I had a great time in AC2. It had its faults but they could have been sorted. No game since got me entranced by the landscape enough to sit and watch the sunset..  The game was destroyed by the rabid trolls on forums and the disastrous  launch which combined to put off new players. I have played LOTRO from launch and apart from musical instruments they are distinctly different games. Of all the MMORPG i have played AC2 and Horizons were the best if flawed games

Its just nice to have Fantasy MMORPG's in the pipeline able to take advantage of Hardware and software advances. I have read most of the WOT series and enjoyed them. Since given the limitations of current hardware and software noone can create a world as deep and complex as that described in the books, it should however be possible to make a good, fun game based upon it. In fact I would welcome any game that is not another cheap attempt to cash in on WoW. So many developers set out with great ideas only to be forced to conform by publishers to a guaranteed money making formula and create another 1 month wonder.

What is the surprise?  You saying only corporates have the imagination and skills to create games? many successful companies started small, Bill Gates had no track record prior to producing an operating system. Your research is pointless.   Lets see the finished product and then make a judgement.

Really do not understand what you are trying to achieve Friction2u? Have they asked you to give them money? Are they part of some underworld plot to take over the world? Or are you employed by some corporation to rubbish new innovative ideas?

A game costs me nothing until its released, If someone has a good idea for a game and the skills to create it who cares where they live and work.  Our industry has a history of good products created by small teams in garages,  all that is needed to create software is a computer, Time, skill and a good Idea.  What I am fed up with is corporates milking the Market with WoW clones doing the same old stuff with differnt graphics and a few tweaks.

I like to have Alts, I find I learn how to play the game with my first character then experiment with my second  alt. My third Alt is most likely to become my Main character. If slots allow another Alt becomes my banker. depending on grouping rules the might be a low level Alt to play with new members. If I end up as Guild Master then that would most likely require another Alt that lives in the guild house.

Alts and their misuse lead onto another Hot subject that of character naming. It seems to me tha C0S is a bit more RPG than a lot of recent games and so perhaps needs a strong naming policy.

I would like 4 names for a character  Title,  Player forename, Player Clan name and guild  Name

The title would have to be earned

The two Player name combination should be unique to extend the options to use popular names like Hawk or Strongbow

Guild name would not have to be the full Guild title a guild could agree on a guild name ie "The Grand Order of the wild Rose" could adopt "wildrose" as the guild suffix to members names.

I always spend time naming my characters and It can be frustrating for those joining an established game as it seems all the preferred names are taken. Many game companies retain names for the life of the game even those of players who have quit. They are kept in hopes that they can persuade them to rejoin. I think they should be made available 12 months after a player has quit.

There are a number of Name generators on the internet. Such a program could be used to help those with little time and limited imagination to produce an acceptable name.

you want thoughts on abilities

What is an ability? It means something you can do if you want to. normally you cannot gain an ability. a deaf person has not the ability to hear and no amount of training will restore that ability. you have the ability to swim or ride a horse but must learn the skill. Not all swimmers can swim the same distance or speed since the level of their ability to swim varies. abilities are set at birth (character generation) and they cannot change. At least I have never thought of a game character becoming deaf or losing limbs permanently. So players could allocate a weighting to a range of abilities during character generation although this would be limited to prevent creation of useless templates. This will prevent "god like" characters since they would limited in skill level they have the ability to reach.

The thing players increase is skills.  Skill levels are limited by abilities for example a good sense of smell and keen eyesight is essential for becoming a master hunter or scout.  some stats can be increased by training such as strength, dexterity, stamina etc.

Skills should increase by using them and be boosted by training but are limited by ability, for example the ability to concentrate would limit magic users eventual limit or the power of the spells you could learn, but not stop a player learning spells,

I must admit that sorting out what is an ability a stat and a skill could be fun.

see, smell, hear, determination, courage, concentration, stubboness, intelligence, commonsense would be abilities

you could have weakness's fear of hights, enclosed places, water, darkness, light

stats which can change strength, dexterity, stamina

skills such as swimming, rideing, weapons, spells etc

Also not sure where character levels fit in since this usually boosts stats in a totally artificial way

The debate about selling Guilds does raise a question. Many guilds seem to have a lifespan. Start small grow quite quickly stabilize for a month or 3 then slowly decline as some members get attracted to a new game or the most active players leave the rest behind and look for high level guilds doing end game stuff.

What is needed is a way for small declining guild which still has a core of dedicated members to merge with another guild smoothly and with dignity. Perhaps officers retain status in merge, the leadership issue is addressed. possibly it could be possible to change the guild name and select which guild house the newly formed guild will use.

My Guild was created in 1999 and has survived moving from game to game until today. 

It should not be difficult or expensive to create a guild the challenge should be in building up the guilds status.

I want a guilds to be able to make themselves unique. a tribe, clan, unit, gang, society. This means they have an Identity and ethos. The rules should allow a wide range of guild formats. From a loose group of  friends all of equal status to a highly regimented military style unit.  This requires flexibility, for instance you should be able to name the members functions within the guild ie Officer, Veteran, Quarter master, Boss, Chief, Enforcer and so on. As to what information should be available to members the answer is as much as possible but provide the Guild Master with the means to pick and choose what information will be available at what level in hierarchy. It could be that a guild wants to play at being a secrete society of assassins where information about other guild members is very restricted. Other formats may be encourage competition between members and more details are needed.

Information could include

Listing names, Date Joined, Rank, Class, Nickname, Online/offline, Guild awards, location, last on, Main or Alt, Notes

Guilds should be restricted to 100 main characters plus that 100 main characters Alts. Very large guilds become impersonal and difficult to manage. However formal alliances of 2 or more guilds should be possible allowing the to share access to guild houses

All in favour of guild coat of arms for use on standards shields etc. Not difficult to program if using a wide range of defined symbols. A nice touch would be to have buffs attached to Guild symbols earned  through Guild actions.

A guild house should start out out as a small hut which can be enlarged and enhanced through guild members efforts and activities.

Activities possible in Guild house could include crafting, Training, Sparing, eating and drinking although the Guild house would have to enlarged to permit such activities.

Trophies are good perhaps it may be possible to capture enemy Standards as well.

I assume guild houses would be instanced so be a bit generous with the plot of land

Within a guild house you could have your own private instanced room with storage. 

Instant free access from any portal  to Guild house and return to location.  

NPC's that appear when the facilities are provided such as a guild banker, Traders, Trainers and guards

In many games Death penaltes seem to be a punishment for playing solo. Groups usually have a class to can ressurrect dead players and offset health penalties. Death is a normal result of players pushing themselves and they should be encouraged.

I suggest death is a matter for Divine intervention. Either you build up favour with your god in which case you could ask it to ressurect you. If you can not call due to lack of favour or to limit cost,  be portted to the nearest shrine and a small loss of favour is removed. If you are out of favour with your  God then a penalty in terms of ability and or health is incurred until you are back in favour. Allowing favour to be "bought" by contributing or sacrificing money or items at altars would prevent penalties  getting too harsh. you could still have class/characters who could use their favour to get you resurrected.

I dont like corpse runs they tend to be time wasters and disincentives. they punish solo players again. no problem getting corpse run group after a group wipe.  harder to find help when there is nothing in it for the helper.

I see nothing wrong in having quests that requires player co-operation providing the tools and rewards are provided.

The biggest block in my opinion to group play is the time it takes to organise and gather players to form a group. No one likes spending hours spamming for group members then waiting for hours while they gather themselves together as they, stop to sell gear. go to toilet, repair before making their way to gathering point only to have to go to dinner part way through quest.  With groups of 6 it is hard work in CoS 8 man groups this could be a real pain. One part of the answer is mixed level groups with an appropriate reward system. The only game I have played that got this right was Horizons who,  if memory serves, had 8 member groups.

There are situations that encourage grouping

If you hear a village is under attack from a large group of Mobs you will want to gather a group in order to fight them.

A quest may demand a number of skills to accomplish which no single player can possess.

Guild members will group simply out of friendship and to help guild status.

Players group to avoid getting in each others way.

A long complicated quest attracts groups as it reduces quest completion time.

An area is too dangerous to play in alone.

I sat down and read all the information on web site. It ticks all my wishlist boxes.  Allowing low and high level players to play together is essentual. Allowing limited PvP is good, not getting ganked while trying to quest is even better.

It will be nice to see some fresh races as long as they arent elves and hobbits with different names  :)

Having thousands of Players in thousands of instances has me boggled -- EQ2 leaps to mind with all those Instance queues.

A world that progresses from day to day should be the biggest draw but I dare not get too excited after experiencing so many disappointments but if they pull it off I will be onboard.

I followed Vanguard for years and the endless Hardcore v Casual debates. It is a pointless discussion especially relating to a game with such a unique specification.

The real question is is it fun to play by the games target audience. Vanguard tried to be hardcore and has struggled. LOTRO is even softer than WoW and is doing good. The reason.. Its more fun to play.

Even trolls are better than nothing. Providing they generate discussion.  A dead, inactive forum is the one to be feared.

I have since 1999 played most MMORPGS out there and am currently playing LOTRO and have Vanguard account in hopes the game may be sorted. The quest where you rescue an NPC then see it back in its original location every time you visit that location is annoying. Horizons was plagued with bugs but the concept of players changing the world was one of the best teatures in all the games I have played.

As others have pointed out the restrictions on groups due to differnces in levels is a pain. It was an aspect of WoW which I hated.

I am a little confused as to what two players who have pursued simular quest lines but with different outcomes would see when they enter a location where one player saved a building from distruction and the other failed?

Guess after 3 years dev it is already to late to introduce any more concepts. I do feel the normal character leveling system which restricts a players access to a fraction of the game world should give way to a skill level based system. My other wish is a game with proper collision detection. Still enough of day dreams.

I like the game you describe. I would buy it if you could produce it.

I followed Vanguard for 3 years on a daily basis with nearly 4000 constructive posts. They highlighted some of the biggest dangers to a development.

Project Creep - Agree on a specification and safe timetable stick to it.

Sods law - Rules

Landscape - Small is better than empty. LOTRO have this right starting with a small well poputated world and adding to it year on year.

Release when Ready - See sods law. You need an extended Beta but that is where so many games die. Make sure there is sufficent funds to finish the job. A rubbish Launch is very hard to recover from.

Graphics - WoW and LOTRO aimed at mid level player systems which was one reason for their success.

Dont hype up the game.  You wont be forgiven. I bet most contributers to these forums can run off a list of false promises.

Dont sell out to Sony.

Best of luck