Up-coming MMORPG Based on Shakespeare's Works 100
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.'"
I can just imagine it (Score:5, Funny)
But.... (Score:5, Funny)
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Wherefore art thou, shinma? (Score:1)
Umm.... (Score:4, Informative)
Wouldn't that be for the Melville MMORPG [litquotes.com]?
On the other hand, I can see that game devolving into one long Moby Dick joke.
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But, no, the humor of the OP is not lost at me. I would have likely modded it funny as well.
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Romeo to Tybalt
Tybalt to Mercutio and vice versa
MacDuff as he kills that Scotsman we don't talk about in theatres
Hamlet killing Claudius
Hamlet killing Polonius
Hamlet killing Laertes
Laertes Killing Hamlet
Whoever kills Richard III
I can't remember the primary Cause of Death in Lear or Othello, but there has to be at least one fatal, non-self-inflicted stabbing in each.
Then there's
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Did you have to use the word "long?"
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have we swaggering here?
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QueenB.
The play's the thing! (Score:3, Funny)
Can we have a play within a play, ala Hamlet, within an MMORPG?
The grind's the thing. (Score:5, Insightful)
"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.
Re:The grind's the thing. (Score:4, Interesting)
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.
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MMORPGs are, oddly enough not.
MMORPGs are not really about role playing. Although calling them "strategy games" would cause confusion, they are really about strategy. They aren't about believing the rules of the game, they are about exploting them.
It's interesting that we call what Shakespeare mostly produced a "play". There is an element of imaginative play in enjoying a drama. This element is one of make believe -- a different kind of game than a competitive gam
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[Side note, for a gen. ed. in college, i took beginning acting. The prof was old and a little senile, so he would often forget lines when performing. He could, however, freestyle in Shakespearian IP, so unless you actually knew the play by heart you probably wouldnt know.]
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Whyfore? (Score:5, Funny)
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.
I can hardly wait for... (Score:2)
Comment removed (Score:4, Funny)
Re:I can hardly wait for... (Score:5, Funny)
Finally!
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Midsummer's night dream (Score:2, Funny)
In this game... (Score:5, Funny)
Which means male players will be playing female characters playing male characters.
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What a piece of work is a man (Score:2, Insightful)
So it should be male gameplayers playing male toons who dress as females who has the ability to pretend to be male characters.
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The parent poster must have recieved all of his knowledge about Shakespearian plays from the movie Shakespeare in Love.
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Yep, and if you believe Shakespeare in Love... (Score:2)
Now, the Stargate MMORPG has a destination (Score:2)
Ohh, take that Mr. I'm-All-Bright-And-Shiny-in-My-Formed-Metal-Armor
Might make some of those stuck up archers think twice befor showing off their nice two fingers.
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The main wonder I have about the "stargate universe" MMORPG is how it will handle death (and if you can enlist Kawalski(sp?) to assist in some tough missions that require human shields). I'm hoping its more like UO then WoW.
Even better; a Shakespeare-Lovecraft crossover (Score:3, Funny)
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Not meaning to be/sound like an ad, but hey hearing about these things can take time.
/bite (Score:5, Funny)
* You bite your thumb at A Montague
You've ruined your own lands (Score:4, Funny)
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* It is dark. You are likely to be eaten by a Montague
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ob Bash.org quote (Score:2)
Shak-who? (Score:2, Insightful)
And 49% don't think his work is relevant or even anything special - just boring romance novel/chic flick type pulp.
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I consider myself a moderately well read person, and I have read a lot of the classics. I've read a fair big of Shakespeare, and some of his stuff is good, a lot of it is crap. Even the best of it though is often melodramatic and basically reminds me of soap operas. Most of all, a lot of shakespears work, to me, just seems to be sub par when compared to Dante, Homer, or many other classic writers.
That, in and of itself, wouldn't re
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Mod Parent Up! (Score:2)
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People who say Shakespeare was a good writer and that bladabla - WHATEVER - are full of crap. Sure, he was a good, and significantly better than average writer. Even a revolutionary writer, as he is arguably the inventor of the sitcom. But
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Shakespeare didn't write in prose, he wrote in (mostly) blank verse. The words are everything. Translating them into modern English would leave you with some decent stories with good character development (if translated well) but that is all. Most people have at least as much difficulty, at first, with the sheer flexibility and volume of metaphor and imagery of his language as they
imagery (Score:2)
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Well, since far less than %1 of the population actually plays MMOs, it would be great to even get %1 (speaking globally, of course).
This will never come to fruition though. MacArthur grants come with no caveats, as far as I understand them.
But, good luck to him. I would buy it!
remember? (Score:1)
I'd be surprised if 50% of the population ever actually knew anything about the bard, never mind remember..
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Under 25, eh? That's an interesting take. I would have guessed, if anything, that most people over - not under - 25 are the ones who pay his works no attention.
Honestly, what percentage of the post-highschool, post-college population do you think encounters or even seeks out Shakespeare
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Because you didn't include the E, I now find myself having visions of an MMORPG based on Shaq-Fu.
How this will play out... (Score:4, Funny)
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The only good thing about this might be... (Score:2, Interesting)
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Save the drama... (Score:1, Funny)
A million monkeys (Score:3, Funny)
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This game sucks! (Score:3, Funny)
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Bed4d: Dood, u r lame, stop talking like that. Lol, u r RPer? rofl!!
King-Halll:...I pray thee, wish not one man more. By Jove, I am not covetous for gold...
Bed4d has left the game.
Gloucester69: What? You said there'd be phat lewt?!?!?!?11!!
King-Halll:....We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; For he to-day that sheds his blood with me Shall be
I worry, (Score:3, Insightful)
Waring: This play was written as propaganda against Richard III, the true king of England, by a man who was close to Elizabeth I and was too afraid to tell the truth which would cast doubt on the right (or otherwise) of the Tudors to the crown.
Sorry of you don't care, but it's important that people know the facts (or as close as we can get the them anyway)
RTFA (Score:1)
You think Jack Thompson was mad before... (Score:2)
Song of Ice and Fire (Score:2)
Disclaimer: I am in no way associated with the author or publisher, I just like the novels.
Should have hit 'Preview' (Score:2)
If they add Romeo and Juliet (Score:2)
It worked for EQ (Score:1)
I'm holding out for the Titus Andronicus expansion. Rated AO for rape, cannibalism, and murder.
Concept/Execution (Score:3, Funny)
A horse! A horse! (Score:3, Funny)
Romeo and Juliet (Score:2)
Can anyone say high school english? (Score:1)
OMG Richard III (Score:2)
If I can play as Margaret, I may have to actually install a game on my computer.
(Explanation: I consider myself to have enough distractions on my computer via the web, and only play games on consoles.)
Times scenes are played.... (Score:3, Interesting)
Macbeth's sollique = 1 time (your college professor likely had an account).
Out out damm spot = 10000 (Lady macbeth in a slip?)
The problem I forsee is while Shakesphere is a bit baudy, and very clever, he's a writer. His characters move a lot and act out scenes. Will we be watching plays? Will we be part of the excellent fight scenes? or will everything be fighting?
I forsee this having problems but if it's faithful it could be fun... if it's free
I was browsing headlines... (Score:3, Insightful)
Just what I've been looking for (Score:2)
Based on Shakespeare? (Score:2)
Ha! Circular! (Score:1)
Gamers: I have wasted time, now time doth waste me (Score:1)
A Game Design Perspective... (Score:2)
http://www.steveswink.com/posts/a-shakespearian-m m o/ [steveswink.com]
"He seems to be thinking - granted, at this early stage - of simply shoehorning Shakespeare into World of Warcraft, using it as a powerup. The question they should be asking themselves is 'what do we want people to learn?' and, most particularly, 'how?' Judging by the statement "We'd like to allow our players to learn something valuable, so that's