|
|
This is a very vague idea and I'm not sure if he words it that way on purpose or not. The concept of Virtual Children and passing on the family name isn't new. For example, upcoming Limitless Horizons MMO Mourning has had it in their design since the game first was announced. Their system is actually very interesting in theory. From their site:
"A unique bloodline system exists to create many role playing possibilities, and allows for truly epic game play experiences. Players no longer are forced to stay with one character through out the game. Here they can have an entire bloodline or lineage, where the founding character of a line is born into the world bearing the name that all characters born thereafter will bear. With this feature comes the ability to marry, have children, and in the case of death, the player continues living in the game world through his or her child as a playable character and receives the benefits that come with that characters existing bloodline. All the characters will have a life of their own that begins with the age of around 15 or 16. Characters are born, get married, sire children and eventually die from natural causes. Children will inherit a higher speed of developing certain skills that his or her parents mastered, as well as wealth passed down from generation to generation. The most important thing a child will inherit is Fame, an important feature that helps in measuring all the player's actions within the game world. In Mourning the child of a very well known hero will gain many advantages. "
The Saga of Ryzom also has plans to add aging and children to the game. In other genres, The Sims franchise has players building families and having children. The concept of virtual children is nothing new.
Is the concept of children a good one? Mourning's idea is unique and sounds interesting, but imagine the hours that go into playing an MMO character and then losing the one you've played all along. People can develop intimate relationships with their characters in MMORPG's. While this concept seems cool and innovative, it can possibly turn off a huge percentage of the market. Also, would this bring in a whole slew of emotions? The parent character dies and the child takes up the reins. I imagine particularly sensitive people who have grown to love their character would have difficulty watching that character age and eventually die. This, though, may be one of the more interesting aspects of the idea. Having a character die may bring a new emotion to games that doesn't truly exist right now, the sense of loss. Of course, the greatest argument against this is that games are supposed to be fun. But there is a growing sense in the community that games should do more than be fun. Of course, the big question is -- will people play games that elicit sadness and loss in them on a personal level? Only time and the right game can answer that.
What if players could build fantastic dungeons that become part of the worlds we create with tools we give them? How would that work exactly?
Again, not an entirely unique concept, although quite unique to the persistent MMORPG worlds. Neverwinter Nights is one of the best examples of players taking creation tools and making unique content with depth. In all likelihood, if an MMO allowed this, it would be instanced content with limits. A player could create a dungeon or a section with tools provided and other players could enter and play through that content. I think it would be interesting if there was some sort of voting mechanism provided as well. If it's really interesting, then they would score it high and there would be a method of removing content that scores under a certain rating after a number of votes. Content that scores high consistently can be checked by the developers and possibly added in a major way to the story of the game. The system I just described is a checks and balances system of allowing players to create content. This could quite possibly make for some of the best MMO play on the market. I’m intrigued by the concept and would love to see it in practice.
Of course, the tools provided to create the content would need to be easy to use and safe. The question of this method allowing players to hack into game code and exploit or create problems within the game exists and I don't have enough knowledge about how these tools could work to allow players to create content to know if this is even an issue.
Can MMORPGs have skill-based combat?
The term skill-based content bothers me. First, if by skill-based, Smedley means twitch combat, is this really skill-based? Sure, it’s a skill with controls, but how is mastering controls truly a skill? I'd love to see someone reinvent the meaning of skill-based. I don't want to struggle with controls on a game, so twitch combat in an MMO would turn me off right away. Sony's Planetside provides that now and I haven't touched the game. It also isn't even in the top games for popularity despite being developed and published by one of the major game companies.
I don't have a good solution to changing combat from stats based to skill-based in MMO's without resorting to twitch combat, but I'd sure like to see someone be innovative and shock me. Anyone have any ideas?
What if?
Indeed. What if? That’s a great question. I hope this letter is a catalyst for true innovation in gameplay and amazing content. Very few real innovations have occurred in the MMO market. Sure, we've been getting more content, better graphics and a greater variety of activities, but outside of the games like Puzzle Pirates and A Tale in the Desert that completely break the mold, I haven't seen much that makes me go "Wow, that’s different!" Most games just simply do what the game before them did, only better. One of the best stories I have occurred during E3 2003. There were a lot of MMO's showing and it seems like every demo I got, I was getting the same spiel. "Instanced content! Great graphics! Death isn't as painful! No camping!"
Instanced content, you say? That’s new? Uh, Funcom did it with Anarchy Online years ago.
Great Graphics? We all know that no matter how pretty the game is, if the gameplay stinks, eye candy is worthless. Plus, it’s a given now that a high profile game should have good graphics. This shouldn't even be a selling point by now.
Making death less painful? This brings up the risk versus reward issue. Yes, death penalties in EverQuest and Asheron's Call sometimes made people crazy. But, you certainly didn't run into a zone or a mob of monsters without worry. If you might die and dying might be very difficult, you would weigh the risk of death versus the reward of not dying. If high enough, you might chance it. MMO's of late are missing that adrenaline rush. When death stops being so meaningful, doesn't that diminish not dying in a dangerous situation?
As for camping -- many will lament the end of camping. I'm not one of them, I love instanced content. However, camping certainly brought the community aspect more to the forefront. Many people would develop friendships that would last by sitting for hours in a dungeon with someone waiting for a mob to spawn. This seems like a loss more than a gain to many people.
I look forward to the future of the MMORPG genre. I think that Smedley's letter marks the beginning of what may be a great battle between the great developers to come up with things that are different and better than anyone else. And we will benefit from that.
|
|
发表于 2005-3-31 18:34:00
