Which canon property/setting would be good for a MU* ?

[surreality]

@faraday I think you're almost safe with an either/or here -- system or setting as one people are familiar with. Or, at least, those seem like a far minimized risk. I'm sure KD got more people than they might have simply because they used nWoD as the base system, they just scrapped the world. Similarly, you could have a familiar world and a new system and be about on par there.

I had enough references to stuff people are (or could easily become) familiar with that I wasn't too worried on people grasping the vibe of the setting I had been working on, on the most basic level. Everyone's probably seen at least one Pirates of the Caribbean movie, or some bit of Black Sails or similar shows or movies. 'Pirates, 1715, just if all those creepy legends about sea monsters and ghost ships and all the rest were real'. Not too hard to grasp the basic concept, which felt safe enough on that front. On the era front, it would have had a basic history primer section for folks who wanted to work recent historical events (or be from a place and know what the deal was with said place) with links for further reading if people really wanted to dig in to that aspect more without clogging the wiki with it, and so on, with notations re: anything that diverted from actual history so it wouldn't trip folks up. (This is in addition to 'here are all the cool things about this imaginary setting we made up for you to knock around in' specific setting files.)

@Thenomain I am still a big fan of the 'mission statement' concept on the front page.

Paragraph about intended game tone (sandbox level, metaplot or not, PvE or PvP, competitive or collaborative), paragraph about setting, paragraph about game system. That's 'this is what the main page should be' to me, at least, and it should provide the basic information that would let a potential player have a fairly good idea, at a glance, of whether or not that game is likely to be fun for them or not, based on what they do or don't like in a game.

This is what I'm generally talking about re: 'at least skim something to get a basic idea' -- but you're absolutely right that people need to present this right up front, square one, and not enough people do. (I still think Reno1 did a fantastic job of this, and @tragedyjones deserves props for that.)

Below that, a list of links to basic quickstart materials, walk-throughs, and essentials like policy, setting, and game system info overviews for folks who want to look further before making a final decision.

This crosses over with the 'data organization' thing, but each of those sections, IMO, deserves a 'summary' page, organizing the links to further information in one tidy spot as a quick overview, with links to the further details on these things from there, rather than piling everything into a page and expecting people to slog through it all in one go.

[Jennkryst]

We drifted from the original post JUST A TAD. So, back to it...

Defenders put me back in the mood that Iron Fist did... bring on the L5R Wuxia shenanigans!

[TimmyZ]

@Jennkryst I'd be interested if someone worked the old Dragonfist (2e D&D free pdf release pre3e) martial arts action bits into any system regardless of the theme/fluff. We had fun with just the combat bits in that system.

[Lithium]

I think a John Wick game would be cool. Lots of different systems you can use, I just really love the world they have been building for it.

[surreality]

@Lithium I second this, if it can have some grittier, dingier aspects as well -- like the hitman club in Deadpool. Because.

[Lithium]

@surreality said in Which canon property/setting would be good for a MU* ?:

@Lithium I second this, if it can have some grittier, dingier aspects as well -- like the hitman club in Deadpool. Because.

I don't see why it couldn't have grittier aspects, there was the whole group that was ran by Morpheus in the 2nd movie, that wasn't glamorous at all. Looked like it had room for all sorts of different types.

[Arkandel]

@Lithium Speaking of which, why the hell isn't a Matrix MU* a thing?

[Bobotron]

@Arkandel
Because there hasn't been anything new for The Matrix in years? It's the same reason Star Wars had a huge uptick during TFW and Rogue One. Something in people's eyes to draw them to it.

[Arkandel]

@Bobotron You are not dragging me into a popularity versus creative integrity debate sire. Nice try but I'm onto you.

[Bobotron]

@Arkandel
... that's not my intent?

[Warma Sheen]

I agree that the 'hot new thing' helps keep interest up in a particular setting. But it isn't the end all, be all of a MU. I'd love to see a Matrix MU*. I'd make one if I knew how. But the main reason the Matrix MU* isn't a thing (I think) is because no one has made one any time in recent years. And if they did, it didn't catch much interest. Could be the setting, could be the system. Also any time I hear chatter about it, it comes with rumors about legal problems or somesuch.

I still can't father that someone would waste time with legal matters over a MU* but i know that it is a real thing.

[Lithium]

@Arkandel Probably because The Matrix has the whole jesus complex thing, and 'The One' ruins the idea of the PC's being exceptional.

Not that there wasn't other exceptional characters, it's just all overshadowed by 'The One'.

That's not to say there aren't stories that could be told, but it all seems relatively pointless cuz the story of 'The One' is going to eventually make all other stories meaningless.

That said, I really did enjoy The Matrix MMO, bugs and all, the combat system was rather fresh.

[Chet]

John Wick seems kind of narrow, but it's got the premise of an Assassin's Creed style guild of criminals, also seen also in Thief. In lieu of making the exact theme (Hitman, also, has this theme dynamic), you could make a pastiche game, with homage organizations, locales, characters, concepts, etc., inside the game.

A game like that needs a lot of love, don't rush it.

[Ominous]

@Chet A secret org that works in the shadows as thieves, assassin's, treasure hunters, etc. In order to find and/or hide the truth is a very common trope. Though, I can't think of very many MUs that have explored it.

[Tempest]

I have to admit, I love the John Wick movies and the world they built. But.

But.

I feel like none of it really 'works' without John Wick. The fact that he's this 'legendary badass' known across the world in all these assassin-haven hotels/shops/etc is a huge part of what makes any of it interesting, imo.

I think I remember seeing something about a spinoff in the universe with some chick (maybe I imagined this?), and it definitely didn't catch my attention, because of what I just said.

[Lithium]

I don't know the second movie introduced quite a few other bad asses and really expanded the world to me.

[Chet]

@Ominous ArcticMUD actually some of the grid devoted to it in the area I hack'n'slashed in back in '98. I think you'd have to make a MUSH in the vein of Arctic's basic coherency to make it successful: individual triumph and temporary alliances, instead of a morality conflict. A kind of man vs. self.

[DarkDeleria]

@Lithium said in Which canon property/setting would be good for a MU* ?:

Probably because The Matrix has the whole jesus complex thing, and 'The One' ruins the idea of the PC's being exceptional.
Not that there wasn't other exceptional characters, it's just all overshadowed by 'The One'.

True. The whole Neo = "The One" = Jesus (especially the ending scenes of that third movie, wow -_-), but at the same time, I think about a few things The Architect (or as I like to call him, Evil KFC Colonel) :

"The function of the One is now to return to the source, allowing a temporary dissemination of the code you carry, reinserting the prime program. After which you will be required to select from the matrix 23 individuals, 16 female, 7 male, to rebuild Zion. Failure to comply with this process will result in a cataclysmic system crash killing everyone connected to the matrix, which coupled with the extermination of Zion will ultimately result in the extinction of the entire human race...rest assured, this will be the sixth time we have destroyed it, and we have become exceedingly efficient at it. "

So as far as a premise for a MU* setting: Zion (or whatever new city you'd like to call it in your worldbuilding). Either the 7th generation, 8th, 26th -- time doesn't matter. Because in the end, even though Neo stopped the destruction of Zion in Matrix: Revolution--how long does one think the peace between the humans and the machines will last? You could set it so far into the future beyond the movies, that the movies could be considered nothing more than a legend. A tale told around the heated rocks on the underground cities to give people a sense of peace? Hope? A reason to keep living?

Maybe after the revolution of Zion, several other cities came to existence. Time moved, cities grew. Maybe grew too much. Some people thought they wanted to be free, but freedom came with a price: a difficulty finding one's place in this new world outside of the Matrix. Resources were already scarce, to begin with. People will survive at any cost (ex. Cypher wanted to go back in).

I guess what I'm getting at in my ramblings is that you can take an alright canon and work from there to create a world for possible MU*. Or maybe I'm just an optimist.

[Ghost]

Blood Drive....

[Coin]

@Ghost said in Which canon property/setting would be good for a MU* ?:

Blood Drive....

Yuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuup.