eGenesis to Develop New MMO with Orson Scott Card

Johnathon Walls writes "eGenesis, makers of the non-combat, world-building massively multiplayer online (MMO) game "A Tale in the Desert" versions 1 and 2, has signed a deal with Orson Scott Card (author of Ender's game and The Seventh Son) to develop the pre-Civil War American world of "Alvin the Maker" into a new MMO. This is also going to be a non-combat-centered, community-building world. Questions remain as to the amount of interest these non-combat games generate, and concerns about the rapidly dropping population of Tale 2 (a steady decline from 2089 subscribers on Sep 26 to 1582 subscribers on Jan 6) really bring this issue to the forefront."

Comments

Great, but...

[Lonesome Squash]

It's a great, rich, and compelling world, and I loved the books. But I quail at the thought of all those people getting some twisted view of American history.

On the other hand, it can't be much worse than what they got in high school.

But will it translate into a worthwhile product?

[Bahumat]

Caveat: I'm a raving fanboy of Orson Scott Card's *writing*.

That being said, as much as I adore the Alvin Maker series, I'm not sure how that will translate into an MMORPG. Ultimately all such games require conflict as much as cooperation, and without combat, conflict feels lacking in many such games.

Issues of product aside, I'm hoping Orson Scott Card reaps fantastic gobs of money for the license for the stories/setting, as his work certainly is worth it.

Re:But will it translate into a worthwhile product

[Tassach]

Caveat: I'm a raving fanboy of Orson Scott Card's *writing*.

I like OSC's *fiction*. Some of his *writing* is downright scary (EG, his infamous homophobic screed).

It boggles my mind as to how a member of one oft-persecuted minority group (Mormons) can justify persecuting another minority group.

For those of you

[revery]

who have never read any of Orson Scott Card's work, run, do not walk, to the nearest bookstore/library and buy/check out/steal/photocopy Ender's Game.

For those of you who have read some of his novels but have never read his short stories, you should check out Maps in a Mirror, recently re-released in paperback. In particular, check out "The Hanged Man and the King of Words", "Unaccompanied Sonata", "Mikal's Songbird", "A Plague of Butterflies", uhm... look just buy the book ok.

And while I'm at it. There is a story in the book After the King called "Silver of Gold" by Emma Bull and another one called "The Fellowship of the Dragon" by Patricia A. McKillip, and well, you should read those too.

That's it.

Oh wait. Terry Pratchett is great too...

Oh, hello Nurse Ratchet...

[Sounds of scuffling in the background]

Must press submit...

Re:For those of you

[Timesprout]

who have never read any of Orson Scott Card's work, run, do not walk, to the nearest bookstore/library and buy/check out/steal/photocopy Ender's Game.

For those who actually do this its waste of time if you dont read the second book Speaker For The Dead which is by far the best book in the series. Enders Game is not bad but its main purpose is to serve as an intoduction to Speaker.

Focus

[Bios_Hakr]

I never really understood how a MMO would work if based off a "super hero" world. Basicly, this MMO will be set in an alternative world of a godlike Joseph Smith. What's the angle; everyone starts their own church? Can we all sit around and translate plates hidden in a hat? Are we suposed to work together to cross Hatrack River or cut diseased bone from Joseph's (excuse me, Alvin's) leg?

Seriously, why do people buy into Alvin's story? It's just a fantasized retelling of Joseph Smith's life.

And OSC's Homecoming Series was basicly a rewritten account of The Book of Mormon.

Is it just me??

[FortKnox]

I hear "Alvin the Maker" and think of a large sandworm with funny eyebrows.

Re:Is it just me??

[doublem]

Funny, for me, the name "Alvin the Maker" conjures up an image of a gigantic cartoon chipmunk holding the Universe in his hands, a mischievous grin on his face.

Suddenly, he cackles "NOW I'll get my Harmonica!"

A MMO I'd definately try and probably like

[hsoft]

would be a MMOTG (Tactical Game). One of my favourite game ever is Final Fantasy Tactics, and I always tought: "Goddammit, how cool it would be if it was multiplayer, and how GODLY it would be if it was MM!"

What I dislike about MMORPG is that you don't have the time to say "oh shit" that you are already dead in PvP. You don't have the time to talk to your opponents. Of course, if both players are nice RPers, maybe that they'll talk to each other, but has it ever happened to you with anybody else than people you already knew before combat? Have you ever tried to be a "Verbose PK" in UO? You can't. Combat goes too fast. Of course, you can macro some cool stuff to say, but it rapidly grows boring to say the same old stuff.

I'm saying this and I for one have no idea of a practical way to implement a game like that. Nevertheless, it would probably a MMO I would stick to. Or maybe it already exists and someone will tell me where I can find it?

Re:MMOs and Sci-Fi

[Tackhead]

> I'd like to see the Ender's Game universe turned into a MMORPG.

Yeah, you and every other bugger out there just want a chance to come back in the sequel. Stop playing mind games with us.

Your friend,
Demosthenes.

P.S. Locke sux!

Orson Scott Card

[stratjakt]

I need one of these now?

I just spent like 300 bucks on a Radeon now I need an "Orson Scott" card.

Does linux have "Orson Scott" card support?

This is why consoles are so popular. Noone should have to buy new hardware every month just to play some crappy games.

Popularity shouldn't define content

[wondafucka]

Who cares if only a couple of thousand people are interested in it? It's a work of art, and if it survives despite dumptrucks full of money, it doesn't really matter.

It's better to have a small community with a richly defined experience than a new game aimed at people who already have a mass produced outlet they are content with.

I want to be George Q. Cannon

[John Harrison]

Or maybe Charles Rich. Actually, Porter Rockwell would kick some butt.

ps Just because YOU don't understand this post doesn't mean it is off topic!

Have you learned the secret handshake yet?

[Foofoobar]

Yay... Mormon propoganda is turned into a game. Get out your magical underoos

Re:But will it translate into a worthwhile product

[AEton]

Thank you for pointing this out. I had no idea.

Population stats for various MMORPG's

[mcguyver]

Here are my population estimates for some of the major MMORPG's.
Lineage: 2,000,000 subscribers
World of Warcraft: 600,000
Final Fantasy XI: 550,000
Everquest 1: 250,000
City Of Heroes: 200,000
Everquest 2: 150,000
A Tale in the Desert 2: 1,500

1,500 isn't much in the world of Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game's.

Re:Population stats for various MMORPG's

[Dachannien]

Remember that for pretty much all of those games with huge populations, there are many servers running the game. You can't interact from one server to another, so it doesn't really matter if a game has 2 billion people playing it when only 10,000 of them inhabit any one server.

Besides, the defining quality of "Massively" multiplayer games isn't that zillions of people can play, but rather that it's significantly bigger than something like Diablo 2 where lots of people play on battle.net, but only 8 people can join one game at a time.

Good story?

[AndreySeven]

Since Orson Scott Card is going to help out with this, I hope it will be entertaining in a different type of way; I get sick of games in which the point is to level your character etc. Maybe this will set a precedent to put more of a story into Mass Multiplayer games. Is this the first "proposed" MM game that will employ a master writer? It's the only one that I can think of...

Recommended reading

[bigbigbison]

Some folks on here have suggested some of Orson Scott Card's fiction. I would also like to suggest some read his non-fiction. He is an outspoken critic of homosexuality and gay marriage. I read those works by Orson Scott Card and they were enough to convince me that I didn't want to read any of his fiction. Your mileage may vary, but it doesn't hurt to be an informed consumer.

Re:Recommended reading

[rackhamh]

Though I believe in the concept of an "informed consumer", if you refuse to frequent businesses, read books, and otherwise engage with people whose views differ significantly from your own, you will quickly become either a cult member or the loneliest person on the planet.

OT - disapproval is not a phobia

[tbird20d]

As is customary on SlashDot, disapproval of homosexuality is equated with homophobia. One can disagree with something, and even speak against it, without fearing it (at least in the phobic sense).

Sorry, dude, he saw you coming.

[Fished]

And we all know the course this thing will follow. Anyone who opposes this edict will be branded a bigot; any schoolchild who questions the legitimacy of homosexual marriage will be expelled for "hate speech." The fanatical Left will insist that anyone who upholds the fundamental meaning that marriage has always had, everywhere, until this generation, is a "homophobe" and therefore mentally ill. (from http://www.ornery.org/essays/warwatch/2004-02-15-1 .html)

One need not be a "homophobe" to have serious reservations about the ethics of homosexual practice. One need not be a "homophobe" to feel that marriage is an institution designed to provide for the having and rearing of children. One need not be a "homophobe" in order to feel that a two-parent, heterosexaul household provides children with the best opportunity of developing positive relationships with men AND women.

"Homophobe" and "homophobic" are nothing but name-calling - terms used to avoid engaging serious discussion on a topic that the new liberal orthodoxy has declared decided, even as the vast bulk of Americans simply disagree.

As far as your comparison of Homosexuals and Mormons - are you seriously suggesting that there is no difference between religious faith and sexual practice? Are you seriously suggesting that we have a freedom of sexual practice comparable to our freedom of religious conviction? Are you seriously under the delusion that the status of homosexuality as a civil rights issue rather than a moral issue is settled?

The bottom line is that YOU are the innovator here, not Card. To act as though he must, necessarily, agree with your orthodoxy when your orthodoxy has thrown the orthodoxy of 30 years ago out the window, and that any failure to do so must only be because he is "homophobic", is downright insulting.

Re:Sorry, dude, he saw you coming.

[Fished]

What is unethical about it? Seriously, two people consent, so what is the unethical thing about it?

Is everything that two people consent to necessarily ethical? If I consent to you killing me, does that automatically make your killing of me ethical? If someone likes being beaten choked to the virge of death during sex (and there are some who do, and a few die of it) does that mean that choking oneself during sex is not aberrant behavior? You are viewing morality through an individualistic lens - you are assuming that, for something to be immoral, it must necessarily hurt some individual.

This is not (necessarily) an incorrect position, but it is important that you understand that it is strictly a modern position. Prior to recent times, moral standards were regarded througha communitarian lens. Something could be regarded as harmful to the community even if those participating had no problem with it and there was no direct, discernible effect on anyone else.

The bottom line is that the prohibition against exclusive homosexuality is not a recent, Christian phenomenon. It has been present in virtually all cultures, at all times, in all places. Even the Greeks, whom gay advocates like to cite as proof that rejection of homosexuality is not universal, did not practice anything like what todays gay movement advocates. "Gay marriage" was simply never an issue. One married for progeny (consider, for example, Alexander, who was "queer" as the proverbial three dollar bill, but who nevertheless married, had a mistress, and had children) - one engaged in gay sex as a fling. Moreover, in both Greek and Roman culture, it was regarded as very shameful to play the "female" part in gay sex. There was no sense in which homosexuality was regarded as an alternative to heterosexuality - instead, it was regarded as a fling, something that one did when young and with the young. (And, frankly, if you look up any authoritative source on this you will find this out. I'm not makign this up.)

The point is that you can't find any culture, anywhere, that practiced the kind of homosexuality that gay rights folks advocate today. There never has been gay marriage, because gay marriage made no sense when gay sex was just a fling and the absurd notion of "orientation" had not yet been invented. And I challenge you to cite a *single* counter-example.

Furthermore, it is evident that "gay marriage" - at least among male homosexuals - is not equivalent to heterosexual marraige in an important respect. Namely, it is rarely, if ever, monogamous. This has been borne out by so many studies that it is proven, and it has even been admitted by gay advocates in some forums. Gay marriages tend to define monogamy in emotional terms rather than physical terms.

Finally, there is overwhelming eviedence, which the gay press willfully ignores, that homosexual orientation can be changed. Here are a few representative, published, peer-reviewed articles to prove the point.

Arch Sex Behav. 2003 Oct;32(5):403-17; discussion 419-72. Related Articles, Links

Comment in:

* Arch Sex Behav. 2003 Oct;32(5):399-402.
* Arch Sex Behav. 2004 Apr;33(2):83-4; author reply 84-5.
* Arch Sex Behav. 2004 Aug;33(4):325.

Click here to read
Can some gay men and lesbians change their sexual orientation? 200 participants reporting a change from homosexual to heterosexual orientation.

Spitzer RL.

Biometrics Research Department, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, New York 10032, USA. rls8@columbia.edu

Position statements of the major mental health organizations in the United States state that there is no scientific evidence that a homosexual sexual orientation can be changed by psychotherapy, often referred to as "reparative therapy." This study tested the hypothesis that some individuals whose sexual orientation is predominantly homosexu