What would you like to see in a future MMO?

Comments

• Maj_Science Member Posts: 107

  October 2008

  Honestly, I think you're grossly misunderstanding and misusing the term "open ended sandbox" but that's a post and a half in itself.

  Honestly, I think the future of the MMOG will be brighter if the industry can, for starters, learn from the mistakes of many MMOGs and not repeat them.  In particular, I think the following are several good points for people trying to get a game off the ground:

  -Do not be afraid to be different:  Swords and Sorcery is a tried troupe that can only be done so many times before you start to look like someone else.  The spy genre, other historical ages, the -punk genres, and science-fiction all offer fertile ground for exploriation.  Fallen Earth in particular enjoys a small but vibrant community attracted to the post-apocalypse genre.  It also stands to attract even more as the game gets more polished.

  -Encourage multiple personalities and playstyles.  One area where SQO fails miserably is that you have to work with a often contrary community to get your ass anywhere.  Soloing is impossible, PvP is often pointless, and as a result there's no escape from the personality conflicts that WILL emerge when you force a large number of people to regularly interact with each other.

  -Make the player feel like he matters from the get-go.  This DOES NOT mean giving him the keys to the Enterprise after character gen, but at the same time he shouldn't feel like he has to be someone's bitch to get anywhere.  Just like the real world, the greatest stories are those that star a penniless peasant who, through a lot of hard work and even a greater amount of luck, manages to become an emperor in his own right.

   

  Edit:  Now I remember you, you took over Commander Burke's post after the uprising.
• AlloughN Member Posts: 168

  October 2008

  Open ended sanbox= no set-in-stone scripted missions, no instances, no "admin only" positions like president. and no limits.

   

  Its impossible to solo in SQO? You have got to be kidding me...

  May I introduce you to the richest, most powerful person in game? Riddick is his name. Riddick has been a solo'er from day one.

  He has SOLO built the biggest richest faction in game.

   

  But, this wasnt about SQO, so....

  
• Maj_Science Member Posts: 107

  November 2008

  Yes, and if Riddick's been at it since Day One (of testing I assume,) that should tell us something since SQO didn't have a character wipe when it launched.

  Anyway, your original post refers more towards a "evolving" gameworld, which is not entirely the same thing as a "open world."  Technically WoW is a open world, you're free to do any number of things from crafting to combat.  However the world does not evolve, a village you saved yesterday is still in trouble for the next players in line.

  A evolving world is more like Planetside, where the frontlines shift back and forth between the three empires depending on who won that given day.  And yes, evolving worlds are pretty cool.  But they're even cooler when the world is open as well as evolving.
• AlloughN Member Posts: 168

  November 2008

  a open world isnt the same as evolving, and evolving worlds are definetly cool.

  But WOW definetly isnt a open world. A open world means that there isnt a "save the village" quest. Its your own choice what you want to do with the village when you find it. You can save it, destroy it, conquer it and take all its money, or whatever. There is no " you must save it" quests or closed gameplay.

   

  A open world is just a ton of options, no limiting by quests. But my thoughts were, can Closed, such as WOW in my opinion, and Open, such as well, I cant really think of a popular open game that I like :P, can exists in the same game.

  Evolving is a whole nother bait shop, and planetside is awesome in that respect, and yes, a open and evolving world would be totally awesome.

  
• Morrok Member Posts: 130

  December 2008

  Kinda old post i know...

  But i am bored, waiting for the CTS site to come back up so i can eventually d/l and try the game, so i figured i could read up (and post) some in the meantime.

   

  On the topic:

  I am an "EQ'er" - and have been for all my MMORPG life - until ~2weeks ago when they introduced the RMT thing there.
  
  So my experience is rather limited i guess.
  
  And very much biased by my EQ experience, at least when it comes down to UI and NPCs.
  
  But i know i like non-Fantasy games, and i have been hosting and attending Pen+Paper RPG's (Mechwarrior,AD&D,Shadowrun,DSA,ST...) before my EQ days.
  
  Based on that, i'd say i'd want a game that i as a player can influence (unlike EQ), where i can do just about anything i want (kind of like in EQ, i.e. non-linear "storylines" ) AND of course meet other people and interact with them.
  
  (we're talking MMORPG's after all, otherwise i could play offline games...)

  I have always been a "tech" type of character where the game offered such a career.
  
  So i'd want to be able to reconfigure, scrounge, manufacture stuff and in the end even operate factories.
  
  (one of the reasons i liked the "X" games so much, even though they were single-player games!)

  I'd want a game where i can craft stuff (as in "make" my own recepies - in a MMORPG setting i guess that'd mean a way to submit my idea for an item to the dev's for approval, which means they'd need to actually listen - unlike EQ-item-dev(s) )

  I am not much of a PvP person, so there should be a way to avoid it (neutral faction, red-cross vehicles, fights only in the "neutral zone"  or so) or at least kind of "punish" someone forcing PvP on me (like NPC Police that issue search warrants and a bounty, possibly augmented with playermoney too just to ensure enough of an incentive to fellow players more interested in PvP action to "avenge" me ).

  Death should never be an "end of all things" type of penalty.
  
  Losing *some* in-game property is ok imo, but death negating days or weeks or perhaps more of RL time spent in-game is not.
  
  i.e. the char itself should always be able to get "rescued" or revived (think of the STO cloning they have planned, or the "doc wagon contracts" in Shadowrun.)

  Looted/scavenged items, especially when coming from the enemy, should be adoptable to my own stuff/equip - at the very least there should be a way to "re-engineer" them and add them that way to my arsenal.

  I *am* a strategical thinking person, so there should be a meaningful way to influence my/my faction's "standing" in the world (shifting frontlines etc).

  When operating a mining business, for example, the player should be able to hire NPC "guards" to protect the cargo carriers against piracy.
  
  (think "X" games again, but with some decent pilot-AI )

  I don't like games (much anymore) that feel like jobs, so "menial" tasks should be delegable to NPC personel.
  
  In a space-game there should be ships (think StarTrek Defiance) that are small but able to be "solo-operated" and are either able to or can be reconfigured to fulfill "any" kind of mission (Cargo,mining,Pirating... think X1-3 or Elite).
  
  Best if they can be "housed" in larger ships (think Battlestar Galactica or, well... StarTrek...)

  Speaking of missions:
  
  There should definitely be some.
  
  NPC-issued, perhaps - or rather: best - supplemented by PC-issued.
  
  Possible to be done in ~1hr "chunks" of RL time, at most - preferably interruptable at any time
  
  And, yes, repeatable.
  
  This does not necessarily mean that one "has" to meet/find/kill the same NPC over and over again.
  
  It could be "as easy" as a "deliver n tons of x cargo to planet a" or "patrol LaGrange points in Star Systems a,b,c" type of missions, much like in Privateer or X1-3, with "content" ranging from "nothing happens" to NPC enemies forcing you to retreat...
  
  Also, planet-side missions like "mine n tons of mineral x for reward of m credits" should be available, preferably by both NPCs and PCs (that need the stuff but want to avoid the "timesink" of farming, usually a good way for noobs to get in-game currency).
  
  Of course, there should be some kind of in-game "interlink" system where players can find contract offers from other players and NPCs alike.
  
  (think of a "global" like it's used in "earth - final conflict" or Neelix' show on Voyager + ship computer).
  
  When aboard a larger ship (especially if transit takes up a lot of real time, as was the case in the X games or privateer or pre-PoP/Luclin EQ for that matter) there should be some kind of "holodeck" where players can "run" their own little scenarios (from targeting practice to maintenance simulations to full-fledged space fights ideally) to both skill up and familiarize Noobs with "actual" ship functions without endangering the real ship or having to interrupt the transit.)
  
  This would ofc require some kind of API or script language or editor in the game that players can use to create/edit/run the missions.
  
  Perhaps with a stand-alone (offline) client to compile/test them.
  
  (which in turn could help the Dev's to cut the dev time for meaningful scenarios too by applying some of these to the "real" NPC's actions/missions - with some variance ofc...)

  Communication...
  
  Player-communication to be precise.
  
  This should ideally be a (configuarable) UI like they have in EQ for chat supplemented by an in-game VoIP.
  
  (since there's NO way i'll ever use something google as it seems to be the norm for the players here, and TS/ventrilo cost extra and require a host somewhere; even EQ added something like that recently.)

  UI:
  
  Should ideally be customizeable, at the very least for every mouseclick one should be able to use a key-combination instead.
  
  Pre-written "socials" (macros) for in-game commands like "beam me up" or "raise shields" should be possible too.

  Oh, and to top it off, it'd be cool to actually design in-game content as a player (aside the afore-mentioned scripts and items/recipes), say by using your own textures or so to decorate ships/apartments

   

  Yes, i think this just about sums up the "ideal" MMORPG for me
  
  Let's see how much of that i can find in SQO - some of the posts sound rather promising.
  
  (and no, "missing" graphics don't deter me i played EQ after all, and with old models to boot)
  
  :P