Your Opinion on what Races/Factions you'd want to play?

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1 comment, last by swiftcoder 10 years, 6 months ago

I would like anyone and everyone's input, in what 0-3 character races they'd like to play as the most, for each of the 8 Biome.

Obviously, the details in what the race's abilities or features is not present. This is more a general idea of what sounds appealing to you. When in doubt, use your imagination, and include that imagination if you want to explain why you think [Race] sounds cool, or what would make it uncool.

Creating the world, I have formed 8 biomes/regions.

There are 8 factions/races in each biome. While each have an area they call home, the inhabitants are commonly scattered throughout the region, and bleed into the regions nearby.

Mind you, the names for the regions are just placeholders. It is quite difficult for me to simply come up with good names for so much content. Some regions, such as The North, are not fully developed as placing factions in this region is a bit more difficult due to the harsh environments. To give you an idea of the world, here are the biomes. Also, some of the races do not have names, and are referred as "Cat People" or "Ape People". These types, among nearly all others, are most similar to what is found in fantasy rpg's. They look primarily like the animal, but are biped humanoids.

Giants, Dragons, and other monstrously sized character races are to scale. So a Dragon will look like this, compared to a human:

[attachment=18296:Decided Against Minecraft.png]

This is an imagine when I was seeing how a "Minecraft" style changable world would work for the game. I decided against it, in favor of world building that is more about creating structures, instead of terraforming dirt.

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"The North" - Tundra, Ice, and Taiga (Tundra-like Forests).

Within this barren iceland, exist the Barbarians, Drakes (Dragon-like humanoids with wings), Bear people, Ice Elementals, Ice Giants, Yeti-like beasts, underwater creatures who thrive in the cold icy waters, and the Ghosts/Wraiths (think, LOTR RingWraiths or LOTR Army of the Dead.)

Barbarians, Drakes, Bear Humanoid, Ice Elemental, Ice Giant, Vicious Yeti, Wraith.

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"The Iron Kingdom", a Mountain Biome- Separated from the Northern Tundra by large mountains, this environment is cold, but tolerable. From deep snow in the northern parts, to a warmer (less cold) climate below. (Think Winterfell region from AGoT- Snowy, but can be lush green in the summer). Within the mountains lie the Rock Giants, Earth Elementals, Dragons, and Dwarves. In the more forested mountains live the Trolls and High Elves. ANd at the base of the mountains, are the Wizard-like Human Faction known as "The Academy", who have also created The Forged. (Warforge, basically.)

Rock Giant, Earth Elemental, Dragon, Dwarf, Troll, High Elf, Human (Magical), Forged.

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"The Hills", a region to the southeast of the mountains, towards the center of the continent. Thriving farmland, gentle grassland, and plenty of lush green hills. This biome has a very comfortable climate. Inspired by my favorite video game zone of all time, Qeynos Hills from Everquest and the Rivervale area, this recognizable region is home to the Halflings, contrary to the Goblins who live nearby in the plains section of the hils. A large, comfort-loving city of Humans and Half Elves resides at the edge of the hills, contrary to the hefty Gnoll population that resides in the forested section of hills. Undead Scarecrows (Everquest style, pumpkin head) are scattered throughout the luxurious farmlands outside the human city. In the heavier forested area that borders the Forest biome, lie the Fox people. In the area that borders the Plains biome, lie the large Ogres.

Halfling, Goblin, Scarecrow, Gnoll, Human, Half Elf, Fox Humanoid, Ogre.

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"The Forest", a region to the east of the Hills biome. A mix of Taiga and forested mountains in the north, hills to the west, and desert to the deep south, this is a massive region of forests, caves, lakes, rivers, and waterfalls. The Human faction of Druids resides in the forest near the hills. Wood Elves, Faeries, Werewolves, Satyrs, Animal Shapeshifters, and Treants live in and guard the forest. Underground, live the forest Gnomes who tinker away and harvest magical mushrooms in their underground city.

Wood Elf, Faerie, Werewolf, Satyr, Shapeshifter, Treant, Gnome, Human (Druidic).

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"The Plains", a mostly flat biome, and the least developed geographically. The Church human faction resides here, composing of Paladins, Clerics, and Holy Magic types, Knights & Crusaders. Alongside them, are the Angels and Frogloks. Spread throughout the plains, live Orcs, Centaurs, Skeletons, Zombies, and Cat people.

Human (Holy Types), Angel, Froglok, Orc, Centaur, Skeleton, Zombie, Cat Humanoid

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"Trader's Paradise", a desert biome, with a central paradise. The largest city in the world, this coastal location is perfect for Trade. The city is an oasis in the desert, and a home to the human Pirate faction, secretive Vampires who thrive on the wealthy populous (vicious, magical, think Dracula- not twilight), the Dark Elves whose cruel streak and high intelligence make for excellent Traders of all sorts of goods/services, the Bird people (think Shining Force, Shadowbane) who thrive in the city thanks to their flight and great endurance, and in the city's underground sewers- the largest nest-city of backstabbing Ratling hordes. Outside the Trader's Paradise, is the great underwater city of the Merfolk. In the harsh deserts, reside Air Elementals, and Air Giants (Genies).

Dark Elf, Vampirem, Human (Pirate), Ratling, Merfolk, Air Elemental, Air Giant, Bird Humanoid

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"The Jungle", a jungle and marsh biome, in the hot southern parts of the continent. A tribal human faction, almost alien-like in appearance, live in the Jungle, beside Cyclops, Ancient Golems, Plant people, Ape people (think planet of the apes), hives of Insectoids (think sci-fi mantis, maybe centaurlike), and the Lizardmen and Naga who inhabit the marshes.

Cyclops, Golems, Plant Humanoid, Ape Humanoid, Insectoid, Lizardman, Naga, Human (Tribal/Cannibal/Alien)

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"The Hellfire", a biome of fire, lava, and burnt ash. In the mountains surrounding The Hellfire, reside many caves, dungeons, and underground labyrinths which home the Minotaurs. Fire Giants, Fire Elementals, Demons (think Ultima Online large, vicious demons), and Imps (think tiny little red goblins) live in areas where few would be able to survive. Gargoyles make their home in the mountains, opposite the lava. A city of madness lies within this hell-like region, where a manic human faction works out its insanity, alongside the Demon's creations: ogre-like Abominations (think, Warcraft abomination, or Large Zombie).

Minotaur, Demon, Imp, Fire Giant, Fire Elemental, Human (Maniac Cultist), Abomination, Gargoyle.

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Currently, I need to decide what the first set of races will be, along with the second and third set. By this, I mean, I need to prioritize the first 3 races for each biome. First 8, second 8, third 8, for a ending total of 8, 16, and a final 24.

Each Human faction is its own race in design terms, so I want to avoid having "All Humans" as my first 8. Humans will definitely be involved- probably multiple at first, but there are other (more interesting) choices.

What type of character would you be interested in? And if you could choose, what 0-3 for each biome would you want to see in a video game? If in doubt of any character type, just use your imagination, or explain yourself (for ex. "If it was [this type of insectoid] then no. But if it was [this type] and they had [this ability] then HELL YES!"

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Quite a few of these, such as angels (immortal, near divine power), wraiths (immortal), dragons (huge, big claws, breathe fire), and giants (giant strength) might be a bit overpowered.

I wouldn't do races that are significantly larger and/or more powerful than others, since that makes the other races obsolete. Nobody wants to play a human or an orc if your dragon breathes fire at them. Nobody wants to play a lizardman if angels exist (remember, an angel can let it rain fire and brimstone, and can anihilate an army in an instant). Nobody wants to play an imp either, if every human crushes him under his foot.

Every race/faction should be somewhat balanced so none is truly much more powerful.

Well, dragons are probably my favorite but I like a biped human-sized kind of dragon, sort of like a gargoyle or a bat-winged demon, but specifically a naturally-occurring race of dragons which is not good or evil. As far as quadrapedal dragons go, it would be more fun to play a little faerie dragon fighting big monsters than it would to be a big dragon swatting little monsters. Though, I don't know what kind of combat your game has; I am imagining either WoW-like combat or Skyrim-like combat or tactical turn-based RPG combat, but if this is a turn-based RTS or something that would be different.

After dragons, I like centaurs (as long as they are not hideous like the ones in wow, bird-people (prefer that to "angels" with its religious connotations), cat-people, nagas, all the anthro ones that aren't good/evil/unnatural in some way. Naturalistic quadrapedal ones like gryphons or pegasi would be ok too. But I really dislike the cultural background of things like angels, demons, golems, and undead, so I'd prefer not to see those in a game, especially if they don't make sense in the game's story and worldbuilding.

Shape-shifters are a completely different thing from the other races, and I would have to know how playing one would work before I could judge if it would be awesome or lame. I love novels with a shapeshifter major character who uses their shapeshifting creatively, but games often fall on their faces in comparison.

I want to help design a "sandpark" MMO. Optional interactive story with quests and deeply characterized NPCs, plus sandbox elements like player-craftable housing and lots of other crafting. If you are starting a design of this type, please PM me. I also love pet-breeding games.

OP restored, and thread locked to prevent future vandalism.

Tristam MacDonald. Ex-BigTech Software Engineer. Future farmer. [https://trist.am]

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