NC Soft's BIG MISTAKE

Harry Potter would be a terrible source for an MMO, because everything important in that world in that timeframe is happening to Harry.

Even when the Ministry fell, everyone else just fell in line or went in hiding until Harry saved the day.

I don't think she thought highly of a Harry Potter MMO, but I don't recall her talking generally against the genre.

Yeah that's what I mean. Not bookish enough according to her. Though after trying Pottermore, that only seemed like a metagame grind, and the only objective I found was winning points for your House.

The first rise of Voldemort before Harry's family gets killed.

You can always pull a KOTOR and move the timeframe to before the books.

Make it at least 20 years after Voldermort and bring ina new big bad.

Failed because for one reason or another didn't pass the paymaster's "Product Review Committee" or "Milestone Review Committee" that they touted in their investors relations slideshow. It could have been design concept, art style, animation, story, sample content or whatever but it didn't impress the people in the home office. Maybe it didn't have enough PvP or large raid content. Maybe it didn't have enough cash item shop potential. Whatever it was, those who controlled the money weren't satisfied with what the studio suggested.

It could be just as simple as the watchdog members didn't like the answer to the question "will it play in Peoria ... and Seoul?" Or it could be that the reasons for the previous project ideas were rejected weren't factored into the next.

I've dealt with Asian clients (as in clients from Japan, Korea and China) and sometimes their must have features list are down right sub rosa during the discussions. It seems that they can take the phrase "it goes without saying" literally at times. This is beyond the standard "the customer can't tell you want they want" that every software designer has encountered, it's as if you are totally blind to what for them is intuitively obvious in the examples they show you. However in this case however you don't lose a client because you can't get what they are asking for, you lose the support of upper management.

Or you're going through Hogwart's at the same time as Harry's kid's. Though the story sometimes brings you into contact with them, you are the one who saves the day (or not, if you're Slitherin ).

Yeah... probably best to get as far from the Harry era as possible.

And if they want multiple factions, the "bad guy" can just someone with a different viewpoint instead of a devil character. Might have a better chance at not having horrid faction imbalances that way, and nobody going around acting like they already know the end because "The horde is supposed to lose!"

I was thinking a bit further than Harry's kids, but still in time to see Harry Potter and the signature characters.

You have to have the fractions, but really, they could have all the skills be the same for every fraction. No need for special skills if you're this group or that group.

All work together while working against each other

Possibly have some big bad who can bring Voldermort back!

If Voldemort comes back, that can be one of the epic pieces of content that calls for co-op zones where the factions can work together.

Keep the faction-unique powers out of it as well. Though affinities for certain things should perhaps be kept in. If they go with a Hogwarts-based game, the personality traits the sorting hat uses for assigning students to houses would provide some nice modifiers for base stats.

Now that could work.

A small, but not really game changing, bonus to certain spells.

More for flavor than "OMG! You're main offensive spell is that?! You have to be Ravnclaw!"

Though, I'm sure there'd be players going "But you you're .02% better and that means gimped if you don't"

That garbage will happen in any game that has stats. If it wasn't bickering about houses, they'd be bickering about wands, which CANONically have affinities for different kinds of spells. And any other rare item in the game that you can get.

Just imagine the real story as an MMO for a moment and imagine a player argument about Time Turners, Liquid Luck, Invisibility Cloaks, the Marauder's Map, etc.

But wands would be gear, so everyone can make the wand as they want

Keeping the Houses (fractions) equal and letting gear be the factor isn't a bad thing. Spell selection and gear can be what makes one different.

The Electric-Knight ______ Malfaz _____ Zox'Oculox

@Zethustra

"Now at midnight all the agents and the superhuman crew come out
and round up everyone that knows more than they do"-Dylan

www.pauldamonthomas.com - Original Music

When I heard Disney bought Star Wars my hope was for a new, better, SW MMO

Hehe
I'd settle for the old better one!

The Electric-Knight ______ Malfaz _____ Zox'Oculox

@Zethustra

"Now at midnight all the agents and the superhuman crew come out
and round up everyone that knows more than they do"-Dylan

www.pauldamonthomas.com - Original Music

There is ZERO change that Voldemort comes back. First, in that world, once dead, you stay dead. (Ghosts aren't really back, they're kind of echoes of the person that died.) Second, it would be like Lily Potter coming back, would mess with the whole story.

Soooo... Kingdom Hearts, the MMO?

Or, really... CoH?

The Electric-Knight ______ Malfaz _____ Zox'Oculox

@Zethustra

"Now at midnight all the agents and the superhuman crew come out
and round up everyone that knows more than they do"-Dylan

www.pauldamonthomas.com - Original Music

In a lot of ways... yes. *sigh*

IB4 Jessica Rabbit fanclub.

Actually, in some past discussions of "what could displace WOW from it's unquestioned position of king of the kill", the two I could come up with was Pokemon and Kingdom Hearts.

dang, WoW, the land of fantasy and majic and top notch gear being defeated by a creature that is summoned from a small red/white ball who's icon is a yellow electric rodent like thing.

Originally Posted by mauk2 Evil_Legacy became one of my favorite posters with two words. "Kick Rocks." I laffed so hard. Never change, E_L!

An extremely popular yellow electric rodent like thing in the younger populations. Some of my friend's children have their noses constantly stuck into their Nintendo DS playing that game. I know I did a similar thing with books when I was much younger.

Originally Posted by PapaSlade Rangle's right....this is fun.

The "collectible" genre of toys has always been pretty sad. Unfortunately not as sad as the populous that repeatedly falls for it.