MMORPG Thoughts and Other things that I can't get out of My Head

As a disciple of the MMORPG system, I offer my humble thoughts in this blog.

Author: fansede

When Guild Wars was launched, I thought the door was cracked open and it would be a matter of time before we saw a plethora of card type games. Imagine a Magic The Gathering MMO...

I was excited to see skills converted successfully into "cards" for a MMO (well in Guild Wars, case, Co-operative role playing game).

So thinking more and more about it, I wondered why hasn't Wizards of the Coast tried to get into the market? They already had some computer games and an online game. However, the online game is a duel program which is fine for MtG enthusiasts. However, there was no  player avatar that could interact in a persistent and dynamic world.

The obvious game design barriers to such an endeavor include:

• Multiplayer gaming - MtG is a duel based design. I am interested in a design which involves more than two players. What are some possible ideas that could bring this into fruition? Guild Wars has a reasonable starting point. Many of those MtG cards can be used as skills that could be used by the avatar. Sorceries, Instants, Enchantments are all spells that can be converted to skill sets in an MMO design much like a Guild Wars System.
• Creature cards and MMO gamelay - Here is a tough one. Players familar with the MtG know summoning creatures are essential to the game. As MMO veterans realize if a group of players summon allies at once it can cause massive lag to a system. Good news though. Perpetual Entertainment will soon launch Gods and Heroes, a different flair on the MMO world in that a player can have minions at their side. So there is some evidence that a group system can have several creatures at their side in a MMO gaming world.
• Turn based game converting into a real time game. Card based games are inherently slow by design. Gives players time to strategize and think through the game. Again, I think Guild Wars is a place to lay the foundation for this transformation. Cooldowns for skills are the key. A player cannot activate, have a summoned creature attack if it is greyed out in cooldown mode.
• How to handle player avatars - normally in duel games, the player is a punching bag that simply has to stay alive  long enough. In MMOs this is not interactive enough. We want to gear up our avatar, unlock his own abilities and attack ourselves damn it! So here I would always give a skill where the player avatar can act - whether it be a melee attack, a spell or similar skill he /she has acquired and be able to use it at certain intervals. This is provides more strategy and also gives the player something else to do besides sitting in the backlines. Some turn base games like Etherlords displays how this can be implemented. This also helps out in PvE gaming in that a player does not have to always summon things to defeat a foe and perhaps play in traditional mode we are all familar with playing.
• Tapping lands - Most MMO designs have casters or warriors draw skills from a mana/endurance pool. In this MMO, players create the mana pool from the land cards. The skill /summon cards are unlocked as enough mana is generated.
• Graveyards - I don't see a problem here either. A MMO design can create a temporary discard area where dead creatures or one time skills can be placed.

All in all, there is much to be gained from an innovative designer of this type of MMO. A different type of gaming combat system, a financial opportunity in that card sales can contribute to online game play, lots of lore to draw from if MtG is used. Or card games like YugiOh or other card type games.

Next Concept in this: Devil is in the details how would combat look like in this game?