So I've been thinking over the past few days. A lot of people I know still play WoW non-stop. They admit even that since Cataclysm came out, WoW isn't as enjoyable as it used to be back when it first came out, yet they still play it. I asked them why and they told me "Because there is nothing new to rival it. Its better than anything else still." That got me thinking, what type of MMO or what universe if done right could kill this game OR at least give it competition. And I thought of something. Now a lot of peop,e might stop reading right here and never continue on but just give me a chance to explain myself as to why I think it could do it. Give me a chance to throw out some ideas before you stop reading. Here it is: Harry Potter. Now please just take 5-10 minutes of your time to read my thoughts. I've been compiling ideas for quite some time. I know this is a wall of text but PLEASE just give it a chance and read it.
The Basics
Harry Potter is a franchise that makes an insane amount of money. It has sold millions of books and it has made billions of dollars in movie sales worldwide and its not yet over. This has enough popularity to really pull people in if a game is done right now here are my ideas for the game. You start off with the basic character creation screen. Choose your gender and maybe use some sliders to change skin color, hair type,etc. to give some differences in the people you see. You don't choose attributes yet. The game then throws you right into DIagon Alley where there are numerous shops to go to. From the start only the most basic items to get you through you're first year are unlocked. You will buy your basic spell books, the ingredients needed for Potions class, you can even buy a pet which will have uses later in the game. After that, you will go to get your wand and based off a specific challenge you do it will provide you with a unique wand of you're own. Then it is off to Hogwarts where you will be sorted. Here is where you choose your attributes. If you want to be a tank/DPS type character you will choose Gryffindor, if you want to be a healer/DPS then you can choose Hufflepuff, if you want to be a DPS character only and be able to unlock specific places in the castle you can choose Ravenclaw(because you are in this housr you are supposed to be very smart, this is why you can help unlock certain areas for others), if you want to be very powerful and unlock specific combat oriented spells you will choose Slytherin but you will not have much defense.
Classes
Here is where you will learn all your spells. As you take classes you will level up and earn the ability to unlock certain spells. Each class will consist of certain tasks you have to complete based on what class you're in. Also, based on the types of classes you decide to take during you're years there, it will help to determine what job you can have once you leave Hogwarts. Also, I took the idea of Students in Peril and extended it to be side quests that will help unlock items and give exp. You will find students across Hogwarts that need your help and if you help them retrieve a certain item or help them finish a task then it unlocks new items/exp for you.
Raids/Instances
I did not forget about one of the biggest parts of WoW. The whole thing about Hogwarts is it is a magical place that is meant to be explored. As you progress through the years you unlock tougher raids and instances. Just think the Forbidden Forest is a huge area that leads to man different areas. You can go in there and face the giant spider Aragog, you can go to the home of the Centaurs later in the game once they turn against you like in the books, you can face many different beasts in there. Also, you can face the evil Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets. Endless possibilities.
Exploration
Hogwarts is meant to be explored. There are supposed to be numerous secret passageways and dungeons that people never found. Take time away from classes/quests and look for certain areas that might lead to secret dungeons that have new enemies to fight and new items to help you out. Just take in the atmosphere as you see ghosts float around Hogwarts, talk to them to learn history of the wizarding world and maybe you'll learn some information from specific ghosts that can help you to uncover long lost artifacts later in the gamer that boost stats(ex: Ravenclaw's Diadem, Elder Wand, Invisibilty Cloak). See Peeves causing trouble, dropping dungbombs on fellow students.
PvP
Once you enter you're second year you can enter the Dueling Club. Here you can challenge friends or other players close to your level. You can each put up one or two items "at stake" and the winner will taker those items. That way you dont have to lose anything valuable during PvP if you dont want, you dont have to put anything at stake.
After Hogwarts
Based on the classes you take at Hogwarts, you will be given a job. After Hogwarts you will go on to be in The Ministry of Magic. You will be assigned to a certain department maybe even become an Auror and this is where you will unlock higher level isntances and raids such as battling Death Eaters. You will enter Hogwarts a year ahead of Harry story wise this way once you leave Hogwarts after you're seventh year you will be able to go into the highest instance which is "The Battle of Hogwarts" but as a Ministry person.
Quidditch/Hogsmeade
You and 6 other friends can form you're own Quidditch team where you can challenge other "House teams" consisting of other players. At the end of a 1-2 month period the Top 32 teams will be asked to compete in a Quiditch World Cup event where the team that wins gains an exp boost and special items. Also, during the year at Hogwarts since you can't go to Diagon Alley you can access Hogsmeade for all items that you need to purchase.
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So I've been thinking over the past few days. A lot of people I know still play WoW non-stop. They admit even that since Cataclysm came out, WoW isn't as enjoyable as it used to be back when it first came out, yet they still play it. I asked them why and they told me "Because there is nothing new to rival it. Its better than anything else still." That got me thinking, what type of MMO or what universe if done right could kill this game OR at least give it competition. And I thought of something. Now a lot of peop,e might stop reading right here and never continue on but just give me a chance to explain myself as to why I think it could do it. Give me a chance to throw out some ideas before you stop reading. Here it is: Harry Potter. Now please just take 5-10 minutes of your time to read my thoughts. I've been compiling ideas for quite some time. I know this is a wall of text but PLEASE just give it a chance and read it.
The Basics
Harry Potter is a franchise that makes an insane amount of money. It has sold millions of books and it has made billions of dollars in movie sales worldwide and its not yet over. This has enough popularity to really pull people in if a game is done right now here are my ideas for the game. You start off with the basic character creation screen. Choose your gender and maybe use some sliders to change skin color, hair type,etc. to give some differences in the people you see. You don't choose attributes yet. The game then throws you right into DIagon Alley where there are numerous shops to go to. From the start only the most basic items to get you through you're first year are unlocked. You will buy your basic spell books, the ingredients needed for Potions class, you can even buy a pet which will have uses later in the game. After that, you will go to get your wand and based off a specific challenge you do it will provide you with a unique wand of you're own. Then it is off to Hogwarts where you will be sorted. Here is where you choose your attributes. If you want to be a tank/DPS type character you will choose Gryffindor, if you want to be a healer/DPS then you can choose Hufflepuff, if you want to be a DPS character only and be able to unlock specific places in the castle you can choose Ravenclaw(because you are in this housr you are supposed to be very smart, this is why you can help unlock certain areas for others), if you want to be very powerful and unlock specific combat oriented spells you will choose Slytherin but you will not have much defense.
Classes
Here is where you will learn all your spells. As you take classes you will level up and earn the ability to unlock certain spells. Each class will consist of certain tasks you have to complete based on what class you're in. Also, based on the types of classes you decide to take during you're years there, it will help to determine what job you can have once you leave Hogwarts. Also, I took the idea of Students in Peril and extended it to be side quests that will help unlock items and give exp. You will find students across Hogwarts that need your help and if you help them retrieve a certain item or help them finish a task then it unlocks new items/exp for you.
Raids/Instances
I did not forget about one of the biggest parts of WoW. The whole thing about Hogwarts is it is a magical place that is meant to be explored. As you progress through the years you unlock tougher raids and instances. Just think the Forbidden Forest is a huge area that leads to man different areas. You can go in there and face the giant spider Aragog, you can go to the home of the Centaurs later in the game once they turn against you like in the books, you can face many different beasts in there. Also, you can face the evil Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets. Endless possibilities.
Exploration
Hogwarts is meant to be explored. There are supposed to be numerous secret passageways and dungeons that people never found. Take time away from classes/quests and look for certain areas that might lead to secret dungeons that have new enemies to fight and new items to help you out. Just take in the atmosphere as you see ghosts float around Hogwarts, talk to them to learn history of the wizarding world and maybe you'll learn some information from specific ghosts that can help you to uncover long lost artifacts later in the gamer that boost stats(ex: Ravenclaw's Diadem, Elder Wand, Invisibilty Cloak). See Peeves causing trouble, dropping dungbombs on fellow students.
PvP
Once you enter you're second year you can enter the Dueling Club. Here you can challenge friends or other players close to your level. You can each put up one or two items "at stake" and the winner will taker those items. That way you dont have to lose anything valuable during PvP if you dont want, you dont have to put anything at stake.
After Hogwarts
Based on the classes you take at Hogwarts, you will be given a job. After Hogwarts you will go on to be in The Ministry of Magic. You will be assigned to a certain department maybe even become an Auror and this is where you will unlock higher level isntances and raids such as battling Death Eaters. You will enter Hogwarts a year ahead of Harry story wise this way once you leave Hogwarts after you're seventh year you will be able to go into the highest instance which is "The Battle of Hogwarts" but as a Ministry person.
Quidditch/Hogsmeade
You and 6 other friends can form you're own Quidditch team where you can challenge other "House teams" consisting of other players. At the end of a 1-2 month period the Top 32 teams will be asked to compete in a Quiditch World Cup event where the team that wins gains an exp boost and special items. Also, during the year at Hogwarts since you can't go to Diagon Alley you can access Hogsmeade for all items that you need to purchase.
Honestly, this whole "MMO that'll kill WoW" is getting tiresome. It won't happen. The only thing that'll kill WoW is WoW itself. Slowly but surely players will become less and less interested, but it'll be a long time still before it meets its end. While I do agree that the Harry Potter series boast a substantial fanbase, I'm not convinced it lends itself well to the MMO-formula. Besides, you'll be having some pretty stiff competition in terms of Guild Wars 2 and Star Wars: The Old Republic.
They can't even make a decent Harry Potter singleplayer game (A good Harry Potter RPG would be amazing), let alone an MMO. Unless, of course, it is made by Blizzard.
They can't even make a decent Harry Potter singleplayer game (A good Harry Potter RPG would be amazing), let alone an MMO. Unless, of course, it is made by Blizzard.
I would pay 100-150$ for an Obsidian developed harry potter RPG, for serious
I didn't read that, but a Harry Potter MMO is an absurd concept in itself, let alone one being well-crafted and marketed enough to come even CLOSE to touching WoW's market share. Everyone thinks they've got the next WoW killer but I assure you someone smarter and more talented than you has come up with the idea and thought it wouldn't cut it.
I disagree. A Pokemon MMORPG would kill the shit out of WoW. You feel that? That was your heart exploding from the concentrated awesome.
A pokemon MMO sounds very compelling, but several things would have to be done right for it to be what people expect of it. Scheduled tournaments among top users being one of them, ala Final Four or the shit from the TV show back in the day (don't know if they still do any of that stuff.)
I didn't read that, but a Harry Potter MMO is an absurd concept in itself, let alone one being well-crafted and marketed enough to come even CLOSE to touching WoW's market share. Everyone thinks they've got the next WoW killer but I assure you someone smarter and more talented than you has come up with the idea and thought it wouldn't cut it.
If you didn't read it then how do you know it couldn't work. OK so maybe it won't kill WoW, maybe I should have made the title "This Could be a Really Succssful MMO." But I mean just think of the concept it could be done if given time. I think right now the reaosn why there hasnt been a decent HP game is because we are still in movie phase. They are just dishing out movie based games to please hardcore fans but neglecting the quality of the game. It has been PROVEN a good HP game can be made if it is made with care. Look at LEGO Harry Potter that game was awesome. If someone took time to really craft these ideas out once the movies are done with, we could have one hell of a game.
I didn't read that, but a Harry Potter MMO is an absurd concept in itself, let alone one being well-crafted and marketed enough to come even CLOSE to touching WoW's market share. Everyone thinks they've got the next WoW killer but I assure you someone smarter and more talented than you has come up with the idea and thought it wouldn't cut it.
If you didn't read it then how do you know it couldn't work. OK so maybe it won't kill WoW, maybe I should have made the title "This Could be a Really Succssful MMO." But I mean just think of the concept it could be done if given time. I think right now the reaosn why there hasnt been a decent HP game is because we are still in movie phase. They are just dishing out movie based games to please hardcore fans but neglecting the quality of the game. It has been PROVEN a good HP game can be made if it is made with care. Look at LEGO Harry Potter that game was awesome. If someone took time to really craft these ideas out once the movies are done with, we could have one hell of a game.
Look, I didn't say your idea wasn't good: I didn't read it so I wouldn't know! I just said that it wouldn't be successful; and I can make this assumption for three reasons. 1. The harry potter market does not overlap with the MMO players market that much. Sure it's got wide appeal but most of the appeal is to children, who have no income and therefor limited access to 15 dollars a month. 2. WoW already has 12+ million subscribers; the vast majority of whom have dedicated hundreds of hours to their characters. Developers always run in to the problem of coaxing those players in to another game; abandoning all that time investment. 3. Blizzard is a monolith of a company, with hundreds of talented designers and a seemingly infinite budget. At this point any undertaking to dethrone them would be enough to bankrupt any publisher who failed. Most aren't willing to take that risk.
Pokemon MMO is the only non-blizzard game that could "kill" wow, that game would easily get 10+ million subscribers in the first year.. sadly it will never happen
realistically the only game that can kill it, IMO is another blizzard MMO (IE Diablo MMO) but that will never happen (diablo/sc mmo). My prediction is wow will be killed when blizzard decides to shut down the servers.
I don't know about a "WoW" killer, but if it was done right, I know a few people including myself that don't play MMORPGs that would play a Harry Potter one.
Nothing will kill WoW, its too late for that. Its gotten to the point now where I see it as more of a question of whether or not Blizzard's next MMO will blow up as crazy as WoW did. Which lets face it, it probably will.
another MMO made by blizzard is going to kill wow. maybe the world of starcraft. i think that would kill it big. what other people are saying, pokemon mmo. just think walk around collecting pokemon. maybe it would be awesome if it was only 150 pokemon. it's when i was into pokemon.
I think alot of people are misunderstanding the fact that the 12 million subscribers wow has are not necessarily all MMO players, they are WoW players, kinda like me. I could never go to another MMO no matter how earthshattering it is, I am done I did my time with World of Warcraft.
Seems really well thought out. Only, is the same audience that are entrenched in WoW the same audience that are entrenched in Harry Potter? OR would be willing to play a game, likely knowing full well the games (with the possible exception of lego) aren't very good.
With that being said, the only thing that can kill WoW is when it fizzles it self out. Blizzard have stated that they won't be producing more expansions so once people tire of it. The game that can read that timing and release at that time, so long as they do it competently will be the WoW killer. Funnily enough, chances are it will be a MMO by Blizzard.
I don't really understand how a Pokemon MMO would do that well. Considering the average age of people that play WoW and MMOs in general I would think that most of them would be a generation or two too old to have any sort of relation to, or nostalgia for Pokemon.
You would most likely have to draw in a lot of people who have not played MMOs before to a Pokemon MMO and there is no way to be certain that that player base is a lasting one.
I don't really understand how a Pokemon MMO would do that well. Considering the average age of people that play WoW and MMOs in general I would think that most of them would be a generation or two too old to have any sort of relation to, or nostalgia for Pokemon. You would most likely have to draw in a lot of people who have not played MMOs before to a Pokemon MMO and there is no way to be certain that that player base is a lasting one.
I really don't understand the fuss about a Pokemon MMO either. Firstyly, it's a kids series, while a lot of older players still enjoy the series, a lot of concessions would have to be made to keep it suitable for younger players. That would likely instantly limit the gameplay features.. It's also turn based, which is something that just wouldn't work as an MMO and even if it were changed to be more of an action based games, Pokemon battles are still 6 on 6 matches that involve a lot of strategy and typically last quite a bit of time, it's not a fast paced game.
So how would encounters work? are you fighting against actual people all the time? If so, how do you stop younger players being picked on by more experienced players? How will you progress through the game if you can't win and have to constantly sit through battles lasting 10-15 minutes? And if you're battling against NPC's.. you have something identical to the current handheld games, which already let you hop online to a virtual chat room with players to trade and battle.
First of all , if you go with the Hogwarts formula , everyone will start as annoying little kids.
Tanking : How is this going to work ? I cant imagine a 12 year old Harry Potter clone with a stick soak up damage from something bigger than him.
Damage: Since everyone is a Harry Potter clone with a stick , I guess everyone is a Mage and does ranged damage. what about melee ?
Quests and killng: from what I seen in the movies , in Hogwarts they don't teach 12 year old kids how to brutally murder monsters and collect their loot for quests. Unless Dambeldor hands over knives.
PVP: the whole dueling idea sounds boring as hell , gamers like to brutally murder and then Tbag each other .
Raids: I feel sorry for the 12 year old Harry Potter clone who has to tank Basilisk , gonna be bloody .. unless they make it T for Teen game.
Nothing will kill WoW, but The Old Republic will take some people from WoW simply because it's so much like WoW, and Star Wars.
I do agree The Old Republic could steal quite a few WoW players (I'm even interested how it turns out since Rift was not what I was hoping for) but, I'm a firm believer that the only WoW killer will be whatever it is that Blizzard is making for the next big MMO. What the next big Blizzard MMO will be is anyones guess. I will say that this is getting old and stale considering a lot of people were making Rift a huge deal even on the server I played on before I finally quit WoW for good.
I've been playing MMOs since before they had 3d graphics. This "XXXX-killer" argument has always been around and will always be around. I don't think even Blizzard expected WoW to be the EQ-killer that it was.
Even with all the Rift talk, the same thing happened back when Guild Wars came out, and when Warhammer came out, and when Conan came out.
One of the best comments I've seen in this thread so far though is that of the 12 million+ subscribers to WoW, for many of them WoW was their first, and only, MMO, and they have no interest in playing any other.
I can certainly say that neither a Harry Potter MMO nor a Pokemon MMO interest me much.
Imho "Titan" is the only MMO capable of even reaching some/most of the WoW crowd. The people who are addicted to the Blizzard style won't settle for anything else/less.
I think I agree moreso with @Bongos, SWOTOR has a better chance of providing a dynamic and privledged game universe on a well-trod property moreso than Harry Potter. Whilest Harry Potter does come from a property that is vastly popular amidst the youth (see: reading podlings who grew up on it) I don't think that it has enough appeal to hold a gamer audience. It will end up being relegated instead to the deep dark underbelly of childrens' MMOs.
I say this, though, only because it's still viewed as an immature subject in spite of the fact that Harry Potter has readily grown from a juvenile fiction concept (at book one) directly into teenage fiction (the last book.) This sort of maturation is difficult to ignore; but there's still a bright line in the industry between games designed speficially to draw in young children and those that are expected to be played by teenagers and adults.
Unless the Harry Potter property manages to handle both of these in the same universe, it will fail to have the proper and powerful appeal that SWOTOR could have.
Of course, I also like @sins_of_mosin's attitude on the subject. WoW will probably be the death of WoW in the end.
Honestly, this whole "MMO that'll kill WoW" is getting tiresome. It won't happen. The only thing that'll kill WoW is WoW itself. Slowly but surely players will become less and less interested, but it'll be a long time still before it meets its end. While I do agree that the Harry Potter series boast a substantial fanbase, I'm not convinced it lends itself well to the MMO-formula. Besides, you'll be having some pretty stiff competition in terms of Guild Wars 2 and Star Wars: The Old Republic.
I don't really understand how a Pokemon MMO would do that well. Considering the average age of people that play WoW and MMOs in general I would think that most of them would be a generation or two too old to have any sort of relation to, or nostalgia for Pokemon. You would most likely have to draw in a lot of people who have not played MMOs before to a Pokemon MMO and there is no way to be certain that that player base is a lasting one.
I really don't understand the fuss about a Pokemon MMO either. Firstyly, it's a kids series, while a lot of older players still enjoy the series, a lot of concessions would have to be made to keep it suitable for younger players. That would likely instantly limit the gameplay features.. It's also turn based, which is something that just wouldn't work as an MMO and even if it were changed to be more of an action based games, Pokemon battles are still 6 on 6 matches that involve a lot of strategy and typically last quite a bit of time, it's not a fast paced game.
So how would encounters work? are you fighting against actual people all the time? If so, how do you stop younger players being picked on by more experienced players? How will you progress through the game if you can't win and have to constantly sit through battles lasting 10-15 minutes? And if you're battling against NPC's.. you have something identical to the current handheld games, which already let you hop online to a virtual chat room with players to trade and battle.
I would think if they were going to make a 3D system it would be a tad deeper than the DS version, but it'll still be user friendly.
Also it doesn't have to be turn-based. It could be hotkey style cooldowns for attacks.
And how are you so lost with encounters?
Just like any other MMO, there's a very healthy population of NPCs ready to fight you...along with creatures to catch. There's going to be real people running around with you too though.
And players can challenge anytime, but of course there's going to be actual Trainer levels along with pokemon levels to let you know where they stand, and you can obviously decline challenges...
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