Something New!

Refnu

We need new. I need new at least. I am currently playing AC because it is the only OLD that I can tolerate without getting bored after 5 minutes.

I was thinking. Let's get a new style of gameplay into MMOs. One that doesn't revolve around killing monsters as a "career" or a method to obtain gold. I want to see something in which you have to obtain a job to keep yourself going. It probably wouldn't last but one idea is to make the XP that you receive greater from say a blacksmithing job or farming than what you receive from killing that troll. People like quick and easy right? thats why they play WOW? Well therefore, you have more people blacksmithing or whatever instead of just running around killing. The idea is you gain some XP from killing monsters and also can loot whatever they drop, be it they had a sword so you can loot that, or you fought a wolf so you obtain some wolfs blood or meat. The main focus however is the career.

Let's say the game starts with a starter toon/noob area, it would have to be some place that is completly not connected to the rest of the game world. You go through it, get your knowledge of the game, learn a few things, and then the last would be to pick the career. It won't be something in which you have to say I pick tailoring, therefore I can't do fishing or I can't be a blacksmith. All careers will be set out in front of you, with an NPC to talk to on how to get yourself started in that field. Then you get sent to the real world, in which it is completly barren. Trees, animals, wildlife, everything except for cities or civilization. Thats where the player comes in. Everyone starts out with the basic skills of each career, although if you talked to one of the NPCs of the career you wanted to focus on you have obtained either some helpful hints to get started or a greater skill or item for that career. You have nothing as of now so you need to build shelter. One of the first things all the NPCs will tell you or hint to you is that you need shelter to protect yourself. So you will have to build your characters' home. Since you are a noob and have a very low build skill you can only build a hut. Upon completion of your hut you have now received experience in the building skill, your career as a builder has advanced. However, you don't have to become a builder, you're just better at building now.

Now you have a shelter built, and we will decide that you are going focus on farming. First, you have tend to the area you will farm, Since you talked to the farmer NPC you have recieved a few items that will help in this. And now those items helped you get that done and therefore your first farming attempt took half the time it took to build your hut. Your farming skill increases and so on.

Where do other players play into this? Everything is player driven! The merchants, the events, the government, the economy, everything. Eventually a few players will realize that having a builder and a tailor living next to their farming player will greatly benefit them so they start a small community. The farmer brings food to the community in which the tailor and builder buy from him. Everyone has to eat of course. The builder builds the farmers tailors equipment in which they both buy from him. The Tailor makes their clothing in which everyone needs and so they buy it from him. Therefore each one of these characters increase in the career they are focusing on plus their merchant skill increases.

How merchant works. No one likes a game in which the economy is so off the wall it is impossible to even buy anything. With the merchant skill somehow a player will be able to buy an item and then assess that items worth. The game will create how much the player sells it for however, making the economy smooth. Everytime a player sells an item they would receive XP in their merchant skill. Why is it good to even have a merchant skill? Because when other players are trying to see the items you are selling, the greater your skill will make the items more appealing to the buyer. Say you have a fishing pole that you bought from a very good builder. If your merchant skill is low, the customer looking at this pole would be able to tell that it is a fishing pole but wouldn't be able to know the attributes that go with it all they ywould know is that it is a fishing pole. If your merchant skill was higher that customer would be able to tell that they are looking at a Oak fishing pole built by xx builder and that it will add x number of points to your fishing skill. Therefore people won't want to buy from noob merchants, they will go to those that have the highest merchant skill because it will benefit them the greatest, which in turn it benefits the merchant because he gets more costumers and therefore more profit.

Its an endless cycle really...and I think I need to stop because I could go on and on. However I will need to go into one more detail. Hunting. Since my main idea for this was to get rid of the hacknslash to win the game, hunting would have to be a hard skill to maintain. The xp would have to be very slow. Every career would have to use hunting for something or another however. A builder has to gather wood, but he has used all the wood nearby his home already, so he will have to travel a bit farther to find wood, and the only place he finds has a great wolf guarding it. He will either have to kill this wolf, or befriend it. (Pets) With killing the wolf his hunting skill will increase and he will be able to receive a few items such as wolfs hair, wolfs blood, wolfs meat, maybe a rare wolf tooth that he can give to a weaponsmith to carve into a wolfs dagger. Then he gets his wood.



EDIT:  Forgot something, the wildlife of the world would roam around freely, if they get too close to you they will attack so you would either have to defend yourself, or if you dont care to waste time training your hunting skill you could hire a guard (someone good at hunting) to patrol your area and maintain a wildlife free zone. Big cities will need many guards so there will be a demand for that career, even though it is harder to achieve. there should also be something along the lines of monsters or wildlife that have some AI. because you need a storyline to the game. sometime a pack of trolls will come and attack a small village. news would spread to a bigger city and they wouldl send their guards to attack the trolls.

Ok thats way too much, and I'm not even making a game I just went a lil too far into an idea that just popped into my head briefly. If anyone would like to make this game and hire me that wouldl be great! lol although I just put this up here to see your thoughts on it so post away!! Flames are always encouraged 

alakram

I had thought the same thing tons of times. I thing some company should make a game like this one. At the start will be a hardcore game for sure, but it will go to a little easy and smooth with the time.

nurgles

while its not fantasy, EvE-online incorporates most of what you are tallking about. the economy and items are player driven, the politics in the majority of space is governed by the players.

paulscott

wurm, a tale in the desert, EvE, ryozm.  that's for  MMO's

and might I suggest wurm, just because it's an uber game.

Refnu

Originally posted by nurgles


while its not fantasy, EvE-online incorporates most of what you are tallking about. the economy and items are player driven, the politics in the majority of space is governed by the players.

Ya when I was writing that everything I said reminded me somehow of EvE. The game has so many good aspects to it, I never have enough time to learn everything and I tend to move on to something else.

rockum

i agree i think you almost describing wurm perfect....im not sure exactly how that game works b.c i have not played it but from what i read ... it seems exactly what your talking about...you should try it out and let me know how it is

Czzarre

I Honestly think that I move in and out of games a lot more often than I did when MMORPGs were young. I used to spend years on a single game playing it above all others. NOw, I move on within a few months, sometimes going back and forth between games. Perhaps its because now there are so many choices, our attention spans to any one game has dwindled.

saint4God

Sounds a lot like Voyage Century.  It's a historical game set in the late 1400's and you can do things like farm, carry shipments from the dockmaster to the trader, work in the pub, explore islands, etc.  The greatest thing about it, is it is free!  The set-up, interface and learning curve are a bit rough but...it is free!  I'm hoping Pirates of the Burning Sea will be more user-friendly though...it has a fee!

Refnu

aye, I guess there are games like this out there already ha! learn something new everyday