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Up-coming MMORPG Based on Shakespeare's Works

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the forsooth-you-shall-be-nerfed dept.

Linnen writes "Edward Castronova has received a MacArthur Foundation grant to build a MMOG based on Shakespeare's plays." "Castronova said 'Arden' will launch — it's unclear when, as the game is still in the early design stage — built around the theme of 'Richard III.' That's because the play, set during the War of the Roses, offers historical context, as well as enough political intrigue, secret conniving, deal-making and war to delight any gamer, he said. 'It's a historical Shakespeare play, so that means it's really easy for us to take all the sort of fantasy stuff like knights in shining armor and peasants and woodworkers...and we can just really fit right into 'Richard III' right away.'"

14 of 100 comments (clear)

  1. I can just imagine it by beyowulf · · Score: 5, Funny

    4rm h311's d4rk h34rt 1 st4b 47 th33!!

    1. Re:I can just imagine it by Jarjarthejedi · · Score: 3, Funny

      Juliet1342 > Romeo Romeo, Wherefor art thou romeo? Romeotheman12 > Sorry bout that, lagged out, stupid server... Definatly an interesting concept, the key is going to be the players. If you get a bunch of RPers in the game who just want to have fun then it'll probably be a great time for all. If, on the other hand, you get a bunch of lamers (which, somehow, I honestly can't see the type of people I consider lamers playing anything with shakespeare in it, so maybe this won't happen) it'll just devolve into another MMO where people exploit and do lame things. I for one am hopefully optimistic, and if I was a bigger fan of shakespeare I'd probably watch this until it came out to see if I wanted it. Something tells me that basing a game around a historical figure like shakespeare will scare off all the people who normally make MMOs not so much fun...

      --
      There are two kinds of fool One says 'This is old therefore good' Another says 'This is new therefore better'- Dean Ing
  2. Whyfore? by Avatar8 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Methinks this be a failure from the start
    For no person would care to play a tiny part
    In what once was great literature that brought Bill great fame
    But for a theater of the globe, as a game, dost sound lame.

  3. But.... by LordEd · · Score: 5, Funny

    Will it be written in the original kingon?

  4. In this game... by brennanw · · Score: 5, Funny

    all female characters will have the ability to pose as young men.

    Which means male players will be playing female characters playing male characters.

    --
    Eviscerati.Org: All Hail the Eviscerati
  5. Re:I can hardly wait for... by CRCulver · · Score: 3, Funny

    Or the online version of Sartre's Huis Clos ("No Exit"). There's no action, and once you connect, you can't ever log off, but are forced to spend eternity enduring the inane conversation of lame fellow online gamers.

  6. The grind's the thing. by Tackhead · · Score: 4, Insightful
    > An MMORPG set in the world of Shakespeare, where all the world's a stage?

    ...and all the players are idiots. Yep, that's about right.

    "To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
    Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
    To the last syllable of recorded time;
    And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
    The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
    Life's but a walking shadow; a poor player,
    That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
    And then is heard no more: it is a tale
    Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
    Signifying nothing."
    - Macbeth (V, v, 19), shortly after his wife unsubscribed and his guild fell apart.

    Pretty much sums up every MMORPG to which I've ever subjected myself.

    1. Re:The grind's the thing. by AoT · · Score: 3, Interesting

      It still amazes me how beautiful a language so ugly as english can be.

      That english poets have had such crap to work wth and made such beauty is incredible, it's like you give some guy a shotgun and he carves the statue david.

      --
      A blog about stuff.
  7. /bite by Wrexen · · Score: 5, Funny

    /bite
    * You bite your thumb at A Montague

    1. Re:/bite by TempeTerra · · Score: 3, Funny

      ABRAHAM: Do you bite your thumb at us, sir?
      * It is dark. You are likely to be eaten by a Montague

      --
      .evom ton seod gis eht
  8. Umm.... by Kelson · · Score: 3, Informative
    4rm h311's d4rk h34rt 1 st4b 47 th33!!

    Wouldn't that be for the Melville MMORPG?

    On the other hand, I can see that game devolving into one long Moby Dick joke.

  9. How this will play out... by Gorm+the+DBA · · Score: 3, Funny

    "LFG: Juliet's Balcony, have Tank and Healer, need DPS, full on Bards"

  10. You've ruined your own lands by bunions · · Score: 3, Funny

    ... you'll not ruin mine, A_Capulet935!

    --
    there is no need to sign your posts. this isn't usenet. your username is right there above your post. stop it.
  11. Re:I can hardly wait for... by Dolly_Llama · · Score: 4, Funny

    #Godot has entered the channel

    Finally!

    --

    Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known. -- Carl Sagan