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The real reasons Nintendo won't make a Pokemon MMO
- Thread starter RedSwirl
- Start date
Watch Da Birdie
I buy cakes for myself on my birthday it's not weird lots of people do it I bet
Everyone would probably place Stealth Rocks on every inch of the map.
But seriously, I'm a huge Pokemon fan, but an MMO does not appeal to me at all. Like, it's literally the one idea I see brought up every second in the community that I just can't stand. Even the "make a game only featuring the original 151" idea doesn't make me as mad.
EDIT: Some people here should look into XY, they've shown some pretty neat things so far. 3D world, ridable Pokemon, horde battles, an improved online infrastructure, a new type, and a "virtual pet" system, really seem like they're not "rehashing" it besides sticking with the tried and true battle formula.
But seriously, I'm a huge Pokemon fan, but an MMO does not appeal to me at all. Like, it's literally the one idea I see brought up every second in the community that I just can't stand. Even the "make a game only featuring the original 151" idea doesn't make me as mad.
EDIT: Some people here should look into XY, they've shown some pretty neat things so far. 3D world, ridable Pokemon, horde battles, an improved online infrastructure, a new type, and a "virtual pet" system, really seem like they're not "rehashing" it besides sticking with the tried and true battle formula.
Ghost_Protocol
Member
The real reason is that they aren't capable of making it.
XANDER CAGE
Member
People just attach "MMO" at the end of "Pokemon" without really explaining what they actually want or what it should be. Pokemon flavored WoW or Guild Wars or Everquest or whatever would be terrible. What would a Pokemon MMO actually be?
Buckethead
Banned
I don't want an MMO but a console Pokemon game with Borderlands-esque (only example I can think of) ability to drop in and drop out co-op/multiplayer would be great.
darkside31337
Tomodachi wa Mahou
"Fight these 10 Pokemon trainers all conveniently lined up against this path to gain enough XP to fight the next gym leader"
I mean if you really want to simplify things like that then thats fine. There is a world of creativity and innovation Nintendo could be leading on that front with a franchise thats pretty much bigger than any other in gaming.
Saying there are no good ideas for a Pokemon MMO is honestly pretty depressing. I'd rather see them try than getting the the 25th mainline handheld title or whatever exact number they are up to now.
But its a poor business proposition because its way easier to stick to the tried and true.
The last two sets of games have been that exactly.
But seriously, the Pokemon games have a hard enough time connecting two people together online. I do not see an MMO in the near future.
This is probably the main reason. Realistically Pokemon games still sell like crazy. There's always two versions so a large number of people actually buy both for whatever reasons. If there was an MMO there wouldn't be a need to sell newer versions because they could just put new pokemon in the game. Pokemon games are also system sellers I know a few people that are getting 3DS' just for Pokemon X&Y.
It's because it doesn't make sense to spend the money on a Pokemon MMO, when they sell upwards of 15 million copies of every regular Pokemon game they sell, and the subscription model for MMOs is dying a violent, messy death.
What would they possibly gain?
It's like this question was asked back in 2006, and nobody noticed that MMOs don't work the way they used to anymore.
What would they possibly gain?
It's like this question was asked back in 2006, and nobody noticed that MMOs don't work the way they used to anymore.
DrForester
Kills Photobucket
While I'm not going to even try to say FFXIV was a success, I think it's worth pointing out that Square made a MMO 11 years ago that still has a solid userbase in Final Fantasy XI.
I think it's still the only multi-platfrom MMO as well, with players on servers from three different system (4 if you count people who play on PS3).
encephalon
Member
It makes more sense for the series to have an incidental online component, where other players can appear in single player entries.
Kacho
Member
The acceptance and adoration of a handful of people on Internet message boards. It would also save the company from impending doom. A trump card if you will. Genius.
doing what other people have already done and shoehorning one of your franchises to fit into that mold isn't creative, it's creatively bankrupt. better to rehash your own game and make slow improvements to it yourself then to try to suck up what success other people have made. pokemon isn't about grinding end game. it isn't an MMO franchise. it should have multiplayer, but massively multiplayer will confuse balance and intimidate players. it'll flip the game from being about raising pokemon to instead being about maximizing performance. the fresh, curious, open-world thinking you imagined the Pokemon series to have as a kid would be crushed once people begin telling you that you're wrong for playing the game that way.
darkside31337
Tomodachi wa Mahou
Why would it have to be subscription model based?
There are MMOs that work today. You're right though, they don't work the same way they worked in 2006.
What would they possibly gain? A title that ambitious, something with that kind of creative spark and ingenuity could have actually got some people to buy a Wii U.
I wasn't actually advocating they make a wow clone, I was saying even if thats what they did it'd still actually be really interesting. But yeah its just easier to rehash.
Honestly, I think the solution to this situation is to add an entirely new multiplayer mode in future Pokemon games that allows trainers to explore the world/regions together, I could see Gamefreak doing something like that within 10 years or so, knowing how they work. An MMO makes no sense for Nintendo financially but they should take some ideas from them and use the concepts in online components for the series.
Because no other business model would bring in the kind of revenue they normally pull in from Pokemon.
Any MMO is a terrible title to attempt to use as a system seller. MMOs only work when there are already a ton of people with the platform. That's why MMOs generally target PCs and have low system requirements - because PCs are everywhere whether they're explicitly gaming rigs or not. Building an MMO with the idea that people are going to buy a system to play it is about the silliest thing in this entire thread.
DocTarHeel
Member
Are there any notable turn-based MMOs? I'm trying to envision how an MMO Pokemon would work, and I can't see it working without altering the core gameplay mechanics of the main games.
Templar_Dante
Banned
They may not want to make an MMO, but I want an RPG too.. a fully fledged Pokemon game on console. Are they mad? Dont they like money?
Exactly.
To be serious though, I'm not even sure how a console mainline Pokemon RPG would play differently from a handheld one. It would just be harder to set up local multiplayer, and the game would be even more dependent on online. All you'd really be getting is better graphics.
What makes you think they'd make more money on console than they do on handheld?
KojiKnight
Member
Reason is simple: It won't be portable (which Nintendo has deemed the most important feature, it's why there are no console Pokemon games).
Also, Pokemon MMO would compete head to head with every Pokemon game that ever came after... You don't normally want to compete against yourself.
Also, Pokemon MMO would compete head to head with every Pokemon game that ever came after... You don't normally want to compete against yourself.
The Mighty Octopus
Neo Member
How would a Pokemon MMO even work? It may sound good on paper on some but how would you honestly go about making that?
Baron von Loathsome
Member
Who said anything about following the MMO formula? If anything, what the genre needs is a game to break that formula.
I thought Black & White were the most linear games in the main series, and that's saying something. I haven't played White 2 enough to judge the more recent pair, but I wouldn't call them open-world RPGs, or RPGs that do open-world well.
IrishNinja
Member
Htwon ruining dreams with logic up in here
Templar_Dante
Banned
Well, for starters. It would sell consoles. I know atleast 10 people that would buy a Wii U if they made such a game, and these are people that would never consider a Wii U now.
I wouldn't call Black and White an open world RPG, considering its map is literally a linear loop.
KillerTravis
Banned
I always question myself why people think this, have you not played any Pokemon after the first one?
i think it's inevitable personally. just like mario splitting back into 2D was inevitable. huge franchise, unexplored potential.
Templar_Dante
Banned
Well, if they do, it can follow a very similar formular to Ni No Kuni on the PS3. Look how well that sold. New IP too. People want different games after the entirety of last gen was littered with FPS's. Ni No Kuni has an amazing artstyle I think Pokemon could assimilate into it well and people would buy it. Im a core gamer, a new Wii U one (I bought it in the hope Nintendo saves itself) and I was so taken into the world of Ni No Kuni. Yet, I kept asking myself why Nintendo doesnt make a Pokemon game like this.
If they want to aim the Wii U at everybody, they need a new type of game, most Wii owners have migrated to Tablets/Mobile. Nintendo needs IPs to shift the core gamers to them.
Me, personally, I have a DSi but I havnt purchased a Nintendo console since I had an SNES lol. So, how does Nintendo get people like me to buy a wii u? Thats what Nintendo needs to ask themselves.
They have one thing in their favor, most people wont buy a PS4 and Xbone next gen. All 3rd party games are on both, so personal preference dictates which a person buys. Now, they need to convince those consumers to buy a Wii U as a second console.
Im going all out PS4 and Wii U next gen and Im sure Im not alone. So Nintendo, make a Pokemon RPG like Ni No Kuni, you'll start to gain the market you need to save you.
Dr. Feel Good
Banned
Yeah let's create a game that requires a credit card to a target market that legally cannot posses a credit card. Absolutely genius idea.
MAX PAYMENT
Member
How would it work?
How could you raid, craft, do dungeons, have classes, etc in the Pokemon universe?
How could you raid, craft, do dungeons, have classes, etc in the Pokemon universe?
It just has to have, you know, like, the Skyrims and the Warcrafts in it. Easy peasy.
IT WOULD PRINT MONEY GOD NINTENDO WHY ARE YOU SO STUPID SMH SMH SMH SMH
nephilimdj
Member
Considering how far blizzard have come with pet battles in wow in 1 year, would be silly for nintendo to ignore.
Blizzard could use this for a standalone spinoff and beat nintendo to the punch (and cash).
Blizzard could use this for a standalone spinoff and beat nintendo to the punch (and cash).
Why do people think these things are necessary for an MMO? Sure, that's what most/all of the popular ones have, but that's not what Pokemon is about. I'm not saying it would work, but it would be more like the regular games. Just... that gym leader? That's a real dude. Elite 4? Real dudes. Rangers, bikers, daycare people? Real people. One real champion (or one per server or whatever). I don't think people want WoW with Pokemon skins. They want Pokemon with real people instead of NPCs. Again, I'm not saying that would work, but that's much more interesting than Pokemon raid bosses and stupid "Kill 10 Pidgeys" quests where you're rewarded with 2 Pokeballs and a Full Heal.
It'd be more like Second Life in the Pokemon World than WoW or TOR. (Disclaimer: I don't actually know much about Second Life so I don't know how accurate this is)
I have to say, it's funny how people frequently say "Pokemon should be a MMO", yet never try to explain how it would play out. It seems like the general idea is that a MMO would be the natural progression for a game like Pokemon, but we have stuff like PokeMMO which show it's not really that easy to turn a pokemon game into a *good* MMO. And even then, when you do take that route, you run the risk of losing what makes pokemon interesting along the way.
The more recent games have been doing an interesting work on the social aspect, and I believe that's what Nintendo will keep doing. It just doesn't make sense jeopardize everything they have right now for the pipe dream of a MMO. And that is not being "afraid to change" or being "stale" as some put it, because the games have been evolving at quite a fast pace.
A Pokemon MMO works the same way Pokemon does, I don't understand why it changes. You're just on a server with other people running around so socializing is constant.
You can go try that on one of the many legally dubious fanmade Pokemon MMOs out there. The design is not very good, and having a bit more polish on Nintendo's end wouldn't fix it.
Care to explain? Pokemon with other people in the area doesn't sound worse than existing Pokemon, and a WoW clone with Pokemon is an absolute horrible idea.
It just really doesn't add much to the single player Pokemon experience, I guess? You'd need to take a fundamentally different approach to area and route design due to the way trainers are currently set up. It's also hella weird to see people just standing around in battle mode, since Pokemon's battle system is not suited to an MMO at all.
That's the other thing - You really couldn't introduce many meaningful MMO elements unless you fundamentally reworked Pokemon battles not to be one on one turn-based affairs, because those don't offer any form of interactivity in anything resembling a persistent world.
web_slinger_62
Member
Thank god
How would a pokemon MMO work exactly? I mean we do a raid against a legendary Pokemon and only 1 person gets to catch it? What about loot, drops, equipment, dungeons etc? What about gym battles? Do we now do 2 on 2, 5 on 5?
The dynamic for the game would have to change a lot as Pokemon is mainly a single player game. The only multiplayer component being pvp (which you can do on the 3DS already) I just don't see the game working as an MMO the way it is currently and if they change it too much it's not Pokemon anymore.
The dynamic for the game would have to change a lot as Pokemon is mainly a single player game. The only multiplayer component being pvp (which you can do on the 3DS already) I just don't see the game working as an MMO the way it is currently and if they change it too much it's not Pokemon anymore.
People assume a Pokemon MMO would have to limit itself to conventions of UO, EQ and WoW-estabiished MMORPG rules hence the BUT HOW'D YOU RAID comments. I don't get this.
Actual reason is that Nintendo (or GF) would rather make the same game over and over than put any kind of quality effort in making something groundbreaking. They can't even put online in Co-Op Mario games on WiiU for christtsakes
Actual reason is that Nintendo (or GF) would rather make the same game over and over than put any kind of quality effort in making something groundbreaking. They can't even put online in Co-Op Mario games on WiiU for christtsakes
airmangataosenai
Member
Wouldn't Nintendo's child safety concerns make the level of communication expected from an MMO impossible anyway? A game like this seems like a dangerous place for kids.
Gamepad is made for MMOs.
nephilimdj
Member
Why would it need to be based on pvp? already had Safari Zone's in pokemon, why should pokemon catching be limited to linear paths.
mmo would open up the world