Is Avatar MMORPG the answer??

[Ka'tari]

First of all, I just want to say its great to have found a bunch of eager enthusiasts also experiencing the same emotions I have been feeling about this movie and its principals... great to finally join and meet you all.

Ever since seeing this movie I'm unquestionably blown away, just like the rest of you... and have been thinking is a MMORPG version of Avatar a possible answer to cure our longing for Pandora? The game releases of Avatar were somewhat disappointing at best and were an obvious merchandising rush as so many games often become.

I'm imagining a game like WOW or SWTOR where we can assume the roles of a Na'vi, or an Avatar and go through the processes of becoming one of the people, fending off the humans, or even acting in their favor...

I think the possibilities of a game like this would be endless, and could grow with the new movies and plot lines as they emerge... I believe a game in this genre would take up a massive amount of members, and considering Cameron already has the worlds designed and rendered digitally it couldn't be that hard to turn it into a MMORPG. This combined with a 3D technology could become the very best fully immersible MMORPG.

I know Id join up right away! probably give up my job too!!!

anyway, great to meet you all... would love to hear your thoughts...

[NachoDuck]

It's an interesting idea I crossed myself a few days ago. The thing is about MMORPGs is that if they are done right they will crash and burn and it takes alot of time to develop one that can really live up to the standards of WoW for example. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see it done, as long as it was done well by a company that was setup for the purpose of running an Avatar MMO. Maybe in a few years this will be a possibility, at the moment I think there's little too much info on the Avatar universe to be able to make anything out of it.

Would I join up if one was made? Oh hells yeh :p. Welcome to the forums by the way!

[ReiAyanami]

The Na'vi way of life doesn't help making a RPG....For example the current Avatar game, the Na'vi have all this crazy weapons, hairstyles and armors that are nowhere to be seen in the movie. It feels out of place, where the RDA campaign is much much better. Anyway, If done carefully, it could be nice.

[Pandora_fan]

I have been having the same thoughts. I would love to see an Avatar MMO! I would play it!

[tsteu taronyu]

I'd be game for it! But I think that we'd have to wait until after the second movie to even start development of it, just for more knowledge on Pandora (unless the developers of this MMO start having chats with Cameron). But it's an awesome idea.

[Juddi]

This would be the closest our species will get to Pandora for a long time. I doubt any gamers on this forum would be against it. If a mmorpg was made I'd spend my life on it...

[Concerned RDA Shareholder]

The thing is, even if they managed to create a beautiful world with rich content and meaningful storylines, all sanctioned by James Cameron and given full access to assets from the film/s...

...you'd still end up sharing this world with Chinese money farmers and bored, profanity-spewing 12 year olds. For me that would break the sense of immersion, and consequently the only real reason for playing an Avatar MMO in the first place.

[Neonium]

The thing is, even if they managed to create a beautiful world with rich content and meaningful storylines, all sanctioned by James Cameron and given full access to assets from the film/s...

...you'd still end up sharing this world with Chinese money farmers and bored, profanity-spewing 12 year olds. For me that would break the sense of immersion, and consequently the only real reason for playing an Avatar MMO in the first place.

Good point, didn't think of those problems:nsad: guess any mmo game has to deal with that crap though.

[Avery]

I think the answer is a community built, online game modification using a flexible engine such as Source. Then we could release it to the community and only we would be most of the population.

It would be awesome, maybe not just an MMO, but small RDA vs Na'vi deathmatches or even free roaming Pandora at night. :)

[Treefriend]

If a well produced game comes out involving Avatar, I'd buy it in a heartbeat. An MMORPG would be awesome, but hard to create unfortunately :(

[Txon'tsyal]

There are a lot of threads about this, all over. I think that it would be awesome, but hard. I like the idea of a closed launch, to just us, so that only people who really care would join.

[Ka'tari]

Yeah, some pretty good points there... I guess I overlooked the reason for us wanting to get to Pandora in the first place.

Well I guess we can dream, but I sure hope there ends up being some form of interactive Virtual or Augmented reality that allows us to venture through Pandora...

I know WOW used to have RP servers where a rule of the game experience was that every member on the server had to play a role completely. Maybe something like that could work...

anyway, I guess we can dream!

[Matthew]

I don't think an MMORPG would do many favours for Avatar. Sure, it'd give the sense that you are in Pandora and can explore as you please, however I don't think it'd work due to most MMORPGs I have played being about Death and Destruction of creatures/people.

From what I was able to learn from the Na'vi is that they only fight if need be, not for fun. So all I could imagine this game being would be starting off as a human, earning their trusts, becoming a fully-fledged Na'vi, taking the tests and then have a free-roam. I don't feel random killing-sprees of humans would do any favours. Possibly the number of creatures you are able to bind with could become an achievement.

[Ka'tari]

I don't think an MMORPG would do many favours for Avatar. Sure, it'd give the sense that you are in Pandora and can explore as you please, however I don't think it'd work due to most MMORPGs I have played being about Death and Destruction of creatures/people.

From what I was able to learn from the Na'vi is that they only fight if need be, not for fun. So all I could imagine this game being would be starting off as a human, earning their trusts, becoming a fully-fledged Na'vi, taking the tests and then have a free-roam. I don't feel random killing-sprees of humans would do any favours. Possibly the number of creatures you are able to bind with could become an achievement.

na, probably something a bit more like Second Life... where your second life is your Avatar, and yes you do go through the learning, training, and understanding of what it mean to be Na'vi...

[Dashwater]

Well, Avatar thought me to find value in the small things in life, like being outside etc. Since computergames have nearly lost all their sense to me, a MMORPG would be a horrible waste of time (I've played WoW ~2years). Why trying to live in a third-class virtual reality? Instead try to make the best out of your real life.
Imho there are many ways to understand of what it means to be Na'vi, if a game should teach it to you, the first lesson would be "shut down your pc".

[ReiAyanami]

What about making the MMORPG with D&D rules like Never Winder Nights etc? That would help the experience and leave all but the serious players out

[Mawey Tirea]

Well like I've said a dozen times before all over this forum, maybe an Avatar community could be set up on another MMRPG and start from there...

[Anathema]

First of all, I just want to say its great to have found a bunch of eager enthusiasts also experiencing the same emotions I have been feeling about this movie and its principals... great to finally join and meet you all.

Ever since seeing this movie I'm unquestionably blown away, just like the rest of you... and have been thinking is a MMORPG version of Avatar a possible answer to cure our longing for Pandora? The game releases of Avatar were somewhat disappointing at best and were an obvious merchandising rush as so many games often become.

I'm imagining a game like WOW or SWTOR where we can assume the roles of a Na'vi, or an Avatar and go through the processes of becoming one of the people, fending off the humans, or even acting in their favor...

I think the possibilities of a game like this would be endless, and could grow with the new movies and plot lines as they emerge... I believe a game in this genre would take up a massive amount of members, and considering Cameron already has the worlds designed and rendered digitally it couldn't be that hard to turn it into a MMORPG. This combined with a 3D technology could become the very best fully immersible MMORPG.

I know Id join up right away! probably give up my job too!!!

anyway, great to meet you all... would love to hear your thoughts...

I was thinking of something like that too. Would be without any question really great to have an avatar MMORPG. I could stay in Pandora as long as i want to^^.

BUT:
I dont believe that this would be the answer to the depressions and strange feelings avatar might have caused. The origin of these feelings lie somewhere else, not in a game or in the movie itself.
Would be great though. I d also join up right away

[Anathema]

The Na'vi way of life doesn't help making a RPG....For example the current Avatar game, the Na'vi have all this crazy weapons, hairstyles and armors that are nowhere to be seen in the movie. It feels out of place, where the RDA campaign is much much better. Anyway, If done carefully, it could be nice.

Agree with that. I m playing it currently and i mean the whole atmosphere and the world design itself is just awesome. But the Na'Vi s are not the same like presented in the movie. There they are way more majestatically and mysterious in a way, in the game they just seem to be blue indians.

[ReiAyanami]

^^Try the RDA campaign afterwards, trust me :nwink:

[imadreamwalker]

Well, Avatar thought me to find value in the small things in life, like being outside etc. Since computergames have nearly lost all their sense to me, a MMORPG would be a horrible waste of time (I've played WoW ~2years). Why trying to live in a third-class virtual reality? Instead try to make the best out of your real life.
Imho there are many ways to understand of what it means to be Na'vi, if a game should teach it to you, the first lesson would be "shut down your pc".

in a way i kinda of agree with you

[feystorm]

From what I was able to learn from the Na'vi is that they only fight if need be, not for fun. So all I could imagine this game being would be starting off as a human, earning their trusts, becoming a fully-fledged Na'vi, taking the tests and then have a free-roam. I don't feel random killing-sprees of humans would do any favours. Possibly the number of creatures you are able to bind with could become an achievement.

It could easily be Na'vi and humans as the 2 factions in the world, like WoW has the Alliance and the Horde. Granted I dont think many people will end up choosing the human side, but it could give you the conflict that is essential to any MMO.

[Kezlyr]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks this idea has great potential as an MMORPG. Here are my thoughts:

Instead of just picking humans vs Na'vi, think about this. You pick a native Na'vi, who begins as a child (in a sort of 'tutorial zone') and begin learning the ways of the people. After finishing the zone, you become an adult (or adolescent). The zone can (and probably should) consist of going all over the zone, which would probably be their Home Tree (I think that's what it's called). The zone they go into immediately afterwords would look more or less the same, with the NPCs now somewhat older (as a few years have passed for you to mature).

The other option at the start could be to pick a human (maybe pick a class such as researcher, marine, something else..) and you have been chosen to be put into the position similar to Jake Sully or Norm, having an 'avatar' and living among the Na'vi. After 'logging in' to your 'avatar,' you will be put into the training ground area that Jake ran by in the movie. After going through this 'tutorial' one how to get used to your new body, the player can make a choice (this next part is just my idea, incorporation of it may or may not be a good idea) as to how 'real' they want their experience. When they log out from the game completely, they can chose to either have their avatar 'fall asleep' right where you log out, leaving you vulnerable to the world around you, but allowing you to get bonuses after you spent so much time logged out (ie, rested experience, allure of the flora/fauna, whispers of the ancestors (from Eywa) or something) or they can chose to simply play it like a game and let their character log out anywhere and their body disappears from the world (like in all other MMOs) and when they log back in they are simply where they logged out at. The only possible problem I can think of (I'm sure there are more) is that while running through the world, you'll just see bodies lying all over the place. Kind of detracts from the whole experience a bit.. Maybe just pull a dnd and roll a d100 or something every hour the person is logged (instead of leaving their body in the zone) and apply different bonuses/penalties based off of where they logged out and chance. Just my idea.

Give it a level progression system, as most conventional MMOs have, and allow people to get the mounts early. That can't be stressed enough. Let people ride a horse at level 10, and make the quest a challenge at first. Have a key set to 'bind' (to interact with nature, animals, and the entire world) and give the player a 1 second interval to press it after first getting on the horse, and make the ride training somewhat difficult at first. Obviously once the quest has been completed, the horse may be summoned as needed and will obey, unless there is some reason not to (scared of a human drop ship?). As for the 'summoning,' my idea is that, since the animals are in tune with their masters (the horses less than the ikrons, but still to an extent) when you push the key to summon your horse, have him run from within the forest to you and make a cool animation for the player simultaneously jumping on the beast and binding himself to it.

At level 20, let the player do the ikron quest. The difficulty for this one is hard to pin down. While getting and controlling the bird seems, in the movies, an extremely difficult maneuver, and the defining factor in whether or not one is considered a warrior among the Na'vi, it can't be a simple 'go climb some trail over there, walk toward the birds, find one that tries to kill you, jump on it, bind, fly away, good job.' But then if you make it too difficult, players will complain and be unable to enjoy a huge part of the game (make the entire world flyable. None of the WoW crap where only one region is flight-enabled.)

As far as the level cap, I have no idea. I'm thinking 60 based off the two numbers I gave, and maybe introduce some other options for rideable/interactable creatures, such as the ferocious cat or rhino-like creature that tries to kill Jake in the beginning. Also, let the Na'vi all have 'pets' or companions. Such as the little dog-like creatures that almost killed Jake. The Na'vi may be a peaceful people, but from what I gathered: they have warriors and they value them greatly (meaning combat and possibly war are both respected and understood); they hunt in order to survive (don't recall any scene in which someone ate a plant) and as such, while they do not kill for sport, they do not shy away from killing when necessary. This means that it is completely understandable for the Na'vi (the player) to go out and engage in quests to kill certain beast to provide for the people (tribe, village, not sure what they would be called). Since the Na'vi are so in-tune with nature, it would make sense for them to have a companion that would fight along side them too.

Ikron combat (simply combat in the air) is a must, as well. Give the ikron some cool maneuvers (grabbing and gun ship and tossing it into the mountain) that make it fun and interesting.

PvP combat: This can be a major part of the game. Similar to LOTRO's 'monster play,' once the player has reached some arbitrary level (let's say 10) they are able to create a pure human (level capped) that can go to a special PvP zone (maybe do something like WoW and create a queue for the PvP zone(s). If it is a popular feature, this can ensure the battles start even on both sides and that the battles are large-scale) to attempt to destroy the Na'vi. Perhaps create two zones: one in which the humans try to destroy Home Tree, and one in which they try to explode the Tree of Souls (if I call anything the wrong name, I apologize. Trying to keep it all straight as best I can.) In my opinion, the zones should be 100v100, but unless you give the humans some cool stuff (all players should be a pilot, gunner (in the ship), or a mech. Leave the ground troops as NPCs, if they're in at all) you'll never get 100 humans. Another idea I had for this was, after the 200 (100v100) people have signed up for the PvP, but before it starts, let people nominate themselves as leaders for both sides. After a quick (20-30 seconds) self-nomination process, people can vote for candidates on their side to be the leader. The leader, human general or Tarak Mak'to, has some special abilities (calling in reinforcements, tarak mak'to can call Eywa to send in the creatures of the forest) and can rally the people together in the fight. This let's people experience what it's like to be the Rider of the Last Shadow, or the (crazed) military general hell-bent on destroying everything.

I apologize for the long post, but as an avid gamer, all I could think of during the movie was how great it was and the huge potential it has as a game (MMORPG). Thank you for reading all of it. Any other ideas, opinions, or anything are welcome. Let's get some real attention for the idea and get someone to pick up the rights to the title and create a real MMO.

[Lovecraft]

Sorry my friend, this is just to complicated for an MMO. Maybe an RP, but not an MMO.

[Jax]

I would love an Avatar based MMORPG myself!

Well, as long as it wasn't an endless time sink like most of the other games I've tried, not that I need to name any.

Seriously, every time you get ANYWHERE in an MMO, the developers go and add new content so you just spend all your time chasing metaphorical "carrots on sticks". I understand trying to keep the game fresh, but come on.

Long story short; An Avatar MMORPG would be amazing ..especially because I have a ton of friends I know who would play with me. :nlol:

[Senenzon]

I would totally play Avatar mmo if they'd make one :D

[Tsawke'iheyu]

Yea, that'd be a really good thing. I would play it too.

[joeylovesgaia]

I'm sorry to say this, but yet another electronic diversion would totally miss the point. It would keep you staring at a computer doing essentially nothing, eat up electricity which probably isn't clean, and give you only a pale reflection. Eywa = Gaia = EARTH!

[Alyara77]

I'm sorry to say this, but yet another electronic diversion would totally miss the point. It would keep you staring at a computer doing essentially nothing, eat up electricity which probably isn't clean, and give you only a pale reflection. Eywa = Gaia = EARTH!

Pale does not necessarily mean bad. If you're one of those people that are convinced that being tan is the only way to be healthy, then go ahead, fry yourself. And before you talk about eating up electricity, why don't you unplug the fat cord from your wall outlet and let us move on without a hypocrite. No offense, but that's kinda what you're looking like.

Kezlyr, I'd quote you too, but your post is sooo big! XP
I agree - it couldn't be just some random thing like the Avatar game we've got now, we'd need something in-depth. Something similiar to WoW, but only because WoW has a huge world, thousands of quests, and jobs.
I think that an achievement should be to link up with many creatures and plants, another to help provide for the tribe/community/village, whatever you want to call it, by hunting for food and getting water and such.
There could be specific jobs, even, just getting food and water if a person wanted to play, but for some reason they couldn't play a long time and didn't want any real in-depth quests that would take forever, or they wanted a quick job they could do just to get around. Going with Kezlyr's idea, they could even have the teens go in groups to do that.
The thing is, there might not be a lot of people who want to be humans. Because of this, there should be equal Na'vi and human, even if NPCs have to fill in the gaps.
The entire movie lends itself to an amazing MMORPG - we just need to find a creator out there who's ready to take it on.