MMOG Nation: How They Are Going To Screw Up Firefly
December 15, 2006 7:07 AM |
['MMOG Nation' is a weekly column by Michael Zenke about current events in the world of Massively Multiplayer Games. This week's column tries to throw some cold water on the Browncoats reveling in the news of a Firefly MMOG.]
I'm sure I'm not the only person who was excited by last week's announcement that the tools-maker Multiverse is going to be tackling the Firefly license, and making a Massively Multiplayer game. In fact, I know I'm not. You may have already seen Kwip's 'blue-sky' musings on just such a title as recently as last month. He tells you what he'd like to see, and the reaction from the MMORPG.com boards tells you that there's a lot of interest in the project.
Well, much as it may seem differently from recent articles, I'm not one to see a good thing and embrace it wholly. In fact, I'm a pretty bitter, cynical guy when it comes to these things. To put it thusly: the Firefly MMOG is going to suck. It's going to suck hard, on toast, and leave the hearts and minds of thousands of Browncoats lying trampled, again, in the dirt. I'll tell you up front, I hope I'm wrong. I hope that, a few years from now, you and I are doing our level best to make a dishonest living on the edge of civilized space ... and having a great time doing it. Somehow, though, I don't think that's what will happen. Read on for all the reasons why this bird just won't fly.
"Well they tell you: never hit a man with a closed fist. But it is, on occasion, hilarious."
There's going to be too much fightin'. I can tell you right now, sure as can be, there will be too much fighting to get the tone right for the Firefly universe. In fact, I'd go so far as to say this is the biggest obstacle to making a Firefly MMOG. While we all roll our eyes at killing rats, we go with it because we know there are bigger and better things coming along. There's room in the galaxy far, far away for rat-hunters. The 'Verse (as fans of the series call it) is not so flexible. Series creator Joss Whedon made it obvious over the course of the series that, while people die out there, life is still precious. Endless waves of faceless bad guys, all spawning in place to be randomly slaughtered by your brand new level 1 Big Damn Hero, puts the lie to that but quick. There's got to be combat, of course. Every MMOG has combat. But what has to be different in order for this to work is the meaning behind that combat. Fighting has to be done with a purpose, or you've already missed the boat on what makes Firefly special.
As much as I think the source needs to be boxed around the ears, I think Dungeons and Dragons Online is actually the best place to start. Their instanced, focused, combat would be a great fit for the kind of storytelling you'd want to do in Firefly. The key here, though, is that you've got to make sure there's a world outside of combat. Your character, your shipmates, your ship ... there has to be something besides combat to 'do'.
"For this plan to work, River and I will have to be dead."
While I think there's going to be too much fighting, on the other hand I don't think there's going to be enough ... anything else. Given the constraints of time and economic pressure, the 'not in combat' portions of the game will inevitably get waylaid and pushed outside the scope of the original launch. Massive games are all about combat, right? Who wants to make shoes when we can crush?
Which is, of course, ridiculous. In fact, if anything, the 'Verse is an even better setting for a crafting and entertaining system than Star Wars Galaxies. Just in the very few episodes of the show we see merchants, miners, dancers, prostitutes, Companions, soldiers, preachers, criminals, aristrocrats, and all aspects of the human condition in harsh places. The 'life is precious' theme has to be extended out beyond combat, to include the concept of 'characters have real lives'. I don't think there's a need for a fully immersive alternate existence; this should still be a game, after all. What the designers should do, though, is make an effort to compliment the game's heroic moments with quieter elements taken from the background of the 'Verse.
Though I can't rightly say I know how to go about it, it would be great if there was some element of planning involved in the game too. Some of the most enjoyable moments in the show come from attempts at tactical planning and strategy ... even if they don't work out very well. One option would be to allow the group leader to choose a mission's objectives. If you have several big tough guys, a frontal assault might be an option. If you're, as a party, better at subterfuge perhaps a more stealthy approach would be the way to go. I don't think the game would be 'broken' without it, but it would certainly go a long way towards giving players the authentic Firefly feel.
"We're gonna explode? I don't wanna explode!"
Joss Whedon shows, even when they're being all dark and serious, are funny. Really, really funny. Firefly without humor would have been a waste, a poor man's Cowboy Bebop. I just cannot envision Firefly without laughter to dull the edges. WoW has humor, but it's of the satirical or irreverent nature. City of Heroes, likewise, has humor of the 'send-up' nature. None of those things are clever or witty. I'm not even certain that clever and witty are possibilities in a Massive game; most players don't even stop to read the quest text. Is the answer to do voiceover work for the entire game, and only have quest text in your journal once the intro spiel from the NPC is over? That would likely get old fast.
In truth, this is an aspect of Firefly that I'm just not sure can be translated into the Massive genre. How do you cram the kind of humor the show and the movie display into something as narratively dead as a quest in a MMOG?
"Ship like this, be with ya 'til the day you die."
They've got the license, and undoubtedly have the rights to use the likenesses of the protagonists in the game. So, why wouldn't they use them?
The most compelling reason I can think of is that they'd get in the way. If there's one thing every Massive game gets right, it's that the experience should be about the player's story. If Malcolm Reynolds and the crew of the Firefly-class ship Serenity are included in the game (as I suspect they will be), the only purpose they would really serve would be to degrade the experience of the individual players.
What possible purpose would it serve to remind players that they are not, in fact, one of the crew? The very best Firefly game you could make, one that would make the players care about the world they inhabited, would not feature Serenity in any way. Perhaps sidelong mentions of their antics in quest descriptions might be fair, but otherwise I say let them fly alone.
"Does seem like everyone's got a tale to tell."
Whatever direction the Firefly MMOG takes, at the end of the day stories in the 'Verse are about freedom and individuality. It would be hard to find a premise for a Massive game better than that. At the same time, the elements of the Firefly series that make it beloved by its fans would seem to represent insurmountable obstacles to making it a good MMOG.
Fans of the series will undoubtedly find some things to like about the game. It's hard to argue with the intention of bringing Joss Whedon's vision to life as a persistent world. Just the same ... is it still Firefly without jokes? Without storytelling, western accents, and the crew of Serenity, is the 'Verse still a place worth inhabiting?
I wish Multiverse and the folks they'll be working with the best. Through a combination of bad luck, bad timing, and poor decision-making, we've never had the chance to see the totality of what the 'Verse has to offer. If Firefly really takes off, there are so many stories that could be told and plots that could be explored. It makes this particular Browncoat weak in the knees just to think about it.
That said, real life and the 'Verse share one thing in common: the right thing rarely gets done. Let's hope I'm wrong.
[Michael Zenke is also known as 'Zonk', the current editor of Slashdot Games. He has had the pleasure of writing occasional pieces for sites like Gamasutra and The Escapist. You can read more of Michael's ramblings on Massive games at the MMOG Nation blog. ]
Categories: Column: MMOG Nation
23 Comments
Well, personally, I think you give them not enough credit by assuming they'll go for the standard glorified Diku-mud approach, when there's already games out there that would make effective blueprints for what a good Firefly game should be.
EVE Online chief among them, at least itn it's world and presentation, with a reduced focus on PvP perhaps. You mentioned the non-combat elements of SWG, and I think there's other ideas there as well that would serve admirably. I think also looking back at the old Earth and Beyond would offer some good inspiration.
Frankly, I'm more intrigued by this announcement than I am by most of the other MMOs presently in devel, for one simple reason: New faces. The biggest thing I think the MMO world needs is new blood, people with new ideas, willing to try new things.
I don't know if the Multiverse guys will prove to be that or not, but I'm more hopeful about them than I am about the latest EQ/WOW derivative.
J Arcane | December 15, 2006 10:34 AM
The one comment I have about Multiverse is that, when I saw their tech about a year ago, it was not good at _all_ - sorry, Multiverse guys! Hopefully they've improved on it since then.
simonc | December 15, 2006 11:41 AM
Eve is very pvp heavy, but I don't think it would have been impossible to make it about theft/smuggling/shady dealing. Those are all underdeveloped modes in the game at present and given CCP's focus they'll probably remain like that for the foreseeable future. Nevertheless it demonstrates that it only takes a similar model with a slightly different focus to make it work. Salvaging and exploration just came into Eve, which I thinking is a step in the right direction. Create smuggling skills, thieving skills, looting skills and you're not far from what most people would want with a Firefly MMO.
rossignol | December 15, 2006 12:48 PM
Jim,
Hey, nice to see you posting on my little article here. I love your stuff, sir.
I completely agree with you too. Eve transmogrified into the 'Verse would actually work pretty well. But, with Multiverse doing the job they've already got a EQ-style engine in mind.
Big Damn Heroes squashing random bad guys in an alleys. Whoopee.
Michael | December 15, 2006 1:05 PM
In my opinion the gameplay in mmorpgs suck. So as a game the firefly mmo will suck. The best one can hope for is that the game has good setting and a roleplay community that makes it fun.
If I were to make a Firefly game it would be like EV Nova.
Corey Holcomb-Hockin | December 15, 2006 2:23 PM
I agree that there are significant obstaceles some, perhaps, are insurmountable. However, the question is not will a Firefly game be a let down (clearly it will) but will it be good? I also don't much like the pvp combat style games, they're like the wow south park episode however, combat in the independance war era would explore a new avenue of the verse and would make cpt reynolds just annother browncoat on the front lines (narratively speaking). in short, the creation of a new and somewhat different type of mmorpg should be the goal, finding a way to tell the stories in the context of the firefly/serenity universe will happen organically if the game is intelligently and creatively designed.
Mr. Gfunk | December 15, 2006 10:11 PM
There's an interview up on fireflymmo.com with Corey Bridges, which addresses some of your concerns.
http://fireflymmo.com/2006/12/16/interview-with-corey-bridges/
... obviously, it's early days yet, but I'm optimistic.
Drew Shiel | December 16, 2006 4:25 AM
I, for one, hope the Firefly MMO /does/ suck. I enjoyed the show, but it has spawned some of the most annoying, obsessive, generally mindless fans in the history of fiction, and I want this game to suck for no other reason than to piss them off. Childish, yes, but honest.
Tetsuo | December 16, 2006 9:50 AM
"Well, personally, I think you give them not enough credit by assuming they'll go for the standard glorified Diku-mud approach, when there's already games out there that would make effective blueprints for what a good Firefly game should be."
I totally agree. I think a lot of people have a vast misconception of what MMOs game be because they are blinded by the WoW and Diku-mud approach to the genre. It's similar to the argument that first-person shooters can't effectively deliver a story. There are too many exceptions for that to be true.
animagnum | December 16, 2006 12:39 PM
As one of those annoying and obsessive (though I take issue with "mindless") fans, I'd like to point out what an opportunity this is. Will it be a success? Perhaps not. But the attempt might just break some ground.
Zonk is right about an awful lot in his article. Especially in keeping the characters from the show out of it, except perhaps in a very tangential way. The potential plot elements that Joss was forced to leave by the wayside by cancellation are impressive, tantalizing tidbits that could well blossum into unseen story arcs, if handled deftly. The worlds are interesting and creative, the room for expansion of the canon 'verse is ample, and the fans/players would be largely responsible for the success or failure.
"Into the Black", a Canadian fan-film spin-off of the show, currently producing its first episode, is an excellent template for revisiting the 'verse without disturbing the BDHs. My own (fan) fiction explores the idea of the other, non-Browncoat factions in the War, and how they coped with the aftermath. The potential of the Asian market tapping into an Asian-influenced game might be another potential revenue stream not fully appreciated. Firefly is pure science-fiction in a way few other games are, and without the whacky aliens. The language is beautiful, a mixture of modern technical English with 19th century prose, with a smattering of other languages (notably, of course, Madarin) to add exotic flavor without poisoning the creative well. And the subject of religion is an overt issue, without all of the 1st level clerical spells to mess that up.
The genius of Firefly is that not all good guys are good all of the time, that real people have real problems and real flaws. To explore that meaningfully would be magical.
All of these things are huge benefits to a MMO clintele that has become bored with techie-speak and poorly scripted dialogue.
In short, the potential for greatness is there. So is the potential for ugliness. I won't let my hope for the former get crushed by my fear of the latter, and I sincerely think my fellow Browncoats will agree. We've been waiting ages to return to the 'verse. This might be our last, best hope to do so.
SO sign me up. Where do I send my portfolio?
ScrewtheAlliance
ScrewtheAlliance | December 16, 2006 4:40 PM
Much as I love the Firefly universe, I think this project is going to be a disaster too. What made the show great was the character development and ensemble acting -- none of which can translate into a MMO videogame.
Furthermore, I suspect that the game design will be rather generic only with firefly characters and settings thrown in, like Persephone and Beaumond, for example.
My biggest fear is that as soon as the initial novelty wears off and all but the most diehard Browncoats and/or MMO gamers quit, this whole debacle will just be another piece of evidence that Firefly is not a commercially viable franchise.
More episodes/Movies!
Andre | December 16, 2006 4:40 PM
Very well-considered points, Zonk. One of our goals with Multiverse in general is to kick the MMO genre out of the Diku rut that it tends to slouch toward. We haven't hired the design team yet for the game, but we'll pick someone for Firefly who has a vision of a game that's not the same old rat-killing grind. If it's just WoW re-skinned, that would suck mightily.
--Corey
Exec Producer, Multiverse
Corey Bridges | December 16, 2006 4:51 PM
Yep. It's very easy for them to screw it up. The way to make it work is by doing lots of hard things:
1. Hire/get volunteers with the gamemaster chops to come up with lots of interesting scenarios with the classic Whedon plot twists (at least some of the time).
2. Kick out "griefers" and players who break the spirit of the game (ie, shooting up NPCs in barfights).
3. Square the circle of ships moving at the speed of plot in an unmapped 'verse with the need to give players some decent planning tools.
4. Support player-created additions to the setting, possibly handing out limited GM or editing privileges.
All of these are doable . . . but I think they'd cut into the profitability of the project by cutting the revenue and putting players in the position of deserving some of the return. That would work as a non-profit but make it awfully hard to pay for Fox's licensing fees.
This is why I think Firefly is much more suited for a tabletop game, where everyone can pitch in and bad players are easy to exclude.
Karl Gallagher | December 16, 2006 6:06 PM
Corey,
Great to hear it! Glad you're thinking along the same lines ... I'd have been worried if you guys hadn't already been over the stuff I thought of in a couple night's worth of pondering 1000x already. :)
Like I said in the end: I very much hope I'm wrong. Good luck, sir.
Michael | December 16, 2006 7:05 PM
I was initially glad to hear they will be attempting a Firefly-based MMORPG. I am a fan of the series and would love the opportunity to see more of the 'verse. I can forsee a few potential problems though:
* We don't actuallly know that much about the 'verse, we get only the required hints and scenes that are required for the series. As far as I know, although there is fan fiction for the series, there is not an official *sanctioned* series of books that might provide a horde of background information to flesh out the worlds. This isn't necessarily an obstacle, but it does mean the design team has to be extremely consistent and careful in retaining the look and feel of the series based on what we do know. This is a daunting task I am sure.
* It needs to be a "sandbox" game. That is, it needs to be a wide open 'verse that we can explore freely. Sure it should have some focused goals for most people, but literally anything should be possible. The original Star Wars Galaxies was like that, you could spend your time learning combat skills, or simply go fishing, you could be an Entertainer, Doctor, craft in one of a dozen crafting professions - in short the game let you *be* in the world of Star Wars Galaxies. I spent most of the first year and a half that I played SWG simply making droids for sale, and slowly building a business. What it doesn't need is to be quest-based, feature the series/movie characters in any way, or pvp-oriented. It should encourage roleplaying, facilitate it even, and not emphacize leveling over all other activities like most of the earlier MMORPGs still on the market. In fact not having levels at all would be a good place to start.
* I personally think it shouldn't have any PvP at all. I know this would disappoint some PvP oriented players (and thats a facet to consider of course), but with the PvP players, come those who prefer to disrupt the play of others just because they can, the griefers who like to kill new players, cheating, exploiting, online currency sales, and massive amounts of whining about balance between classes (because everyone wants everyone else balanced, while they remain more powerful, and approaches forums with that agenda). I think the world would be better if it lacked PvP entirely - OR - this is the other possibility: give PvP consequences. No MMORPG that I am aware of has instituted penalties for illicit behaviour, and in a world like the 'verse which seems to rely on that behaviour to continue to thrive, this would be a real consideration. Want to kill a guy, go ahead. However you will end up marked as an "Outlaw" unable to enter towns, subject to arrest and imprisonment, fines, etc whatever the local laws dictate (and it should differ). I am not afraid to have my character spend a week in a virtual prison and gain a record if I cross the law - and get caught. It raises all sorts of possibilities concerning bribery to expunge records, forgery etc.
I hope the folks making this have the willpower to think outside the box, but inside the sandbox. Make something new and daring with this IP, something that remains true to the spirit of the shows, but lets us forge our own way through the 'verse. Do it right and they will come, do it wrong and they won't stay. Oh, and if you are looking for folks to hire I would be happy to come play, and bring my ideas with me :P
Warren Grant | December 17, 2006 2:05 PM
I think you're throwing them under the bus before we see screenshot one.
We know what we want out of the game, but I believe they also know what makes Firefly such a great property. Give them at least benefit of the doubt before you say it'll come up short. It can't be a bigger disappointment than what SWG has become.
Shayde | December 20, 2006 6:57 AM
Sounds like someone wants to make a FireFly MMO!
http://stationblog.wordpress.com/2006/12/15/why-cynics-will-never-do-anything/
Jeff Freeman | December 21, 2006 6:11 AM
I think it could work out - but they have to break all the rules. No easy "levels", No "power leveling". The game should be based more on interactions with other human players than on interactions with NPCs. It would force the kind of character interaction which is necessary for the game to carry anything close to the character develop seen in the shows.
The current MMORPG "diku" concept won't work simply because you can accomplish all of your goals by screwing with mindless mobs. (Of course then- you can gank the human players you ignored for ages with your new found powers.) Some games require cooperation to reach the highest goals, but it is usually added as an afterthought and sometimes at such ridiculous scales as to be unviable for all but those with no life.
Make the advancement based more heavily (though not entirely) on your interactions with other players. Players teach each other skills, complete their own "shady" business deals, etc. Forget computer driven economies. They always fall to the wayside anyway (i.e. EQ and WoW - the auction channels/auction house concept -is- the economy, vendors are almost pointless.)
For the griefers - aww just track their BS somehow (via code, Gms, or player submitted complaints) and as their records build up with BS, turn 'em into Reavers where the only thing they are left with is outright violence. Might sound "cool", however, consider that it puts an end to their "advancement" in this theory (since advancing requires interacting with people.)
Intrigued | January 1, 2007 8:02 PM
I really think that a good idea is to have the heroes of the series in the game, BUT,... have them be played as pcs by admins in-game so you can interact with them and actually have them be "living" people in the verse.
Is that a good idea?
or does it suck.
its all right to say so so speak your minds.
Scanlon | January 6, 2007 8:14 PM
I think the community, especially the MMO community, doesn't give game developers enough credit. Most of these guys and gals are gamers too. They've played most of the similar games on the market, and typically anything they couldn't play they at least looked up as much information as they could about to have a basic primer in it. Developers are not the enemy.
They may not always get it right, they may not always make the best decisions, but they do want the best for their game. And since the bussines founder himself has commented here that bodes well for his wanting this to go off as something the community can enjoy. I'm also convinced by the interview that he understands the importance the browncoats will play in his success.
I guess I can understand expecting it to suck you don't get your hopes up for nothing. I used to be the same way, until I realised that it was more likely to suck if you never gave it a chance to do anything else.
As for my 2cents on the features, I have no idea how you'll work out having shipmates in an MMO where people can come and go at any time. I was actually trying to solve that theoretical problem a few months ago and never found a satisfactory system for it. I would be happiest if the 'verse were tackled in an Escape Velocity/Elite manner (if you don't know those names, shame on you =P). On the other hand, having crews could solve the old X3 problem of being bored out of your mind between destinations. It would take alot of brainstorming to solve that particular issue.
Setting everything up based on the idea of a player based economy is an excellent idea. In fact a good way to create an interdependancy is to have a businessperson class capable of setting up shop and producing quantity of items, combined with a trader class to ship the goods to various planets where they can then be distributed. The rogue classes then make a living out of pitting their wits against the businessmen and police to come away with stolen merchandise to sell elsewhere. And all of the sudden you have a pvp system that involves little to no killing and could in fact discourage killing as blood goods are harder to move. In the end it's up to the designer though.
The humor is always harder to introduce, but you don't necissarily have to force-feed it to people. Put it in NPC dialogue, and quest texts if you do indeed have quests, and let the people who actually want it read and enjoy it and those who won't be patient or deiscerning enough to see it, not.
Anyway, I'll look forwad to it with crossed fingers and a half-uttered prayer. Now if only I weren't an atheist...
Sara Pickell | January 16, 2007 6:32 PM
Without pvp this game would blow.. actually all MMO's are boring without pvp..
It is just mindless to kill the AI all the time.. first time is a challenge, then its rinse and repeat..
matching witts with other players is a challenge.. Unfortunatly most people don't want the challenge of that reality and just want a safe little world..
my 2cents
beef | February 2, 2007 1:35 PM
I for one am definitely going to give it a shot. Hopefully, it'll be good.
"I am a leaf, blowing in the wind...THWAK"
LeafBlower | January 23, 2008 8:42 PM
I really don't think there should be official classes. Instead, there should be just skills that players improve and can use. For example, a Jayne-like character spend effort improving his strength and shooting skills, whereas a Wash-type (pilot) concentrates on flying skill. Rather than really having levels in skills, abilities should be something which comes out of a percentage of what one can do, so you can't be supergood at everything.
Kadzar | July 29, 2008 3:07 PM