A Pokemon MMO; a way to solve all of the series's problems.

[GamemasterAnthony]

I actually talked with a Gamestop employee about something like this, and we both agreed that if there ever was a Pokémon MMO it would probably be the one that would finally unseat WoW from the MMORPGer throne due to the vast fanbase it already has.

Personally, I'm surprised Nintendo and Game Freak aren't considering one. In terms of potential cash cows, this one's so immense it could probably fund both Nintendo AND Game Freak to the point where their employee's retirement bonuses include a villa in Monte Carlo. True there will be balance issues, all MMOs have them in one form or another, but if Nintendo/Game Freak don't even consider making it despite those issues they'd be fools for not doing so.

 

[ntw3001]

It'd be excellent, but Nintendo would never make it. To make it decent it would have to be on PC, which they're not into. More importantly, the expected playerbase for an MMO is nothing like Pokemon's target audience. They're not marketing to the 18+ audience. That said, if Lego Universe is successful it might give them ideas. I wish they'd market Pokemon to people my age [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDX1m0Y2Vkg]

For people nitpicking specific mechanics: They don't actually have to copy the formula of the handheld games. There are hundreds of different monsters, players can catch the monsters, the monsters fight and get more powerful. There's plenty to do with that premise.

 

[GraveyardTricks]

I think the closest we will get will be Pokemon Crater, I used to go on it before it got closed down, but I think it is back up now?

 

[oplinger]

How can they milk you dry with an MMO? It's not as easy.

??? WHAT ??? So you're unsure of how the MMO format can milk you dry. A little math for you.

New pokemon game, we'll say every 6 months. $40
MMO Subscription Fee $15 dollars a month.

What you will be doing in a month after starting an MMO - killing boars.
What you will be doing in a month after starting Pokemon - cracking out on endgame minmaxing and teambuilding to play against other players or the battle tower.

Nintendo doesn't like the online multiplayer space very much. Pokemon loses some of it's youngster appeal if kids can easily run across foulmouthed poke'masters.

Though I'd play the hell out of it for the record. Furthermore no the Japanese release does not have an english language setting on it. Friend of mine has Japanese SoulSilver, as he speaks japanese, but they use alot of BS japanese in pokemon games and memorizing all the new names is hard. So he checked for a english language setting. No dice.

It's not as easy. Imagine the work that'd have to go into an MMO, the work put into making the engine, netcode, getting the right balance between what fans want. just the costs of making an MMO that'd be worth playing would be much more than creating a few bullshit pokemon and releasing a "brand new" single player experience. They make more money, it's much easier to bleed you dry that way. Plus 15 bucks a month won't bleed you dry. Ever. Unless you're homeless or something. plus you'll get bored with it sooner or later, and won't care. Every 6 months for 50 bucks? Hell you'll be more than willing to heave cash in their faces. And many people do.

 

[TerranReaper]

A Pokemon MMO already exists [http://www.pokemonworldonline.net]

In stark contrast.... http://shoddybattle.com/
If a MMO was to be made, it needs to be regulated so shit will be balanced. Or just use the tier list that Smogon has made to regulate the uses.

Except Smogon is bullshit and they'd have to massively redo the mechanics for an MMO to work anyway.

I don't see how Smogon is bullshit, but I do somewhat agree with the redoing of the mechanics for it to work, such as IVs.

 

[Cheesepower5]

A Pokemon MMO already exists [http://www.pokemonworldonline.net]

In stark contrast.... http://shoddybattle.com/
If a MMO was to be made, it needs to be regulated so shit will be balanced. Or just use the tier list that Smogon has made to regulate the uses.

Except Smogon is bullshit and they'd have to massively redo the mechanics for an MMO to work anyway.

I don't see how Smogon is bullshit, but I do somewhat agree with the redoing of the mechanics for it to work, such as IVs.

Just in the way they organize it, they favour gameplay quirks that you can abuse to make an essentially invincible team but then forget that you can do that with any pokemon, even level one rattatas. Plus the community is rather douchey.

And turn-based would kind of suck for an MMO.

"It is Dragonslayer_69's Turn"
"Dragonslayer_69 is AFK"
FFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-

 

[HentMas]

Well, to be honest, a good Pokémon MMO would make my pants drop to the floor so hard that I'd need a large team of contracters to fix the house afterwards, which is a good thing.

However, they'd need to adjust the combat a wee bit. Do you take the role of the individual pokémon in battle? Are you only the trainer issuing commands? Still turnbased?

And other aspects; Endgame content for instance, just the Elite Four? Pokémon League? Legendary Pokémon? Should you be able to catch said pokémon? That would certainly lead to a potentially broken gaming experience.

Level up system? What perks would be attained when levelling up besides new moves? How would they balance x amounts of pokémon? Quests?

There are many aspects that need to fit with the Pokémon universe, but I would like nothing more to see a well done MMO with Pokémon. There have been a few tries to incorporate multiplayer into the standard games, but it hasn't worked at all.

you are thinking World Of Warcraft, and that is a big mistake

every pokemon is cachable, with Legendary ones of a %15 chance of finding them and a %5 chance of getting them in the wild, scripted scenes and battles are NOT catchable, releasing the pokemon in the wild after certain things have being met, like explorig the whole volcano for moltress, or disabling the locks in the energy plant for zapdos, this quests are not "given" but are inherent in the map design, so it looks like an "accident" when they happen (you jump and slip a rock creating a cave in that releases moltres and such)

leveling is pointless because the "point" of the game is not "LVLing" its to "cach ´em all" so forget about that mechanic for the trainer and focus on the Pokemon, current lvling system works, but i think it might need a few tweeks, the "badges" are a good way to make something out of it, but i think they should be given more things like being able to carry 4 pokemon (up to 6) and such... maybe some stat upgrades?? like with the leaf badge your grass types have more power or something?

completelly live action battles, with you on the ability of telling the pokemon which moves he haves to use while he "auto fights" and "dodges", giving you 4 special moves besides the "normal attack" and you being able to say "keep attaking" or "retreat" (not escape) related ones giving you more choize as to how to fight obvious exceptions of course, like "normal" pokemon having a different set of attacks and different way of fighting, giving you more controll of his movements, combos for figthing pokemon (quick time events for successfull combo or something), casting times for "elemental" and "psiquic" pokemon, stuff like that kind of a tank/healer/DPS combo depending on pokemon abilities

6 pokemon per character is OK, follow the whole "rock-paper-sissors" battle scheme, and now the "SPEC" potions would have a point of existing besides a cool item in a shop (the ones that raise something on your stats for the duration of the battle)

quests?? find 5 new pokemon in this area for the pokedex (not catch thats entirely up to the trainer)/catch such mildly rare pokemon/fight off the team rocket/look for the missing vulpix etc etc etc, there are HUNDREDS of things that could be implemmented right from the games

endgame, of course!! battling the elite 4!! but remember, there is more than just one leage, Johto, Kanto and others are there too, so that would be kind of cool

it will work, considering how people like to collect stuff and level things up, one could always "start again" without creating an "alt" they just had to leave the lvlcapped pokemon on the PC and start catching a new set! and it would take away the "grinding" aspect of most MMO´s... it would still be there, but it would be to become more powerfull, not just "get 5 skulls" and that silly stuff, but more of "YES!! MY VULPIX IS LVL 5!!!! COOL!!! I GOT A NEW MOVE!!!!"

 

[Chibz]

Fact is Pokemon isn't really based on the story. Or exploration anymore. It's more of a competitive game now. Oddly.

 

[TerranReaper]

A Pokemon MMO already exists [http://www.pokemonworldonline.net]

In stark contrast.... http://shoddybattle.com/
If a MMO was to be made, it needs to be regulated so shit will be balanced. Or just use the tier list that Smogon has made to regulate the uses.

Except Smogon is bullshit and they'd have to massively redo the mechanics for an MMO to work anyway.

I don't see how Smogon is bullshit, but I do somewhat agree with the redoing of the mechanics for it to work, such as IVs.

Just in the way they organize it, they favour gameplay quirks that you can abuse to make an essentially invincible team but then forget that you can do that with any pokemon, even level one rattatas. Plus the community is rather douchey.

And turn-based would kind of suck for an MMO.

"It is Dragonslayer_69's Turn"
"Dragonslayer_69 is AFK"
FFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-

Elaborate a bit more on gameplay quirks, because you can counter a lot of them unless I'm mistaken on what you might be talking about.

Also, turn-based games in general did fix the problem with people taking too long to do their turn, such as time limits. Although how long the time limit should be, is dependent on how long it takes the average player to make a decision, personally, I wouldn't say it's that much.

 

[Doctor Glocktor]

The only 'problems' with the series are the fans.

 

[Jabberwock xeno]

A Pokemon MMO already exists [http://www.pokemonworldonline.net]

In stark contrast.... http://shoddybattle.com/
If a MMO was to be made, it needs to be regulated so shit will be balanced. Or just use the tier list that Smogon has made to regulate the uses.

Except Smogon is bullshit and they'd have to massively redo the mechanics for an MMO to work anyway.

I don't see how Smogon is bullshit, but I do somewhat agree with the redoing of the mechanics for it to work, such as IVs.

Meh, I feel that by limitn themselves so throguhyl by stats, and banning certai pokemon, they take the fun out.

 

[Jaime_Wolf]

I have a few grievances with the Pokemon series:

1. Having japan get the games a full year or so before the US. Why? don't the Japanese versions have an English language setting anyways? Translating does not take that long, even if it does not.

2. Having event Pokemon be only in X country or location, self explanatory.

3. Not letting us import our save from the previous game all the damn time.

We beat the elite four and became the champion, again.

I'm tired of it, at least give us the excuse that you can't have Pokemon go between regions, and have use be the SAME guy as the last game!

You know what would solve these in one fell swoop? an MMO.

It'd solve every damned problem, the series already has MMO like gameplay and world setup, so why not?

It'd be PERFECT!

Thoughts?

Though not really for most of the reasons you mentioned, this seems like a BRILLIANT idea.

The games are already moving somewhat in that direction with the lobby room things in the last few and I think it'd be a really interesting idea.

To really succeed though, they'd need to keep the graphics. An MMO with simple, overhead view and graphics like that would actually be unique rather than just another MMO. They'd also need to resist the urge to try to "rethink" pokemon as an MMO -- just take what's already there and perhaps extend it in a few ways. Hell, an MMO using a DS would be the smartest move, though I doubt they'd be able to resist the urge to make it a single player game with some MMO elements when connected (which would probably be bad).

 

[TerranReaper]

A Pokemon MMO already exists [http://www.pokemonworldonline.net]

In stark contrast.... http://shoddybattle.com/
If a MMO was to be made, it needs to be regulated so shit will be balanced. Or just use the tier list that Smogon has made to regulate the uses.

Except Smogon is bullshit and they'd have to massively redo the mechanics for an MMO to work anyway.

I don't see how Smogon is bullshit, but I do somewhat agree with the redoing of the mechanics for it to work, such as IVs.

Meh, I feel that by limitn themselves so throguhyl by stats, and banning certai pokemon, they take the fun out.

Well, they don't really limit themselves with stats because they technically make the most out of what the pokemon is good at. For example, a pokemon that has a high base stat attack will be used for sweeping (DPSing in a more broad term) and therefore will have people using that pokemon to mainly increase its attack stats. It's basically using what the pokemon is good at doing as opposed to making it a tank where it might have poor stats for that purpose.

In terms of banning certain pokemon, it's fairly lenient for the amount of pokemon that currently are in the games (Around 25 banned, depending on how you play). They ban legendaries, which are designed to be a lot better than most and even then, certain legendaries can still be used. But the ones that are banned are mainly the ones that have very little to no counters in a team composition. An example would be Mewtwo or Mew, both having amazing stats and amazing movepools respectively. Since that is the case, almost everyone will use those two in their teams when playing against other players. What this leads to would be overcentralizing the (online)game to countering those two due to how good they are, teams would focus on solely on countering it or using it, which leaves very little diversity since mostly everything else wouldn't be as good to use.

 

[Eri]

Pokemon is one of those series I liked when I first played it but after I stopped and think about it long enough, I just couldn't play it anymore. Basically, when you make the mental connection between Pokemon battles and cock fights....yeah...

You know, except for that fact that Pokemon are sentient creatures and will willingly fight...

 

[Cheesepower5]

A Pokemon MMO already exists [http://www.pokemonworldonline.net]

In stark contrast.... http://shoddybattle.com/
If a MMO was to be made, it needs to be regulated so shit will be balanced. Or just use the tier list that Smogon has made to regulate the uses.

Except Smogon is bullshit and they'd have to massively redo the mechanics for an MMO to work anyway.

I don't see how Smogon is bullshit, but I do somewhat agree with the redoing of the mechanics for it to work, such as IVs.

Just in the way they organize it, they favour gameplay quirks that you can abuse to make an essentially invincible team but then forget that you can do that with any pokemon, even level one rattatas. Plus the community is rather douchey.

And turn-based would kind of suck for an MMO.

"It is Dragonslayer_69's Turn"
"Dragonslayer_69 is AFK"
FFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-

Elaborate a bit more on gameplay quirks, because you can counter a lot of them unless I'm mistaken on what you might be talking about.

Also, turn-based games in general did fix the problem with people taking too long to do their turn, such as time limits. Although how long the time limit should be, is dependent on how long it takes the average player to make a decision, personally, I wouldn't say it's that much.

Such as using "x" item and "y" EVs/IVs and if you use anything else you're crap. Everyone uses Blissey, everyone uses Salamance, everyone uses Infernape and if you don't use stealth rock you're ten or under. It just encourages everyone to use the exact same teams with the exact same moves and the exact same stats. And they base the tiers on usage, of course nothing's gonna change until the generation leap.

 

[TerranReaper]

A Pokemon MMO already exists [http://www.pokemonworldonline.net]

In stark contrast.... http://shoddybattle.com/
If a MMO was to be made, it needs to be regulated so shit will be balanced. Or just use the tier list that Smogon has made to regulate the uses.

Except Smogon is bullshit and they'd have to massively redo the mechanics for an MMO to work anyway.

I don't see how Smogon is bullshit, but I do somewhat agree with the redoing of the mechanics for it to work, such as IVs.

Just in the way they organize it, they favour gameplay quirks that you can abuse to make an essentially invincible team but then forget that you can do that with any pokemon, even level one rattatas. Plus the community is rather douchey.

And turn-based would kind of suck for an MMO.

"It is Dragonslayer_69's Turn"
"Dragonslayer_69 is AFK"
FFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-

Elaborate a bit more on gameplay quirks, because you can counter a lot of them unless I'm mistaken on what you might be talking about.

Also, turn-based games in general did fix the problem with people taking too long to do their turn, such as time limits. Although how long the time limit should be, is dependent on how long it takes the average player to make a decision, personally, I wouldn't say it's that much.

Such as using "x" item and "y" EVs/IVs and if you use anything else you're crap. Everyone uses Blissey, everyone uses Salamance, everyone uses Infernape and if you don't use stealth rock you're ten or under. It just encourages everyone to use the exact same teams with the exact same moves and the exact same stats. And they base the tiers on usage, of course nothing's gonna change until the generation leap.

Salamence is banned/placed into "uber tier" while Infernape and Blissey have enough counters to not make them be placed into Uber. The only thing I agree with you would IVs and Stealth rocks, since IVs are unnecessarily complicated and stealth rocks is just bullshit considering the meta-game. I mean, don't get me wrong, Smogon does provide you with a setup for each pokemon that you can use to some extent of success, there is room for variety though. If everyone used the same sets, someone can do something unpredictable to throw people off, it's how a meta-game works.

 

[HellspawnCandy]

MMO with micro-transactions would be an insane way for Nintendo to make money. Legendary Pokemon cost $4.99 and $0.99 to revive. $0.49 rides on the St. Anne or you can walk, but it takes forever. Or buy tickets in bulk for $4.99 for 12.

Not to mention every item ever would be on sale. Want a Poke Ball? Use in game money. Want a Great Ball? Use in game money or $0.10 each. Want an Ultra Ball? Lots of in game money or $0.25 each.

I hope Nintendo didn't read that.

 

[Cheesepower5]

Salamence is banned/placed into "uber tier" while Infernape and Blissey have enough counters to not make them be placed into Uber. The only thing I agree with you would IVs and Stealth rocks, since IVs are unnecessarily complicated and stealth rocks is just bullshit considering the meta-game. I mean, don't get me wrong, Smogon does provide you with a setup for each pokemon that you can use to some extent of success, there is room for variety though. If everyone used the same sets, someone can do something unpredictable to throw people off, it's how a meta-game works.

Oh, he is? Replace him with Dragonite then, I guess. And of course they have counters, everything has counters. Besides, if you really want to find good set-ups for your 'Mons, Serebii's got a lot more variety and a lot less douchey elitists. Don't get me wrong, not everyone on Smogon's a dick and it's not entirely useless. It just drains a lot of the fun out of playing online for a lot of people.

 

[SturmDolch]

I hope Nintendo didn't read that.

*evil laugh*

And you shall only see other players if you have their friend codes and pay $4.99 for the FRIENDFINDER item!

 

[Jabberwock xeno]

I hope Nintendo didn't read that.

*evil laugh*

And you shall only see other players if you have their friend codes and pay $4.99 for the FRIENDFINDER item!

*shiver*

I'd still pay for it though.