Megadungeon Moduleworld

Something I feel like it would be cool would be to have some kind of combined "moduleworld", where there's some huge open hex map, and you can just take your character into this big MMO-like world and explore all the famous megadungeons and modules from D&D history, whether that be stuff like Stonehell, Rappan Athuk, and Barrowmaze, or TSR modules like The Lost City, In Search of the Unknown, Keep on the Borderlands, etc. I'm sure you can all think of other stuff that would be good to include, like City-State of the Invincible Overlord or Caverns of Thracia.

I fully realise that this is an impossible pipe-dream, and in all honestly I don't imagine it would be as fun as a regular well-run game in a setting that the referee is passionate about, but it would be a cool MMORPG-like experience, I think. I feel like this would be a good context to use the AD&D 1E ruleset for. I feel like the more comprehensive, standardised ruleset would work well for this kind of game. Maybe this would be the perfect use for AI, where it can just regurgitate the existing information while you play, and you can effectively play in "single-player mode" in this massive open world with countless dungeons.

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

If you can find a like-minded group of players, why not go for it?

There's already a plan in place for the general framework. As long as everyone took turns behind the screen I don't see why this isn't possible.

Cool idea. I think a number of folks in the OSR have already or are are building maps supporting this mode of play — classic modules and dungeons dropped down on a large hex map…

Sounds fun.

It could be done with some effort. But a) players would need to be committed for the long haul, and b) the GM would need to be committed to regular posting with a strictly adhered-to schedule. As it happens, I have a copy of 0One Games' The Dungeon Under the Mountain (all 10 levels) and have given consideration to running a megadungeon with that setting (it's basically Undermountain with different maps and the serial numbers filed off). Right now, time is my primary constraint, but perhaps in the future...

This MMO-like experience is something I want to find a platform for, but I haven't really found a home for it yet. I, surprisingly, haven't found anyone else with quite like this idea in the creator-space providing for [at least what I want to do], the whole of the idea, but I've seen, as has been mentioned, some people running the equivalent of Megadungeons and massive player hauls, but nothing like a semi- persistent world and the hallmarks of a shared environment over tabletop, combining multiple communities with a large database of players. It's doable if managed correctly, and you're on the right track that inspiration with classic modules is a good way to promote something new forward, but I haven't found the right pieces of the jigsaw quite yet.

I'd be interested if this was a product, in finding out how many gamers could realistically buckle down and commit to their gaming hobby once and for all. It would be the pinnacle of the Play-by-Post achievement. Part-time, asynchronous gaming taken up to 11. No ghosting, etc., as ideally, it evolves to being monetized. Can people realistically make that "one post a day" 5, 6 times a week, type of commitment for at least one campaign they love? What sort of systems are going to get the most play for mass play? Realistically, while 1e is dear to the old school, 5e might win out for more mass play with 1e remixed dungeons. I don't know that there are "masses" for an MMORPG from the old school crowd, whereas, from the total market, there is.

One of the funny ways to get people involved, I've found is through nontraditional channels, and to help them along with beginning play and mechanics. Put the materials in front of them and consider them invited to an adventure, and they might be casuals, but they'll find the pastime fun, usually. It's often the veterans that are the harder commits to a set regimen of gaming I find, while the newbies lack experience and source information to go on.