Comments on: Nee ta ma duh. Tyen-shia soy ya duh ren. Doh goy swa.*

By: Chas York

Chas York — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 22:46:52 +0000

On some levels, I agree that it will be difficult to capture the “Fireflyness” in an MMO… Combat is quick, decisive, and doesn’t lend much to the “ablative damage” side of things. In so many firefly episodes, the nature of the “Ambassador” plays a role in the ways of society, but that subject can be a difficult issue to focus on without significant risk.

In other ways, it reminds me of one of Psychochild’s challenges, though. The universe is so open with possibilities compared to trying to make an MMO out of something like Battlestar Galactica. The sheer scope of the universe that was only hinted at before has such potential…

As Jason said, this has to be a jumping-off point. These guys need to be ambitious and set themselves up as the genuine authority on what the world is- and what the universe really is. It cannot be the “Browncoats’ Last Stand.”

By: jason

jason — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 21:53:14 +0000

I still think their best bet is to use the Firefly Universe as a jumping off point, but should seek to, marketing-wise, distance themselves from the series and movie if they want success. I love the show, and I love the movie, but I know plenty of people who passed on it… and they’d likely pass on an MMO of it. But if you can come up with a clever name and market the “idea” right, the stigma of it being an MMO “from that cancelled TV show whose movie tanked at the box office” might be overcome.

By: Aaron

Aaron — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 22:28:46 +0000

I own the series as well. The main challenge I think the MMO designers are up against is the humor. It was a huge factor in the entertainment value of the TV series. And much, if not most, of that humor has the appearance of spontaneity; not situational humor (though there was plenty of that as well), but verbal jousting and quick witted remarks. I’m sure that’s very difficult to mimick in a non-linear game.

Anything’s possible though. One thing the devs could do is to compile a large database of such witty remarks and use a combination of probability charts and situational triggers to activate them. In Star Wars: Battlefront, there were enough witty remarks to keep me laughing a long time, and those were almost always activated at random.

“We will rule this land, and we shall call it… This Land.”