All Posts by Nikkons017

Just a little bit of info about the game i'm designing so you guys can have a idea of what i'm talking about:

- world is FFA PVP

- cities and villages are well guarded and have defensive measures installed to deter player killing inside or around them. rest of the world is pretty much open pvp combat.

- pk'ers get npc and/or player bounties on their head and are hunted down by both player and npc bounty hunters actively. Killing them doesn't remove the bounty on their head automatically, so the people who like to kill people alot for their entertainment will always be running from the law so to speak.

My question is that you have PVE rewards for better gear , money, other items, craft supplies but there is really nothing on the side of the fence for the pvp crowd, so how can we fix this? Most people who want loot pvp want to loot the players items and gear directly from them which seems logical but doesn't really appeal to a lot of people. So how can we add in looting to the pvp game whilst keeping things moderately fair for the pve crowd?

idea #1: the only 1 item they can completely lose for dying is their money. They are given a choice beforehand on how much money they carry on their person so it is a fair decision for them to lose that money if they die and somebody takes it. Money when people die stays with the corpse, so for them to get their money back they have to travel back to the corpse.

- players will also drop various ingrediants that composes of their bodies which is used in crafting recipies. These can only be obtained by killing other players in the game and thus it further involves the pvp crowd in the whole great scheme of things.

- when players die they will be spawned at the nearest friendly cloning bay in a city that they previously visited. So players can spawn far away from where they died. When resurrected players will have to travel within the city to the Item Recovery/Bank building and get their gear.

- players gear will only be hit with a durability penality based on how much damage the gear sustained whilst in combat. So if they fall victim to a lucky head shot then they don't have to fit the repair bill seeing it didn't take any damage. any gear that is taken from the player will not affect the players gear, it will only give their killers a copy of 1 piece.

- players who kill the other players will not only be able to loot the crating ingrediants but will also have a chance to loot a broken version of a piece of armor the player is wearing. Items drop rates will vary by the rarity of the item. Super rare items will be very hard to obtain through pvp kills but it is possible. When getting their broken item they will have to reverse-engineer the piece back into shape or they have the option to break it down into materials used in other building/crafting professions.

so what do you guys think? (y/n)? feel free to add to this if you wish.

Game Balance Designer
Location:     Texas - Austin (BioWare + Pogo)
Role:     Game Designer
Specialty:     Game Designer
 
BioWare Austin is searching for looking for a talented Combat Designer. This is a senior role which will be responsible for helping build and maintain the balance of the character progression for a AAA massively multiplayer project. You will partner with programmers, artists and other designers, driving idea conception, guiding design iteration and helping to manage playtesting. Areas of responsibility will include: game balance, character abilities and skills, itemization and loot, AI design, class design, boss creature design, and planning for future expansion.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities
• Collaborates with artists and programmers to develop AAA quality visual and visceral combat experience for a massively multiplayer RPG, including but not limited to visual flow of combat, NPC AI, and basic combat control.
• Drives combat playtesting: setting up and running the tests, gathering the feedback, and driving the task lists to iterate upon.
• Responsible for systems design, aid with developing character progression options, dungeon and boss creature design.
• Reports to the Lead Combat Designer.

Experience
• Bachelor degree in Mathematics, Statistics or Economics.

• 1-3 Years industry experience in game design and game systems design

• MMO play experience, including high end play (such as raiding, PvP or city sieging) is a must.

• MMO development experience is highly desired.

Pluses
• Practical experience with MS Excel, MS Access and programming or script languages such as Perl or Python.
• Demonstrated abilities with statistical or economic theory.
• Familiar with numerous pen and paper role-playing systems a plus.
• Good team worker, with the ability to communicate fluently with programmers and artists.
• Able to write clear and concise documentation.
• Strong understanding and clear thinking on how to make games that appeal both to casual and hardcore gamer.
• Self-motivated, with a strong drive to see projects through to completion.
• Proven ability to think holistically, and understand how adjusting game balance will adjust far-reaching parts of the game design.

***All applicants must submit project work with their resume***
Send in an example project that demonstrates your ability to develop or analyze the complexities of RPG game math. One option would be to do something which showcases your understanding of the intricacies of the RPG elements in an existing MMO, such as World of Warcraft, Everquest 2 or City of Heroes. Examples include:

• A spreadsheet or website demonstrating a thorough understanding of another game’s inner workings.

• A design for a new class or system designed to fit into and augment the design of an existing massively multiplayer title.

Well I don't know about you guys, but this game is going to be one with the following:

Levels - (high end game play)

Classes

Raiding

City Sieging

PvP

Itemized Gear and Loot system

Based off of other Games such as WoW,EQ1-2,CoX

Mimic Pen and Paper GamePlay -> Linear Gameplay is a good bet.

I'm sorry but this just seems like the same ol' rehash of every other wow clone made to date. I don't know if they have a few tricks up their sleeve but who knows. But seeing that they want this stuff in their game the sandbox that everybody has been hoping for has already been thrown out the window for a more , hummmm piece of the "WOW PIE". At the very least the story won't suck and wont be sacrificed for stupid game play mechanics like all the other wow - clones. But alas only time will tell, but this make me a very sad panda.

The question is kind of broad but I would like to know some of the features and tools that would help make managing a guild better and less stressful and time consuming.

Another thing I would like to know is what kind of activities should guilds be allowed to do or abilities they should get to have? The best way I can describe this is to say that a guild has x levels of advancement and with each level they gain a new perk for their guild to make use of. WAR has a system like this but also adds in the banner concept which allows you to take your perks with you to the battlefield. What other ideas can you guys come up with to help guilds do stuff in the game world.

What sort of other activities can guilds embark on to advance and grow and change the game world?

Originally posted by CaptainTroll

Hey gang I'm a little new here and a tad bit nervous and a little bit shy, so go easy on me will ya. Anyway, I found something I thought was interesting. I thought it was so interesting I had to share it with you folks. The following information was written by a gentlemen named Dr. Mike Thomson. Dr. Thomson says:

"I've had over 60 years of experience with women and I can say, the worse you treat them, the better they like you. No woman wants a man that exist only for them. They will forget that man and go for a dog that treats them like crap. Women, by nature, like a strong man who makes them worry and think,-- a man who is unpredictable. A man who is always there for them and anticipates their every whim becomes a total bore in no time flat. When you meet a woman, tell her you already have a woman you see regularly. Tell her if she wants to be with you, she will only be allowed on certain days. This scenario peaks the interest of most chicks, they cannot resist because of curiousoty. Thrust me on this"

Guys and gals, what are your thoughts on this? What do you think of his statement towards woman. I am eager to hear your respones and would love to engage you folks in an intellectual and stimulating debate.

Captain Troll

 

This falls into the science of the three types of men: Leader/alpha, jerk/a##hole, and the nice guy

As you should no nice guys finish last in the pecking order because they act more like emotional tampons for women and don't provide them what they want. Over 95% of men make up this category.  Now this may not apply to you but most are indecisive, lack confidence, or just don't know what to do. Most men believe that they are supposed to be born knowing how to hook up, date, seduce women but it is only true for a very select group of men who are referred to as naturals which seem to be naturally good with women. The nice guys come off to women as boring and very needy. These guys do things like try to buy sex with fancy dinners, ornate and expensive gifts, fine wines and other things they may have worked 100's of years ago but are useless today. These guys are sexually passive which is the same women are which means you wait for them to take the lead and progress towards sex, dating, talking to etc..

the jerk role of men give women the emotional rollercoster of a ride. They get the emotional highs he gives her by making her laugh and such but also the lows when he makes her cry. From my experience most jerks only seem to attract very emotional headcases, most of which have self esteem issues and are generally not the best to go after. Yes you get laid more than the nice guys but thinking you have to be a jerk to woman to get it is just ridiculous. Women are more interested in these types of guys rather than nice guys because they normally are not boring. They atleast seem to be interesting. These guys are sexually agressive.

the best role to fall into is the leader or alpha male role. You are confident in your actions, you could care less if a woman blows you off because you know you could easily just go and get another chick. Sex is no big deal to you and you display it. This removes you from being needy and ultimately screwing things up. You are sexual in your actions and display dominance and control to be likeable but not like staring people down. You don't want to hurt your likability. you know that any women would be lucky to have you and you know that you could please any women you are with. You take the lead in most situations especially in the role of seduction and sexual interaction and dating. Your decisions are quick and you are not indecisive, you know what you want in life and have your sh$$ together. You know what kind of women you want and you go for it. You don't wonder what if, you just do it.

Women like men to take the lead and provide them with the emotional highs that they seek. Women like sex just as much if not more than men do. Women are emotional creatures so things like sex they need to be thinking emotional for things to happen, logic seems to turn women off instantly. So logic topics like computers, games, economics need to be avoided as they break rapport with the women and hurt your "desperate" attempt to get her to sleep with you. hehe. Women will not normally take the lead in any situations because of the social repercussions from their peers with labels such as slu$ and who#$ and all of those. Most women when they meet and have sex with men precieve that they were just "swept off of their feet and couldn't resist". Its not some mystically force that makes this happen but skill by the man.

Dating is a skill, seduction is a skill, sex is a skill, relationships is a skill, marriage is a skill and all are areas where improvement can happen. Go to google and look up some help books because there are tons of them to help you learn these skills or you can just go out there blind and "settle for what you can get" which is what most of the guys do. I hope this has helped you guys some and wish you the best of luck.

Those of you who have watched and kept up with the current US economy you know there is trouble brewing about. Currently investors are in a state of panic, they are taking their money and moving it into foreign markets and putting some of it into commodities such as gold and silver. But here is some news if you haven't been keeping up and some more important info:

Since January investors see market slipping further and further into recession and possible the forecast of a depression or complete economic collapse.

march 13-14 2008 Congress hold secret session to discuss "FISA Bill and other issues" other wise knowns as security issues which was the offical topic released to the press. This type of meeting has only been held by congress 4 times over the 182 years of democratic process. During the meeting the members of congress where told information that caused some of them to become so upset and concerned for their contry that they violated their oath of sworn secretcy to leak the following information:

* Economy is in trouble and the gov't giving them the prediction that the economy would collapse by late 2008 and has enabled Marshal Law Plan to take effect if it happens.

* as a result of the collapse civil war would break out in response

* Government has issued secret safe house locations for members of congress and their families to stay during the civil unrest to protect them from possible retailiation from the people

* Government has issued round-up measures to capture and detain issurgents that are likely to rise up against the Government in times of civil unrest, these detainees will be held in REX-84 camps built throughout the United States.

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Other news has found out that America has joined in pact with Mexico and Canada where they have agreed to supply "troop involvement" in times of "civil unrest".

Those three countries have also been rumored to be forming the North American Union after the collapse and re-establishing a new form of currency called the "amero".

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Over the past several months the value of the dollar is falling dramatically, currently 1 euro = 1.57 dollars

and it is only projected to get worse.

Mortgage crisis is continuing throughout the entire United States having more than 35,000+ foreclosures a week. And that number is growing rapidly.

Secondary mortage backers Freddie mac and Fannie may are thought to be in an unstable condition. These two private companies support more than 50% of the us housing markets which amounts up to around 4-8 trillion dollars. If these two companies fail federal government plans to step in and bail them out if that is even possible. It is estimated that these two companies have lost over 20 billion already.

IndyMac a large bank branch in the west has just went under losing an estimated 40 billion dollars in assets that the fdic now has to insure. It is states as one of the most expensive failures in the nations history.

JP morgan just bought out "forget the name" i think it was morgan stanly or merril lynch backed by the federal government to offset impending crisis.

as of 12 of january 2008 national debt has reach in excess of 9.4 trillion dollars and continues to grow daily.

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Since january 2008 till now investors have moved over 2 trillion dollars to other markets.

oil prices are growing to insane numbers being about 150 dollars a barrel and its projected to get even worse. Currently the national average is over 4 dollars a gallon and is project to hit over 5 dollars by the end of the summer. Oil companies are reporting record profits.

as far as stock markets go the DOW has recorded it lowest number in over 59 years. First it was broke the record in march but them got even lower in June. Nasdaq, S&P 500 have also reached new low setting records.

throughout the country massive layoffs have been occuring in companies to compensate for the amount of money they are losing due to high fuel costs and many other factors. Airline companies are in a state of SOS and are doing everything they can to cut costs. Fuel costs for them have almost doubled since February. They are now cutting out in-flight movies and excess equipment such as dishes and some meals to cut weight to save fuel costs. They are also planning on upping the price for customers to check baggage, sit in isle seats, or to have meals. These are all in an effort to offset their already disastorous losses. Some Airline compaies have already cut 7000+ jobs and are expected to cut over 10k more if things don't get better soon. They have already retired 18 planes and cut flights to various locations, even those that are heavily dependant on tourism.

Major car manufactures have reported massive loses, companies like GM and Ford were hit the hardest. They have now resulted in cutting jobs, and practically slash production for SUV's and other gas guzziling giants. In michigan it is reported to have the worst economy in the US due to its large dependance on the major manufactures.

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Everything in our economy has already started to feel the effects of higher fuel costs and the cost of food is starting to sky rocket. Milk is also now over 4 dollars a gallon.

Because of tight family budgets to compensate for the higher costs tourism locations are greatly suffering with the lack of people spending tons of money like usual.

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Now these economic problems have not just suddenly occured in the last year or so but have been building in the background for the past decade and have recently come to light. This has a lot to due with the governments horrible fiscal policy in which its solution to debt is to just print more money. Other countries around the world have been loaning the us money by buying bonds and t-bills, some counties like china have been reported to be spending over 300million a week to help us keep aflot. All reserves are now to a point where they are to depleted to loan us any more money and thus we can't mask the problem anymore. Some people say that the reason the US is in iran was to take of the main banking structure there and to get access to its reserves, not sure if this is entirely true but I'd say its not too far off. Now there are bush and them want to bomb iran !?

The war on iraq is costing the us about 2 trillion per week in funding. Only minor progress is being reported, most news stations now are either calling it a lost cause or just a loss. Its basically a war we can't win.

Unemployment has skyrocketed from 193k people to over 460k people from january 08.

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If you want to verify the things said here today just search on google for the info and see for yourself. Look at what Warren Buffet, Peter Schiff, and other financial gurus have to say about the economy and what they are doing because the vast majority of investors following the head guys.  Even Ron Paul has addressed congress about the state of the economy and its impending collapse of the dollar if we don't do something.

Ben Bernake is in a state of turmoil right now because the only way to correct the problem is to raise tax rates signifigantly. In return for doing this everythings price is going to skyrocket which may result in what is called hyperinflation, this in turn causes the economy to collapse. His second thing he can do is to cut interest rates thereby reducing income flowing to the governemtn but in the short run offsets the collapse by a few more months. Either choice does not look good for the economy.

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I'm not sure if people feel the same way about the economy like I do but I foresee a perfect storm brewing and is about to cause mass anarchy. It is not the rich that are going to suffer in this turmoil but the middle and lower class.

But how do you feel about the state of the economy?

Originally posted by CactusmanX

It makes sense, sounds a lot like my concept of balance.  You really can't have very balanced combat if gear boosts character stats so I agree it is best to not even have it.

 

The good thing about this system is you could add new categories and new weapons and armor to fill new niches in the spectrum of balance, so it is very expandable without getting into uber-weapons.

 

Two cons though

 

I don't know how you are planning to denote skills or what have you, but I would steer away from making it so that players need to carry melee, ranged and spells all the time, so that pure melees, pure ranged and pure magic could work.  It sounds like you aren't doing that but just a bit of caution never hurt.

 

Magic seems as if you can have spells but also other weapons as well.  Where ranged and melee guys are limited buy their weapons and armor, magic seems like it could use the same weapons and armor and transcend that through spells.  For example if my guy wears light armor when useful but slaps on a magic shield when useful, non-magic guys cannot do that.

Valid concerns, but to answer i'll need to go more in depth about how the systems co-exist together. When first developing the idea of combat in Rendition I made it very clear throughout the design that everybody would be completely equal in terms of ability to obtain anything in the game. Skills in the game are learned through various trainers that are distributed throughout the world, where as the better (cooler looking, flashier) skills belong to trainers that are harder to find throughout the game world. Noting this you can assume that everybody has access to every skill in the game because all they have to do is find the trainer and complete his/her task to obtain the skill, however in a fight it is safe to assume that even though everybody has access to skills, not everybody will have the same skills. In the game everybody will have the ability to learn all types of magic, wield all types of melee weapons, and fire any ranged weapon, drive any vehicle, and build any base.

Even a melee user can have a chance to learn spells, but that is not there only option. Here is a example:

Melee 1 is the ultimate at close range combat but has trouble getting in range of a gunner 1 before dying. Melee 1 now has the following options since he was ill equipped to fight properly. Option 1, if he knows how to use magic and set up a defense such as a flame wall, ice shield, plasma barrier etc.. then he can choose to use those magic abilities to help aid in fighting gunner 1. Option 2, consists of the use of a item or tech device where again it creates a temporary barrier and help degate or block incoming attacks. So melee 1 can choose to deploy shield arrays, magnetic repulsion technology, gravity grenades, bullet-time grenades, and other devices to help aid him. Option 3, for melee 1 is to use terrain or other structures such as vehicles, bases, houses and other obstacles to help him get with in range of attacking said gunner 1. Again he is still only using melee weapons as his form of attack but uses his other abilities to help aid him in achieving his goal. That being said gunner 1 can also help use his own abilities to help aid him in either defeating the strategy of melee 1 of trying to get in range, or aid him in fighting melee 1 when he is within range, wether that be pulling out a sword or a different gun, ammo, shield. Most of these items can be easily be bought at npc vendors in various towns, villages, cities and starports. But the better versions of these will be harder to find/build etc..

Again there is the option of where people can carry around and use all three types of combat, but the key here is that there are alternative ways over completing your objective. This helps people still have a fighting chance with how they play but there will still be player specific challenges that need to be addressed with their own playstyle and be tweaked accordinly.

There is a skill system in places which allows players of both hardcore and casual to play in harmony. I can elaborate much more on this topic if you wish, but the most important thing to remember about skills is that they can not increase damage, or effectiveness instantly. So we will not have any skills that allows  x weapon to do +x% more dmg per skill level or be x% better at doing whatever in the game. Just described is what eve online does with it skills and the inherient problem with this is that it unbalances the power gap between new and vet players, which is bad. Because we want all the players to be able to play together at any given time wether they are new or not, this is possible by making all the skills lead to more effectiveness or more accuracy, or more hits but it will only help the player out and not give them a set % increase.

So for guns we can have skills such as :

Recoil control, Breath control, shoot from the hip, rapid firing, weapon mods, barrel mods, scope mods, silencers, dual wielding, multi-targeting, steadiness, and various other skills to learn and train on. By not increasing the direct affects but doing so indirectly allows a player will a maxed out skill tree to still be on a 50/50 plain with a new player in terms of being able to kill one another. The advantage the older player will have is that they will know how to control their character better and have more unique ways along with cooler ways of killing people. Also to balance hardcore vs casual there will be a 2 part skill learning system in the game.

First there is the passive system that gives x skillpoints per 5 mins (prob. 1), then along with the passive there is an active system which grants x skill points for xmins (skill,item,ability,move) used like in conventional skill based games. Casual player can still keep up because everytime they login they will have more skill points to distribute so they will feel they are still progressing, and hardcore people will feel even better because they are essentially getting double the skillpoints because they are using there abilities. The active system was created because it gives an incentive for the players to actually play the game, thus they are rewarded for their time. But it is not game breaking.

Rendition Game Balance (PVP & PVE):

    Balance in this game is a lot different from all other games that are currently made. Some subscribe to the rock, paper, scissors kind of balance and some go with Skill a > Skill b and so on. They also buy into the fact that "More Time Played = Better Rewards" which is the final straw that can obliterate any chance of really balancing a game. So we decided to take it into a different direction.
   
    Instead of having X build beat XY build and XZ build beat XY but lose to X we went for a system that allowed X,XY,XZ builds to have a 50/50 chance of beating each other. Which means anybody with whatever build they wanted, carrying whatever weaponed they wanted could have a chancee to win no matter what the circumstances. This is true balance but most people could never actually concieve this as being feasable.
   
   
    To start off with this balancing act we removed all character levels and classes. So we get rid of the power gap between players and eliminated them from only having a set path of skills or talents or whatever to pick from. Next we eliminated all the +stam,+agil,+int,+mind and all the other stats on every single item in the game. This takes some of the focus off of the gear ultimately being the deciding factor on who wins a fight and who loses. No more of "your in t8 and you can destroy everybody, then you get in no gear and you could hit the side of a barn."
   
    We then replace the stats on the gear with a weight system. This is calculated by the type of material it is made out of and the various additions that you the player will put ontop of it. The weight system works like a give and take system allowing the most freedom a player can have while maintaining a natural state of balance.
   
    Here are some examples of how this works:
   
    Since everything a player can equip has a weight attached to it, it will affect the players ability to preform actions by various magnitudes. So if you wear lighter weight clothing options, you will naturally be able to run a little bit faster, further and jump a little bit higher than somebody wearing full platemail. This type of system allows makes sense because it is the same one that is embodied in real life so I know it works.
   
    armor weight ruleset: cloth being the lightest and platemail being the heaviest
   
    Least Protection <-----------------------------------------------> Most Protection
    Big Jump Height <-------------------------------------------------> Least Jump Height
    Least Energy Usage <-------------------------------------------> Greatest Energy Usage
                        
                                cloth -> leather -> chainmail -> platemail
   
    Takes More Dmg if Hit <---------------------------------------> Takes less dmg if hit
    Fastest Turning <-------------------------------------------------> Slowest Turning
    Most agility <------------------------------------------------------> Least Agility
   
    Using this balacing system every single possible combination of gear is always balaced versus another set because the more protection they want, the least agility they will get. This goes hand in hand with allowing the player to be able to customize their player with the right mixture of gear to suit their particualr playstyle whether it be a light weight rogue type or a heavily armored mammoth. Its their decision.
   

Ok now that we have the gear and overall character balance in the game it is time to include the forms of combat both offensive and defensive capabilities of the player. Our particualr combat system is the complete opposite of every other game currently on the market. The bulk of combat in this game will be blocking, parrying, dodging and missing. This stems from the fact that it is no longer have rotating x button presses to chip away at your opponents health bar faster than he can chip away at yours. Instead since the focus is no on getting that 1 or 2 hits in to disable or potentially kill your opponent. This is where the strategy of combat comes in.

Again normally in games you have the distinct advantages and disadvantages associated with the following types of combat:

    Melee - Spell/Technique - Ranged/Gun
   
    Melee - is good a close range and can do massive amounts of damage quickly if in range
        weakness: has to be in range of the target to hit them
       
    Spell - deal rapid fire weak spells or slow powerful ones that do massive damage
        weakness : time to cast and deploy spells effectively
       
    Ranged - deal powerful damage using their weapons
        weakness : static damage, the ability to not change damage on the fly like others
       
    So instead of trying to go with ranged beats melee but only if melee is not in range then spell is somewhere in the middle and totally botching up the whole natural balance that we are already presented with this model we instead allow each on to have a fighting chance against the other by allowing every player to equip and use every item or spell or gun or weapon in the game.
    What this does is effectively allow us to counter every build with another build. So if you are predominately a melee fighter but are having a hard time with ranged, then you can find an item such as a shield, or learn a spell shield to help you get closer to the ranged person. Every person will be able to wield melee, ranged and use spells along with items anytime, anywhere in the world. So basically we have shifted the focus of combat being who has x gear and x weapon to what x gear and what x weapon in x situation. We have created situational combat. So if your grenade launcher is the best weapon in a close quarter fight, it will probably be useless if you are fighting in a wide open field. So the key here is to use the correct weapon and the correct gear for each individual situation that you may come across. Again melee fighter that prefer using melee weapons will have more defenses against ranged and spell, while ranged and spell will have more defenses against melee fighters which essentially balances everything out. There will always be 2-3+ ways for people to counter other people and vice versa. This is balance.
   
    Weapon Balance Melee:
   
    Fast Swing <----------------------------------------------------> Slow Swing
    Lighter Weight <---------------------------------------------> Heavier Weight
   
                Dagger -> Katana -> Axe -> Short Sword -> Broad Sword
               
    Easier Control <-----------------------------------------------> Harder to Control
    Less Damage <----------------------------------------------------> More Damage
   
    Control: Momentum from each swing and the ability to change its direction
            More weight creates more momentum and thus harder to stop
           
    Within Each Weapon:
   
    Lighter Weight <-------------------------------------------------------> Heavier Weight
   
                        Copper, Bronze, Tin, Gold, Silver, Steel, Mithril
                   
    More brittle <----------------------------------------------------------> Less Brittle
   
    Brittle: Ability for the weapon to sustain damage, less brittle = can take more damage, deflect larger damages or bullets and is harder to break. Also will last longer in terms of durability.
   
    Ranged Damage is directly dependant on what type of gun and what type of ammo you use in the gun. So you get something like this
   
    Least Damage <--------------------------------------------------> Most Damage
    Quicker Reload <-----------------------------------------------> Slower Reload
    Less Recoil <---------------------------------------------------> More Recoil
   
            Handguns, SubMachine Guns, Assault Rifles, Sniper Rifle, Bazooka
       
    Lighter <---------------------------------------------------------> Heavier
    Easier to aim <-------------------------------------------------> Harder to aim
    Quicker Fire <---------------------------------------------------> Slowest Fire
   
    Damage Types: For each weapon
   
    Less Damage <-------------------------------------------------> More Damage
   
                Distance Ammo, Normal ammo, Armor Piercing, Explosive
               
    Greatest Range <-----------------------------------------------> Least Range
   
    This allows players to determine which is the best setup for their particualr situation and adjust their needs accordinly. So there is no overall best setup/build on one that caters to the player particular playstyle and for their particular situation.

So what do you guys think?

I have an interesting idea about game design from which some developers could be interested in. Normally in the development project or design whether it be fps,rts,mmo or whatever any new idea they have they normally flesh out a level/zone completely with all current "features" in it to test if they will work as intended or not and to judge if its fun or not. Most people when this applied to the MMO genre they think they have to have tons and tons of zones already created for them and tons and tons of glittery features, most of which are bugged, causes more bugs or other bugs, not working as intended or just completely broken. Also this level is usally designed with only the minimal required people usually around 5-8 people.

The idea here is that developers get the basic design elements down pat. They figure out how combat and all the other "features" in the game will work. This you don't need a world for. This is also where you can be innovative and change from the "same 'ol rehash of wow mechanics" K but the key here is that you focus on bringing tons of content to only a couple of zones in the beginning (1-2) to start out. So developing this zones you need to put in tons of deatil and tons of quests, mobs, and just interesting things to do. Get the pvp details of the game out in the open in the beginning and test out whether or not it is fun. Again you don't need a ton of people to test this out or do you need hundreds of zones.

Ok so now you the developer has a beginning world with the basics down and the bulk of the core of the game down pat and as bug proof as you can get it. And to top it off you only paying for 10-20 people at this point so it is very cheap compared to the millions you are paying for in other big named AAA mmo titles.

now that you have the core of game play working and you have quests and pvp system and probably a working crafting system yadda yadda, you can now have enough content to start getting people. At this point you offer your game free for download to get it to the broadest auidence because every likes to try out new things. Next you give them two options, first they can just play for free but they can't craft, or do anything of that nature except for the basic grinding, killing mobs, and some quests. The second option is for them to pay a measly 5 dollars a month for content to everything that you have developed so far. No matter if you pay or not players are encouraged to test out the designed features and give updates on the games mechanics and balance and what they think of quests and what not, along with any improvements that can be made to the game to please the majority of the audience that you have no gotten.

But you main goal here is to basically have a ongoing beta test even though its not the scale of conventional beta tests. You test out features of the game and when they get good enough, players can start paying the small 5 dollars a month and begin feeding your project bank account. This will help the funding and let the community help support your game vision because it is what the community wants. But in r