Off to Never Never Land: A Fantasy MMORPG Creation
You have been given unlimited power
The power to create the ultimate MMORPG, with anything and everything you would like, want, or wish to be in it. How amazing would it be? Where would you start? What ideas would you choose from? For the first article of the month here at Ten Ton Hammer, I, Memnok, have been assigned the task of creating and coming up with my own ideal Online Game. I have been given free power and control over all aspects and ideas, though, unfortunately, I am very certain they will not come into fruition! I hope that my ideas might give everyone a small chuckle, maybe even raise an eyebrow or two, or even make some people scratch their chins and say, Hey, thats not a bad idea! Enjoy!
The Idea
Where do I begin when trying to create my ideal MMORPG? The basic fluff, story and content are a good idea! There have been so many Medieval and fantastical MMORPGs recently, as well as games where you are inside of a ship/machine, so, I think I am going to try and change it up a bit, but still have it on a subject that many are familiar with and enjoy playing. The future is the place for my game to start off, not our future, but in a realm that has space travel, crazy, unique, mysterious and frightening aliens, and never a dull moment to be had!
Such a world, could it exist? Most definitely! I was thinking along the lines of a Starcraft-esque, Starship Troopers-ish and much like the Warhammer 40,000 world. Here, there are so many options and plotlines, races, factions and content, all very basic, but very important things for a great and successful game.
Character Creation
I find this one of the most exciting things about playing a RPG, the character creation part. The chance to make a hero (or villain!) the way you want it, the look and feel that best suits you, from a dashing Johnny Depp like rogue, to a drooling and feral looking warrior bug from Starship Troopers, most games can really win over gamers hearts with a good selection of races and factions, as well as many different styles and specializations and classes for each, as well as appearance modifiers.
Faction wise, it could be comprised of 3 different choices for gamers, Good, Neutral, and Evil, a very simple breakdown which offers many choices within the game itself. Within these factions, it could be from loose ties, or firm alliances, but the races available to players would be categorized here. Some classic choices, and some good ideas would be as follows:
Terran/ Space Marines/ Chaotic versions as well: Good old fashioned, genetically altered super humans, which are bred and armed for combat, armed with powerful suits of armor and given incredible weapons. Many will recognize these from Starcraft or Warhammer, as well as their evil counterparts, available to be played and enjoyed through whatever way the gamers see fit.
Tyranids/ Aliens/ Zerg/ Bugs: Here you could have a very alien and ugly race available for players, who use much more organic armor and weapons, and bestial tactics to achieve their goals.
Necrons/ Terminators: Completely robotic race, they feel nothing, are very tough, and rely on their programming to achieve their means.
Eldar/ Dark Eldar/ Space Pirates/ Elves: For all the elf lovers out there, a very nimble and agile race, both good and evil can be found here, both very ancient and skilled, it would provide a race to be feared and respected throughout the RPG.
Protoss/ Tau: very alien race, noble and proud, who rely on technology to aid their weakened bodies. Very deadly and very dangerous.
Basic Humans/ Imperial Guard: Your average Joe, caught up in the hell that is the future!
Space Orks: Orks in space! How fun would that be! Terrible at shooting, a thirst for shiny red machines and things that go fast, using their goblin counterparts for ammunition
. Well maybe not that last part!
Each race could have its own special racial abilities and bonuses as well as minuses, and start off having a selected list of classes, much like World of Warcraft.
Gameplay
Ideally
in a perfect world
I would just transfer the way WOW is run and turn it into a futuristic space for my game =) I know, I know, you say that is not creative at all, but the cartoony and fun feel WOW has, is great. Sometimes you really dont need the dark and gory feel to have fun after a long day of work, and just the way WOW is run, be it the style of play, from casting to the way damage is taken and healing works, to the quest structures and zone lead ups. It is the most fun in a RPG I have had in a very long time, and I would love to transfer it to my ideal game.
It would be 3rd person view yes, with a camera that could switch and move around you 360 degrees. Magic, close combat, and shooting would be very similar to WOW, though, I would like to see vehicles (and animals for some) as mounts, and see them have a much more significant role in the gameplay itself.
Guild and faction wise, I would love to see in game housing, banking, inter guild wars and combat, being able to upgrade your guilds home and buying new things like guards, or furniture or anything fun or exciting. It could run right from little guild huts to large keeps (all determined by the race and very spacey!).
Quests
There should be zones of all sorts, desert and ice, forest and jungle, alien space and haunting/ mysterious structures, sprawling city scape and ruined buildings. Depending on the race, areas (even used as planets) can be very unique and traveled to in a way much like changing a continent in WOW. There would be Noob zones and starting zones, zones for lower, medium and upper levels, many instances and possibly, good and well designed zones for quality pvp. Experience and leveling should be attainable and fun, time the only real factor with a level cap set in place to create a sense of balance.
There are so many neat and crazy ideas out there, many just a wish and a hope, many looked at by gaming companies and as well, many that get used in games we play now. Thank you so much for listening to my little rant about what ifs and I wishs, for I would most defiantly buy a World of Starcraft, should Blizzard ever make such a game!
Cheers!
Have comments or suggestions? Thought of something that has been missed? Found an error? We would love to hear from you! Please email me at [email protected]
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