My game
Posted: Sat Dec 04, 2004 12:25 pmI'm sure some of you here have played such games as Final Fantasy Tactics, Tactics Ogre or even the recent Disgaea: Hour of Darkness. It has long been a dream of mine to play a multiplayer version of such games. Often when people think about games like this in an online setting, they think of two people with a group of units playing against eachother in a way not dissimilar to chess. I, on the other hand, would find a game where you created a single character and raised that one only far more interesting. It would create a setting that would encourage team play, because no one single character would be capable of handling every situation possible. People could form regular teams to play with against other people or go on quests. Maybe people could hire eachother to help out with quests instead of just asking for help? And example would be a mage wants to capture a renowned bandit, but the bandit always gets in close and kills them quickly. So maybe the mage offers a sum of money for a knight or fighter character to come and absorb some hits and help capture the bandit? Some sort of mercenary feature at least.
There would be a reasonable number of job paths to take, although not enough to overwhelm the player. I won't go into details for ones I've thought of yet, just because I want to hear what every thinks about the game as a whole, first.
One thing that has always discouraged me from playing MMOs for very long is that you never seem to be working to an attainable goal. Level 99 isn't always something everyone has time for. And even if they got to Level 99 would the gameplay change that much? Not usually. Phantasy Star Online avoided this problem quite well. There was always a boss to get to, even though the story was almost non-existant. There was always an end to area and a new one to get to. I think that a defined story and structure would be a great addition to any MMORPG. A lot of MMOs have said they've got a story, but for the most part they're always so open-ended that you never really know what to do next anyway. A tactics style game lends itself very well to story-telling, because cut-scenes could be inserted after key battles. Some might say people won't want to sit through cut-scenes, especially not on an MMO, but if you only put cutscenes in battles that will push the story forward, some people could just choose not to do those battles or quests.
There would be a few major towns that would act as "hubs" for shops, quests and guilds. There would be roads between the towns and extra areas between them that would also offer extra quests for special items or secret bosses. Encounters inbetween towns would take place as follows:
If you touch a monster that is not engaged with another player, you are forced into battle. There would be no transition, battles would take place right on the main map. It would set you and whatever monsters were around up on a grid and the turnbased strategy would commence. If you should come upon someone fighting monster already you would have the option of joining the battle to help out, or move on and leave them to their fate. The person who started the fight would also have the ability to decline help. Items would not be dropped, but gained through a menu at the end of the battle. You could chose which ones to take and which ones to leave. Experience would be divided in a way so the original combatant gains the most.
A lot what I've discussed here has been very vague, but only because this is concept, not actual development.
There would be a reasonable number of job paths to take, although not enough to overwhelm the player. I won't go into details for ones I've thought of yet, just because I want to hear what every thinks about the game as a whole, first.
One thing that has always discouraged me from playing MMOs for very long is that you never seem to be working to an attainable goal. Level 99 isn't always something everyone has time for. And even if they got to Level 99 would the gameplay change that much? Not usually. Phantasy Star Online avoided this problem quite well. There was always a boss to get to, even though the story was almost non-existant. There was always an end to area and a new one to get to. I think that a defined story and structure would be a great addition to any MMORPG. A lot of MMOs have said they've got a story, but for the most part they're always so open-ended that you never really know what to do next anyway. A tactics style game lends itself very well to story-telling, because cut-scenes could be inserted after key battles. Some might say people won't want to sit through cut-scenes, especially not on an MMO, but if you only put cutscenes in battles that will push the story forward, some people could just choose not to do those battles or quests.
There would be a few major towns that would act as "hubs" for shops, quests and guilds. There would be roads between the towns and extra areas between them that would also offer extra quests for special items or secret bosses. Encounters inbetween towns would take place as follows:
If you touch a monster that is not engaged with another player, you are forced into battle. There would be no transition, battles would take place right on the main map. It would set you and whatever monsters were around up on a grid and the turnbased strategy would commence. If you should come upon someone fighting monster already you would have the option of joining the battle to help out, or move on and leave them to their fate. The person who started the fight would also have the ability to decline help. Items would not be dropped, but gained through a menu at the end of the battle. You could chose which ones to take and which ones to leave. Experience would be divided in a way so the original combatant gains the most.
A lot what I've discussed here has been very vague, but only because this is concept, not actual development.
. Whatever language the programmers I use are most comfortable with is the one it'll be written in.