Would another attempt at Shenmue Online be a good idea or even wanted?

Would you play a Shenmue MMO?

  • Heck yea! Sign me up Baby!

  • I'd only do it to get into a virtual environment with my friends in a Shenmue setting

  • I might poke my head in to test the waters and not commit to anything just yet

  • Hell no! That just sounds stupid!

  • Will the kitten be there?

Results are only viewable after voting.
Jerrid'sRamenShop

Jerrid'sRamenShop

Joined
Jan 27, 2020
We all were clamoring over the next installment of Shenmue, but some of us were hoping that Shenmue Online would at least in the mean time pan out and keep us engaged in between games for a little while at least. Well it never got to see the light of day and not much to show for it as far as I am aware of, besides some game trailers and in game beta footage.

Still though, would it work today? Another attempt at a Shenmue Online game? Would the fans and general public want it? Could it cross platform with the PC and consoles? Would it be a more traditional MMO where it is a grind fest or more of a hybrid where you travel around like you do in the single player Shenmue game and your fighting skills are more important, but you still have to level up? You will never be one of THE main characters, but in a sense you could become one in your own way. I would assume it would allow you to play the bad guys as well, although maybe not Lan Di's men directly. Maybe it would be PVP so streets gangs could be a thing. Maybe only in certain areas or at least there is no permadeath.

The game world would still rotate in it's day and night cycles (Although I am not sure if it would be the same time it takes in the single player or not, but you would not be forced to play at a night setting just because where you are at or the server it is night time, it would rotate faster than real life.) and through it's seasons. You would still be able to collect capsule toys and even trade them. You could stop at restaurants to gain health and or at least stamina. You could maybe take onigiri rice balls for traveling stamina. Instant ramen if you were poor. ^^!

I would of loved to of played something like this with like minded individuals back in the day. I believe I still would. Those of the dojo for sure.

Any suggestions to make the Shenmue MMO better?

This trailer still gives me chills... the Mentos version is hilarious! ^^!



More in game visuals
 
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I voted hell no. Mainly because I don't see any way it would be commercially viable. Personally I'd play the hell out of it, but I don't see anywhere close to enough people being interested overall. It would be a MASSIVE waste of money in my opinion. Just keep that money and spend it on Shenmue 4 and Shenmue 5.

IF (and that is a big if) they managed to sell well, then it is time to start thinking about an MMO. Otherwise, my opinion is don't waste, time, money, and resources on something that may well kill the series off.
 
Benwahwah said:
It would be a MASSIVE waste of money in my opinion. Just keep that money and spend it on Shenmue 4 and Shenmue 5.
Click to expand...

This, really.

Sega dropped something around the $20 million mark into Shenmue Online and it never saw release.
I'd rather that money got put into Shenmue 4/5 if possible.

I'd play Shenmue Online, but only if it didn't interfere with the main series reaching its conclusion.
 
I’m still bitter that $20 million was wasted on this project which could have been used for Shenmue 3 in 2004 instead. We could have Kickstarted Shenmue 4 in 2015 and been further along the story/finished the story by now.

A no from me.
 
Shenmue Online was our best choice, when we had no other options.

With Shenmue Animie announced and as we approach 1 year anniversary of Shenmue 3's release I think we are in a very different place for the franchise. I always thought the series was an odd choice to turn into a MMORPG and the game's tortured development seems to confirm some of that.

I would rather any focus be kept on trying to get a 4th game green-light and try and conclude the franchise as expediently as possible.
 
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Assuming that it didn't interfere with Shenmue IV's development, I wouldn't mind the basic concept being revisited. But it would need to be presented in a different way than the original Shenmue Online was. The characters and events would need to be able to fit into Shenmue's universe. I don't want to see Ryo and Lan Di randomly throwing hadoukens, Final Fantasy rejects, men riding on giant spiders, or any other crap like that. Those things do not belong in a Shenmue game.
 
In a word: no, but also a hell no because we actually got S3.

However reductive a view, I now view Shenmue Online as an effort to do what Kickstarter could more easily/practically (warts and all): Shenmue 3 is allowed to be made if people still pay for Shenmue content.
To that end, it seems like effort was made to appeal to a larger audience (Eastern MMORPG culture) and the current game play of the time (cool outfits, totally timeless!)

I suppose something like a Shenmue Online could work, but:
-Right now, it'd distract attention/funding from the main series
-At worst, it'd look desperate (please, any funding possible for the series!)
-There's also the sense of oversaturation (at least the anime is handling earlier stuff with deepened exposition)

I did smirk at that original trailer, though: how far we've come from Ryo's concern being Joy.
 
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