Unfortunately, virtually all fantasy MMO’s are stuck in some derivative of Middle Earth, a western style fantasy.  Not that there’s anything wrong with Middle Earth, what we’re complaining about here is the lack of variety.

WoW, WAR and D&D… all derivatives of Middle Earth.

Obviously we’ll give LOTRO a pass.

AoC takes place in a low fantasy version of ancient Rome, Egypt, and Germania.  Once again, western.  And DAOC is of course, Camelot.

The closest we have to a mainstream MMORPG that touches upon feudal Japan is an expansion for Guild Wars.

But here’s where it gets weird…Wander over to Asia and sure enough, they have their own MMO’s that touch upon feudal Japan.  But when Asian developers do it, they prefer an over the top high fantasy magic, extravagant armor, etc. etc.

What we need is a well done version of AoC  with Samurai, Ninja’s, etc.  In other words, a MMO that takes place in a low fantasy version of Feudal Japan.

Let’s face it, a lot of us would love to play a flat our Ninja, or Samurai.  For magic users we could have mystics and priests.  Feudal Japan even had primitive rifles, which could make for a fun ranged class.

The pool of lore for feudal Japan (especially a low fantasy version of it) is a lot deeper than it appears at first glance.  Hopefully at some point a game developers will realize this we’ll get one heck of a game.

Originally posted at: Loregy.com

Lore in Need: Feudal Japan

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So why does Chris matter? Why is he worth mentioning? Because he’s the one who published “The Fallout Bible“.

The guy knows post nuclear apocalypse lore.

So what we have are two simple facts:
Chris Avellone is a post nuclear apocalypse Lore Master.
No one yet has done a real “Post Nuclear Apocalypse” MMO.

A good MMO needs a great lead lore master. It’s the difference between WoW and one of those weird Korean MMO’s your friend played after getting kicked out of his guild. We’ve got the lore master, we’ve got the open niche in the market. Let’s see a “Post Nuclear Apocalypse” MMO.

And I should note that I’m not talking about a “Fallout MMO” (Chris isn’t involved with the franchise anyway). You don’t need “Fallout” to do a “Post Nuclear Apocalypse” MMO anymore than you need WoW to do a MMO about Orcs and Humans. High Fantasy MMO’s salute Tolkien, as much as Fallout salutes “Mad Max”, “A Canticle for Leibowitz”, David Brin’s “The Postman”, “Blade Runner”, and a countless multitude of other stories that take place in that setting. If anything I would prefer Chris Avellone to NOT do a “Fallout MMO”, because that would only restrain him. He has already proven his respect for the premise and his ability to find depth in its setting. I’m curious to see what he could pull off without having to curtail to what an established franchise would dictate.

Suffice to say, it’s unlikely we’ll see such a game come out tomorrow, or even the day after. Chris is currently busy on an Aliens RPG, and an expansion pack for Neverwinter Nights 2. But Obsidian Entertainment, where Chris is CCO, is a strong enough company to be another Blizzard. They have the Lore Master in house. They have an in house team capable of designing the mechanics. I’m curious to see what Chris and his partners could pull off.

Originally posted at: Loregy.com

Chris Avellone needs to do a “Post Nuclear Apocalypse” MMORPG

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