Pokémon Online (MMORPG): Difference between revisions

Pokémon Online (commonly shortened to POL) is a free-to-play Pokémon MMORPG in development by a small bureau of dedicated fans. The project is handled by a wide variety of team members, the current leader being Platinum. The aim of the development team is for the MMORPG's implemented concepts to remain true to the original Gameboy series RPGs while also making it functional as a MMORPG. POL's planned features/functionality aims to match or exceed the most recent releases (currently Diamond and Pearl Versions). Secondary concepts from the Trading Card Game and Manga and Anime may also be added. Many of POL's members assist the team by posting suggestions, helping to create sprites and revamp older ones, developing promotional graphics and videos, and more. Member's are also given the opportunity to submit applications for staff positions such as Graphics Team, Databaser, Mapper, and Translator. Passed trials are required to attain these positions.

The most recent Pokémon Online beta to be released is version 0.6, however there are no running servers to allow its functionality. As of now, there is no playable version of POL, however a new public beta version, 0.7, is in the works.

History

POL originated on a well-known Pokémon web site called Bulbagarden, by a regular who went by the name Konidias. This version of POL was being developed with a program called GameMaker, in a modified style of Nintendo's first and second generation Pokémon games. The game was at it's peak during the days of the 'old' Bulbagarden, when suddenly, the project was abandoned completely. The rumor remains that Konidias was forced to retire the hyped project after receiving an email from Nintendo, the company in ownership of the Pokémon franchise, stating that he was breaching copyright laws, threatening to take legal action if he carried on. However, this rumor is far from reality. In truth, despite the time and dedication sacrificed for the project, Konidias' interest in the project eventually ceased. Henceforth, the game's production did as well.

For years, the once-loved heap of potential known as Pokémon Online was left in its grave. Then along came Haris! Haris' determination to revive the abandoned project lead to the acquiring of POL's first domain outside of Bulbagarden. Haris was conveniently successful in his mission to rejuvenate POL; a corresponding forum community of hyped Pokémon fans grew as the development of the revived project continued to evolve, this time with the help of Clickteam's Multimedia Fusion 2, in the style of Nintendo's third generation Pokémon games. Unfortunately, Haris eventually followed Konidias' path, seemingly forming a complete lack of interest in the game, despite its incredible potential. Likewise, POL was left to die, once again. But it didn't.

Production of POL continued, this time lead by the project's long-time head designer, Platinum. Now without a web site or forum community, the profile page of an international online artist community was the project's only development base. After months in the dark, POL was once again brought to public attention after an unofficial forum board was opened to serve as a temporary discussion base for the project. Later, a blog was also created to compensate for POL's long-gone web site.

POL has since released a brand new official web site, along with a message board and wiki, at pkmnonline.org.

Website

The Pokémon Online Official Website is where announcements of the MMORPG's updates are posted, information about the project is displayed, contribution opportunities are enlisted, and communication methods are explained. The website is also accompanied by a public message board serving as a discussion and development base, a wiki, a "World Concepts Page" enlisting POL's planned concepts, and a project management system available only to staff members.

Planned features

Most of the MMORPG's planned features are listed in Pokémon Online's World Concepts Page. It is highly recommended that before submitting an idea or suggestion, a person should read the World Concepts. This is to avoid questions and suggestions that can simply be answered by reading the page.

Some of the noteable features that will be included are:

• All 493 Pokémon will be catchable, breedable and otherwise obtainable. Legendary Pokémon however, are slightly different. All legendary Pokémon (including any trios) can only be found after triggering an event, which will only happen once every year or so. This big change is being implemented to keep legendary Pokémon rare as they are explained to be by characters within the games, manga, and anime.

• A character-creation system will be implemented to give the player a distinct appearance in-game.

• If you lost to an NPC or a wild Pokémon and had all of your Pokémon fainted, you wouldn't simply vanish to the last visited Pokémon Center. Rather you will be prompted to choose to use a Revive or walk (or alternately using an Escape Rope) to a Poké Center. While this seems odd and that the team promised to try to keep as close to the Pokémon games as possible, this concept is planned because simply vanishing to a Poké Center would seem albeit 'strange' and unrealistic. Several people have posed some potential problems with this change though, saying players can use it to cheat by slipping by NPCs without a battle. However, it has been confirmed that this will definitely be avoided.

• All four regions, the Orange Islands, and the Sevii Islands will be explorable in-game. At the beginning, players will have the opportunity to choose their starting region among Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh. After obtaining the eight badges of the region they choose, they will be able to travel to the Sevii Islands, the Orange Islands, the Battle Frontier, or the Fight Area, depending on which region they chose. They also have the opportunity to travel to one other region, in which the process will be repeated. This will continue until all four regions are explored.

• A second trade system similar to Pokémon Diamond and Pearl's Global Trade Station will be possible. You'll be able to seek, offer and search a Pokémon. When posting an offer you'll be able to seek for the Pokémon you want in a lot more advanced way. You can seek by the Pokémon itself, its gender, status (Pokérus or Template:Shiny2), from (in terms of region), level range, nature, characteristic, and even what moves it knows. For status and 'from location' seeking, you must either have seen a Pokémon from the region or have once obtained a shiny or a Pokémon that was infected by Pokérus. When an offer has been posted, the system will auto-search for any matching Pokémon. When a match has been found the player has to wait for the original owner to accept the offer, decline or sometimes the system will cancel the offer if an error should arise. The system will not allow people to seek Pokémon that are incapable of learning certain moves or being at a certain level, examples are that you cannot search for a level 9 Mewtwo and cannot seek a Buizel that knows Ember.

• A Trading Card Game aspect will be implemented. Trainers will be able to offer two kinds of challenges: Pokémon Battles, and Card Battles. Merchant NPCs may sell booster packs... Their presence in the game adds a new (and entirely optional) dimension to the main gameplay. Efforts to compile a complete database on the trading cards is currently in progress. Currently, the POL TCG is planned to feature the Base, Jungle, Fossil, Rocket, Gym Heroes, Gym Challenge, and Promotional card collections, but not until after 1.0 has been completed.

• Players will have the ability to join Teams Rocket, Magma, Aqua, and Galactic. Players will also have the ability to create their own teams, or join another player's team (similar to the clan/guild system of other MMORPGs).

Extras

The website also includes a Map Editor, available for download, in which you may make your own maps that resemble the ones in POL and the Game Boy games.

External links

• Pokémon Online Official Web Site
• Pokémon Online Wiki (POLWiki)
• POL World Concepts Page
• POL Spriters' deviantART Page
• POL Youtube Channel