- open world, open PvP but not full loot - I like classes I have to say, but would have a bunch of varied classes and I wouldn't care about balancing classes. I just don't think classes should all be equal, to elaborate, I think some classes should be known as DPS classes and they should be equal to themselves but not equal to Support classes or Tank classes or weird non-solo playing classes. But the tank classes should be relatively equal, the support classes should do their support well and I'd make a ton of classes that you probably cannot solo with.
The goal of these classes is that they will do some situational thing so amazingly, that they would be in high demand. So someone who plays a tough class and is good at it, gets the reward of being that class like a good crafter.
- Crafting = would be in-depth similar Mortal Online crafting. - Leveling = Like normal, if you level up your skills get better, but your stats don't. Stats get better with achievements and gear. Your leveling increases in a limitless fashion but it will lead to diminishing returns. So if someone is level 356 for example, it may be only 4% stronger than a level 300 in terms of skills.
Concept: Each server will run in intervals of 120 days. At day 91 to 110. The whole server will be attacked by hordes of NPC's. If the hordes of NPC's win, then the server is reset and they repeat. If the players win, then the cycle repeats itself but at a harder challenge which comes in 40 day cycles. Where the first 30 days you are free from the hordes but then you will get attacked over a 10 day period. It keeps going. In the 40 day cycle, if you lose, you restart at the cycle until you get your whole server to beat it.
That's what I would do. I am also sure you can make an MMORPG in which it is free to play but then you pay the players for achievements.
Cryomatrix
Catch me streaming at twitch.tv/cryomatrix You can see my sci-fi/WW2 book recommendations.
-day/night cycle -NPC AI - so this means NPCs have several activities depending on world events, also have certain abilities for pvp and move and play like a pvp player
then
-stat distribution for character creation -lots of classes, and races, and options for character creation
- mini games, and even gambling with in game currency
in line with the world is alive focus, have trade that is not simulated but real, similar to EVE with transporting goods, but even have NPCs
- have a lot of options for spending gold, e.g. housing, bounty hunting, playing in game politics
- have different servers with different rule sets, private server, test server, game of thrones server option
- player made content ( dungeons, maps, treasure quests, music etc)
-minimal story, rather the events or area would be the story, but an overall main story is something i always enjoyed, but not side questing
Write bad things that are done to you in sand, but write the good things that happen to you on a piece of marble
I don't know what game I might try to make anymore. I used to think I knew what I'd make if I could. Could be SF, could be fantasy, but definitely something no one has seen before. With an unlimited budget, lunch hour would definitely be the real winner. I could provide an itinerary.
Logic, my dear, merely enables one to be wrong with great authority.
I am a big fan of the D&D novels around Drizzt, Menzoberranzan and War of the Spider Queen. I would like to see a MMORPG playing in the world of the Drows (maybe in different towns of the underdark, particularly Menzoberranzan). Combat and art style would be (according to D&D rules) quite fluid and more for mature Players. I do not like the actual Neverwinter Online game (and also the old D&D Online), therefore there is actually nothing which could fit to my most wanted game, except the good, old pen&paper Version.
Some kind of "simulated" world of the drows with a certain immersive depth would be a changeling environment, which I would like to play in. Some kind of a Witcher or Skyrim game playing in the drow world with all playable classes and famous NPCs and Drow Houses (including the possibility of intrigues) from the novels out there would be really great (also as solo game). Depending on the deitiy you select, you would have different start locations (including those on the surface and in the underdark) and classes to play and also a living world for exploration and adventurers, where you might be able to play some part of the famous stories .
On the one hand, I would like to play some kind of Lolth cleric with a whip and spells or, on the other hand, a Ellistraee blade-dancing follower. Maybe use the deities as factions and make some competition/battles/commandos in-between these.
For the graphics you could either use some modern, beautiful looking graphic engine, showing all littles details and desired effects and animations etc., or, if this demands to much resources, I would also like to see such kind of MMORPG in a CEL-SHADING look with the advantage of being timeless in combination with great art-style seen in some mature comics. One may indeed dream ;-) But seeing all technical possibilities compared to 10 or 15 years ago there is a lot of potential.
With regard to creating immersion into the game world, I would have:
• A large open world • With "verticality" (basically, anything over and below ground level) • Common and more rare natural phenomena like rain, fog, snow, wind, sandstorm, etc) • Long line of sight (spot stuff from afar and react to that) • Basic destructible things, like locks, fences, windows • Proper sound scape (nature, tactile, natural sound effects) • Basics of survival, food, shelter, sickness, beasts, age • Basics of logistics, storage, resources, weight/encumbrance • Sensible an meaningful npc intelligence and reactions • A game world that changes with time (as an alternative to having a fully destructible world)
> Creation of a game-world in a open sandbox matter to gameplay.
> Drive gameplay within one emergent factor, instead of forcing players through the usual linear gameplay / metagaming.
> Get rid of levels and gear progression.
> Work through advanced skill progression systems as the main grind bar, doing whatever you want to do making you better at that specific skill, fitting the emergent gameplay factor.
> Making sure all the different paths that can be taken within the sphere of emergent play do have depth to them (1st world MMO problems).
And I guess that's just some of the core designs I would have, the rest of the game would drive from those but I guess one MMO that is more open to the players to do wathever, with mechanics with depth to support different playstyles (fighting metagaming), with skill-based progression being the main grind-bar of the game would be one interesting setup.
I like that "get rid of the levels" idea. I could see myself diggin' that.
Many have this grand illusion of being game designers.
If you have never made a game from scratch (like written a MUD, maybe even a board game RPG, or heck even written out a RPG on paper)
Ever made a game in rpgmaker?
Ever written any code?
But you expect to design a MMO?
Oh and - listing features IS NOT game design.
Sort of like asking a 5 year old how to build a spaceship, thats what this post is.
Indeed. Not to mention other mundane details like:
Business planning and modelling; resource management - advertising and interviewing for staff, holidays, overtime, sickness; leasing offices; negotiating with suppliers; drawing up contracts - for people, goods and services; ensuring all workplace legal obligations are met; payroll (paying staff); financing, managing finances and delivering financial reports if required; planning and project managing - see also resource management; implementing version controls; security - physical as well as software; disposal protocols; market analysis, market testing, final pricing and marketing of finished product ......
OK you could rewrite the question as: if in charge of a large company with all the infrastructure in place to actually make a game what would you want ...... but if that was the case the word "profitability" would have to feature. And making any old game is not the same as making a profitable game (or film). Even established companies get that wrong.
Well ... Ashes of Creation are doing it and many more have done it before. Some positivety helps sometimes.
I would not try to make a game for everyone like OP, I think it is better to focus on one or a few groups and making the content just for them instead of trying to add a little of everything.
Making a game for everyne is like selling a mixed CD with one or two songs of every music genre on, most people would like a little of it but most of the listening experience would just be painful.
There are several different types of MMOs I would consider if I got the funding to make one: There are the people who enjoy massive FPS PvP games for instance, it would not be that hard to make a game with a "battlefield" feeling to it in a persistent world, take a pinch of DaoC, FPS styled combat and very limited progression/powergap.
Then there are the people who enjoy pen and paper roleplaying, you might not hear so much about us anymore but we are a rather huge group still. Unlike the FPS fans here you could add a few of the regular MMO fan groups as well, crafters and groupers would probably fit best. Get the license for a IP like Shadowrun, Dragonlance or maybe Ravenloft and make a MMO closer to P&P games. Put the focus on small groups of players doing content together instead of the huge guilds raid focused games have or the anarchy solo focused games have. More work on how to "quest" then MMOs have (larger things with multiple solutions instead of the standard rather simple kill X quests most MMOs focus on). Also, more tactics & character custmization.
Those 2 would be the easiest to pull off...
As for company, the important thing besides talent is that you pick people who love the type of gameplay you want to focus on. If you make a MMOFPS you want people who have experience with FPS games and enjoy that gameplay most. If you want to focus on RPGers, get experienced RPGers and so on. Work is not always fun no matter what job you have but the more fun it is the better the product tend to be.
That said, getting the best possible lead programmer you can get is probably the most important things of all besides the main ideas behind the game. Many MMOs have failed due to lousy programing even though the game in itself been fun.
Also, whatever game you make it should differ from the rest on the market enough to have a distinct feel from everything else. Just taking all your features from a few games without much new ideas tend to lead to a slow failure. It is harder to stand out then just do what everyone else does but once you have something both fun and different it will attract far more players (at least in the long run, blatant copies tend to do great for 6 weeks then bleed players like there is no tomorrow).
As for payment model I think I would use a B2P model with paid expansions, both smaller cheap and larger full priced. Depending on the games budget I might add a vanity shop as well (not really needed for a cheap game like Guildwars (1) but hard to avoid for an AAA game). No "optional" sub.
F2P games tend to be chaotic and almost impossible to avoid the pay2win factor, P2P is a tough sale nowadays. It might still work for my second idea but the first really need to be B2P to work. And the reason I want to avoid pay2win is that those games will last way shorter for the average player.
As I see it should a MMO be fun long term, selling gear, XP pots and stuff in a MMORPG focused on people gaining those things is counter productive while selling them in a MMOFPS game people play mainly for kicks and faction pride breaks the game. It works if you are going for a quick cashgrab but I don't think that is what we aim for in this discussion.
Also, I prefer larger packs if you must sell vanity gear or character customization options (like looks or cosmetic races), something account wise in that case. I would rather stay away from that as well if possible or add them together in regular expansions but in worst case I could live with that.
I am a big fan of the D&D novels around Drizzt, Menzoberranzan and War of the Spider Queen. I would like to see a MMORPG playing in the world of the Drows (maybe in different towns of the underdark, particularly Menzoberranzan). Combat and art style would be (according to D&D rules) quite fluid and more for mature Players. I do not like the actual Neverwinter Online game (and also the old D&D Online), therefore there is actually nothing which could fit to my most wanted game, except the good, old pen&paper Version.
Some kind of "simulated" world of the drows with a certain immersive depth would be a changeling environment, which I would like to play in. Some kind of a Witcher or Skyrim game playing in the drow world with all playable classes and famous NPCs and Drow Houses (including the possibility of intrigues) from the novels out there would be really great (also as solo game). Depending on the deitiy you select, you would have different start locations (including those on the surface and in the underdark) and classes to play and also a living world for exploration and adventurers, where you might be able to play some part of the famous stories .
On the one hand, I would like to play some kind of Lolth cleric with a whip and spells or, on the other hand, a Ellistraee blade-dancing follower. Maybe use the deities as factions and make some competition/battles/commandos in-between these.
For the graphics you could either use some modern, beautiful looking graphic engine, showing all littles details and desired effects and animations etc., or, if this demands to much resources, I would also like to see such kind of MMORPG in a CEL-SHADING look with the advantage of being timeless in combination with great art-style seen in some mature comics. One may indeed dream ;-) But seeing all technical possibilities compared to 10 or 15 years ago there is a lot of potential.
Neverwinter the MMO, kinda sucks tho.. I mean.. it's a decent MMO.. it just does not feel like a D&D MMO... I mean for Gygax's sakes... Dwarfs don't even get Axes...
I would like a MMO which focuses on the different ancient God pantheons. A deep engaging story would be a must. Combat would be real time, and leveling would be called ascension which leads to standing in a demigod manner. You would chose a God to emulate and your skill set would be based upon their strengths and weaknesses. Their would be pvp and pve which would be separate. Group PVP would require you to join a pantheon and fight against other pantheons. I would limit the number to about 6-10 in each group. PVE would center around battling mythical monsters, area bosses ect. I think the real trick would be endgame, as with many other games. I am thinking maybe endgame requires you to make a choice, play as your God's right hand or challenge and defeat your God to take their place. One you choose, the expansions would expand upon the choices you made. One thing I would certainly do is make choices have accountability. Meaning if your choice makes one God or pantheon happy, it will upset others. I would also want some kind of unknown factor such as attacks or events that happen sporadically, some would be smaller and some would be huge. There wouldn't be any time frame or knowledge of when and what would occur, it would simply happen differently at any given point.
One of the major features in an MMO I would develop would be gladiator style arenas players can build in their cities and develop custom match styles for. Both PvP matches as well as PvE challenges.
This would be what I would launch my game with. The gladiator arenas would be playable before it was even an MMO with your fame rating from the arenas (which carries some minor in-game bonuses) carrying over into MMO release.
Phase 1 - Arenas
The initial phase would launch with these features:
Character customization
Combat skills
Some basic preset arena modes
Ongoing patches would help refine these features leading into 1.5
Phase 1.5 - Custom Arenas
First moderate update.
Custom Arena Builder would be released, allowing players to build their own arena modes. Some of the more popular arenas would be added into the core arena types if they had developer approval.
Phase 2.0 - Dungeons
Phase 2.0 would be a major update which would implement.
Non-combat / utility skills such as lockpicking and diplomacy
Many new NPC types
Non-combat challenges such as traps
The endless dungeon
Multiple minor randomly generated dungeon types
The endless dungeon would be a major dungeon built for five players that increases in difficulty the further into it you play and grants loot of increasing value. Players that die inside the dungeon can only be revived after certain checkpoints have been reached. If everyone wipes the dungeon is over. Special titles and cosmetics are unlocked for reaching certain checkpoints. You are intended to wipe eventually, the point is to see how far you can get before you do. The challenges before a checkpoint are randomly generated based on what difficulty that checkpoint is supposed to be. In other words the challenge rating will always been roughly the same but the dungeon layout and obstacles inside never will be. The minor dungeons will be a bit less random than the endless dungeon but still have randomly generated elements. You'll just know some basic conditions going in, like that a specific type is more combat heavy, or that you'll need someone with roguish skills, or that survival skills are important, or that social skills are important. That doesn't mean you won't find traps in a dungeon based on combat or have to pick locks in one based on social skills. You just know the challenges you face inside will definitely involve the skill type the dungeon favors fairly heavily. Essentially so people can get more of the types of challenges they really enjoy.
The loot you can gather in dungeons at this phase would be fairly minor in the grand scheme of things but it would generate value that would follow you into the MMO. A lot of it would go back into purchasing gear and equipment to use in dungeons though, all of which would need repairs of substantial costs periodically. Phase 3.0 - Crafting and Politics The third major update would be crafting focused and introduce.
Gathering nodes inside of dungeons
Crafting and Crafting skills
Instanced player housing
Influence System
This would be the start of the game's economy. The interior instances of structures cities to be implemented in the MMO would be available for purchase. Citizens of the cities would be able to generate influence through various deeds they could use to vote for the leader of their city. Citizens of cities would also get various bonuses from good management of the city. One aspect of management would would be keeping the populace (the NPCs not the players) happy. Having famous combatants fight in your arenas or participate in other arena based events (such as races) would give notable bonuses to population happiness (And incentivizing leaders to pay gold into events that generate a lot of happiness, meaning good gladiators get paid to fight.)
Gathering and crafting would allow for a new tier of gear better than anything dropped in dungeons. Like dungeon gear it would constantly decay through usage though, and be lost upon death. Crafting would also help supply materials for running major arena events, and decorating the new housing interiors.
Phase 3.5 - Cities
Cities would be implemented allowing for players to actually walk through their city and enter their homes through the non-instanced exterior of their house. These cities would come with.
Vendors (For customizable items)
Localized Auction Houses (For bulk items)
Crime / Counter Crime
NPC Interaction
Crime would be the opportunity to commit crimes against the NPC population of the city. Theft of property, smuggling missions, extortion, sabotage etc. These would have negative effects for the overall population and/or for the influence of the ruling party. Counter crime would be related to combating crime benefiting the overall population and/or the ruling party. In addition there would be new ways of benefiting the local NPCs such as running specific dungeons to counteract the negative effects of crime and perhaps even bolster population happiness to greater heights than they were before. Phase 4.0 - MMORPG
At this phase the entire world outside the major cities would be opened up. Features implemented in this phase.
Major economic claims such as mines and lumber camps
Minor housing claims and village plots for smaller groups
Major cities would become capitals of nations
Hostile NPCs would attempt to build in unsettled areas
Culture system and Open World PvP
Some roaming NPC types
More details on what I would add can be found here.
Actually, now that I have played a semi-decent, not bad, ok, sucks balls, MOBA.
I'd still make a Evolving Survival game, not a persistent world, but a world that would be shaped by the players, with limited resources, limited areas, and mobs that changed over time.
There would be very little to no crafting to start with, maybe being able to mend or repair your gear (if you have the supplies), but, mainly gear would come about Scavenge Style Acquisition.
By Scavenge I mean there would be vacant/abandoned buildings, and in those buildings there would be supplies, but a limited number, so, say.. someone went into a sporting goods store, there would be a limited amount of ammo, guns, clubs, bats, etc.... so... once a store was empty.. it would be empty.
Same with say, a Clothing Store.
This would make gear both valuable and yet easy to get.
The game world would be pretty simple.
Open PvP. You go in knowing someone could attack you, anyplace, anytime, for any or no reason at all.
PvP Toggle - To prevent friendly fire. If you were in a family, clan, or community, you could toggle that you won't shoot them in the back while trying to kill an enemy... they could still shoot you, unless they also toggle PvP off as well.
Full Loot would be in effect. This is to keep gear cycling though the game.
Death - Real. You get .. one shot to survive.
Once killed, within 20 min, your body comes back as an Enemy, and anything left by what killed you, can be looted by the next person that kills you.
E: if you fell to your death, starved, got killed by a mob, etc.. all your loot would be there for someone else to take if they killed your now animated body.
2 month rule. If you go inactive for 2 months, your character dies, comes back as an Enemy, and can be killed and looted. You would be required to play at least 10 hours, to be labeled as active over the course of 2 months.
You keep your name tho, heck.. you could even end up killing your former self, or being killed by your former self.
The need to eat, sleep, etc would be active, however, you would count as "resting" when you logged out.
Players would be able to claim existing structures, like say.. move into an abandoned house, then secure it, guard it, and store goods and supplies in them, etc, and if left unguarded, players could lose them.
The weather would change to match real life time.. but reversed, so in the winter time, it would be summer in the game, etc.
In the Winter Time in the game, it would get cold, days would peak at lows, and highs, that players would need to outfit against, find jackets, get gloves, have good shoes/boots. Just Like real life, clothing would be designed to protect against the elements.. from heat to cold, to rain, to dry, very little would be actual armor. I mean really, when was the last time you went into a store that even sold body armor.
The setting would be semi-modern, 1990'ish, era, before cell phones and the like, to build that feeling of isolation.
There would be hostile NPCs', both survivor style (IE: Guarding their Secured Areas, Scavenging, Etc), there would also be evolving Mobs.
By Evolving, I mean, at first the mobs would be pretty easy, I wager, slow.. shambling.. stupid.. Undead-ish like things, akin mainly to the Ramno zombie, but, over time they would evolve, faster, more sinister, more skeletal like, similar to the evolution of the zombies in "warm bodies".
This would give rise to every 3ish months, a war would be waged on a server, lead by a mega-boss, if they wiped out all the active players, the server would be counted as dead, and re-set.
If the players beat the mega-boss, they would get 2 week reprieve where the undead would go into hiding where they could shore up their fortifications, stock up on goods... and maybe... even craft.
Then the undead would come again.. and in 3ish months.. another war would break out.. and a new.. mega boss would lead this charge..with some new styles of undead among their ranks.
yes.. there is no way to "win"... just survive, as long as you can.
There would be rewards for players that lived longer.. they would reincarnate as opposed to just die, and thus would be stronger their next time around. The longer they lived the first time, the stronger they would be the next.
A player would never lose their "reincarnation memories" even if they only lasted like 10 min on their next life. To get a "memory" a player would need to survive for 3 months in the game (or lived though/died in a War) however, the more a player played, the more memory they would have. IE: if they played the required hours and noting more, they would get very little to recall, if they dumped say in 20 hours a week, they would recall a great deal, this would also effect how long they needed to play to qualify for a Past Life Memory.
There would also be the ability to soul bind an item that had been with you 'through it all".
If this was a weapon, it would be your preferred weapon, (IE: You are just better with it) and thus could never be taken from you. (Think: Negan's Lucille)
If it was a clothing item or gear item (Think: Rick/Carls' Hat), it would have significance and convey extra benefits. IE: Soul Bound Boots would never get waterlogged and offer improved element protection and traction, for example.
only soulbound gear could be cosmetically customized, IE: unique patterns, colors, etc.
None of the numbers would be set however, as that would be done to keep players guessing.
Crating could only be done in secured fortifications. Crafting would involve ,Most domestic tasks. IE: gardening/growing food, Livestock, fixing and making clothing. Very little would be for combat, but that would involve making or improving things. IE: Knife Sharpening, or making a knife, if the fortification had the needed equipment. Up to say, reloading ammunition. But again, the equipment would need to be obtained and protected.
Character Creation would be random gen, so, players would get little to no control over what their characters looked like. (With, of course, the option to buy personal cosmetics from the store, I : hair colors, styles, even tattoos.. gotta make money somehow)
Social networks: Family: This is your significant other, child, or parent. All would share the same last name. A family would need a "head" who would allow others into the family. To get into a family, a position would need to be set up.
Players would be able to get married in this game.
Families can work together to hold a single fortification. (You can remain in the same family even if you died and came back, but, you may need to take a new position, mainly that of child. IE: If you were the head, you can't return as the head, as that person is dead. You also can't return as a parent, but you could marry back into the family and re-marry your former SO. (True Love is Eternal)
Clan: Clan's wold be a lose knit of people all following a strong leader, a Clan could hold and defend any number of objectives.
Community: Just being a part of a larger group of people, communities are people that accepted into larger fortifications, often encompassing several buildings. Leadership of a community can be one of 3 ways. - Leader/Founder (New leader voted in if the founder dies) - Council: up to 5 players can make up the ruling body. New members voted in by the existing council. - Democracy - Every gets a vote on what is gonna happen.
here would be no special chat channels in this game, after all there would not be any in a real world situation.
I would like a MMO which focuses on the different ancient God pantheons. A deep engaging story would be a must. Combat would be real time, and leveling would be called ascension which leads to standing in a demigod manner. You would chose a God to emulate and your skill set would be based upon their strengths and weaknesses. Their would be pvp and pve which would be separate. Group PVP would require you to join a pantheon and fight against other pantheons. I would limit the number to about 6-10 in each group. PVE would center around battling mythical monsters, area bosses ect. I think the real trick would be endgame, as with many other games. I am thinking maybe endgame requires you to make a choice, play as your God's right hand or challenge and defeat your God to take their place. One you choose, the expansions would expand upon the choices you made. One thing I would certainly do is make choices have accountability. Meaning if your choice makes one God or pantheon happy, it will upset others. I would also want some kind of unknown factor such as attacks or events that happen sporadically, some would be smaller and some would be huge. There wouldn't be any time frame or knowledge of when and what would occur, it would simply happen differently at any given point.
Hmmm, I do agree that religion is a thing that actually gotten worse with time and it does open up for many possibilities including things like civil wars in an otherwise stable faction...
But besides holy orders I think putting all factions based on religion is a mistake. Church and state just have so much more possibilities after all. Now, if you locked people to one church and one state would mean you might be forced to choose one or the other in certain situations.
The religious war thing is certainly interesting, particularly if alliances can change so you sometimes might ally with a church from another pantheon to fight the black sheep of your own. And if you make the states influenced by the more localy powerful gods things could get really interested.
For instance, if Thoth is the most prominent god in your state it would move in one direction but if RA or Seth becomes more powerful that would move the state in a different. It could mean war, quests/DEs focusing on finding old forgotten knowledge and skills or the state becomming more evil or good.
That would certainly give the players more influence over the world and keep things interesting as long as you have a mechanic stopping a certain church from recruiting most of the players and just steamroll everything. You need some kind of mechanic that rewards picking a weaker God/pantheon and making that one stronger instead of just choosing the easiest choice.
The hardest thing with player factions is to keep things interesting and not getting stuck with a game completelly overrun by one or the other faction.
As for player run Gods, I am not so sure that would be wise. Head priest/knight/grandmaster templar and such is fine but I have a feeling that Godhood would become a mess fast.
Many have this grand illusion of being game designers.
If you have never made a game from scratch (like written a MUD, maybe even a board game RPG, or heck even written out a RPG on paper)
Ever made a game in rpgmaker?
Ever written any code?
But you expect to design a MMO?
Oh and - listing features IS NOT game design.
Sort of like asking a 5 year old how to build a spaceship, thats what this post is.
Very well spoken! There's a lot of ppl on this forum that think they know what it takes to make a good MMO, or even a game. When you ask if they have any experience on (good) story telling, game design, coding and (3D) modelling, the answer is NO.
I will be making my own MMO though. I have experience in most of those points and have a couple of friends who have also and want to work on it as well and are good on points where my skills are less evolved. And I think that's the main key - get a group of friends to work on a project like that, because you really can't make a MMO all by yourself.
I would not try to make a game for everyone like OP, I think it is better to focus on one or a few groups and making the content just for them instead of trying to add a little of everything.
Making a game for everyne is like selling a mixed CD with one or two songs of every music genre on, most people would like a little of it but most of the listening experience would just be painful.
There are several different types of MMOs I would consider if I got the funding to make one: There are the people who enjoy massive FPS PvP games for instance, it would not be that hard to make a game with a "battlefield" feeling to it in a persistent world, take a pinch of DaoC, FPS styled combat and very limited progression/powergap.
Then there are the people who enjoy pen and paper roleplaying, you might not hear so much about us anymore but we are a rather huge group still. Unlike the FPS fans here you could add a few of the regular MMO fan groups as well, crafters and groupers would probably fit best. Get the license for a IP like Shadowrun, Dragonlance or maybe Ravenloft and make a MMO closer to P&P games. Put the focus on small groups of players doing content together instead of the huge guilds raid focused games have or the anarchy solo focused games have. More work on how to "quest" then MMOs have (larger things with multiple solutions instead of the standard rather simple kill X quests most MMOs focus on). Also, more tactics & character custmization.
Those 2 would be the easiest to pull off...
As for company, the important thing besides talent is that you pick people who love the type of gameplay you want to focus on. If you make a MMOFPS you want people who have experience with FPS games and enjoy that gameplay most. If you want to focus on RPGers, get experienced RPGers and so on. Work is not always fun no matter what job you have but the more fun it is the better the product tend to be.
That said, getting the best possible lead programmer you can get is probably the most important things of all besides the main ideas behind the game. Many MMOs have failed due to lousy programing even though the game in itself been fun.
Also, whatever game you make it should differ from the rest on the market enough to have a distinct feel from everything else. Just taking all your features from a few games without much new ideas tend to lead to a slow failure. It is harder to stand out then just do what everyone else does but once you have something both fun and different it will attract far more players (at least in the long run, blatant copies tend to do great for 6 weeks then bleed players like there is no tomorrow).
As for payment model I think I would use a B2P model with paid expansions, both smaller cheap and larger full priced. Depending on the games budget I might add a vanity shop as well (not really needed for a cheap game like Guildwars (1) but hard to avoid for an AAA game). No "optional" sub.
F2P games tend to be chaotic and almost impossible to avoid the pay2win factor, P2P is a tough sale nowadays. It might still work for my second idea but the first really need to be B2P to work. And the reason I want to avoid pay2win is that those games will last way shorter for the average player.
As I see it should a MMO be fun long term, selling gear, XP pots and stuff in a MMORPG focused on people gaining those things is counter productive while selling them in a MMOFPS game people play mainly for kicks and faction pride breaks the game. It works if you are going for a quick cashgrab but I don't think that is what we aim for in this discussion.
Also, I prefer larger packs if you must sell vanity gear or character customization options (like looks or cosmetic races), something account wise in that case. I would rather stay away from that as well if possible or add them together in regular expansions but in worst case I could live with that.
At first glance you would be right on not making a game for everyone.
HOWEVER:
Something extremely major had been left out of design with mmos, and its going on over 10 years. It's been so long now it's totally forgotten about.
And this is a HUGE game. Where everyone and all types can co-exist. With this, each type of player can branch out as they feel.
- That solo player may want to group. - That PvE player may want to open world PvP. - That adventurer may want to try crafting something. - That easy content being safe player may want to do something harder.
This is what makes a game a World. A melting pot of things to do..... It's like log in and see where you end up instead of scripted !
And this is a HUGE game. Where everyone and all types can co-exist. With this, each type of player can branch out as they feel.
- That solo player may want to group. - That PvE player may want to open world PvP. - That adventurer may want to try crafting something. - That easy content being safe player may want to do something harder.
This is what makes a game a World. A melting pot of things to do..... It's like log in and see where you end up instead of scripted !
You mean something like WoW? Definitely no one ever tried that before...............
Comments
I'm sorry.. clam down little Nerd Rager, it's ok.. I'm sorry for trying to use D&D examples... my bad.
- open world, open PvP but not full loot
- I like classes I have to say, but would have a bunch of varied classes and I wouldn't care about balancing classes. I just don't think classes should all be equal, to elaborate, I think some classes should be known as DPS classes and they should be equal to themselves but not equal to Support classes or Tank classes or weird non-solo playing classes. But the tank classes should be relatively equal, the support classes should do their support well and I'd make a ton of classes that you probably cannot solo with.
The goal of these classes is that they will do some situational thing so amazingly, that they would be in high demand. So someone who plays a tough class and is good at it, gets the reward of being that class like a good crafter.
- Crafting = would be in-depth similar Mortal Online crafting.
- Leveling = Like normal, if you level up your skills get better, but your stats don't.
Stats get better with achievements and gear. Your leveling increases in a limitless fashion but it will lead to diminishing returns. So if someone is level 356 for example, it may be only 4% stronger than a level 300 in terms of skills.
Concept: Each server will run in intervals of 120 days. At day 91 to 110. The whole server will be attacked by hordes of NPC's. If the hordes of NPC's win, then the server is reset and they repeat. If the players win, then the cycle repeats itself but at a harder challenge which comes in 40 day cycles. Where the first 30 days you are free from the hordes but then you will get attacked over a 10 day period. It keeps going. In the 40 day cycle, if you lose, you restart at the cycle until you get your whole server to beat it.
That's what I would do. I am also sure you can make an MMORPG in which it is free to play but then you pay the players for achievements.
Cryomatrix
You can see my sci-fi/WW2 book recommendations.
~~ postlarval ~~
-day/night cycle
-NPC AI - so this means NPCs have several activities depending on world events, also have certain abilities for pvp and move and play like a pvp player
then
-stat distribution for character creation
-lots of classes, and races, and options for character creation
- mini games, and even gambling with in game currency
in line with the world is alive focus, have trade that is not simulated but real, similar to EVE with transporting goods, but even have NPCs
- have a lot of options for spending gold, e.g. housing, bounty hunting, playing in game politics
- have different servers with different rule sets, private server, test server, game of thrones server option
- player made content ( dungeons, maps, treasure quests, music etc)
-minimal story, rather the events or area would be the story, but an overall main story is something i always enjoyed, but not side questing
Write bad things that are done to you in sand, but write the good things that happen to you on a piece of marble
Logic, my dear, merely enables one to be wrong with great authority.
This topic was designed to have fun. Just show up and tell everyone what to do and how to make your game.
But off topic, this is how I look at it:
1,000 yields nothing
2 million yields 2 million
15 million yields 30 million
In other words go big or not at all
.:| Kevyne@Shandris - Armory |:. - When WoW was #1 - .:| I AM A HOLY PALADIN - Guild Theme |:.
Back on topic: I wouldn't. I know a bad investment when I see one.
~~ postlarval ~~
Some kind of "simulated" world of the drows with a certain immersive depth would be a changeling environment, which I would like to play in. Some kind of a Witcher or Skyrim game playing in the drow world with all playable classes and famous NPCs and Drow Houses (including the possibility of intrigues) from the novels out there would be really great (also as solo game). Depending on the deitiy you select, you would have different start locations (including those on the surface and in the underdark) and classes to play and also a living world for exploration and adventurers, where you might be able to play some part of the famous stories .
On the one hand, I would like to play some kind of Lolth cleric with a whip and spells or, on the other hand, a Ellistraee blade-dancing follower. Maybe use the deities as factions and make some competition/battles/commandos in-between these.
For the graphics you could either use some modern, beautiful looking graphic engine, showing all littles details and desired effects and animations etc., or, if this demands to much resources, I would also like to see such kind of MMORPG in a CEL-SHADING look with the advantage of being timeless in combination with great art-style seen in some mature comics. One may indeed dream ;-) But seeing all technical possibilities compared to 10 or 15 years ago there is a lot of potential.
• A large open world
• With "verticality" (basically, anything over and below ground level)
• Common and more rare natural phenomena like rain, fog, snow, wind, sandstorm, etc)
• Long line of sight (spot stuff from afar and react to that)
• Basic destructible things, like locks, fences, windows
• Proper sound scape (nature, tactile, natural sound effects)
• Basics of survival, food, shelter, sickness, beasts, age
• Basics of logistics, storage, resources, weight/encumbrance
• Sensible an meaningful npc intelligence and reactions
• A game world that changes with time (as an alternative to having a fully destructible world)
have you tried out Dungeons and Dragons Online?
Making a game for everyne is like selling a mixed CD with one or two songs of every music genre on, most people would like a little of it but most of the listening experience would just be painful.
There are several different types of MMOs I would consider if I got the funding to make one: There are the people who enjoy massive FPS PvP games for instance, it would not be that hard to make a game with a "battlefield" feeling to it in a persistent world, take a pinch of DaoC, FPS styled combat and very limited progression/powergap.
Then there are the people who enjoy pen and paper roleplaying, you might not hear so much about us anymore but we are a rather huge group still. Unlike the FPS fans here you could add a few of the regular MMO fan groups as well, crafters and groupers would probably fit best. Get the license for a IP like Shadowrun, Dragonlance or maybe Ravenloft and make a MMO closer to P&P games. Put the focus on small groups of players doing content together instead of the huge guilds raid focused games have or the anarchy solo focused games have. More work on how to "quest" then MMOs have (larger things with multiple solutions instead of the standard rather simple kill X quests most MMOs focus on). Also, more tactics & character custmization.
Those 2 would be the easiest to pull off...
As for company, the important thing besides talent is that you pick people who love the type of gameplay you want to focus on. If you make a MMOFPS you want people who have experience with FPS games and enjoy that gameplay most. If you want to focus on RPGers, get experienced RPGers and so on. Work is not always fun no matter what job you have but the more fun it is the better the product tend to be.
That said, getting the best possible lead programmer you can get is probably the most important things of all besides the main ideas behind the game. Many MMOs have failed due to lousy programing even though the game in itself been fun.
Also, whatever game you make it should differ from the rest on the market enough to have a distinct feel from everything else. Just taking all your features from a few games without much new ideas tend to lead to a slow failure. It is harder to stand out then just do what everyone else does but once you have something both fun and different it will attract far more players (at least in the long run, blatant copies tend to do great for 6 weeks then bleed players like there is no tomorrow).
As for payment model I think I would use a B2P model with paid expansions, both smaller cheap and larger full priced. Depending on the games budget I might add a vanity shop as well (not really needed for a cheap game like Guildwars (1) but hard to avoid for an AAA game). No "optional" sub.
F2P games tend to be chaotic and almost impossible to avoid the pay2win factor, P2P is a tough sale nowadays. It might still work for my second idea but the first really need to be B2P to work. And the reason I want to avoid pay2win is that those games will last way shorter for the average player.
As I see it should a MMO be fun long term, selling gear, XP pots and stuff in a MMORPG focused on people gaining those things is counter productive while selling them in a MMOFPS game people play mainly for kicks and faction pride breaks the game. It works if you are going for a quick cashgrab but I don't think that is what we aim for in this discussion.
Also, I prefer larger packs if you must sell vanity gear or character customization options (like looks or cosmetic races), something account wise in that case. I would rather stay away from that as well if possible or add them together in regular expansions but in worst case I could live with that.
This would be what I would launch my game with. The gladiator arenas would be playable before it was even an MMO with your fame rating from the arenas (which carries some minor in-game bonuses) carrying over into MMO release.
Phase 1 - Arenas
The initial phase would launch with these features:
- Character customization
- Combat skills
- Some basic preset arena modes
Ongoing patches would help refine these features leading into 1.5Phase 1.5 - Custom Arenas
First moderate update.
Custom Arena Builder would be released, allowing players to build their own arena modes. Some of the more popular arenas would be added into the core arena types if they had developer approval.
Phase 2.0 - Dungeons
Phase 2.0 would be a major update which would implement.
- Non-combat / utility skills such as lockpicking and diplomacy
- Many new NPC types
- Non-combat challenges such as traps
- The endless dungeon
- Multiple minor randomly generated dungeon types
The endless dungeon would be a major dungeon built for five players that increases in difficulty the further into it you play and grants loot of increasing value. Players that die inside the dungeon can only be revived after certain checkpoints have been reached. If everyone wipes the dungeon is over. Special titles and cosmetics are unlocked for reaching certain checkpoints. You are intended to wipe eventually, the point is to see how far you can get before you do. The challenges before a checkpoint are randomly generated based on what difficulty that checkpoint is supposed to be. In other words the challenge rating will always been roughly the same but the dungeon layout and obstacles inside never will be.The minor dungeons will be a bit less random than the endless dungeon but still have randomly generated elements. You'll just know some basic conditions going in, like that a specific type is more combat heavy, or that you'll need someone with roguish skills, or that survival skills are important, or that social skills are important. That doesn't mean you won't find traps in a dungeon based on combat or have to pick locks in one based on social skills. You just know the challenges you face inside will definitely involve the skill type the dungeon favors fairly heavily. Essentially so people can get more of the types of challenges they really enjoy.
The loot you can gather in dungeons at this phase would be fairly minor in the grand scheme of things but it would generate value that would follow you into the MMO. A lot of it would go back into purchasing gear and equipment to use in dungeons though, all of which would need repairs of substantial costs periodically.
Phase 3.0 - Crafting and Politics
The third major update would be crafting focused and introduce.
This would be the start of the game's economy. The interior instances of structures cities to be implemented in the MMO would be available for purchase. Citizens of the cities would be able to generate influence through various deeds they could use to vote for the leader of their city. Citizens of cities would also get various bonuses from good management of the city. One aspect of management would would be keeping the populace (the NPCs not the players) happy. Having famous combatants fight in your arenas or participate in other arena based events (such as races) would give notable bonuses to population happiness (And incentivizing leaders to pay gold into events that generate a lot of happiness, meaning good gladiators get paid to fight.)
Gathering and crafting would allow for a new tier of gear better than anything dropped in dungeons. Like dungeon gear it would constantly decay through usage though, and be lost upon death. Crafting would also help supply materials for running major arena events, and decorating the new housing interiors.
Phase 3.5 - Cities
Cities would be implemented allowing for players to actually walk through their city and enter their homes through the non-instanced exterior of their house. These cities would come with.
Crime would be the opportunity to commit crimes against the NPC population of the city. Theft of property, smuggling missions, extortion, sabotage etc. These would have negative effects for the overall population and/or for the influence of the ruling party. Counter crime would be related to combating crime benefiting the overall population and/or the ruling party.
In addition there would be new ways of benefiting the local NPCs such as running specific dungeons to counteract the negative effects of crime and perhaps even bolster population happiness to greater heights than they were before.
Phase 4.0 - MMORPG
At this phase the entire world outside the major cities would be opened up. Features implemented in this phase.
More details on what I would add can be found here.
I'd still make a Evolving Survival game, not a persistent world, but a world that would be shaped by the players, with limited resources, limited areas, and mobs that changed over time.
There would be very little to no crafting to start with, maybe being able to mend or repair your gear (if you have the supplies), but, mainly gear would come about Scavenge Style Acquisition.
By Scavenge I mean there would be vacant/abandoned buildings, and in those buildings there would be supplies, but a limited number, so, say.. someone went into a sporting goods store, there would be a limited amount of ammo, guns, clubs, bats, etc.... so... once a store was empty.. it would be empty.
Same with say, a Clothing Store.
This would make gear both valuable and yet easy to get.
The game world would be pretty simple.
Open PvP. You go in knowing someone could attack you, anyplace, anytime, for any or no reason at all.
PvP Toggle - To prevent friendly fire. If you were in a family, clan, or community, you could toggle that you won't shoot them in the back while trying to kill an enemy... they could still shoot you, unless they also toggle PvP off as well.
Full Loot would be in effect. This is to keep gear cycling though the game.
Death - Real. You get .. one shot to survive.
Once killed, within 20 min, your body comes back as an Enemy, and anything left by what killed you, can be looted by the next person that kills you.
E: if you fell to your death, starved, got killed by a mob, etc.. all your loot would be there for someone else to take if they killed your now animated body.
2 month rule. If you go inactive for 2 months, your character dies, comes back as an Enemy, and can be killed and looted. You would be required to play at least 10 hours, to be labeled as active over the course of 2 months.
You keep your name tho, heck.. you could even end up killing your former self, or being killed by your former self.
The need to eat, sleep, etc would be active, however, you would count as "resting" when you logged out.
Players would be able to claim existing structures, like say.. move into an abandoned house, then secure it, guard it, and store goods and supplies in them, etc, and if left unguarded, players could lose them.
The weather would change to match real life time.. but reversed, so in the winter time, it would be summer in the game, etc.
In the Winter Time in the game, it would get cold, days would peak at lows, and highs, that players would need to outfit against, find jackets, get gloves, have good shoes/boots. Just Like real life, clothing would be designed to protect against the elements.. from heat to cold, to rain, to dry, very little would be actual armor. I mean really, when was the last time you went into a store that even sold body armor.
The setting would be semi-modern, 1990'ish, era, before cell phones and the like, to build that feeling of isolation.
There would be hostile NPCs', both survivor style (IE: Guarding their Secured Areas, Scavenging, Etc), there would also be evolving Mobs.
By Evolving, I mean, at first the mobs would be pretty easy, I wager, slow.. shambling.. stupid.. Undead-ish like things, akin mainly to the Ramno zombie, but, over time they would evolve, faster, more sinister, more skeletal like, similar to the evolution of the zombies in "warm bodies".
This would give rise to every 3ish months, a war would be waged on a server, lead by a mega-boss, if they wiped out all the active players, the server would be counted as dead, and re-set.
If the players beat the mega-boss, they would get 2 week reprieve where the undead would go into hiding where they could shore up their fortifications, stock up on goods... and maybe... even craft.
Then the undead would come again.. and in 3ish months.. another war would break out.. and a new.. mega boss would lead this charge..with some new styles of undead among their ranks.
yes.. there is no way to "win"... just survive, as long as you can.
There would be rewards for players that lived longer.. they would reincarnate as opposed to just die, and thus would be stronger their next time around. The longer they lived the first time, the stronger they would be the next.
A player would never lose their "reincarnation memories" even if they only lasted like 10 min on their next life. To get a "memory" a player would need to survive for 3 months in the game (or lived though/died in a War) however, the more a player played, the more memory they would have. IE: if they played the required hours and noting more, they would get very little to recall, if they dumped say in 20 hours a week, they would recall a great deal, this would also effect how long they needed to play to qualify for a Past Life Memory.
There would also be the ability to soul bind an item that had been with you 'through it all".
If this was a weapon, it would be your preferred weapon, (IE: You are just better with it) and thus could never be taken from you. (Think: Negan's Lucille)
If it was a clothing item or gear item (Think: Rick/Carls' Hat), it would have significance and convey extra benefits. IE: Soul Bound Boots would never get waterlogged and offer improved element protection and traction, for example.
only soulbound gear could be cosmetically customized, IE: unique patterns, colors, etc.
None of the numbers would be set however, as that would be done to keep players guessing.
Crating could only be done in secured fortifications. Crafting would involve ,Most domestic tasks. IE: gardening/growing food, Livestock, fixing and making clothing. Very little would be for combat, but that would involve making or improving things. IE: Knife Sharpening, or making a knife, if the fortification had the needed equipment. Up to say, reloading ammunition. But again, the equipment would need to be obtained and protected.
Character Creation would be random gen, so, players would get little to no control over what their characters looked like. (With, of course, the option to buy personal cosmetics from the store, I : hair colors, styles, even tattoos.. gotta make money somehow)
Social networks:
Family: This is your significant other, child, or parent. All would share the same last name. A family would need a "head" who would allow others into the family. To get into a family, a position would need to be set up.
Players would be able to get married in this game.
Families can work together to hold a single fortification. (You can remain in the same family even if you died and came back, but, you may need to take a new position, mainly that of child. IE: If you were the head, you can't return as the head, as that person is dead. You also can't return as a parent, but you could marry back into the family and re-marry your former SO. (True Love is Eternal)
Clan:
Clan's wold be a lose knit of people all following a strong leader, a Clan could hold and defend any number of objectives.
Community:
Just being a part of a larger group of people, communities are people that accepted into larger fortifications, often encompassing several buildings. Leadership of a community can be one of 3 ways.
- Leader/Founder (New leader voted in if the founder dies)
- Council: up to 5 players can make up the ruling body. New members voted in by the existing council.
- Democracy - Every gets a vote on what is gonna happen.
here would be no special chat channels in this game, after all there would not be any in a real world situation.
But besides holy orders I think putting all factions based on religion is a mistake. Church and state just have so much more possibilities after all. Now, if you locked people to one church and one state would mean you might be forced to choose one or the other in certain situations.
The religious war thing is certainly interesting, particularly if alliances can change so you sometimes might ally with a church from another pantheon to fight the black sheep of your own. And if you make the states influenced by the more localy powerful gods things could get really interested.
For instance, if Thoth is the most prominent god in your state it would move in one direction but if RA or Seth becomes more powerful that would move the state in a different. It could mean war, quests/DEs focusing on finding old forgotten knowledge and skills or the state becomming more evil or good.
That would certainly give the players more influence over the world and keep things interesting as long as you have a mechanic stopping a certain church from recruiting most of the players and just steamroll everything. You need some kind of mechanic that rewards picking a weaker God/pantheon and making that one stronger instead of just choosing the easiest choice.
The hardest thing with player factions is to keep things interesting and not getting stuck with a game completelly overrun by one or the other faction.
As for player run Gods, I am not so sure that would be wise. Head priest/knight/grandmaster templar and such is fine but I have a feeling that Godhood would become a mess fast.
I will be making my own MMO though. I have experience in most of those points and have a couple of friends who have also and want to work on it as well and are good on points where my skills are less evolved. And I think that's the main key - get a group of friends to work on a project like that, because you really can't make a MMO all by yourself.
At first glance you would be right on not making a game for everyone.
HOWEVER:
Something extremely major had been left out of design with mmos, and its going on over 10 years. It's been so long now it's totally forgotten about.
And this is a HUGE game. Where everyone and all types can co-exist. With this, each type of player can branch out as they feel.
- That solo player may want to group.
- That PvE player may want to open world PvP.
- That adventurer may want to try crafting something.
- That easy content being safe player may want to do something harder.
This is what makes a game a World. A melting pot of things to do..... It's like log in and see where you end up instead of scripted !
Definitely no one ever tried that before...............