Two ideas for video games
My first idea is probably already in the works. It's a massive multiplayer online game of J.K. Rowling's world. Ideally, you would start off as a first-year student at Hogwarts (or even the Continental schools - and you could make one for America, if you wanted - but the most successful would probably Hogwarts, cuz that's where everyone wants to go) and you would have a series of missions on the grounds at Hogwarts, and you would also have to take one or two classes a day, like in the Rockstar game Bully, which was aptly described as "Hogwarts for assholes." But I wouldn't want just a warmed-over Bully knockoff; you have a chance here for a really cool, ingratiating game.
You'd start off walking around Diagon alley, getting all the necessary supplies for school, and here you'll meet your potential classmates. Then you'll take the train to Hogwarts, where you'll be sorted. The hat will give you a quiz, and the answers will indicate if you have the wit to be a Ravenclaw, the courage to be a Griffindor, the ambition to be a Slytherin, or the whatever-the-fuck to be a Hufflepuff.
You'll also have individual skills to build up, which will then suggest what kind of job you'll get when you're done - Auror (which will no doubt be the most popular), or Prank-shop owner, or blueblood death eater. That could be the biggest challenge - what happens after you "graduate". It could be pretty boring minding a shop all day.
The classes would be fun; for defense against the dark arts, you'd start off learning simple spells in your first year, then gradually learn enough to duel, then duel multiple opponents. If you develop a tendency to use the unforgivable spells, you risk becoming a dark wizard. In potions, you'd learn the ingredients that go into potions like those that transform or heal. Then, all of these ingredients will be available somewhere, scattered, on the school grounds to be used, if needed, in some of the missions. If you develop enough skill at potions, you'll have a memory bank that will show you how to create them. If you don't do them with all the necessary ingredients in the necessary amounts, the potions won't work or will have different effects. Like, if you misjudge the polyjuice potion, you become a grotesque amalgam of your character and whomever you're trying to look like. If you excel at muggle studies, you'll be more likely to become a good wizard.
I think the story would take place before the whole Harry Potter saga, so you'll have Snape as your potions teacher, Dumbledore as your headmaster, etc. This means it will really matter if you tend toward the dark arts or not. Of course, there would be a ton of other details to fill out and whatnot.
The other idea is basically like Madden NFL, only you start in 1990 or 1995 (or potentially earlier) and you have the same free agent pools (as soon as free agency really started) and same draft pools from those years. So, if you're the Bengals, maybe you don't draft Ki-Jana Carter in '95. But at the same time, maybe you do - because in this game, things like career-ending injuries don't happen - they're just statistically more likely for those players. Todd Marinovich might not be a bust - but you'll still have draft reports that he's a headcase. There'll be like a .05% chance that he'll be a superstar, a 15% chance he'll be a career starter, and a 90% chance he'll flame out spectacularly. Off the field problems will be weighted, too. If you're the Rams, you could still draft Larry Phillips, but there's a good chance he'll rape a bulldog on his offtime. And maybe Leonard Little does go to jail for killing that lady when he was driving drunk. Maybe, if you're the Chiefs, you talk Joe Montana in to playing one more year, where his head will actually fall off if he's hit by Bruce Smith. You could give Dan Marino the championship that forever eluded him. You could talk Barry Sanders out of retirement and he would break the NFL rushing record. The Bills could be the first four-straight-times Super Bowl winners. Michael Irvin could get busted for snorting coke off a five hundred pound hooker's ass. In any event, everybody wins.
You'd start off walking around Diagon alley, getting all the necessary supplies for school, and here you'll meet your potential classmates. Then you'll take the train to Hogwarts, where you'll be sorted. The hat will give you a quiz, and the answers will indicate if you have the wit to be a Ravenclaw, the courage to be a Griffindor, the ambition to be a Slytherin, or the whatever-the-fuck to be a Hufflepuff.
You'll also have individual skills to build up, which will then suggest what kind of job you'll get when you're done - Auror (which will no doubt be the most popular), or Prank-shop owner, or blueblood death eater. That could be the biggest challenge - what happens after you "graduate". It could be pretty boring minding a shop all day.
The classes would be fun; for defense against the dark arts, you'd start off learning simple spells in your first year, then gradually learn enough to duel, then duel multiple opponents. If you develop a tendency to use the unforgivable spells, you risk becoming a dark wizard. In potions, you'd learn the ingredients that go into potions like those that transform or heal. Then, all of these ingredients will be available somewhere, scattered, on the school grounds to be used, if needed, in some of the missions. If you develop enough skill at potions, you'll have a memory bank that will show you how to create them. If you don't do them with all the necessary ingredients in the necessary amounts, the potions won't work or will have different effects. Like, if you misjudge the polyjuice potion, you become a grotesque amalgam of your character and whomever you're trying to look like. If you excel at muggle studies, you'll be more likely to become a good wizard.
I think the story would take place before the whole Harry Potter saga, so you'll have Snape as your potions teacher, Dumbledore as your headmaster, etc. This means it will really matter if you tend toward the dark arts or not. Of course, there would be a ton of other details to fill out and whatnot.
The other idea is basically like Madden NFL, only you start in 1990 or 1995 (or potentially earlier) and you have the same free agent pools (as soon as free agency really started) and same draft pools from those years. So, if you're the Bengals, maybe you don't draft Ki-Jana Carter in '95. But at the same time, maybe you do - because in this game, things like career-ending injuries don't happen - they're just statistically more likely for those players. Todd Marinovich might not be a bust - but you'll still have draft reports that he's a headcase. There'll be like a .05% chance that he'll be a superstar, a 15% chance he'll be a career starter, and a 90% chance he'll flame out spectacularly. Off the field problems will be weighted, too. If you're the Rams, you could still draft Larry Phillips, but there's a good chance he'll rape a bulldog on his offtime. And maybe Leonard Little does go to jail for killing that lady when he was driving drunk. Maybe, if you're the Chiefs, you talk Joe Montana in to playing one more year, where his head will actually fall off if he's hit by Bruce Smith. You could give Dan Marino the championship that forever eluded him. You could talk Barry Sanders out of retirement and he would break the NFL rushing record. The Bills could be the first four-straight-times Super Bowl winners. Michael Irvin could get busted for snorting coke off a five hundred pound hooker's ass. In any event, everybody wins.
posted by JoePo at
5:40 PM
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