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My new gaming project. Seeking inspiration.

morfiction

Troubadour
Here's an official FB page.

I would like people who play online games or have played them in the past to contribute to this discussion. The internet is rampant with talk about how major corporations ruined their games in the eyes of their consumers.

If you were to build your game, what elements would you borrow and what elements wouldn't you touch with a ten foot pole?

Did you feel the introduction of Trammel ruined Ultima Online? Did you despise the Combat Upgrade of Star Wars Galaxies? Do you play online games where you grind out chars level by tedious level?

Let's have a constructive discussion here.
 

morfiction

Troubadour
I have been informed the style of game I wanted to attempt was sorta "Action Real Time Strategy" or "Mulitplayer Online Battle Arena."

One thing I do like about the MMO Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning is that Player Vs Player against an opposing faction is a viable option very early in the game with Tier 1 "Realm Vs Realm" combat easily accessible from the starter zone but it is isolated to "RVR Lake" areas. You advance in levels by doing quests and killing monsters or humanoid NPCs in the wild. When you hit lvl 15 you're obliged to go into Tier 2 where the RVR is complicated by the need to guard a keep or besiege it from the opposing side. The guards of the keep have oil they can spill and the besiegers have rams.

But anyway, what I dislike about WAR is that it another one of those games limited by a class system. You're either a tank, a healer of some kind, or a mage dealing damage thru spells, or an archer. This over-simplifies the game dynamic and I might have not described a class or two, but the game doesn't let you wade into battle dealing good damage as well as be able to heal yourself or others.

I am a fan of the original Dragon Warrior game from Enix and of Shadowrun on SNES. In those games one character can be very self-sufficent for all tasks he might need to accomplish.

I would rather have a warrior who can craft and heal and also use magic. The goal of Damar is to gather resources first (chopping lumber or digging up ore) then once you have that gathered you quickly build weapons & armor to outfit yourself and your troops. Once properly outfitted, the warfare properly begins.

There will be no building of structures by players. You will begin in a neutral zone, one of several. Your opponent(s) do the same. Each side has some time to find a nearby town or palace or whatever to claim as their home base. Then you hit resource mode, etc.

I'm looking for combat somewhere akin to a system used in the old Ultima Online but much improved. Many of the ideas I just brain-stormed writing this post. :D Some are keepers but the majority of this stuff may need revising.
 

Telcontar

Staff
Moderator
I hate to be a downer, but "indie-developed MMO's" are a long shot. It takes a lot of infrastructure to support an MMO, and the only ones I've seen developed by independent studios never saw the light of day. Still, best of luck.

On a lighter note, if you are not already a denizen of GameDev.net, you should take a look. A wonderful forum for programmers and game enthusiasts.
 

Telcontar

Staff
Moderator
D'oh! I'm an idiot, put the wrong link in there. (Although, if you had searched for "GameDev.net" you'd have found it). Either way, here's the proper link: Gamedev.net

Don't know anything about the forum you found. Certainly looks active, though.
 

Neurosis

Minstrel
If I were going to make a game I wouldn't make any sort of MMO. Ever. Not even once.

All the algorithms are NP-Hard or Exponential. Which means you need to have a LOT of resources to throw at the problem (money in this case) and have several extremely experienced programmer to solve these notoriously hard problems specific to the needs of your game.

Sources: Computer science degree.
 

morfiction

Troubadour
D'oh! I'm an idiot, put the wrong link in there.

No you aren't. Just made a mistake.

(Although, if you had searched for "GameDev.net" you'd have found it). Either way, here's the proper link: Gamedev.net

Don't know anything about the forum you found. Certainly looks active, though.

Anyhow, I posted an advert on gamedev.net....

Need Rules Miester and Possible Quest Writers. - Classifieds - GameDev.net

I guess it's appropriate to post this here since you did recommend them. :D

If I were going to make a game I wouldn't make any sort of MMO. Ever. Not even once.

That's why I said MOBA. :D
 

Telcontar

Staff
Moderator
It is a good "draw-down" if you can keep your design goals whole, though. Hosting match-making services for a MOBA is still a pretty big resource drain, but assuming players establish direct, client-hosted games between themselves that reduces a lot of load needed on the server side.
 
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