This in not an idea but more of a question to see if this idea has been implemented yet. Is there a MMOG out there that uses the weather for anything else than a visual effect?? I can’t stop to think that it would be kinda cool if it starts raining, and you start seeing a lot of players gathering under trees and in caves to avoid the rain. The only game I know that has use for the weather is FFonline. It’s not the same idea, but the game world was made to have 7 types of weather (= 7 elements). Depending on the weather, the spells you cast may get stronger of weaker depending on their type. So, is there a MMOG out there that has a better use for the weather?

I don't know of any, but I think it would be awesome. Environmental factors in general are such a deep and untasted well. This has come up before, and I always get a little frothy about it, but it's such a freaking cool idea that never gets any love. It's always tacked on as an annoying extra, like eating in GTA:SA was.

Make it a central component, include a suite of skills for predicting or even influencing the weather, give penalties or bonuses to certain skills or equipment in certain circumstances. Fancy it up.

Quote:Original post by Delphinus
I really don't see why it's fair to wear underwear in a frost-bitten mountain range, or full plate armor in a desert, and feel no adverse effects. If implemented with forethought and planning, I'm sure it could be a fun and interesting gameplay mechanic.

Although its not an MMO, Monster Hunter has something like that... some armors give you heat resistance, others give you cold resistance...

It would be realy nice to see weather on an MMO though... If you saw a thunder you had better take of iron armors and switch for leather. :P

I'm still waiting for that day when the Main Tank gets struck by lightning.

I would even be glad to see dynamic weather at all! Even if it's just for looks.

No MMO I know of has weather changes based on season, but a few implement random rain/storms (which you can turn off in games like WoW). There is also the nice effect of the sky changing with the time of day.

Stuff like that makes the players appreciate the little dynamics every once in a while. Those moments of "wow, the city lights up at night..." are what keep me playing.

I can't think of any but the game that I am designing with my team will defintetly. We discussed this over for awhile but we believe we can code some really cool things into it. Like rain will flood the rivers in the game and certain stuff will go under water.

Final Fantasy XI

Weather is a major factor in the game that ties in the 8 element system used in the game (light, dark, fire, water, earth, wind, ice, lightning). Different areas have differing climates making it more likely for certain weather conditions to occur, and there is a weather effect (visually and gameplay) that ties into each of the 8 elements. The most basic gameplay affect being that elemental spells of the same type as the weather will get a boost while those of opposing elements will have decreased effects. Different elemental creatures will spawn for each elemental weather, and they are usually fairly powerful for the area and are generally resistant to physical attacks and vulnerable to spells of the opposing element. Also, crafting in the game is centered around using crystals of the 8 elements, so finding areas of the right element will boost your crafting results (possibly giving resulting items +1 or +2 rare status).

This last portion I'm not sure about, but is probably true based on the way the game is set up. Certain weather conditions will also affect how well an enemy can detect or chase after you. Monsters that track and aggro by sight are easier to avoid and lose in sand storms (earth weather), while monsters that track by scent are easier to get away from in the rain (water element) since water washes away the scent.

Since the weather plays such a big role, there are NPCs in game that will give you weather forecasts for certain areas, along with 3 day (in game days) outlooks. Visually, it's always awesome to look up at the sky and know that it's going to start raining soon as the clouds roll in and darken in color. The game doesn't really implement seasons, just climate zones.

I think the contribution of weather to gameplay is seriously underrated. Nothing adds more to the realism of the game world than the dripping sound of rain drops on leaves, or the sound of a distant thunder crack when you see dark clouds. It doesn't really has to have effect on combat or magic etc. But I think it would be lovely to have different weather types in online RPG like games.