But we are talking about a mmorpg which means massive which means without enough variety then it wont be very appealing to the majority audience. I doubt many want such a limitied world. Without enough variety it lacks imagination and turns into a grind trust me.
If I made a zombie game I wouldn't put in centaurs or fire spells just to appease fantasy buffs. In the same way WoW doesn't put in submachine guns or karate. In a zombie game you have to imagine a world that is exactly like our world except for this one really horrible event which is killing everyone. In a zombie MMORPG you can't just imagine WoW-zombies. Of course WoW with only zombie mobs would be boring. Why? Because you would end up killing 2345346373474575745 of the same toon. In a zombie mmo I doubt they could really consider any sort of massive mob grind or leveling. Skills like "making a fire" or "shooting a pistol" might be in the game, but anyone can pick up a loaded shotgun and aim at a zombie ten feet away.
ya but i dont wanna see a health bar, maybe a scared bar or something. but i think it should be if a zombie gets closs enogh your screwed, not him bitting you 20 times before you die
There is an RPG I've never played called "Call of Cthulu" (I think). From what I've heard the players in the game have a chance to go crazy which depends upon the environment they are in. Instead of having a "oh I crapped my pants" bar I think it would be a lot cooler to have a "crazy meter". Basically the worse the situation is the more likely it is that your character will go ape shit and start wasting ammo/running frantically. That would stop players from camping areas with a high population of zombies and finding a "safe spot".
Also, of course zombies wouldn't have a hard time taking down a human. In a lot of zombie games/movies a person is pretty much dead if they get bitten once. In Dawn of the Dead characters basically had a time limit before the passed and they became a zombie. In the game players would be able to continue after a non-lethal encounter with a zombie, but have a timer/condition which gradually worsened their condition. This would basically cause them to go crazy faster or they could suicide or have a friend put them out of their misery (fast trip back to base camp, haha)
and if people in their party let them live and just change before killing them, they would die and return to base, but also become a very powerful zombie that is more like a boss than a regular zombie.
And did I not say it does not need to be only a zombie game? Obviously you never heard of games like there there are already single player games like this, and im pretty sure there its not hard to add elements of magic with creatures of night including zombies. And im 100 percent sure people still create swords in this day and age lol. What kind of game is fun using the same type of character with the same guns over and over.
ya but i dont wanna see a health bar, maybe a scared bar or something. but i think it should be if a zombie gets closs enogh your screwed, not him bitting you 20 times before you die
I think there should be a health bar. You could get beat up running or a zombie hits you but you beat him off. And yeah, if you get bitten once, you should have to use some kind of resistance potion or something before you turn into a zombie (killing you). And you could also implement a scared bar or something like it that at least takes away from your abilities or something.
Yeah, if you included some type of medic class you would have to given them abilities which stopped players from turning or at least stopped non-lethal encounters from eventually killing people. I think medics should be able to cure dying patients, but ultimately cut their max hp down for a long time. It would be like being wounded, bandaged, able to fight, but not at the same potency that you could before getting attacked.
In all seriousness I think the appeal of a zombie movie could not be accurately turned into a traditional mmorpg. A lot of factors (such as fast paced gameplay) are critical to the success of a zombie based game.
Factors that would make a killer persistant world:
No player zombies: Pointless. Zombies are the enemy. It is the good/evil in players that would make the game fun.
No WoW-style gameplay: I don't want to stand still in front of a zombie and wait for each swing of my sword. I want twitch gameplay or at least something that feels like twitch.
Cities/towns/camps that can be captured by zombies and recaptured by players: I think a distinct part of any zombie movie is that the common cities or towns become war zones. Common places like supermarkets can be vital to players and reclaiming or outsmarting the zombies to claim these areas is an exciting and crucial part of any game.
No world/zone/private chat. One of the scariest parts of zombie movies is when people in small groups feel isolated. Putting zone chat and whispers into a zombie game would ruin that feel. Perhaps allow players to access radio communication in certain areas to radio to other players. There could be radio station hubs at command points where players who need to be helped could radio their location and hope people come to their aid.
No healer/nuker/melee classes: Another cool aspect of zombie movies is that average people must accomplish extraordinary things to survive. I would rather see tech specialists/security guards/medics that have real world applications for the usual MMORPG classes.
Sir you have pretty much outlined a great game in my opinion. Basically like Resident Evil:Outbreak as it was supposed to be. Also the zombies would be great 28 Days/Weeks Later style.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ =The best bash.org quote ever= Curt teh Juggler: our graduation ceremony was today, and right when some gamer nerd got his diploma, someone in the audience played the zelda "get item" music and he did the zelda spin-hold-out-item stance Curt teh Juggler: it was quite possibly the most amazing thing ever.
I know that I am not the only one who wants to play a zombie, post apocalyptic MMO...
Who's for it, why or why not?
What kind of game play mechanics do you want to see?
How would you design it?
What would a game session be like?
I did have an idea for this type of MMO. With the first game being held inside a city. Ongoing content would see the city expanding to the towns and villages beside it. Given the player a complete different perspective on the zombie problem. And by the time introduce further creatures and factions vying for control.. that were already briefly seen and fought during the first game.
The difference with my idea on this MMO, is it would start out incredibly slow.. there was no level increase at all, but you could improve your stats and weapons and equipment as you went. More of a skill system from Guild Wars along with an equipment outlook from WoW. However, the equipment and stuff would be lost.. see below. But the skills would collected would be reavailable once you start your new character.
Of course in my thoughts, there was a permenant death. Where you had to start again, although the server held your character name, which would be readily avilable for when you created your new character.
You could solo, but team work was advised. And there were many factions, vehicles, etc that could be used and abused as the player saw fit. You could also play casually and they'd be areas where you could log off safely... named "safe houses".
However, these are the only parts your safe at.. it's a kill or be killed world. permenant PvP... the factions are out to kill you, the zombies are out to kill you and everyone you haven't teamed up with is out to kill you.
The military involved would have the better overall equipment. The aliens (not in the traditional spaceship kind) would offer unique weaponry. And the corporations would have the most techy stuff. Actually there were at least 9 factions in my head, once you align yourself (if you get that far) ... the actual game would begin. You could help capture vital points across the city - power, tv stations... etc
longer you hold them, the more you will be rewarded the following month. yep they'll be money, equipment places.. and a add-on system to your weapons and equipment like WoW's sockets or FFVII's materia.
You would be an ordinary townsperson, no "real starting area".... and they'd be an on going story line
And did I not say it does not need to be only a zombie game? Obviously you never heard of games like there there are already single player games like this, and im pretty sure there its not hard to add elements of magic with creatures of night including zombies. And im 100 percent sure people still create swords in this day and age lol. What kind of game is fun using the same type of character with the same guns over and over.
If you play game that is skill based you basically customize and never have the same character. Sure, you may use a shotgun for a while, but you wouldn't be running around in a city trying to find zombies to shoot for exp. You would be locating a stronghold in a supermarket or trying to find a place to call for help.
Also, using melee weapons against zombies is very poor planning. The closer you are to one zombie the closer all of the other zombies around him are to you.
I'm pretty sure your vision of a "creatures of the night" game is closer to a traditional WoW type game where you have to grind monsters for exp and loot.
PvP is also an interesting idea. Although I would really like to see a Free-For-All PvP system in a game like this I know how players are. It would be an interesting idea to tackle, but I guess that's what alphas and betas are for.
Yea well with magic the melee weapons could probably do well, like I said ive played other games with melee against zombies and it did fine, and stop comparing to wow it has nothing to do with wow its called fiction its not your usual magic world of elves and dwarfs its a bit differant sigh I can sit here and name plenty of games with small elements of magic that has nothing to do with wow. Devil may cry is one of them plenty of differance with the mysterys and magic in that game.
Whats this basecamp BS? If you die out their to the zombie horde, you should rise as Zombie (insert character name here). Then be forced to make a new character. Wouldn't it be cool if months down the line into your new character, you are helping take a city back from the undead and you ran into some AI controlled version of your former character? I think permadeath, with reanimation as part of the horde would be great for this game. And add to the "feel" of a survivability game. No fear of death if you respawn at basecamp.
And this shouldn't be a class based game. As in being a medic/cop/whatever. It should be skill based. At creation you could pick a few skills that you were better at, before the outbreak. But able to advance in all skills as the game progresses depending on their use. Sure there could be a cap on skill points or something to keep characters from getting to powerful, or not, depending on game design.
I know there will be whiners about losing their character advancement with permadeath, but the feel of the game would be much greater enhanced. Perhaps there could be some kind of bonus skill points or speed of skill point advancement on each new character to offset their loss of their previous character. Just a thought.
________________________________
Everything born must die. All that is, will come to ruin. This is the essence of Doom. So sayeth the Doomsayer.
It would be interesting to make a military type. Especially if the lore in the game stated that a draft had been called a short time before the invasion went full force. Basically you'd be able to make a military type. He would have access and the ability to use more powerful weapons, but become easily scared because he didn't really get the full boot camp experience and he was drafted so he really didn't want to do what he has been forced to do.
Yea well with magic the melee weapons could probably do well, like I said ive played other games with melee against zombies and it did fine, and stop comparing to wow it has nothing to do with wow its called fiction its not your usual magic world of elves and dwarfs its a bit differant sigh I can sit here and name plenty of games with small elements of magic that has nothing to do with wow. Devil may cry is one of them plenty of differance with the mysterys and magic in that game.
I'm pretty sure you are talking about making the player in the game a hero. I would never want that.
Of course in my thoughts, there was a permenant death. Where you had to start again, although the server held your character name, which would be readily avilable for when you created your new character.
However, these are the only parts your safe at.. it's a kill or be killed world. permenant PvP... the factions are out to kill you, the zombies are out to kill you and everyone you haven't teamed up with is out to kill you.
there's a problem there. If you have permanent death, people will alrdy be pissed, but then you add in the fact that there are people 50 lvls over you, npc's, and some random noob that comes to pwn your extreme noob self when your character can't even lvl in the beginning. you wouldn't even be able to play but for about 3 hours if you were lucky enough to live that long. Even if you did add in a system that didn't allow you to get pwnd until a certain time, you would still get pwnd eventually and your hours of working on your awesome character would be destroyed and useless.
Whats this basecamp BS? If you die out their to the zombie horde, you should rise as Zombie (insert character name here). Then be forced to make a new character. Wouldn't it be cool if months down the line into your new character, you are helping take a city back from the undead and you ran into some AI controlled version of your former character? I think permadeath, with reanimation as part of the horde would be great for this game. And add to the "feel" of a survivability game. No fear of death if you respawn at basecamp. And this shouldn't be a class based game. As in being a medic/cop/whatever. It should be skill based. At creation you could pick a few skills that you were better at, before the outbreak. But able to advance in all skills as the game progresses depending on their use. Sure there could be a cap on skill points or something to keep characters from getting to powerful, or not, depending on game design. I know there will be whiners about losing their character advancement with permadeath, but the feel of the game would be much greater enhanced. Perhaps there could be some kind of bonus skill points or speed of skill point advancement on each new character to offset their loss of their previous character. Just a thought.
I wouldn't want people being able to pick the skills: guns, demolition, medicine because everyone would end up having some crazy zombie destroying hybrid guy who doesn't make sense in the world. Think about being able to start as a normal everyday joe. You could pick from a list of the top 5 professions which would most likely not get instantly killed in a zombie invasion. That way players become diverse. Sure the medic can get gun skill, but they will always be better at mending players than shooting up zombies. Skill based, yeah. But I want it to make sense in real life.
I also think perma-death is a great way to frustrate players with connection issues, player griefing, and other forms of abuse/exploitation of game mechanics. Perma-death is fine if you can choose it, but most people who play single player zombie games like the fact that they can save and continue.
Of course in my thoughts, there was a permenant death. Where you had to start again, although the server held your character name, which would be readily avilable for when you created your new character.
However, these are the only parts your safe at.. it's a kill or be killed world. permenant PvP... the factions are out to kill you, the zombies are out to kill you and everyone you haven't teamed up with is out to kill you.
there's a problem there. If you have permanent death, people will alrdy be pissed, but then you add in the fact that there are people 50 lvls over you, npc's, and some random noob that comes to pwn your extreme noob self when your character can't even lvl in the beginning. you wouldn't even be able to play but for about 3 hours if you were lucky enough to live that long. Even if you did add in a system that didn't allow you to get pwnd until a certain time, you would still get pwnd eventually and your hours of working on your awesome character would be destroyed and useless.
yeah but if you read before, there was no level at all... skill system although the factions will be at war with each other as well as the zombies. You're an afterthought.
Skill system of GW with the e.. wait no i mentioned that
yup.. all those hours wasted because you died... what a shame.... it was either that or reawaken naked with no stuff, and who knows what might have spawned by then....
players can't get it both ways. we're too much nanny on them just now anyway.
single player - you die... your dead, so many lifes sucks... f.e.a.r and halo helped kill that
MMO - why can't it be the same, just with a lot more people.. and a lot more ways to stay alive. *shrugs*
I like the thought of permanent death - it adds to the suspense, etc. - but the problem is that i don't want to have a lvl 30 character and end up getting pwnd. I would quit playing definitely.
Examinus is a Zombie MMO being developed. Their site has been down a while though but now says it is part of the Emergency broadcast system so not sure what all is happening with them.
Of course in my thoughts, there was a permenant death. Where you had to start again, although the server held your character name, which would be readily avilable for when you created your new character.
However, these are the only parts your safe at.. it's a kill or be killed world. permenant PvP... the factions are out to kill you, the zombies are out to kill you and everyone you haven't teamed up with is out to kill you.
there's a problem there. If you have permanent death, people will alrdy be pissed, but then you add in the fact that there are people 50 lvls over you, npc's, and some random noob that comes to pwn your extreme noob self when your character can't even lvl in the beginning. you wouldn't even be able to play but for about 3 hours if you were lucky enough to live that long. Even if you did add in a system that didn't allow you to get pwnd until a certain time, you would still get pwnd eventually and your hours of working on your awesome character would be destroyed and useless.
yeah but if you read before, there was no level at all... skill system although the factions will be at war with each other as well as the zombies. You're an afterthought.
Skill system of GW with the e.. wait no i mentioned that
yup.. all those hours wasted because you died... what a shame.... it was either that or reawaken naked with no stuff, and who knows what might have spawned by then....
players can't get it both ways. we're too much nanny on them just now anyway.
single player - you die... your dead, so many lifes sucks... f.e.a.r and halo helped kill that
MMO - why can't it be the same, just with a lot more people.. and a lot more ways to stay alive. *shrugs*
it's called Survival Horror.. not : "plz rez me"
i get what you mean, but f.e.a.r. and halo don't have skills. you don't build and work with your character, you don't have as much to lose. i've never played f.e.a.r. but in halo, when you die, you don't start back at lvl one. you only go slightly further back in the lvl you were playing.
Not sure if its been covered yet as i just quickly skimmed through the topic but there is a zombie mmo in the works its called examinus
i found it under the "all games" section of betawatcher.com, the site for it is back up after being under development for a white. Not much there yet though, the games does look promising though... here's hopin for the best
I like the thought of permanent death - it adds to the suspense, etc. - but the problem is that i don't want to have a lvl 30 character and end up getting pwnd. I would quit playing definitely.
that's what made me think a level system was stupid, this would just be about whatever skills and equipment you could grab.
i mean you want the feel of a resi game, but not linear or obvious. And by the time end game came you'd be bored.
So an evolving world, where you could build a base with your own friends.. that way if you died.. you could get there with your new character and grab any equipment they find, and keep a storage of it.
Your entire guild would be working for each other, and everybody else. It's whats lacking in MMOs, that feeling that your not safe.. your friends are there... and you're as needed as everyone else.
solo players would suffer, but i think they'd be the ones to enjoy the challenges and log out at safe houses rather than having a guild to rely on.
Didn't say the ideas were finished.. i just think we need an injection of something adrenaline rushing in an MMORPG... rather than sitting at a chair for 2 months until we get to "the good stuff".
Of course in my thoughts, there was a permenant death. Where you had to start again, although the server held your character name, which would be readily avilable for when you created your new character.
However, these are the only parts your safe at.. it's a kill or be killed world. permenant PvP... the factions are out to kill you, the zombies are out to kill you and everyone you haven't teamed up with is out to kill you.
there's a problem there. If you have permanent death, people will alrdy be pissed, but then you add in the fact that there are people 50 lvls over you, npc's, and some random noob that comes to pwn your extreme noob self when your character can't even lvl in the beginning. you wouldn't even be able to play but for about 3 hours if you were lucky enough to live that long. Even if you did add in a system that didn't allow you to get pwnd until a certain time, you would still get pwnd eventually and your hours of working on your awesome character would be destroyed and useless.
yeah but if you read before, there was no level at all... skill system although the factions will be at war with each other as well as the zombies. You're an afterthought.
Skill system of GW with the e.. wait no i mentioned that
yup.. all those hours wasted because you died... what a shame.... it was either that or reawaken naked with no stuff, and who knows what might have spawned by then....
players can't get it both ways. we're too much nanny on them just now anyway.
single player - you die... your dead, so many lifes sucks... f.e.a.r and halo helped kill that
MMO - why can't it be the same, just with a lot more people.. and a lot more ways to stay alive. *shrugs*
it's called Survival Horror.. not : "plz rez me"
I think there should a big penalty for dying, but not a loss of character. One of the reasons player enjoy MMORPGs is because they have a character(s) which they associate with and players also tend to form friendships/guilds with other players. Perma death kills this aspect of the game with players constantly rerolling and losing their identity in game.
Not sure if its been covered yet as i just quickly skimmed through the topic but there is a zombie mmo in the works its called examinus
i found it under the "all games" section of betawatcher.com, the site for it is back up after being under development for a white. Not much there yet though, the games does look promising though... here's hopin for the best
I've looked at that site every few months and all it is so far is a forum. If I remember correctly players can be zombies. That ruins it.
I like the thought of permanent death - it adds to the suspense, etc. - but the problem is that i don't want to have a lvl 30 character and end up getting pwnd. I would quit playing definitely.
that's what made me think a level system was stupid, this would just be about whatever skills and equipment you could grab.
i mean you want the feel of a resi game, but not linear or obvious. And by the time end game came you'd be bored.
So an evolving world, where you could build a base with your own friends.. that way if you died.. you could get there with your new character and grab any equipment they find, and keep a storage of it.
Your entire guild would be working for each other, and everybody else. It's whats lacking in MMOs, that feeling that your not safe.. your friends are there... and you're as needed as everyone else.
That last line is gold. I agree completely. One reason most MMOs make players feel burned out is because most players feel unimportant and more like they are riding a disney ride than playing a game where they have an impact.
Squidi (of squidi.net fame) has outlined an excellent idea that's very similar, called a "communist zombie MMO", which features, in essence, how to make a zombie game in a persistent world.
Now, read that.
Building onto it:
That idea works just fine for characters and basecamps, but we need more game mechanics to make it realistic. Here are some ideas.
Death/zombification. When your character dies, there should be no notification or change. While you get sent back to base, or whatever happens, the players around you should only be aware of your death if they watched it. Whatever signs serve to mark you as a player are left on the corpse, which animates. The only warnings are your battered condition (but not decayed), your slower speed, and your silence.
This does a few things. 1) ensures intragroup communication. If you wander off alone to grab a shotgun and come back, you're going to want to be talking, otherwise your party is liable to think you're a zombie and shoot you. This ties into the lack of ranged communication retro mentioned, ensuring that players don't just say on general chat 'watch out for my zombie'.
Food. In any zombie situation, food is less than abundant. People should have a hunger meter that runs out over time, say, the course of an hour or so. This hunger meter can be refilled by stopping your character near a 'food point', be it a shelf in the supermarket or a stockpile in your base. As you stay nearby, your character will eat and refill it's meter. However, 'food points' have a limited supply of food, and will eventually run out. Needless to say, there will need to be many, many respawn points for food in the persistent world. Food can also be taken as an item from these food points, and either used individually or dropped on the ground so all characters can use it (like a food point, it will decrease) sharing can help the group, but a sandwich that can feed one person will leave a party of four wanting more. Like in squidi's idea, there will need to be strong incentive for players to bring food back to the 'base camps' to restock the stockpiles there. This also keeps things small group oriented. If players decide to make a fifty person raid to wipe out zombies en masse, each person had better bring their own food, because the food points won't alst long.
That's all I have for now, but more is percolating inside this zombified brain.
Comments
Doktar - 70 Troll Priest - Perenolde
Also, of course zombies wouldn't have a hard time taking down a human. In a lot of zombie games/movies a person is pretty much dead if they get bitten once. In Dawn of the Dead characters basically had a time limit before the passed and they became a zombie. In the game players would be able to continue after a non-lethal encounter with a zombie, but have a timer/condition which gradually worsened their condition. This would basically cause them to go crazy faster or they could suicide or have a friend put them out of their misery (fast trip back to base camp, haha)
and if people in their party let them live and just change before killing them, they would die and return to base, but also become a very powerful zombie that is more like a boss than a regular zombie.
And did I not say it does not need to be only a zombie game? Obviously you never heard of games like there there are already single player games like this, and im pretty sure there its not hard to add elements of magic with creatures of night including zombies. And im 100 percent sure people still create swords in this day and age lol. What kind of game is fun using the same type of character with the same guns over and over.
Yeah, if you included some type of medic class you would have to given them abilities which stopped players from turning or at least stopped non-lethal encounters from eventually killing people. I think medics should be able to cure dying patients, but ultimately cut their max hp down for a long time. It would be like being wounded, bandaged, able to fight, but not at the same potency that you could before getting attacked.
Doktar - 70 Troll Priest - Perenolde
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
=The best bash.org quote ever=
Curt teh Juggler: our graduation ceremony was today, and right when some gamer nerd got his diploma, someone in the audience played the zelda "get item" music and he did the zelda spin-hold-out-item stance
Curt teh Juggler: it was quite possibly the most amazing thing ever.
I did have an idea for this type of MMO. With the first game being held inside a city. Ongoing content would see the city expanding to the towns and villages beside it. Given the player a complete different perspective on the zombie problem. And by the time introduce further creatures and factions vying for control.. that were already briefly seen and fought during the first game.
The difference with my idea on this MMO, is it would start out incredibly slow.. there was no level increase at all, but you could improve your stats and weapons and equipment as you went. More of a skill system from Guild Wars along with an equipment outlook from WoW. However, the equipment and stuff would be lost.. see below. But the skills would collected would be reavailable once you start your new character.
Of course in my thoughts, there was a permenant death. Where you had to start again, although the server held your character name, which would be readily avilable for when you created your new character.
You could solo, but team work was advised. And there were many factions, vehicles, etc that could be used and abused as the player saw fit. You could also play casually and they'd be areas where you could log off safely... named "safe houses".
However, these are the only parts your safe at.. it's a kill or be killed world. permenant PvP... the factions are out to kill you, the zombies are out to kill you and everyone you haven't teamed up with is out to kill you.
The military involved would have the better overall equipment. The aliens (not in the traditional spaceship kind) would offer unique weaponry. And the corporations would have the most techy stuff. Actually there were at least 9 factions in my head, once you align yourself (if you get that far) ... the actual game would begin. You could help capture vital points across the city - power, tv stations... etc
longer you hold them, the more you will be rewarded the following month. yep they'll be money, equipment places.. and a add-on system to your weapons and equipment like WoW's sockets or FFVII's materia.
You would be an ordinary townsperson, no "real starting area".... and they'd be an on going story line
Also, using melee weapons against zombies is very poor planning. The closer you are to one zombie the closer all of the other zombies around him are to you.
I'm pretty sure your vision of a "creatures of the night" game is closer to a traditional WoW type game where you have to grind monsters for exp and loot.
Doktar - 70 Troll Priest - Perenolde
Doktar - 70 Troll Priest - Perenolde
Whats this basecamp BS? If you die out their to the zombie horde, you should rise as Zombie (insert character name here). Then be forced to make a new character. Wouldn't it be cool if months down the line into your new character, you are helping take a city back from the undead and you ran into some AI controlled version of your former character? I think permadeath, with reanimation as part of the horde would be great for this game. And add to the "feel" of a survivability game. No fear of death if you respawn at basecamp.
And this shouldn't be a class based game. As in being a medic/cop/whatever. It should be skill based. At creation you could pick a few skills that you were better at, before the outbreak. But able to advance in all skills as the game progresses depending on their use. Sure there could be a cap on skill points or something to keep characters from getting to powerful, or not, depending on game design.
I know there will be whiners about losing their character advancement with permadeath, but the feel of the game would be much greater enhanced. Perhaps there could be some kind of bonus skill points or speed of skill point advancement on each new character to offset their loss of their previous character. Just a thought.
________________________________
Everything born must die. All that is, will come to ruin. This is the essence of Doom. So sayeth the Doomsayer.
Doktar - 70 Troll Priest - Perenolde
Doktar - 70 Troll Priest - Perenolde
I also think perma-death is a great way to frustrate players with connection issues, player griefing, and other forms of abuse/exploitation of game mechanics. Perma-death is fine if you can choose it, but most people who play single player zombie games like the fact that they can save and continue.
Doktar - 70 Troll Priest - Perenolde
yeah but if you read before, there was no level at all... skill system
although the factions will be at war with each other as well as the zombies. You're an afterthought.
Skill system of GW with the e.. wait no i mentioned that
yup.. all those hours wasted because you died... what a shame.... it was either that or reawaken naked with no stuff, and who knows what might have spawned by then....
players can't get it both ways. we're too much nanny on them just now anyway.
single player - you die... your dead, so many lifes sucks... f.e.a.r and halo helped kill that
MMO - why can't it be the same, just with a lot more people.. and a lot more ways to stay alive. *shrugs*
it's called Survival Horror.. not : "plz rez me"
Examinus is a Zombie MMO being developed. Their site has been down a while though but now says it is part of the Emergency broadcast system so not sure what all is happening with them.
yeah but if you read before, there was no level at all... skill system
although the factions will be at war with each other as well as the zombies. You're an afterthought.
Skill system of GW with the e.. wait no i mentioned that
yup.. all those hours wasted because you died... what a shame.... it was either that or reawaken naked with no stuff, and who knows what might have spawned by then....
players can't get it both ways. we're too much nanny on them just now anyway.
single player - you die... your dead, so many lifes sucks... f.e.a.r and halo helped kill that
MMO - why can't it be the same, just with a lot more people.. and a lot more ways to stay alive. *shrugs*
it's called Survival Horror.. not : "plz rez me"
i get what you mean, but f.e.a.r. and halo don't have skills. you don't build and work with your character, you don't have as much to lose. i've never played f.e.a.r. but in halo, when you die, you don't start back at lvl one. you only go slightly further back in the lvl you were playing.i found it under the "all games" section of betawatcher.com, the site for it is back up after being under development for a white. Not much there yet though, the games does look promising though... here's hopin for the best
that's what made me think a level system was stupid, this would just be about whatever skills and equipment you could grab.
i mean you want the feel of a resi game, but not linear or obvious. And by the time end game came you'd be bored.
So an evolving world, where you could build a base with your own friends.. that way if you died.. you could get there with your new character and grab any equipment they find, and keep a storage of it.
Your entire guild would be working for each other, and everybody else. It's whats lacking in MMOs, that feeling that your not safe.. your friends are there... and you're as needed as everyone else.
solo players would suffer, but i think they'd be the ones to enjoy the challenges and log out at safe houses rather than having a guild to rely on.
Didn't say the ideas were finished.. i just think we need an injection of something adrenaline rushing in an MMORPG... rather than sitting at a chair for 2 months until we get to "the good stuff".
yeah but if you read before, there was no level at all... skill system
although the factions will be at war with each other as well as the zombies. You're an afterthought.
Skill system of GW with the e.. wait no i mentioned that
yup.. all those hours wasted because you died... what a shame.... it was either that or reawaken naked with no stuff, and who knows what might have spawned by then....
players can't get it both ways. we're too much nanny on them just now anyway.
single player - you die... your dead, so many lifes sucks... f.e.a.r and halo helped kill that
MMO - why can't it be the same, just with a lot more people.. and a lot more ways to stay alive. *shrugs*
it's called Survival Horror.. not : "plz rez me"
I think there should a big penalty for dying, but not a loss of character. One of the reasons player enjoy MMORPGs is because they have a character(s) which they associate with and players also tend to form friendships/guilds with other players. Perma death kills this aspect of the game with players constantly rerolling and losing their identity in game.
Doktar - 70 Troll Priest - Perenolde
Doktar - 70 Troll Priest - Perenolde
that's what made me think a level system was stupid, this would just be about whatever skills and equipment you could grab.
i mean you want the feel of a resi game, but not linear or obvious. And by the time end game came you'd be bored.
So an evolving world, where you could build a base with your own friends.. that way if you died.. you could get there with your new character and grab any equipment they find, and keep a storage of it.
Your entire guild would be working for each other, and everybody else. It's whats lacking in MMOs, that feeling that your not safe.. your friends are there... and you're as needed as everyone else.
That last line is gold. I agree completely. One reason most MMOs make players feel burned out is because most players feel unimportant and more like they are riding a disney ride than playing a game where they have an impact.
Doktar - 70 Troll Priest - Perenolde
Squidi (of squidi.net fame) has outlined an excellent idea that's very similar, called a "communist zombie MMO", which features, in essence, how to make a zombie game in a persistent world.
Now, read that.
Building onto it:
That idea works just fine for characters and basecamps, but we need more game mechanics to make it realistic. Here are some ideas.
Death/zombification. When your character dies, there should be no notification or change. While you get sent back to base, or whatever happens, the players around you should only be aware of your death if they watched it. Whatever signs serve to mark you as a player are left on the corpse, which animates. The only warnings are your battered condition (but not decayed), your slower speed, and your silence.
This does a few things. 1) ensures intragroup communication. If you wander off alone to grab a shotgun and come back, you're going to want to be talking, otherwise your party is liable to think you're a zombie and shoot you. This ties into the lack of ranged communication retro mentioned, ensuring that players don't just say on general chat 'watch out for my zombie'.
Food. In any zombie situation, food is less than abundant. People should have a hunger meter that runs out over time, say, the course of an hour or so. This hunger meter can be refilled by stopping your character near a 'food point', be it a shelf in the supermarket or a stockpile in your base. As you stay nearby, your character will eat and refill it's meter. However, 'food points' have a limited supply of food, and will eventually run out. Needless to say, there will need to be many, many respawn points for food in the persistent world. Food can also be taken as an item from these food points, and either used individually or dropped on the ground so all characters can use it (like a food point, it will decrease) sharing can help the group, but a sandwich that can feed one person will leave a party of four wanting more. Like in squidi's idea, there will need to be strong incentive for players to bring food back to the 'base camps' to restock the stockpiles there. This also keeps things small group oriented. If players decide to make a fifty person raid to wipe out zombies en masse, each person had better bring their own food, because the food points won't alst long.
That's all I have for now, but more is percolating inside this zombified brain.