What kind of setting would you like to see in an MMO?

[Darydale]

What is your favorite MMOG setting, and what kind of setting would you like to see?

My favorite MMOG setting is traditional Fantasy as in EverQuest. The Fantasy genre is the one with the most detailed information, and allows for a whole bunch of different classes. The presence of "magic" also allows for a lot of really cool abilities. In other settings, you might have to explain everything away with technology and science (which may be a bit less believable, IMO).

One setting I would like to see is a Supernatural/Vampire MMO. Think like the movie Underworld, only with more supernatural folk, and different “classes” of vampires with different abilities. Some can morph into bats, some can climb walls, some turn invisible, some can leech off the life of their companions without killing them, some need blood for power while others thrive on the spirit or “energy” of others. I suppose you could also have undead and maybe witches.

I like the more modern setting of Underworld because it allows a mix of old skool vampire and supernatural myths to be combined with modern technology, such as the guns that shot silver bullets that would diffuse into the bloodstream, and the “light bullets” that killed vampires. Think of all the nifty items you could come up with: “Holy Water Drenched Tunic,” “Garlic Pants” (j/k about that last one). There would be several factions, some warring against each other, and players could eventually choose which side they wanted to be on, even if they started in a different one initially. So you might be a werewolf, but then later join a group that included vampires.

A vampire coven might be like a secret society, and you can gain rank by doing things (quests) for that coven. If you gained enough rank, you might one day be asked by the head of the coven to be a part of a sacred ritual. You might also gain access to a library with a well-guarded history of your coven, and ancient books describing ways to attain special powers.

[nubbins]

i like the traditional high fantasy setup

but instead of of just the high fantasy of one culture it should vary

sort of like what VG is doing

im personally gunna be one of the qalian races for the mid-eastern feel

[vaelyn]

I am a very big fan of the high fantasy genre because the creators are free to do so much within it. They can create their own worlds, races, economy, government, etc. within it. Science fiction often goes along the same lines, but it is generally based on already established science. It is the speculation of scientific advancement and can be more technical and difficult within those restrains.

I certainly wouldn't mind seeing a modern set up for a MMO, but I see a problem with this. What is the main point of the MMO? To gain levels, right? I think it goes to something even more basic: to become a hero. What are heroes? The hero-warrior can wield the best sword and shield and defeat the best monster in the mightiest blow. The most bless-ed priest/cleric has been granted all the greatest, mortal gifts of the divine. I don't think this would work as well in a modern game. Modern games that I have played, like Vampire and Mage, are often about self-preservation and survival. While some individuals may have more hero qualities to them, the general theme is survival in a techno-babbled world.

Again I would try it, as long as it wasn't so piss poor as the Matrix was (I couldn't even stand playing the open beta for very long). I just think high fantasy leaves more options for the creators. :)

[GuyJantica]

I might have said this somewhere before, but I'd like to see a Western MMO or a "Pirates of the Caribbean" style one. I'm not really sure how it would all work out, but I think it could be done and be a lot of fun. I've heard of a Star Trek game that's supposedly in development. Something in the Alien vs. Predator universe might be interesting too. That whole series was kinda neat when I read it... well the first couple anyhow. Been a while though. I'd also like to see a D&D online that was full-on Planescape. Torment was awesome and the planes are a perfect setting for an uber-epic fantasy persistent world (multiverse).

-GJ

[Razorwire]

See Guy, Pirates are cooler. You're not asking for a Ninja MMO :p

I would love to see a steampunk MMO, mixing magic, fantasy and proto technology.

[Feyshtey]

I really like what we've seen from Vanguard so far. Fantasy is definately my preference. But I would enjoy a more magic-rich environment. Something with a more mystical approach. A little less Arthurian, if you get my meaning.

[Havelock]

Back when one of my friends decided he wanted to fund an MMO, we were talking a pirates theme. Then he realized how hard it would be to do well and went back to real estate and investment banking. Pirates of the Burning Sea, the upcoming pirate-themed MMO, has some good looking screenies, though I don't know much about the gameplay. Puzzle Pirates also represents that subgenre well.

[Skarlath]

A little while I started roughing up some plans for a community centric MMO. Nothing particularly well thought through, just some rough idea about how a game in which players relied a lot more on each other would work. I think that it's not only the genre that has some wiggling room, but the actual make-up of the game itself has a fair way to go. Just think of all the variations of MUDs that appeared!

Anyway, these ideas I was doodling down were centred around a prehistoric world. Now a world without magic is tricky, because how do you explain player respawns? Im not much of a fan of permadeath, so in my prehistoric game I decided there could be a small amount of magic on the part of Gods, but the players would have to make do with physical.

So yeah, i'd be interested to see how a prehistoric theme would pan out.

In fact I would also be interested to see an MMORPG that worked entirely without magic, but was set in a medieval type setting. Just might be interesting.


I'll always be a big fan of high fantasy though. ;)

[Feyshtey]

So, from what we know of Vanguard, the most magic we've caught wind of is from the playable classes (sorcerer, paladin, etc.). I'm sure there are NPC's which weild the same magics. But the most mystical we know anything about are from a couple of screenshots very early on (griffon, drake).

How would you react if there were no dragons? No Giant fortresses? No alternate planes? No magical forests?

I think I'll be rather dissappointed if that were the case.

Sorry to take this a little off-topic. But Skarlath's ideas of a very low-magic world got me thinking...

[Orlun]

I'd love to see an MMOG based upon the Ringworld. It would be post superconductor virus so most of the high tech stuff wouldn't work and civilizaion would be in various states of decline and in chaos. Also, there would be room for dozens and dozens of human analog subspecies as well as Protectors to act as the 'gods' of the world.

[Darydale]

How would you react if there were no dragons? No Giant fortresses? No alternate planes? No magical forests?

Noooo! Not acceptable :P

[Havelock]

How would you react if there were no dragons? No Giant fortresses? No alternate planes? No magical forests?

I'd be really irritated. Mind you, that sort of thing need not be in from the get-go - if it takes a year to see the first dragon, so be it. If it takes four or five years to get to any alternate planes, great. But I hope that (and the lore seems to support this) Telon is full of all sorts of mystery and magic and various unique areas infused with enchantment based on a unique history.

[Skarlath]

When I mentioned a world without magic, I mean direct magic. There could still be dragons, perhaps even things like dryads. What I think would be interesting is if we escaped from the castable magic, to see where the all-physical world takes us. :)

[Elrar (of Silky Venom)]

World of Darkness MMO:

If done right, this would hands down be the best thing ever. I want to be creepified...

[Feyshtey]

I'd be really irritated. Mind you, that sort of thing need not be in from the get-go - if it takes a year to see the first dragon, so be it. If it takes four or five years to get to any alternate planes, great. But I hope that (and the lore seems to support this) Telon is full of all sorts of mystery and magic and various unique areas infused with enchantment based on a unique history.

Agreed. Just knowing it's out there somewhere is as good for me as seeing it personally. Just makes me that much more ambitious about finding it ;)

[GuyJantica]

See Guy, Pirates are cooler. You're not asking for a Ninja MMO :p

I would love to see a steampunk MMO, mixing magic, fantasy and proto technology.

lol. I know, but can you imagine a game world where EVERYONE is a ninja? Talk about grief central and flame wars... geez. Either that or everyone would pretend to be "D" and not talk. 0 community there. Not realy a fun game.

Anybody ever read Snowcrash? How about Neverwhere? Those could be some interesting settings.

-GJ

[Foxeye]

Not so much because it's what I want to play, but because I think it would just be "neat", is an MMORPG based on the seelie/unseelie courts, styled after Brian Froud's work. Just take all the people who ever wanted to play faeries, dryads, goblins, evilfaeries, etc. and plop them all in one big MMO where the world was made for them. And if you made the game less hack'n'slash, and more "play mind games on the mortals" and other...whatever it is fairies do when they aren't posing for fantasy artists that make greeting cards...then you actually might garner a solid block of females that were on the fence about becoming gamers.

Because as much as it pains me to generalize, my gender sure does seem to like them some faeries/fairies/howevertheheckyouspellit.

[Skarlath]

That sounds quite interesting, though I'm not familiar with Froud's work.

Im very interested in the places MMOs can go in a similar style as the diversification of MUDs. It would be very very interesting to play a game in which you played little faries tinkering with the minds of humans ... would it be MMOs meeting an airbourne version of Shadow of the Collusus? :)

It's a shame that you cannot produce a good quality MMORPG for similar costs as the good quality MUDs were produced - with such high costs involved smaller niche games, such as appealing to fairy lovers, are very unlikely to appear in a decent and well-made fashion.

[Dillenger]

I'd like to see......now dont laugh at me, but i'd HONESTLY like to see a mmorpg based off of Brian Jacques works (redwall, mossflower, marlfox, etc) all of the Redwall series.

Call me crazy
but i love those books.
And ive always wanted to be a long patrol bunneh :eek:

[Darydale]

Agreed. Just knowing it's out there somewhere is as good for me as seeing it personally. Just makes me that much more ambitious about finding it ;)

I wonder if it helps to fill the religion void for some of us atheists. We all want to believe there's something magical out there.

[Razorwire]

lol. I know, but can you imagine a game world where EVERYONE is a ninja? Talk about grief central and flame wars... geez. Either that or everyone would pretend to be "D" and not talk. 0 community there. Not realy a fun game.

Anybody ever read Snowcrash? How about Neverwhere? Those could be some interesting settings.

-GJ


Well I think the big problem with a Snowcrash MMO would be how many Uncle Enzo's Pizza Deliverators you would end up with. How would be hella cool with the dual reality of the Metaverse. Course a proper Cyberpunk 2020 game could bring us that. Or Hardwired, Neuromancer, etc. Neverwhere also sounds to be an interesting idea, though only seen the series once so don't know how well it could be translated.

The Warhammer Online project looks interesting for any old Warhammer Fantasy Battle/Warhammer FRPG players like myself. My normal stance of anti-PvP goes right out the window for this game, I want to play my old Dwarven Trollslayer and go kill Orc PCs.

I would also like to see Warhammer 40k/Necromunda ported to the MMO persistant world. The underhive would a be a spectaular place to run around.

Traveler would also be a great system to port.

An introductory MMO Harry Potter online?

Pyrdain anyone?

As much as I would love to play a Sword of Truth RPG I don't think it would translate well to the MMO scene.

[Skarlath]

I'd like to see......now dont laugh at me, but i'd HONESTLY like to see a mmorpg based off of Brian Jacques works (redwall, mossflower, marlfox, etc) all of the Redwall series.

Call me crazy
but i love those books.
And ive always wanted to be a long patrol bunneh :eek:

Ya know .. I would too ...

A while back after thinking a little about this I started a thread on the OVF asking about how people would feel about an 'all-furry' MMORPG. There had been some ill-feeling towards Vanguard's furry races (people claiming they have no place, look stupid and such). I think I was laughed down.

I think it might be really cool - the world would definitely be an interesting place to play. However I forsee a number of problems, and I'll name a couple.

Combat. The Redwall creatures were very peaceful. They only fought when attacked by Cluny the Scourge, or when their party moved to Salamandastron. However the Redwall creatures were not the only ones in the world - I guess there was constant struggles between the good guys (otters, hares, mice etc.) against the evil creatures (rats for example). Fair amount of fighting possible, but I feel that this sort of game would benefit from breaking away from the 'hack and slash' MMO and moving towards something a little more about a fun community. ATitD kind of direction.

Sizes. I always was puzzled by sizes of creatures in these books. In the books, Badgers are larger than Mice ... however in reality a mouse is the size of a badger's paw. The books assume they are all of similar size. This isn't really a problem, but it might just be tricksy when designing the game. You would want consistancy in your ... inconsistancy.

There was a small series called "The Welkin Weasels" which was about an adventuring band of weasels - quite enjoyable. Fair amount of fighting in that, but a lot of exploring and community potential. It had some very fun world ideas. I think perhaps a Redwall MMO might be able to incorporate some of the ideas.


Razorwire - I honestly believe that the world of Harry Potter is too inconsistant to base an MMORPG off of. You could set it entirely in Hogwarts (the only part of the wizarding world that really makes sense) but that would seem a bit artificial and confined ... though might still be quite fun. Not much to be doing every day though, so again it might be an MMORPG that is cented a little more around community and exploration.

If you tried to move it into the big wide world you hit all sorts of problems in the books ...

Perhaps what might be really interesting, and might avoid problems that arise from JKR's writing, would be if you set it in the wizarding world, 70, 80 maybe 100 years ago. Might be a really cool setting and would allow a lot more freedom with the world.

[Razorwire]

Razorwire - I honestly believe that the world of Harry Potter is too inconsistant to base an MMORPG off of. You could set it entirely in Hogwarts (the only part of the wizarding world that really makes sense) but that would seem a bit artificial and confined ... though might still be quite fun. Not much to be doing every day though, so again it might be an MMORPG that is cented a little more around community and exploration.

If you tried to move it into the big wide world you hit all sorts of problems in the books ...

Perhaps what might be really interesting, and might avoid problems that arise from JKR's writing, would be if you set it in the wizarding world, 70, 80 maybe 100 years ago. Might be a really cool setting and would allow a lot more freedom with the world.

I completely agree with you which is why I put down as an introductory MMO. More for the kiddies to get thier feet wet in the MMO world. Harry Potter really is only about Hogwarts the rest of it could easily be ignored in favor of just the school and surrounding. /shout Forest Raid! or did you get the new transmogrification quest for the next class?

I wouldn't see it as anywhere near the levels of sophistication that you would see in any of the other MMOs. Probably just an MMO action adventure instead of a full RPG.

[Havelock]

I wouldn't see it as anywhere near the levels of sophistication that you would see in any of the other MMOs. Probably just an MMO action adventure instead of a full RPG.

This is a great idea - a "gateway" MMO. Whoever got this license could get kids (and their parents) in the habit of paying monthly fees, playing with others, etc. The big downside is all the pedophiles the game would attract - you'd need a hardcore CS team to cope with that. But you could afford that by cutting other costs; basically, make a half-decent game and coast on the license. Have instancing so you could have multiple people on the Quidditch field or in a particular classroom at a given time; have Hogsmeade but make it only open for a few hours a day, or a few days a week, or something else to keep visits there to a minimum. Do the same with Diagon Alley; this could be a pretty minimal zone with just a few shops for kids to spent money on gear upgrades.

[Skarlath]

Well.. just in Hogwarts there is a fair amount of amusing things you could have, if it was aimed for kids. Just for being Harry Potter it would be massively popular, but consider that people love the stories for making them feel there. Put that into an MMO and it could be a winner WoW style (as in high subs, but limited future, perhaps, but thats not the discussion).

What might be really cool is if they made an Harry Potter MMO that combined biofeedback (http://www.wilddivine.com/Biofeedback/) like in Journey to the Wild Divine (http://www.wilddivine.com)

For those too lazy to read, the game uses sensors that monitor skin conductivity (sweating), pulse and some other biometric (I forget what). To complete tasks in the game you must learn to control these things. The game teaches you breathing and thought exercises to reach this.

Imagine if kids had to learn breathing exercises so they could cast spells in a Harry Potter game! Imagine them having to learn to control stress levels and such, to allow them to succeeed. Imagine a game where everyone is on equal footing for learning, and actual skill and dedication to the game would allow players to excel amongst their peers.

I think that would be awesome. Not only fun, but could have massive implications for general health. If a large portion of American kids were learning breathing exercises simply because they wanted to do well at a game, I guarentee you would see improvements in behaviour, academic achievement and a decrease in the number of prescriptions for ritilin. :)

[GuyJantica]

If a large portion of American kids were learning breathing exercises simply because they wanted to do well at a game, I guarentee you would see improvements in behaviour, academic achievement and a decrease in the number of prescriptions for ritilin. :)

Yeah, but this would undermine the attempt of the US military to produce better soldiers by conditioning and desensitizing the youth of America through video games. Increased hand-eye coordination, unflinching forays into battle, a general distaste for your fellow human beings (xbox live is great for this)... it all bodes ill for "evil" nations... which could be anyone nowadays. You guys in the UK better watch out... apparently all you guys play are puzzle games. While you're playing Gems or Snoodz or whatever some pimply, fat, American McDonald's and Lucas Arts fanboi will be piloting a mechanized drone up your arse! :p

Heh, funny.

-GJ

[GuyJantica]

Neverwhere also sounds to be an interesting idea, though only seen the series once so don't know how well it could be translated.


If you've only seen that BBC production of Neverwhere then I'd suggest reading the book, it's leaps and bounds better. It would be quite the immersive world to have all the "London-aboves" and "London-belows" of the world all connected in the theme of that world.

-GJ

[Skarlath]

I that controlling yourself would be a massively greater tool for the army than attempting to inspire pixalated bloodlust. :p

[GuyJantica]

I that controlling yourself would be a massively greater tool for the army than attempting to inspire pixalated bloodlust. :p

That is why you fail.

-GJ

[Havelock]

The world of A Song of Ice and Fire would be pretty sweet for an MMO - there are a number of workable historical eras, or it could plausibly be set at the time of the novels. Martin made a really big world with lots of distinct regions and factions, perfect for adaptation into an MMO.

[Skarlath]

I have to say it. I just can't stop myself. I don't know how you could possibly do it justice and convey it in the way that the books do...

A Discworld MMORPG.

If done well it would be the best thing. Ever. *sniff*

Again its a chance for the genre to break away from hack and slash. A diplomacy sphere would fit right in there :p

[Havelock]

I have to say it. I just can't stop myself. I don't know how you could possibly do it justice and convey it in the way that the books do...

A Discworld MMORPG.

If done well it would be the best thing. Ever. *sniff*

Again its a chance for the genre to break away from hack and slash. A diplomacy sphere would fit right in there :p

I've got the right name to be Patrician. :D

[Therian]

Again its a chance for the genre to break away from hack and slash. A diplomacy sphere would fit right in there :p

So would Havelock.

The Discworld adventure games sucked, though. Of the 'click and try everything' genre, rather than the 'logical deduction' genre.

[Skarlath]

Well I guess the Discworld is very hard to communicate in a format other than one in which your imagination is given a pep-talk and allowed to run free. It would be extremely hit or miss. It could so easily miss the mark and be really dull, or not resemble the discworld.

But oh ... I would love it so much ...

The MUD was pretty cool - pretty detailed whilst remaining faithful to the series. Though of course it is all text and so things are once again left to your imagination.

If SWG suffered from vast numbers of luke 1uke and Looke's, do you reckon the streets would be filled with variations of cut-me-own-throat? :)

I can't believe I haven't read THUD! yet! I'm gonna buy that tomorrow methinks!

[Razorwire]

Robert Aspirin's Myth world? I love multiverse lore.

West End Game's Torg? That would be a great way for true player interaction in reshaping the world as players would be able to change the shape of the world by removing (or adding) Stelli.

[Havelock]

If SWG suffered from vast numbers of luke 1uke and Looke's, do you reckon the streets would be filled with variations of cut-me-own-throat? :)

Aren't they already? :p