Pokemon mmo gets brought up in every single Pokemon thread.
I'd like an MMO lol As long as they dont do that IV/EV shit!
I don't see even a bad MMO ruining the IP, and they could easily assign a different department to work on the MMO while the main one pumps out the usual Pokemon releases. I know they'd have to take into account design costs and such, but unless they go full Elder Scrolls on it and just drop the ball so hard it hits orbit from the velocity gained bursting out the other side of the planet, they'd make a buttload even as a F2P with a Vanity/Pokeball/Poke'doll/Hideout system/eshop.
I mean, With the Ruby/Sapphire remakes, I'm reminded of the full on Berry system and Hideout mechanics. These could easily be implemented in an MMO, kinda like the personal Mog Gardens in XI, or Company Housing. Each person can get their own little Hideout, to decorate with Dolls/Furnishings/etc!
Srsly though I explained once already how a Pokemon MMO could work, endgame, drop mechanics, items and all... It could be profitable if done right... and with the resent generations adding more and more customization in clothing and characters, and even all the advancements in playing with others that X/Y brought, they're getting close to MMO foundations.
If a Pokemon mmo is done right, do you think they can keep releasing these simple handheld games and still make the millions they have every time? Like they have for like almost 20 years? I wouldn't buy them if there was something better.
I'm sure theres other who might share that sentiment, But some people don't like MMOs, some do, and some would enjoy both the style of a single player and MMO Pokemon since in reality they would be different on some key levels I imagine, like any MMO is clearly different in ways than single player games.
As an example, I don't think if the Elders Scrolls MMO did well, it would stunt the Single player Elder Scrolls market as they're both distinct experiences. I'll have to stand my ground on this one. A single player game will still have its market regardless of a Multiplayer game of it existing, since the two would be a good bit different in practice. Even if the Pokemon MMO was a perfect MMO, you can still make a perfect single player and each would have its own appeal to most people.
But then you kinda destroy your own argument? If the MMO was so successful that it negates the single player market, they're still making fuckloads of money, and depending on how they do it (F2P/Shop or Pay2play), they could arguably make way more than their single player games could, and In the end they'd still be swimming in money, if done right. So its a win win situation if executed well and I don't see any evidence to the contrary as of yet. Cause even If you and others like you decided not to buy the next Handheld because you got your fill from the MMO Market, you'd still be enjoying their MMO, which would bring in money, and there would still be people who prefer a single player experience, and even if the market split (which I doubt it would split enough to be worth noting), the money is still coming in from both sources.
I mean you have an argument that now they'd have two groups of developers to pay, which might be a real concern since they'd probably have to hire people who know the MMO Market, so if it flopped they'd be out a good bit of money... which means they'd have to access the risk/reward. In reality thats a real concern... Companies, especially game/movie companies, really love easy-play-it-safe money grabs, making a Pokemon MMO would be a large "fiscal" risk in their eyes, especially in light of the unfortunate Elder Scrolls and FFXIV 1.0 launches which did damage the image of those IPs a bit.
It has been confirmed through a trailer on TV that Japanese variety show, Pokémon Get☆TV is to showcase world exclusive first footage of the upcoming games Pokémon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire this weekend in the episode airing on Sunday May 11th at 07:30 JST. It's not known what the footage will contain
This last paragraph is what I was meaning. Why take the risk when already making millions for 20 years and no signs of it failing for the foreseeable future? I agree with you that it'd make them a lot of money. But I don't see the company being willing to take the risk.
Which is quite sad, and the failure of other Singleplayer to MMO games lately isn't helping it
http://jojo.wikia.com/wiki/Hierophant_Green
Emerald Splash.
but a huge all-region encompassing pokemon game sounds like a fantastic idea. Going back to Kanto in the post-game(?) of Gold/Silver is still one of my favorite things in the whole series, love it when the games do things like that.
would be neat if they had Underground from Diamond Pearl too, but secret bases are gonna be great , especially if they're open to wifi-battling, though that might be a little superfluous if they keep the BattleSpot / anytime friend battling from X/Y.
chaos emerald
I hated gen3 but remaking it with the current gen technology is going to be fucking awesome. The physical/special split, the new type and attacks. New abilities (and effects for old ones) and hidden abilities. Plus street passing Secret Bases, full 3d, and bank/online trading and stuff.
It's been 11 years since gen3 came out. I don't have a problem with a remake. Especially so soon after X/Y. It's not like we're waiting years for the game after X/Y or something.
everytime someone says pokemon MMO I facepalm because I think it would be a terrible idea. How exactly would it work. I don't want ! marks and ? marks and stupid ass crafting of. whatever. I don't see it working at all.
I could be wrong, but this feels like a tone that basically says "I'm asking how it would work, but in reality I'll shit on any presentation of how it could work cause I'm determined to hate the idea", but I mean, I'll throw how it could be handled.
First problem would be combat. You can either do it like the Single player games with a battle-like Minigame, which I don't think would work well, but they could. Alternatively, You could have it to where in the open world you control you trainer, during combat you release a Pokemon and control it, having access to your 4 moves, which could either have a PP system or a recharge/timer system like MMOs adapt. Lastly, they could go a "Mystery Dungeon" route and just let you play the Pokemon in a Pokemon world. I like the option of Trainer as a walk around/Pokemon in Combat approach. Gives it a Pokemon feel.
Second problem is your carrot on a stick, what is the drive when you hit endgame, and where should endgame begin, how should leveling work? Lets go with the first there, Carrot on a stick. Theres several ways you could adapt this. The Pokemon single player games already have items you strive for when you're done with the Elite four. TMs, HMs, Berries, Held Items, Feathers, etc. In the latest game even vanity items, and in some earlier installments, Accessories (Beauty Contest). Each of these could make their way into the game as endgame goals. One example could be TMs, Fire Blast TM could be a "Rare" item, and Fire Blast could be really powerful. It would be like getting a powerful weapon for your Character in an MMO. That Pokemon Movesets could be changed for the MMO itself, so really powerful moves in the single players could be TM exclusives.
Next, when should endgame start and how should leveling work? Theres a few ways they could handle leveling, but I think the best way would be you can have a "Trainer Level" and your Pokemon have their level. Your Trainer level will determine which clothing you can wear to help your Pokemon as if it were a player in any MMO, and this is determined by the average levels of your current Pokemon, and your Pokemons level determines its power and evolution (like in a normal game). Now, the Trainer level is important for more than the clothing options, but also for accessing endgame content. I.E there could be "Average level. 50" content, or 20, or 70 and so forth, like knowing the average level of a Pokemon Gym.
As far as actual endgame, I think it should begin around level 80. Allowing you to access what will be main stage of content, like taking on Team Rocket/Flare/Magma/etc, Multiple players vs "Legendaries", even retaking the Elite Four (Separate from possible storyling). Endgame itself, as previously described, could be these things, with drops as i explained above. Clothing for the trainer, TMs, Held items, money, could even add unique berries and a berry farming mechanic to replace crafting. Could also have Hide-outs alaRuby/Sapphire, and have furniture and stuff come from these events, as well as being bought. You have the plethora of side-stuff in the single player games that could translate well to the MMO scene too, like competitions and Battle Towers/Subways and such. Shiny Pokemon could also come into play, and Breeding.
Then comes how it would be interactive. The game and such focus on 1v1 pretty heavily, and that doesn't have to be lost. There could be single-v-single events meant to be solo'd, like challenging Gyms, and there also be more "Pokemon Movie"-like endgame content that revolves around exploring an old cave or something, fighting your way through... Imagine a battle where you and 4 other trainers fight off waves of Golbats/Crobats and Dugtrio's, to find something like a "Giant" or "Shiny" boss Onyx in the back of the cave, or even something like Regirock. Throughout the cave the minions you fight could also be captured and added to your team!
Which brings up another point, catching mechanics, how would that work? I think in dungeons, it would be a "First throw, first get" scenario, with bosses not included as they should be unique Pokemon. Pokeball capture formula could easily be taken from the game, as it works well, with most of the different balls being purchasable, or even made from Berries (sorry, throw in a crafting system for Berries into Pokeballs). Master Balls being rare endgame drops. In battle, you'll have your little hotbar or action menu for moves, To handle it in realtime, Imagine a bar system like in FFXIV, where you can assign Potions, Healing items, and Pokeballs to the tabs, and create custom UI tabs for it as well, this would easily allow you to use items and Pokeballs in real time as you would any MMO.
As far as clothing and accessories, which i mention a lot, these could be the one uniquely MMO aspect of a Pokemon MMO. Their benefits could range from "Catch ratio+", "Pokemon Stats+" (Like Attack, Def, Special), or things like what some held items do, increasing their Pokemons EV yield after battle and so forth. Pokemon Accessories could all add unique things too, like maybe a Ribbon which adds an AoE aftershock that can paralyze enemies when using a Lightning based move... think of "Enhances "XX"" items from FFXI. Each Trainer could have 5 clothing slots (Head, Body, Legs, Hands, Feet), and Pokemon could have 2 Accessory slots and a held item. Allowing you to customize your Pokemon like you would in a single player game, and again this stuff could come from any amount of endgame content, like group battles against Legendaries in a "FATE" or "Dynamic Event" style combat or Dungeons, or solo-fights in Battle Tower against computers or other trainers. I mean, just some hypothetical dungeons. A run through an old Team Rocket base, fighting off the remaining Magnemite/Magnetons with some "Harder" minibosses like Magnezone, or such, and at the end of the dungeon you and your 4 friends have to confront and defeat Mewtwo and his group of Clone Pokemon (like in the First movie).
Lastly, How would you consider uniqueness outside of Pokemon? You could have Trainer skills, which could say, be in the form of "cheers" and such to stick with Pokemon lore. Maybe you could have Trainer skills hotbar'd while in combat that gives your Pokemon a burst of Speed or attack for ~10 seconds. You could earn these skills by your Trainer level as you level up. You could also have skills you learn through points (Like Diablo 2, or Guild Wars) that go into customizing your Trainer, like say, "Breeder" bonuses that add skills that increase Pokemon Defense, or increase the power of Berries, and "Trainer" or "Ace Trainer" skills that increase your Pokemons attack/Special Attack.
You just have to think a little outside the box to make a Pokemon MMO work, it doesn't have to be "Farmer john wants you to kill 10 Caterpie!", I mean don't get me wrong, you could easily have world events where Caterpies start destroying farmlands or something and you gotta stop em... but it doesn't have to be all "!" and "?". You might ask "Where would these dungeons be?!?", well, as briefly explained. Team (whatever) Bases, Mount (wherever), even Giratina's realm, and so forth. The Pokemon world has a lot of places and landscapes that could be made into an MMO "raid-like Dungeon".
As far as clothing goes, They could also serve as style like in X/Y. Introducing a Dye/Wardrobe system similar to how its done in GW2 would add both customization in stats and allow you to pick your favorite style. Now, some example of how Clothing and such could be handled, presented to you in MMO item form as an example:
Spoiler: show
They don't even have to have Trainer items, Trainer Level could just determine Endgame access. As a random thought. Skills don't have to be just your 4 moves.. Each Pokemon could have unique abilities that allow them to act outside their 4 "Main" moves. Maybe Onyx has "Curl" as a permanent ability that raises his Defense by 100% for 5 seconds but prevents him from attacking, same for maybe Golem/Graveler. Maybe Geodude has the ability "Magnitude" at all times, that can be used separately from your normal combat moves that immobilizes walking Pokemon by 1-10 seconds based on the Magnitude. Perhaps a Pokemon like Scyther always knows "Sword Dance" which is an AoE buff that increases all allies attack by a certain amount for 30 seconds. Or even something like Miltank having "Milk Drink" which will grant a passive regen effect to all allies for a certain period of time. Pokemon have the basis of a "Classical" Tank/Healer/DPS system as much as that pains, so you could even make a team with Aegislash as a Tank, Miltank/Chansey as a healer, and bust our Scyther/Dragonite/Metagross for your DPS! (I'm exaggerating, but you see my point, these Pokemon could all have their own unique traits to them that goes beyond what a single player game offers)
These things can easily be adapted and still fun while making it a team based game, while providing a real-time combat based system, the feeling of exploring with friends, and the ability to mage Legendary pokemon feel epic that the single player games simply don't offer.
In conclusion. I've demonstrated how Combat could be handled, How endgame would work, What the "Goal" would be outside of just pvp battles, how you can adapt a Singleplayer Battle system like Pokemon into a more MMO feel (Trainer Skills, Unique Pokemon traits/abilities that give them even more of a "Class" like feel), Possible places for events and main enemies outside of Wild Pokemon, and even Mini-games/Side things of interest. I mean, If i had all the answers of sustainability I would be a game designer, but as a base plan, this has potential. Expansions could come in the form of a new "Team", new areas (even as they release new generations), adding new Pokemon and everything.
Questions, concerns?
First off, I'm glad there is no Pokemon MMO -- no way I'm able to commit the time that I was able to commit to FFXI back in the day. Now, that said, other games (Final Fantasy for instance) worked as MMOs because they already had a party dynamic. Instead of one player controlling a diverse group of five, each player just controls that one character. In my opinion, that's that biggest reason why a Pokemon MMO won't work. You essentially have 1 character with a team of Pokemon. And Pokemon are not the same as the parties in other games -- largely because you don't have multiple pokemon out at once (the game is built around 1v1, not rotation, triple, or double battles). And you mention the 1v1 aspect briefly, but I feel a Pokemon MMO has to be built around that -- otherwise you're taking the MMO formula and dressing it up as Pokemon. To make it work, you'd have to fundamentally change the way that combat and other things are done in Pokemon games. Personally, I think X and Y's online features were a step in the right direction and am expecting the next game to have an even better online component. While X and Y had their flaws, I feel this was largely due to the constraints that going from 2D to 3D put on the development (they had to animate all the moves, create new sprites for all the characters, not just the new ones, etc).