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Several Questions Regarding People's Prefrences on MMORPGs
EMidget
Member Posts: 44
Ok, I'm going to ask a bunch of questions about what you prefer on things to be done in a MMORPG. If you want, you can either quote each question and reply or just make a list, but I do ask that you make a detailed answer where I can tell what the qustion was. (I.E Regarding the interface question....) I'm typing these questions as they come to my head, so please forgive the order. You do not have to answer every question, I would much rather you answer just a few than not answer at all.
Ok here we go!
These are the current ideas I have for a theme or setting of the MMORPG:
Fantasy: Typical MMORPG (Which I have no problem with), that uses Humans, Elves, Dwarves, etc. that has dragons and fantasy type creatures. Pretty Self Explanatory
Medievil (SP): Uses the medievil age as primary source of setting and themes. Again Self-Explanatory... The only problems with this is that there are limtited races, because there all humans... and I definetly prefer not to use different countries, like the Britts fighting against the French.
Egyptian: This would use an Egyptian type setting containing different types of Egytian mythology as races, such as the Anubi. (The black animal-like things in the Mummy, if you didn't know) I'm not sure, but we may also be able to use some type of Martial Arts if we used Egypt, but the Con of this is that deserts aren't that pretty to look at. 
Chinese: This could definetely use Martial Arts, and I'm almost positive there is some type of Chinese mythology which we could pull races from, Although, I'm not a personal fan of a chinese world because the buildings don't appeal to me, and although I am not racist in anyway, I feel there is less variety with Chinese People as NPC's.
These are my current ideas for setting, I'm probably tilting towards Fantasy just because it can go in so many different ways. Keep in mind, these are just the age or setting the game is in, you don't have to follow the history of each.
Now for actual questions:
How would you prefer an interface to be laid out in an MMORPG, What games did you like the interface in (Post screenshots of it please), is there certain things you'd like on an interface or certain things you think are not needed? Please be extremely specific on this, if you'd like, attach a microsoft paint of the layout you would want. Put little rows where you'd like the quickspell toolbar, menu, chat, etc.
How should the interface for the inventory and eqiupment screen be carried out? Should there be a picture of a person, and each article with a box holding the item in that area, or should it just have a list or some other way? How would you prefer this done?
How would you want spells to be done? They could be bought from a trainer or every level you could obtain a certain amount of points and they could be done in tree form, or it could be a combination of both, if it's done in both, tell me how'd you'd do it.
How would you do crafting? If there are multiple types, how many types should be allowed to be specialized on each character, or should you be able to master them all? What are some crafting professions you'd like to see (Please list uses of profession) How would you like crafting training to be done? By a trainer? Should you require certain items to perform your profession such as a hammer for smithing? How should crafting experience in your profession be gained?
Should monsters drop items more for crafting, or drop actual equipment, or a mix of both? If it's a mix, should it be 50/50 or more crafting items than equipment dropped, or vice-versa?
Should items have durability, or should they never have to be repaired?
What is your thoughts on a well-made death penalty? How would you like death to be carried out? What do you think are good penalties for death? Loss of Gold, loss of experience? Do you think a player-resurection spell should be possible? If there is no one to resurrect you, how do you get your corpse back?
What articles of eqiupment do you think your character should have? Should he be able to have rings or amulets? Any special articles he may wear to gain power? Do you think shoulderpads should be able to be worn? Bracers? Or should there just be a normal Head, Chest, Hands, Boots, Belt, Weapon, and shield?
Depending on the theme you choose, what races would you like to see in-game? What special attributes or racial traits would you want this race to have? Are you going to make up your own races, or use normal races along with that theme?
What classes would you prefer in a MMORPG? (Answering typical warrior, archer, priest, mage etc. is OK) Post any innovative class ideas, along with what type of character they are, what kind of skills they use, type of eqiupment they should wear, role in game, what races can and can't be that class, a name for the class (Strangely enough, this is always the hardest things for me in games, 'Names for something') and other things you think are necessary to include. What extra things would you like too see in the normal classes most MMORPG's that you've yet to see or things you really liked in other MMORPGs with that class?
What areas do you think should be instanced? On a personal note, I believe that the whole land should not be instances, but for main raid caves or areas, it should be instanced. What is your thought on this? Should there be instanced towns or villages?
Player or Guild housing. Should there even be player housing? (You won't get me to change my mind that I want guild halls!) What should be the purpose of player or guild housing? Should housing be instanced, or do you have a good idea on how it should be implented into the world? Should you have to buy or pay rent for player hosuing? Or for Guild housing should you automatcially recieve a guild house when creating a guild or should you have to buy it, and after buying it should you have to continue paying rent, or should it be yours forever? If you had to buy your guild house, and you abandon your guild, should you get money back from the house purchase? Should you be able to upgrade the size of your house, or what kind of objects should you be able to buy to improve your house?
How should guild creation be handled? Should there be a required amount of initial members to create a guild? If so, How many? Should it cost money to create a guild? Should guild's have a tabard? If so, where should the tabard be located? Should the tabard cost money to purchase? What are some suggestions you have to make guilds and guild implentation better?
Factions? Should it be Group of Races vs. Group of Races, Made up Faction vs. Made up Faction, a 3 faction war, Free for all with each race against each other? What are your thoughts on this? If you do think there should be factions, please list the groups you think should be in each faction in correspondence with your races and refer to the next question.
Should there be faction vs. faction combat? How should Town captures, Town sieges, or Castle sieges be handled? Should there be siege weapons? If so, how will these be added to combat? Will the battles be server-wide affecting? What if a certain quest a player needs is now in enemy hands, how will this be done? What will the player gain from helping capture a town or castle? What things do you have in mind on how towns or castles will affect the server or what bonuses a faction will gain?
How would you want a World Map laid out? Would you want each Faction on a different Island, or do you want a giant continent shared between all races? If you want, include a Microsoft Paint file showing how you would want it.
Traveling. What types of fast, long-distance travel will be avaiable? Bird Rides, Boat Rides, a type of train? Please give examples of this to go along with the theme you are using in your races and setting.
Mounts and Long Walks. Should mounts be used for walking long distances between quests or areas where transportation is avaiable? Should mounts have a required level? Should a mount have to be bought? Should there be race-specific mounts? How will mounts be called in-game? If your stable is back in town, do you have to go all the way back to town, get your mount, then ride to the area you were intended to go in the first place. Once dismounting, where will your mount go? Does he go back to a stable? Should there even be mounts or a stable? Should Mounts be killable if their is mounted combat? What suggestions do you have regarding mounts and mount implentation?
Armor and Weapon Counter Types. Do you think there should be counters for each weapon and armor? For example, if a person is wearing Plate Armor, a piercing weapon such as a sword or arrow would be much less ineffective than a bashing weapon such as a maul. What do you think could be some of these possible counters? Include Armor and Weapon Type.
How would you want the interface for player interaction to be done? When you Click a player, how do you invite him to a party, or initiate trade?
How do you want combat to be done? Should it be done in a semi turn-based perspective where once engaging in combat you just keep attacking your enemy with weapon until he's dead or until you cast a spell, or should it have some type of combat where you have to rapidly or hold down the attack button to attack the enemy? Any suggestions or ideas you have on making combat exciting but easy are much appreciated.
Finally, what extra things or features do you want that aren't in other MMORPGs or things you really liked in another game? Maybe just from your own thoughts as a gamer, things you would love to see implented in a game.
Thanks for any questions you may answer. Also if any of this sounds good to you, I may be producing a MMORPG with me working as a main designer, sound and music, and Dialog writer. I believe that with some of the ideas I have in mind, and the help from many communities, we could make something pretty enjoyable and maybe make some profit in the long run. I do ask that nobody flames this post saying, " year yeah, whatever you say, MMORPGS are impossible to produce without bigtime funding, and all that, your hopeless and a l337 N3WB!!" (Probably will be just like that 
)
Also, more questions may be on the way as I come up with them!
Thanks!
Comments
Please, any help is greatly appreciated... I'm really stuck on how I want to do some things and need some other people's opinions.
How about Sci-Fi? You know, I am in planning on a book series that revolves around an couple of universes. I am still awaiting a game made better than Star Wars: Galaxies that allows intergalactic transport a full exploration of said planet. I am talking each planet the size of Everquest II. Yeah, that big.
It won't happen, but hope is hope.
Anyway, maybe try going Sci-Fi anyway. There aren't enough good ones.
Personally. I'd love to see a good chinese MMORPG(Not anime). I think that all this focus on the western medieval era starts to get intensely blase.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------"The greatest trick the devil played on humanity in the 20th century was convincing them that he didnt exist." (Paraphrasing) C.S. Lewis
"If a mother can kill her own child, what is left before I kill you and you kill me?" -Mother Teresa when talking about abortion after accepting the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979
"The greatest trick the devil played on humanity in the 20th century was convincing them that he didn't exist." (Paraphrasing) C.S. Lewis
"If a mother can kill her own child, what is left before I kill you and you kill me?" -Mother Teresa when talking about abortion after accepting the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979
Hey guys I extremely appreciate the replies, but what would be any better is how the idea would be pulled off, like what races or factions would be used in it, and what classes go along with that...
ok. As for interface. I'm not sure if you were talking about this. But a combat interface I'd like to see revolutionized. Not so much of this caveman style fighting. More interactive; player skill oriented. Not exactly twitch based, but maybe say...25%-35% player skill involved. So it spices up the combat system a bit.
Spell system.
I think it should be done by research. Add in different components. Get different actions. You add in an herb for its resistant qualities, you then add in say...a charred piece of wood. You then get a weak fire protection spell. And so on.
Crafting professions should be as easy as such. You find someone who knows how to do it, be it player or NPC trainer, get some tips that your character has a virtual memory of (like skills) and get the tools necessary, use it, gain experience in it. There should be no artificial limit on the number of ones you can train.
Monster should drop items that fit them. You kill a fish, you can stash its corpse. Then you can scavenge it's body for food, teeth, bones, whatever. Kill a scaley beast, same thing. Etc.
See a humanoid with some sword and platemail, should get everything it wields. And maybe some gold, or stashed away items.
Items I think should have durability. You should also be able to scavenge items. Items should rarely break I think though. And when they do break, should be able to be mended. Swords should get dull. Mallets chipped, etc. which would need to be repaired to be at full efficiency.
Thats all I got for now. Maybe i'll add some more comments later.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------"The greatest trick the devil played on humanity in the 20th century was convincing them that he didnt exist." (Paraphrasing) C.S. Lewis
"If a mother can kill her own child, what is left before I kill you and you kill me?" -Mother Teresa when talking about abortion after accepting the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979
"The greatest trick the devil played on humanity in the 20th century was convincing them that he didn't exist." (Paraphrasing) C.S. Lewis
"If a mother can kill her own child, what is left before I kill you and you kill me?" -Mother Teresa when talking about abortion after accepting the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979
You used blase right.
By the way, what is with your hate of anime? China doesn't produce anime; Japan produces anime.
Look on the home page. There is a new poll I just voted on about which type of MMORPG, not including fantasy, would you most likely be interested in. I voted Sci-Fi, but I would also be quite interested in a Horror MMORPG; and, coninsidently, both Horror and Sci-Fi are the leading two choices!
Fantasy.
- Dont take a rigid race setting at start, exemple: You have elfs only at start(as opposed to wood elf, sun elfs, grey elfs and so on). Many players goes there, so, later you decide to make wood elf and high elfs, the basic elfs remain as an elf hybrid(think of it as a half high elf and half wood elf). Many wood elf? Can divide it further into sea elf and land based elf, and so on. When you add a new sub division, a player CHOOSE if they stick to the generic hybrid or if they join a sub-race specific. That way, you put work where players show interest the most, you could have a few generals hybrids at start, anyway, a half wood elf and half high elf is a lot more likely to be an adventurer then a socially accepted elf(the high elf would look at him with disdain and the wood elf would not really trust him, althought he would be tolerated in any of the 2 society). You can have 1 gobelinoid hybrid at start and work from there the same way, with the player utter approval by selecting and playing them(might have a simple mathematic system that award an amount of points per account and those points are divided accordingly to the time spended on every race).
If you have a race, it is POSSIBLE to later change it for 2 races and keep it as an hybrid, changing the graphics on the NPCs is little work and show your interest in developping the world. 1 or 2 subdivision every now and there (3 times a year maybe) would be slow enought to allow players to adapt, and enrich the world just as equally.
AQUATIC realms and races should be present, and it should be quite significant for an aquatic to suffer flaws on land as well as a land creature in water. Airborne can be nice as well, but more work and less vital. Humans have a natural fear/wonder of the deep, the water, the sea, why not work with it?
Gear: Monsters should drop the gear related to the activity involved in killing them, so if a mob need a raid, it will drop good raid gear(but poor in a group). Crafting should have an economic, social, flashy component and have NOTHING to do with hunting, we want to have FUN, not to be a in a realistic double of our world where we need to work! If someone that spend 10 hours crafting is equal to someone that spend 1 hour soloing as far as solo uberness is concerned, I am itching and unhappy unless it is both way(so someone doing solo would progress naturally as well in crafting? crafters would cry).
- A player, to be motivated, need to be able to progress significantly in what they care for. You can favorised 1 type of players over the others, or you can segment the game system where a good soloer is nothing but a good soloer and same with every other aspect.
- "Solo is, will always be, the main market. A MMORPG that succeed with little or no solo appeal is doing great considering they are ignoring the main player base.''
- "If I understand you well, you are telling me until next time. " - Ren
Well, first off, I don't really care about interfaces that much, so I'll leave it to other people. For the item equipment/inventory, equipment should be shown on your character equipment page; and labeled, as in chest for the chest piece of armor, inventory should just be simply layed out, much like many other mmorpg's.
I would like spells to be obtained through practice using them, after reading a scroll of instructions/wisdom, at first, it would be weak, and require a bit of mana, and after practice, would grow stronger, and require slightly less mana. And these scrolls could be bought off of npc's, or you could find an inscription in stone, in a dangerous temple, or find a scroll off of a caster monster.
Crafting should be done, so that you have no limit. Although, your first two professional skills should be earned at an average speed, the amount of experience needed for the following professions afterwards would rapidly increase, so your more encouraged to learn two main professions, rather than all of them, think of it as memory.
Depending on the type of monster, it can drop equipment, depending on what it is, like a caster might drop cloth, a warrior, plate armor, and a miner, perhaps a pick and minerals. A boss monster may drop plans of a raid on a town(this would require the game to have monster raids on towns) which you could show to the town's government, for a reward and or quest.
Items should have durability, and every time you are hurt, it should take a slight hit of durability, and the people who have the profession learned for, say smithing, should be able to repair that armor type, at a cost of minerals and other things (like thread.)
I personally like World of Warcrafts death penalty, where you turn into a ghost, and can make a run back to your corpse at increased speed, and an arrow on the minimap towards your corpse, and if you chose to resurrect in town(at a graveyard by a gravekeeper or some other person) and take a durability hit.
I pretty much think most equipment should be able to be equipped, but have other qualities other than adding damage, or reducing it, like say an armor piece near the neck might reduce the chance of a critical hit(because it guards the neck)but give less regular armor protection, and rings would give you stat boosts, or skills(like a leaching ability, for every hit you give, you gain a small amount of health.)
Races, should be the developers choice, try to be creative, although it would probably be best to include humans, to appeal to that crowd, perhaps make a race that moves on five legs. Make the racial attributes fit them, if the race is slender and long legged, make them fast/agile.
Classes, should include the three basics, a warrior, priest, and a mage, their armor/weapons should be obvious perhaps a hunter, who wears leather, and is ranged with an axe/sword and might have a pet, a monk(who is a magical naturalist that wears cloth and uses staffs,) a necromancer, who excels with Damage over time spells,wears cloth, and uses staffs, and is pretty much evil, a paladin that excels at killing necromancers using righteous spells, with pretty much ever weapon/armor and a darkknight, that excels at killing paladins, with evil spells, and the same armor/weapon types of a paladin. Also, an assassin/rouge, that does high damage, and is agile, using leather/daggers.
Areas that should be instanced, in my opinion, should be boss areas, and perhaps mines if there are enough of them. Instancing shouldn't be overused, otherwise it will make it seem less like an MMORPG, and more like and RPG. There should be instanced areas that only high ranking guilds should be able to enter, that are extremely dangerous.
Houses, should be placed in neighborhoods, with groups of other houses, and should be used as a bank, or an area, where you can rest (logging out here, for, say more than 8-10 hours will give you a slight stat boost for a limited time when you come in) and a place to decorate, with expensive artwork, heads mounted on your walls that came from strong bosses, etc... Houses may or may not be increased in size, so you can fit more stuff in there, and should be able to be sold for less than what you bought it for.
Guilds should be able to be created, with an appropriate minimum of members needed to sign up in 10 minutes, they should cost a rather large amount of money at first, and small amounts over time, which would be payed through individual guild members tax. Tabards should cost money, to have an npc design their insignia, and they should be pretty expensive, and should require materials for it, after you make your first one, you can simply have the npc make them for a cheaper amount for every member, they should be put on you, like a sash.
Factions should be made between races, each guild that has members of multiple races, may perform tasks for a races government, and that government would slightly increase their respect for the races in the guild. This task may be against another government, and if you complete it, you may lose respect from that government. If you are at piece with a government, they cannot attack you, and vise versa towards hostile governments.
If you help capture a town/castle, the price of the merchandise from the npc's in the town, will be reduced for you(that is, if you successfully capture it) If you fail to capture it, the town guards will be hostile towards you, and the npc's won't trade with you. You can gain their respect towards you back, by protecting them from a siege. Siege weapons will be used, by attacking with an area of effect on the guards, and protect the player(s) inside from harm, so long as the siege weapon holds, unless it's a catapult. These would have to be made by multiple crafters from a guild, and would cost an incredible amount of materials. Which would make it more favorable for guilds to siege.
The world map should be blank, until you find an area. You should be able to mark areas on the map, and remove the marks, so you could remember a large cave or something. Each town you visit, would list their main race, and their respect towards you/your race, since the last time you heard about it.
Long distance travelling over water, could be travelled upon by large boats with pre-set paths, or by flying mounts that have pre-set paths, You could purchase mounts, that may be specific towards your race, that you could put away at stables in a town. Or by the flying mounts.
You can learn a skill, a whistle, that will call your mount, the farther away it is, the longer it will take to come to you, but it shouldn't take too long. Mounts should be purchased, and after traveling longer times on your mount, you will be able to ride it better, being faster on it, less likely to be hit on it, and more likely to hit other things when mounted, until you can hit/be hit, the same as if you were on the ground. If you unmount your mount, it will stay there and wait for you, until you mount it again.
I really don't have much to say about armor/weapon counters, since I don't have much time left to right this, sorry 'bout that.
Combat should be fast paced, and not too reliant on your level, although your level will be an important factor. There should be combinations, like using a bunch of different sword skills will eventually activate an ability to chop at your opponents neck, doing a lot of important damage, so you have to think your skills through.
I remember a game, that used a stamina system, every player would be given stamina, every time you were hit, or hit something else, your stamina went down slowly, and your casting time/attack rate slowed down, as with your running speed, so you would get tired over time. I personally like this system, it adds some challenge and planning to fighting.
I hope I was of help, oh, and the punctuation police, please excuse me, I'm really tired right now and need some sleep, although I'll spellcheck it. Have a good night, or a good day, depending on where you are.
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Alliance Chars:
~Drakthol, Destromath PVP server
Level 52 Dwarf Hunter
Horde Chars:
~Foorinore, Archimonde PVP server
Level 11 troll priest
Drakthol
Are you seriously considering developing an MMORPG?
If you don't mind me asking, what are your credentials?
First and formost, I would suggest that for EVERY topic you consider in the game, you FIRST look at how the comparable thing works in real life. Start with that concept - because it works and people will be able to identify with it. If, again for a specific topic, you feel modeling reality is not a good thing (perhaps for fun sake), then begin to modify off of reality, trying to change as little as possible to make the topic work in a game. With that said, here are my answers to your questions.
1. Could not care less about the interface - further, it really cannot be detailed until you have specifics of the game mechanics in place. But basically, make sure EVERYTHING can be customized by the player - period!
2. Spells should be learned in a variety of ways (from NPCs, PCs, quests, etc.) - why? So there is a variety in the game and so people with different tastes can enjoy learning. All spells should be skill based solely (no level at all). As one practices, one should get better at each spell (rather than having to learn a new version of the same fireball spell for example). What is "better" depends on the spell. You should envision (and detail out) the "science" of how magic works in the game world you envision - in this way you will be better able to see what kind of spells there should be and how each should progress as the caster gets better. Personally, I think you should go find an old copy of Runequest (the pen and paper RPG) and research their spell system - converting it into MMORPG functionality. Their system was excellent in it's complexity. It allowed a much wider variety of effects from a caster (including increasing damage, time of action of the spell, etc.) - making for MUCH better game play.
3. Again, look to real life and copy it. You must learn from a skilled crafter and then practice to get better (just like magic or anything else). Of course you MUST have implements and these should be specific to your craft just like real life. There should be as many crafts as you can think of (look to real life to get your own list).
4. On monsters. First I think you should carefully envision and model your world. Look to real life - do people just go out for no reason at all to kill the creatures in our world? No (except for a very few sickos) - people kill creatures for reasons and only for good reasons (food, etc.). Model it this way. The concept that RPGs and MMORPGs have used with every PC going around killing massive numbers of creatures should be done away with - it makes NO sense and makes for a very boring and tedious game. Give me REASONS to kill creatures (other than to gain experience). Further, make it so you get ONLY what you would get off a creature in real life (bones, hides, meat). Model it so you can (with the proper in game skills) get all the "things" you would get in real life (organs, bones, tissue, meat, etc.) from each creature - with uses for these items in game. Unless it makes extreme sense in the game world, NO creature should drop gold, weapons or any such inane concept.
5. Yes, all items should have durability - just like real life. Part of the problem with most games that have attempted this is they do NOT follow anything like real life in how these items decay and what effects this has on the item and it's use. For example, a sword will get dull (thus should require sharpening) but it NEVER actually becomes unuseable (it can be broken but that is a different issue than decay) UNLESS it is not cared for properly (a sword allowed to rust will become unrepairable but a sword that is cared for after every use won't). You must think of how it works for each and every item in the game - you cannot generalize too much.
6. Death is a much more difficult concept to deal with as the game is supposed to be fun. However, I do believe a well designed game (and I mean WELL designed) could be a great deal of fun with permadeath. Death should have severe consequences - however, the overall game must play differently than all other MMORPGS for this to work.
7. The PC should be able to wear everything he/she could wear in real life - so yes, rings, underwear, etc.
8. Races - pick your own. I have played MMORPGs with only one race (it has REAL advantages) and others with multiple races. The primary problem with multiple races is making it all make any sense and making it matter at all (other than purely cosmetic) what race one picks (without making for stupid rules).
9. No classes at all. The game should be purely skill based and thus your character becomes defined NOT by some arbitrary "class" the game assigns but rather by the amalgum of skills one possessed and more importantly what one does with those skills. So, for example, if you choose to learn medical skills and swordfighting skills - what are you? Well, in most games you would be known as either a swordsman or a doctor - but what if what you ACTUALLY do in the game (it is a roleplay game isn't it?) is wander the world gathering fruit and selling this fruit in other towns? You would become known as a traveling fruit salesman - right? That is what roleplay is all about - the game should allow you to become known for what you do and what knowledge/skills you possess - not by some arbitrary class given to you by the game.
10. There should be a good mix (it will depend heavily on your game and the world you make) of instanced and non-instanced areas. First and foremost the vast majority should be open and thus non-instanced (for many reasons). However, for the sake of good and fun game play for all types of players (taking into account real world issues surrounding playing an MMORPG), instancing should be used for all sorts of quests, missions, etc. - some should be planned (that is, a mission might take your group into an instanced dungeon for storyline reasons) and some should be dynamically assigned by the game (example next). Let's look at a simple example of what I mean by the "dynamically assigned instanced event". Let's say you have taken a mission (not quest but a task) from your NPC mentor (let's say you are an apprentice to an NPC tailor) to travel to the next town and purchase some supplies to use in your tailoring practice. This sounds like a simple straightforward task. As you travel, the game (at some random point) might place a small band of traveling Gypsies in your path who hail you to stop and help them. It will be, of course, your choice to stop or not. However, in some cases, this might be (or turn out to be) an instanced "random event" - it should be instanced some times (to help make it personalized for you and/or your group). If it is done well, this can help make what in all other games is a simple (and boring) gofer mission become something more - more excitement, more possibility for failure, etc.
11. Player and guild housing - of course there MUST be. If you envision a real MMORPG, there MUST be housing. Look to real life and model what uses can be made of this housing and make sure the game allows for all of these and more. Players WILL use their imagination if you let them - but the game MUST provide the mechanics. Houses (all structures) should be build in real time (not just plunked down read built) and should be able to be modified (just like real life) - all using in game skills that must be learned and in game materials that must be harvested and processed properly. Everything in game should be sellable - period. Whether you can make money or not should depend on a number of factors (not a simple guarantee) just like real life.
12. Guilds - I can see NO reason for there to be a requirement of how many players there are for a guild. You should be able to have a guild of one or 10,000 - why restrict? If you design the game properly (with all real world mechanics and functionality), guild size will be dependent upon what that guild wants to do - not some arbitrary game rule. If they want to be a fishing guild, then it could be a guild of one or 10,000 - but if they want to be a dragon hunting guild then they likely (by necessity) will be a large guild. Let function and players decide what they want to be.
13. Factions - a STUPID, INANE concept. I am an American (for example), do I automatically HATE any other racial group? I sure hope MOST of you agree this is not the case and should NOT be the case in a game. As intelligent people we tend to "hate" those we feel we have a need to hate (those who have harmed us or threatened us for example) NOT those who just live in another country. Build your system so that PCs (and NPCs) know each other by their actions and deeds - NOT by automatic factions lists. And further (unless you want a dumbed down inane game like all other MMORPGs) make your game mechanics so that if you kill a member of one race (for example) and do it so NOBODY else sees - then you are NOT automatically hated by every other member of the dead one's race! Why anybody every thought of making every NPC and PC in an MMORPG world be psychic I have NO clue. Make it real world.
14. Sieges, etc. Yes, of course, however adding these will make for much larger balance issues - but they MUST be there. These are things many (if not most) players want to be able to do in games. Again, look to real life to see what people gain (and lose) by performing these actions (as participants and just part of the same "race"). There are many difficult topics to cover here - too much for this simple discussion. But, these are part of real world and thus must be incorporated. The mechanics will depend greatly on your world and the level of technology (for example).
15. World layout - very comlicated topic and cannot be simply decided. It depends on how large your world is (for one thing). If the physical game world is "small" but has 50 races - then the layout will by perforce be totally different than if the game world is full Earth sized with only 3 races. No simple answer. But again, I would suggest you look to real life. Do you envision fully different races (something we do not have in real world) or just slight variations of the same humanoid group (like in real life)? This will largely shape how things should be. Let me make my point a bit clearer with an example (most games screw this up badly). Let us supposed a world wherein Humans (as we know them) and Orcs (as they are usually portrayed) have evolved. Unless the Orcs and Humans are much like real world races (that is they are NOT all that different in core concepts), one would have destroyed the other long ago in the evolutionary process UNLESS there was some magical separation. So, either there must be some "magical" separation (unlike anything in our real world) or the two races are not all that much different (except skin color for example). This is where most games fail from the get go - they do NOT properly and fully envision how the world evolved and maintains some sort of equilibrium existance - thus the game fails from the start in a conceptual way and players have little to work with (for roleplay purposes) because it simply does not make sense.
16. Weapon and armor - again a topic where most games fail miserably. They simply do NOT think out the logic of all the weapons and armor in the game world. They just add them willy nilly to supposedly give the player many options. All it really amounts to is a lot of complexity for complexity sake - no real play value. Further, it all is almost if not always poorly balanced so that with 50 different armor types and 100 different weapons in the game, most players will gravitate to one or two types. Again, look to real life and model it after the concepts of real world combat (I am not saying to not have different armor and weapons than real life - just use the concepts of real world). For example, if you model your world around modern 21st century America (just a simple example), you should NOT bother with armor such as plate because it simply is NOT used - for obvious reasons. Model your world and what items exist based on what would make sense if it WERE real world.
17. Traveling - depends far too much on your game world and it's technology, etc. Further, the game world size and speed of foot travel is a big issue. However, in general, the same options (based on the technology of the game world) should exist as they do in real life. Anticipating many people that will have problems here - let me make another point. In most MMORPGs the issue of getting around quickly (voiced by players) is because NOBODY has ever given us a game world to play in where just traveling from point A to point B is fun! It is always about "being" someplace specific - then having fun (battle or whatever). Make the game FUN to get from place to place - then people won't be so concerned with all sorts of "fast" or "instant" transport. This can be done in a number of ways - but making your game world more rich and complex in things to see (for adventureres and explorers) and more rich and complex in "random" events (both fully live and dynamically instanced versions) along the way from point A to point B will make it fun to travel.
18. Combat - if all you have to do for fun in the game is combat then you have failed before you even start. However, combat should NOT be too twitch based but not fully turn based. I should not have to hit a button (or the mouse button) so fast I get carpel tunnel - but it should not be such that I hit one key and then go have lunch.
19. I have many, many ideas of things that should be adde to an MMORPG to make it more fun and diverse for a wide variety of players over a long period of play time but it would be too much to detail here. But for example, I already mentioned the "dynamically assigned instanced events". Also, if you add a wide variety of skulls, bones, hides, etc. that can be "harvested" from creatures, then the collector in many of us will give us something to do. Add to this the ability to display these items in our homes and you have countless hours of fun for many creative people. Further, when you go into a pub in the game world, there should be things to do in the pub to entertain us all (have musicians playing and dancers dancing, sword swallowing, etc.) - games (poker, checkers, etc.).
If all else in life fails you, buy a vowel.
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First of all thanks for all the replys guys, although I saw I think 2 posts which said the theme they would like, but didn't give me any details on it.
Ferilmaster, Thanks for taking the time to do that, it gave me some pretty cool ideas, the problem with that spell system though, is a person could sit there and cast it just all day, unless it required an enemy target, but it may be possible to incorporate it somehow. Do you have any ideas on which crafting professions should be used?
Due to the overwhelming response : ), We will use the system that the type of monster it is, drops eqiupment like that, although I don't think it will be if a humanoid is using a sword and plate armor, he won't drop the same sword and plate armor at the same time, nor will he drop both every time.
The issue with using WoW's death penalty is it would be just copying an idea, so we need to find someway to slightly alter it.
I do like the idea that each piece of eqiupment carries effects that have to do with that piece like your neck example.
Races should be the developers choice, :P, Well, any suggestions you have for these races you mentioned?
So Classes you have a Warrior, Mage, Priest, Hunter, Necromancer, Dark Knight, Paladin, Monk, and Rogue. I understand all of them except the Dark Knight and Monk. Personally, I've always had issues with Dark Knights because it's just an evil warrior. Maybe if we made it possible for a Warrior to obtain more dark-aligned spells, it could just fill this hole. Monk, I just flat out don't understand... same thing as priest I thought unless your thinking otherwise. I was also thinking of some kind of Druid, self-explanatory. We also would need some type of main buffer, no idea what this would be.
Exactly my thoughts on the instancing.
The houses in a neighborhood I just don't know though. It would take up huge amounts of space, and may take awhile to find your own house. I heard in FFXI there was a large apartment-type building, that contained all the players houses, when you entered the building, it automatically took you to your house. This sounds like a pretty good idea, instead of just one house symbolizing all the instanced houses.
10 Members for a guild is ok, but how will the game realize there's 10 players. WoW did the charter that everyone had to sign, so we can't do something exactly like that, any other ideas?
That faction system you described seemed extremely confusing. I think it would be much easier just to set a group of races against another group, you did mention that if guild's feature members from different races that a government system thing could be set up, that confused me. Also, you only mentioned if guild's had members from different races, if you could explain more in detail what goes on if they are not in a guild, it may help.
Thats a good idea for Town/Sieges but how will they be set? If a huge group decides to raid a town, and there is only like 2 people currently in the town, the large group is going to win. I was thinking of some kind of system that has a scheduling system, where a person gathers at least 20 people currently online, and schedules which town he is raiding. (The 20 people is so just 1 person can't schedule tons of raids.) A notification on both factions sides will show on their interface. If players wish they can show up at the desired attack meeting spot, or defending players can goto the town being attacked. Regrading the advantages, I think the town should have merchants selling either non-reachable eqiupment from other towns, or the same things for cheaper prices, whoever controls the town receives this bonus.
Your marks idea is pretty good, but when I asked the question I generally mean how should the map be laid out, islands, continents, etc. Also I was thinking, in one main area on the map, there should be points which you can instantly teleport to. Like if you were in a large forest, and there is a bridge to the south, a city in the north, another city in the south east, etc. There should be points on each main place which you can click on in your map and you instantly teleport to, but only on main points.
The whistle thing is a pretty good idea, could work pretty good.
The stamina thing for combat, I just don't think so, that could extremely complicated to implent, and it would require ages more for balancing. The different combo system could be nice, but how will it work? Will you use a combination of spells and then it automatically does it?
Anyways, with all those questions and things I had in reply it probably seems like all your stuff meant nothing to me, but I really appreciate the feedback, and it sparked a few things in my head.
BTW, to the guy who asked for my credentials, I don't really have any, I can put toghther pretty decent sound or music, and I'm an extremely detailed person that can come up with pretty good ideas to design an MMORPG and enough spare time to perfect and revolutionize these ideas.
Anyways, Keep the replies coming, the feedback is great!
Sorry, Last post was before yours JoeyNipps.
I thoroughly enjoy your concepts about real-life, but I also believe that if we wanted real-life, that's what reality is for, and sure you can't go off and kill things at random, but the point of a game is to increase the things we would've liked to see in real-life to make a more enjoyable experience. (My belief)
Some things would be extremely well if related to real-life and you do have some great ideas,
Although, I do object with a few of them. The no class part, no matter how well done, does decrease the attractiveness of the game. It takes away depth, and a great amount of balancing. If a person decided to wear Plate armor, with a giant Axe, but also could cast Frost Armor, and a Large fireball spell, how fair would this be in PvP, it wouldn't. The problem with this system is there is no boundaries. When there is no boundaries, people complain. I do realize people could do it themselves, but it just takes away so much depth and tactics to the game. (Again, My belief)
There are many things in your post that go back to my first point, that real-life isn't as fun as a video game. I do appreciate all your ideas, as some of them helped, but even though I'm going for more of a community designed game, there are some thing I just refuse to do.
Thanks
I wish you had put the last paragraph first. Now you finally post what your goal and intentions are. I wish you the best if you do attempt to make your own MMORPG. It has been done, and can still be done. Some examples of successful "Mom and Pop" MMORPGs are Runescape, Astonia 3, Adventures Fame, and many, many, more. After making some profits, one can upgrade enough to make a major "Mom and Pop" MMORPG that can take on the major game companies ... like Funcom did with Anarchy Online.
What you have to do is decide on what your target market will be - then go after it. Will your MMORPG lean more towards PvP? PvE? A mix of both? (If you do have PvP, make it have PvP for landcontrol. Nothing is worse than having PvP fof nothing. LOL!) Loot based economy? Player crafter based economy? both? Instanced world? Static world? both? Zones? Zoneless? or near zoneless aka super-huge zones like in AO?
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Thanks xploror, the main purpose of this thread was for people to give me their opinions, and I was going to combine them all in something I would hope everyone could enjoy. I was not going to base the whole thing of one thing one person said. For example, the interface question, you told me to go around in other games and analyze them, what I was asking is which game interface did you like and not like, or what improvements could be made to it. If there was a great interface with one problem, maybe the person could tell me how he feels the problem can be fixed, compiling general opinions, you can make a generally better game.
Thanks for the help, I have no had the chance to play SWG to experience it's crafting system, but I'll be sure to go research on it.
Who's your target audience? The hardcore gamers who feel that every exact detail must be maintained for realism or casual players who could give a rats ass about the details and just want fun?
Hardcore people like reagents, durability, item loss, repairs etc. (and I'm meeting more people who have been in favor of this and changing their minds about these requirements)
Casual gamers don't like the samething, they find them to be a burden. In WoW beta before they added those things I have to say the game was substantially more fun than it is now. Remember we're playing a game, not a model of real life.
Ideas I've seen, neutral faction to start.. well SWG has done that, it's not an original idea. Seiges aren't all that original either. Races aren't all that important except for your story line.
My suggestions,
Make a storyline, fill it out, populate the story world first before you write any code, the more depth to the story the more depth the game will have. Partially what makes WoW so unique is that there is a 10 year history there of stories to draw from. Will the world be static, ie WoW, EQ, etc or more dynamic like Ryzon where the mobs travel as they would in real life. Will the world have true persistent qualities or will things spawn on random timers? By true persistence I mean if I kill every kobold in x cave, 15 minutes later it will NOT be filled with more kobolds. In fact maybe a bear will use it to winter in.. or a pack of wolves.. you get the idea.
Factions, well I think 2 or 3 factions is well, taking the easy way out. I'd like to see multiple factions, look to Israel's political parties for a good example of the number of factions. I'd like to see something like an apparent faction (ie who it seems you belong to) and a hidden faction (like you could be a spy or something and possibly be exposed get caught etc.) and a true faction (whom only you know where your true loyalties are) I'd like to see a complex intrigue system where you could spend more time involved here and work towards your faction actually gaining the upper hand (graft could come into play here.. ie have guards wander off just as your faction attacks etc). I'd like to see factions actually control areas, either through stronghold placements or something. But these things need to affect the economy of EVERYONE, prices need to fluctuate, exp. gains could vary, etc. For instance say a faction placed a strong hold in the main farming area, the prices of food for them should drop while opposing factions needs to pay more, the more area controlled the more the pricing is shifted. Just about every war in history has been fought over resources and who controls them. Why would anyone think a game shouldn't have these as a major goal is beyond me. Players must have a vested interest in a faction winning over another. So far all I've seen is just systems to cater to the ego's and not much else.
Economy, this one is important, how will you deal with rampant inflation? All games to date have had unlimited money supplies (wow included.. just watch and you'll see wow's economy goes nuts too) and no reason to spend money after a certain point. Except for repairs etc which by their very nature are not intended to be burdensome.(which is why I think durability is a waste of time, the stated reason of a money sink is just ludicrous as it doesn't work vs. unlimited money supply) I would propose looking into a fixed money supply with money caps on how much gold/creds whatever players can have. Once they reach the cap, anything additional earned is "taxed" by their faction/goverment etc. (it's a game, there is no reason to acquire 1 billion creds so you can purchase someting that realistically is worth 40k for 300 million, it only hurts new players to the game)
Death penalty, well this one is tricky, but I like WoW's pre-beta system, I also like CoH's system where you still advance, but at a slower rate. I think a combination of the 2 would be ideal. I also feel that if you die in PVP you should be removed from PVP combat for 10 minutes. I'm sick of zerging tactics used by pvp'ers who think that by constant rezzing they've "won" the battle. (here's a hint guys, most of us get bored after a while)
Player housing.. ehh.. apartment building instance style would work, the SWG style just makes worlds look like crap.
Guilds, ok here's something, in order to be a guild, you must participate in Seiges. make it so that a fortification needs to be placed to form a guild. Then you have 48 hours to get x number of people signed up to "defend" the fort. Semi-instance the fortifications. If you've seen battlefields in SWG you know that you can pass thru one without actually joining the battle. However if you do join the battle you are "instanced". Give the forts ranks. Rank 1, rank 2, rank 3, rank 4, etc. Each rank has a requirement. At rank 1 you must defend your fort once a week, rank 2.. defende once a week, attack once a week, etc. Each rank has #'s requirements of active membership, also put max #'s on each rank so that at 30 people say, you must be rank 2.. Ie, people must log in once a week to indicate they are "active". If they haven't the rank is lost. The attacks etc. must be carried out against others of the same level as you, or same #'s (so a larger guild could attack a smaller but with fewer numbers) The combat is instanced so you can't just invite the server to attack the fortification.
The attacks and defenses must be allowed to be scheduled, no 4am tuesday night removing of fortifications. The attacks and defenses should be limited to one opposing guild, the baf syndrome (bring a friend) has to be eliminated. This is a game, people need to feel that they are able to accomplish a defense and not just be swarmed over.
Basic combat, I'd like to see a level 1 with a reasonable chance against someone level 100. If I'm level 1 and you have your back to me and I get first shot, yeah I should have the chance to win(especially if I have a 50 cal. sniper rifle). Level's and items should not automatically mean "I R TEH WIN". The levels and items should contribute to the chance of your success, but not be automatic. I'd like to see more dynamic action like the new Prince of Persia game. The freedom of movement etc. CoH has also done 3D positioning quite well along with Line of sight and other game functions many games have ignored.
Look for ways to eliminate time sinks, durability only appears to be a timesink/money sink. The money sink should be unnecessary with a fixed monetary supply. and timesinks are just boring/tedious.
Give GM's tools for random encounters, ie meet someone get a quest etc. that are spawned by the GM when someone interacts with them.
Overall, give poeple things they want to do, and eliminate things people in general don't enjoy. Keep in mind it's a game and too much realism isn't fun or we woulnd't be here playing the game, we'd be in real life.
Setting, I'd like to see a more modern setting, I've mentioned before Shadowrun as the type of setting I'd like to see.
Hmmm pretty good idea go4broke
One of the main things I noticed about your guild idea though, is that not all guilds are warring guilds. This could create a problem if a guild of crafters had to defend their forts.
Your controlling stronghold idea is brilliant. Although it may have some issues, if one faction controls the majority strongholds, all their prices are reduced making them even more powerful, causing players not being able to defeat that faction, or many players going to that faction due to the reduced prices. The same faction could hold strongholds for months if they became strong enough.
Are you suggesting that only guilds should be able to participate in sieges? I'm a little confused on what you meant, this is the most confusing subject right now for me besides the theme of the game, because I just can't find a way where everything would fit, and there would be no issues.
You also mentioned a modern setting, what weapons, armors, etc. would you see in that type of setting? What races would there be? Any ideas?
Thanks.
Yeah I think only guilds should be allowed to participate in seiges. I'm sorry to the solo players but if you don't have anything to attack what on earth makes you think you should have the right to attack someone else? Again it's a game and fairness should be involved to an extent possible.
You can have game mechanics in place that involve NPC's or weather or hell a rampaging demon that comes thru and "rebalances" the sides if they are too far out of whack. Increase the chances of one of these occurring to destroy a fortification (during the defense time) as the sides become more unbalanced. (they then have 72 hours to start a new fortification or lose the guild)
As for crafter guilds, well honestly, you could allow them to have neutral bases I suppose. But keep in mind, the idea is to battle over resources as such they should have to pay the max amount anyone on the server does etc. The idea is to get people to care about one faction or another. They should should slide to one side or another over time based or the amount of interactions with 1 side or another. I believe that to be allowed to remain neutral is silly and would create situations like Vietnam where the chinese supplied everything with no risk(not much fun for a game). I don't truly believe anyone can be neutral or be allowed to remain so, not as an organization. Individuals sure they can remain neutral if they choose but not organizations. But all neutrals should have to deal with the "bad" end of the stick with economic purchases etc.
The shadowrun setting.
It's a combination of a magical world of elves/dwarves/orcs/dragons/werewolves spells etc and cyberpunk.
Cyberware, machine guns, planes, helicopters, cyberspace, implants, dermal armor etc.
I think it combines the best of (and worst) of the various settings. The idea is that mega coporations run the world and goverments are meaningless. Information is king and the rest is superflous.
The thing I don't like about that is that I don't like guns in MMORPGs. Just something about, I don't see any Melee weapons on that, I'm always a fan of a melee weapon, and if you have range, go with a bow, or even far enough as WoW and use a antique musket.
ehh thats a personal preference.
No one says you can't have personal weapons, monofilament swords, energy blades etc come to mind.
With body armor and magical sheilds etc, there's no reason why you can't have melee also.
Yes, thats very true, but I really just don't like them, tough for me to design a game with something I reaaaallly don't like.
And energy blades and all that, I prefer a classic sword and a pair of my little cloth booties.
Tbfh dude, we've got plenty of nubies already playing EQ2, I'm sorry. But yesterday i saw a nubi so dumb he forgot to wear armor as a tank and ran to the healer for protection! WTF does that tell you? I mean, its okay to be nubie in a game, but at least read the manual ffs.
Perhaps you misunderstood or didn't read what I posted carefully. I NEVER said the game should be JUST LIKE REAL LIFE. I said that when deciding how a given game system should work you should first look to how that comparable system works in real life - and then modify as needed for game play and fun. There is a HUGE difference. Let me give a simple example: suppose you are considering what happens in the game when you swing a sword at someone. If you want to take your approach - ignore reality and since it is a game and in particular a fantasy game, you can make ANYTHING happen - including roses springing from the ground at your feet. HOWEVER - this would make NO sense to even the most hardened fantasy game fan. We (due to real life) know precisely what happens when one swings a sword - and how it works (how much damage, etc.) - so look at how that system works in real life first. This gives you the foundational concept to work from. Then modify it based on your target audience, game goals, etc. - but do NOT change it so much that it makes NO sense at all.
If you think as you apparently do, you will make just another worthless game in a long line of worthless games. FUN and REALITY FUNCTIONING GAMES ARE NOT AT ODDS WITH EACH OTHER. Only poor game design makes for poor games - and one of the biggest drawbacks to many (if not most) MMORPGs is that they alter real world mechanics far too much.
If you jump (or fall) from a tall building I fully expect the game world to model this so that you at the very minimum suffer damage and hopefully are knocked unconscious for some time period - NOT what most games today do which is just ignore that reality. I do NOT mean for death to come as easily as it does in real life - but that consequence (or something close) MUST be in the game system.
If all else in life fails you, buy a vowel.
If all else in life fails you, buy a vowel.
Ok, I think I understand what you mean now. I figured you meant all real life because you included the factions and things just like real-life so I guess that confused me a bit. But thanks for the advice, that's how I was mainly looking at most things already, and then comparing my newfound way to other MMORPGs. Thanks
And BTW, can anyone help me out with a profession name for Wood Chopping? I was thinking Lumberjack but thats more of a noun and title.