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What uncommon setting(s) do you think would work well for an MMO?

45074507 Member UncommonPosts: 351
What sorts of settings do you thing would be good for an MMORPG that haven't really been tried yet?

Personally, I think an MMO set during the fall of Rome would be amazing: tons of possible factions/races (Goths, Vandals, Franks, Huns, Persians, etc), lots of geographic variation (snowy Alps, thickly forested Dalmatia, windswept plains of Armenia, barren Sahara desert, barren ancient ruins of Egypt, bustling markets of Rome and Constantinople, etc), and an instantly recognizable world and "lore" (if it can be called that)  without having to pay for a fictional IP.
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  • ConstantineMerusConstantineMerus Member EpicPosts: 3,338
    I'd love a good Steampunk in an alternate history. 
    cjmarshUngoodKnytta
    Constantine, The Console Poster

    • "One of the most difficult tasks men can perform, however much others may despise it, is the invention of good games and it cannot be done by men out of touch with their instinctive selves." - Carl Jung
  • ConstantineMerusConstantineMerus Member EpicPosts: 3,338
    Steampunk like in the "Wild wild west" movie would be kinda cool. The movie was not very good, but the setting could be fun.
    Yeah I like a Steampunk world where physics still makes sense, to some extent at least. 
    Constantine, The Console Poster

    • "One of the most difficult tasks men can perform, however much others may despise it, is the invention of good games and it cannot be done by men out of touch with their instinctive selves." - Carl Jung
  • cjmarshcjmarsh Member UncommonPosts: 299
    Rome and Steampunk are good ideas. Atlantis might work, especially for a naval game. Having the setting in popular mythology like Olympus or Asgard could be good. Maybe a game in the setting of Asimov's foundation trilogy, the capital planet that is entirely covered by a city.
    Daikuru
  • DaikuruDaikuru Member RarePosts: 797
    Cyberpunk, like in Altered Carbon or Blade Runner. Steampunk would be cool too.
    Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

    - Albert Einstein


  • ScorchienScorchien Member LegendaryPosts: 8,914
    Anarchy Online setting was so fuggin cool , an MMO made with an up to date engine, that setting and mechainics would be great ..
    Daikuru
  • Loke666Loke666 Member EpicPosts: 21,441
    It depends, for a levelbased trinity combat game you basically can choose between high fantasy and low fantasy, it doesn't work well for anything historical or semi realistic with firearms. Even something like 3 musketeers would be a stretch there.

    A setting like Shadowrun (cyperpunk fantasy?) would be awesome but require rather different mechanics from what we are used to.

    Anything with semi modern firearms (early 1800s+) really demands a system where being hit in the head would be a very bad thing indeed. That doesn't mean you can't have progression but it means any combat is risky since even the worst opponent could kill you with a lucky shot.

    A bullet proof vest helps of course but such game require tactics, an ambush is far more deadly when the opponent have rifles then swords and bows.

    That doesn't mean it is less fun, I would say it can be more fun but you would always have to think a bit before jumping into a fight unless you are willing to die a lot.

    With that in mind there are plenty of interesting settings, from Wild west and steampunk that have already been mentioned to cyberpunk, dieselpunk (remember the Crimson skies setting?) and a lot of other more moddern and sci-fi options.

    With current level based mechanics I think the low fantasy pen and paper RPG "Iron heroes" (made by Monty Cook who also worked on D&D 3rd edition and Pathfinder) would be really fun. It is a low magic game with focus on character development instead of gear. You don't have combat healers but you have a pool that will fill over to your HPs to heal you after each combat to cut out downtime.

    The classes are rather different from D&D (and MMOs) since they are based on your combat style, not your profession. You archer, executioner or armigeer could be a soldier, a smith or almost anything else, the difference is that the armigeer is tankish character that uses his armor to tire out the opponent before going for the kill while the archer is a sniper. The executioner go for hitting vital spots...

    Anyways, not relying on magical stuff but far more focus on your character would make an interesting game and magic is somewhat weaker and less reliable then what we are used to in MMOs.
    4507
  • ScotScot Member LegendaryPosts: 22,824
    For big IP it has to be Game of thrones, but that would have the same magic issues LotR did.
    For history based I would say Byzantium would be ideal, it would look like no other MMO.
    From a couple of RPG's how about steampunk and the fae in Victorian England.
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  • sunandshadowsunandshadow Member RarePosts: 1,985
    I like settings where there are big areas of wilderness that no one really owns between tribes or towns.  And I like these settings to be full of magic and monsters and ruins; no technology, no big nations.  So what if we took a non-earth fantasy planet, placed all the interesting tribal cultures from different periods of earth's history here and there as NPC settlements, and said that is a post-magical-apocalypse setting, so that's where all the stone ruins from a slightly more advanced culture came from.
    I want to help design and develop a PvE-focused, solo-friendly, sandpark MMO which combines crafting, monster hunting, and story.  So PM me if you are starting one.
  • anemoanemo Member RarePosts: 1,903
    edited February 2018
    Arctic survival.   Raids becomes whaling, crafting becomes necessary for things besides "just combat", and similar.   Mostly for cashshop puns.

    Something loosely based on America's "canal age"/"Riverboat age" with some liberties taken to connect the Mississippi to the great lakes.   Basically right when everyone is starting to industrialize, but enough large projects/change has happened that you can see some of the outcomes already.   Though it could be pretty easy to bring it into steam punk genre if not careful.

    Make all the players insects in a PvP game.   Where "loot" determines what you can come back as after you die, and experience is used to unlock skill trees for each insect.

    SCP-3008:  http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-3008

    An alternate history where "teleportation" was the equivalent of "nukes", then toss it in the cold war era.   Basically cold war era (most important part) with an overwhelming technology still in existence, but one that players get to use.

    Mars/Moon colonization could be interesting.
    4507

    Practice doesn't make perfect, practice makes permanent.

    "At one point technology meant making tech that could get to the moon, now it means making tech that could get you a taxi."

  • UngoodUngood Member LegendaryPosts: 7,517
    Well, I would like to see a "Mad Max" or a "Warhemmer 40K" setting.
    Egotism is the anesthetic that dullens the pain of stupidity, this is why when I try to beat my head against the stupidity of other people, I only hurt myself.

  • FrodoFraginsFrodoFragins Member EpicPosts: 5,898
    I'd love a good Steampunk in an alternate history. 
    I'm not sure about steampunk, but an alternate history setting of some kind sounds interesting
  • FrodoFraginsFrodoFragins Member EpicPosts: 5,898
    Scot said:
    For big IP it has to be Game of thrones, but that would have the same magic issues LotR did.
    For history based I would say Byzantium would be ideal, it would look like no other MMO.
    From a couple of RPG's how about steampunk and the fae in Victorian England.
    The wheel of time makes more sense as far as a setting, even though the books weren't as good os LOTR or ASOIAF.  I just don't think it's a big enough property.  Warhammer fantasy is a great setting as well but third party MMOs are jsut too risky.
  • ScotScot Member LegendaryPosts: 22,824
    edited February 2018
    Scot said:
    For big IP it has to be Game of thrones, but that would have the same magic issues LotR did.
    For history based I would say Byzantium would be ideal, it would look like no other MMO.
    From a couple of RPG's how about steampunk and the fae in Victorian England.
    The wheel of time makes more sense as far as a setting, even though the books weren't as good os LOTR or ASOIAF.  I just don't think it's a big enough property.  Warhammer fantasy is a great setting as well but third party MMOs are jsut too risky.

    The books were not as good, but still a big enough IP. But I think Wheel of Time would be rather too traditional a MMO setting.

    I think a new Warhammer fantasy MMO would struggle because of the problems of its predecessor, which is a shame its such a brilliant setting. Vermintide and Mordheim show just how great a MMO setting it could really be.
  • CryomatrixCryomatrix Member EpicPosts: 3,223
    What does the acronym: 
    ASOIAF mean?

    I'd do an EVE online setting but have the planets be interactable and have a nice interface with the actual EVE online game. I guess they promised that and Starcitizen is supposed to be like that. 

    I'd also be okay with: 

    Starship Troopers. 

    Cryomatrix
    Catch me streaming at twitch.tv/cryomatrix
    You can see my sci-fi/WW2 book recommendations. 
  • anemoanemo Member RarePosts: 1,903
    What does the acronym: 
    ASOIAF mean?

    I'd do an EVE online setting but have the planets be interactable and have a nice interface with the actual EVE online game. I guess they promised that and Starcitizen is supposed to be like that. 

    I'd also be okay with: 

    Starship Troopers. 

    Cryomatrix
    The real Starship Troopers, or the movie Starship Troopers?   Because they are very different things.
    Mendel

    Practice doesn't make perfect, practice makes permanent.

    "At one point technology meant making tech that could get to the moon, now it means making tech that could get you a taxi."

  • FrodoFraginsFrodoFragins Member EpicPosts: 5,898
    Scot said:
    Scot said:
    For big IP it has to be Game of thrones, but that would have the same magic issues LotR did.
    For history based I would say Byzantium would be ideal, it would look like no other MMO.
    From a couple of RPG's how about steampunk and the fae in Victorian England.
    The wheel of time makes more sense as far as a setting, even though the books weren't as good os LOTR or ASOIAF.  I just don't think it's a big enough property.  Warhammer fantasy is a great setting as well but third party MMOs are jsut too risky.

    The books were not as good, but still a big enough IP. But I think Wheel of Time would be rather too traditional a MMO setting.

    I think a new Warhammer fantasy MMO would struggle because of the problems of its predecessor, which is a shame its such a brilliant setting. Vermintide and Mordheim show just how great a MMO setting it could really be.
    I skipped Warhammer Online, but Total War Warhammer showed me at least some of what's possible with the races.  But yeah, that ship has sailed.
  • ScotScot Member LegendaryPosts: 22,824
    anemo said:
    What does the acronym: 
    ASOIAF mean?

    I'd do an EVE online setting but have the planets be interactable and have a nice interface with the actual EVE online game. I guess they promised that and Starcitizen is supposed to be like that. 

    I'd also be okay with: 

    Starship Troopers. 

    Cryomatrix
    The real Starship Troopers, or the movie Starship Troopers?   Because they are very different things.
    Classic example of taking the theme of a book, but only a hollowed out shell of its content and turning its ideology on its head.
    anemoMendel
  • hallucigenocidehallucigenocide Member RarePosts: 1,015
    any setting could do well.. hard part is making it happen.

    I had fun once, it was terrible.

  • 45074507 Member UncommonPosts: 351
    anemo said:
    This is amazing.
    anemo
  • GaladournGaladourn Member RarePosts: 1,813
    Middle Ages.  endless content, be it historically accurate or fiction.
  • 45074507 Member UncommonPosts: 351
    Galadourn said:
    Middle Ages.  endless content, be it historically accurate or fiction.
    That's pretty much the only setting that can't be considered uncommon no matter how much you change it.
  • Loke666Loke666 Member EpicPosts: 21,441
    any setting could do well.. hard part is making it happen.
    Well, almost at least. There are a few that are so politically loaded that we probably do well staying far from them. Things like the holocaust is not something I think anyone sould pull off.

    But besides that you are right, with the right mechanics and fun gameplay you could probably turn almost any setting into a success. In many cases is that far harder then others though and a crappy made setting needs an awesome system to be fun.
    anemo
  • HrimnirHrimnir Member RarePosts: 2,415

    I always thought Midkemia from The Riftwar Cycle would be awesome.  They actually did make 2 games way back when (this should show my age) called Betrayal at Krondor and Return to Krondor, the first of which was widely considered one of the best games ever made, but alas, nothing more.

    For anyone who has read the series, there is SO MUCH lore there that could be made into an MMO it's mind boggling.  So many different enemies, so many different physical locations, races, etc etc.


    Ugh, its driving me nuts just thinking of the possibilities for awesomeness.

    cameltosis

    "The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently."

    - Friedrich Nietzsche

  • GruugGruug Member RarePosts: 1,789
    4507 said:
    What sorts of settings do you thing would be good for an MMORPG that haven't really been tried yet?

    Personally, I think an MMO set during the fall of Rome would be amazing: tons of possible factions/races (Goths, Vandals, Franks, Huns, Persians, etc), lots of geographic variation (snowy Alps, thickly forested Dalmatia, windswept plains of Armenia, barren Sahara desert, barren ancient ruins of Egypt, bustling markets of Rome and Constantinople, etc), and an instantly recognizable world and "lore" (if it can be called that)  without having to pay for a fictional IP.
    There was a Roman themed MMO that was being developed several years ago. Unfortunately, it went belly up before it ever made it to market. I wish I could recall the name but I can't. Someone else perhaps remembers.

    Let's party like it is 1863!

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