D&D 4E Bioware working on 4e Forgotten Realms MMO

[JVisgaitis]

I'm in need of a new potential rumor to discuss since the speculation on the release of 4e is over and talking about 5e at this point would be just plain dumb. Let me start this by saying this is all pure speculation. I know Bioware has been hard at work on a new MMO for at least a year. From all accounts that I've read on the interwebs, this MMO is apparently story driven and supposed to utilize a huge license (so huge, EA dropped $860M).

Bioware is no stranger to D&D and Forgotten Realms. They've released Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights with critical success. And what bigger license is there for an MMO than the Forgotten Realms? When you look at the history of the Realms in video games, Wikipedia lists 33 games! That's pretty insane and the only fantasy property that I can possibly think of that would be worth $860M.

According to this post from Code Monkey Publishing:

I've been sitting on [the announcement of 4th Edition] for 18mos now, it's released (6 months earlier than I was told *shrug* whatever), so I can at least talk about it a little bit more.

So we know Wizards does have NDAs with other companies concerning 4th Edition for at least a year and a half, and Bioware's Austin Studio was formed about a year ago... Coincidence?

Then we have this excerpt from an article on Gamespot:

GS: Now one of the main reasons EA gave for acquiring BioWare/Pandemic was the upcoming massively multiplayer online role-playing game you're developing in Austin. After listening to John's comments in the conference call, one walks away with the impression that said MMORPG is a wholly owned IP of BioWare--and therefore EA. Is that correct?

RM: We haven't revealed any details about the game. It's super secret right now. It's got all the characters and story arc that BioWare is known for, and I wish I could say more. It's the best of breed of MMO, with the magic BioWare's associated with, and our goal is to make sure people can't stop playing it.

GS: Right, but judging by John's enthusiasm, it sounds pretty safe to say the MMO is an all-original IP. Would that be fair to say?

RM: [Long pause] We haven't revealed any details about the game. It's super secret right now. It's--

GS: OK, OK, I get it.

What would be the problem if they just said yeah, its our own IP?

Then we also have this bit from Morrus' interview at Gencon:

Morrus: What are the first video games we'll see using the 4th Edition mechanics? Do you expect Turbine’s Dungeons & Dragons Online and BioWare’s Neverwinter Nights toolset to adopt 4th Edition?

Chris Perkins: No licensing plans have been announced (emphasis mine) at this time, and nothing is likely to be announced until after the 4th Edition rules are finalized.

Granted, its all in how you hear something, but that doesn't sound like no we're not working on anything. That sounds like yeah, we have stuff in the pipeline. You'll find out when the rules are finalized which would be about now according to Mike Mearl's recent Blog post.

One of the D&D designers also mentioned that the rules for Fourth Edition would adapt very well to a video game which I thought was odd. If someone can find me the reference, please let me know.

Lastly, there is this article I found on Ten Ton Hammer that pretty much surmises the same thing that I am.

My parting thoughts are that the Forgotten Realms is obviously going through a HUGE shake up from all accounts from Wizards. How better to bring this to the D&D fans then with an MMO from a proven company like Bioware? How better to solidify the future of D&D and bring 4th Edition to the masses? I'm not a big MMO player myself and an MMO will never take the place of D&D. However, I would definitely be interested in playing an MMO based on the Realms. That would totally rock!

This post will make me either a brilliant genius or a total idiot. Hopefully its the former. What are your thoughts on this?

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

I certainly hope there is a new D&D video game released not too long after 4E. but I fervently hope the following is true:

1. It's NOT an MMO. There are solid MMOs; D&D does not need to be one and take on WoW head-to-head (the attempts thus far have failed).
2. It is PC-based. No console-only games, please.
3. It is a single player, party-based game.
4. It is set in FR -- perhaps the Dalelands, which we haven't visited since the Gold Box Games.

I'd love to see something that reaches the scale of Baldur's Gate, with updated rules, and makes the most of D&D's turn-based combat the way ToEE did. But I also know I'm in the minority and doomed to be mistaken.

 

[Doug McCrae]

And what bigger license is there for an MMO than the Forgotten Realms?

Harry Potter

 

[JVisgaitis]

Harry Potter

As a property its certainly bigger. As a fantasy MMO? I'd definitely give that to the Realms. From Gamasutra (and yeah its two years old):

The survey found that the typical MMO player is a male between the ages of 13 and 34, with a mean age of 27. About half of them were heavy users, playing over 18 hours a week, and half more casual players who put in only 10-12 hours.


You think an MMO based on Harry Potter can appeal to that age bracket? Sorry, I don't think so.

 

[Green Knight]

This is funny, cause I was playing Mask of the Betrayer earlier today, and I was sitting here wishing that there was a Forgotten Realms MMORPG.

I tried D&D Online, and while it had some things I liked, overall it was lacking. Starting with the setting. I got nothing against Eberron, but for a D&D MMO I'd prefer a setting which is more quintessentially D&D, and Forgotten Realms or Greyhawk would be better examples of that.

This is all just supposition on your part, yeah, but a Forgotten Realms MMO would be a dream come true. Hopefully it's something that'll materialize one day. I've been itching to find a good fantasy MMO to play (I played World of Warcraft for a while and I got sick of it). And if it's set in Forgotten Realms, well, that'd be the icing on the delicious cake. We'll see. Just hope that if they do ever make a Realms MMO, it's good. Something that'll play more like the upcoming Age of Conan game rather than DDO or WoW.

 

[KoshPWNZYou]

Any other NWN players getting the sense that this is the 'Secret Project' the Ossian Studio guys have been teasing for a few months now? I think one of them actually mentioned an NDA as the reason they couldn't reveal details...

Luke Scull has written the most about the project (all vague 'I can't say anything yet' stuff, of course).

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

You think an MMO based on Harry Potter can appeal to that age bracket? Sorry, I don't think so.

Harry Potter books have both a kids' cover and adult cover in Britain. So yeah, there are a lot of adults who like Harry Potter. (Although the adult fans in Britain seem rather shy about that fact for some reason.)

I would put Harry Potter and LotR ahead of the Forgotten Realms, myself, but it's certainly a strong fantasy IP, no question about it.

 

[Darth Shoju]

I had heard that Bioware was working on the next Star Wars MMO, meant to ultimately replace the somewhat-lackluster Star Wars Galaxies.

 

[KoshPWNZYou]

Looking back at some of Scull's past blog posts, I see some interesting patterns. After several months of saying nothing about the project, he goes into 'an announcement is imminent' mode on September 2, the first post he makes after the 4e announcement.

Plus 'unforeseen hurdles' were said to have delayed the announcement around September 20, about the time Grand History was released and we started learning about the changes to the Realms.

I'm reading too much into it, aren't I?

 

[Festivus]

Dragon Age is the only wholly owned Bioware property in the fantasy realm that I was aware of... something I am hoping isn't killed with this purchase.

The MMO has been in development for some time, but I never heard them mention it being wholly owned IP, nor have I heard what genre it was going to be. Star Wars might be a possibility, but then it could be a Mass Effect MMORPG. Has there been any good sci-fi/space type MMORPGs?