The Buffy the Vampire Slayer MMO Can Help the Firefly Franchise

It was a fine space opera but without the larger than life archetypal characters. This was a show with complex characters each with their own disastrous past. The characters introduced were completely unique from each other and yet the way their life goals all become intricately intertwined is major part of the plot. Now with the news of Fox delaying the Firefly MMO (massively multiplayer online) to focus on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer MMO instead, there is much controversy among fans and debates rage on which show is more suitable for a massive online multiplayer game.

Why is Firefly perfect for an MMO?

The main character, Captain Malcolm Reynolds (played by Canada's Nathan Fillion), is the key to the story. He is a man that witnessed the evils of both sides of the war and saw that the sky really was his own way of achieving freedom after having lost the Civil War. He is true to the Browncoat code and his ideas on the complexity of morality is the driving philosophy of the series. Captain Malcolm Reynolds was named #18 in TV Guide's "Greatest Sci-fi legends" list in 2004.

The DVD sales of the Firefly were surprisingly high and rumors of a possible movie surfaced. After continuing high sales and an Emmy for its acclaimed special effects, the rumors turned out to be real. Serenity, directed by Joss Whedon, was released in 2005. The movie's box office gross of $25.5 million and a foreign box office gross of $13.3 million made it an instant cult classic. After its DVD sales, fans became aware of the show and understood that a show's value deserves a second look, especially if the first look was completely taken away.

It won many awards for its presentation and art, as well as a very original sci-fi based story. The Western genre ambience to the story also made it stand out. In IMDB and TV.com, Firefly is one of the highest rated shows.

But there was a problem. The show was canceled and there were no plans to bring the series back. Thousands of fans organized petitions to have the rest of the season and future seasons as DVDs but to date, the attempts are unsuccessful. Whedon himself stated that he will never work for Fox again.

Then started a slow time for Firefly fans. Only a few comic books were released but there seemed little hope of a come-back. Then came news that spread through the internet like wildfire the day it was released:

The announcement of the Firefly MMO being created by The Multiverse Network, Inc. was made on December 8, 2006.

The rights were given to the company by Twentieth Century Fox Licensing & Merchandising. Here is the link to the press release. It was an exciting time for all fans, old and new. People who watched and loved the series and people who played MMOs before knew that the online potential in a universe like Firefly was incredible. Veterans of past MMOs such as Star Wars Galaxies knew that character complexity and customization can bring out gameplay like skill trees. The space world of Firefly also brought ideas to the table about making the game similar to EVE Online, a critically claimed MMO that deals with space exploration, corporations, and unparalled freedom. It seemed like such a perfect combination and the Multiverse Forums were filled with excited registrants that wanted to offer their opinions to the developers of the gameplay concept.

But it wasn't easy. There were no developing companies available and no information was released about the game. Absolutely none. Some hardcore fans stayed enthusiastic. A great website, www.fireflymmo.com, kept the community up to date with information that mattered. But for nearly three years there was no news released and activity didn't last. The Firefly MMO news gathered dust and the tough world of the MMO industry made an example of it. The only thing fans knew about the game was the Multiverse engine that would be used for the game.

Other MMOs gained popularity and games like World of Warcraft received millions of subscribers. In the Firefly world, there was almost no news of the development of the game. In fact, a developing company hasn't even been found so the project may still be in its earliest stages.

Finally, on September 3, 2008, official news came that the Firefly MMO project was delayed by Fox because they wanted to focus more on another IP for an MMO - Joss Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Nobody was initially impressed with this news. While Buffy was a good show, as a game how can it fare up against the Firefly Universe? The main interview from Massively is located here.

Here is an excerpt from the interview:

"Has there been any pre-production or work done on the project at all?

CB: Yes. Wrapped up in this is unfortunately the reality that we can't talk about this project. I'm dying to say more, it's one of the great frustrations in my life that we can't talk about it. We were moving and grooving, and now we have to put the brakes on. Hopefully things will change."

And when asked about the Buffy MMO game:

"What we're doing with the Buffy game then is releasing it in stages. It will first be a flash-based virtual world, with the full Multiverse server behind it. Instead of using our 3D worldbrowser to start off with, we'll just be using a flash client. It's a 133k download, it's very small. It fetches UI and assets dynamically, so it's a very quick and easy experience. This launches instantly and just streams the content to you, and it all comes from the Multiverse servers."

Such a delay can be explained by the rate of the industry. World of Warcraft, Warhammer Online, Everquest II, and other online games dominate the market. And more recently the announcement of Star Wars: The Old Republic, the MMO being headed by Bioware and Lucas Arts, made it clear that there might be an opponent worthy of Blizzard's online sensation, World of Warcraft.

It is a warzone out there with the biggest IPs going head to head in the market. Such high competition isn't something the Firefly MMO should rush into - atleast not yet. Sometimes the economy has to be observed before any decision can be made. Patience is the key. The right developer must be found.

It's not a complete loss. The Buffy cult community gets to have their victory and in this world, an IP like Firefly can never be forgotten. It will land up back in the MMO industry sooner or later when the right developer comes. If Fox's rights to the IP ends, trusted companies can acquire the rights. If one thinks about it, the worst has not happened to the franchise. This is a live and let live delay for the Firefly MMO. Time has its way of teaching us more about new technologies and ideas in gameplay. Perhaps Fox wants to see how the newest MMOs fare up and figure out how they can get prepared for their entrance.

Is this completely bad news?

No.

Is this good for the Firefly MMO?

Yes. Buffy the Vampire Slayer gathered much more influence as a franchise with comic books, articles, television, and more. While Firefly remains a strong franchise, it is still relatively young. Fox could learn from the release of the Buffy MMO and use that knowledge to find the best way to develop the Firefly MMO. Buffy's IP brand name is much more known and that could be the foundation for other MMOs to be released in the future. Also keep in mind that if Fox finds a developer comany for the Buffy title, that same developer can work on the Firefly online game.

To Fox and the rest of the world, if Joss Whedon had something to say in reply of what's been happening, I think it would have to be:

"You can't take the sky from me."

In Whedon we trust.

References:

"Captain Mal Reynolds features in '25 Greatest Sci-fi legends' list". Whedonesque.com (2004-07-27). Retrieved on 2006-07-16

Whedon: "This movie should not exist," he continues. "Failed TV shows don't get made into major motion pictures-unless the creator, the cast, and the fans believe beyond reason. ... It is, in an unprecedented sense, your movie."Russell, M.E. (June 24, 2006). "The Browncoats Rise Again". The Daily Standard. Retrieved on 2006-07-16.

"Serenity (2005) - Daily Box Office". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved on 2006-08-27