Dreams....
Playing BG:EE brings me back of a old dream i now have for many years. Everyone dreams i think of something that's never possible, and i have such a dream and my forgotten realms books nurture this. The dream is this.
I hope one day faerun will be digitized into a MMORPG called "forgotten realms online". A persistent world way beyond what we know today. A world so luscious detailed with seasons, weather effects and grotesque that for the first time a mmorpg player feels he is part of the world other than the other way around. I say MMORPG but actualy its split. Everything is seamless except the campaigns, adventures and quests are mmorpg but when you follow a campaign you and your group will play on their own server, to bring true RPG to computer.
I dream the first release will be the western heartlands down to the chult and up to icewind dale. At its release an add-on will be announced, waterdeep which puts grand theft auto to shame. The details of every alley, the scripting of guards who turn of the lights every night.
The next update would be underdark which will expand whole faerun to underground beyond 25th level.
Then its turn to the seas, ships, islands, evermeet, under water adventuring with maximum level 30 and possibility to ascend.
I then dream about housing, communities, currencies, economics, player cities, expanding FRO to more a simulation with RPG game elements, a place so huge, immersion gets a whole new meaning.
...
And then i realize such a game will never come
I hope one day faerun will be digitized into a MMORPG called "forgotten realms online". A persistent world way beyond what we know today. A world so luscious detailed with seasons, weather effects and grotesque that for the first time a mmorpg player feels he is part of the world other than the other way around. I say MMORPG but actualy its split. Everything is seamless except the campaigns, adventures and quests are mmorpg but when you follow a campaign you and your group will play on their own server, to bring true RPG to computer.
I dream the first release will be the western heartlands down to the chult and up to icewind dale. At its release an add-on will be announced, waterdeep which puts grand theft auto to shame. The details of every alley, the scripting of guards who turn of the lights every night.
The next update would be underdark which will expand whole faerun to underground beyond 25th level.
Then its turn to the seas, ships, islands, evermeet, under water adventuring with maximum level 30 and possibility to ascend.
I then dream about housing, communities, currencies, economics, player cities, expanding FRO to more a simulation with RPG game elements, a place so huge, immersion gets a whole new meaning.
...
And then i realize such a game will never come
5
Comments
Why not a polished, new game, coupled with multiplayer? Multiplayer has always been the best! Do i need to remind anyone how enjoyable Diablo 2 had been, and how stupid 3 is now (that put MMO model in application to a single player game)? Please, be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it! Faerun is something too good to fall into the MMO types and standards level...
Pay to win? Check. (d2jsp etc.)
PvP with constant nerfing/class changes (aka. game balance) check.
Game "never ends"? check.
Also, I don't get why someone would think (aside from very few people) that Diablo is a mainly single player game, because patches 1.09-1.13 for D2 are pretty much indicating that it isn't. There was no new feature for single player since a very long time, and every fan of the franchise is well aware of that.
Now, back to the topic. It is a good thing to have a unrealistic dream, althought I can't say I share it with you. I avoid MMOs like they are worst plauge.
On topic: I don't know how Neverwinter is doing, I haven't heard much about it recently, but that's probably the closest thing you'll get to a 'Forgotten Realms' MMO. Its main attraction is the city of Neverwinter, and it apparently has some sort of story, so I'm not sure just how 'massive' it is.
Multiplayer is good. Always on and mmo type/model are a real plague. Also there was neither real money, nor microtransactions in 2. At least, if you did not use a goldseller or an itemseller *illegal* service. With the real money AH in 3, the crook (goldseller/itemseller) became the legal company itself. Legal Theft...
But let's see the larger picture. About MMOs. They were invented in the east, some people play or create/use them as a full time job, and their way of operation/terms of usage are hostile to both consumer's (gamer's to be precise) budget and their personal rights of usage/owning the game itself. Remember the good old time? "Multiplayer: Compete *free* over the Bnet". With a party made of friends. You owned the data, the game, your own character. You did not need DRM, authentication, and always on. But paying more money for getting less options and lesser quality services, is any consumer's (gamer's) right, after all... Market is free, and opportunistic companies always find ways to propagate themselves into becoming filthy rich and blindly followed/trusted. Or shift their philosophies from quality and inspiration to "what sells fast nowadays" (dark side of management).
I would hate to see Faerun become so degraded as a fantasy theme, that it begets its own MMO world. I almost cried when Elder Scrolls was twisted into an MMO. But since Oblivion, it was clear as crystal that qualities and standards were rolling down to the depths... I loved Diablo 2 and Baldur's Gate type of Multiplayer service. To this day, they are models that deserve praise. In the Enhanced Edition of BG2 too, where you can link easily with other people, it is even better. Why do people would prefer an MMO over a nicely implemented multiplayer (where they *own* the game and all its data, do not need to pay more money after purchase, can still play with 5 more friends together, do not run the risk of server getting accidents/data loss/game shutting down or getting hacked/loosing accounts, no spammers/bots/sellers around, no nerfs/constant class changes etc) is so beyond me.