SOE making MMO based on India-based Ramayan 3392 A.D. comic book

[Trippy]

Duh, I thought it was its own separate thread.

[Daztur]

What little came before that is mostly boring and dull as hell in it's original version.

Somebody needs to read Egil's Saga:
-Seven year old axe murderers
--Characters recite poetry (about being drunk and vomiting) while being drunk and vomiting on people.
-Main character is running away from his enemies with a chest of silver, realizes that that looks cowardly, turns around and sets their house on fire, bars the door from the outside and kills anyone that attempt to leave.

Boring it is not...

[Baldrake]

This makes me want to go and dig out my old copy of Lord of Light. Zelazny's best book (and that's saying something.)

[pxib]

I have found a preliminary gameplay video.

[Trippy]

That's a fake. Animation is too good to be an SOE game.

[Nebu]

I just don't get the appeal of this whole concept.

Now if we were to take Romans... and put them in space... MONEY HATS!

[WindupAtheist]

At least it's not more fucking HUMAN/ELF/DWARF/ORC horseshit.  Now if they would only use some mechanic besides the usual class/level crap.

[Baldrake]

Urvasi: can ne1 help with dancing macros?
Vishnu: busy with dharma quest
Rāma: im doin jatayus
Urvasi: lol fethers?
Rāma: yeh fethers

[Venkman]

Now if we were to take Romans... and put them in space... MONEY HATS!

Been there.



:)

[Bokonon]

So your point is that if you exclude most of the major works of supernatural content influence from western history it has very few influential works of supernatural content?

I'm not sure what's more 'Swords and Sorcery" than Odysseus cutting the head off Medusa but, well, if it works for you.

That was Perseus, not Odysseus. Odysseus was a griefer.

What can I say about F13?  It's really my favorite website in the entire universe!  I love the irreverent banter and sly wit these keyboard jockeys produce.  And I especially love the staff, they're AWESOME.

[Murgos]

So your point is that if you exclude most of the major works of supernatural content influence from western history it has very few influential works of supernatural content?

I'm not sure what's more 'Swords and Sorcery" than Odysseus cutting the head off Medusa but, well, if it works for you.

That was Perseus, not Odysseus. Odysseus was a griefer.

What can I say about F13?  It's really my favorite website in the entire universe!  I love the irreverent banter and sly wit these keyboard jockeys produce.  And I especially love the staff, they're AWESOME.

Thanks.

[sam, an eggplant]

Urvasi: can ne1 help with dancing macros?
Vishnu: busy with dharma quest
Rāma: im doin jatayus
Urvasi: lol fethers?
Rāma: yeh fethers

That's not how they actually talk. Real indglish is more like:

Neetu Kumar Unnikrishnan: the dancing macro is not in my knowledge. do u you have knowledge of the same?
Chandra Chandrasekar: have u seen the dharma quest is long and so i return to my native place
Sreenivasa Thiyagarajan: will u come back to jatayus and inflict viral fever on the same
Manpreet Kunte: i have seen u are looking for feathers and the same i will update u
Sreenivasa Thiyagarajan: feathers and the same?
Manpreet Kunte: yes will u come back to me and look for feathers and the same?

[Azazel]

I just don't get the appeal of this whole concept.

Now if we were to take Romans... and put them in space... MONEY HATS!

Depends how it's done. And how much other shit you can throw in there.

See: Warhammer: 40,000

[Trippy]

I just don't get the appeal of this whole concept.

Now if we were to take Romans... and put them in space... MONEY HATS!

Depends how it's done. And how much other shit you can throw in there.

See: Warhammer: 40,000

You guys are missing the joke.

See: Imperator

[Azazel]

No, I knew about Imperator. I was just saying that it can work.

[Der Helm]

Odysseus Perseus cutting the head off Medusa ...

edit: How the hell did my post get down here ? I could swear I made it hours ago.

[Murgos]

Odysseus Perseus cutting the head off Medusa ...

Yes, I know.  You were beaten to the punch.  Guess I'll edit my post to keep yet another snarky comment out of the thread.

[Grimwell]

Worlds most populous liberal democracy - yeah who'd want to make games for those guys?

Huge market, growing economy, people not blowing themselves up to appease their God... nope - just not attractive.

Ramayan 3392 A.D. - just a horrible IP that nobody knows about. Nobody!

Indian mythological base for Ramayan 3392 A.D. is boring as Hell. I'd rather stab my eyes out than have to put up with this.

Plus, the artwork is just ass

Honestly, I found out about this game and the relationship when the press release went out and I didn't think the world was going to end.

I know, I know... I'm a shill and it is far easier for some folks to just assume that North America is the only market worth worrying about, and that my employer is just looking for more ways to dry hump the last few pennies out of your wallet. I'm sure things are much easier that way and by now many have forgotten that they are even wearing tinfoil hats.

/popcorn  :-D

[schild]

As far as I knew, India wasn't a hotbed for gamers. More than that, I thought this game was being made for America. Also, as far as I know, like most of that sector of the world, piracy is godawful in India.

Basically, I don't understand what you're arguing.

Well, I see the argument for the mythology. But from what I've read, Indian mythology has nothing on Greek or Roman or even Nordic myth.

Edit: If it is being made for India, and I'm wrong, please don't introduce them to the motherfucking Diku, thx. The last thing I need to see is 20,000,000 indians programming a diku.

[Grimwell]

Based on the press release I don't think it's for the Indian sub-continent alone. That said, I really don't have a damn clue.

My real point was that the Indian mythology and the Ramayana itself is pretty damn interesting, and worth a game. Well that, and all the factors about India being the same as China, there is a lot of money to be made there - especially for the folks who introduce them to the game. Piracy, blah blah blah. MMO's are immune to piracy for the most part. Bootleg the software all you want, you still have to pay to play the game.

Yes, in China there are bootleg servers, thanks to a huge volume of corruption at all levels, but there are also millions and millions of folks playing MMO's that seem commercially viable. India can't be all that different.

Mostly though, I'm just calling folks out for dismissing a culture and mythology that they haven't put any effort into. I worked for an Indian family in the late 1990's and that got me to look at their culture with new eyes -- it's just as crazy as traditional Western Mythological roots, but also just as compelling for different reasons. A Sci-Fi retelling of the Ramayana is interesting enough on it's own. Seeing it go to a game is bonus.

[Grimwell]

Time to show off my Google-fu. Here is a PDF I just found and read that explores Online Gaming in India.

It's a very young market, with many needs as it grows, but it's also a very viable one.

[schild]

When I read young market, I read: Too many poor people, let other people with excess cash invest, piracy will be fucking mad.

At least, with luxuries that are easily duplicated, I read that. Granted, MMOGs aren't exactly EASY to duplicate... like you said, it's bad in China. I expect it worse in India - with far more tech-savvy folks and access to datacenters.

Edit: Remember Grim, I'm the first person to step in when people perceive SOE as doing wrong... but this? THIS? Man, this is as silly as Romans in Space. Sorry. No dice. They don't teach this shit in schools because it's boring. Plain and simple. If Indian mythology was interesting, it wouldn't have taken this long.

[Venkman]

A billion people. Even worst case scenario about the economics over there, I gotta imagine they can drum up a few hundred thousand to play an MMORPG. And who's to say it is or needs to be flat-fee based, or that it has just one single worldwide revenue model, given that it may not be just for one culture?

There's a lot of unknowns. The only important thing I read about this is the new theme. It's already pretty interesting. And while I agree I wouldn't want to see it be EQ1 Ramayan-style, DIKU works.

[Phred]

I just don't get the appeal of this whole concept.

Now if we were to take Romans... and put them in space... MONEY HATS!

Has anyone else read Roger Zelazny's Lord of Light? It's early Indian myth redone in a sf setting. :)

[Trippy]

Third post on this page.

[Yegolev]

Urvasi: can ne1 help with dancing macros?
Vishnu: busy with dharma quest
Rāma: im doin jatayus
Urvasi: lol fethers?
Rāma: yeh fethers

That's not how they actually talk. Real indglish is more like:

Neetu Kumar Unnikrishnan: the dancing macro is not in my knowledge. do u you have knowledge of the same?
Chandra Chandrasekar: have u seen the dharma quest is long and so i return to my native place
Sreenivasa Thiyagarajan: will u come back to jatayus and inflict viral fever on the same
Manpreet Kunte: i have seen u are looking for feathers and the same i will update u
Sreenivasa Thiyagarajan: feathers and the same?
Manpreet Kunte: yes will u come back to me and look for feathers and the same?

I call it hinglish, but otherwise this is spot-on.  Looks like my corporate IM logs.

As for the viability of the IP, I haven't looked into it, but I figure if Smedley thinks it's a good idea then it has some legs.  If I had a concern, it would be the ability of India to support the infrastructure for lots of people to play a MOG, but from what I have heard things are less third-world in the urban areas than, say, ten years ago.  Still plenty of room for development, though.  The comparison to China as a market is probably a good one, as far as I know.

As for what's boring and what's not, the myths I know about are more boring than ones I have not, I expect, nevermind the whole elf/dwarf/hobbit thing.

[Murgos]

The comparison to China as a market is probably a good one, as far as I know.

India is probably a much better market than China for launching a new venture ATM.  Every time I read about business in China I come away with an impression that they've collectively watched one too many gangster movies.

See, we're moving in here.  And there ain't noting yous can do about it.  See?
</cagney>

[sam, an eggplant]

There's no "probably" about it. China is unbelievably corrupt; if you try to launch a business there you will have major, major problems. Even with reasonably trustworthy natives assisting your efforts, they'll still lie, cheat, connive, and outright steal whenever possible. And it'll all be technically legal, and you'll have no recourse but to grin and bear it.

India, on the other hand, is a well structured democratic society. They have their issues, but they all speak english (to some extent) and there are commonalities in the culture. It's not easy, but you can work with them. China, not so much.

[UnSub]

If you had the time and money, India, China or Russia are the three markets that have probably the largest growth potential and the internet infrastructure already in place (I'll look it up if I have to, but that's my gut instinct). Sure, they have a lot of development needed, but # people + capable infrastructure > mature MMO markets in terms of potential. And of those three, I'd take India for the lack of corruption - sure, religiously and politically conservative, but you aren't going to have the government and / or organised crime strong arming you.

Lots of poor people? Sure. Lots of rich people too, and an emerging middle class.

[Yegolev]

The reach of the Intertubes into India would be a bigger concern for me, along with the supporting infrastructure like power and such.  But like I implied, I don't deal with our Indian offices anymore so things may have dramatically improved over the past few years.  I'll say that we didn't and probably still don't have a hard network line to our office in Pune.  We travel on wire to Singapore, then bounce off a satellite to get there.  Thankfully we retired the one machine I had to support there.  I would hope that major cities would be better connected, but who's to say?

[sam, an eggplant]

Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, and Bangalore are all pretty well connected. Outside of the cities they live in mud huts, which don't get DSL.

[Amaron]

They need to change the name.  Reading about the IP it sounds like they've removed a lot of the "uncool" portions but nobody is going to know that stuff has been removed when the name is like that.

I'm not really sure I agree with Schild that all of India's history is uninteresting but he's 100% right that it's widely regarded as "uncool" and when it's so uncool people are not likely to give it a chance.  As far as I see it if they don't play up the sci-fi aspects in the US targeted advertising and play down the Indian angle it could suffer the same fate as Ryzom.  That's only a guess but personally I'm still a little confused on why they'd use such an IP when so many better ones exist?

Then again having good IP clearly doesn't work for SOE in the first place.

[Mrbloodworth]

Well, being a partial student (very light student) of Indian philosophy, this intrigues me. Could be very fresh, or, it could be just another MMO with an Indian skin.