The Game That Players Want

nestharus

We've all been around and we are all still waiting for a game to save the genre. We have gone from sandbox grinders to themeparks to now open world sandboxes. What is it that gamers are seeking? What is it that we all want? What is going to save the genre?


I came to a realization today. I stumbled  across the answer. The game that everyone wants. The game that we are all waiting for.


To begin, let's discuss some of the problems that are currently plaguing MMORPGs and other games.


1. World feels lifeless due to quest markers. Quest markers were introduced to streamline the experience. No quest markers is also no good. What is the answer to this lifeless world problem? More quests certainly isn't it.

2. MMORPGs that focus on good progression lose on the open world. MMORPGs that focus on the open world lose on progression. What can be done?

3. Magic has always been terrible.

4. Grinding is bad, but introduces community. Quests make players solo more often, taking away from community. Both aren't good options. Where do we go from here?





Here is the answer.

The world is a progressive open world. There are a variety of one-time events in it. As players clear the content, they unlock new content, eventually unlocking a world scale boss. The players actively work together, as a global community, to beat the game. There are several world scale bosses, at which point the players win and the game restarts. This is on a very long cycle. There are no quest markers or hints as to what to do. It is an open sandbox world. The players will stumble upon these things and progress by accident while playing and enjoying the game. Due to its long cycle, there is no way to test and discover how to progress on purpose. If a world boss is failed, they continue their goal to do whatever it is they are doing. If the world boss accomplishes its goal, the players lose and the world restarts. A world restart just means that the timeline goes back to the beginning. Players will retain all gear and experience. Towns will revert to their original states etc. World restarts give the opportunity for players to experience content that they missed from the last run while also allowing players to actively work to beat the game. Expansions would add new things to runs and may expand the run into new acts, aka additional world scale bosses.


Combat is largely skill based. There aren't necessarily levels. Gear doesn't necessarily give stats, but rather gives new options during combat. The more options, the more capable a player with skill is able to clear content. Good gear in the hands of a bad player won't do much.

Magic follows laws, almost like the world of physics. Through these laws, players will be able to craft spells in real time.

Melee combat is more about twitch reaction. Magic combat is more about strategy and precision.



When a world is more about exploration. When a world is more about getting together with your buddies to tackle a new dungeon that you just discovered. When a world progresses in an almost passive way, unlocking new mysterious content as time progresses. When you don't know how powerful the things you are fighting are. When there is real danger and there are real consequences. When content isn't spoonfed to you and when you feel that you are part of a large community working together towards a greater goal. When guild politics matters both from a mechanical and social perspective and when legitimate wars can spring up amidst the chaos of large scale world events. This is the type of game players are looking for. The depth of Dark Souls. The freedom of Morrowind. The grand scheme and massivity of an MMORPG. An open sandbox with a narrated main quest story that is passive. Getting to experience the world ending or the world being saved.



What I personally came to realize was that games that force feed content feel lifeless. Games with little content also feel lifeless. Games with passive content are alive. The world moves whether you are in it or not. That is what Dark Souls is and that is why Dark Souls works.


One question that does arise is.. what would a player do that wouldn't be extremely repetitive while the world progresses? What would the main goal be? This solves the framework of the MMORPG, but it doesn't solve the day-to-day activities.


Does this sound like the start of a game that would save the genre?

Quizzical

The problem is, how do you make enough content for such a game?  Make ten thousand one-time events and you've put more work into creating content than most MMORPGs.  Meanwhile, most of those one-time events get eaten up fast enough that most of your players will never see any of them actually fire.  So for the largest effort of making MMORPG content ever, you get a game that to most players, doesn't seem to have any content at all.

nestharus

I think that the game would be mostly an open world sandbox supplemented with a few events here and there. There could be cleverly designed dungeons and the like and most of the emphasis could be on a dynamic sandbox world. I think the key trick here is that the static content would add a meaningful path to the world, even if very few players got to experience anything but the largest scale world events from it.

A lot of static content could be like the Sleeper's Tomb from EverQuest. Once the initial content is cleared, then new repeating content could be introduced until the area transforms as a result of the timeline progressing.


Rather than single player quest lines, the focus would be on large scale multiplayer quests that progress the timeline.



We're left with a sandbox world that has a direction and that can be beaten or even result in the world's destruction.


I think that this is a nice twist and adds just enough to bring about what a lot of players are looking for. A large open world that is neither mechanical nor aimless .


Part of the idea comes from Sword Art Online. Some of it comes from EverQuest. Some of it also comes from Dark Souls and Morrowind.

sunandshadow

Wow, that's really not the kind of game I dream of playing.  Beyond me personally, I don't understand why you would ever assume that all or even most players want the same game.