I know in the past there was an attempt to make a Pathfinder MMO that was scrapped. Are there any possible future plans?
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I really hope not.
I know in the past there was an attempt to make a Pathfinder MMO that was scrapped. Are there any possible future plans?
No*.
*Obviously, you won't get a real answer on this thread. Anyone with concrete information couldn't answer. But it's a pretty safe "no" because we are well past the heyday of MMORPGs. You have established giants, and you have a churn of failed over-promised attempts. Compared to a regular single-player game, you have a bunch of network client work, managing a dynamic economy, moderation, and actual stakes to anti-hacking. Trying to launch a new MMO exactly where one failed before, but under worse conditions? It would be very surprising, and it's difficult to see how it would fare better.
Or, to answer what it would take, I'd wait for a few new smash hit indie fantasy MMO success stories to get developers interested in the possibility again.
The MMORPG market isn't exactly easy or cheap to get into, and there's only a handful of established big names still rolling on these days. There's a reason you don't really hear about new MMOs before - and I don't think yet another high fantasy world with elves and orcs would stand out.
Just to chime in with more positive news on the single-player video game front if you weren't already aware, though:
- Ossian Studios is working on a single player game, The Dragon's Demand. It's a PF2 digital conversion of a 2013 PF1 module. It's got more of a tabletop miniatures feel to it, with characters having a circular base.
- Epictellers Entertainment will be kickstarting Starfinder: Afterlight next month. It's an SF2 original CRPG with character portraits for dialogue in visual novel style. It's planning on featuring mod support too.
That's not exactly true about no new mmos. There's quite a few coming out its just most won't last because they aren't anything new.
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I know in the past there was an attempt to make a Pathfinder MMO that was scrapped. Are there any possible future plans?
Could there be a future MMO? Possibly, but probably not in the way you are hoping. The budget required to make a huge MMO is, well, huge. Which rules out Pathfinder for business reasons. If the game designers have come up with an idea for something they think is truly revolutionary the publisher is going to want to use original IP in order to keep all the rights in house. If they have an idea that might be good enough to be profitable, they are going to look for an extremely well-known setting to put their game in. Because licensing that setting can bring in gamers on it's own. But, sadly, Pathfinder isn't big enough for that. Maybe D&D.
What kind of Pathfinder MMO could there be? There ave been attempts at small games that I would debate against applying the "MMO" label to. Ones that in many ways resemble grinding or live-service mobile games. Mostly single-player content with in-game scheduled multi-player events multiple times a day. The monetization is microtransactions. They're being made because they are cheap to make. But that means low-caliber art, limited locations, and everything else you would expect. Licensing IP is a way to bring in interest. Not to say it's all a cynical cash grab. Some developers have good ideas but don't have the resources to put together a large team. So, maybe? I personally doubt it. Mobile games are a dime-a-dozen and mostly fail quickly. I think Paizo is a lot more protective of their reputation after getting burned a couple of times.
That leaves the last category. Games that aren't AAA but manage to stay going because of a dedicated core of fans. Ones that don't mind that the world is mostly empty. Or that there is almost never new content. They're in the game for the community more than the gameplay. Unfortunately, that's what Pathfinder Online needed to be but never reached. It chugged along with extremely low player counts for years before shutting down.
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It's not something that's currently being worked on, but it's definitely something multiple members of the team have expressed that they'd enjoy! Though it's not in the cards right now, it'll be interesting to see how both the Abomination Vaults game and Starfinder Afterlight do. I think after seeing those in the wild, we'll have a better gauge on whether to branch out into more forms of video game. So, stay tuned! Keep telling us what you'd like to play as well!