Game of Thrones: the Next Great MMO?

by Tom Diedrichs

You may or may not know, but there is an amazing show out called Game of Thrones. Before I proceed, I'll give you a brief summary of the show. It deals with the 7 different kingdoms of a fantasy realm. They are all battling fora special throne which has rule over all the other kingdoms. There has already been a Game of Thrones game released last year in May. To sum that game up, DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME! Just from the 15 minutes I played, I almost threw my controller at the wall. It had nothing to do with the show I had come to know and love. I was playing as characters I have never seen from the show, playing a story was very convoluted and confusing. They decided to go for the whole "side-story" idea, which just didn't make sense. It seemed kind of like they created the story as a simple cash-in.

Fortunately there is hope, Game of Thrones fans! A new browser based MMORPG, called "Game of Thrones: The Seven Kingdoms" is coming out towards the end of 2013. So far all we know is that the game is being made by Bigpoint, Art Plant, and HBO. There is a small 42 second trailer that shows a tiny bit of gameplay but not much more. I'm going to expand on the potential of the game and how I feel it could bring a unique, fun experience to all gamers and Game of Thrones fans.

One of the best things I feel they could do for this game would be to make it so you can choose which kingdom you would like to be apart of. Each kingdom could have their own strength and weaknesses.  This would almost like choosing a race in other MMOs. If you play as the Lannister's, you could receive more money from completing quests. The trait could be called "A Lannister always pays his debts: +20% more gold when completing quests." One of my favorite features out of any MMORPG was in "Lord of the Rings Online." You could only select certain hair styles and colors depending on what area your character was from. Lannister's typically have blonder hair, and the Starks have darker colored hair (red, brown, and black) and darker colored eye colors. I believe that expanding on the rich history of Game of Thrones could add an extra dimension to the game, which could set it apart from other games in the genre.

I feel that HBO, Bigpoint, and Art Plant have a lot of hype to live up too. But it could be quite an accomplishment if they can pull it off. Game of Thrones brings a fun new atmosphere to the MMORPG genre, and hopefully the game can live up to the quality of the TV show.