No? Having a total limited of Pokemon in the world would be a horrible idea. You could catch Pokemon exactly the same way in an MMO you do in the main games.
I didn't suggest there would be a limited amount, but there are definitely varying appearance rates in the regular games, and when you combine that with people farming an area, and suddenly catching that elusive Pokemon becomes much more frustrating. This has nothing to do with the Mewtwos of the series. And if the suggestion is that other people could not interfere with your catching or your appearance rates, then why make an MMO at all?
Again, collecting wouldn't be competitive. It would actually be more cooperative than it is right now since you're forced into an online environment so there are other players to trade with at all times and more people would use whatever online auction trading system they implement.
Trading has never been an issue I have in the game. The game does not need to go MMO in order to encourage online trades.
When it comes to the specific story line you can easily have the same single player story in an MMO, and many MMOs do now. FFXI, TOR, and the upcoming Guild Wars 2 all have story lines that feature the players as 'the main dude who rocks shit'. You can still have players beat Team Whatever and save the Pokeworld in an MMO. This content would simply be instanced in some sections and cinematics would be played locally and not globally.
I'm not talking about the story of the game, I'm talking about the journey. The games are balanced in a way that the game continues to challenge but not kick your ass as you head up and through the Elite Four. Once trainers are running around as they like in my world with their leveled up Pokemon, it breaks the pacing of the game. Even moreso if the only trainers in the game are actual players, and we are forced to accept battle challenges in order to level up and continue the journey. Trainer battles are unfortunately a huge portion of the foundation of the series, but I'm not interested in a game that makes PvP the foundation.
So having larger more expansive worlds is bad? And who claims it is just grass and dirt? Or that exploring a forest wouldn't be enjoyable for some people? Or that there wouldn't be fast travel options to limit this so that only people who want to explore do so?
Several posters said that they didn't envision the typical size of MMO areas for this game, and I'm questioning how it would work, then. Again, the size of the areas also affects the pacing of the game, and for the mass audience who plays it for the quick grind and pacing, it's a gamekiller.
I'm terribly confused by this. Pokemon has an infinite number of creatures if you're just looking at numbers of spawns, the MMO wouldn't be different. And every new iteration and region keeps introducing new species of Pokemon so you can't really be offended by the notion of new species...
Someone suggested that the game being an MMO meant "More Pokemon!" than if it were a regular game. I just don't see the logic. I agree with your response, and it is actually why I mentioned it. It isn't a selling point over a regular game if there is no difference. There is no "More Pokemon!" for an MMO versus the regular stuff.
It would work exactly the same minus the amount of of available trainers for co-op play. And who said the game had to involves parties? I really doubt a Pokemon MMO would end up being "ilvl 387 Machamp LFG KYOGRE PST".
If it isn't going to involve parties in the battle or the catching, then why have an MMO at all? Go battle online in PBR.
Who said it had to be a subscription game? There are plenty of non-sub MMOs now, and many games make much more money with a microtransaction model anyways. You can also sell new expansion and DLC content very frequently for this game.
It does however minimize the impact that companion titles can have on the series as well as weakening the appeal of the main line portable games. That is the really the only outstanding issue that prevents Nintendo from considering an MMO, they have a working financial structure for the series and don't want to deviate unless forced to.
They don't
have to have a subscription model, but with how much less they'd be making in comparison to producing their usual titles, and with the increased server costs and upkeep, they'd better be considering it.
No, your Pokemon MMO is just a really bad idea. Economics are more complicated than translating mechanics into a fun MMO.
[/quote]My Pokemon MMO is to not have one. If we cannot be convinced that the core mechanics of the game can be adjusted to incorporate massive amounts of players, they why would this MMO be any better than a regular title?
Might be too ambitious.