| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Elfinblade |
Posted - 14 Nov 2005 : 14:30:37
Greetings everyone.
I recently became aware the creation of Eberron Online. Why on earth would Wizards create Eberron online when they have a world like Faerun to delve in to? Faerun is a larger world that has been created by people for the last.. 30-40(?) years?
Does anyone know if there is any plans to creating a Forgotten Realms Online setting? and if some officials is reading this, why on earth not?! |
| 27 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| SirUrza |
Posted - 11 Feb 2006 : 05:53:59
FR as a MMORPG is too dangerous. There's too much history in the Realms. Too much evolving. They can't even create supplements and novels that don't contradict eachother. ;)
SOE didn't get Star Wars Galaxies right and they fixed it in the timeline right after A New Hope (and only screwed it up further by trying to do Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith tie-ins.) Eberron doesn't have a lot of Canon material that they'd need to worry about screwing up or contradicting, and whatever material they "add" for the MMORPG can be adapted by WOTC to be made canon and same goes for the game being tied into a new RPG product coming out.
Simply put, it's easier to make then the Realms or Dragonlance.
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| Crennen FaerieBane |
Posted - 15 Dec 2005 : 23:56:45
Yeah, I just don't think FR will ever be right for the only community at large for a MMORPG. It's unfortunate, but true.
C-Fb |
| sleyvas |
Posted - 15 Dec 2005 : 21:17:55
All that, plus you'd have the jaded folk who power level up, then sit outside Elminster's house camping him in hopes that he "drops an artifact". No, please do that to Eberron instead. No AI in the world is going to take into account things like, if person X is being camped then Y person should teleport in to aid them, etc.... |
| Crennen FaerieBane |
Posted - 15 Dec 2005 : 14:20:04
I just think their may be too many FR snobs entrenched within the gaming society to give the FR MMORPG a fair shot. If everyone was worried about how much it stuck to what's published - it will end up like everyone who critiqued NWN, which was a pretty awesome game.
The developers can only do so much, and I think they would just hear too many complaints about the setting by people who have "read all the books, talked to Ed..., etc." From a marketing perspective, Eberron is the right choice as it is fresh and interesting.
NWN will always be for us FR gamers who love a good game with enough Realmslore to appease the common folk.
C-Fb |
| Unski |
Posted - 15 Dec 2005 : 14:03:35
Think of a small village you love and hold dear. You'd never wish it would be spoiled or ruined. Then comes the wave of tourists, who for some reason spotted the village. It is then destroyed and turned into something totally different. You can't but cry.
This is how I mostly feel/fear about the FR MMORPG. It would be just.. too terrible to see waves of computer RP's running around, slaying stuff (including Elminster and Drizz't), and... Oh ye gods, I can't even continue on. It would just feel terrible. Too many would buy the game because it was a well hyped MMORPG, not because it has tons of background and beauty. Then they would also treat the game like that.
Skip the boring dialog, get the weapons, run through the boring dialogs and trainings, go and kill something, level up, level up, level up, kill another player, insult someone with poor english...
Yes, I do not hold MMORPGs too high. Only a few strange ones might make it to my list, and so far I am thinking about Eberron.
So I'm just glad that the Realms haven't gained any netgamers, atleast apart from NWN multiplayers, but that game has so many non-FR related mods that it doesn't matter much.
"Lol, Fr, dat b de st0pid wrld wid droww!!1!! Hey, wanna cyb3r?" - something you hear far too often. |
| Vangelor |
Posted - 06 Dec 2005 : 08:34:22
Neverwinter Nights has been mentioned, but I'll talk a bit more about it. What NWN gave the player that other MMPORGs do not is the ability to build, customize, host and DM their own games - and there are hundreds of servers up 24 / 7 that do it. Many of them do not use the Forgotten Realms as their setting, and none of them host the entirety of the Campaign Setting - it is just too big.
Game quality varies from abysmal to magnificent. I have had a lot of fun with NWN, and I have to say that NWN was my introduction to the Realms in any depth. It's why I started picking up FR books, and why I bought the 3.5 rulebooks for D&D after not playing PnP for many years.
Sure, there are games that butcher the Realms. But there are also games that strive very hard to reflect the depth and complexity of the Campaign Setting... and do a pretty decent job of it, too. |
| Crennen FaerieBane |
Posted - 17 Nov 2005 : 14:52:42
I think it would much better if they steered clear of an FR game as well. KEJR makes a good point - MMORPG are stealing all the possibly new D&D gamers in general - it's much easier to pop online than to try an organize a group of likeminded individuals you can meet with on a regular basis.
C-Fb |
| Khaa |
Posted - 17 Nov 2005 : 13:10:26
I believe it would be just too darn hard for people to come up with a good realms game. The cities are far too massive and there is just too many people that gamers and fans know about for it to be a even relatively good idea to think about making. And frankly, with what I see on this site alone, it would be picked clean before most people get the plastic off the box. What would the authors say when they mess up there book characters? It would be a riot. So, its probably a good idea they did not even try to make a FR game. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 16 Nov 2005 : 22:51:12
quote:
Originally posted by Malarick
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
...And Greyhawk was published before the Realms. It's the default setting for D&D, too.
Not anymore. It was announce by WotC that Eberron was to become the new CORE setting for D&D.
Greyhawk R.I.P
I'd not heard that one... When/where did they say that?
(I was under the impression that making Greyhawk the default setting was a condition of getting Gygax back.) |
| Malarick |
Posted - 16 Nov 2005 : 22:38:45
quote:
Originally posted by Elfinblade
Does anyone know if there is any plans to creating a Forgotten Realms Online setting? and if some officials is reading this, why on earth not?!
Well what was Neverwinter Nights, if not a massive online Realms game? And with the advent of NWN2 I am sure you are in for more Realms based online activity!
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
...And Greyhawk was published before the Realms. It's the default setting for D&D, too.
Not anymore. It was announce by WotC that Eberron was to become the new CORE setting for D&D.
Greyhawk R.I.P
quote:
Originally posted by Dremvek
As I understand it, they aren't even setting the game on the continent described in the Eberron campaign setting, but rather one of the other 3 just briefly mentioned.
That's right. It is set on the continent of Xen'drik where there has been no information (so far) about, and there are no novels or anything set there, to get in the way of continuity. This way they are letting the online community explore this continent for the first time!
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| Igneus Animus |
Posted - 16 Nov 2005 : 19:40:57
Well, I'm kind of relieved they didn't take FR as the place for their game, they really couldn't have done it justice. One area maybe... but not entire cities... I would have been disappointed. [Sarcasm]And to think of those people naming their characters Gandalf924 and yelling "who wanna go 4 killing som orcs? U get half loot." [/Sarcasm] |
| khorne |
Posted - 15 Nov 2005 : 16:31:05
quote:
Originally posted by Dremvek
I may be branded as a blasphemer on this site, but I'm kind of excited about it being Eberron. This is a world that is almost completely unexplored. With only a few books out on it, most of the world is still a huge unknown, giving the game developers all of the latitude they want to make a compelling game without risk of offending those who have strong emotional ties to the setting.
As I understand it, they aren't even setting the game on the continent described in the Eberron campaign setting, but rather one of the other 3 just briefly mentioned. This means the whole world will be completely new. This puts the exploration into the game. For FR junkies, such as myself, after reading the books and playing the games, you alreay know how Waterdeep is "supposed" to be, or any other city or region in the world. How could any MMO possibly live up to those expectations?
As much as I would love to see an FR MMO in the future, I'm glad the initial D&D online is not FR. Let them have a clean slate where they can focus on amazing gameplay rather than trying to fit all of the details mentioned above into the game.
May Talos burn my soul for it, but I agree with you.
(I was joking about the burning part) |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 14 Nov 2005 : 21:40:54
quote:
Originally posted by Kentinal
I will add one more point source material. Eberron has far less compared to FR. Less would need to be programed then trying to put in all FR canon.
That was what I meant when I said it was new and easier to jump in with no background. The setting's only a couple years old, so there's simply not a huge amount of source material. It's good for the newbies, and it's good for the game-makers. |
| KnightErrantJR |
Posted - 14 Nov 2005 : 19:05:10
I don't know . . . part of me is leery of supporting ANY MMORPG becuase I don't think the problem with D&D getting new adherants has anything to do with FR or Greyhawk or DragonLance not appealing to the younger set, it has to do with the new generation of geeks that would have normally joined our hobby (I say geek in the nicest possible way) are instead picking up EverQuest or World of Warcraft or City of Heroes or even Final Fantasy XI. |
| Dremvek |
Posted - 14 Nov 2005 : 18:58:43
I may be branded as a blasphemer on this site, but I'm kind of excited about it being Eberron. This is a world that is almost completely unexplored. With only a few books out on it, most of the world is still a huge unknown, giving the game developers all of the latitude they want to make a compelling game without risk of offending those who have strong emotional ties to the setting.
As I understand it, they aren't even setting the game on the continent described in the Eberron campaign setting, but rather one of the other 3 just briefly mentioned. This means the whole world will be completely new. This puts the exploration into the game. For FR junkies, such as myself, after reading the books and playing the games, you alreay know how Waterdeep is "supposed" to be, or any other city or region in the world. How could any MMO possibly live up to those expectations?
As much as I would love to see an FR MMO in the future, I'm glad the initial D&D online is not FR. Let them have a clean slate where they can focus on amazing gameplay rather than trying to fit all of the details mentioned above into the game. |
| KnightErrantJR |
Posted - 14 Nov 2005 : 18:43:02
Bah, forgive me for being crancky. I'm still worried about the interview last year in PC Gamer, where the Hasbro exec mentioned that they are looking at D&D as a brand, not as a game. The implication really seemed to be that if D&D Online makes a big profit, maybe they don't need to worry about supporting this silly line of books that they put out.
And I bear no ill will toward either Eberron or Greyhawk. I actually had a lot of fun playing in Greyhawk, but I never liked to DM anything but Forgotten Realms or DragonLance. If someone in my group wanted to DM an Eberron game, I would definatly play, but I wouldn't give up DMing Forgotten Realms for it. |
| Crennen FaerieBane |
Posted - 14 Nov 2005 : 18:33:28
Dang, KEJR - guess you have your thumb on the pulse of Greyhawk. 
Seriously though, it would be too difficult to get the levels of knowledge programmed into the MMO for it to be a success. And with just a partial amount of Realmslore in, you will have the same people that complained about NWN being a PSUEDO-FR game (Yes, it's Psuedo time!).
C-Fb |
| KnightErrantJR |
Posted - 14 Nov 2005 : 18:28:04
Just for the sake of balance, I would like to point out the Greyhawk issues as well.
1) Horde of fans that will complain that no one should ever get near epic levels, since Gygax once said the highest level character in his campaign was 15th level.
2) Horde of fans that will complain that no regions should ever be updated since every area in Greyhawk is naturally perfect as it is.
3) The same fans from 2 above that will complain that not enough expansions are being released, thus causing a rift in reality as designers try to figure out how to put out expansions without changing anything.
4) Greyhawk fans complaining about Elminster and Drizzt, even when they aren't mentioned anywhere, in any products, but they are offended by sheer fact that they even exist.
On the plus side, once they converted the setting, the programmers would never have to update them, and you would only have to code characters up to 15th level, so hey, its a trade off.
(Yes, I have been spending too much time on Paizo's boards.) |
| Dhomal |
Posted - 14 Nov 2005 : 18:00:49
Hello-
And I too agree with all of the above statements.
I would also like to point out just how Amazingly, Excruciatingly DIFFICULT a project like that would be.
"OK, guys - time to program in Shadowdale.....What? Elminster is How high in level?.... We dont have coding for that high...."
and
"Whew - the game is released - everyone will Love it!....What? We are getting tons of email from people saying that Knostyl is supposed to be a fighter and not exhibiting ranger abilities? Who is Knostyl anyway?.....He's an innnkeeper at the 17th best Inn in Waterdeep? ANd people know he's a figher and not a ranger?"
The point being 1) Too detailed to try and keep consistency up - including - but not limited to Variety in abilities and such (Think spellfire for Elminster too...) and 2) with the Hordes of 'Ravenous' fans out there - Every last Shred of detail will be gone over with a fine-toothed comb (* a really fine one - not that wanna-be fine-toothed comb they used in Spaceballs.... :) *) - scrutinized like never before.
Now - let me add - that IF they could pull it off - I would love this sort of thing. But the energy and time to create a beleivable electronic facsimile of the FR, let alone make sure that it was 'right' would basically mean that if they started now - we might get to see it sometime around when there is a new, Adult King in Cormyr!
But - I'd Still love to see it!
Dhomal |
| Kentinal |
Posted - 14 Nov 2005 : 17:55:23
I will add one more point source material. Eberron has far less compared to FR. Less would need to be programed then trying to put in all FR canon. |
| Kuje |
Posted - 14 Nov 2005 : 17:53:47
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
There were likely many reasons they chose Eberron over another setting... One is that Eberron is the world they're pushing now. Another is the blend of elements I mentioned above. A third point is that Eberron is new -- so everyone can jump in without any background. And FR has gotten plenty of computer love, with the Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale, and Neverwinter Nights games.
Plus the 6+ old SSI games and the not to long ago Pool of Radiance game that ties into the 3e module and novel. :) |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 14 Nov 2005 : 17:20:55
quote:
Originally posted by Elfinblade
Greetings everyone.
I recently became aware the creation of Eberron Online. Why on earth would Wizards create Eberron online when they have a world like Faerun to delve in to? Faerun is a larger world that has been created by people for the last.. 30-40(?) years?
...And Greyhawk was published before the Realms. It's the default setting for D&D, too.
As has been pointed out, the folks who make the decisions decided that Eberron, with its shiny newness and its blend of fantasy with modern elements, was the world to run with.
quote:
Originally posted by Elfinblade
Does anyone know if there is any plans to creating a Forgotten Realms Online setting? and if some officials is reading this, why on earth not?!
There were likely many reasons they chose Eberron over another setting... One is that Eberron is the world they're pushing now. Another is the blend of elements I mentioned above. A third point is that Eberron is new -- so everyone can jump in without any background. And FR has gotten plenty of computer love, with the Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale, and Neverwinter Nights games. |
| KnightErrantJR |
Posted - 14 Nov 2005 : 16:00:49
Edited out by me . . . |
| Winterfox |
Posted - 14 Nov 2005 : 15:47:13
quote:
Originally posted by KnightErrantJR
Eberron's quasi-modernized setting will draw billions upon billions of youngsters to the fold, all of whom could care less about a medieval era setting for fantasy
FR is not even remotely medieval, though. Say pseudo-medieval if you really must, but that's still not accurate. |
| Crennen FaerieBane |
Posted - 14 Nov 2005 : 15:18:50
Well, I just think that someone up high probably decided that with the market the way it is right now, if they tried to compete on the fantasy level, they would probably lose because WoW and Everquest already have that niche. Eberron allows D&D to go in a different direction, which may prove successful. Then again, it may prove disasterous.
C-Fb |
| KnightErrantJR |
Posted - 14 Nov 2005 : 15:11:07
Eberron's quasi-modernized setting will draw billions upon billions of youngsters to the fold, all of whom could care less about a PSUEDO medieval era setting for fantasy, as shown by the sales figures for anything LOTR . . . ahem (hoping everyone has their sarcasm detectors on).
(Again, not a shot on Eberron, just the marketing campaign rolled out when it was first launced).
(Edited at Winterfox's insistance so as to preserve balance in the universe) |
| Winterfox |
Posted - 14 Nov 2005 : 14:51:35
Not heard of anything along that line. I doubt anything of the sort will be done any time soon, either. |
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