I noticed that a lot of the people that come to our site are unhappy about the MMOs that are out at the moment. And, while some good games are on the horizon, I sort of get the feeling that they just won't be as fulfilling as I'm hoping for. So, I started thinking about my dream MMO. Something that would really get a hold of me and destroy any social life I might have put together. The kind of game the causes malnutrition and eats up your vacation time.
Naturally, I thought I'd come up with a sandbox game. But, I kind of surprised myself a little, when I started writing about something radically different. And... then I kept writing, and writing, and writing. So, be warned: This is about to get ridiculously in-depth.
Oh, and see the crudely drawn picture of me thinking, up at the top? Yeah, that denotes that the following article will be written as a stream of conscious. Rather than describe points in any sort of logical order, I just decided to go ahead and write about them as they popped into my head. Just... brace yourself.
I'd really like to see a massively multiplayer online tactical role-playing game (MMOTRPG) hit the market at some point in my lifetime. Not some simple Flash game from Korea, like Dofus, but a real game.
In case you have no idea what a tactical RPG is, it's games like Final Fantasy Tactics, Ogre Battle, and Disgaea.
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance (GBA)
They’re turn-based games that are set in a gridded area where troops of various sizes face off, by moving one character at a time (with players controlling five or six soldiers at once). As you can gather from the genre's name, it usually requires a lot of tactics. Everything from the direction your character is facing to the time it takes to cast a spell must be taken into consideration. It's sort of like chess, but interesting.
The biggest problem facing the game would be time. Battles can sometimes take upwards of an hour to finish. This might be a little intimidating to players that are new to the genre. Still, that doesn't mean that there wouldn’t be a market. It’s a niche game, sure, but Final Fantasy Tactics has a large fanbase behind it and online gamers are desperate for something new. Plus, gamers that don't like the fast-paced action of MMO PvP might enjoy a game that lets them use their wits, rather than the twitch-based instincts.
NPCs
Evenif you don’t enjoy PvP, the NPCs should be more than enough for any opponent. They could come in handy, in other ways, as well. Say your internet connection gets dropped, for instance. I know my wireless always seems to drop me mid-fight, or when my group needs me most. But, with a game like this, you could very easily switch it over to a computer when a player drops. And it would benefit both players.
Imagine if a fight had gone on for twenty minutes, and then the server drops someone. The one that got disconnected wouldn't automatically lose, and the other would still get to play the game he's invested so much time in (and there’d be more XP in it for him). Plus, if the dropped player logs back in, he can always just take over again.
Also, I think it would help to have some sort of combat level for your party. It could be based on your gear, character levels, and your overall ability, among other things. That way, if one player drops, it can match him with an NPC of appropriate skill level. So, if you suck, you couldn't just drop and have the computer kick ass for you.
Time
Going back to time, for a second, I don't really think it would be too big of a problem. If you limit each character's turn to thirty seconds or a minute, during PvP, then there shouldn't be too much of a problem. Especially if each side has a reduced number of characters (say, four men each). I mean, you could always have bigger battles, with three or more players, if you wanted, but I think this would work best for the smaller skirmishes.
NPC battles, on the other hand, should be fine without a time limit. The fights might run on a little long, but there's no reason why it couldn't save your data and let you finish when you log back in. It might be a problem if there were a few hundred thousand games saved on the server, but I doubt things would ever get that big.
Characters
You should have a fully 3D avatar, while you’re in the cities or other points of interest (mines, etc).
Also, since every player would have their own band of characters, players wouldn't need to have alternates. Want to roll a mage? Go recruit one. Plus, without alternatives, it would be a lot harder to sabotage your enemies
And I’m thinking that, at the start, your party should have a limited number of members. Let’s say three. And, once you move up a rank (I'll explain later), you unlock new party slots. This doesn’t mean that you’ll be able to bring more people into battle with you. You’ll just have more people to pick from.
New characters would come from recruitment camps. Their level would be scaled to your party leader’s (as it’s annoying to constantly have to level characters from the ground up).
Also in town would be a town hall, that brings up a window that gives you access to your nation's forum, as well as a global one. So, if there are any large-scale attacks planned, or any special items for sale, people can know of it quickly.
Death
Death’s tricky. Going by standard Final Fantasy Tactics rules, a character is dead after being at zero health for three turns. But, seeing as how MMOs lack a reset button, those rules would have to be scaled back a bit. Permanent death would have to be out, as you'd risk your entire party with every fight.
I’d like to see a system where you chose someone from your party to be the leader (which can be changed in town). They are the avatar that’ll show up in the game world, and maybe they get an XP boost, or something. But, if he dies (again, not permanently), your party would lose the battle. And, if your party loses the battle, you lose all items and money to your opponent, and you don’t gain any of the XP you’ve earned during the fight. It sounds harsh but, if it’s an NPC, you could always just go hunt them down again, to try to take back your stuff.
Missions/Realm vs Realm
The game would solely be focused on RvR fighting. It’s a war game, after all. The goal is to take your enemy’s land and kill his soldiers.
I’m thinking the game should have a handful of nations fighting over a small country, with the focus being on holding and taking cities. However, this game really wouldn’t work if you had to run across a continent, with your avatar, and engage people in long, tactical battles (can you imagine a field filled with NPCs, in a game like this?). So, I’m thinking there should be a mission system. Head to one of the captains in camp and they’ll bring up a list of NPCs and players, of a similar level, that are looking for a fight, and it would also tell you which area they’re fighting from.
The Setting/Nations
I'd like to see it set in the typical fantasy setting. It just makes things simpler. Like crafting, for example. Even simple soldiers could probably put together a bow or brew a potion. Plus, I think people would be a lot more comfortable in a fantasy setting.
As for the nations, I'd like to see each one have a different look and have different classes available to them. You could have a barbarian side that's strong but can only craft simple tools, a side with low health that uses all ranged skills, and that sort of thing.
It'd also like to see an alliance system, where two nations could join their armies and technology together. So, if you joined an army that focuses on brute force with an army that makes great armor and weapons, and another one that focuses on healing, you'd be a pretty intimidating force. But, you’d have to share that glory. And, more than likely, your enemies would ally themselves together, in response.
To get an alliance, I think there should be some sort of vote, once a week. Something simple, like, go to a booth in town and a list pops up. It lists all the nations and right next to each one would be a "Declare Peace" button. If over seventy percent wants peace, a truce is formed.
Points
Points would be everything. But this is where the descriptions become really confusing.
Every player, and every NPC, would have a combat level assigned to them. Defeat someone from a different faction, and your nation gains points equal to your level. Conversely, if you’re defeated, your side loses points equal to the enemy’s level. The more points your nation gets, the better your perks.
On a smaller scale, control of individual areas would also be determined through points. When you defeat an enemy, the town he was in gains points for your nation and loses points for his. Similarly, the town that you are in loses points for his side and gains some for you.
I’m not sure how coherent I sound, so I’ll give an example. Player “Bob” is level 5 and is in Town A. He looks at the available missions and sees that NPC “Rick”, who is level 6, is looking for a fight in Town B. They fight and Rick is defeated. Both towns gain 5 points for Bob’s side and lose 6 points for Rick’s side. Does that help explain it?
So, if you want to take an area, just keep attacking it. If you want to raise your town’s defenses, win a bunch of fights in that area. More points means you’re city is better defended (as it’s harder to take over), plus it unlocks better perks (cheaper items, better training camps, etc).
Also, if your nation's points ever reach zero, they are removed from the fight. No one can create a new character of that race anymore and their soldiers must immediately pick a new nation to join (if they haven't left already). Once a nation is eliminated, their land (if they have any) is divided up amongst the other sides on an individual basis. Each area would go to the nation that has the second highest number of points there. That sounds needlessly complicated, so I'll use another example.
Say "Bissrok's Forest" is controlled by Nation A. They have 300 points in the territory. Nation B has 230 points there and Nation C has 100 points. If Nation A was defeated, the forest would go to Nation B.
Healing
Your party would return to town after battle, and you characters would be automatically healed (including any status effects). However, your characters can become wounded, at the end of the battle, if they’ve reached critical health or were knocked out. Wounds are a permanent loss to your health that can never be healed. Nothing huge, but they’d build up, over time, if you lose a lot of fights. Afterall, a soldier can’t fight forever.
Crafting
Crafting would be a pretty big part of the game, and all players would be allowed to participate. Mines and forests can be fought over, like cities, and would play an important role in the game. Each area would yield a specific set of resources, of varying quantity and quality.
Crafters would have a few different options open to them. You could harvest raw materials, brew potions, craft weapons, or modify existing weapons.
Basic items would be sold by NPCs, but player-created goods would be much more powerful (assuming they haven’t completely screwed up the recipe). I don't think there should be player venders or houses, however. Since land changes hands so quickly, it would make things really messy. I'd rather see each nation have it's own global market.
Towns
Traveling in between towns would be simple, and instant. Just head to the stables and teleport to any of the areas under your nation's control.
Towns would house the NPC shops and the global market, where you could sell off items and soldiers. There would be arenas, where you could fight your fellow soldiers without penalty. There would also be trainers, to open up new classes. And there would be places for you to refine raw materials and craft weapons.
Classes
In Final Fantasy Tactics, each character had a large number of classes that he could unlock. Each one had a variety of skills that could be learned, using skill points earned in combat. The better you got with the classes you had, the more you unlocked. And, in between battles, you could change in between them. Also, some of the skills you learned from other classes could be used in your new job. So, you could heal like a priest, yet still punch like a monk.
This game would similar to that. Characters would unlock new classes, as they progressed, and they could learn them at training camps in town. And each nation would have it’s own unique classes.
Leveling
I’d probably just steal the Final Fantasy Tactics formula for this, too. Every successful action gains you experience points and skill points for your current class. Experience points get you higher stats, in relation to your job (gain a level as a warrior, get more health and strength). Skill points let you buy and upgrade abilities for the class they were earned in (Use a monk ability, gain monk skill points, use them to buy new monk abilities).
End Game
Since the goal of the game is to take over the country, rather than just max out your stats, the end game becomes something much different.
In World of Warcraft, you can get to level twenty, leave for a month, and then pick right back up where you were before. In this game, not only would control of the territory be radically different, but your nation might be close to defeat. Your rivals might have been wiped out. Your nation might have allied themselves with others and unlocked new classes and items, as well as new races to recruit. One thing’s for sure, the world would have changed while you were away.
Eventually, one side would come out on top, and the game would be done. Then the world would be reset and the characters would be transferred over.
Changing Sides
This is a tricky issue. Without it, the game would be ruined. No one wants to be pummeled the whole game. You’ve got to give them the option to surrender and join another army. Plus, this makes it easier for one nation to become a dominant force in the game (which keeps things interesting).
However, this invites abuse. If you can switch on the fly, all you need to do is join your enemies and continually lose fights at key locations (if you didn’t bring items or gold, all you’d lose is time). So, there would need to be some sort of probation period.
The probation period would last three days. In this time, all points gained or lost would be tallied against your character, but not the nation. After three days, your points are tallied. If you’ve gained more points than you’ve lost, the points go through. If you’ve lost point or are at zero, they don’t accept you into their ranks.
Also, you would not be allowed to engage in PvP during this time. It would be somewhat aggravating if you defeated another player, only to see that the points didn’t count because they failed the probation test.
Then there's the problem of people doing it gain perks. If your nation's people are naturally strong, but they can't craft a decent set of armor, what's to stop you from running off to join the enemy, in order to get better items, or to learn new skills? Well, you'd have to have measures in place to prevent that. Like, if the two nations are not aligned, they cannot use each other's markets, learn each other's skills, or recruit each other’s soldiers, even if they do switch sides.
The exception to this rule would be for players whose nations were defeated. If your side is destroyed, you immediately chose a new army to fight with. Once you join a new nation, you get all the perks a natural born citizen would get. So, in some ways, it can actually help you to lose the war... if you only care about having a strong character. But, again, that's not the point of the game.
Potential Problems
One consistent exploit in TRPGs is hanging around the battlefield, with one enemy left, and beating the hell out of your allies. This could be solved by not giving characters XP for attacking their teammates or for healing members with full health.
Then there’s another potential exploit. What if friends are fighting each other, and one lets the other beat on him for a day while he guzzles potions? Well, they’d have to be pretty good friends, they’d have to playing on opposite sides, they’d have to be similar levels, and one would have to help an enemy and waste a lot of time to pull it off. If they both spent their time fighting for the same side, things would probably go a lot faster. Either way, the only way to prevent it would be to limit the number of rounds per game, and that would probably hurt more than it helps. So, I’d leave it be.
The last exploit occurs when a party slaughters all but one enemy. Everyone attacks the last guy to within an inch of death, then you heal him and do it all over again. So, for that, players and NPCs would have the option of forfeiting, to avoid getting stuck in a two hour battle and giving the enemy too much XP. For this dream game, I’m assuming the AI would me smart enough to see when it’s hopeless, but not too jumpy, so that it cheats you out of some XP.
Production
I don't think it'd be a terribly difficult game to make. All the battles would be instanced, and there's no world map to run around in. You'd only have towns and other areas, like mines.
The resources wouldn't need to change, over time. A good mine will always be a good mine. People will probably know about it, and fight over it often. In combat, only one character moves at a time, so it wouldn't exactly tax the system. Plus, there wouldn't even be any player housing.
The main thing would be the AI and the large number of classes and skills. Plus, there's a lot of points to keep track of, too. Still, it’d be simpler than most games.
1.no levels
2.many games inside of the main game
3.totaly open-ended gameplay. go where you want, more importantly..BE what you want.
quests for those who want them, yet a old school grind for others. if you ask me the main thing new games do wrong is the linear quest-driven gameplay. example: you complete all the quests in a area why go back there? noobs are then faced with a vacant area. no vets in the starting area=nobody there to help noobs along with other severe flaws.
linear also means crafting mats drop in specific areas and bind crafters to that area.
but this leads to a post i am working on. :-D
Focus 
