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Pokemon MMO: Yay or Nay?
- Thread starter pramath
- Start date
Quadrangulum
Banned
It could be interesting but a proper one would be so far apart from the series roots and other MMOs on the market. You'd have to get rid of the "gotta catch 'em all" slant because not everyone should have the legendaries. WoW raid style content would not work at all, save a few possible, tenuous exceptions. Because Pokemon doesn't seem suited for mass cooperative activities, the maximum server population would have to be far lower than other MMOs.
I think the proper direction of such a game would be something like a life sim with a heavy emphasis on exploration. However, to make it worthwhile, the environments would have to be rendered in dramatically more detail than anything we've seen so far. I suppose group activities could revolve around gyms, perhaps each operated by something like a guild. I think there's story and gameplay potential with the series' science fiction and archaeological elements. I'm probably just creatively limited but doing this seems so daunting that I wonder if any developer (from anywhere) has the skill or if any publisher has the willpower to do it correctly.
I think the proper direction of such a game would be something like a life sim with a heavy emphasis on exploration. However, to make it worthwhile, the environments would have to be rendered in dramatically more detail than anything we've seen so far. I suppose group activities could revolve around gyms, perhaps each operated by something like a guild. I think there's story and gameplay potential with the series' science fiction and archaeological elements. I'm probably just creatively limited but doing this seems so daunting that I wonder if any developer (from anywhere) has the skill or if any publisher has the willpower to do it correctly.
br0ken_shad0w
Member
True MMO? Nah, Pokemon games are designed to be fast-paced, pickup style gameplay. MMOs are anything but.
Some sort of hybrid could work though. Something along the lines of Demons Souls. Of course, this is Gamefreak/Nintendo we're talking about. Pokemon B/W proved to me they still got a long, long way to make a good online system.
Some sort of hybrid could work though. Something along the lines of Demons Souls. Of course, this is Gamefreak/Nintendo we're talking about. Pokemon B/W proved to me they still got a long, long way to make a good online system.
Riposte
Member
NAY
NAY
NAY
Pokemon's most significant problem is all the shit you have to go through just to play it competitively(it is pretty bad when people prefer to play cheap versions of your battle system than play or hack the game). It doesn't need more grinding or the other types of crap MMOs get in the way(not to mention the protagonist will be one Pokemon Master among several million. More Pokemon Slave than Master). (And for the record: Its second most significant problem is that the single player content is stupid and broken easy to the point that the systems don't matter at all. Well, that is almost every JRPG, but, like, Pokemon is the ultimate example of that.)
And there are better ways to connect with friends and strangers. I'd prefer an annoymous Demon's Souls system where I randomly encounter other trainers on the field, for trading and battle.
It is a dream to have in 1999, not 2011. Not if you've been paying attention to the sub-genre. Adding MMO to your franchise isn't the wet dream you think it'll be. It just waters down the game design. What people really want is a "HD" Pokemon with the camera lowered.
EDIT: The ONLY upside to a MMO would be a removal of cheating. However this is a double-edged sword. People won't have as much free access to the battle system's depth(especially if they increase the tedium of it, if such a thing is possible) and you would no longer "own" your Pokemon.
Pankration was awesome(at the beginning so many played it that it was almost impossible to play it) and awfully under utilized. It was also too "simulation" and not enough tactics. FFXI was a balanced ecosystem of grindy endgame encounters buried on top of a graveyard of abandoned ideas. Now it is a much narrower grindy endgame plot of land buried on top of a graveyard of endgame encounters buried on top of a graveyard of abandoned ideas.
NAY
NAY
Pokemon's most significant problem is all the shit you have to go through just to play it competitively(it is pretty bad when people prefer to play cheap versions of your battle system than play or hack the game). It doesn't need more grinding or the other types of crap MMOs get in the way(not to mention the protagonist will be one Pokemon Master among several million. More Pokemon Slave than Master). (And for the record: Its second most significant problem is that the single player content is stupid and broken easy to the point that the systems don't matter at all. Well, that is almost every JRPG, but, like, Pokemon is the ultimate example of that.)
And there are better ways to connect with friends and strangers. I'd prefer an annoymous Demon's Souls system where I randomly encounter other trainers on the field, for trading and battle.
It is a dream to have in 1999, not 2011. Not if you've been paying attention to the sub-genre. Adding MMO to your franchise isn't the wet dream you think it'll be. It just waters down the game design. What people really want is a "HD" Pokemon with the camera lowered.
EDIT: The ONLY upside to a MMO would be a removal of cheating. However this is a double-edged sword. People won't have as much free access to the battle system's depth(especially if they increase the tedium of it, if such a thing is possible) and you would no longer "own" your Pokemon.
Darryl said:
Pankration was awesome(at the beginning so many played it that it was almost impossible to play it) and awfully under utilized. It was also too "simulation" and not enough tactics. FFXI was a balanced ecosystem of grindy endgame encounters buried on top of a graveyard of abandoned ideas. Now it is a much narrower grindy endgame plot of land buried on top of a graveyard of endgame encounters buried on top of a graveyard of abandoned ideas.
This is something I always wished for when I was younger, but now I've given up on it. I no longer have the time to invest in such a game and I could only dream of how awesome it could be. I always imagined they could do amazing things with an online version of Pokemon. Having people challenge gym leaders and even having people be the leaders themselves, capable of designing the gym to their preference and to have a annual global Pokemon master of the world tournament would be awesome. Too bad Nintendo doesn't seem interested, because this could be a huge cash cow for them.