My Dream MMO

[UnknownXV]

I've been reflecting a lot on this question recently. Keep in mind this is purely hypothetical, I don't know of any current games that fit this mold. That's kind of the point in making this thread though. The very fact that there appears to be no salvation. No option for players who want a game like I do. The only genuine exception to this rule in a popular MMO would be EvE Online, but that is too... passive for me. 

 

What am I going on about? Think back to those days in old MMOs such as Ultima Online, Lineage 2, SWG and even Runescape. You know, I just chuckled a bit, because Runescape at least back in 04 to 07 was actually very hardcore relative to the MMOs available today. Leveling mattered because it was so incredibly difficult. It took forever. It's curious because this is a feature I told myself I disliked, but as they made the game easier and easier to level, the less I enjoyed the game. It's no coincidence. Achievement is meaningless without challenge. Reminds me of steam achievements in certain games that pop up for completing a non-optional part of the game, or even cutscenes. Is it supposed to be a joke?

 

To summarize the idea of this MMO:

 

•  Open world that feels like a real world. Massive in size and unexplored. Players would have a map, but it would be blank when you start off and only fill in as you explore and move about the world. Perhaps you could discover how to make a copy and sell it? Imagine that... making your trade in an MMO by literally exploring the massive world and selling copies of your map to players. Also, maps would only be accurate to the date you explored an area on so as terrain changes, new cities and towns are built, re-exploring areas becomes important.

 

• Crafting should be in-depth and extensive. Everything and everything, from clothes, tents, torches, fires to even the very roads that exist in the world and the boats that would be required to sail across rivers, lakes and the gargantuan oceans that would separate the continents of the world would be created by the players. Directly manipulating the very earth, and the very stone that they walk on to suit themselves, carving towns, cities, castles and anything you can imagine into the world.

 

• Active combat. No tab targeting. Manual swings, manual aim. (This seems more and more possible as new MMOs come out with mechanics close to genuine fps titles or like Chivalry Medieval Warfare).

 

• Full loot. Upon death, anyone can raid your body and take whatever you were carrying. Any stats you had accrued, however, are perfectly safe. Only items are forfeit. Keep in mind that combat skills and the best items in this game would not turn you into an invincible god like in standard games. They would make you stronger, yes; but this would merely be an edge. Whereas in typical MMOs, a level 50 (especially with gear involved) would be essentially equivalent to 10,000 level 1s, here it would be sensible. My ideal ratio would be, maxed stats and the best gear = 3 average players and 6 starter players. Only in terms of stats. Sufficient skill could make up those gaps, or by grouping up. This leads to curious events where a bandit player is terrorizing a smaller camp with less experienced players and they have to band together to defeat him. Not a static easily predictable NPC, but another human player. Far more exciting if you ask me. 

 

• Dynamic weather as well as predictable and relevant day / night cycle and, perhaps, even regional weather patterns. As you go north, it gets colder, warming towards the equator, you know the drill. Rain slows you down, reduces visibility. Snow does the same, depending on intensity, and makes your footsteps visible until it snows again or melts. Easier to track animals. Blizzards, hurricanes... perhaps even tornadoes and tidal waves could occur. This would tie into the farming system. Hunting and fishing would also be necessary, as food would impart buffs. I'm not akin to requiring food to survive, however if you don't eat after a certain amount of time you'd become famished and eventually starve, reducing certain stats.

 

• Limited but powerful magic. Referring back to the massive world, whoever would develop it could scatter various spell parchments that could only be used once to learn it. Upon the reader's gaze, the parchment is destroyed never to be perused by another soul. The magic embeds itself into the user, impregnating him with its power. However magic is designed, I feel it needs to be kept mysterious, secretive, and extraordinarily rare. In this way, it can be specifically very powerful and awe-inspiring. To encounter a player who knows any magic at all would be as rare and wondrous a sight to behold as the greatest treasure. 

 

• No classes. Skills divided between function, trained separately. My favorite system by far from any MMO I've played is that of Runescapes. Each skill, serving an individual focus, and trained as such specifically for that reason in mind. You want to be a blacksmith? Make weapons and armor. Want to be a strong warrior? Fight using weapons that require a lot of strength. Etc.. Combat skills would take a while to level, but with diminishing returns. Same way for non-combat skills, but those would take even longer. Trust me, this is important if the focus of this MMO would be the long-term. The harder it is, the more valuable and more meaning it has to achieve it. Nothing of value is easy.

That would cover the bulletpoints of my dream MMO. How viable this is, and if players would want it. Well, I don't know. This generation of MMO players seem to be... neutered. Removed from thought.  I hope however that this is simply because they don't know better, they have no popular alternatives to show them what a truly engaging MMO could be. 

 

If you read all of this, I thank you, and hope to hear any input you may have. Always fun to ramble on with other people over things we won't get for quite some time. 

[Ivyk]

ESO?

[Paralectic]

"real life" ?

[steffen_anywhere]

ESO?

Lol Luke aka Slick hates it...

Slick does not approve LOL

[Oshino Shinobu]

ESO?

ESO has been a massive flop so far. Nobody is talking about it and it looks pretty bad. The beta was pretty boring too, just a generic MMO with some Elder Scrolls lore thrown in. 

[UnknownXV]

"real life" ?

Yeah, real life would work, if it had (rare) magic, no permadeath, and was largely unexplored. 

 

The biggest problem with real life is that damn permadeath.  

[Ivyk]

Yeah, real life would work, if it had (rare) magic, no permadeath, and was largely unexplored. 

 

The biggest problem with real life is that damn permadeath.

Like 80% of the oceans has not been explored yet, you could do that.

[Cryptonite]

ESO has been a massive flop so far. Nobody is talking about it and it looks pretty bad. The beta was pretty boring too, just a generic MMO with some Elder Scrolls lore thrown in. 

agreed, I was really disappointed with it and my expectations for it wasn't even that high.

[Oshino Shinobu]

agreed, I was really disappointed with it and my expectations for it wasn't even that high.

It looked so promising at first, but after playing the beta, I lost all interest. Plus they have a huge upfront cost and a monthly fee. Most MMOs are cheap to buy but have a monthly fee, or micro transactions, not all three. 

[DeViLzzz]

I see no mention of no nerfing of content and no mention of group questing needing to be required more often with quest end bosses being way harder.  Therefore this can be your dream mmo OP but to me not the perfect one.

[Cryptonite]

I see no mention of no nerfing of content and no mention of group questing needing to be required more often with quest end bosses being way harder.  Therefore this can be your dream mmo OP but to me not the perfect one.

I want it to be doable with just myself or one or two close friends should I want to. forcing players to group quest sucks. however the bosses are allowed to be made harder as long as it is still soloable by a beast player i.e being able to use strategy to make up for less players. maybe being able to dodge powerful moves etc.

[Createinator]

Yeah, real life would work, if it had (rare) magic, no permadeath, and was largely unexplored. 

 

The biggest problem with real life is that damn permadeath.

That's the fun of playing Hardcore!

[ChezMak0r]

Runescape was the perfect MMO for me. Was.

 

And now I'm thinking about how weird the word "was" is.