I would use those 50 millions, and put it in stocks to earn more money, to then buy out Lotro,Guildwars & Guildwars 2, Rifts & Aion.
And do the following...
I would take Lotro's storyline, lore and epic quests...
Take Guildwars arena, ability to buy land & tournament system...
Take Guildwars 2 personal character system & random events...
Take Rift's scripte rift openings and planes to other worlds...
And Aion's graphics & detailed character creation...
All together to make "the best mmo anyone had ever seen".
Then! when that game makes enough money, buy WoW and Eq2 and put WoW's pvp in the game and Eq2's raids.
Then buy out Warhammer Online, and add Public Quests and the ability to attack landmarks and cities.
Followed by using the class talent tree & race talent tree from Eq2 and add a new talent tree each expansion and the classes from Aion.
and Last but not least...
Buy DDO and use its fast paced combat and story telling instances & raids...
The game would need no title or name as it had everything everyone in fantasy wants in a game. If people would describe it however they would just say do you play the mmo? as everyone would play this mmo, including me.
Oh did i mention it has lotro's lifetime subscription for $150? no? well it does.
Wow, that's almost EXACTLY what I was thinking! I would make a couple of changes though. I like Age of Conan's graphics better than Aion's. Aion's are a little too "blocky" for me. I would add in LOTRO's zones as well. I think they're some of the best-designed zones that I have seen. And I would also add in WAR's PVP and how they did their "warzones". I also love AoC's guild cities and sieges.
If I was forced to actually design and produce an MMO with the money, I'd probably go with a twitch based MMOFPS themepark, with strong endgame PvE and PvP. Since I don't have the $50 million, I won't bug my brain in more detail about the specific features.
I would build DAoC, with the territory control of EVE.
You start off in an NPC ruled kingdom. You gather enough players, and you can set out and establish your own "realm". you are free from attacks in this realm, but there is a frontier between realms, that you can fight over, and take as your own territory.
Own enough territory, you get access to special dungeons like Darkness Falls,and other cool bonuses.
Every single one of you would design an MMO that would fall on it's ass because not single one of you know how to develop games, and MMO's in particular.
Using LOL is like saying "my argument sucks but I still want to disagree".
Every single one of you would design an MMO that would fall on it's ass because not single one of you know how to develop games, and MMO's in particular.
you sort of missed the point. You've got 50 million to spend. You are going to hire an experienced lead developer.
First thing i would do is purchase middle-ware software like the Hero Engine, Big World Tech or Realm Crafter Pro after that i would hire two or three strong graphic developers, 1 sounds effects, 1 free hand artist and contract a few 3d animators, modelers and world builders then i would get 2-3 experienced programmers for tools, DB and other server related plus game-play mechanics.
Next i would rent out a small studio and lease rack space at a large data center that could host our game server along with bandwidth requirements.
As for the kind of game i would design, it would be Horror genre purely skill based no item level requirements, no spell level requirements or abilities, abilities/spells would progress over time by usage but never present the player with any hard set requirements for usage i.e. not having the restrictions of skill level must be X before you can do Y since that kind of system promotes grinding in my opinion. And lots lots more....
Every single one of you would design an MMO that would fall on it's ass because not single one of you know how to develop games, and MMO's in particular.
you sort of missed the point. You've got 50 million to spend. You are going to hire an experienced lead developer.
Oh okay. The title was kinda misleading I guess.
I would make an online RPG, with hubs and mission & group based progression. There wouldn't be a big open world but rather few open cities in which you can access any part of the world and do the missions. The combat would be similar to Monster Hunter series but also have similarities with Devil May Cry and combo attacks that take skill to perform like in fighting games.
There would be tons of classes to level without any limitations, you could mix and match every class and it's skills however you wanted (fuck balance), and it would be PvE based. The little PvP there is would be capped at comparatively early stage, say at level 20-30 as opposed to level 100~ PvE cap. Equipment would also lose it's stats in a PvP environment. It would still be group based though.
Fighting big bosses at the end of missions would be the main carrot in the game, with roaming and doing simple tasks in between the boss fights. The tasks would have puzzles included as well, and they'd take cooperation from group members to complete.
To make the game seem more like an MMO, the missions are phased and not instanced. You would see other people doing the same missions (in few instances to not crowd the place, since they wouldn't be too open spaces), but the monsters you fight would be phased and only show up to other players when you fight them.
Using LOL is like saying "my argument sucks but I still want to disagree".
I'd offer Flavien Brebion a partnership, giving him a full time job working on his Infinity game, at say $250k a year, with the rest of the money used to get a team of admins, gm's, testers, server techs etc...working with him to get the game ready, buy servers, advertising etc...
Basically underwrite his entire project, on the proviso that he works on it full time, and takes it from essentially a one man band to something extraordinary.
----- Pay-to-Win / F2P will be the death of real gaming, Boycott it !!
First thing I'd do if given 50 million to create a new MMO is not to tell any MMO players until 1 month from release, that way I don't have any Fanboi's or Trolls bickering to and fro over whats in and what should be in according to them.
I'd also ask for another 100 mill to finish the job, cos 50 mill ain't gonna cut the mustard.
However I would want to create an episodic MMO, something similar to Asherons call and Horizons but with a shorter time span between each update, keeps the game nice and fresh, keeps the players hungry for more and helps ease the need to create expansions constantly.
Create a world that is changeable, no place is ever safe from destruction, if a major city hub is destroyed due to storyline then so be it, it can be rebuilt, don't allow the playerbase to think that the world is a static place and that everything is going to be the same day in day out, thats just plaine boring, mix it up and have dungeons suddenly disappear into a void due to some catastophe, but have something new take it's place, very much like the Rift idea.
I could go on but I won't, it's a pipe dream and nothing more.
It would have to be a Daggerfall mmorpg. Daggerfall is my favorite single player rpg and I liked the skill based system, the dungeons, the towns.. Just hink it would be an excellent setting for mmorpgs.
I am liking the firefly discussions... maybe we should move that to a firefly mmo discussion thread. I think there is promise in that IP... then again there probably is already a thread for it
I would develop an MMO based on an original IP that would be highly focused on both story line and creating an immersive world... basically. With innovative combat (most likely a 3rd person FPS style combat with a mixture of fantasy and futuristic styles), complex economy with multiple levels of production, multiple types of combat (On foot, vehicular, sea, space, ect.) Extensive player options like custom player cities, homes, professions, custom armor and weapons, even to go so far as to create actual political relations (which would be completely player based and could either be negative or positive relation, A.K.A. Wartime/ Peacetime relations) with various government types. Also player cities could grow to different levels or tiers, the top say in the instance of a space set MMO would be Galactic Nation, the bottom being Colony. The IP I am thinking of is indeed a space type MMO, so it would be comprised of extremely extensive worlds and each would have extremely well thought out, each with in-depth ecology where it represents different types of the food chain; this could possibly even work into several quests. Also quest lines would all be voice acted and actually play like a real video game, meaning that each quest gets the character involved carrying them through a story they actually care about. In essence, it would be a second life with a plethora of stories for the player to immerse themselves in as well as a comprehensive universe that is comprised of unique and original landscapes and characters. That's what I would do with 50 million dollars in short, I could go on with multitudes of other ideas involved with THIS idea, but that is the basis of it.
I am liking the firefly discussions... maybe we should move that to a firefly mmo discussion thread. I think there is promise in that IP... then again there probably is already a thread for it
I tried to start that discussion a long time ago ... think my post was to long for anyone to read :P
First thing i would do is purchase middle-ware software like the Hero Engine, Big World Tech or Realm Crafter Pro after that i would hire two or three strong graphic developers, 1 sounds effects, 1 free hand artist and contract a few 3d animators, modelers and world builders then i would get 2-3 experienced programmers for tools, DB and other server related plus game-play mechanics.
There is no such thing as of this post as Realm Crafter Pro. Hero Engine indie costs $5,000.00 but you pay a percentage of your gross to the engine developers. Big World Tech indie costs $300.00 but it comes with a water mark that says Big World Tech in the bottom right corner.
There are people using these engines right now, and you can follow their progress at MMORPG Maker. Of course most of them don't have the money for graphic developers, sound effects, 3d animators, etc.
Id buy tabula rasa license, improve its crafting, moving between zones, the look of zones, add the bane side and there you go:) my fav MMO would be born;)
I think I actually spent way more time reading and theorycrafting about MMOs than playing them
DarkSpace 2.0 complete with ground combat, although we could actually do it on about $500,000 to $1,000,000.
Otherwise...
The Concept
It would be Faeries, and Pixies and Water Nymphs, although you could change between these three at will for different characteristics. Many worlds to explore via the mists, some purely psychodelic, others seemingly normal.
The starting quest would be something like "My pet was possed by an evil demon - please can you help me destroy the demon?"
That's all the info you are given.
Most people might think "Ok, I need to kill this," and you can if you want. Doing so will also complete the quest and there would be blood as a result, lots of the stuff (it's a faery world, everything is insanely overdone). Or you could just feed it an acorn, but no one will mention this to you, other than as an obscured reference in the quest dialogue.
A world where you have to actually think about ways to solve a quest.
So an MMO 3d platform puzzle-solvery thinger with lots of gratuitous violence and gore with pretty cutesey faeries.
Other bits
Faeries could also 'mate'. They don't have a defined sex, as such, other than for aesthetic reasons. However, 'mating' would act as a kind of knowledge/skill share with appropriate trippy animation and orchestral crescendo and the players involved becoming the offspring from nay such a union.
Mating could also be done with other creatures in the world as a way of gaining some aspects of those abilities, and might even be required in order to complete some quests.
Death Penalty
You are an immortal faery, you cannot die. All death will do is cause you to respawn in the mist which is where the mating thing comes in. You could use it to regain some power, or you can suck the life out of some hapless creature. Who cares? It's a game.
PvP
Hell yes. Totally overblown insanity. Faeries may look cute, but they are really bloodthirsty monsters. Fighting is the only way they can really test their skills.
For me I think DAoC 2. A true revamp of that game and not half assed WoW wanna be like Warhammer online.
I don't know why no one has done this. With a reasonable budget I think this is a money maker. 3 realms, RvR PvP, SOLID PvE with great quests, dungeons, loot, grinding, group play, solo play, and ad in lots more Darkness Falls elements, and I think you have a winner.
I'd license CryENGINE3 and make Shadowbane 2. But only if I could convince Meridian to do the updated lore.
forgotten characters (Ultima Online,Everquest,DAoC) Qualme (Shadowbane on Mourning) Pandamonia (Lineage 2 on Bartz) Bridgit (Soul of the Ulimate Nation) deLiber (Aika Online) Qualme (ArcheAge on Kyrios) Looking for next PvP game
Comments
Wow, that's almost EXACTLY what I was thinking! I would make a couple of changes though. I like Age of Conan's graphics better than Aion's. Aion's are a little too "blocky" for me. I would add in LOTRO's zones as well. I think they're some of the best-designed zones that I have seen. And I would also add in WAR's PVP and how they did their "warzones". I also love AoC's guild cities and sieges.
If I was forced to actually design and produce an MMO with the money, I'd probably go with a twitch based MMOFPS themepark, with strong endgame PvE and PvP. Since I don't have the $50 million, I won't bug my brain in more detail about the specific features.
I would build DAoC, with the territory control of EVE.
You start off in an NPC ruled kingdom. You gather enough players, and you can set out and establish your own "realm". you are free from attacks in this realm, but there is a frontier between realms, that you can fight over, and take as your own territory.
Own enough territory, you get access to special dungeons like Darkness Falls,and other cool bonuses.
Every single one of you would design an MMO that would fall on it's ass because not single one of you know how to develop games, and MMO's in particular.
I would slap together a pong like flash game and pocket the rest.
Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.
you sort of missed the point. You've got 50 million to spend. You are going to hire an experienced lead developer.
I would have a forum based mmo made. It could be called "Flame Wars".
Then I would pocket the other 49 mil.
First thing i would do is purchase middle-ware software like the Hero Engine, Big World Tech or Realm Crafter Pro after that i would hire two or three strong graphic developers, 1 sounds effects, 1 free hand artist and contract a few 3d animators, modelers and world builders then i would get 2-3 experienced programmers for tools, DB and other server related plus game-play mechanics.
Next i would rent out a small studio and lease rack space at a large data center that could host our game server along with bandwidth requirements.
As for the kind of game i would design, it would be Horror genre purely skill based no item level requirements, no spell level requirements or abilities, abilities/spells would progress over time by usage but never present the player with any hard set requirements for usage i.e. not having the restrictions of skill level must be X before you can do Y since that kind of system promotes grinding in my opinion. And lots lots more....
Oh okay. The title was kinda misleading I guess.
I would make an online RPG, with hubs and mission & group based progression. There wouldn't be a big open world but rather few open cities in which you can access any part of the world and do the missions. The combat would be similar to Monster Hunter series but also have similarities with Devil May Cry and combo attacks that take skill to perform like in fighting games.
There would be tons of classes to level without any limitations, you could mix and match every class and it's skills however you wanted (fuck balance), and it would be PvE based. The little PvP there is would be capped at comparatively early stage, say at level 20-30 as opposed to level 100~ PvE cap. Equipment would also lose it's stats in a PvP environment. It would still be group based though.
Fighting big bosses at the end of missions would be the main carrot in the game, with roaming and doing simple tasks in between the boss fights. The tasks would have puzzles included as well, and they'd take cooperation from group members to complete.
To make the game seem more like an MMO, the missions are phased and not instanced. You would see other people doing the same missions (in few instances to not crowd the place, since they wouldn't be too open spaces), but the monsters you fight would be phased and only show up to other players when you fight them.
I've changed my mind on what i'd do with it...
I'd offer Flavien Brebion a partnership, giving him a full time job working on his Infinity game, at say $250k a year, with the rest of the money used to get a team of admins, gm's, testers, server techs etc...working with him to get the game ready, buy servers, advertising etc...
Basically underwrite his entire project, on the proviso that he works on it full time, and takes it from essentially a one man band to something extraordinary.
-----
Pay-to-Win / F2P will be the death of real gaming, Boycott it !!
First thing I'd do if given 50 million to create a new MMO is not to tell any MMO players until 1 month from release, that way I don't have any Fanboi's or Trolls bickering to and fro over whats in and what should be in according to them.
I'd also ask for another 100 mill to finish the job, cos 50 mill ain't gonna cut the mustard.
However I would want to create an episodic MMO, something similar to Asherons call and Horizons but with a shorter time span between each update, keeps the game nice and fresh, keeps the players hungry for more and helps ease the need to create expansions constantly.
Create a world that is changeable, no place is ever safe from destruction, if a major city hub is destroyed due to storyline then so be it, it can be rebuilt, don't allow the playerbase to think that the world is a static place and that everything is going to be the same day in day out, thats just plaine boring, mix it up and have dungeons suddenly disappear into a void due to some catastophe, but have something new take it's place, very much like the Rift idea.
I could go on but I won't, it's a pipe dream and nothing more.
It would have to be a Daggerfall mmorpg. Daggerfall is my favorite single player rpg and I liked the skill based system, the dungeons, the towns.. Just hink it would be an excellent setting for mmorpgs.
I'd make a horror mmo....
Something in which you get ambushed and startled to the point where you shit in your pants >:D
"Some people feel the rain. Others just get wet." -Bob Marley
I'm probably one of those people who just get wet.
I am liking the firefly discussions... maybe we should move that to a firefly mmo discussion thread. I think there is promise in that IP... then again there probably is already a thread for it
I would develop an MMO based on an original IP that would be highly focused on both story line and creating an immersive world... basically. With innovative combat (most likely a 3rd person FPS style combat with a mixture of fantasy and futuristic styles), complex economy with multiple levels of production, multiple types of combat (On foot, vehicular, sea, space, ect.) Extensive player options like custom player cities, homes, professions, custom armor and weapons, even to go so far as to create actual political relations (which would be completely player based and could either be negative or positive relation, A.K.A. Wartime/ Peacetime relations) with various government types. Also player cities could grow to different levels or tiers, the top say in the instance of a space set MMO would be Galactic Nation, the bottom being Colony. The IP I am thinking of is indeed a space type MMO, so it would be comprised of extremely extensive worlds and each would have extremely well thought out, each with in-depth ecology where it represents different types of the food chain; this could possibly even work into several quests. Also quest lines would all be voice acted and actually play like a real video game, meaning that each quest gets the character involved carrying them through a story they actually care about. In essence, it would be a second life with a plethora of stories for the player to immerse themselves in as well as a comprehensive universe that is comprised of unique and original landscapes and characters. That's what I would do with 50 million dollars in short, I could go on with multitudes of other ideas involved with THIS idea, but that is the basis of it.
I tried to start that discussion a long time ago ... think my post was to long for anyone to read :P
If someone handed me 50 millions I'd be on the bahamas instantly. Surrounded by hot 18 year old models. Screw mmos.
Models are fun for 10 minutes ... then they get boring .... MMO's are fun for much longer
There is no such thing as of this post as Realm Crafter Pro. Hero Engine indie costs $5,000.00 but you pay a percentage of your gross to the engine developers. Big World Tech indie costs $300.00 but it comes with a water mark that says Big World Tech in the bottom right corner.
There are people using these engines right now, and you can follow their progress at MMORPG Maker. Of course most of them don't have the money for graphic developers, sound effects, 3d animators, etc.
Id buy tabula rasa license, improve its crafting, moving between zones, the look of zones, add the bane side and there you go:) my fav MMO would be born;)
I think I actually spent way more time reading and theorycrafting about MMOs than playing them
DarkSpace 2.0 complete with ground combat, although we could actually do it on about $500,000 to $1,000,000.
Otherwise...
The Concept
It would be Faeries, and Pixies and Water Nymphs, although you could change between these three at will for different characteristics. Many worlds to explore via the mists, some purely psychodelic, others seemingly normal.
The starting quest would be something like "My pet was possed by an evil demon - please can you help me destroy the demon?"
That's all the info you are given.
Most people might think "Ok, I need to kill this," and you can if you want. Doing so will also complete the quest and there would be blood as a result, lots of the stuff (it's a faery world, everything is insanely overdone).
Or you could just feed it an acorn, but no one will mention this to you, other than as an obscured reference in the quest dialogue.
A world where you have to actually think about ways to solve a quest.
So an MMO 3d platform puzzle-solvery thinger with lots of gratuitous violence and gore with pretty cutesey faeries.
Other bits
Faeries could also 'mate'. They don't have a defined sex, as such, other than for aesthetic reasons. However, 'mating' would act as a kind of knowledge/skill share with appropriate trippy animation and orchestral crescendo and the players involved becoming the offspring from nay such a union.
Mating could also be done with other creatures in the world as a way of gaining some aspects of those abilities, and might even be required in order to complete some quests.
Death Penalty
You are an immortal faery, you cannot die. All death will do is cause you to respawn in the mist which is where the mating thing comes in. You could use it to regain some power, or you can suck the life out of some hapless creature. Who cares? It's a game.
PvP
Hell yes. Totally overblown insanity. Faeries may look cute, but they are really bloodthirsty monsters. Fighting is the only way they can really test their skills.
DarkSpace Developer - Play DarkSpace - Play For Free!
Medusa Engine SDK - Free MMO Game Engine
Hampton Roads/East Coast Video Gamers Association
For me I think DAoC 2. A true revamp of that game and not half assed WoW wanna be like Warhammer online.
I don't know why no one has done this. With a reasonable budget I think this is a money maker. 3 realms, RvR PvP, SOLID PvE with great quests, dungeons, loot, grinding, group play, solo play, and ad in lots more Darkness Falls elements, and I think you have a winner.
If i had 50 million dollars i would first exchange it to British pounds and then MMO's would be the last thing on my mind.
I'd license CryENGINE3 and make Shadowbane 2. But only if I could convince Meridian to do the updated lore.
forgotten characters (Ultima Online,Everquest,DAoC)
Qualme (Shadowbane on Mourning)
Pandamonia (Lineage 2 on Bartz)
Bridgit (Soul of the Ulimate Nation)
deLiber (Aika Online)
Qualme (ArcheAge on Kyrios)
Looking for next PvP game