[Raistlin]

I wonder if a Dragonlance MMORPG will ever be released. C'mon, we need one. Some company out there, make one! Imagine the potential of class choices (Knights of Solamnia, Red Robe Mages, Black Robe Mages, specialized Clerics of Paladine, Tahkhisis, etc, etc.) Imagine the potential of race choices (Kender, Gully Dwarf, Tinker Gnomes, Qualinesti Elf, Silvanest Elf, Kagonesti Elf, etc, etc). It would be pretty cool to have your toon venture around Krynn. I wonder if Margaret Weiss or Tracy Hickman have ever considered it. Hey, a Dragonlance animated movie is about to be released (featuring Kiefer Sutherland as Raistlin), is a mmorpg too much to ask for? (hehe, wishful thinking). The books have been fairly popular since the 80s, I'm sure it would generate a lot of following if it were made right. Eh, maybe I'm asking too much....

[Honor Woods]

Originally Posted by Raistlin

I wonder if a Dragonlance MMORPG will ever be released. C'mon, we need one. Some company out there, make one! Imagine the potential of class choices (Knights of Solamnia, Red Robe Mages, Black Robe Mages, specialized Clerics of Paladine, Tahkhisis, etc, etc.) Imagine the potential of race choices (Kender, Gully Dwarf, Tinker Gnomes, Qualinesti Elf, Silvanest Elf, Kagonesti Elf, etc, etc). It would be pretty cool to have your toon venture around Krynn. I wonder if Margaret Weiss or Tracy Hickman have ever considered it. Hey, a Dragonlance animated movie is about to be released (featuring Kiefer Sutherland as Raistlin), is a mmorpg too much to ask for? (hehe, wishful thinking). The books have been fairly popular since the 80s, I'm sure it would generate a lot of following if it were made right. Eh, maybe I'm asking too much....

Turbine has the rights to DnD MMOs and they chose Eberron because that's what WOTC/Hasborg wanted. Dragonlance, while an interesting universe, will likely never be made into an MMO.

Sorry.

[Akuma]

Originally Posted by Honor Woods

Turbine has the rights to DnD MMOs and they chose Eberron because that's what WOTC/Hasborg wanted. Dragonlance, while an interesting universe, will likely never be made into an MMO.

Sorry.

Dragonlance is one of the poorest, bland, uninspired, uninteresting, generic, badly written fantasy series ever created.

[Honor Woods]

Originally Posted by Akuma

Dragonlance is one of the poorest, bland, uninspired, uninteresting, generic, badly written fantasy series ever created.

Heh. To each their own. I liked it as a kid. I've outgrown it now that I'm... err a bigger kid?

[rhagz]

Originally Posted by Akuma

Dragonlance is one of the poorest, bland, uninspired, uninteresting, generic, badly written fantasy series ever created.

I almost have to agree. The universe itself is pretty much what you describe, but I think the best and most memorable facet of Dragonlance is simply the characters.

[rabb1t]

As Honor mentioned, back during the D&D O beta there was lots of discussion / debate on why they didn't choose a more "familiar" world setting, such as Dragonlance or Forgotten Realms. As mentioned, they (WotC) said 'Eberron is the new shiny, use it or die!' Turbine was kind of into that though, as it allowed them the most creative freedom.

[Dorfeater]

Dragonlance was good. But I wouldn't touch it if it were an MMO.

Leave the "pre-made" crap out of MMO's.

Start making more from scratch. I'm starting to see MMO's based off some franchise as a "Fun for 3 weeks, then remove from hard drive" kinda deal.

[Akuma]

Originally Posted by rhagz

I almost have to agree. The universe itself is pretty much what you describe, but I think the best and most memorable facet of Dragonlance is simply the characters.

Ah, the characaters... they were so uninteresting it makes mle want to puke.

The only remotely interesting character was Raistlin - in that regard, the Brothers Trilogy was far superior, altho still less than average - than the original "it's time to kill the dragon" series.

Weis and Hickman almost managed to impress me with the death gate cycle, because the world was excellent - but just like Dragonlance, the characters were extremely uninteresting and irritating to follow trough it all.

[rabb1t]

Originally Posted by Dorfeater

Leave the "pre-made" crap out of MMO's.

Start making more from scratch.

One of the reasons the BioWare MOG as at the top of my list.

[Mangar]

Regardless of the books, it would make a good world for an MMO setting.

The problem being: The company who owns the rights, has yet to make quality

[Tarikko]

if DDO was released as a multiplayer client style game (ala NWN) it would have been a smash hit.

I can see it now "Download more adventures for you and your friends $2.99"

it didnt have enough content to keep real MMO players satisfied, but its a great casual game with friends

[rabb1t]

It would have been a hit had they priced the monthly fee lower (say $5 a month) and had way more maps. We told them this back in beta.

I think too that it probably would have been a lot better had it been either more turn-based (closer to the core rules) or more action based (something like D&D Heroes). The mish-mosh in the middle that they have really doesn't seem like anything more than 'spam attack for the win'.

[Tereval]

As a kid I loved Dragonlance, like many I've sort of moved on to more advanced authorship, though at times I still enjoy a Weis and Hickman, or a Douglas Niles novel.

Dragonlance is unfortunately unsuitable for an MMO because there is no period in its history that is calm enough for a long enough period of time. Year by year the story and world had events changing it. The few periods it didn't one could never make an MMO in as they would be completely boring. Potentially one could do it during the War of the Lance, but then you'd never have a worthwhile expansion as they would each change the world too much.

Forgotten Realms has one single issue that makes it impossible for an MMO.........its too damn big.

It would take a ridiculous amount of time to even do the sword coast and only the major cities on it, none the less entire entirety of a single of its continents.

Plus with Forgotten Realms there is so much crap going on everywhere it would be a disgustingly difficult task to even half honor any of the stories.

[Kester Vul]

DDO is fun (kept me playing longer than WoW at any rate), but calling it an MMO was a big mistake. I agree with the previous poster. But for getting a group of friends together and running through some cool maps, it does pretty well.

Eberron wasn't too bad as a setting choice. I'd have preferred Greyhawk, to be honest. Forgotten Realms is a crap setting, and so is Dragonlance.

Maybe someone will come up with an Iron Kingdoms MMO. That would rock.

[Abbzug]

Unless they use Planescape (which is dead anyway), I'd prefer no known universe in a D&D MMO. Makes the game feel too much like it's on rails and limited by established lore.

Really interesting in a BioWare MMO. I liked what they did with the KOTOR games by using a known universe, but setting it in such a different timetable they didn't have to bump up against the established canon. But I understand that they've decided not to do sequels or use anyone else's IP anymore (and just give that stuff to Obsidian), which is okay with me.

[Bottle]

Not gonna happen.

Regarldess of whether Krynn as a world has enough depth to make an MMOG, there's too many IP entanglements in there. WoTC aren't best of friends with Weiss & Hickmann as it is, I'm not even sure WoTC can lay any claim to this background in fact. Nearly the same holds for the Forgotten Realms background and its famous authors like Ed Greenwood and R.A. Salvatore, with their very strong IP claims / lawyers.

[Tereval]

I think you might be right. Last I heard the Dragonlance 3rd DnD books were published by Wies and Hickmans company not WOTC, so it could be they don't even own the rights anymore.

If I were Wies and Hickman I'd be pissed too about the direction WOTC let the novels take.

[Kester Vul]

Originally Posted by Tereval

I think you might be right. Last I heard the Dragonlance 3rd DnD books were published by Wies and Hickmans company not WOTC, so it could be they don't even own the rights anymore.

No, WotC is still the one publishing them. They've got a bunch more slated for release this year. They own the intellectual property, not the authors. The authors couldn't go off on their own and write Dragonlance books without WotC's permission, nor could Salvatore go off and write Drizz't books on his own. WotC owns all that stuff.

[Bottle]

Originally Posted by Kester Vul

No, WotC is still the one publishing them. They've got a bunch more slated for release this year. They own the intellectual property, not the authors. The authors couldn't go off on their own and write Dragonlance books without WotC's permission, nor could Salvatore go off and write Drizz't books on his own. WotC owns all that stuff.

That's why I said IP entanglement. Neither the author's nor the company WoTC owns full IP and can't go off to do things on their own. WoTC and the author's both get a piece of each other's pies.
WoTC inherited this situation when they bought up the D&D franchise and are still in the process of minimizing the external beneficiaries and royalties e.t.c.

[Kester Vul]

Originally Posted by Bottle

Neither the author's nor the company WoTC owns full IP and can't go off to do things on their own. .

Yeah...that's the part I don't think is true, Bottle. Not if WotC has decent lawyers. They own the characters outright and can do what they want with them.

In fact, I read an interview with Elaine Cunningham, another of their writers, who made precisely this point, and said that if WotC wanted to they could assign stories about her character Lirael and Salvatore's character Drizz't to another author and take the story down whatever path they want.

She was answering a fan question about whether there would ever be a collaboration where Drizz't and Lirael got together. She said no, but pointed out that WotC could do whatever it wanted with those characters.

So I don't think there is much entanglement. WotC owns all of the IP.