and creatures all around. Plus the looming signs that The Wicked Witch (Elphaba) will return. I think it could be very cool and very different to what else is out there.
On a side note, they are great reads! Wicked, the first of the series, was turned into a winning Broadway Musical. (Although it was made much more family friendly.)
Not a book but Avatar: The Last Airbender would also make an amazing MMO in my opinion, if taken seriously. (I know there is some childish version but I think it has way more potential. The four elements, bounty hunter, fighter like Sokka... okay tootles.
I can See it Now... Harry Potter Online...
Main Channel.. Raid Forming. Need Tanks.
Got Wizzards coverd. Healers to... We need tanks.
Will Pay gold for tanks.
I would like to see something from the John Carter Series from Edgar R. Burroughs ( Tarzan author as well ). I remember it as a great series when I read it as a 12-15yr old. A huge new world with all the creatures he created.
How about.....
"Old Mans War" by John Scalzi
"The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss
"Revelation Space" by Alastair Reynolds
I would go "Neuromancer" over "Snow Crash". I thought "Snow Crash" was a horrible book unless you think delivering pizza, watching google earth, and managing your toilet paper supply sounds exciting. I guess you could also practice your swordsmanship and decorate your storage unit while needlessly explaining your same mind numbing theory at length every time you get the chance. "Shutters"
Harry potter (I prefer to call it hairy potty) sucks big time, hated the movie, hope it NEVER becomes a game.
Because you said the movies suck, I take it you didn't read the books. The books were great.
You also based an IP solely on the movies which were first created from the books which is pretty blind-sighted.
Dark Tower. Pleeeeeeeease.
EDIT: And Alastair Reynolds owns. Just started reading his books with The Prefect, had to go read the original series it was so good.
Terry Brooks - The Word & Void series
or
Dragonlance Online
I think Dune was a good choice but it would have to feature a lot more than just the conflicts & politics of Arrakis, & would need to have careful use of the stories & expand on them a lot to build it into a universe suitable for an MMO
I would put up my choices to include Philip Jose Farmer's "Riverworld", EE "Doc" Smiths Grey Lensman works, Raymond E Feist's Riftwar & Serpentwar sagas, the collected works of H.P.Lovecraft & Clark Ashton Smith (close friends of Robert E Howard), & Terry Pratchett's Discworld.
Dune was done once, by Funcom. They jumbled the whole mess up, lost all the good parts, and called it Anarchy Online.
All joking aside, there's a few things I'd like to see, but I'm afraid.
Wheel of Time would be awesome. But if it's set in the current Age of the books, how would the One Power be handled? Especially vis a vis male channelers? Up until very recently in the books, those guys were doomed to go insane AND slowly rot to death. Also, anyone who DOESN'T have access to the One Power is at a massive disadvantage to those that do.
Harry Potter. No. I like the books but...NO.
Starship Troopers...I love this book. Revere it. The movie ruined it already. I don't want to see that happen again. Plus there'd be a lack of racial choices and such..honestly I think you'd more or less end up with Tabula Rasa all over again.
World War Z would be awesome. Basically a Left4Dead MMO. But kinda a niche game, better suited as an MMOFPS than RPG I think.
Dark Tower would be cool, but I'd have to stab someone if I walked in and Roland was standing there with a ! above his head.
http://www.massively.com/2009/04/09/infringers-of-dune-dune-role-players-shut-down-by-herbert-estat/
Why would the IP holders for Dune crackdown on roleplayers in Second Life? It couldn't hurt any existing Dune products (the RTS games) since its not in direct competition.
Well if they recently licensed the IP for an MMO, then it all makes sense.
Because people are assholes and they think that if they aren't making money off of it then nobody should be able to use it.
Because people are assholes and they think that if they aren't making money off of it then nobody should be able to use it.
And if you were the holder of an Intellectual Property that someone else was using without your express permission or consent would you be happy about it?
Almost anything written by Richard K. Morgan. The Takeshi Kovacs ** novels have MMO written all over them. Even 'Market Forces' would make a decent MMO.
** Major Motion Picture is in development , Joel Silver (producer of The Matrix) bought the rights.
Because you said the movies suck, I take it you didn't read the books. The books were great.
You also based an IP solely on the movies which were first created from the books which is pretty blind-sighted.
I've read the first 4 Harry Potter books and seen their respective films, for the most part they're very faithful to the books. While plenty of film adaptations (Frankenstein, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Lawnmower Man) are drastic departures from the literary works, I think its fair to say anyone who doesn't like the Harry Potter movies will also dislike the books.
That said, I doubt the millions of Harry Potter fans care what you think Silver_Leaf.
"The universe of Dune is set two thousand years from the present day, in the time of a vast interstellar empire embroiled political struggle over a single desert planet which is home to the spice melange, known to be the single most valuable item in the universe."
Actually, the novel Dune is set about 20,000 years in the future. It's really an alternate timeline from ours, parting at around 1970 - you can check this by the Dune Encyclopaedia timeline. So the "universe" of Dune is set 39 years ago, with the actual novel (and the fight over the spice on Arrakis) around 20k years later.
That being said, I like the list. :) I agree that there are a lot of very rich universes that might deserve a place there, many of which have been bungled so badly in the video game past (like the Dragonriders of Pern RPG that was painful for even a fan to get through) that it would be unlikely to see them picked up again. :(
I'm waiting for a Twilight MMORPG :P
How about Peter F. Hamilton's Night's Dawn Confederation? Or his Commonwealth universe? Either would IMHO make for a vibrant and diverse universe in which to set an MMO. Harry Potter - meh. Dullness.
Discworld anyone?
I originally put the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, but how about The Iliad and The Odyssey? What a great number of PvP possibilities...its a slightly mystical world so that allows for some great bosses, Odysseus is king. Iliad provides the setting of the Trojan War, and PvE bosses could be things such as Cyclops, Sirens, Circe, etc.
Such strong possibilities for a great game, wow. Maybe a game that just includes all that kind of lifestyle and lore with the greek gods would be very, very nice.
Narnia is tied up by Disney. We've seen what fantasic MMOs they've put out so far, right?
As for the Homer and Virgil's works...well technically Gods and Heroes would have done that. But it flopped/
Two series of novels that I feel greatly deserve being explored in the MMO genre are Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms. While both are technically based on Dungeons and Dragons. Both campaign settings are arguably more popular than the Eberron setting, which has spawned a relatively successful game. Both Krynn and Faerun have very rich lore and backstories allowing for an infinite number of adventures simultaneously occuring and affecting the fate of all. Interesting ideas for settings include, for Dragonlance, the War of the Lance, or the era before the Cataclysm. Either of these games aI feel have infinite potential. Of course I'm also partial to a Wheel of Time, Thomas Covenant, or Ender's Saga MMO, heh.
I would love a Discworld MMO. It's a very well fleshed out world and it could be alot of fun. Who wouldn't want to escape death because Death was busy rescueing some kittens?
Most of you people are just listing your favorite fiction series w/out regard to how it would translate into a good game. You push away from the Harry Potter one because its "mainstream" and a "kid's book" w/out realizing exactly how many people would enjoy it and how much the content lends to a mmo fantasy environment while still conveying a unique setting that sets itself apart from every other fantasy/magic based MMO.
Granted I wouldn't play it myself, because I'm older and any game based on that franchise would likely cater to a younger crowd, but I'd be a fool to say it wouldn't have a very good chance of being a successful MMO.
I'd do Forgotten Realms.
DragonLance....look, that's the series that got me into D&D. It needs to be done right. War of the Lance-era only. They pull any of that 5th age junk and I will personally set WoTC or whoever owns them this week en fuego.
Ender's? Eh....I just don't see the potential there. but I do so love that book.
My number one would be Dragonlance.
One IP I think deserves mention and was very close to being my number one choice is "The Black Company." by Glenn Cook.
What fantasy MMO has been released in the last 8 years that hasn't seen a guild named the Black Company in it? Great books, and dark enough not to be just another elves vs. orcs mmo.
Like many others here I would love to see some good SciFi or at least non-Fantasy MMOs out there.
Peter F. Hamilton's books are great, but hard to turn into a playable standard MMOPRG. Same goes for Vernor Vinge and Iain M. Bank's Culture novels.
I guess, I would pick
1) Battletech - Dunno what came first, but a MMO-mechpilot-rpg-fps type thing would be off the chain. The lore is very deep, the factions well-defined.
2) Otherland - This would be the perfect IP to implement a multi-verse type MMO, where you can be a medival knight in one world, an egyptian soldier in the next and a magic wielding sprite in the third. The expansion possibilities are endless and with the right tools could be self-perpetuating through user created content/addons.
3) Perry Rhodan - Probably not very well known outside Germany, but I loved the series. Very deep sci-fi lore.
4) The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant - I guess this is fantasy, but it feels a lot grittier than the usual fare.
5) Discworld - Can't remember if there was one in the works. Could be fun though.
6) 1984 - Unite against the man!
7) Blade Runner - (Philip K. Dick's original) would make a great gritty and dark, look-over-your-shoulder setting.
8) Saga of the Exiles - Julian May's time travel (one-way :) ) series. Great good vs.evil setting, with cool technology and psy powers
There are some great Pen&Paper IPs that could make great MMOs, too. Ars Magica (for the best magic system known to man... well at least one man) or Paranoia (for insane black-humor and wanton destruction) come to mind. Or Traveller.
Id like to see a mmo based on the Asprin books M.Y.T.H inc
I disagree. Peter F. Hamilton's Confederation universe had sentient and tech ships and habitats, different branches of humanity at odds with each other (telepathic atheist Edenists who embrace genetically engineering living tech, religious humans who spurn living tech, pirates,independents) , alien races (with one being a very real potential threat to humanity, and another highly advanced and peaceful), FTL travel, a very video game friendly style of space battle IMO (less dogfighting, more WoW-style click and attack with weapons), cybernetic and living tech implants providing upgrades for characters... etc, etc.
How is that not RIPE for conversion into an MMO or SP Elite/Escape Velocity-style game?
You've adversarial groupings of humanity and aliens, a massive universe of planets and habitats to explore, trade with and run missions on, sentient and standard tech ships to customise and upgrade, crew to hire and train, cybernetic or living tech implants to upgrade your human or alien characters, heh - I'm starting to repeat myself. Well, you get the picture!
My question would be - what specifically do you think Peter's Confederation universe is MISSING that an MMO requires?
I belive there is a NWN MMORPG in the works
Just find a shape shifter that can be a bear and you have your tanks for Harry Potter
John Norman's Gor series.
A good BDSM mmorpg.
I like the Idea of playing an MMO based on the universe of Honor Harrington.
Ringworld provides such rich MMO content what with all the Foreign races (human, Kzin, Puppeteers, etc), Ringworld sapiens and made richer by the fact that any one of the Sapiens or Foreign races can be made into an Engineer, talk about Endgame content. :) the possibilities are endless.
As for Xanth, that may be a bit troublesome, every magic talent is unique and can't be repeated. How will a developer get around that issue? every player, random talent, unique only to that player, never to be repeated. It might not be feasible, but damn if one could figure out a way, I'd be first among many to try it out :)
Harry Potter can be good if it doesn't go the way of Wizard101. Nothing wrong with it, just a bit too...fluffy. Harry Potter world (not Harry Potter centered :) ) deserve better treatment than that.
Dune universe....need to based in the universe at large and not just Arrakis, It'd be intriguing if the developer started the universe with the original Arrakis pre-Mua'dib and allowed players to transform the world into Green Arrakis and see how all of the houses cope with that. Just throwing that out there.
Dragonriders of Pern.....I'd pay to play that, seriously. HP Lovecraft, front and center :)
Battlefield Earth, I dunno about that. Though at the end of the book, if i am recalling correctly (and please god, if I'm wrong don't flame me) there are colonies out there, so a potential for RvR is built in. I'm reserving judgement on this however.
Forgotten Realm is a must of course.
Discworld is, once again, a must. Terry Pratchet is a genius :)
Sherlock Holmes? not very MMO friendly concept. After all, not everyone in London was a genius detective nor a prolific recorder.
How about Edward Greene's newest creation? Falconfar? Sounds richly detailed and ripe for an MMO to me
Starship Trooper, there'd be too much potential it'd turn into a Battlefield 2 type gameplay, persistent Ranking with promotions and unlockable weapons. Am I right or wrong? I've nothing against BF2 (I'm an addict m'self) however an MMO it is not.
So many books to comment on sooooooooooo little time, so I'll leave it at this until I get struck by a fevered compulsion to comment again :)
Lone Wolf gamebook series.
I read on wiki they were working on something like that but it stopped because they decided to make it a single player game.
Would be great if they make one of the dark tower books,dune,and battlestar galactica. Harry potter would make a great mmorpg,it's just not my cup of tea.
Song of Fire and Ice!! Totally. Also add Malazan Book of the Fallen.
Ugh @ harry potter mmo
Dune was by far the best idea
The Peter F Hamilton Confederation Triology setting would work well, although some of his more recent works would be more suited to an MMORPG setting. With a rich social analysis and wealth of ideas, there would never be a shortage of goodies to draw upon to make a really good world. That said, I agree with the poster above who lamented that classics are better left alone if game's companies are going to keep botching their implementation of them into gameworlds.
This.
QFT
Learn it and love it.
I think we have all forgotten perhaps the most quintessential of all book series that would make for an amazing MMO that would offer endless possibilities...the Choose Your Own Adventure bboks... :P
I really think the Dark Tower would make a great mmo setting. I'm a big fan of King's work, even being a bit of a book snob I can't help but see the beauty in his story telling that a lot of people seem to miss. The world is huge, there is almost unlimited back story and it draws connections to almost all of his books.
The Crimson King, Pennywise, Atropos and Randall Flagg as raid encounters? Thankee sai, may I have another?
When I read the title for this article I decided I would be pissed if A Song of Ice and Fire series wasn't listed. You listed it at #2 and rightly so.
I'm pretty sure I read somewhere the Cyanide studios will be making a RTS and RPG using the Song of Ice and Fire IP.
Harry Turtledove stuff could be really interesting. I didn't even think of that.
To everyone saying that there needs to be a sci-fi mmo, you are right that mmo's need some new ideas, but it will most likely not get my money. I'm not a sci-fi fan myself, but some Sci-fi mmo's would be good for the genre.
Two already mentioned would get my vote:
The Black Company
Malazan Book of the Fallen
I think I will pick up Song of Ice and Fire after reading the reviews.
I would LOVE a MMO of Scott Zicree's Magic Time! It has three "meta-human" types; Grunters, Angel Fire and Dragons. They are all humanlike, and the humans have powers or they remained normal. It's basically the modern world turned upside down when a freak accident allows an element into our world that shuts down technology, because the laws of physics change, and 10% of humanity mutate from this other-dimensional energy that sweeps the world.
Harry potter #1? Errr ...
George orwell's 1984 anyone? Not the main story line or characters of the book, but the universe the story resides in. HELLO!?
Harry potter. Laf. Kiddy stuff.
If you didn't include Matthew Woodring Stover's Cain books in your list, then you haven't read them. If you haven't read them, at least "Heroes Die", then you should do so instead of playing MMORPG's.
The Elric 'Eternal Champion' books would probably play out a lot like Tad Williams's Otherland books, no need to make both games, in my opinion, though I am not trying to call Otherland derivative.
Gemmel's Shannow books would also make a great environment for an MMORPG.
I would like Azimov's books to become games.
the wheel of time is a epic story. if they could implement it into a mmo oooo MMMM GGGGGG!! i would totally play... i have all the books as it is lol...
Night Angel trilogy by Brent Weeks. Super powered ninjas, color mages (red, white, green, etc.), sorceress, barbarians, guilds, brothels, secret societies, all kinds of fun.
Shadows of the Apt trilogy by Adrian Tchaikovsky. People based on insects with powers/ abilities of that insect. Beetle kinden are short dwarfish engineers. Ants are soldiers. Dragonflies are agile elfish fliers. Mantis are fierce fighters. A lot of different insect races to choose from.
This.
Would love to see how they pulled off, seeing as how Asimov's books mostly focused on a utopian cuulture where humans and robots co-exist. Or rather, robots are kept under control by the three laws. Most of the time. Still, relatively peaceful compared to most MMO concepts.
Also: H.P. Lovecraft. Who wouldn't want to (somehow) raid Cthulu.
Please tell me this is a joke....
This.
Would love to see how they pulled off, seeing as how Asimov's books mostly focused on a utopian cuulture where humans and robots co-exist. Or rather, robots are kept under control by the three laws. Most of the time. Still, relatively peaceful compared to most MMO concepts.
Also: H.P. Lovecraft. Who wouldn't want to (somehow) raid Cthulu.
The Secret World is heavily inspired by Lovecraft. It's currently number 2 on my anticipation list. Right after FFXIV and right before Aion. Although I'm becoming more "blah" about Aion.
The Shaper/Mechanist solar system/setting would be freakin brilliant!!!!
I would love to see an MMO based on Jim Butchers Codex Alera.
Harry Potter is the only logical one on the list. The others are not.
I have to say I'd agree with all of those except a few, as great MMO's... They would be epic... Especially HGTTG. Reading the original now xD
Have you ever read Harry Potter? There really isn't much action in it. Also when there is action it's mostly wizards fighting dark wizards. I think the game would be very dull.
I reiterate that The Dark Tower would be great. A fantasy western mmo hybrid.
I would definitely go for Forgotten Realms. I really love the Legend of Drizzt. I would also like to see Magic the Gathering turned into MMORPG.
Have you ever read Harry Potter? There really isn't much action in it. Also when there is action it's mostly wizards fighting dark wizards. I think the game would be very dull.
I reiterate that The Dark Tower would be great. A fantasy western mmo hybrid.
Very narrow minded. The amount of content the books provide to build off of is substantial. Whether or not there is tons of action in the book isn't relevant, so long as the "world" provides opportunity for it.
Dragonlance is probably my favorite idea so far. I'm also kind of partial to the Coldfire triology and I think the different types of fey combined w/ the way "monsters" spawn from human fears in that book would make for a solid world to build upon.
While I think Dune is great, it doesn't have a "grab" point compared to the other SciFi franchises (ie powerarmor, jedis, starship combat, etc.).
Totally agree with Starship Troopers (was the 1st thing that sprang to mind when reading the tile of the article); WoT of course (it'd be awesome to play a Shadowfriend, totally kick some bitchy Aes Sedai ass) ; SoF&I brilliant the same with WWZ (although Left4Dead is pretty much it).
But Harry Potter?! WTF? What'd be the mobs? Mugols? He'd be wanding off people in the streets GTA style?
I'd add Peter F. Hamilton's Commonwealth or Reality Dysfunction worlds (hard sci-fi space operas); for gritty, adult low-fi fantasy - First Law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie; for a totally different stroke - Phillip Reeves' Mortal Engines world (imagine cities like London or LA... on wheels... fighting battles... eating each other for resources... on post-apocalyptic Earth all in steampunk dressing, yummy).
I scanned through all twelve pages of this discussion and have yet to see anyone mention one of the greatest fantasy books (IMO) ever written. Clive Barkers Imagica. It takes place on 5 different interconnected worlds each with its own completely unique races, civilizations, climates..etc. The potential for an MMO is huge. Another potential MMO property would be Clive Barkers Abarat books. I feel that they're a far more imaginative young adult fiction than the Harry Potter books and with all the islands representing the different hours of the day, the huge cast of unique characters and races(all already designed and painted by the author), they even have a war brewing between the hours of night and day so the groundwork is pretty much all there. The only downside is I believe Disney bought the film rights to the series before it was even published so they may also have the full media spread on it.
Starship Troopers MMO = Tabula Rasa 2.0
Wheel of Time is a good idea but I think that only Bethesda could make it into a good MMORPG and they already have the Elder Scrolls IP.
All the other won't make any good MMORPGs but perhaps a half decent MOG or two.
#1 Pwned me totally xDDDDDDDDDDDDDD...nice joke guys :p. Anyway ST, Dune and Song of Ice and Fire cud be great MMOS
Interesting read, my only complaint, the works of SK and 'fairy tales' are not a book. Those two were far too vague to be on the list.
Since someone mentioned it....Otherland is already slated to become an MMO. We'll see how that one goes.
I know is unrelated and if the topic does come up with 10 movies that should be MMORPG I would have to go with, Legend. it's obscure not a lot of people may like it but I know everyone loved Tim Curry as the Lord of darkness and the epic music the world seems like it could be rich for expanding.
My choice would be the culture novels by Iain M Banks, lots of lore but with so much scope and leaway.
It is??? I LOVE that series. Can't believe I thought of Peter F. Hamilton's Confederation, but not Otherland!!! Who's developing it? Oh gods I'll cry if this one is screwed up...
I like them, but they seem like they wouldn't have a cohesive enough set of ideas upon which to develop an MMO. I mean - the Culture is cool, but exactly which parts would be an MMO? It's just too undefined IMO (which works well for the books, but not an MMO).
Thats already being done... Havent you seen the trailers for " Secret World "... Its all about the shit you mentioned with a twist of Da Vinci and it looks worth watching out for.... Its in development now with the old boys over at Funcom..
Link to the offical forums ----> www.darkdemonscrygaia.com
Personally Id donate both of my bollocks to science to play a Dune MMO....
A good sandbox game that could REALLY deliver nirvana for all the crafters and harvesters of the MMO world, while having an excellent excuse for great open PvP between the various houses...
For all you businessmen - Spice trading around the galaxy mmmm
Because you said the movies suck, I take it you didn't read the books. The books were great.
You also based an IP solely on the movies which were first created from the books which is pretty blind-sighted.
Think ya mean " short sighted " :)
wow so many posts.... i would like a F2P starwars and harry potter
NARUTO MMO FTW.
ya man.. Naruto and Dragonball too
What about "The God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins. Theres only one playable class, "Atheist", and you get to go round beating up various extremist right-wing religious nutters.
Some guy said many months ago (it could have been last year, I can't remember) that Turbine is working on Harry Potter as their next MMO.
For me, it would have to be The Discworld Series by Terry Pratchet.
It'd be great to play a light-hearted MMO with a great sense of (British) humour.
Ahh, to walk around Ankh Morpork, or visit Deaths cottage.
BRILLIANT!
got spell-check?? Man, proof-read yer articles, mate. :-)
Since we are including series, I will put my Vote in for the Shannara Series by Terry Brooks. Early on, they felt like a real LotR rip-off (especially the sword fo Shannara). But later, they started having airships, and things got more original. Magic is rare and powerful and typically gets you shunned by the populous. It could be a very interesting world to play in.
I'd also put a vote in for Anne Maccaffery's 'Dragonrider's of Pern' series. THis is a really fun series of novels, but its lack of genuine international conflict would make it a PvE game, except for duels..which WOULD be to teh death.
Snowcrash, Neuromancer, Hyperion, Vurt all would make great MMOS (as well as movie pictures).
Ringworld .... discworld ......dune ...... i hope to see all of these turn into a brilliant mmo one of these days.
Maybe also Tchai from Jack Vance ? I loved that book.
I like them, but they seem like they wouldn't have a cohesive enough set of ideas upon which to develop an MMO. I mean - the Culture is cool, but exactly which parts would be an MMO? It's just too undefined IMO (which works well for the books, but not an MMO).
I understand what you're saying but I guess for me that was the main reason I chose it. I look at many of the other suggestions and while I can see them making good single player game or films imo they are just too restrictive. I always think when devs have just the very, very basics of an idea the better the mmo is.
It would imo be more about instilling the attitude of being a gland using, ai dependant culture citizen pitting their way of life against societies (could also be player chars, there are some very nice examples in the books which I would love to play) that have very different views ideals etc.
I guess its more about stealing bits from the books than actually recreating them. The thing about picking existing IP's is they require a certain adherence to canon and this can only restrict possible gameplay imo. I much prefer total freedom for mechanics with influences for design (skills/profession/back story, etc) and artwork (general look of chars and world).
I understand what you're saying but I guess for me that was the main reason I chose it. I look at many of the other suggestions and while I can see them making good single player game or films imo they are just too restrictive. I always think when devs have just the very, very basics of an idea the better the mmo is.
It would imo be more about instilling the attitude of being a gland using, ai dependant culture citizen pitting their way of life against societies (could also be player chars, there are some very nice examples in the books which I would love to play) that have very different views ideals etc.
I guess its more about stealing bits from the books than actually recreating them. The thing about picking existing IP's is they require a certain adherence to canon and this can only restrict possible gameplay imo. I much prefer total freedom for mechanics with influences for design (skills/profession/back story, etc) and artwork (general look of chars and world).
The Culture books are just great. Above all, they're great literature. And on top of that, they have a solid vision and manage being both passionate and sceptical about their utopia at the same time, which is something very few science fiction books have any more.
Of course, by no means does this make them a good candidate for an MMO. However, their vivid imagination does. Come on, it's got great species, sentient machines that run the whole show behind the curtain, wonderful articificial worlds and plenty lore for designing them, all sorts of interesting games (hey, who wouldn't want to see their characters compete in Azad?)... They've got on-the-fly boosts in the form of glands! Sex changes that take a few months to complete - that's an MMO mechanic right there if I ever saw one!
They've got exploration and first contact strategy in the form of Contact...
They've got political muscle, a universe the history of which is fraught wars and still running system-wide grudges... Hey, they've got ships that name themselves, how cool is that? :) Here are some hilarious ship names from the books: So Much For Subtlety... Just Read The Instructions... Youthful Indiscretion... Size Isn't Everything... Who's Counting... Hand Me The Gun And Ask Me Again... Come on, you could even play a ship in this game and it would make sense!
One major catch is, they're built on what Banks calls post-scarcity economy, so there's practically no ownership and no currency. But to me, that could be a relief - I'm tired of playing the economy in MMOs anyway.
An MMO based in the sprawl trilogy by Gibson (Neuromancer, Count Zero and Mona Lisa Overdrive), would be my fix for some good sci fi.
Instead of King I'd have put up Lovecraft his works are much darker and probably carry more suspense in them aswell.
I'm currently reading through the wheel of time series at the behest of a friend and so far I'd definately enjoy an mmo in that setting. Other than HHGTG however, none of the other's interest me much... especially H.P... ughh
I'm CONVINCED that "the wheel of time" universe could be made into an Epic Sandbox type game..
I would also like to add another fantasy series that would be awesome as an MMO, namely "the Malazan books of the Fallen" series. It's universe is MASSIVE with many magical realms and lot and lots of nice stuff. My favorite fantasy :)
There are also other Sci-fi books that could be made MMO. Revelation Space and the other books in that universe written by Alastair Reynolds would be great as a game at least, perhaps MMO.
I think the reason why there are few book MMOs is that an MMO requires a lot of freedom for the creators. It is dificult to make a good MMO if you are stuck within the confines of already defined lore. There must be room for new content.
Well, at this point in the fantasy genre George RR Martin's Song of Ice and Fire books are prolly the best you will ever read, followed i think by Steven Erickson's Book of the Fallen ( Malazan Emire ) serie.
Both of them are offering incredible lore, awesome background, more than credible storyes... None of them were yet brought to public as a movie ( at least yet, HBO's Song of Ice and Fire is schedued for 2010 ) or a game - so it will kinda offer a lot of freedom to the developers. Also, both writers can be contacted and they can help develop the MMO's - it's not like the LoTR's saga where you have to stick to what was writen 60 years ago.
I will really give any price on a premium MMO's set in any of those 2 universes ... dead serious on this statement.
/salute
I would agree, the setting of The Dark Tower would be a nice change from the current and future fantasy and sci-fi MMOs.
I would add "Coldfire Trilogy" by C. S. Friedman, with the world as it is during the trilogy rather than what it becomes at the end of the series.
An other that'd make a nice MMO:
Earth's Childeren by Jean Auel (did I spell her name right?).
Ir would be nice to see how a pre-historic setting like that would work out :D
harry potter /lol
I'm fairly convinced that untill some major dogmas about how MMO should look like die off, I would not like to see any more great IPs devastated to fit into the perfect neveredning grind MMO conventions.
Thing is that once they make a MMO with a single IP, it is most likely either not done again for a very very long time, or in the worst case not ever, especially with some less known ones.
There is ofc SW coming ... I am convinced that we will see another LOTR in a decade or so ... Conan? ... most likely never - that IP is ruined for good as far as MMOs are concerned.
Think again wether you would really like to see Dragonriders of Pern butchered into 50-60 levels, batlegrounds and epic raids.
"The universe of Dune is set two thousand years from the present day..."
Err, more like 20-25 thousand years, not 2... and as much as I love this IP I don't think an MMO could possibly do it justice. How about something a little more cyberpunk like Neuromancer or Otherland?
UGH!!11 WOT AND ASOFAI are both horrible series (I cannot fathom why people like them so much)
Of the list presented Starship Troopers would be be my first choice. But only if it stuck to the book and totally ignored the movies...
My picks would include:
Bas Lag From China Mieville (Perdidio Street Station, The Scar, Iron Council)
The Hobart Floyt Alacrity FItzughh adventures by Brian Daley (Jinx on a Terran inheritance, Requiem for a ruler of worlds, Fall of the white ship avatar)
The Many Colored Land Series by Julian May (perfect 3 faction pvp game setting)
Edgar Rice Burroughs John Carter of Mars Series
Out of morbid curiosity, did you actually read the article where I gave reasons for each of them? For Stephen King, I even suggested a specific series of his. So, actually not vague at all.
I dont know if it's already been said, 16 threads is a lot. However, George R. R. Martin's series, "A Song of Ice & Fire" would make a wonderful game in my opinion. :)
Harry Potter is being downed here because its viewed as "too kiddy". You guys have no idea of how dark the series of books evolved to. Further, what do you think all these students are graduating to?
To an MMO company, Harry Potter is a big win if the author will release the licenses. Ready made fan base, expansive world of fantasy potential, different classes based around a wizards expertise and mini games. For marketing its ready made targeted at the casual tween demographic which is huge.
"Why would I want to play Harry Potter?" Because the world could be the same as the Dresden Files (Jim Butcher) in scope. The first thought I had about the Dresdan Files is "Oh, so thats what Harry Potter could grow up to be." Yes, Harry Potter and Harry Dresden are two different properties but the potental in them is still visable.
My votes are for Sci-Fi based properties but if I was blind, I could see the great potential in Harry Potter from marketing stand point. If you can excuss apathy for the development trends and market spin, would you have shares of stock in such a project? I sure as hell would.
Only agree with the Starship Troopers game.
and no, god not a HP mmo!!
Starship Troopers & Dune for sure.
Narnia is tied up by Disney. We've seen what fantasic MMOs they've put out so far, right?
*sigh* If only it wasn't for Disney...
I was going to suggest this, too. Really surprised there hasn't been much more discussion about it.
But as I think about, races would be hard. Human would be easy: Narnian, Archenlander, or Calormen. But there wouldn't be much skill/appearance difference between Narnia and Archenland. And not much more between Narnian and Calormen. Would you have Talking Beast as a race? How would limit the animal choices? Maybe limit playable choices to humanoid (or part-human) characters? Humans, Dwarves, Centaurs, Minotaur, Marshwiggle, Nymph (not the movie version)? Maybe if you're Human or Dwarf, you could choose a good/evil alignment...
What setting would you use? Pre-White Witch? The Golden Era (reign of the Pevensies)? Something later, maybe during The Last Battle?
This getting harder...
I would agree, the setting of The Dark Tower would be a nice change from the current and future fantasy and sci-fi MMOs.
I would add "Coldfire Trilogy" by C. S. Friedman, with the world as it is during the trilogy rather than what it becomes at the end of the series.
Again, I agree. The Dark Tower would be an exceedingly welcome change from the crop of current fantasy based MMO's.
And the Coldfire Trilogy is another one of my personal favorites. It's a good combo of scifi and fantasy, I think the story would work in an MMO format. Good suggestion methinks.
Good riddance NO! None of them should EVER be made into a MMO. The reasons are way too various, and LOTRO shows well why books, however fascinating as book, dont automatically make a good and interesting MMO.
I'd rather see a MMO based on Traveller pen & paper, or *maybe* The Belgariad world of David Eddings.
For sci-fi
Strength and Honor: A Novel of The U.S.S. Merrimack by R.M. Meluch
For Fantasy
The Cold fire trilogy by C. S. Friedman
I would so love either of those...
The only thing coming to my mind right now is Dresden Files by Jim Butcher.
Overall Lore scale of DF could become into a great mmorpg with some detective elements in quests even. The contrast between Chicago/Earth and Nevernever would make it into one of the most unique mmorpg of all times.
I remember when I finished reading the "Summer Knight" (fourth book of DF book series) a year ago, I always imagined the "ending battle" working perfectly as massive player campaign in some mmorpg game.
If I was the head of some game developer company and wanted to create a mmorpg from which a lot of profit could be brought, my first choice would be Dresden Files.
Heroes Die by Matt Stover. All time fav for me.
While I respect your opinion, I have to disagree. LOTRO itself wasn't all that bad for what it was, not that it kept my attention for long, but than again, what game does?
Anyhow, I think any of those books could be made into a worthy MMO in the right hands. Just as an MMO based on Traveller could be done very well in the right hands, or end up being very uninteresting in the wrong hands. In the end, it really depends on the creative team behind the game that will decide how interesting or uninteresting the gameplay actually is (as interesting as Traveller may be, in the wrong hands, it could be made into a very boring experience). That doesn't just fall on the IP itself (while I do agree some IPs would lend themselves better to an MMO, the creative team and their design will ultimately make or break it).
I understand what you're saying but I guess for me that was the main reason I chose it. I look at many of the other suggestions and while I can see them making good single player game or films imo they are just too restrictive. I always think when devs have just the very, very basics of an idea the better the mmo is.
It would imo be more about instilling the attitude of being a gland using, ai dependant culture citizen pitting their way of life against societies (could also be player chars, there are some very nice examples in the books which I would love to play) that have very different views ideals etc.
I guess its more about stealing bits from the books than actually recreating them. The thing about picking existing IP's is they require a certain adherence to canon and this can only restrict possible gameplay imo. I much prefer total freedom for mechanics with influences for design (skills/profession/back story, etc) and artwork (general look of chars and world).
The Culture books are just great. Above all, they're great literature. And on top of that, they have a solid vision and manage being both passionate and sceptical about their utopia at the same time, which is something very few science fiction books have any more.
Of course, by no means does this make them a good candidate for an MMO. However, their vivid imagination does. Come on, it's got great species, sentient machines that run the whole show behind the curtain, wonderful articificial worlds and plenty lore for designing them, all sorts of interesting games (hey, who wouldn't want to see their characters compete in Azad?)... They've got on-the-fly boosts in the form of glands! Sex changes that take a few months to complete - that's an MMO mechanic right there if I ever saw one!
They've got exploration and first contact strategy in the form of Contact...
They've got political muscle, a universe the history of which is fraught wars and still running system-wide grudges... Hey, they've got ships that name themselves, how cool is that? :) Here are some hilarious ship names from the books: So Much For Subtlety... Just Read The Instructions... Youthful Indiscretion... Size Isn't Everything... Who's Counting... Hand Me The Gun And Ask Me Again... Come on, you could even play a ship in this game and it would make sense!
One major catch is, they're built on what Banks calls post-scarcity economy, so there's practically no ownership and no currency. But to me, that could be a relief - I'm tired of playing the economy in MMOs anyway.
I also think that the Culture universe would make for a great MMO. The game's setting, in my opinion, shouldn't be within the Culture itself, but in the galaxy that surrounds the Culture. There's great opportunities for Contact and agents of Special Circumstances to be mixing it up with characters from hundreds of species, so many of which have their own unique abilities and political/social agendas. Plus there's so many strange worlds out there, with differing levels of techology (seen so well in Consider Phlebas (sp)).
The Culture itself is post-scarcity, but the rest of the wide Galaxy isn't. That in itself could be turned into a fun to play mechanic, characters that are used to having whatever they need for however long they need it dumped into worlds where scraps of paper must be accumulated to actually purchase what they want... but then, that's probably a concept that would just mystify most gamers. :)
One of the elements I love about Banks' series is that the AI Minds and Humans were social equals, just with very different specialties. The Minds didn't cater to the humans, the humans didn't cater to the Minds, they were partners (Usually with the Minds pulling the strings behind both Human and Drone motivations). With even some humans (Referrers) able to think just as well as a Mind, if not as often. :) Which reinforces the ability to play a Ship, Drone, Human, or any other race without a significant disadvantage... though the scope of conflict for each would vary. Which would create a variety of different fields of conflict for PvP, RvR, etc for those interested in such. Imagine a Swarm of 60,000 warships as a boss. :) (ie: what Sleeper said it wasn't!)
The social dynamics in such a MMO would cover scopes rarely seen in games. The player of a General Service Unit (a starship capable of a population of several hundred million) would want to be interesting and unique enough to attract a population of Culture citizens to use the ship as their home base. General Contact Units (populations ranging from one to thousands) would have the same challenge on a smaller scale... On the opposite end of the spectrum, a number of players could group together to create a ship to live in that was a NPC, more like the guild house or base of most games.
A Culture MMO could allow devs to not only think outside the box, but get away with it, in ways not seen in other games to date.
Unfortunately, no matter how adaptable to an MMO game the Culture universe is, it is still a relative unknown compared to the Star Wars or Star Trek IPs. Those will be getting the investor money to make a difference in development hours and advertising that would make even a very well-designed and sandboxed Culture MMO delegated to obscurity.
I'd still play it, though. :)
For those interested in what the few of us are going on about, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Culture
-w
PS: While I think Starship Troopers would be the more recognizable IP for an MMO, John Steakley's Armor would be a better universe. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armor_(novel)
I would love to see some of the work of David Eddings turned into an MMO, specifically the Elenium and Tamuli series but I'm not sure it stands apart enough from some of the other fantasy type works out there.
I'm totally off topic here but I'm still waiting for a Space Quest and G.I. Joe MMORPG. I mean come on already....
How's about the World of Judy Blume Online? :P
I'm surprised Narnia wasn't mentioned. Maybe too obvious.
Edit the story; lots of grammar mistakes!
you know i'm honestly not sure if anyone else mentioned this already, but they ARE making a Wheel of Time mmo.....
It's being published by Red Eagle Games.
The Night's Dawn Trilogy by Peter F. Hamilton would be epic as an MMO...
Amazing history, several races, great factions..
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Reality_Dysfunction
1, H.P lowcraft, = //www.darkdemonscrygaia.com allrdy somwhat in the works.
and way the F, put hary pothead at number one,, the boks are funn, and the story as well, But its realy just a highscool Serie whit som magic in it, The world is simply way to small for a Good mmo, IMO.
agre on who ever sad Simon green, death stalker ...
I would offer both of my nuts in a similar fashion to see those two IPs come to the MMO world.
Sidenote: If the IP "Wheel of Time" is in fact made into an MMO I would hope that the stories internal to the game would progress quicker than the ones in the book. Although I have read all the books, though truly only enjoyed the first four or so, the story was so vast, the characters so numerous and the plot SO SLOW that I simply lost interest in that world.
Don't know if anyone has suggested the Vampire Earth series by E.E. Knight but that whole series screams MMO.
Yes, oh yes! If I had a third nut I would offer that one for this IP. Clesses, skills and races are already present in that game; it would make a smooth transition into the MMO genre.
Also not sure if this has been mentioned but there is a game being developed on the Fire&Ice universe ,not an MMO but a single player game
http://www.georgerrmartin.com/news.html
One to watch
This.
Some really good ideas. My vote for Sci Fi would be Dune I think. Not sure about fantasy. There are some really good books but as someone has already said. They wouldn't necessarily be a good mmo.
Discworld would be fun I think.
The Malazan Book of the Fallen
the world of A Song of Ice and Fire
The Wheel of Time
Midkemia from Feist's books
All have mmo potential, because the world already has great depth and basic mmorpg fantasy concepts can be easily implemented. Books like Ender's Game or Dune have a terrific story, but that doesnt make them a mmo material. Any game based on those would have to be quite innovative.
Oh, and my vote totally goes to Battletech. It doesnt have to be a mmo, just give me a Battlemech and let me shoot other people.
I think the Soul Rider series by Jack L. Chalker would make an amazing and original MMO. It would give players a feeling of true godlike power to progress in that world.
I would like to play an MMO based on the Necroscope series. I really like vampires and creatures of the night.
I would like to see a Discworld mmo mainly because the IP doesnt limit the potential developer. Almost anything is possible in Discworld. Truly amazing IP
The First Law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie would be nice too.
Stephen King is all well and good but for a horror MMO I really think the works of H.P. Lovecraft would go further. Lovecraft's "Cthulhu Mythos" is filled with so many places, dimensions and monsters there would be expansion packs for years to come. The only downside is that in most of Lovecraft's stories, the main character either dies or goes insane - which just won't do in a MMO!
Lovecraft universe got its mmorpg game already.
http://cache.kotaku.com/assets/resources/2007/05/secret_world_poster_500.jpg
Starship Troopers I could do.
Disney, Harry Potter, Fairtales and the like I would pass, they'd probably be money makers in the tween department but marketing would drive that one.
Dune is a MOST loved series for me, and I honor Herbert's writings in my own way in my MMO.
The Dark Tower would be a nice choice as well, although I'm not fond of King at all, this one is one that I could see working well, but i'd much rather have something of a deadlands flare to it.
Fantasy =so overdone in this genre, but as many of the others have stated. The Pern, Fire and Ice and the like all would make out well in the genre.
I agree that the "Sword Of Truth" series would be a great one. Also the Belgarad(SP?) series by David Eddings and the Shannara series would be great also.
Don't you mean the religious nutters get to play in teams going around unbeliever's homes (finally - housing again in an MMO!) trying to cast conversion spells on them?
Harry Potter as #1? =/
Don't get me wrong, i really liked the books, but an MMORPG? I doubt i'd play it.
What could be really good if it was done right:
- Call of Cthulhu/Cthulhu Mythos: although really hard to deliver the right kind of atmosphere
- Cyberpunk / Shadowrun (if you want a magic element) : I'd REALLY love to see a well done game in this genre.
- World of Darkness: As I understand it's already being done by CCP. Let's hope they get all aspects right! Then it'll be a winner.
As an afterthought, The Death Gate Cycle by Weiss & Hickman was also a very interesting idea. Not so much waiting for yet another fantasy based MMORPG though. It'd have to be remarkable....
Battletech anyone?
I think I only saw a single comment back on page 2 with Battletech listed... there are several series of books by a variety of authors written on the BT universe, it's NOT fantasy (which I think we're a bit inundated with at the moment), it has very rich lore, a rough timeline with lots of gaps to be filled in, and there's not a single "hero" that the books follow, but rather they seem to all be focused on a collection of random heros for a book or three...
I've always enjoyed the Mechwarrior games - to bring that level of FPS to an MMO set in the BT universe would be pretty awesome. They could start out with a game focused on the inner sphere, and then the clan invasion could be a future expansion...
Not bad, I agree with more then a few of the author's choices, particularly Dune and Starship Troopers. Most of these I haven't read though. However, I know some decent canidates for a Sci-Fi MMOG:
- Starfist by David Sherman and Dan Cragg: It's the 25th century and humanity's spread across several dozen worlds, but the Marines (and other branches of the Confederation's military) could use a few good PCs. Between the alien Slinks and insurrections on numerous worlds, there's plenty of opprotunity for adventurers.
- Vatta's War by Elizabeth Moon: In the far future, humanity has settled a region of space light years away from Earth. Conspiracy and piracy are abound and there's a conflict between several different religious sects regarding the existence of modified humans. Has potential as both an Elite-styled ship game and a SWG-style RPG.
Sword of Truth series
Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter (minus the eroticism ofc) - This one was werewolves and Vampires... tho I can't quite figure out how they would do Vampire leveling, unless it were all instances for them, when it is day for all others - unless all Vampires are NPC mobs... which if you read this series, you know it's not true.
I would NOT play Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - watched the movie and fell asleep - the ONLY movie I ever fell asleep to in a movie theater.
Fairytell games... no thanks, thats what FreeRealms are for.
i think unfortunatly fantasy book worlds dont make great mmos . because they have to follow the story and law too much . i mean middle earth online would have been a great mmo but lord of the rings online follows a constrained side story . which is fair enough but it has limited appeal .
A) If the Clans aren't in it at the start, I'm not interested. Daddy needs his Timber Wolf II with a PPC and shoulder-mounted LRMs.
B) The rights on this franchise are so borked right now (Gee thanks, WoTC) that I don't see it happening. But I'd buy it in a heartbeat if done right.
Speaking of little gems from FASA....SHADOWRUN. The world needs a cyberpunk/fantasy MMO done RIGHT.
Sorry for the double post but uh...I thought I was the only person on earth that had heard of this series.
Also mad props to whoever mentioned Necroscope.
Isaac Asimov's Foundation series would be a solid baseline for an mmo, the technologically superior foundation vs the mentally superior 2nd foundation.
Lots of people have mentioned the Forgotten realms, I'd love to see an mmo based solely around the Bloodwar between Demons and Devils of the lower planes:-
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_War
Ha, the old Demogorgon vs Asmodeus conundrum!
Back to scf fi, Iain M Banks culture universe would make for an awesome and totally limitless mmo setting.
I imagine it's all about Licensing agreements. Do you have any idea how tightly the Harry Potter franchise is controlled? The game would have to be hugely successful for the developers to make any money. Of course....a Potter MMO would have them flocking to it in droves.
i have always hope on a Harry Potter Mmorpg.
Interesting poster and trailer (saw it on YouTube) but unless Chaosium has some sort of sayso in the development, I'll have to say "Secret World" is "Lovecraft-esque", not "Lovecraftian"
Perfect!
The devs could promise mind-blowing up-coming content with no fear of protest from the community when it fails to arrive, since they'd be absolutely true to the lore.
Dana's picture in the editorial fits well ;)
I think a Dune MMO would work if you did it in the ten years between Dune and Dune Messiah. Then you could have Fremen, Lansraad, Tleilaxu and Bene Gesserit as factions, and you wouldn't have to deal with the LotRO symdrom of following in the paths of the greats instead of living your own story. I do think that was what made SWG a good idea. You weren't pigeonholed into the storyline of the Trilogy. For me, that was what was kind'of limiting about LotRO. I like the PvP aspect that Dune would offer.
I think that TR was closer to Halo than Starship Troopers. In fact, TR may have been what killed the production for a Halo MMO, first in its conception, then in its failure. The issue with Starship Troopers is that, sticking to the lore, it would work as a PvE MMO, but as a PvP MMO, all you would have are the troopers. Unless you want to have the bugs as a race, which I doubt would be very popular.
Those are the same concepts I would apply to a Wheel of time MMO. Since there are manny ages one could be created where there are none of the characters from the book from that age but they could make apperances from a past age. You could have Aiels, Seanchan, Tar Valon, White Coats, Dark Fiends, commeners( to cover the rest). White Coats might be the only ones with a faction disadvantage as the rest could have classes that used the one power in different forms. They could have some form of herbal healing though. LOTOR online seem to get around the limited magic users in the world . Seanchan could have "pet" class that would be a Sul' dam with a damane filling the role of a pet. commerns woudl hav e wisdoms and wilds. even men who could channel ( just possible have issues with npcs and such if they did it around them in say a town square.
I agree with most of these. Though I kinda wish Myth, the fallen Lords (remember that?) could be turned into an MMO. I could never beat that game.
No real complaints about your choices. I think they're all good.
But I have a few I'd change, or think would make better.
10 and 9 dont really belong there but man I'd really love to see them as a MMO. So I put them last although they should be 1st.
10) A Mechwarrior- Battletech MMO
One based off all the IP (Battlespace, Citytech, Aerotech, Battletech, Mechwarrior, Mercenaries, on and on) The IP is as rich as Star Wars. God it could be the ultimate MMO
This in my opinion would make the best MMO EVER and deserves the #1 spot. But all the novels are based off the boardgame/PNP game. *sigh*
9) AD&D Greyhawk Setting
I'd love to put this at #2 but...its an AD&D book which is based off a PnP game. Not a stand alone (original) novel. We (I) need a sand box MMO based off of the early AD&D. Not the piece of turd that is barely (and doesnt deserve) the AD&D title that we now have as a MMO.
8) A Song of Ice and Fire
I said in the other thread you did www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/post/2798342 that A Song of Ice and Fire would be a 10 spot.
So I still have reservations on whether this would make a good MMO (no matter how much I love the books).
The only way could see it working is if they used a system sort of like TMxO combat interlock. Because there is no magic in the books. At least magic like the average MMO player knows.
So combat would have to focus on melee combat (and ranged of course). And it would have to have 100's of different animations for the different fighting styles. Water dancer, vs armored knight classic style, vs Dothraki , vs Unsullied, vs Meereen pit fighter, vs Dornish spearfighting, etc.
And then how would the players be? Hedge Knights, Mercenaries, ect. That wouldnt be to hard, GRRM flesh out a whole world, all the way from Westros to the Jade Sea.
But the key would be combat, it would have to be based in reality, and like I mentioned above it would have to have 100's if not 1000's of combat attack and counter animations. If done right it could be absolutely ground breaking and f'n awesome. I dont think we are there yet with the technology much less the creative innovation to produce it though.
7) Dune
Dont really need to add anything to what you already said.
6) Michael Moorcock's works. Hawkmoon in particular.
Ive always been a big fan of Elric. And there has never been a more awesome sword or swords than Stormbringer and Mournblade. But I dont think the Melniboné setting would make a overly great MMO.
But the Hawkmoon setting I think would. Magic as technology, a world at war and mostly conquered by obscene and perverse overlords, hell yeah I say.
5) The Deathgate Series by Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman
Loosely based (in my opinion) on their semi-D&D-ish writing much like the (Dragon Lance series). I think it would make an okay MMO. The settings are interesting. As are the different magic styles.
4) The Witcher by Andrzej Sapkowski
Geralt is a lot like Elric of Melniboné but this fantasy setting would make for a better MMO. Almost nothing like the rated 'M' PC game. Would be a good adult MMO.
3) The Coldfire Trilogy by CS Friedman en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coldfire_Trilogy
Man its hard to explain, if you havent read it. This could be done in the very classic fantasy MMO way. Just with a fresh new setting. Could be called a fantasy horror MMO.
2) The Guardians of the Flame by Joel Rosenberg.
This comes in second as my favorite series behind GRRM.
A low-magic setting with a mix of early gunpowder technology. Its a dark fantasy written story not unlike a Song of Ice and Fire. I put it as close to a Greyhawk AD&D setting (classic). Swords and magic along with wizards and clerics.
Its a story of what would happen if D&D was about a real alternate world and you got sent there. Well for the people throwing the D20 it was a version of hell.
1) The Cthulhu Mythos by HP Lovecraft
Cthulhu nuff' said.
If you can find it, Cast a Deadly Spell, HBO movie is what made me fall in love with the Cthulhu mythos. Not 100% accurate on how Lovecraft did his stories, magic was more secret.
But I think a more open magic setting like this movie would make a damn good MMO.
That actually sounds like a statement against game developers creating their own IP.
What I totally miss in that list are three books/stories: Neverending Story (anyone offering more freedom of what to place in the world while sticking to certain clichees so people feel at home? C'mon!), Eric van Lustbaders outstanding Kundalan-Trilogy (you have all the factions, a world which is very flexible and diverse in tems of freedom against natural laws, technomancer and "normal" mages, war, a rich lore to suck you in) and Dragon Hunters (the french series is a huge success since ages, the world if big and diverse, has spawned already games and the movie too with big success as well).
That actually sounds like a statement against game developers creating their own IP.
Well, that's a cynical way of looking at things.
What I should have said was "based on an outside IP".
In any case, original IP games are becoming fewer and fewer in the market because existing IPs have built in fan bases of people who will pay for the game simply based on name recognition.
"Books based on" weren't considered. it had to originate as a book. In fact, Battletech has already appeared on one of my lists. If we considered "books based in the universe", you could really fit anything into this category. I've seen novelizations of almost everything at some point or another.
SciFi is sorely under-represented in most lists.
A Fire Upon the Deep - Vernor Vinge Only 2 books in the universe and those thousands of years apart, but SOOO much you can do there. Even just the things that are hinted at leave the potential for endless play.
One of the things that you guys are all missing is what makes for a good MMO.
The failure of most of the existing IP games has always been you want to be the hero. If the hero of a story has some special ability that sets them apart, it makes for a BORING MMO. Think of SWG. Everyone wants to be a Jedi.
The thing that makes for a good MMO is that everyone CAN be equal. IP's like Battletech, Starship Troopers, Honor Harrington, Otherland, Night's Dawn, and Pern are great examples. These books have a very large universe to pull stuff from. Very few special abilities that set people apart. And they all have enough spread on what can be included that you can be a lot of different things and still have fun.
Of course there are always wide IP's like Warhammer and D&D that you would think could be great MMO's that end up sucking balls. I have pretty much given up on the chance that anyone will come up with an MMO that is REALLY going to give me the enjoyment that i had when MMO's first started.
"So why then, when scanning the vast list of games on the MMORPG.com game list, do only Turbine's Lord of the Rings Online and Funcom's Age of Conan stand out as a novels-turned MMOs?"
Well, actually Dragon Raja is also based on a fantasy novel, it is just not as popular as the ones mentioned.
I have to agree with the idea of an MMO game world based on W. Gibson's Neuromancer (and Count Zero, Mona Lisa Overdrive). The Sprawl is filled with too much awesome. Snowcrash was excellent, but too neon and superficial (as perfectly cyber-punk as that sounds...).
Along those same lines, I would suggest Shadowrun. However, Shadowrun was established first as a game universe by Fasa, rather than the novelizations that followed. Even still, the Shadowrun IP has been brought to video games several times with debatable success. The genesis/snes versions were absolutely amazing; whereas, the most recent incarnation (FPS-Style Shooter) was an absolute failure. The biggest problem with making an MMO based on the Shadowrun universe is the sheer scope of the game itself. With the Matrix for deckers, the Magic system, riggers, samurai, all the races, the Awakening, and everything else that made the Shadowrun universe so rich, I would hate to think of the development pipeline to produce this universe in its entirety.
Finally, its a disappointment that, throughout this epic thread, there was only one mention of Orson Scott Card. Ender's Game was a work of art. After deeper consideration, it would be difficult to realize this as a full blown MMO without further guidance from Card himself; but, he is known to do some work in the video game industry, and I'm sure he would be thrilled to work on an MMO based on his Xenocide trilogy. You would have to ask him though. I can't speak for the man, I can only attest to his genius. If not the Xenocide trilogy, then pick any random "universe" from his Maps in a Mirror collection. Card's works never disappoint.
maybe expand this to the Eternal Champion settings as a whole... multiple worlds..LOTS of possibilities.
Why did I not think of this??? If done correctly, this could be the single greatest thing ever created... By humans.
What about the books by David Eddings and his wife Leigh?
It will come a new ''Harry potter mmorpg'' Hogwarts online. Fan made, look pretty good realy! Home site: http://www.hogwartsonlinemmo.webs.com/ :D :D :D
I thought the list was great, but I just have to ask one very elitist @%#hole-ish question: Did you even proofread this thing? I mean, it was kinda sad, there were typos in every other paragraph. Saying the 9th book got the tenth spot, not hitting shift+9 for parantheses once, referring to Dune as a great "sci-I IP" (What's with the second I?), among other things, kinda bugged me. OK, rant over, sorry but I'm a serious grammar whore.
Great list, love the idea of a fairy tale and/or Stephen King MMO. Personally, I'd check out a Dune MMO, but that's cause I grew up on that stuff (My dad loves the movie, used to watch it every other week). Dunno what else to say, so just gonna say that Hollywood needs to get original, it's basically just a machine to get books into movies now. Sorry, the final paragraph of the opening reminded me of the huge list of original movies that have come out lately... sarcasm.
The Black Company series would be perfect material to base an MMO on.
Well apart Dune and Harry Potter I disagree with the 8 others.
A lot of Coldfire fans here (funny story: my name comes from a forum I tried to sign up for but couldn't use "Tarrant" because it was taken already). That's cool. I'd be curious how a developer would handle certain facets of the world though, like earthquakes, or the difficulty of ocean travel, or the sheer risks involved in channeling Fae.
Another one a couple folks mentioned would be DeathGate. I would LOVE to see this, but I'd also be afraid of it going wrong. If the Sartan/Patryn become playable characters, other races would be worthless in comparison. Unless the Sartan and Patyrn were really, really watered down.
Another cool idea though would be the Darksword trilogy, also by Weis and Hickman. Some REALLY cool ideas about magic. And it was set somewhere during the third novel, the introduction of the Technologists from Beyond would be pretty awesome. I'd have to admit though, I think everyone would want to be Duuk-Tsarith.
I would love to see a Dune Mmo, but as someone said in a previous post, its such a huge ip that they would have to do a really good job.
Also I think the Necroscope series of Books by Brian Lumley would make an awesome Mmo setting !
DISCWORLD!
How come absolutely no one has said Discworld yet? Does no one here ever actually read anymore? Does a book have to get made into a Hollywood movie before it becomes real to you people (Harry Potter, Stephen King, His Dark Materials, Starship Troopers, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, various fairy tales, Dune?) I'm beginning to lose faith in MMORPG.com readers and bloggers. It's not as if this is some obscure, difficult to read series with maybe one or two published works.
Discworld is such a complete and rich universe to set an MMO in, it is absolutely perfect for this genre of games.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discworld
Care to expand on that? :)
I expected to see Goodkind's Sword of Truth books listed....
Other than that I cannot comment too much since I only read books from half that list (or seen a movie or two)
Seriously? You obviously don't read anymore. Several people mentioned Discworld. Get over yourself.
I would love to see the Malazan world in an MMO.
I would expect Discworld series of Terry Pratchett. Refreshing look of cliche Fantasy stories. Cohen the Barbarian and the Silver Horde ftw!
It has all the ingredients for a MMO.
Fair enough!
Futuristic
"Historical"
Science Fantasy
P&P
It's a good enough list and has spawned a lot of conversation.
However, I personally would prefer NOT to see MMORPGs based on licensed IP.
WAR, LoTRO, SWG, AoC all suffered because of the limitations set on the game by the IP. AoC had many problems all around, but the other three all have serious flaws that are related to the IP that they chose to license.
Another quibble I have with the list is that in a number of cases, "realistic" is cited as an advantage. You know what? I'm sick and tired of fantasy MMORPGs that use architecture, armor, weapons and landscapes taken from drab, "realistic" medieval European roots.
IMO, one of the reasons WoW is so popular is that it at leasts tries to stretch out against "realism".
However, not even WoW stretches it enough IMO.
Original, fantastical, magical stretches of the imagination are what I want to see from new MMORPGs; not "realism".
No. No more books into MMOs for me. LotRO and AoC have proven to me what a bad idea that is. These games have their good points, but they are not reflective of the worlds they were modeled after. They can't be, really.
Create your own world, with it's own rules. Please. WoW is as close as I want to see for an MMO to be created out of an existing story.
;)
harry potter mmo FTW
all you need is
a non warner brother,studio to make the mmo..i mean look at disney's pirates mmo
gore,buckets of gore option....for those who want a more darker feeling....
3 factions
tree huggers
loggers
tree farmer
Tree huggers,would be the hippy non viloent wizzards who dont belevie in violence...and rp around
loggers would be the dark wizzards,who kill the whineing hiipys...to shut them up about violence ,and ocationaly sacrafice a hippy for a spell...
tree farmers..would be the carebare 's...yes for the first time care bares will have the faction...these people will be magical creatures like garden gnomes..who use their capitalist ways..to make a quick buck
a option to ban IP'S for gold sellers...'
and all the magical things a player could love!!!!!!
I'M being serious..people
How about Winnie the Pooh. Eeyore would be the big boss everyone wants to take down.
An Underdark area would be a must as well. Perhaps something tied into War of the Spider Queen.
Very interesting choice. This led my thought to a Wizard of Oz MMO. Its a very intesting world with all sorts of Golems, Talking Animals and Races. I think being a Tin Man might be cool but I would probably do better as a Scarecrow, LOL.
Hmmm, it's always fun to read lists. But there seems little rhyme or reason(beyong the authors "personal faves") to say these would make great MMO titles.
Some I agree with though.
I think Ursula K. LeGuin's Earthsea series would be a perfect MMO title. Hundreds and hundreds of little islands that would support the growth of a MMO over years that wanted to add new and different zones complete with their own quests, and so on.
LeGuin's series is also as award winning as Tolkien. Just not many have heard of her. But if you do a search, you'll see she's won most or all of the biggest writing awards there are to be won.
Her story also is about as unique as Tolkein's when he pulled world myths together. Lequin's world lore would be truly unique and is awesome
The world supports many classes as in her story theirs wizards barbarians, king's knights, theifs, etc...
A truly unique story, wonderfull world that would easily translate into an MMORPG
Just 'cuz it's "cool" doesn't mean it will translate well. But in my opinion Earthsea would, and well.
Stephen Ericsson!!! Malazan book of the fallen, no serie of books have ever been written that have so much in them, so many different types of powerfull creatures and persons that would be ideal to convert to raid bosses and classes, dozens of different races, gods, demons , dragons, imortals the list goes on and on. The whole idea of acendacy of characters thrue major experiences also convert well to a mmo.
And the lore!! dont get me started, Robert Jordan and Tolkien are amateurs compared to this guy. In fact its to much to read in my experience, but like i said as an MMO it would be Epic!!!
well first of all. The witcher saga by Andrzej Sapkowski
lots of evil creatures.. not all are evil... (ghost, ghules, monsters created by nature and human.. well theres lots and lots and lots more)  + medival architecture and world so dark.... btw sp game is just a piece of this game
secound. Malazan Book of the Fallen..
THE EPIC world, creatures.. well world is there.. just copy & paste :D
and the third..
Sergiej's ?ukjanienko - Night Watch, Day Watch, Twilight Watch, Last Watch series
(yes there was a movie)
Moscow (and later the whole world) of XXI century as we know it.. normal humans + gifted humans=mages/shape shifters/vampires/witches.
there are 2 forces light and darkness (2 patrols.. well 3 if we count inqusition) fighting for world domination..
good list - especially Harry Dresden and Warlord of Mars
This is a good list for book to mmo's. I would like to see either a Dune or a His Dark Materials to be an MMO.
Dune as an MMO would ROCK!
Wondering.....two other books/genres that might make good MMOs:
!) The Bible
Factions, conflict, magic, good and evil (depending on your point of view)
2) Mystery / Crime
Hard case detective mystery, thriller stuff.
Anyone? Anyone?
I'd like to see them make "Atlas Shrugged" as an MMO.......
Knitting With Dog Hair by Kendall Crolius and Anne Montgomery
How To Defend Yourself Against Alien Abduction by Ann Druffel
How To Toilet Train Your Cat by Paul Kunkel
How To Avoid Huge Ships by John W. Trimmer
Nuclear War: What's In It For You? by Ground Zero War Foundation
Teach Your Wife How To Be A Widow by Joseph Newman
Practical Taxidermy, and Home Decoration by Joseph H. Batty
The Thermodynamics of Pizza by Harold J. Morowitz
Yiddish with George and Laure by Ellis Weiner and Barbara Davilman
101 Uses For An Old Farm Tracker by Michael Dregni
isn't it being almost a real life situation enough?
isn't it being almost a real life situation enough?
True true!
But just think, players might struggle through the game, fighting against the ever-more oppressive government forces and then one day think.."Hey wait a min.......didn't I just see that on the TV news?"
One can always hope.........
True true!
But just think, players might struggle through the game, fighting against the ever-more oppressive government forces and then one day think.."Hey wait a min.......didn't I just see that on the TV news?"
One can always hope.........
Good point, but I have no hope...things always get worse before they get better.
Ringworld series! (by Larry Niven) If you have ever read them... you would agree. =)
Scifi adventure with violence, gadgets and sex!
Anyone Considered his material? www.iain-banks.net/
There is some very good fiction/sci-fi in his book-ography.. and if any of you are bookworms, id highly recomend some
start with Consider Phlebas.
regards,
C04L
perhaps the best space opera ever written. I remember laughing uncontrollably while reading about the chase in spaceships through a larger spaceship. Yes it might work.
Actually, Larry's Known Universe as a whole would be cool. Ringworld is only one part of it. Ringworld, however, is wonderful idea for a MMO setting in itself.
I demand Planet of the Apes Online!
Demand? lol. Why not just respectfully request and submit ideas - demanding is so aggressive and drives away support.
Demand? lol. Why not just respectfully request and submit ideas - demanding is so aggressive and drives away support.
Okay.
I respectfully request Planet of the Apes Online, or I will hunt you down and beat you with a floppy noodle soaked in sour trout juice.
Was that better?
hehe, i had the discworld game on my pc...years ago..
"did anyone get the number of that donkey cart!??"
I have to admit I only read the first 10 pages or, so I dont know if anyone mentioned Stephen Donaldson. I have always thought his Thomas Covenant series would be a great series of movies if he was able to get the right person to do the adaptation to film.
Perhaps it would be a viable MMORPG due to its many interesting characters and races with an interesting storyline that incorporates many good races vs evil races that would be necessary to draw interest to many players.
read through the first 15 pages or so... i'm amazed at the interest/disinterest in the Harry Potter world yet not a single mention of Rick Riordan's Olympian world? children of Greek gods would be a good alternate, and less abused genre than Harry Potter or X-men/City of Heroes/DC Universe, but the world can be easily just as diverse.
www.percyjacksonbooks.com/
another series i would love to see would be Fred Saberhagen's Book of Swords+Book of Lost Swords series as a western counter to the Wind/Clouds comics from Hong Kong. His Berserker series would be interesting as well as there's a large common enemy there, although it might easily be misconstrude as a Star Trek's Borg or BSG's Cylon clone.
also for something a little lighter, there's always Rick Cook's Wizardry Compiled series, like Harry Potter with a bit more flirting and computer programming. If anyone remember a series of Japanese games called Monster Farm:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monster_Rancher_(series)
where the loading of various CD's(as in any CD at all) will generate different types of monsters as the rest of the game is rather Pokemon-like. the "coding" for fireballs and forceshields in Wizardry Compiled could be done similarly, for those who enjoy the crafting and economic aspects of MMOs, i think this would be a rather fun variation, albeit i have absolutely no talent in coding.
from the article's list... as a market perspective, i'd say Dune and HP are the only two series that has a good chance to do quite well, while the others might enjoy limited success, they may only be the next Shadowbane or Asheron's Call.
Okay.
I respectfully request Planet of the Apes Online, or I will hunt you down and beat you with a floppy noodle soaked in sour trout juice.
Was that better?
much.
DUNE DUNE DUNE DUNE!!!!!!!!!!!! Need i say more?
also maybe like World war Z/ zombie servival guide?
Kind of been touched by Left4Dead, tho it isn't a MMO. Surviving the undead would be a good game in some aspects but I imagine it would take an enormous effort to make a truly immersive effort out of it. For example: I love Left4Dead, but one can only kill zombies for so long until it becomes old hat and boring. Which is why I like series like the Harry Dresden Books and the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter books. Many different types of monsters to kill. Watching out for World of Darkness myself, and a few others.
Kind of been touched by Left4Dead, tho it isn't a MMO. Surviving the undead would be a good game in some aspects but I imagine it would take an enormous effort to make a truly immersive effort out of it. For example: I love Left4Dead, but one can only kill zombies for so long until it becomes old hat and boring. Which is why I like series like the Harry Dresden Books and the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter books. Many different types of monsters to kill. Watching out for World of Darkness myself, and a few others.
well yes killing zombies over and over could get boring but if you did it as an mmo then it would be more of an servivel not just shooting but finding the right equipment places to sleep and so forth. you could mix in some other things like werwolf or vampires to give different sides for ppl to play. left4dead was the one that only had like a few lvls right? it was over before it even started no storie to the game. where as you could do more like a 28 days later and make it about not only gearing up but finding out how it started and how to stop it!
Dune?
Dune would be freaking awesome, but I think it's one of those settings which are pure WIN as standalone, but if they were to be used in an MMO it wouldn't really turn out all that awesome? Why? Because Dune setting itself is so awesome since it's tied directly in with the plot of the series. And besides, it's too... weird. Weird enough to be that unaccessible to the mainstream crowd, perhaps.