setting:

a world similar to Earth, the game features both Steampunk and High Fantasy things, but all is based in science, even Magic is based around some sort of 5th universal law. the actual age in the world is around the XIX Century, featuring steam powered machines such as trains, automobiles and ships (airships would come later).

the world's history is inspired both in fictional books, other franchises and real history, so players would find familiarities from other IPs (i know this sounds very redundant).

world features:

-spherical world: the planet uses the fractal system of procedural generation, this also allows for modification of the environment, but not permanently in order to counter abuse by the community(i'll explain that later).

-since the planet has a seamless terrain, players can travel from any corner of it, and build in any corner of it too.

-procedurally generated resources, such as ores, trees and animals. the code would change their locations once they would get depleted in the case of non renewable resources (Ores, Oils, etc) or would regenerate with time like trees and animals. players would be able to help to keep the population of animals and vegetation stable Breeding them domestically and releasing them.

-NPC Nations with permanent Cities

-open zone pvp: no permanent zones, the world will select and extension of the map and will mark it as a PvP region, players will have to pay attention in order to avoid being ganked.

character progression:

-skill based with specialization: players will start with a set of basic survival skills, the skill tree act as a whole and has both combat and non combat professions, the player will be free to invest his experience in this skills.

-several races, the game will feature new races based in both traditional and new concepts, the game will feature races similar to those of the common High Fantasy games, but will also feature new races such as Mechanic People, Insectoid Humanoids, Centaurian and Antropomorphic animals.

-several options for gameplay, players can decide to be loners or social characters, the variety of professions allow for different ways of playing, such as farmers, miners, traders, soldiers, pirates and bandits, etc...

community:

-raid and simple groups, from 2 to 40 players

-community driven cities, with government system, players will be able to apply for votations and can be evaluated by the common players.

-territory wars, cities can war for the land and this applies for any character, sin PvP depends on the community as a whole not just combat players.

PvE Content:

-the game will feature Quests which will serve to understand some of the history of the game, apart from having quests for learning special skills or getting mounts.

-dinamic events, such as mob invasions and hunting seasons (with consecuences)

-open world bosses or "elites"

-non instanced and complex player housing

PvP Content:

-war zones determined by the game each 24 hr

-buildable PvP Structures and siege machines

-multiple battlefronts, terrestrial, acuatic and aerial combat

-diplomacy and spionage

One thing about the rally for any spherical/toroidal world dynamic is that it sets the extent of that world's reach in stone. There really is no adding to it after it's set, and even if you could, it destroys already set geographical boundaries and aesthetics. Say you are able to break it off and add more north-south of the existing content - the new areas are pretty much set to being polar zones. You could do the same in the east/west, but eventually the sphere will become shaped like a pumpkin. A toroidal cylinder is a much better idea, but it means you have to add new areas "between" existing ones (if you see what I mean by that).

Originally posted by GTwander

One thing about the rally for any spherical/toroidal world dynamic is that it sets the extent of that world's reach in stone. There really is no adding to it after it's set, and even if you could, it destroys already set geographical boundaries and aesthetics. Say you are able to break it off and add more north-south of the existing content - the new areas are pretty much set to being polar zones. You could do the same in the east/west, but eventually the sphere will become shaped like a pumpkin. A toroidal cylinder is a much better idea, but it means you have to add new areas "between" existing ones (if you see what I mean by that).

no, to be honest i didnt get it....

Originally posted by GTwander

One thing about the rally for any spherical/toroidal world dynamic is that it sets the extent of that world's reach in stone. There really is no adding to it after it's set, and even if you could, it destroys already set geographical boundaries and aesthetics. Say you are able to break it off and add more north-south of the existing content - the new areas are pretty much set to being polar zones. You could do the same in the east/west, but eventually the sphere will become shaped like a pumpkin. A toroidal cylinder is a much better idea, but it means you have to add new areas "between" existing ones (if you see what I mean by that).

If you make a big enough world, content would not matter, especially if you create the dynamic means to change the world around.

That's...a pretty decent sounding idea. Open zone PvP, terrain/territory modifiable by the players, non-static resource locations, Steampunk-style which is rare these days...

You've obviously been paying attention to the complaints/praises of people on this forum. If you could implement that properly, and not have some bug-ridden incomplete mess to start with, I would definitely give that one a spin.

Originally posted by Kiljaedenas

That's...a pretty decent sounding idea. Open zone PvP, terrain/territory modifiable by the players, non-static resource locations, Steampunk-style which is rare these days...

You've obviously been paying attention to the complaints/praises of people on this forum. If you could implement that properly, and not have some bug-ridden incomplete mess to start with, I would definitely give that one a spin.

and that's the basic concept, well im noy a hardcore player, so i dont know mucho of old school MMORPGS. more than watching the complains is also because of personal experience.

the only issue with this project is that i am just an student yet, so i dont expect to see this made in at least 10 or 15 years...

Originally posted by xaritscin

Originally posted by GTwander

One thing about the rally for any spherical/toroidal world dynamic is that it sets the extent of that world's reach in stone. There really is no adding to it after it's set, and even if you could, it destroys already set geographical boundaries and aesthetics. Say you are able to break it off and add more north-south of the existing content - the new areas are pretty much set to being polar zones. You could do the same in the east/west, but eventually the sphere will become shaped like a pumpkin. A toroidal cylinder is a much better idea, but it means you have to add new areas "between" existing ones (if you see what I mean by that).

no, to be honest i didnt get it....

What I mean is that both the spherical and east-west continuity of a toroid (think of a doughnut you can only see the outside edge of, or a cylinder), adding new areas will basically put that land "between" existing areas. If you consider the real-world map of Earth, if you add a new continent, it's going to end up smack in the middle between the old and new world. It's not like pushing new playable areas out to the 'edges', because there are no edges.

~and @Lifebrinks's statement

The problem with that is with his concept of "building" and adding cities and such. There is going to have to be limits on how many players can populate a single server, or how many eligible cities or settlements there can be, simply based on a limit of available land. The other problem with it is not taking into account "scarring" the gamescape with ruins and other projects that get walked away from.

I'm going to use Wurm Online as a prime example here, because they *have to* add new maps periodically because the playerbase leaves a crazy amount of scarring on the mapface, and new/old players alike want to work with fresh materials. The game is set to remove roads and buildings from inactivity, but all the terraforming remains, leaving giant patches of flatland that leave a 'stencil' of sorts, that force new settlers to work harder to 'fix' it to what they see fit - or simply to work the land as is. I'm not sure what the OP has in mind for what all is possible, in terms of "building" on the mapface, but he really needs to consider this caveat a bit more... perhaps by actually limiting the options a bit to allow areas to reseed themselves more naturally when not used for long periods of time - but it still doesn't manage player population issues, nor typical stagnation associated with playing in the same areas indefinitely.

Technically, he could even put said scarring to use, by having unused and decrepit city scapes turn into ruins crawling with PvE content of some kind, leaving a permanent marker of old works that can still be of some use - but then it demands new land periodically be put in.

The whole thing is probably better off as a sci-fi, and dropping entirely new planets in over time, but then there is a whole other issue (as seen, again, in Wurm Online) where most players will all create a gold rush of sorts moving to the new areas, leaving all the old stuff behind in exchange for a fresh taste of it all. Every new map they drop in Wurm gets crowded and used up within the first week, making the rest ghost towns. Some people even hold areas greedily across all maps, but that is more of an isolated issue with how that game handles it.

Originally posted by GTwander

Originally posted by xaritscin

Originally posted by GTwander

One thing about the rally for any spherical/toroidal world dynamic is that it sets the extent of that world's reach in stone. There really is no adding to it after it's set, and even if you could, it destroys already set geographical boundaries and aesthetics. Say you are able to break it off and add more north-south of the existing content - the new areas are pretty much set to being polar zones. You could do the same in the east/west, but eventually the sphere will become shaped like a pumpkin. A toroidal cylinder is a much better idea, but it means you have to add new areas "between" existing ones (if you see what I mean by that).

no, to be honest i didnt get it....

What I mean is that both the spherical and east-west continuity of a toroid (think of a doughnut you can only see the outside edge of, or a cylinder), adding new areas will basically put that land "between" existing areas. If you consider the real-world map of Earth, if you add a new continent, it's going to end up smack in the middle between the old and new world. It's not like pushing new playable areas out to the 'edges', because there are no edges.

~and @Lifebrinks's statement

The problem with that is with his concept of "building" and adding cities and such. There is going to have to be limits on how many players can populate a single server, or how many eligible cities or settlements there can be, simply based on a limit of available land. The other problem with it is not taking into account "scarring" the gamescape with ruins and other projects that get walked away from.

I'm going to use Wurm Online as a prime example here, because they *have to* add new maps periodically because the playerbase leaves a crazy amount of scarring on the mapface, and new/old players alike want to work with fresh materials. The game is set to remove roads and buildings from inactivity, but all the terraforming remains, leaving giant patches of flatland that leave a 'stencil' of sorts, that force new settlers to work harder to 'fix' it to what they see fit - or simply to work the land as is. I'm not sure what the OP has in mind for what all is possible, in terms of "building" on the mapface, but he really needs to consider this caveat a bit more... perhaps by actually limiting the options a bit to allow areas to reseed themselves more naturally when not used for long periods of time - but it still doesn't manage player population issues, nor typical stagnation associated with playing in the same areas indefinitely.

Technically, he could even put said scarring to use, by having unused and decrepit city scapes turn into ruins crawling with PvE content of some kind, leaving a permanent marker of old works that can still be of some use - but then it demands new land periodically be put in.

The whole thing is probably better off as a sci-fi, and dropping entirely new planets in over time, but then there is a whole other issue (as seen, again, in Wurm Online) where most players will all create a gold rush of sorts moving to the new areas, leaving all the old stuff behind in exchange for a fresh taste of it all. Every new map they drop in Wurm gets crowded and used up within the first week, making the rest ghost towns. Some people even hold areas greedily across all maps, but that is more of an isolated issue with how that game handles it.

that's the explanation i needed, well i was thinking that the code would just reuse the unused land, i mean, if a player hadnt used the game in for example 1 year, and he didnt respond to the emails about account inactivity, then the game would remove its house, and eliminate the property of the land, allowing it to be used by another player or used as part of the landscape again (with ores or trees growing on it). the other idea would be to create a delimitation between usable land, i mean, if a "guild" would like to create a town, they would have to construct a town hall, or the like. and from there manage the urban limits of the territory. also, with a difference between an urban construction and a rural construction since the game is placed in the XIX century, we dont have walled cities with castles (this could change due to PvP issues).

about the problem of the amount of cities, well part of it would be the removal due to inactivity, like in Ultima. but also because of the world's scale. procedural generation allows for bigger maps without large amounts of space. so i guess i could get a good scale where the world would look almost realistic in size, and would allow to create big cities without problem. again, im just and student, so i dont know how would that work in a server, but i guess is possible. the problem with that level of inmersion would be that players would feel overwhelmed by the World's size, so i would have to thing in ways to make the transport more "faster", mounts are always ideal, because mounts they will have an importance apart from transport and fast travel. but i guess there will have to bee some sort of "fast" travelling transports, like going on trains, using airships and ferries. since i plan to have naval and aerial combat, this would be a challenge too.