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The bare minimum
Jimmy_Scythe
Member CommonPosts: 3,586
How do I put this?......
Let's say you wanted to make a MMO stripped to it's most basic elements. The goal is to abstract everything down to just those core gameplay elements that define a MMORPG. What features would it have?
Off the top of my head:
1) three classes. Tank, healer, DPS
2) A world where the monsters get stronger the further out, away from teh starting area you go.
3) A very basic leveling system
4) A very basic gearing system.
5) some way to communicate with other players'
If you want a better idea of what I'm going for, imagine an MMORPG made for the NES or Commodore 64
Comments
aah the commodore 64...my first. good times with rippin the joystick about. especially the olympic games :P
hmm and almost all you typed will make the sandbox is the only way, peeps come running.
I think you just listed every FTP eastern MMO out there!
That would be the bare minimum for an MMORPG, but not the bare minimum that define an MMORPG. It is, however, a very common approach to designing an MMO and it can be traced back to text-based online games, specifically DikuMUD.
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein
"Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
http://apps.facebook.com/thewasteland
the bare minimum of a MMORPG would be:
- a robust server that can hold many players in an area
- an avatar
- a communication system
there you are, its massive, its multiplayer, its online, and allows role playing.
the rest are just simple conventions of the industry
I think that if more developers built out from what you just listed, we'd see more diversity in how MMOs are made. Instead, it seems like "Classes, Leveling, Some Kind of Blue Bar and a Use for It" instantly always fall into the 'minimum" category
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein
"Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
Here's my points:
1. No healers in the game, just preventive buffs (that prevent a maximum of like three same type attacks, then it's gone) - this would completely abolish the current type healers.
2. Other type of "hard". Hard redefined. Right now, hard means time consuming. I want hard to be thought requiring.
3. Battles are reactive mini-chess games. Not silly WoW type spell rotations like 1-2-3 ... etc, until I fall asleep.
4. Randomized world, where exploration is key. Changing world parts, that change every day. The best loot would be in places like this, hidden, and explorers would have a blast. Right now, they get no love.
5. Minimum 18 years of age to play - no wowzor kiddies
6. Ingame radio, like MxO, only better.
7. Most importantly: complex RPG system, where you are in control of where you take your character. You set the attributes, the feats, skills, everything. Classes exist, but never before seen variety within a class.
- Are these doable today? yes, all of them are. Would many people play? No, they play wow clones, because they are ... frankly ... stupid.
random, that actually sounds more like a feature list of what you'd like to see in an MMO.
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein
"Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
These are both excellent points. I agree that too many industry conventions are accepted as a given (just look at the list in the OP, not ONE of which is required to make an MMO but almost all of which are adopted in most MMOs). If more people started from SCRATCH with just the concept of a game where lots of people could simultaneously chat and RP, and then made the game system unique and different each time, we'd have a much more robust and enjoyable market.
C
These are both excellent points. I agree that too many industry conventions are accepted as a given (just look at the list in the OP, not ONE of which is required to make an MMO but almost all of which are adopted in most MMOs). If more people started from SCRATCH with just the concept of a game where lots of people could simultaneously chat and RP, and then made the game system unique and different each time, we'd have a much more robust and enjoyable market.
C
I like it.
Did pen and paper DnD have a taunt for warriors?
.
I don't remember.
Well shave my back and call me an elf! -- Oghren
I mostly agree with this. The only thing I would elaborate on is that the "area" be an interactive world. If the "area" is only a room with 2000 people in it and nowhere else to go, then the whole thing is just a BBS. Otherwise, this is indeed the bare minimum for an MMORPG.
I want a mmorpg where people have gone through misery, have gone through school stuff and actually have had sex even. -sagil
If I were to ever have enough money to create a game, that would be the bare minimum.
I think there's an important distinction to be made from COMPUTER role playing game, and Paper and Pencil Role Playing.
Where does the term "RPG" come from in computer games?
It comes from SINGLE PLAYER games, like for example, the early D&D games that played on the Commodore 64.
Now, was anyone playing a role, pretending to be a character like in paper and pencil games, on a SINGLE PLAYER computer game? I certainly hope not.
What "role playing game" meant to the COMPUTER game, was stats and progression.
And then we progress from SINGLE PLAYER games, to MASSIVE MULTI PLayer games ROLE PLAYING GAMES.
But these were still COMPUTER role playing games, they were not designed to be an electronic version of the Paper and Pencil "roleplaying".
Why? Becaues there's a very, very important missing element, the DUNGEON MASTER, who plays the bad guys.
Roleplaying (pretending to be a character) with computer NPC's is much like roleplaying with a wall. Well, a wall that has a few bits of scripted dialog, but that's about it.
Roleplaying with a bunch of other players, and computer NPCs/Mobs, is like all of you playing against a Dungeon Master, that is a blank wall.
There's no action, and re action, no give and take, just action, or just give, if you catch my meaning.
So, IMO, for the bare minimum in a Massive Multiplayer Online COMPUTER Role Playing Game, you need some stats and some progression.