virtual journey
random thoughts.

part #2: my dream world.

'1.  1'

I'm a dreamer. I dream about how everything should be. from simple things to the most complicated. from things that matter to things that don't. I'm haunted by these "dreams"... and so the only thing I've left is to accept them and keep dreaming.
 
considering that, dreaming about the perfect MMO actually makes sense, and because MMOs are an escape for me, I want a perfect one that'll suit me in every aspect.
I'll probably be far from [the MMO industry’s] reality in this post, so do forgive me :)
okay, enough with the obligatory bullshit. here it goes.

The MMO

Important features the MMO should offer:

•  huge and detailed environment - exploration should be an important part of this game.                                                                      
  

• (end-game) content should not be only raids and grinding for gear - certain aspects of the game should be the goals and the reason why people play (e.g. exploration, PvP to gain control on areas and receive benefits, good crafting system that will lead to better interaction between PCs, challenging quests that are actually fun).
• character customization - beyond stats and technical attributes. I want to relate to my character, be a part of it. I don't want just to look special - I want to be special. gear should not be something that only makes my character better, it should be something that defines who and what my character is.
• theme - sci-fi, cyberpunk, and/or post-apocalyptic world. I guess this is just a personal preference, but tbh there are too many fantasy themed MMOs to choose from (www.mmogchart.com/Chart8.html), while barely any sci-fi ones. besides, nothing beats being a part of a dying world that tries to resurrect itself, while only leading to more war between the remaining population - a war that is fought with advanced technology and weaponry that are made from the remaining knowledge and resources of the now-dead-world. zombies, mutants, aliens, AIs, robots and cyborgs, exotic creatures, spiritually/technology-crazed-humans - these are the kind of mobs I'd like to see in that world.
• interactive, third-person-view control (or even first-person). although the "button-meshing" control isn't that bad if done properly, I rather just play something different.  in a world where ranged weapons and technology rule, it makes sense to use a system that will fit these mechanics best.
• casual-friendly - I do understand that many people enjoy raiding and/or participation in gameplay elements that consume a lot of time, but I (and I assume a lot more) prefer to be able to enjoy an MMO even if played only 30 minutes.

I believe that decent+ gear should be obtainable without consuming too much time; like, as an explorer, you will be wandering in the wilds and eventually you'll find certain items and artifacts that given to the right trade-skiller will turn to a rare item of some sort. this means you can, during your free time or so, travel in the wastelands, killing mobs and scavenging for goods, and eventually you'll find the right materials to make items that are actually good. this will ONLY WORK if the world will be done properly, .e.g. having certain places in the desert with villages – a place where you can camp at, and while being there you'll do exploration quests as well as scavenging for items that are specific to that location. the only problem is to make it fun and easy to just "dive-in". 

• significant trade-skill system -  I think that in such a dying world, the main way to "get by" is by having a trade you're good at. most important items that will be well sought after should be player made.

It will work like this -- making the item will require getting the right reagents/materials from the wild, but the end product itself will have to be constructed by a fellow player. for example, tattooing could be a trade-skill. there will be many tattoos to choose from that add certain stats and or improve yourself in a way. in order for the tattoo to be able to give ‘X’ improvement, the tattooer will have to use certain chemical ingredients that can be found around the world which add that ‘X’ improvement . the rarer the chemical ingredient is, the better the tattoo. note that tattoos will be visible, adding more depth to the character customization.

okay, this was just an overview. now I'll go into details.

Races

there will be only ONE race: human. but, there will be 3 different breeds:

1. 1. the Broadshoulder - body development freaks. they are the best soldiers: not considerably smart, but they can operate all weapons and use various (not complicated) gadgets. although many consider them unintelligent, they are still the best survivors and are extremely charismatic, making them great leaders (in combat\survival situations, anyway). they are also very honorable fighters.

appearance: broadshouldered, buffed (not too much though) and quite coarse-faced. usually wear bulky heavy armor, while keeping an honorable look.

*special item piece: strong helmets.

1. 2. the Tinker - the technology ninja. they are stealthy, cunning, (technology) smart and intuitive builders. they can be deadly, but usually prefer to stay out of harms way and earn money by trade-skilling.

appearance: usually slim and fragile. they have smooth face features, but it's hard to notice with all the grease on their face. some look like nomads most of the time, with rugged clothing and capes. others prefer a more intelligent look, making them look like some geeky, stealthy detectives. but don't be fooled by that lousy looking outfit - they are smart enough to rig it with energized adaptive armor plates underneath. it's strong enough to keep them alive while still helping them maintaining excellent agility. 

*special item piece: high-tech glasses and reinforced hoods.

1. 3. the Gifted - the gifted can use their mind to manipulate the physical world. this is in no way magic - they have an extremely well developed brain, and along with a state-of-the-art manipulation chip attached to their brain they have the ability to concentrate all their energies in order to influence everything around them without actually doing anything physical. they are very intelligent, but snobby and quite cocky at times. NEVER tell them their cocky - unless you want to feel your bones breaking from the inside out.

appearance: very fit,  extremely pale faced with clean facial features. sometimes it seems as if they're glowing. they walk like kings and talk like poets - they are the pretty face of this dying world. even though they seem harmless, never underestimate one by its look. the real cocky ones wear minimal clothing, hoping someone will *try* to attack them. the less obvious ones prefer better protection, wearing reinforced clothes, capes and hoods.

*special item piece: mind-projection enhancer (energized metallic head piece)

in addition to these 3 breeds, there will be hybrids. hybrids are a combination of two breeds, creating a new breed with similarities to the two breeds he was created from:

• Broadshoulder + Tinker = an agile fighter, specializing in advanced weapons and gadgets. stealth won't be as important as it is to a Tinker, but it can still be used to survey an area, surprise-attacks, getaways and such.

• Tinker + Gifted = the most advanced technician. this breed uses the mind more than any other breed. probably the best trade-skillers in the game, while still being able to dish out good damage.

• Gifted + Broadshoulder = this breed uses physical force to do damage, while usually counting on the mind to provide more defensive capabilities, such as energy barriers,  injury mending and the likes.

note that hybrids will look different from pure breeds, in a way that they will still maintain features from its parent breeds. also, limitation will apply to hybrids, e.g.:

pure breeds will basically specialize in what they're best at, meaning they will have bigger access to their breed main proficiencies, while hybrids will be limited in access to higher skills from their parent breeds, but will have access to both of the parent breeds skills and abilities (low-med and very few high). same with gear - hybrids will have a bigger gear variety, but with penalties: if a Tinker+Broadshoulder wears heavy armor, his stealth abilities will be penalized.

so basically, if you want to specialize - go pure breed. want more variety? - go hybrid.

* important reason to choose one race over another:

beyond the limits and penalties of breeds, one of the main reasons to choose from one breed to another is starting stats/attributes - which directly affects capped character's max stats/attributes. e.g., a Broadshoulder will start with the highest amount of physical combat-related attributes - and eventually, a Broadshoulder will have the highest possible amount of comabt-related attributes when capped, i.e.  if the person chooses to specialize deeper in combat.

also, different breeds have different Mental Fatigue and Stamina. I will cover more on these further on (probably in the next post, '1.  2')

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A fast look on stats, attributes, skills and "classes"

the skill system is simple. there are attributes (e.g. Combat, Agility, Intelligence, Endurance, Mental Capacity), and every attribute has a group of skills it supports.

choosing a breed will determine the starting attributes, and every point in an attribute will give you points to allocate in the group of skills it support. when you level up, you gain only attribute points - once you allocate them, you get the skill points (in the supported skill-group).

an example would be:

I just got to level 2 and received 5 attribute points. I allocate all of them in Combat. this gives me 10 skill points to allocate in the skills this attribute support. because I want to use energy weapons, I'll choose to put all the points in Energy Weapon Operations (=a combat skill supported by the Combat atrribute).

regarding classes,

there won't be any classes. there will be jobs instead. you won't choose them during character creation, because the skill system doesn't really depends on it. it's just another way to specialize your character even further, and also enables your character to receive work specific to the jobs he chose. this way, when he finds "works" (works are basically like quests) in the future, he will have an easier time doing the work properly because he will receive missions suitable for his abilities, while also doing something he enjoys to do.

every character will have to choose 2 jobs. the first job will be chosen, for example, in level 5, and the second one at level 10. this will give players to learn about the game and the mechanics before choosing something that will affect the gameplay drastically. also, changing jobs after choosing the 2 jobs should be possible, but then you’ll need to do works for those jobs in order to receive job-specific abilities.

In summary regarding jobs, it’s like this:

you choose 2 jobs at certain levels. in addition to your breed-specific-abilities (abilities are basically like spells and skills in other games) you’ll gain job-specific-abilities from the work (quests) you’ll do.

job-specific-abilities are what makes each job different.  If you’ll choose, for example, a job as a scavenger, you’ll do works as a scavenger (simple example of a work: “I lost few important documents during a bandit raid on my convoy, please retrieve them!”) and as a reward you’ll get currency/item reward and a job-specific-ability.

for every work, there will be few JSA (job-specific-ability) to choose from as a reward. this means, if I choose one JSA over the others, I can’t get those JSAs unless I leave the job and enlist to it again.

this will ensure that every player will have the ability to specialize his character in a way that suits his game-style, while making sure he’s unique and unlike others.

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well, this is the end of the first page. I can hardly understand how it came out so long, while I still have more to write… anyway, I’ll give examples of jobs and trade-skills in the next entry ('1.  2')

hope you understood what I wrote (english is not my native language, sorry!).

 EDIT: Improvements to text design.