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New MMORPG but I need your advice
Shift
Member Posts: 11
our company has been around now for a few months, designing concepts for a new mmorpg.
I am looking for feedback on what you think about mmorpgs repetiveness. Do you find it hard to maintain your goals?
What attracts you the most about mmorpgs?
I seek but not to destroy
I seek but not to destroy
Comments
What attracts me the most into an MMORPG :
Uniqueness of the game ... Something not done already
a "GOOD" Crafting System
Lots of Quests!
The company's attention to the little things in a game.. like grass moving in the wind, or a bug crawling on the ground that i can squish!
Different ways of earning exp other than just killing things like exp from crafting / questing / helping others!
(i've yet to find this one, but hopefully one day)
some good ideas their.
perhaps a "reward a buddy" system your given certificates for helping out friends or something, and that can be taken to a NPC, for which you can be rewarded with an item,
kind of like "AirMiles" but for buddies. I see the concept implemented here. We have some ideas that are unique, because we have been playing every game imaginable to test them. We've studied the systems. Nothing but playing games for a few months,
which is why I haven't been actively posting here, even though i've been around for a couple months at least.
For squashing things, good idea. right click "squash" hehe
I seek but not to destroy
I seek but not to destroy
I find that realy two things keep me involved in an MMORPG.
First of all, as it was stated, the "little things" are desparately important. If developers like the game, then it shows. I'd suggest you to look at World of Warcraft for starters. Who doesn't have much for original content, but the "little things" are everywhere! it's a polished, believable, 3d environment that not only looks good, but is easy to use as well. And it's fun to watch the game and play the game. not just playing to see what loot you get. But exciting just to be there none the less.
If you can master the little things, your already on your way to success.
Secondly, you need to make people WANT to play your game for prolonged periods of time. Make sure there's enough diversity in gameplay that the game wont "get old". A lot of people complained about City of Heroes that for an amazingly original game, all people really did was run around the streets and modular dungeon zones that are built so alike one another that you can guess your way through the zone. Create a system of quests that can guide players into different aspects of the game. Some people will want to "camp" areas, manage a way to throw them some excitement while they're sitting there.
Some other things I look for in a game... hrmm... One thing that I personally have always looked for is a game that the player can influence the game. I dont mean handing in suggestions, but that through his or her actions he can influence the world. If you raid a zone, and kill all the npc's, have the zone flip over to the race/side that you belong to. Not really a requisite, but I think it would be neat.
Feel free to ask away for more questions if you need them.
thank you, wow, some extremely good insights from gamers point of view.
yes I see camping a huge issue in mmorpgs I have played. I am looking into a way to solve it.
do you see players putting more into helping others or do you see people looking out for themselves?
how lost were you when you started a game? Did you feel welcomed?
Do you find journeying to one place to another very repetitive? I sure did, either teleporting, or clicking my mouse and walking from one place to another.
Some things I picked up, would like some feedback on these...thanks
I seek but not to destroy
I seek but not to destroy
I find that people generally look at helping players as a chore. The MOST people seem to want to help other non-friends out is by giving people verbal instructions. In most games, I've very rarely found someone to help me along finding places in my newbidom. I personally perform my good turn daily in trying to help others in the games I play. But overall, I put my neck on the line for others safety often... part of learning is making mistakes. and if they dont make the mistakes, they'll never learn how to play.
I suffer from advanced newbie disfunction when Istart a game. Typically, I chew the ear off of any friend of mine in the game with non-stop questions. When I started everquest, I found that Neriak was WAY too big and confusing for me, Back in the day when there weren't maps. Out playing World of Warcraft, city of heroes, Everquest, Galaxies, and Eve. I found playing World of Warcraft as a newbie best. For a night elf, your started in a pocket area which is easy to get your bearings in. you dont need a whole city as a newb. just enough to get your bearing and move to the big city later. maybe at level 5 or 10.
I haven't ever felt particularly welcome as a newbie in a game. You log in, figure out how to chat, say hi. everyone spares you your 10 minutes of fame saying "welcome to the game, yada yada" and then your back to being lost again. People are typically enraptured into a game or their own activities to the point that unless their bored or handy, they will ignore you hoping that someone else will help you through newbidom. I have no answer for how to deal with this. perhaps create a "helper" faction, or even have the dev. team send new players an in game email welcoming them to the game.
I was thinking the same thing, I have played many multiplayer games like Runescape, The Sims Online, and at the start it was hard really to find my way around.
I am thinking of having a "Welcoming Comittee" That greets new players and help provide advice, in a kind and understanding way. This is the "Community" aspect of it.
With the games I have been playing, I find raising skills hard at first but rewards are few in far between. I only see "Congrats you gained a skill level" or something like that. No item given to you, but you are allowed to make an item.
Hmm, you seemed to play a few of these games, I'd look forward to discussing this with you in email if you want. I'll be contracting out work to mmorpg so check the appropiate forum.
my email is in there
I seek but not to destroy
I seek but not to destroy
Well, Sir, it would seem that there just isn't any games out there for me in my exact genre. I enjoy playing games such as Mankind (check it out at www.mankind.net ) Plus the fact that I am running on linux and not Windows. The games that are out there can't be played even with wine and wineX installed. That is primarily because wine and wineX is for pc games to be played on a linux box. If anyone can tell me of a game that is played in actual realtime and not this turn based "stuff" then PLEASE let me know! I have found many excellent looking games (even free mmorpg one's) that are both linux ported and linux native but none in my genre. Oh, I suppose I should mention what my genre is, huh? I really love the space based strategy games. You know, a little bit of exploring, a little bit of building and extracting, and a little bit of space battling. Hopefully, set in a 3d universe to make it look realistic. I've heard of Eve Online but haven't gotten around to check that out. I like the Mankind's outlook on the payment for playing the game. You pay $49usd and play for 6 months (I think) For those of you who like mostly fighting there is a game called Artifact which I am a citizen but cannot play it because, again, it is only for Windows pc's. I began that game and paid for my citizenship so I am a lifetime player: Alas, since I joined as a citizen, Samugames.com has altered their pay structure to make newcomers pay $9.95usd per month. However, that would be the next best thing to a free game! I just don't see them anymore.
Anyway, like I said, if anyone knows of any good mmorpg's for linux in the space genre (NOT TURN-BASED!!!!!) then PLEASE gimme a holler. Email me at jmill_1@sbcglobal.net
Way to hijack the thread
I once played a Neverwinter Nights PW server that had the PERFECT death system IMO, since your looking for ideas I thought I'd mention it here.
First of all the game was full unrestricted PVP, anyone could kill anyone at any time. If you were defeated in a fight you first get knocked unconcious (this happens when your hp drops below 0, if your hp is between 0 and -10 then you are unconcious and will regain conciousness in 10-20 seconds). The player/monster that defeated you can loot all of your equipment while you are unconcious.
If you actually get killed (as in the player decides to attack you again to finish you off) then you become a ghost. As a ghost you can run around anywhere in the game and noone can see you (unless they have see invisible spell), you cannot attack anyone, only watch. There is a NPC char called The Reaper (which looks like a spectre) who flies around killing all of the ghosts. If you get killed by The Reaper while you are a ghost you get sent to a new zone called The Afterlife.
In the Afterlife there are several options that can allow you to return to the mortal world. The first is that you can reborn your character, this is the easiest option as you can do it straight away, but you lose all of your levels and equipment (basically starting from the beginning again). The second option is to enter into a tournament to entertain the gods. The tournament is simply a series of PVP matches. if you win enough times the gods will award you passage back to the mortal realm, this will allow you to keep your character intact (except for the equipment that was looted from your body). There were other options that involved doing quests for the gods as well that would grant you your life back.
I think this is the best death system I have ever played.
*Signature*The Pessimist says the cup is half empty. The Optimist says the cup is half full. The Pragmatist says the cup is half full of air. The Engineer says the cup is operating at 50% capacity. The Psychologist says the cup is your mother. The Punk Kid also says the cup is your mother. The Cricket Player says his cup is definately full. Everyone knows that Pamela Andersons cups are full. The Defendant says it was like that when he found it. Me, I just ask the waitress for a refill.
Gezus! That is probably the longest and one of the harshest systems I have seen. I find it very interesting, but it really seems way to intensive for an mmo. Especially if it takes you long hours of raid time for an item or if you spend imense amounts of time on your character. I could see it working in a short term game that is mainly PvP like GW or FoMK but most other mmo's that would be way too harsh, just my oppinion. It would be interesting to try that out though.
Sorry for not contributeing right now, but I'm too tired to make a list of game mechanics or aspects of game play that attract and contain the player bases intrests over an extended period of time. I will post some thoughts later though.
Your scathing wit and daring insight into the turbulent political crags of the internet are shining beacons of truth and purity for the slight remaining masses of visionless hypocriticial sheep who bleat at the thought of your glory
Your scathing wit and daring insight into the turbulent political crags of the internet are shining beacons of truth and purity for the slight remaining masses of visionless hypocriticial sheep who bleat at the thought of your glory
I think it is vital to make a good first impression on starting players. To this end I believe you need a very thorough tutorial and a very in-depth in-game help database with an emphasis on basic character movement, commands, and ability use.
I still remember to this day not being able to figure out how to memorize spells in EQ and losing my body because I didn't know about the /loc command when I was starting out.
As for repetitiveness, it should IMO be avoided where possible. Perhaps some kind of branching story quest that you advance your character as you traverse. I don't know how practical that would be in a mmorpg but it would be interesting if you could have a bit more structure in these games.
Anskier
hi,
henchster@gmail.com also I have couple of books about online gaming this really give me alot of info about dev. online stuff so 
I acctually have a whole set of ideas and suggestion for mmorpg and what people want or need as I am a game designer myself so can you email me if you want those doc. I am willing to share
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