Harry Potter MMO possibly in the works.

[Stephen]

Warner Brothers Vice President of Marketing had this to say in an email to Pottersphere's website team.

"The notion of creating a Harry Potter multi-player online role playing game is something that we’ve been discussing at Warner Bros. for a number of years and continue to explore. We are currently investigating the possibility of creating our own MMORPG, but unfortunately do not have any further details to share at this time"

Turbine is a privately held gaming company that specializes in launching and maintaining games from well-known brands, Lord of the Rings Online and Dungeons and Dragons Online, specifically. Time Warner is one of the new investment partners in this latest round of financing for Turbine. They also own Warner Bros. Studios which owns not only the film rights to The Lord of the Rings (and upcoming Hobbit prequel), but also holds the video game publishing rights to the Harry Potter franchise which also just happens to be the biggest movie franchise in box office history

Fans of the 7th Book Series of Harry Potter, written by Author JK Rowling have exploded over the news and many have signed online petions in the thousand in support of a Harry Potter MMO. It leaves us wondering, Will EA make it, or will Warner Brothers make it, and will this see the light of day? or buried?

Critics of the Harry Potter series have stated: If the MMO is just for kids and geared towards them, we will see another game flop like that ToonTown did. As if not enough money has been generated from the sale of Harry Potter-branded items world wide.....




Your thoughts?

[AlecJ32]

Re: Harry Potter MMO possibly in the works.

It's an interesting idea, but I think the target audience just isn't going to be into a complex MMO. The MMO fans in that age group probably already have one of the bigger MMOs already, like Guild Wars, or World of Warcraft, and I have a feeling a Harry Potter based MMO isn't going to be outstanding as far as gameplay goes.

[Webs961]

Re: Harry Potter MMO possibly in the works.

Oh boy, if Time Warner's involved, it's bound for epic failure (see also: AOL).

But really, I think you'd see them having to almost redefine the series canon to get a workable MMO, probably pissing off the scores of people signing the petitions to do so (see also: Star Trek: Online).

[Stephen]

Re: Harry Potter MMO possibly in the works.

AOL is the biggest Epic Fail I ever saw,

back on Topic, from EA UK

BTW, if its like this below, Im gonna freaking buy it and play it. I swear

The main features of the game should, in my opinion, be:

· No level
· No classes
· No races
· No mobs, well, some mobs, but not far as many, as in a traditional MMO
· No stats-based items
· No health- or manabars, or anything like it
· A lot of PvP
· Having to pronounce spells in order to cast them
· The ability of possessing almost every job or possesion in the HP-universe.
· A crafting system that gives the player the ability to craft almost everything

Main points are marked by a large font size

That just the main features. If you want to read the other features, or read the explanations of my thoughts, the I suggest the read keep on reading - I would love it if you posted your critics, so that we together could come up with the best idea for a HP MMO.


Other features:

Some very important parts of the game should be: Conspiracy, treachery, secrecy and most of all; fear! If the player could die in the came, the player would actually fear for, if not thier own lives, then thier characters; and that would take the players into af whole new dimension of reality.


The game should include:

· An all-infectable inviroment; Anything can be touched, used and destroyed. That also means that the player could use ANYTHING around him in his favour, if he e.g. was in battle.

· Dynamic weather- and day/night changes

· Intelligent and interacting AI's (Mugglers and other wizards).

· Spells have to bee pronounced when casted, which means that the player has to say the spell, which then is detected by a voice-detections-system. He also has to speak, when he e.g. has to travel with floo-powder.

· The ability af making/creating your own spell and potions (see below for a more detailed explanation)

· The ability to be e.g. an animagus

· The ability to fly brooms, and therefore there'll also be an element of quidditch-playing, in the game

· The ability to tame an animal and use it for transportation or as pet. For example: Thestrals, unicorns, dragons, phoenixes, etc.

· There shouldn't be the same kind of items, like in other MMO's, that gives your "+30 Stamina" or something like that. If there weren't these kinds of item in the game, the quests had to be rewarded with something else, but I don't see that as a problem. The items the player could posses, should instead be functionable item, that the player actuallt could use. E.g.: Garlic-nacklaces (against vampires), invisibility cloaks (to stay out of the enemy's sight), ad shielding hat (to reflect minor spells) and all kinds of items which give the player an advantage in battle, instead of a "stats-boost".

· There'll, probably, be 3 different startpossitions to choose from: Hogwarts (of course), Durmstrang and Beaubaton. Each of the three nationalities have thier advantages and de-vantages.

· The game will start just before the player are enrolled at Hogwarts (or any of the other school). The player has to take lessons, experience all kinds of thing, and graduate from the school, before the further parts of the game can be experienced.

· The player can, after his graduation, freely choose what he wants to be. This includes: Professional quidditch player, alcymist, teacher, work for the ministry of magic, jobs at lots of different shops at e.g. Diagon Alley, tamer of different exoctic and dangerous animals, auror, etc.

· The player will grow, from being a child to an old man, (and eventually die. It will be possible to fight death, by for example drinking Elixir of Life, using the Sorcerer's Stone, and, as a finaly opportunity, by creating horcruxes. I think this would be a little risky to do, but also quite fun.)

· It should be possible to get healed, from serious injuries. Infact almost everything that could possibly happen to the player, will be cureable, but if the player gets struck by an Avada Kedavra-spell, this will be fatal. Then the character will be dead forever (unless the player has ensured that some of the soul will continue living, but this should be VERY difficult).
As mentioned in the beginning of the post, would the possibility of getting killed add a whole new dimension of reality and fear to the game.
I know, that if you had played on a character for a year, and you suddenly got killed, you would feel kinde ****ed, but life's like that, isn't it? But if a player killed another player, or used and unforgivable curse, this would ind almost every case result in instant death for that player too; that player should then be hunted by a huge amount of proffesionals, with one goal: To eliminate the murder.
- So unless you really asked for trouble, it would be almost impossible to die
-EA could also make two kinds of servers; one, where you could get killed, and one where you couldn't get killed. But I think there should be some advantages for the player, if they played on a "dangerous" server.

· There should, in my opinion, be a craftingsystem, unlike e.g. WoW's, where you find certain pre-made recipies for the different proffesion. These recepies makes it difficult for the player to get exceptionally good at one profession, because everybody can create the same stuff. If the players were enabled to experiment with reagents and stuff, and had the oppotunity to create unique potions, wand, brooms, cloaks, gadgets, and all kinds of items, the there would always be new items to discover in the game; not from dungons and instances being unlocked, by from other playre creating them. If this point made it to the game, then the player had a real serious chance to start there of businesses ond companies.
- If this was made this way, then the player, if he needed some rare reagents for his product, should have to travel to different strange places to get the reagent (which should just drop fro random mobs). If he e.g. need some dragonhide, then he would have to slay the dragon, and rip of it's hide.
-(It would also be cool, if you made, for example, a potion, and you hadn't tried it before, then it could make you grow to twice your normal size, or make your nose fall of).

· There'll be no real "levels", like in any other MMORPG, and therefore the game is going to be far more skill-based (an old wizard will of course be more powerful than a school student). There's going to be many (maybe ten) different levels of every single spell, each one more powerfull than the one before. It takes long time to master the spells, and until that goal is achieved, the spells don't work properly (e.g.: If your not skilled enough with the Expelliarmus-spell, it'll probably make your nosehairs grow really fast).

· There'll be no bars, numbers, taskbars, buttons, talent points, icons, percentsages, stats, or any other un-life-like thingsay. That would make the game a SWG/WoW-copy. EA should stride towards making a game that's different, and better, than any other MMORPG.

· There should be no classes. Everbody should have the same oppotunities and possibilities; what seperates the players should be what the choose to do, and not what thier class make them do.

· Everything you do in-game has to have an effect on the future game, and THAT's what costumizes your character, and no which points you spend in so called "talent-trees".

· There should be fewer mobs, than in other MMO's. 'Cause all other MMO's is about warriors and fighter, and they can kill as many animals and monsters they want. But in HP, they only have one killing-spell, which they're not allowed to use. They player should be able to get quest involving mobs, but not in the same grind-way, as in all other MMO's, where the quests is about killing 30 of one kind of monster. The players should get quests, which could, for example, be something like; "Go to a monestry placed somewhere. In there you'll find a book required for learn the Expelliarmus spell, level 30. The monastry is guarded by some mean vampires. Do whatever it take, to get that book." Then it wouldn't be all grinding, the player would gain a lot of in-gam experience, and could be greatly rewarded.

· In my oppinion, all MMORPG to date have been unrealistic. EA should think in new way, and make a game, that's unlike anything people have ever seen before. E.g.: In real life, you don't hit a man, and damages him for 3000 points, no; you hit him, and he bleeds, and if you hit him enough, then he can't walk. I think that a HP-game should be like that. If a paralyzing spell was casted upon you, you shouldn't be able to move, until that spell was undone. There should be no viewable spell-timings, healtbars, manabars and no damage numbers. You should have to feel on your character, what's wrong, and don't look on some stupids curse-icons.
- It should be like, your character look all well, and suddenly he drops dead. Instead of a healt-bar, spells casted upon the player should have a visual effect. And if your character is close to a blackout, then he should, for example, limp, bleed, moan, and there could be black smudge on the screen.

· There should be a possibility of making your own "teams" (like the Order of the Phoenix), but it shouldn't be like in WoW, where there's a million of them. Those guilds could be consideret as either friends or foes, of the other guilds.

· In the beginning of the game, you should recieve quests involving NPC's. But as you get more powerful and gets involved in guilds or teams, you should gets missions involving other players. E.g.: If your team/guild is at war with another guild, your guild could call a hit upon some of the important members of the other teams. Then it would be up to you to gather a squad strong enough to complete the task, track down the victim, and "neutalize" him.

· The above point can be made possible, if in-game levels was dropped. Then everybody would have the same possibilities, and you could not get a hit on "a level 70 with tier 5 equipment", no you could get a mission involving "a powerful dark wizard", nothing elsethan that. Then it would be up to you to decide how many co-players you would need to carry out the mission.

· In the game, important possesions as Head of the magical schools, Minister of Magic, Head of the Aurors office, etc. should be, at first, possesed by NPC's. But players should be able to take thier places. Not everbody of course, but in-game EA admins should chack thier applications, and see I they were suited for the job. This would of course require constant surveillance of the servers by EA admins, but that would make the game fully-interactive and a lot more intersting, and I think it would be worth it all.

· If you in-game carried out a miss-deed, then a team of wizards from the Ministry of Magic (which could be live players, if the 3rd above point was made possible). Then you would have to hide and try to cover your tracks, and eventually joining your guild in a fight against the Ministry of Magic, which could erupt into open war.

· The above point could involve a lot of conspiracy and problems between all of the factions/teams/jobs, but i don't see that as a problem, because that's exactly what happens in the books/movies, so that would just make the game even more faithful to the stories of J.K. Rowling.

· It should be able to craft things, like robes, hats, mask, brooms etc. and if you were good at it, you would be honored for it and you could open your own store.
- Also, if you completed a dangerous mission, given to you by you guild leader, you could be rewardet with several orders, which could be different from guild to guild.

· EA should, in ANY way possible avoid making a game with ugly graphics. I know that a MMORPG would require lots of time and recourses, to make a beautiful enviroment, but I've seen so many cases, where ugly graphics has destroyad a game, which could have been good.
- The game shouldn't nescesarily (spelling?) have the most beutiful design ever seen, but should niether have a cartoon-like design, like WoW. Niether should it be like Pirates of the C. online, which isn't very pretty dessgned either. It should be more like Pirates of The Burning Sea. It should be beautful, smooth and soft graphics, and something you don't grow tired of looking at.

· I think that players should be able to have thier own houses, as well as the guilds also should be able to that. If it was decided that players could have house, guild-halls, stores, etc., then it should not be like in Star Wars Galaxies, where whole towns were made for the player, but it were like ghost towns. EA should prevent big, unvisited ghosttowns like that, from being build.

· Houses should be fully customizeable, and in that way you could be sure, that they wouldn't be boring to look at, and there wouldn't be 10,000 of the same house in one village.

· If the guild/teams got big enough, the should be able to enroll different creatures in the guild, like dementors, trolls, etc. That would make the wars a lot greater.

· The players shouldn't pay a monthly fee per account, but per character. And only 1 character pr. server. Then there wouldn't be a million kid-characters running around, useless for everyone. That would secure a game, much more faithfull to the books. And if the player could only have 1 character pr. server, then he could 'cheat' like making a "twink", hiring himself for better jobs within the Ministry, etc.

- - -
· And finally, all the characters, objects and places from tho books.


I don't know what others might think of it, but if this game one day hits the stores, I'll quit studing, and instead play 24/7.

Your very welcome to comment my idea, aswell as you freely can speak your ideas too.
If anyone wants to contact me, do so via PM.

[Eagle101]

Re: Harry Potter MMO possibly in the works.

Harry plopper :P but srsly an MMO on Harry potter urgh i say fail.

[Stephen]

Re: Harry Potter MMO possibly in the works.

My Kid likes Harry Potter, so........ lol. Whatever works. If they think they can make cash off a MMO, whatever floats their boat.

[Kradath]

Re: Harry Potter MMO possibly in the works.

I have to admit the beta version of the very first Harry Potter game didn't look bad. You had a spellbook and where able to use them on everything you see. Compared with the crap that finally came out...

[Stephen]

Re: Harry Potter MMO possibly in the works.

I have to admit the beta version of the very first Harry Potter game didn't look bad. You had a spellbook and where able to use them on everything you see. Compared with the crap that finally came out...

Yes, that was freaking stupid. They made a good BETA then released ****. They could of made a great series of games, and they freaking blew it.

[CaptainKirk]

Re: Harry Potter MMO possibly in the works.

I'll admit to liking the books, but this seems a bit... much...

[Stephen]

Re: Harry Potter MMO possibly in the works.

If EA can pull this off correctly and not manage to screw it up royally, they could have another WoW but Harry Potter.

[imported_Whiskey]

Re: Harry Potter MMO possibly in the works.

Although it's always smart to make a good-quality product, there's so much money to be made from the Potter franchise, and so many MMO/fantasy addicts out there that even if it's mediocre, it'll probably do very well. In a way, that's kind of a sad state of things.

[=)BiT(= Evant3k]

Re: Harry Potter MMO possibly in the works.

I am laughing at this idea, but when I think about it, I realize this might work well, because of already movie and book generated fan base.

[Vash2051]

Re: Harry Potter MMO possibly in the works.

Maybe it will pull the 8 year olds out of WoW so we can finally get something done. I know not all the 8 year olds are immature little pricks but a good majority are. And I'm not saying HP fans are all childish just making a bad generalization.

[Stephen]

Re: Harry Potter MMO possibly in the works.

Maybe it will pull the 8 year olds out of WoW so we can finally get something done. I know not all the 8 year olds are immature little pricks but a good majority are. And I'm not saying HP fans are all childish just making a bad generalization.

So.. What did we learn today folks?

A. Im Childish?
B. Im making a bad generalization?
C. Im 8 years old?
D. Im a prick?

Speak for yourself, but arent you a little one sided? I'd hate for my kids to get a hold of you, they might murder you ^^, they are huge harry potter fans, I guess I am one too. Series was a good read, and what the heck, if the MMO is any good I might try it. Im even in the BETA of HP 6 Game. Gives me something to do while waiting for BFH and the next Dale Brown Book.