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Thinking about the great Western game
Torak
Member Posts: 4,905
Ha, thought I was going to drag another western vs Asian gaming into this didn't ya?
Well I'm not. I have been think about this western MMO idea someone brought up here a few weeks ago and I think it could be an awesome try at something new. But alas, I am but a dreamer. One thing I noticed is many people didn't seem to think it was a good idea mainly because they are unfamiliar with the genre and didn't know what you could do in a western environment.
I picked up the game "GUN" and used it as a reference with some visuals.
So, if I had the opportunity here are some of the ideas I have. Feel free to add your own.
Ok, so what can you do in a western?
Pony Express anyone? Earn money running mail from town to town. I know its cliche but hey, thats what they really did lol, Fed-X runs. Of course they would be dangerous.
Bounty Hunting - now here would be a form of PvP. A player who commits crimes (robs stage coaches, trains, kills other players somehow, I haven't figured that out without an open PvP ruleset) Could end up with a "bounty" on their heads that someone could try to collect.
Mining - you heard of the gold rush right? Well how about trying to strike it rich yourself? This would probably be more of a guild activity. Player built facilities that could house crafting shops and storage among other things.
PvP, hmmm.........what about a system where you elect to become an "outlaw" or a "lawman" sort of like the old SWG system where you become overt or non-combatant? Lawmen form posses and outlaws form Bandit gangs. Your duel gunfights would be equal showdowns at high noon lol....cliche? Yes....fun? I would hope so. Watch the movie "the Magnificent Seven"
Missions like protecting stagecoaches (or robbing them)
Or just hanging out, chatting with the other players
Gambling, touchy subject but whats the wild west without high stakes poker?...on a steamboat no less........this has been the basis of several great western movies.
And possibly playing as Native Americans or factions of Native Americans? I almost don't want to mention this one but if done correctly it could add a lot.
And if you are that unimaginitive, you could always go find critters to shoot.
Hi Ho........silver away.......
So what do you think? Are MMO's ready for a western? Or are you guys pretty much happy with killing 10 rats as an Elf? There is so much more you could do, this is just scratching the surface. Anyone wanna lend me 10 or 20 million? I promise it will work out, I will not get those clowns from SOE involved in any way, I will not talk to Brad "Vanguard" whatever his last name is or Richard "look at me, my name is a game title but the game is nothing new" Garroitt.
Comments
Well apart from anything else it would be differnt thats for sure.
Rob banks... get drunk... spend money on prostitutes...run out of money...rob banks...get drunk...etc......
too.. ...american.
My blog:
Definitely a new genre for MMO's thats for sure. I think it could work , even add in capabilites to explore (The Great Expansion), own land , farm, own a ranch etc. A sandbox FPS of sorts. No magic specials, no combination moves and no elves.
Definitely alot of potential and game I would like to see made.
Now about that 20 mill..../checks wallet.....I may be a bit short
"If we don't attack them, they will attack us first. So we'd better retaliate before they have a chance to strike"
Lol,
Sure if thats how you want to play.....
I would be looking at sandbox play of course. No kill task but an optional mission system. A series of "mini games" like poker. Poop, you could gamble your way through the game of wanted to. Travel from town to town playing high stakes poker.
Which is sorta what these characters did, they were gamblers.
Helping ranchers (or stealing) with their cattle. "Cattle rusling" was a big problem. People who basically stole cattle and sold them as their own.
Here is a classic, "the Magnificent Seven" , a band of riff raf adventurers protecting a town from a gang of outlaws. Can you visualise grouping now?
Also an open skill system. No pre-chewed classes. And NO LEVELS.........That alone should be worth it.
Well it could be fun..... PM me if you have the money.
(to american? What does that have to do with it? No more then anyone complaining fantasy games are to european...
)
I love the idea and frankly, i think the whole MMO comunity is ready for something new. I for one am. I love MMO's and i love fantasy style RPG's but anymore its like beating a dead horse. No new ideas, just different ways of doing the same thing. I hope the game dev's read this thread and run with it back to their bosses. <minus Turbine of course hehe>
That was me (the one that brought up the topic recently). I love the idea and I think it has lots of potential...now just to find someone to develop it.
It would be nice if the people who make those decisions were reading this...
i think the op thought this out quite well. i applaud u good sir. now if u hand me the 20 mill quietly the lady wont get hurt :P. jk but i would love to play a game like this. fantasy mmos are like that one poster said *beating a damn horse* everything is the same just different names and locations. i want to be a outlaw and take over a city. rob banks from other human players. which would have to be a must. people will own banks, customers put money in banks, and i will rob those banks and steal the players money :P.
Which Final Fantasy Character Are You?
Final Fantasy 7
Notice you can stay completely away from the native american subject if you want to? There is enough room in the genre for just about anything. Native AMericans probably would make an interesting player faction.
I think you could stay away from "kill task" completely but I think you could in any MMO. Kill task is just lazy "inside the box" thinking
I think the potential for a western based MMORPG is there, But its not high fantasy. It would be an innovative project, and well, innovation means taking risk, and not every company is willing to take risks, especialy when dealing with such an expensive project as an MMO.
Sad to say but the western really isnt an eye catching subject these days. A movie or series may be made about it from time to time but the hype is just not there for any kind of an mmo based on it. Sure there may be a niche market for it but no big company is going to do it considering how risky mmo investment is these days. It is kinda of like the Roman era , you have some vocal fans but I from the beginning I didnt see that much interest in Gods and Heroes. That game Imperator got scrapped, people just dont have the confidence in the subject matter. Fantasy is not a dead horse by any stretch of the imagination.
Fantasy is the best subject matter for any developer. Perhaps a fantasy western, something like The Eye of the Dragon by Stephen King ?
Hoping for this one to be the real thing then: http://www.frontier1859.com/
pre production status. Game is pretty much vapor at this point.
pre production status. Game is pretty much vapor at this point.
Has been in this stage forever...but still...would be nice if it became reality. Funny thing...VG got thrugh against all ods, allthough many people is tired of the same old fantasy game. This one have the potential to be a good game. All we need is a crazy dude á la McQuaid to butter up the guys with the big bucks, then fire him asap so he cant do so much dmg.
VG against the odds ? What are you smoking. It was a huge production costing around 30 million dollars, not an indie game that somehow made it lol.
while I kinda like the idea of being an outlaw in the wild west I gota agree with it feeling too American. If the game didn't take place solely in America (unlikely) I'd be more willing to play but the novelty of fantasy and Sci-fi is that it's anyone's world.
-Snowman <- this name was taken.....but I like it more
I agree to a point its not a mass market appeal but isn't that what everyone here clamors against? I thought WoW / LotR was the mass market and you guys didn't like it.
I totally disagree with you on "fantasy being the best subject". Look at any other gaming genre, its NOT fantasy leading the pack by a long shot. MMO's are rooted into fantasy with blinders on. How many more ways do you want your elves and dwarves served up? Take a good look at the past 3 years of MMO releases, its almost all fantasy and aside from 2 games, it all bombed.
It the consumers knuckeling under and settling for the fantasy, kill task crap thats killing any inovation in the genre. Go read the LotRs threads here, its not exactly all rosey with the players. The fantasy thing is at critical mass and frankly used itself up about 2 years ago. The only reason it is still drawing people is there is no reasonable QUALITY alternitive.
(you guys really need to knock it off with this american / euro garbage...take it to off topic if you want to argue about crap like that, like I said, no one is b*tching that fantasy games are to european based)
I was talking about the endless problems that VG had (and to some degree still do) during beta and launch allthough it was hyped and alot of money was draind in to it during production. It got a hell of alot less people playing it than initially intended, but still...it got its nose above the water and perhaps even reaching shore?! Thats what i ment by "against the odds". It survived against odds like MS closing funds, Braid, buggs, mem leaks and so on. Thats what I ment. And Im smoking Petteröe´s rolling blanding 3.
If you guys find a western mmo that rocks tell me about .
See the problem you have here is that with only a few exceptions, only americans romanticize and enjoy things that have to do with the wild west.
Most all europeans just think of it as one of humanity's lowest, where the spanish, english and french (among others)) went to this new continent they found, and slaughtered a whole race of innocent people.
(theres nothing "cool" about that)
Only to basically live in total anarchy and chaos, killing eachother for fun and overall make a mockery out of decent society.
I just don't see how anyone besides americans would even consider playing a western game.
EDIT: To make my point even more clear, it's YOUR history, not ours.
I'm not going to get into your sociopolitical babble on a game forum as you are attempting to do troll, if you don't like the idea read something else or at least critize it on a gaming level.
It would be interesting to have gun battles on horseback, imagine trying to aim and hit with that. Better yet, trying to do a stagecoach robbery with an insuing gun battle
. Now THAT would be fun!
"If we don't attack them, they will attack us first. So we'd better retaliate before they have a chance to strike"
The wild west is worlds history my son. do not insulated yourself in the thinking that you are different from the others.
The wild west is worlds history my son. do not insulated yourself in the thinking that you are different from the others.
Can you explain me how wild west is world history ?
Some countries have history of 4000-6000 years in which wild west looks like a sentence comparing time and in terms of human evolution .
ps i like spagheti westerns ,perhaps a western mmo whould be nice if it was ffa pvp and skilled based.