Earlier this week, I started a thread called "The Ulitmate MMORPG".  It was the first post I have made on this website.  I made it because I believe I have an idea for one that would be wildly popular and I am seeing MMAOF (multi-massive amounts of frustration) for the current batch of games out there.  Then this morning I see a new thread called "Why won't anyone make this kind of MMO?", started by Mihos.  Some of the things he would like to see are very similiar to what my game would do.  So I have decided to provide a description of my MMO idea.  If someone decides to steal it for themselves and make it without my permission, I guess that would be better than having it sit on my desk forever.  I apologize for its length, but to give you a complete view, I will have to post quite a bit of information.

The first thing I do is avoid the "fantasy" genre because it has been done to death.  Granted it is the most fun, but to make another one would be to lose it in the crowd.  The game is set in the ancient world of the Mediterranean (in fact, I refer to the game as "Mediterranean", although that's not necessarily the name).  It consists of four empires, Rome, Greece, Egypt and Cathage all spread out along the four corners of the Mediterranean Sea.  These are all civilizations that achieved greatness in ancient times and still have an impact on our world today.  The four empires naturally are rivals and attempt to take over the world in which they exist.  So when a player enters the world of "Mediterranean", they can do so as a citizen of one of these four empires.

This set-up allows for the classic PvP variety of MMO.  But, unlike, previous "realm vs realm" games, this one goes further.  First of all, each of the four empires has a home territory with a capital city, Rome, Athens, Alexandria and Carthage.  Instead of being able to safely stay in your home territory without fear of attack, it will be vulnerable to capture by each of the other three empires.  If your capital falls, you and your civilization become a part of that empire.  However, you retain your nationality and are treated as a second class citizen by your conquerers.  This provides incentive for rebellion and an opportunity to regain your independence at a later time.

Another key difference is the part politics plays in "Mediterranean"  The four empires are not necessarily in a state of constant war.  They can negotiate between peace and conflict.  This would allow one of the classes in the game (the spy, a type of rogue) to infiltrate an opposing empire, gather intelligence and feed it back to their own.  Characters in the game can become leaders of their empire and negotiate between a state of war and peace.  Becoming a leader of your empire will be handled differently for each one.  For instance, since Greece was the cradle of Democracy, its leaders could be elected.  Since Rome was infamous for its gladatorial games, the players could fight in The Colosseum for the right to lead their nation.  They would serve for set terms to allow multiple players to serve as leaders.

Now let's say you hate PvP games.  No problem.  Besides the four empires, there will be a number of independent cities scattered around the world.  A player could enter "Mediterranean" in one of these cities and opt out of the PvP aspect.  They would be like the country of Switzerland.  They wouldn't attack other players, nor would they be attacked.  Here's another neat angle of the game.  Suppose you start off as a citizen of one of the empires and you grow tired of it.  You would be able to renounce your citizenship and become an independent or even defect to another empire.  Likewise, if PvE got a bit boring after awhile, you could petition to become a citizen of one of the empires.  I need to emphasize the gravity of renouncing your citizenship.  If you defected to another empire, you would become a marked character and never be able to go back to your home country.  So weigh the decision carefully.

Instead of following a strictly historical line, "Mediterranean" would incorporate the wonderful mythologies of the ancient world into it.  So the magic and the monsters would still be there (how could they not?).  So you see, although, it would not be a "fantasy" genre, it would still play like one.

Graphically, "Mediterranean" would be visually stunning.  It would contain many of the great structures of antiquity.  The Pyramids of Egypt, the Parthenon, etc.  But instead of appearing as they do today, they would appear as they did back then, brand spanking new.

That's a brief description of the setting of the game.  There are a number of other ideas that depart from the typical MMO, few which I will mention briefly.  Leveling is eliminated in "Mediterranean" but character classes remain.  Characters will have to be able to specialize to perform their various rolls, such as the spy which I mentioned earlier.  In addition, each empire will have a unique class.  I mentioned this in my first thread, so I will do so again here.  Carthage's unique class will be called the Magonid.  This term comes from a family of rulers of Carthage from the 6th century B.C.  They were a family of warrior/priests.  So the Magonid will be a warrior/priest hybrid that will exist in Carthage alone.  But this does not mean that, as the game progresses, only Carthage will have Magonids.  Remember, the possibility of defection exists.  So there could eventually be Magonids in other empires after a few defections.  Even the independent cities will have some unique classes.  Characters advance through aquiring skills and items.  This would eliminate the tedious grinding that exists in experience based MMO's

Well, that's about as brief a description as I was able to provide.  I have hundreds of other ideas, none of which need to be detailed here.  I don't know if you like the idea or not, or if what I have proposed is even possible to make into an MMORPG.  But since I am not a developer, this is about the only avenue I have to getting the idea out there.  I am just a Historian with a very fertile mind and enough exerience playing MMO's to have a pretty good idea what works and what doesn't.  I know this probably doesn't improve my chances of seeing this game made, but with all the frustration that I am seeing on this website, I thought I would give you folks a taste of something else.  I'm still working on making that fortune so I can hire someone to develop this game for me.  But that could take years, or not even happen at all.  If there are any companies out there that want to try something different, my email address is on the user info screen.  Contact me and I'll be happy to hook you up.

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Originally posted by Zindaihas

Earlier this week, I started a thread called "The Ulitmate MMORPG".  It was the first post I have made on this website.  I made it because I believe I have an idea for one that would be wildly popular and I am seeing MMAOF (multi-massive amounts of frustration) for the current batch of games out there.  Then this morning I see a new thread called "Why won't anyone make this kind of MMO?", started by Mihos.  Some of the things he would like to see are very similiar to what my game would do.  So I have decided to provide a description of my MMO idea.  If someone decides to steal it for themselves and make it without my permission, I guess that would be better than having it sit on my desk forever.  I apologize for its length, but to give you a complete view, I will have to post quite a bit of information.

The first thing I do is avoid the "fantasy" genre because it has been done to death.  Granted it is the most fun, but to make another one would be to lose it in the crowd.  The game is set in the ancient world of the Mediterranean (in fact, I refer to the game as "Mediterranean", although that's not necessarily the name).  It consists of four empires, Rome, Greece, Egypt and Cathage all spread out along the four corners of the Mediterranean Sea.  These are all civilizations that achieved greatness in ancient times and still have an impact on our world today.  The four empires naturally are rivals and attempt to take over the world in which they exist.  So when a player enters the world of "Mediterranean", they can do so as a citizen of one of these four empires.

This set-up allows for the classic PvP variety of MMO.  But, unlike, previous "realm vs realm" games, this one goes further.  First of all, each of the four empires has a home territory with a capital city, Rome, Athens, Alexandria and Carthage.  Instead of being able to safely stay in your home territory without fear of attack, it will be vulnerable to capture by each of the other three empires.  If your capital falls, you and your civilization become a part of that empire.  However, you retain your nationality and are treated as a second class citizen by your conquerers.  This provides incentive for rebellion and an opportunity to regain your independence at a later time.

Another key difference is the part politics plays in "Mediterranean"  The four empires are not necessarily in a state of constant war.  They can negotiate between peace and conflict.  This would allow one of the classes in the game (the spy, a type of rogue) to infiltrate an opposing empire, gather intelligence and feed it back to their own.  Characters in the game can become leaders of their empire and negotiate between a state of war and peace.  Becoming a leader of your empire will be handled differently for each one.  For instance, since Greece was the cradle of Democracy, its leaders could be elected.  Since Rome was infamous for its gladatorial games, the players could fight in The Colosseum for the right to lead their nation.  They would serve for set terms to allow multiple players to serve as leaders.

Now let's say you hate PvP games.  No problem.  Besides the four empires, there will be a number of independent cities scattered around the world.  A player could enter "Mediterranean" in one of these cities and opt out of the PvP aspect.  They would be like the country of Switzerland.  They wouldn't attack other players, nor would they be attacked.  Here's another neat angle of the game.  Suppose you start off as a citizen of one of the empires and you grow tired of it.  You would be able to renounce your citizenship and become an independent or even defect to another empire.  Likewise, if PvE got a bit boring after awhile, you could petition to become a citizen of one of the empires.  I need to emphasize the gravity of renouncing your citizenship.  If you defected to another empire, you would become a marked character and never be able to go back to your home country.  So weigh the decision carefully.

Instead of following a strictly historical line, "Mediterranean" would incorporate the wonderful mythologies of the ancient world into it.  So the magic and the monsters would still be there (how could they not?).  So you see, although, it would not be a "fantasy" genre, it would still play like one.

Graphically, "Mediterranean" would be visually stunning.  It would contain many of the great structures of antiquity.  The Pyramids of Egypt, the Parthenon, etc.  But instead of appearing as they do today, they would appear as they did back then, brand spanking new.

That's a brief description of the setting of the game.  There are a number of other ideas that depart from the typical MMO, few which I will mention briefly.  Leveling is eliminated in "Mediterranean" but character classes remain.  Characters will have to be able to specialize to perform their various rolls, such as the spy which I mentioned earlier.  In addition, each empire will have a unique class.  I mentioned this in my first thread, so I will do so again here.  Carthage's unique class will be called the Magonid.  This term comes from a family of rulers of Carthage from the 6th century B.C.  They were a family of warrior/priests.  So the Magonid will be a warrior/priest hybrid that will exist in Carthage alone.  But this does not mean that, as the game progresses, only Carthage will have Magonids.  Remember, the possibility of defection exists.  So there could eventually be Magonids in other empires after a few defections.  Even the independent cities will have some unique classes.  Characters advance through aquiring skills and items.  This would eliminate the tedious grinding that exists in experience based MMO's

Well, that's about as brief a description as I was able to provide.  I have hundreds of other ideas, none of which need to be detailed here.  I don't know if you like the idea or not, or if what I have proposed is even possible to make into an MMORPG.  But since I am not a developer, this is about the only avenue I have to getting the idea out there.  I am just a Historian with a very fertile mind and enough exerience playing MMO's to have a pretty good idea what works and what doesn't.  I know this probably doesn't improve my chances of seeing this game made, but with all the frustration that I am seeing on this website, I thought I would give you folks a taste of something else.  I'm still working on making that fortune so I can hire someone to develop this game for me.  But that could take years, or not even happen at all.  If there are any companies out there that want to try something different, my email address is on the user info screen.  Contact me and I'll be happy to hook you up.

---

I love this idea, the whole theory about four empires warring at one another constantly. The whole thing really sounds good together. I disagree with everyone being punished for defecting. The spy also, should not be a class, rather just another technique certain archetypes can master...

such as the gladiator can have the option to master the spy technique..forget the whole idea of a spy doing this and that to change the battle, too much work..how about the spy (fully maxed that is) has the ability to enter each capital city without any sort of flack.......just has the whole world open to him.

and ditch the pvp zones....how about this..........the whole world is not pvp, but war is declared...upon the declaration of war, the opposing zones become an open pvp lair.........of course you can include the neutral places such as switzerland, but declaration of war would allow people who didnt like pve to leave the area before the war began, and those who did love pvp to prepare for battle..for example..

The leader of rome....declares war on greece...greece accepts..and sets a date...which in my oppinion is a fair way to forewarn those who dont enjoy pvp...the date is set...and upon the arrival of that day.....those two giant zones become open pvp........

I say that every area has access to all classes, screw individualism...if even one class isnt balanced...then one empire will become too powerful..way to quickly

Now on the fallen empires second class citizen subject...a fallen empires state will be consisted of the following losses to economy and etc..:

-Because of war debt, the tax of all goods purchased increase, therefore increasing the price of all items to the citizens of the fallen empire

-A fallen empires citizens cannot defect to another empire

-a fallen empires king loses all recognition and upon the fallen empires staging of a successful rebellion a new election must take place to choose a new ruler....

more to be added....

also guilds or political factions will be in each of the four empires...instead of staging gladiatoral events..the 2 strongest guilds become the leader of an empire..and between the two guilds...a vote is established to choose the overall leaders.

hmm thats enough for now

I love this idea, the whole theory about four empires warring at one another constantly. The whole thing really sounds good together. I disagree with everyone being punished for defecting. The spy also, should not be a class, rather just another technique certain archetypes can master...

such as the gladiator can have the option to master the spy technique..forget the whole idea of a spy doing this and that to change the battle, too much work..how about the spy (fully maxed that is) has the ability to enter each capital city without any sort of flack.......just has the whole world open to him.

and ditch the pvp zones....how about this..........the whole world is not pvp, but war is declared...upon the declaration of war, the opposing zones become an open pvp lair.........of course you can include the neutral places such as switzerland, but declaration of war would allow people who didnt like pve to leave the area before the war began, and those who did love pvp to prepare for battle..for example..

The leader of rome....declares war on greece...greece accepts..and sets a date...which in my oppinion is a fair way to forewarn those who dont enjoy pvp...the date is set...and upon the arrival of that day.....those two giant zones become open pvp........

I say that every area has access to all classes, screw individualism...if even one class isnt balanced...then one empire will become too powerful..way to quickly

Now on the fallen empires second class citizen subject...a fallen empires state will be consisted of the following losses to economy and etc..:

-Because of war debt, the tax of all goods purchased increase, therefore increasing the price of all items to the citizens of the fallen empire

-A fallen empires citizens cannot defect to another empire

-a fallen empires king loses all recognition and upon the fallen empires staging of a successful rebellion a new election must take place to choose a new ruler....

more to be added....

also guilds or political factions will be in each of the four empires...instead of staging gladiatoral events..the 2 strongest guilds become the leader of an empire..and between the two guilds...a vote is established to choose the overall leaders.

hmm thats enough for now

I love this idea, the whole theory about four empires warring at one another constantly. The whole thing really sounds good together. I disagree with everyone being punished for defecting. The spy also, should not be a class, rather just another technique certain archetypes can master...

such as the gladiator can have the option to master the spy technique..forget the whole idea of a spy doing this and that to change the battle, too much work..how about the spy (fully maxed that is) has the ability to enter each capital city without any sort of flack.......just has the whole world open to him.

and ditch the pvp zones....how about this..........the whole world is not pvp, but war is declared...upon the declaration of war, the opposing zones become an open pvp lair.........of course you can include the neutral places such as switzerland, but declaration of war would allow people who didnt like pve to leave the area before the war began, and those who did love pvp to prepare for battle..for example..

The leader of rome....declares war on greece...greece accepts..and sets a date...which in my oppinion is a fair way to forewarn those who dont enjoy pvp...the date is set...and upon the arrival of that day.....those two giant zones become open pvp........

I say that every area has access to all classes, screw individualism...if even one class isnt balanced...then one empire will become too powerful..way to quickly

Now on the fallen empires second class citizen subject...a fallen empires state will be consisted of the following losses to economy and etc..:

-Because of war debt, the tax of all goods purchased increase, therefore increasing the price of all items to the citizens of the fallen empire

-A fallen empires citizens cannot defect to another empire

-a fallen empires king loses all recognition and upon the fallen empires staging of a successful rebellion a new election must take place to choose a new ruler....

more to be added....

also guilds or political factions will be in each of the four empires...instead of staging gladiatoral events..the 2 strongest guilds become the leader of an empire..and between the two guilds...a vote is established to choose the overall leaders.

hmm thats enough for now

I love this idea, the whole theory about four empires warring at one another constantly. The whole thing really sounds good together. I disagree with everyone being punished for defecting. The spy also, should not be a class, rather just another technique certain archetypes can master...

such as the gladiator can have the option to master the spy technique..forget the whole idea of a spy doing this and that to change the battle, too much work..how about the spy (fully maxed that is) has the ability to enter each capital city without any sort of flack.......just has the whole world open to him.

and ditch the pvp zones....how about this..........the whole world is not pvp, but war is declared...upon the declaration of war, the opposing zones become an open pvp lair.........of course you can include the neutral places such as switzerland, but declaration of war would allow people who didnt like pve to leave the area before the war began, and those who did love pvp to prepare for battle..for example..

The leader of rome....declares war on greece...greece accepts..and sets a date...which in my oppinion is a fair way to forewarn those who dont enjoy pvp...the date is set...and upon the arrival of that day.....those two giant zones become open pvp........

I say that every area has access to all classes, screw individualism...if even one class isnt balanced...then one empire will become too powerful..way to quickly

Now on the fallen empires second class citizen subject...a fallen empires state will be consisted of the following losses to economy and etc..:

-Because of war debt, the tax of all goods purchased increase, therefore increasing the price of all items to the citizens of the fallen empire

-A fallen empires citizens cannot defect to another empire

-a fallen empires king loses all recognition and upon the fallen empires staging of a successful rebellion a new election must take place to choose a new ruler....

more to be added....

also guilds or political factions will be in each of the four empires...instead of staging gladiatoral events..the 2 strongest guilds become the leader of an empire..and between the two guilds...a vote is established to choose the overall leaders.

hmm thats enough for now

afrose6 originally wrote

also guilds or political factions will be in each of the four empires...instead of staging gladiatoral events..the 2 strongest guilds become the leader of an empire..and between the two guilds...a vote is established to choose the overall leaders.

Or, perhaps, instead of individuals, put an entire guild in charge of an empire.  So the guild that wins the gladatorial games becomes the leader of Rome.  The guild that gets elected becomes the leader of Greece.  Each guild would be responsible for its own internal politics.  I'll add these ideas to my notes.  Still considering your other ones.