Great, now I'm all nostalgic for playing Crimson Skies on Xbox Live back in the day. Multiplayer was so good and now the closest thing we have is Snoopy Flying Ace, which sadly nobody seems to play anymore.
At any rate, taking an existing IP and turning it into an MMO doesn't necessarily HAVE to cripple creativity. One of the best examples I can think of (besides World of Warcraft) is Lord of the Rings Online. The classes fit pretty neatly into the Middle Earth mythos and make perfect sense.
For example, instead of HP you have Morale, and when your Morale is depleted to 0 you are not dead but "defeated." As a result, you have support/healer classes like the Captain, who wields a sword or halberd and fights in the frontlines while "healing" (lifting your Morale) with their banner and rallying cries and daring feats. I don't think I've ever had as much fun playing a support class. To boot, the main quest's story manages to be interesting and mostly true to lore, despite only sometimes intersecting with that of the trilogy's heroic Fellowship.
And then you have games like Star Wars: The Old Republic that has a good narrative (at least for some classes) but sort of brute-forces some well-known archetypes into traditional MMO roles. As a result, you have Jedi Sages/Sith Sorcerers who have lightsabers but never get to use them, as they effectively function as the Star Wars equivalent of a wizard's staff in World of Warcraft. That's just plain LAME.
On the topic of properties I'd like to see as an MMO, as much as I know it's only a pipe dream, I think the Legend of Five Rings world of Rokugan would be perfect, especially if they can find a way to make the RPG's system of diplomacy work somehow. Diplomacy, shugenja, and iaijutsu - yes, please.
At any rate, taking an existing IP and turning it into an MMO doesn't necessarily HAVE to cripple creativity. One of the best examples I can think of (besides World of Warcraft) is Lord of the Rings Online. The classes fit pretty neatly into the Middle Earth mythos and make perfect sense.
For example, instead of HP you have Morale, and when your Morale is depleted to 0 you are not dead but "defeated." As a result, you have support/healer classes like the Captain, who wields a sword or halberd and fights in the frontlines while "healing" (lifting your Morale) with their banner and rallying cries and daring feats. I don't think I've ever had as much fun playing a support class. To boot, the main quest's story manages to be interesting and mostly true to lore, despite only sometimes intersecting with that of the trilogy's heroic Fellowship.
And then you have games like Star Wars: The Old Republic that has a good narrative (at least for some classes) but sort of brute-forces some well-known archetypes into traditional MMO roles. As a result, you have Jedi Sages/Sith Sorcerers who have lightsabers but never get to use them, as they effectively function as the Star Wars equivalent of a wizard's staff in World of Warcraft. That's just plain LAME.
On the topic of properties I'd like to see as an MMO, as much as I know it's only a pipe dream, I think the Legend of Five Rings world of Rokugan would be perfect, especially if they can find a way to make the RPG's system of diplomacy work somehow. Diplomacy, shugenja, and iaijutsu - yes, please.
Yvelont Navarre
Parn Paparn
IC Blog for Yvelont: http://never-your-pawn.tumblr.com
OOC Blog: http://navarre-again.tumblr.com
Parn Paparn
IC Blog for Yvelont: http://never-your-pawn.tumblr.com
OOC Blog: http://navarre-again.tumblr.com
