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MMO Ideas
Ricky Piller
Member #1,232
April 2001
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Scrapping the traditional hack/slash mmo I was thinking of different types of games styles that could be brought over to the mmo genre. I'm wondering how a settlement/explore style game would do. Something where exploring the lands and making settlements anywhere you want (having the real-life effects apply to encourage grouping, for example by rivers and lakes) would play out. A game where there are no maps of the land. Where to get to places you either have to had been there or users tell you about it? To have great things to explore and discover.

My idea starts with x number of starting zones around the world. Heavily forest populated lands with some open space and deserts as well. I just keep imagining in my head tribes forming and eventually as they explore they find other real life tribes "thousands" of miles away. Where you could be a year into the game and still be exploring new areas and finding new people. Certain natural resources would need to be found by exploring to further your tribes technologies. Stuff like that. Could that work?

Jeff Bernard
Member #6,698
December 2005
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Sounds kinda fun. It's something sort of like what I used to do in Empire Earth when I would get bored of the real game, just make a civilization and take them through each epoch.

I think the major pitfall of this game is that it would have to be truly massive with everyone playing for a long long time all the time for it to really work out and be fun.

--
I thought I was wrong once, but I was mistaken.

count
Member #5,401
January 2005

Quote:

A game where there are no maps of the land. Where to get to places you either have to had been there or users tell you about it?

Wow. Thats is a cool idae.

I would really like to play a game like this.
But I think that there are 2 problems
1) People don't even start playing the game, because they don't know what the maps are like
2) People are making there own maps posting then on the internet... which maybe would ruin the fun part.

Hmm... now I want to play this game :-[

Onewing
Member #6,152
August 2005
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I've had a very similar reoccurring idea. To add to yours, a core concept of the game is there needs to be a reason why players are exploring and settling the world. If it is just to explore and settle, if that's it, I don't think it's going to be very fun. Your game will be based on people having the imagination to entertain themselves within the game, and that's a dangerous concept.

So I suggest some lore existing in your game. Perhaps you could have some mythical monsters roaming different parts of the world. Training and defeating these creatures becomes part of why people gather and why "gated communities" need to exist. You could even have the monsters attack villages being built.

One little scenario I played in my head is as follows. I've imagined a world that is mostly explored, several small communities have formed, but there is one cave that people tend to die in. So some adventurous fellows join together to brave deep into its depths. As a team, they manage to traverse the cave, exiting out into a narrow valley. In this valley, they see forest below, plains that follow (with some rather large Ogres hunting for some snacks) and a large, black castle at the end of the valley. Above the castle is a large, ominous cat-like eye, scanning the valley. Imagine the excitement of the explorers' discovery!

A world with lore gives people reason to explore. Anyway, yes, I would love to play this kind of game.

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Solo-Games.org | My Tech Blog: The Digital Helm

Slartibartfast
Member #8,789
June 2007
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Quote:

I think the major pitfall of this game is that it would have to be truly massive with everyone playing for a long long time all the time for it to really work out and be fun.

To solve that, you'd have several communities that aren't player made, but were added by the developer(s), and those communities will be maintained by NPCs or GMs or someone like that. And as the player created communities increase in size and number, you can remove the developer created ones.

Onewing
Member #6,152
August 2005
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Quote:

And as the player created communities increase in size and number, you can remove the developer created ones.

Why remove them? As long as there built with the same features that any group of players could reproduce the "communities", then it would be as if players have been playing for a long time and simply add to the dynamic. I know if I were playing FFXI and I had the power to build a village, I surely wouldn't want to rid the fantasy world of the great Republic of Bastok.

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Solo-Games.org | My Tech Blog: The Digital Helm

TestSubject
Member #8,989
August 2007
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I would love a game where you get to explore blind. It would be cool to have built a fort in an unexplored area and have to defend it from a siege. Only problem is loners might have some trouble, because they can't really go anywhere new and exciting. While that makes sense, and is like many other games, it still kinda blows for loners.

If you are in a fort, it should not be practical to teleport back to a safer zone when you log off. If the fort falls, so do you.

Imagine if two large guilds try to gain the same fertile valley. If guilds could get up to 1,000 people, it could be a constantly raging battle for hours. That would be so cool...

And if it had complete environment interactivity! And fire. Fire is KEY. Corruption would be cool too, using necromancy should make you hurt. Like in...those books with the Sovereign stone? And that evil guy who was the Guardian of the Void? And Patch, the whipping boy? Ringing any bells? No? Well, Void magic caused blisters, boils, etc etc.

Also like in that book you could combine powers to cast gigantic spells with like 20 mages. Of course, some would die in the attempt.

About Lore- I always liked lore, but never really found one with a really driving storyline.

A minor hitch would be a game like this would need massive GM support. Maybe like 10-15 good GMs and 4-6 evil ones.

mkbunday
Member #8,622
May 2007

I would totally play that game.

I had another idea of how to make MMORPG's more fun. I thinking there shouldn't be a traditional quest scheme, rather everything should be user based. Instead of going on a quest to destroy computer Evil Overlord instead imagine if the Evil Overlord was another player. Think how much better that would make exploring his dungeon. My idea is that certain players will get promoted to special positions where they will be able to create world influencing events, such as wage war.

Neil Black
Member #7,867
October 2006
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Would player communities be able to make war with each other?

piccolo
Member #3,163
January 2003
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i though up this a while ago.

wow
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i am who you are not am i

Jeff Bernard
Member #6,698
December 2005
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Well, I'm sure Ricky Piller is very sorry for stealing your idea, piccolo.

--
I thought I was wrong once, but I was mistaken.

piccolo
Member #3,163
January 2003
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it ok thats how ideas are if you dont move fast some one else with think up the same thing.

wow
-------------------------------
i am who you are not am i

Trezker
Member #1,739
December 2001
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It's already been done. Cantr started out with nothing, players spawn with nothing and have to explore the world to get what they want. Everyone makes up their own goals just like in real life.

It works very well, but only if you're a roleplayer. But if you think about it, why would you want anything but roleplayers in such a game? Non roleplayers only ruin the game experience. In Cantr they are banned when they're misbehaving.

Hans Spirit
Member #8,650
May 2007
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I've played something like this, it's not quite what you described but something very close to it. Ultima Online in a Brazilian (where I'm from) Role-Playing-Shard. The game was totally player based.(www.aow.com.br) By the way, I'm still waiting for this shard to come online again, for it's the best shard I've ever played in.

But changing the subject, I would really like playing a game like this, and if it was totally player based it would be best. I imagine tribes of players with leaders democratly elected, meeting other tribes, making alliances, battling and other stuff.

My Project:
Shining Legends:
http://members.allegro.cc/HansSpirit

Neil Black
Member #7,867
October 2006
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I've wanted to play a game like that for years. It would be so awesome, it would make Chuck Norris jealous.

Simon Parzer
Member #3,330
March 2003
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The idea itself sounds great, but you'd probably need a huge world to make it possible. We're talking bigger dimensions than World of Warcraft, assuming it's going to be a 3D world.
What kind of engine would support the amount of data?

Michael Jensen
Member #2,870
October 2002
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Quote:

i though up this a while ago.

Everyone has in some form or another -- but everyone has a slightly different take on what would make it work or what would break it.

Several games like this probably already exist (and some of the earlier testimonies are proof)

Quote:

What kind of engine would support the amount of data?

An engine that a programmer wrote that supports that amount of data... duh.

Realistically, the amount of processing power you need for something is always avilable, it's just the cost that matters anymore -- if you really need to you can buy/setup a server farm full of database and game servers for your MMO, and you can buy as much bandwidth as you need too of course (hell, you can host it in Korea!). It all comes down to money.

Ricky Piller
Member #1,232
April 2001
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Wow, seems this idea is a good one. I think I'll have to explorer it more.

I'm imagining new resources to make people settle in other places. Both new types and more. Certain resources would become depleted, and new one's would be out there. The only issues I have is how to introduce things to make which would need these resources which would make people want to explore.

On the exploring side, there has to be a danger besides beasts and such. So I was thinking about having a food/water dependency. You wouldn't have to actually eat and drink, but you would need supplies in your backpack that would automatically be reduced at a rate that is dependent on what you are doing. So if you are climbing a mountain food and water would be reduced at a greater rate than if you were just walking on flat ground. You could of course hunt and store fresh water, if you found some. If you run out of food/water you die after x mins. You can res (not sure on how this would work yet) and have like 10-15 mins to find food or water or have someone come help you and give you food/water.

Community made maps is what I would want. It adds to the game I think. Makes it feel like the players own the world as everything isn't handed to them. I think I would add a feature to somehow make maps in game and possibly trade/sell them to others. Something like a simple paint editor, where players could draw their version of the world.

The key to this, I think, is to spread out the population in the world but still keep some together to give a tribe feel. They would need to be spread out enough yet still be able to find some tribes early on to give them that hope of finding more.

The cool thing would be that different areas would have different food/dress/etc. to give those people who find them a sense that they found a totally different world that they didn't know existed. Then be able to learn their ways.

I'd want professions (like tailoring, blacksmithing, etc) to be involved. Not so much a level up effect but more of finding plans and patterns to advance technology, that once a person has it can share those plans/patterns with other players via a scriber to copy those on a scroll, which would require natural resources to make. I just don't know how I would introduce these plans/patterns to the game. Maybe when you kill/gather things these have a chance to drop. Certain plans/patterns/etc would be specific to areas in the land.

I love the ideas, keep them coming. It's starting to form.

Hans Spirit
Member #8,650
May 2007
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If I was playing game like this, I would want to BE something, I mean. Be very good at a profession or maybe have a house, discover something.

And the most interesting about this is that, there is too much to explore, you could add like tons of things to game, limited only by people's immaginaiton.

My Project:
Shining Legends:
http://members.allegro.cc/HansSpirit

Neil Black
Member #7,867
October 2006
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I like the mapping thing. It would really make me feel like a part of the game to be able to make maps of areas no one has ever been to before. I bet that maps to new tribes would be very valuable, too.

The food thing sounds great, too. Always, in games, your running around for days and weeks, never having to worry about survival. Another thing, instead of eating to regain health, you could have supplies like bandages and splints that would help to heal your wounds over time, and injuries could effect more than just your health. A huge gash across your arm could effect your strength, and a crippling blow to your legs would effect your speed.

Audric
Member #907
January 2001

What about roads ?
After a few times people walk in the same places, patches of hard ground would be created, forming a track, little by little.
Unused roads would slowly become wild again.
It would be nice for explorers, showing there is/was some activity nearby.

Neil Black
Member #7,867
October 2006
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Quote:

What about roads ?

Yes. Awesome. For that matter, what about rivers? I mean, fording them is okay, but once you have a road it should be possible to build a bridge. Also, paving roads would be good. If a road became paved it would take much longer to go back to the wild. But if you put in roads, where do you stop? Canals, aquaducts, an equivalent of the Great Wall of China? Eventually you have to find a point where you say "Okay, that's enough features." Otherwise you'll have thousands of features to code and you'll never finish.

But I still think roads would be a good idea. Just maybe not paving them.

FuriousOrange
Member #7,305
June 2006
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The only problem I can see with allowing users to make their own maps in game is that the majority of user made maps will be junk. I think this could seriously detract from the enjoyment of the game. Especially if there is no way to screen out the rubbish maps and players are enforced to endure "teh pwn z0ne!!!111!" (thats what my zone would be called, and it'd be filled to the brim with rampaging uber mobs).

count
Member #5,401
January 2005

He meant maps for navigation. Paintings of the existing world... things the humans used before navigation systems where invented.
Not creating new areas in the world you can walk to.

FuriousOrange
Member #7,305
June 2006
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