MMORPG.com Staff Writer Bill Murphy gives us a rundown of six absolute must-haves for a zombie-themed MMO in this latest edition of The List.

Back in November of last year, Undead Labs announced their formation and the production of something a lot of folks are probably hungering for (pun intended). A zombie-apocalypse themed MMO is in development at the newly founded studio, exclusively for consoles. My friend Adam and I were sitting around chatting about the potential such a title carries. Thanks to a resurgence of popularity in for the undead, there have been a slew of movies, games and other media all about zombies in recent years. Possibly more so than Edward Cullen and his sparkly vampire cousins, zombies are mainstreaming pretty hard these days.

Read The List: Six Must-haves for a Zombie MMO.

With Jeff Strain at the helm, I think it is in good hands.

Nice list.  This game has huge potential...and, if it followed this list I think it would be a massive hit.

But, you forgot one thing:

#7: Zombies can't be the only enemies:  We've seen it in movies, comics, and all zombie media.  In a post-zombie-apocalypse, humans turn on each other.  Gangs and cults form, would-be dictators rise, and nutcases who think they can manipulate zombie populations to their own twisted motives crawl from the slime.  Not only should there be PvE gangs, cults, guilds, etc. that are enemies and obstacles, but the game should have optional PvP areas and a way for players to take sides against one another (take a look at the factions in FE for example).

I, for one, long to find the 'town' where an evil overlord has taken over and they have 'gladiator games' or the like using outsiders they find thrown into a ring or field with zombies for entertainment pleasure.  A quest where you get captured, have to break free of the game/gladiator combat, and then fight your way free??  Epic quest.  Sign me up.

Originally posted by Christopher8

With Jeff Strain at the helm, I think it is in good hands.

Yes, Jeff Strain being there makes me quite inclined to play this game when made available, though as with any other MMO I will need to play the game before purchasing it. Not to mention it is a f****** zombie MMO, it is potentially a completely new pace and setting for MMOs.

If it is really console exclusive as mentioned, I won't really be able to avoid "hardcore" consoles (I have a Wii, but I will have to grab either a PS3 or a X360), considering there's also Dust coming from CCP and it's another console exclusive title.

 fyi the link in the story does not come here, for shame.

Also you forgot the big thing.

BRAINS

BIG JUICY BRAINS

Splattered over the pavement, inventory items, we need physical BRAINZ in some form.

Yeah - bad link.  Fix that, guys!

Originally posted by Feydaway

Nice list.  This game has huge potential...and, if it followed this list I think it would be a massive hit.

But, you forgot one thing:

#7: Zombies can't be the only enemies:  We've seen it in movies, comics, and all zombie media.  In a post-zombie-apocalypse, humans turn on each other.  Gangs and cults form, would-be dictators rise, and nutcases who think they can manipulate zombie populations to their own twisted motives crawl from the slime.  Not only should there be PvE gangs, cults, guilds, etc. that are enemies and obstacles, but the game should have optional PvP areas and a way for players to take sides against one another (take a look at the factions in FE for example).

I, for one, long to find the 'town' where an evil overlord has taken over and they have 'gladiator games' or the like using outsiders they find thrown into a ring or field with zombies for entertainment pleasure.  A quest where you get captured, have to break free of the game/gladiator combat, and then fight your way free??  Epic quest.  Sign me up.

This is a nice addition to the list for sure. It adds almost like a Mad Maxx layer to the game.

I would like to see having to fight for / over supplies. It would be pretty bad ass to have to fight your way to get food/fuel for your town/char and even taking that land over so you own the (limited/unlimited?) supplies.

Also to add onto the idea the OP had about becoming a zombie. Why not allow people as a "penalty" to level up/skill up (sandbox game) a zombie character. Make the progression alot easier than on the human character, but also give it some meaning and purpose.

Originally posted by nekollx

 fyi the link in the story does not come here, for shame.

 

Also you forgot the big thing.

 

BRAINS

 

BIG JUICY BRAINS

 

Splattered over the pavement, inventory items, we need physical BRAINZ in some form.

Fixed this, thanks!

effective shotgun physics

the ability to dismember zombies

children and animal zombies  add that extra little zing to the twisted

Odd how as soon as I read "exclusively for consoles." I stopped reading...

Somehow the thought of mixing MMO with something like XBox Live just makes me want to throw up.

What makes zombie movies thrilling is the drama of the chase.

In order for this to be successful, there needs to be permanent death.

Or even better, when you die, you become a zombie of the last level you achieved. Then trying to reach cap really would be a struggle against every PC zombie in the game.

Maybe every once in a while (weekly), do a reset and all the PC zombies return to people (again, at their previous level) and let them try to gain some more XP, finish out some more quests, whatever.

THAT would be fun.

You forgot two things;

1) Carnage

2) More carnage

i know it might impossible from a marketing standpoint, but it would be a mistake to let players be zombies.  it would a completely superficial feature that would detract from whatever atmosphere th mindless undead hordes would create.

a zombie mmo has to be centered around preperation and cooperation.   if you let people be zombies, you will create a game stopping imbalance in the require human to zombie ratio.

if you make zombies as strong as humans, you will have to reduce the conflict between the two sides. its never supposed to be a "war". its supposed to be trillions upon trillions upon trillions of weak stupid walls of zombie against puny handfuls of stronger and smarter humans.  if you give the zombies more strength, you ruin that imbalance.  

the numbers of zombie and human are equal, (which a game granting both options would have to strive for, else deliberately make one side a less attractive choice for playing) you remove the whol point of the genre.  then its just melee vs ranged.

The Zombie dynamic has to be Human vs Human players, with rising tides of npc zombie providing a lethal and increaing backdrop for tensions sake.   a close ended timer is needed too, as the point of the genre isnt just to meander around developing skills, so much as prepare as much as possible before the final doomsday onslaught.

whatever the case, zombie players would ruin the dynamic and cause unfixable abuses.  (ie zombies and humans working together, and other retarded scenarios.)

I agree, Cru.

Also, game controlled zombies allow the distributor to add patches at any time with 'variant' zombies to throw in a wrench here and there.  You gotta love unpredictable zombie behavior!

You can still have PvP with humans v. humans.  No need to make player controlled zombies.

Looks like the forum is mixing up these two threads:

www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/272024/General-Six-Musthaves-for-a-Zombie-MMO.html

www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/272016/General-GDC-2010-EA-to-Publish-38-Studios-Project-Mercury-.html

Well i think becomming a zombie as a death penalty would be a intresting thing but. It should be at the level of normal npc zombies, you would be really weak and the only advantage youd have over the npc zombies is knowing how to get into a sheltered area. 

That advantage can be a big one tho if you would be able to use tools as a zombie. like a fireman axe.  you could bust a door down and have the massive zombie flood entering the "safe" area. So the question would be do we want that ? As a player in a safe area you would want total control over all exits wich brings in teamwork,  having a PC zombie breaking your doors down with eas wouldnt be a good thing. On the other hand it would give you some randomeness. A safe zone (like a mall) can never be truelly safe at that point and you should always be on your guard.  So those are some things to consider.

What i fear more tho are bad players. Players wich intentionally leave doors open without telling anyone. The other players in that safe zone will most likely be overun and die, making a penalty like becomming a zombie a harsh thing because it really was not your fault, you diddn't do anythign stupid. someone just screwed you over.

So im not sure if a zombie death penalty would be all that good. Also the human vs human death penalty would have to be of a difrent level already.

On second thought, a Zombifying (I'm allowed to make words up!) death penalty would probably not go over so well as some others have said.  Not because it wouldn't be a fun diversion from playing as a human... but rather because if there are other gamers like me out there, a lot of people would wind up striving to die as often as possible.

I just hope that the Undead Labs creation doesn't amount simply to L4D with levels.  I hope there will be more of a world, story, and persistent nature to it than that. 

Hmmm just reminds me of my thinking "every topic doesn't need to have an mmo made for it."

Having just played Fallout 3, the idea of a post-apocalyptic zombie MMO would be awesome.

Although, MMOs and consoles? No thanks.

However.. A zombie MMO should never be completely safe, PvP-wise. Let it become like EVE, with some NPC-"police guys" controlling the "safe zones", then have places where you can claim soveignity (again, like EVE) which lets you control an area, as long as you keep the zombies out - but let other players try to kill you and take your place (Hm. Imagine Dawn of the Dead, a group of people have a mall, and one or two guys have a gun shop. They can either help each others or try to kill each others to gain whatever advantage the other guys have).

A lot of things can go wrong with a zombie MMO. Making it too much PvE would kill it for me - even with the PvPZ-zone idea.

Also.. The death penalty. Let the player become a zombie, but a zombie like anyone else [edit: ie. "brainless" in such a way that you can't use tools and so forth]. This way, you avoid the imbalance of having high-level zombies kill a lot of noob humans. [edit: Also, let them respawn in the place they died, after a wait of 1-3 minutes]

When they die as a zombie, they respawn in one of the "safe zones" with nothing but some frayed clothes and a piece of wood.

The economy should be mainly player-controlled, with some basic items sold (and bought) by NPCs.

Let items be crafted, with some penalties when you don't have the "right tools", which can only be aquired by going to a zombie-infested hardware store (or buying it from another player), or having your own place (your "fortress"). Let things that are worthless become part in creating something (like taking a ton of tin cans, filling them with flameable fluid, adding a fuse and hammering the top of the cans shut - woila, a "molotow" made from crap).

This, and most of the things from the list, would make an epic zombie MMO. However, it should not be console only (even though there may be some graphics- and physics-related issues that are easier to surpass with a console) - one will need quick reflexes when a huge wave of zombies suddenly jump you, or a zombie is suddenly behind that door you sudddenly opened.

[Edit: "Human" (not undead) caused death-penalty should be the same as when you die to a zombie - but without the "becoming a zombie"-part, unless of course you've been bitten, in which case, you should still become a zombie.

Making zombiefication a choice could be an option, but I'd not care either way, to be honest. However, then there should be another death penalty (besides losing your gear and such), something like being "groggy" which makes you both dumber (int), weaker (str), less agile (dex), and so forth. Think of the worst hangovers ever, and then multiply them by a thousand.]

As far as #3 goes.... I don't think it needs to be small or instanced... just the more players in one zone or shard, the more zombies. Make it advantageous to split up into smaller groups. You always saw it in the movies, the larger the amount of humans in one place the bigger the buffet for zombies, and the more of them that showed up. After sitting up to 3am to watch Dawn of the Dead again the other night I'd jump for a zombie MMO.