Hey all,


Original post by Ceoddyn
Con: Why can''t you leave the city? It may seem like it doesn''t matter, but if I was playing I would want an explaination for why I''m stuck in this city.

If you leave the city you are killed by some rading group of people or if your in the ocean you walk out to far and you get eaten by some monster or something.

I like the Zone and sectors idea as you could have a small load time. the way you make each sector not go dead is by having something valuble in each sector that is in no other sector.

oh and as to disorienting people you have a point, but adding wide streets and alleys between buildings would help alot too. Adding parks, several large buildings, having cleaner beginner sector and a dirty/dingier/cluttered sectors farther out so when you are more able you wont get so disoriented. And of course a a large map of the city in the players inventory showing were they are and were the major buildings and sites of interest would help. It would be cool to have a game like this.

Hiya folks, the following is an ammended post from: http://www.gamedev.org/yabbse/index.php?board=3;action=display;threadid=940 I''m not digging at any single idea here, just the general theory of MMOG development at the moment.

Your idea is good, but its easy to forget why we play games when designing a MMOG. They are not a new medium, but they are a blank slate with ample gameplay design opportunities. I would urge you to consider the experience you are aiming to provide and forge every aspect of the game to deliver that. Don''t get lost in the distopian Brave new World of MMOG''s.

First I want to break a mythology. The most fundemental statement we must accept for a strong MMORPG design is: Freedom is not fun without purpose. Vast open landscapes are not fun, absence of civil or ethical control is not fun, being rich and prosperous is not fun. These design aspects are built into MMOG''s because they are examples of a lifestyle many/most people aspire to, but without extraction of their base elements they are mearly clumsy design theories. Not tools and not empowering gameplay devices.

Great minds have mused over the creation of Utopias for centuaries, and in making a classic MMOG you are doing just that. The classic MMOG ideals (vast land, build anything, do anything) can NEVER be fully realised, a distopia forms, and players are loosely interested for a few months etc...

The MMOG world and its evolving ideas are an open forum for development of new social mechanisms and exploration of cultural and physical bonds. They are pastures rich with the possiblity of breakthrough designs and draw developers into over-complication of design. Until MMOG''s break through this child like exploration of their own purpose we will continue to see promises of 20km view distances and 10,000 people living in online cities. Not to say there is anything wrong with these features but if thats your advertising campaign, i''d wager the game would be seriously lacking long term playability.

So what''s to be done?

I think the first wave of ''breakthrough'' MMOG''s are on the way. Gulid Wars strikes me as an extremly mature design. It merges small scale, highly focused game objectives with continuing character development which seems beyond stagnation because it does not use limited skill trees or exponential experience increases. Guild Wars demonstrates crystalisation of the design ideals of freedom and fun beyond simple extractions of our industries desire to be bigger and better.

I''m guilty of it myself, but to evolve new ideas in MMOG''s we must look beyond the mirage of vast worlds and infinate systems of choice to create a friendlier game. A modular, controlled, fun experience, which supports every players progression into the game.

I appreciate DogCity''s comments. Interestingly, I''m participating (or will be) in the design of a single-city MMOG myself, so I''ve also put some serious thought into the topic.

I think Acoustica has some great ideas. But the theme of DogCity''s post applies as much to Acoustica''s designs as any other MMOG.

Freedom of exploration and freedom of gameplay are crucial to MMOGs. But without some kind of focus, players quickly grow weary of the gain-getting treadmill. Exploration in itself isn''t necessarily a valid focus either, since most players can explore in a day what took the developers a month to build... they''ll run out of things to explore before long.

The Holy Grail of MMORPG design, in my opinion, is simply giving the players something important, and meaningful , to do. Random "quests" in most games feel as contrived as they are.

I think the solution is for the developers to create a large (but not inexhaustible) number of scenarios that are specific and detailed enough to be interesting, but general and open-ended enough that a thousand role-playing opportunities can be enacted within the scope of the scenario by the player himself.

... On a completely unrelated note, I think one element that helps to make exploration in MMOGs interesting is danger. It''s not just the Unknown that makes it exciting, it''s the legitimate Fear of the Unknown.

****************************************

Brian Lacy
ForeverDream Studios

Comments? Questions? Curious?


"I create. Therefore I am."

My brains fried, but im gonna try!..

Perhaps MMOG utopia can't be obtained through NPC's as we know them. Perhaps we need a new, far more random way to interact with the world and its inhabitants. The only thing I can think of is multiple versions of the same universe - sold seperately as seperate online experiences, but where everyone logs onto the same universe... Its an impossible feet and unless EA misplace their vast minds and pump cash like gas into development, its unlikely we will ever see it. but here it is:

n00bs listen up, this is the big one!

How about n versions of the game? Each made as well as a well made game!

International Pilot Online!
Train Driver online!
Taxi Driver online!
Sales clerk online!
Data entry assistant online!
Insane Time warping killer online!
Oil Tycoon online!
Mafia online!
Government Online!
Police Protection online! (because police arn't for anything but protection... right?)
Media Guru online!
Prison escape.. prison guard.. etc etc ONLINE!
Coffe House Mofo Online!
Monster hunter online? (seems kinda limited doesn't it?)

All these people, all playing different GAMES in the same WORLD. they can interact but clearly not do each others jobs... Endless possiblities because its essentialy Humanity Online (or whatever sci-fi fantasy extraction floats your boat).

Problem solved. Where's my cheque?

edit - maths added.

[edited by - DogCity on May 28, 2004 2:56:54 PM]

Remember players expect more out of an MMO.

If I have the option jump out of a moving taxi going 90 in real life I want to be able to do it in a game!

DogCity,

I''ve seen that idea a thousand times now but haven''t seen it attempted. I would love to see it work out! Thinking in terms of development and live product enhancements eek!

James Dee Finical
MMORPG Designer