Missed Opportunity

[SmakenDahed]

I'll start by saying I think creating yet another MMO is a big mistake. There are plenty of them and it's difficult to entice people away from their MMO of choice. There have been numerous failures with large costs left unpaid.

One area that lacks a professional product is virtual tables with integrated systems like voice chat, character management, dice rolling, online references to the books, etc.

I know a good number of people who play MMOs and miss playing the RPG mainly because they don't know people locally to play with (often after a move or when groups stop playing). With a virtual system they could connect with friends and continue to play.

Imagine a hub and matching service that ties right into your subscription system at paizo.com. Also included is a hosting service with a light-weight client software allowing people world wide to play together.

Monetization options include new online modules, additional asset packages (miniatures, tiles, etc.). It fits in nicely with selling the books and charging a subscription fee for hosting services. I'm sure expanded services could work as well; hosting extra players and what not. It's not like MMO players don't pay extra outside of the MMO fees for guild sites or voice communication hosting.

I realize Wizards tried this with 4e and they were off to a decent start, they just didn't deliver the main component - the virtual table and DM tools.

Surely a virtual table has to be less costly to develop than a MMO that doesn't even use the same mechanics of the RPG it is based on?

Just my opinion; I'm more likely to buy into a service that helps me play Pathfinder with friends than yet another MMO with (likely) shallow opportunities for role-play and creativity limited to what the developers provide.

[ralantar]

Agreed.
My friends and I were all of the same mind. When we saw the mmo announcement the collective response was "really?"
A virtual table top where we can create our own adventures or run purchased modules would fit the hobby far better I think then branching out into an MMO.
It was a similar desire by WotC that turned DnD 4ed. into an MMO on paper.
Just our 2 cents.

[Scott Betts]

SmakenDahed wrote:

One area that lacks a professional product is virtual tables with integrated systems like voice chat, character management, dice rolling, online references to the books, etc.

Actually, WotC's D&D Insider now has exactly the sort of virtual table you're talking about, in open beta for subscribers. It's a virtual table with all the standard features, plus integrated voice chat (with voice fonts that allow you to manipulate your own voice when you talk), dice rolling, import and storage from their Character Builder app, and import from the Compendium for monsters/traps/etc.

[Scott Betts]

ralantar wrote:

It was a similar desire by WotC that turned DnD 4ed. into an MMO on paper.

Boy, do I ever know what you're talking about. Every time I raid Thunderspire Labyrinth with my guild to get that last epic drop, the random loot generator just gives me the same boots I've already won three times!

Oh, wait. That never happens, because 4e is a tabletop roleplaying game.

[SmakenDahed]

Scott Betts wrote:

SmakenDahed wrote:

One area that lacks a professional product is virtual tables with integrated systems like voice chat, character management, dice rolling, online references to the books, etc.

Actually, WotC's D&D Insider now has exactly the sort of virtual table you're talking about, in open beta for subscribers. It's a virtual table with all the standard features, plus integrated voice chat (with voice fonts that allow you to manipulate your own voice when you talk), dice rolling, import and storage from their Character Builder app, and import from the Compendium for monsters/traps/etc.

Wow, really? I must have completely missed that they were delivering this. Last I looked it was on hold indefinitely with only the character generator available.

I'll take a peek - thanks!

My original point still stands since the group I play with won't touch 4e though they're in love with Pathfinder. Heck, most of them would love a Pathfinder based CRPG over a MMO.

That said, I can understand chasing the MMO genre and by the time this would be released it'd be difficult to predict the state of the MMO community. It's probably a safe bet to assume existing MMO fans would be looking for something new.

Scott Betts wrote:

ralantar wrote:

It was a similar desire by WotC that turned DnD 4ed. into an MMO on paper.

Boy, do I ever know what you're talking about. Every time I raid Thunderspire Labyrinth with my guild to get that last epic drop, the random loot generator just gives me the same boots I've already won three times!

Oh, wait. That never happens, because 4e is a tabletop roleplaying game.

Hehe.

I understand what ralantar meant and it wasn't about the loot system but rather the homogenization of the class mechanics involved. They all follow a similar system or mechanic and by doing so it can seem very 'button pushing' to use a power rather than a lot of the freedom you previously had where spells were not powers, and so on.

I like the changes made for melee or non-caster types, but I don't like how it feels some of the creativity available to casters in previous versions no longer seems available - the powers (spells) are all very specifically drawn out leaving a less to the imagination of the player.

[Mandisa]

SmakenDahed wrote:

I'll start by saying I think creating yet another MMO is a big mistake. There are plenty of them and it's difficult to entice people away from their MMO of choice. There have been numerous failures with large costs left unpaid.

Another fantasy MMO in an already crowded marketplace doesn't seem like a great idea to me either. All the MMO-players I know seem to either stick with one favorite (or two), or game-hop every 8mos to 2yrs.

To be honest, when I read "missed opportunity", I thought of the casual/social market. A game where you can play pick-up "sandbox" games in Golarion with friends sounds like it would do better on FB or as an app then the often-solitary play-experience of a lot of MMOs. "Shared-world" doesn't really seem to translate to "shared-experience".

I think the social-interactivity aspect is the key thing that draws in & retains most PnP RPG players in-general, and Paizo fans in-specific (whether of the RPG or the setting, or both). Obviously it's too early to decry that the PfMMO does or doesn't have that aspect, but to my knowledge, only EQII and WoW (and maybe CoH/CoV in earlier years) really have the lock on that game+community balance. (And I don't think you'll pry any of those folks away.)