Over the last half decade, gamers have been forced to wander through
familiar worlds and universes. Studios have been licensing IPs left and
right, grabbing everything from the style="font-style: italic;">Wheel of Time to style="font-style: italic;">Star Trek.
Originality seemed to be a lost art, and although these worlds were fun
to adventure in, many didn't hold the same sort of magical spell that
original titles like EverQuest
or Dark Age of Camelot
once enjoyed.

target="_blank">But change is coming.
Blizzard Entertainment unveiled that their next MMO would be an
original IP, and this year's E3 lineup featured more brand new games
than titles derived from existing worlds. So why the sudden shift?

To answer that question, Ten Ton Hammer's Cody "Micajah" Bye sent a
number of questions to original IP development teams across the world.
The Ten Ton Hammer staff also took the time to ask you - the MMO gamer
- what your thoughts were on original IPs, and what they would mean for
your gaming experience.

style="font-style: italic;">Nathan Knaack, a writer for
Hi-Rez Studios' upcoming shooter-MMO Global
Agenda, hit this point squarely on the head. "From the very beginning,
Hi-Rez Studios knew it would be creating and developing its own
intellectual property from scratch,” he said. “Our
Lead Designer, Erez
Goren, a big fan of MMOs, funded the studio because he saw an
opportunity to introduce a different type of online experience and this
vision included the creation of an original world. Purchasing an
existing IP would have significantly inhibited our creative process."

Ten Ton Hammer Premium Members get first crack at the article, but the
public will be allowed to view it on Monday, June 8th. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/membership" target="_blank">If
you can't wait, make sure you sign up to be a Premium Member today!

  • target="_blank">It's
    all in our new premium article "Blacksmiths of Intellectual Property:
    The Rise of Originality," and you can read it just by clicking here!

Last Updated: Mar 13, 2016

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