The possibility of an Avatar MMORPG

[Wameyn]

If you haven't listened to the newest Avatar Nation podcast you should check it out. They were talking about how JC would love to create an Avatar game MMORPG and he'd like to see it in 3D, and thats something they are looking to do but are not active on yet.

Im just happy he's even throwing the idea around, I really hope we get even better Avatar games in the future!

[prowler]

Do want... Do you have a link for that podcast?

[Wameyn]

It updates for me on itunes so you can go there and search for it and download it or you can also go to Avatar Nation | A James Cameron's Avatar Fansite - Avatar, Na'vi, James Cameron and much more (http://www.avatar-nation.net) and scroll down just a hair on the main page and can play it from there.

[prowler]

Many thanks, will have a look.

[Wameyn]

No problem, its early in the podcast, if I remember correctly maybe 3-4 mins in.

[Scott]

I would love to be able to explore Pandora on a grand scale a mmo could offer(still pale horribly in comparison to the real thing)but what i wouldn't want is what seems commonplace in mmo's, that being constant killing. Its perfectly alright to defend ones home and people, but I view Pandora as a hopeful and tranquil place. I would hate to see it reduced to kill 10 Thanator for a quest update.

[tm20]

if there was an Avatar MMORPG then i would instantly be come the biggest nerd ever, beating any WoW players. that would become my 2nd life :rotfl:

[stubydub]

if there was an Avatar MMORPG then i would instantly be come the biggest nerd ever, beating any WoW players. that would become my 2nd life :rotfl:

Same :D

[prowler]

Just listened to it, sounds awesome :good: Hope he will start on it soon.

[Wameyn]

Ive never played an MMORPG but I think this could be the best game ever for me if it gets done.

[Solian]

Am I the only one who do not want an MMORPG? Somehow, I don't like the idea. I rather have singleplayer experience with a great story than a game where the only things that matter is the amount/quality of the loot you have and how long you've been grinding to get to the highest level possible. But maybe I'm speaking of ignorance, as I have never played a MMORPG but seen them played by others. Still, the idea of such a game just doesn't appeal to me. Sorry to break the mood a little. :)

[Ahoragi]

Am I the only one who do not want an MMORPG? Somehow, I don't like the idea. I rather have singleplayer experience with a great story than a game where the only things that matter is the amount/quality of the loot you have and how long you've been grinding to get to the highest level possible. But maybe I'm speaking of ignorance, as I have never played a MMORPG but seen them played by others. Still, the idea of such a game just doesn't appeal to me. Sorry to break the mood a little. :)

I feel the same way. I'd rather an open environment single player/coop campaign game. 1st person would be neat with the optional 3D mode like Avatar the game. One of the biggest reasons I play Avatar the game is to roam around and explore the environment. I just wish it didn't have paths but was an open world where you could go wherever you wanted to, in the trees, or down below on the ground.

[Solian]

I feel the same way. I'd rather an open environment single player/coop campaign game. 1st person would be neat with the optional 3D mode like Avatar the game. One of the biggest reasons I play Avatar the game is to roam around and explore the environment. I just wish it didn't have paths but was an open world where you could go wherever you wanted to, in the trees, or down below on the ground.

Like the Elder Scrolls series?

[Ahoragi]

Like the Elder Scrolls series?

Never played that but based on the images I'm looking at on google, yeah, an open world like that and make it HUGE!!!

[Solian]

Never played that but based on the images I'm looking at on google, yeah, an open world like that and make it HUGE!!!

A mixture of Bethesda's open world concept, Bioware's epic storytelling and a bit of Mirror's Edge's animations and 1st person perspective would be a great start. At least in my view. :)

[Wameyn]

Am I the only one who do not want an MMORPG? Somehow, I don't like the idea. I rather have singleplayer experience with a great story than a game where the only things that matter is the amount/quality of the loot you have and how long you've been grinding to get to the highest level possible. But maybe I'm speaking of ignorance, as I have never played a MMORPG but seen them played by others. Still, the idea of such a game just doesn't appeal to me. Sorry to break the mood a little. :)

Seeing as I have never played an MMORPG I just thought it was a huge explorable area where you also have other players, lol thats what they are in my mind anyways. Maybe someone needs to explain the general idea of one to me.

[Wameyn]

I feel the same way. I'd rather an open environment single player/coop campaign game. 1st person would be neat with the optional 3D mode like Avatar the game. One of the biggest reasons I play Avatar the game is to roam around and explore the environment. I just wish it didn't have paths but was an open world where you could go wherever you wanted to, in the trees, or down below on the ground.

I wish when you went back through to play you could ride the Ikrans and Toruk Macto again as well without having to replay the entire game.

[prowler]

I wish when you went back through to play you could ride the Ikrans and Toruk Macto again as well without having to replay the entire game.

I agree here, that's one thing i miss doing in the avatar game... So if the make a Avatar singleplayer game i really hope they put that in...

[Scott]

Seeing as I have never played an MMORPG I just thought it was a huge explorable area where you also have other players, lol thats what they are in my mind anyways. Maybe someone needs to explain the general idea of one to me.

Most MMO's tend to follow a similar format. A large world with lots of immersion(usually based in a fantasy setting but science fiction works too)and in this world you select a role to play. Roles vary from game to game but some general arch types are healers, tanks(these are knights/soldiers who can absorb a lot of damage)and damage dealers, like wizards for example. The point is the roles compliment each other so that when players form groups(usually 4 to 6 players per group)they can excel far better than they could playing the game solo.

You level up your Avatar(yup!)and hopefully develop some friendships along the way to the level cap. Now this is where mmo's go completely crazy in my opinion; the makers set up these grand end game adventures called raids. Raids are usually composed of 4 to 8 groups of players and the raids are where these groups face the games hardest challenges for the best items the game has to offer. The experience has some notable pitfalls, chiefly being a little things called drama. Only so much loot to go around and some roles are needed more than others. Add to that people who enjoy making grief upon others and you can get a very unpleasant taste in your mouth from raids.

Overall, on the single group level, mmo's can be a lot of fun if pacing is correct. Too fast, you cant socialize; too slow, you get bored. The rest is carrot on a stick.

[Wameyn]

Thanks for informing me Scott, I would prefer a single person game to that I believe...one with a large explorable world. It would be cool if other players could be in the same world and you could interact with them but it's not a must for me.

Well hopefully we get at least one great game out of this, I'm going to guess if they make this there will be yet another game for game consoles.

[Scott]

I would like to add some other reasons why a mmo based on Avatar would not be a good thing.

-The Na'vi are hunters, not killers. Mmo's use killing monsters as the primary means of advancing a character. Hunting for the clan is fine, but going out and slaughtering everything in sight is not the Na'vi way.

-400 variations of the name, Neytiri, some of which are being played by immature jerks who bought the game to grief legitimate players.

-If Jim Cameron isn't personally crafting this game expect it to be a rushed and shoddy product. Mmo's are being launched way before they are ready to generate revenue. I don't want to see Pandora done in a half *** fashion. There are exceptions to this, namely Blizzard-the makers of WoW-who like Jim care about quality more than anything else. But Blizzard has its plate full so someone else would get the license. Yuk.

-PvP makes everything ugly. I don't want to see killing scoreboards for the Na'vi or the RDA. Defending your home and your people is one thing, actively PKing(player killing)for bragging rights and loot is another.

As a long time fan of Elder Scrolls and Fallout, a single player game based on exploration and immersion would be highly suitable to Avatar, and all of the above can be avoided.

[Solian]

Btw, I believe the adventure in the next Avatar game should be a personal one. Something that teach you something, not how fast it took to reach lvl 99. That's why I am a fan of RPG, with stories that touch and maybe teach you something about life or some other thing. Maybe that's why I'm not so interested in racing or FPS games. :)

[Xiraxis]

I agree with Scott... Strongest point of all MMO is as well also weakest - Players.

In any MMO is too many trolls, who canot respect lore of this game/world - and with own behaviour ruin others players... Ofcourse, can be beside normal servers also RP servers... here be potencionaly good playing with players who plays with respect to lore, BUT must be here also strong RP policy...

and to second... yes... many mmo is fuction on rising character on killing other creatures/mobs... but i see a few games, here u can get xp without using a violence... at example with minigames...

Sorry for my horrible english

[Wameyn]

I dislike having to play with other players because for instance I love Halo Reach but so many people only play to betray their teammates or are just idiots it really takes away from the fun of it.

[Nicodem]

I think this has been touched on in the video game forum.
An Avatar MMO may seem a good idea to some but I assure you, an MMORPG's content is focused on quantity not quality. It simply would not do the Avatar universe justice.

[tm20]

doesn't it depend on how you play though? i would assume most people would go around killing anything that moves, but i'll just go around exploring the land :D and rather than killing to level up (which wouldn't be very good since there's only humans or animals to kill and Na'vi don't kill animals for no reaosn and it's not like you'll be seeing humans all the time) they could make leveling up something you get after doing some sort of activity like "climb to the top of this mountain" or "collect this plant" or something :P

[Emil]

Just take what Skyrim has and make it Pandora.

[HufweMakto]

doesn't it depend on how you play though? i would assume most people would go around killing anything that moves, but i'll just go around exploring the land :D and rather than killing to level up (which wouldn't be very good since there's only humans or animals to kill and Na'vi don't kill animals for no reaosn and it's not like you'll be seeing humans all the time) they could make leveling up something you get after doing some sort of activity like "climb to the top of this mountain" or "collect this plant" or something :P

And epic steeds. Yes, maybe hitting a certain level allows you to get a direhorse, hitting another level gives you the ability to summon up a banshee, though I'd hate to see another level getting hit so you can become toruk makto, that would be a little cheap in my opinion, seeing that Toruk Makto is such a sacred being in Na'vi lore.

[Scott]

doesn't it depend on how you play though? i would assume most people would go around killing anything that moves, but i'll just go around exploring the land :D and rather than killing to level up (which wouldn't be very good since there's only humans or animals to kill and Na'vi don't kill animals for no reaosn and it's not like you'll be seeing humans all the time) they could make leveling up something you get after doing some sort of activity like "climb to the top of this mountain" or "collect this plant" or something :P

I'm sure the community here could conjure up many great ideas for how the Na'vi would play while maintaining the balance of immersion. Thing is, the more you go outside the box the harder it is to generate market appeal. You or I might well enjoy a game based entirely on exploration, hunting, and roleplay, but the mainstream mmo player is looking for action. Action is fine in an rpg setting because a story is being told, but it becomes a lot more blurred in a world that must constantly recycle itself so that all its content is available. Defeating Quaritch in an RPG has significance because its a done deal. In an mmo that same Quaritch will sooner or later respawn. It loses the feel of importance, the immersion.

[Hufwe'ite]

I hope it has really good graphics. The bioluminescence would look cool. Also the characters should be really personalized with lots of different na'vi outfits and warpaint and stuff. But what I really want, and have been looking for with no success, is a mmorpg that actually has the rp (roleplaying, duh) part of the acronym. Like instead of using it as a game to kill monsters and level up, using it to really immerse yourself and simply pretend to be a na'vi. I think to help with that there should be an ooc chat channel and a rp chat channel, because in most games players will be like "oh im a level 500 paladin want to go kill stuff with me" even though that's not what the actual character would say. I've seen something pretty close to this focus in the Avatar roleplay in Second Life (http://secondlife.com), but although second life has many virtues its graphics kind of suck. It doesn't have to be about killing monsters, and someday I hope to find a game that breaks that mold. I'll even make my own if I can't find one.

[ReeseForrester]

Would be cool if you could upload a straight-on photo of your own face so the game can map it onto the body of your Na'vi/avatar.

Of course, James Cameron has probably already got that on the list of musts for such a game.

[Aihwa]

Just take what Skyrim has and make it Pandora.



I give it a maximum of 18 months before skyrim has a total conversion mod to do just that.