Why don't they make a Discworld MMPORG?

[CaptainCrazy]

Personally i'd bloody love the idea! Being able to be immersed into the world of, well, Discworld would be so awesome. Playing a MMPORG that is both fun and humorous, where you don't feel compelled to actually do quests and what not, but rather maybe choose to hangout in The Broken Drum, or explore the Unseen University, maybe even send a letter to your friend via the Post Office (managed by Lipwig of course.) Go on little adventures from village to town to city in the Discworld.

I mean I've been a 3D model artist, animator and texture artist for about 8 years and often considered making such a thing at no profit to myself, but i don't think Mr. Pratchett would allow such a venture and i don't even know how I'd go about acquiring his permission should i choose to do so.

Oh well i suppose a guy can dream...

[=Tamar]

Contact his agent, I believe that's still Colin Smythe. Sir Terry has been very generous in the past as long as people ask first. However, there are contracts for various games already so someone may have the contract. It doesn't hurt to ask.

[Molokov]

But.... the Discworld MUD has been around for AGES! Longer than most MMORPGs.

http://discworld.starturtle.net/lpc/

Sure, it's text only, but that's how online multiplayer games started...

[raisindot]

The short answer: Profitability (or lack thereof).

For these things to turn a profit you need to amass a huge audience of millions of mostly male players. Most of these games are of the hack and slash variety, and don't require knowledge of a series' convention. Your typical warrior, dwarf, elf, magician type character is easy to understand, but unless you've read the books, how are you going to understand a Vimes, a Carrot, a Granny Weatherwax, a Rincewind? And you can't 'be' these characters since there's only one of them, so the best you can be is a 'background character,' i.e., a merchant, an assassin, a thief, a witch, a history monk or whatever. DW also is not a world where most problems are solved by hack and slashery, so what attraction does it offer for your average WOW geek? Even today, few of these things are making money, and most are offered for free with upgrades. Without endless amount of venture capital propping these all, nearly all would have been bankrupt long ago.

And even if there are millions of DW readers in the UK, the only way these types of things can turn a profit is if they succeed in the U.S. or Asian markets, neither of which have the critical mass of DW readers that would make this a profitable venture.

[Bickaxe]

Unfortunately, I agree. As much as I would like to play it, its just not profitable.

A mod is probably the only way. The Elder Scrolls Construction Set for Skyrim should work....get cracking!


WoW geeks? Are they similar to Apple Geniuses?

[CaptainCrazy]

Unfortunately, I agree. As much as I would like to play it, its just not profitable.

A mod is probably the only way. The Elder Scrolls Construction Set for Skyrim should work....get cracking!


WoW geeks? Are they similar to Apple Geniuses?

Well to be honest i was kinda thinking like going down the Unreal path... I could make the game, with the help of others i if i can find it and if i get Terry's approval. The people at Epic Games only ask for money if you start to make more than 50k out of the game, but other than that you can use the engine for free.

It's better than a mod i suppose because it would mean being able to make the game from scratch and not have to rely on, or be restricted by, whichever game you were modding.

Not even sure where i'd start looking to be honest, i don't think concept artists would be a problem since i know a few and Deviantart has a lot that i could ask as well. Only problem would be finding people interested in Discworld or at least be willing to get into the universe of it and help me make the game.

[Coldfinger]

they did make a PC game back in the mid 90's if I remember right and I think it was based on Guards! Guards!
It was a shambles, bad game play, serious glitches and just awful, though it pops up now and again on retro gaming lists as being favourited so maybe it was just my own opinion..
Anyway, with all the success of the modern Discworld attracting new readers, and the board games Thud, Discworld, and the Cluedo special addition being repeatedly sold out my advice is now's the time to get in touch with them to create it

D.

[raisindot]

Welcome to the forum, Coldfinger!

As for your suggestion, I suppose anyone can ask Transworld all they want, but the economics don't add up. Board games are relatively inexpensive to create and produce compared to a large scale interactive game. And while the board games may have sold out, we're only talking about a few thousand copies, tops. An large scale interactive game that people would be willing to pay for required hundreds of people, several years of work and millions of dollars. To break even, said game needs to have millions of subscribers. There may be millions of DW fans, but only a limited percentage of those are interactive gamers in general and only a small percentage of those would be willing to pay to play.

Also, given that the DW books drive the merchadising, the unlikelihood that Pterry will be publishing new DW books every year takes away a great deal of promotional potential. Unless The Watch TV series become a worldwide phenomenon or new movies based on DW are produced, it's going to be hard for Transworld to keep the DW 'brand' front and center enough to bring in the new fans who would be required to support a game.

[Alzar]

Hey

There are two DOS games, Discworld and Discworld 2 - Mortality Bytes.

Discworld
Producer: Teeny Weeny Games, Ltd.
Publisher: Psygnosis Limited
Year: 1995

and

Discworld 2 - Mortality Bytes
Producer: Psygnosis Limited
Publisher: Psygnosis Limited
Year: 1996

Both games can be downloaded from net and played with help of DosBox.

An online game, could have two options: kids game where learning in a Discworld atmosphere would be the main point, or a more adult version, where learning how to make spells, weapon upgrades, town building adventures and fighting is done in a Discworld stile.

Though making a game is costly, when adding a cash shop option, one could have a chance for good revenue.
Right now, the books are the drive, but with an online game, one could use both to promote the merchandise.
Game could be a mix of the first Guild War game (Arenanet and NCsoft) and King of Kings 3 (Gamigo AG).

Both games use both online and retail shops to sell items. A mix of both, might be a solution to get the economic side of making and maintaining an online game defendable. The online game could also have an app version for smartphones. Including themes, sounds and other apps. All in the stile and humor that is part of what made Discworld what it is today.

Best regards
Alzar

[Tonyblack]

Thanks Alzar and welcome to the site.

[Alzar]

Hey

Thank you for the welcome

In my post, I forgot to mention "two" more games:

The Colour of Magic
Producers: Delta 4
Publisher: Piranha Games
Year: 1986

Discworld: The Colour of Magic
Producers: Blue Sphere Games
Publisher: Blue Sphere Games
Year: After (not sure) 2006

Discworld Noir
Producers: Perfect Entertainment (PC) and Teeny Weeny Games (PS)
Publisher: GT Interactive
Year: (PC) 1999 and (PS) 2000

One could look into the copyrights for the games and maybe take the rights back to the writer/family/franchise.
As the games are made, there could be a chance to upgrade/bug fix and sell them to cellphone market for a few £/$ each.

One could, at the same time, make an online/box adventure game based on for instance Going Postal. With some parts of PVE sequences, the whole game based on chapters and between chapters (that could be started at any time), one could add chat option for online players, some of the games from the book series and so on. Each chapter, could have multiple endings/options. Something like an NPC in game making same questions with a different tone: polite, joyful and rude. Answers from the player would have same tones, but each different choice, would give the player different attributes in the next game.

Next game based on for instance Hogfather, could be a digital/box MMORPG, based on similar principles as Guild Wars game. Where a player enters own versions of explorable parts of the game and towns where a player (as she/he levels) can get a glimpse of the next games. This game version will enable a player to follow a/multiple stories where one can learn more about the Discworld. Yet again, better "scores" in this game, would give better options in the next game in the series. In this part of the series, player would be introduced to a cash shop system that would be of help to max out the ending "scores".

The last game of the series based on for instance The Colour of Magic. Where the player follows in Rincewind tracks and explores deeper in to the different and more dangerous parts of the Discworld. In this part, player would meet the challenges of PvE and/or PvP and a more advanced game play/cash shop.

Just a few ideas that crossed my mind.

Best regards
Alzar

PS. I use the 3 stories, as there are movies already done and a lot of fan art is around. It also gives a chance to maybe have a better chance of "selling" the whole pacage: books, art, online/cellphone/board/card games, movies and any other item from Discworld brand name.