Harry Potter Online

[Matt]

Not specifically Harry Potter, but does anyone else think J.K. Rowling's wizard world is perfect for an MMRPG?

You could start out at your sorting in Hogwarts, where you enter a house. From there the game could enter a real time scenario. You are in Hogwarts and forced to stay on the Hogwarts grounds for certain times of the year (September through Mid-December, January through Mid-June) and on scheduled days 4 times during the "school year" there are Hogsmeade visits.

While at Hogwarts, you level up through various means...tests, classes, extra-cirrcular like Quidditch or Gobstones, and various small school adventures. Once you reach a certain level, you will advance to the next "year". In "years" five and seven, you are able to take OWLs and NEWTs which will determine your character's possible future upon leaving Hogwarts (Certain scores qualify you for certain jobs). Once you complete your NEWTs you can graduate from Hogwarts. From there on you can choose a career (you can work for various departments in the Ministry of Magic, gringotts, open a shop, raise magical creatures, a healer for St.Mungos, a professional Quidditch player, etc). But keep in mind, your performance in school effects what you are eligible for. A person who achieved 12 NEWTs but never played Quidditch could not be a professional Quidditch player, however they may land a prominent job with the Ministry of Magic. At the same time a person who was excellent at Quidditch but didn't do well in classes could not be an Auror or Healer.

Upon graduation the entire Wizard World and various areas of England are open to you. Wizard villages become avaliable such as Godric's Hollow, Ottery St. Catchpole, Hogsmeade, Diagon Alley, as do various locations like Gringotts, St. Mungos, and The Ministry. From there on it plays like a more traditional MMRPG. Various quests are avaliable through your job and other sources (Dumbledore for example, may ask you to do something for an errand, but at the same time, you can be a dark wizard and do errands for Lucius Malfoy).

I think it has a lot of potential. What do you guys think?

[Drizzle]

I like the idea, but...

Originally Posted by Matt

(Dumbledore for example, may ask you to do something for an errand, but at the same time, you can be a dark wizard and do errands for Lucius Malfoy).

I think you mean Voldemort.

[343-GS]

The only problem with a game that deep and complex is I'd begin to neglect my real life to live in that life. I'm all for it. It would be incredible.

[Matt]

Originally Posted by Drizzle

I like the idea, but...



I think you mean Voldemort.

No, I met Lucius. I think the optimal time to set the game would be shortly after Voldemort's first fall and the deaths of Lily and James Potter. That way there wouldn't be any major characters at Hogwarts outside of professors and it wouldn't be able to toy with cannon too much.

[Matt]

I think another cool addition to this game would be, that at the end of each "year" at Hogwarts, before you can move on to the next, you have to complete a quest, which would result in the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor leaving, and there would be a new one each "year".

[A.J.Rimmer(BSC)]

That'd be pretty good. Awesome if you were a seasoned adult during the second coming of old Voldy. Then you could choose Death Eater or OotP in some non-canon battles.

[ManX07]

now i would surely by this game if it ever came out

[ProjectPat2280]

Those are some really cool ideas, altho im not that big of a fan of Harry Potter, i mean iv seen the films but thats it. But could that work? I mean it seems like there is a TON of stuff involved, and if it could work why havent we seen something like it? Or maybe we have and iv completely missed it.

[Matt]

Originally Posted by ProjectPat2280

Those are some really cool ideas, altho im not that big of a fan of Harry Potter, i mean iv seen the films but thats it. But could that work? I mean it seems like there is a TON of stuff involved, and if it could work why havent we seen something like it? Or maybe we have and iv completely missed it.

I just think Rowling tries to be very careful about licensing out her properties. It is one thing to license out adaptations, but to license something so open ended...I don't think she wants anyone else creating cannon for her characters but her.

[Speedball]

Hmm...as long as EA isn't involved, I'd be all for it.
If they want a big game, they could make a model of London to expand on Hogwarts, Hogsmeade, and Diagon Alley.
Hell...They could make a model of all of England, that way the Weasley household and Godric's Hollow could be visited.
Once you leave the safe areas, you have to be careful where you cast spells.
It could add a whole new dimension to the game.

[KALEL114]

It would work and I would play, but as mentioned earlier, Rowling would not allow it. IMO.

[A.J.Rimmer(BSC)]

We can dream though.

[Sam Fisher]

cough"Matrix Online"cough

[WhatsHisFace]

Why do a bunch of twenty-somethings want a Harry Potter MMO?

[Wolfwood]

Originally Posted by WhatsHisFace

Why do a bunch of twenty-somethings want a Harry Potter MMO?

It's no more creepy then a bunch of fat ass 40 year olds running around as Night Elf chicks in WoW.

[Grievous]

a game that lets you create your character then enter Hogwarts get a house and make friends in the game like Harry and Luna, play sports and get to class ontime. I like the idea.

[GL1]

Interesting... I always thought a high-school based MMO could be awesome. Hogwarts Online fits the bill. While being an adult in HP's world sounds cool, I think centering on the school experience as the books do, would be wiser, and more feasable, since mapping all of England is kinda out of the question...

The starting point of entering Hogwarts and getting a basic tutorial in the courtyard is cool. Then you go in and you get sorted by the hat, based on the skills that you chose when you made your character (intelligence, willpower, agility, sturdiness, magic potential, whatever)...

From there the whole school opens up, a massive, massive place with hundreds of rooms, and hundreds of secrets to explore, beyond just the ones shown in the movie. Unique items abound and secret chambers beckon with new challenges.

Each class has its own challenges, both as a means of gaining skillpoints in the areas taught AND as a minigame with leaderboards and rankings for skilled players. Some classes (Herbology, Potions, Charms) offer students increasingly powerful items. Some classes offer unique (Hermoine-like) options in certian areas and situations of the HP world (Astronomy, History of Magic, Muggle Studies, Ancient Runes, Arithmancy), and some classes just teach incredible spell trees (Defense Against the Dark Arts, Occulemency, Transfiguration), while others provide cool mounts (Broomstick riding, Care of Magical Creatures)

Of course the Quiddich field is always open and wizard duels and tournaments are always going on in the dueling halls (players matched based on year and school). Students can go for the extra goodies/games/uniques in their House Common areas, store things in their chest by their bed or what have you.

In the MMORPG, every Three months counts for a "Year" and while getting older can be automatic, advancing isn't. Players form friendships and posses as they mauraud through the challenging and sometimes dangerous of world of Hogwarts, the often dangerous surrounding countryside, and various hotspots of Wizarding England.

Setting it pre Book 1 seems wise as well... As the game expands, Adult Wizarding can be added on by expansions... perhaps even rival schools. Big events include yearly graudations/tests as well as Quidditch Tournaments, invasions/takeovers of the school and such.

just thinkin