Originally posted by galad2003

. . . one of the stories characters plays the future version of an MMORPG.  He has this uber barbarian character  who is one of the best on the server.  He plays a fantasy based MMO and there are refrences to all kinds of other types of games too. 

When the characters travel on Otherland trying to get out they go from world to world, Not all of them are sci -fi based.  So this game, assuming when you play you are jacked into Otherland, has the ptoential to have each different zone be a different genre.  So you might be in a fantasy zone, then a sci-fi zone, then a western etc.

 

I don't know how this would all pan out on gameplay and character progression but don't get pigeon holed into thinking this will be a sci-fi game.

That character who plays the barbarian (he's gravely ill in "real life", no?) is playing in a fantasy world based on "Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser". Fun series and great to see it referred to in Otherland.

Having an MMO that will change the "rules of gameplay" when transitioning between zones/worlds (one world is fantasy based, another sci-fi, another with zero-grav, one is a fairy tale, another is straight out of WWI), an MMO that will offer rich and detailed content in those different zones, could be the next MMO "breakthrough".

There are many ways this can go wrong though. I think one mistake would be to try and emulate the book's storyline. I repeat that they should think about a setting that occurs before or after those actual events.

Character progression may very well be one of the more interesting aspects this game can introduce. I can think of at least two levels of progression - your character's "real life" persona. Your avatar's ability to improve its interface/interaction with the VR. Your ability to grasp aspects of the "meta-world", manipulate the code, create items.

(For example, It might be relatively easy to create non-aggressive items/structures in the public zone - you can create go-carts, gliders, or jet-packs to  address moving around while in a hub zone, but in the "world zones" it becomes progressively harder to manipulate the environment, to bend it to your will. The reverse holds true as well - if you have a Holy Avenger sword in your fantasy-themed world and decide to transition to the public zone, the sword will end up appearing as a walking stick perhaps. Now travel with your walking stick to the sci-fi world and your walking stick ends up being a lasar rifle.)

There can also be your avatar's progression through the world zone it decides to level up in. My friends and I might prefer to establish a base on a planet, or hold a castle by a medieval town, or perhaps rule an island archipeligo. Each zone will have a set of skills that need to be improved upon. Some skills may overlap between zones, while others are entirely unecessary and leave your character vulnerable. So before switching to another world you may have to find a way to acquire a new skill in the public zone from an NPC or PC.

PvP is another interesting aspect of gameplay that could do well in an MMO like this. I can see a non-consequencial annoyance PvP in the hub zones, to an all out sadistic PvP zone world made specifically for players wanting to play that way.

I think it has the potential to be a great game. Good luck to those in Singapore.

 Along with The Matrix, Otherland, seems like a great storyline for an MMO.

The fact that MxO failed  has nothing to do with its genre. I still can't think of a better suited plot for an MMO.

What Otherland brings into the mix, imo, is the "interconnected worlds/theatres".

There could be central hubs - public zones, perhaps tied to time zones - where players can interact and where people can travel to the various worlds. 

Secret rooms/worlds, virgin worlds/zones (waiting to be molded into some guilds fantasy land), fantasy based zones, futuristic, sci-fi zones, contemporary inner city, yada, yada, yada. You can have the best of any MMO out there, and then some.

Players accumulate skills which may or may not be valuable in any particular world.

It shouldn't be necessary to constantly switch zones/worlds for new content.

Imo, the MMO should pick up either after or way before the actual books storyline. Having to try and constantly save the world from god-like beings that can alter the matrix is too daunting.

Let players/guilds become the next menace.

If they can actually let go of the book's storyline and instead capture the essence of the environment and the "rules" of how players can affect and create/destroy within the world, I think they have the basis for a great MMO.

This may have been "said before".

Couldn't something like a "transformers" setup be adapted to EvE?

You'd retain your pod/clone, but it would be moved into a "transformer" which would then be launched to the moon/large asteroid/rocky planet you wanted to scout.

You could have offensive, defensive, mining, and engineering "transformers" with the same basic weapon types as ships (missiles, projectiles, lasers, etc.)

You could also have mines and other types of perimeter defenses for mining operations.

Long dead civilizations/technologies could be discovered . . .

I wonder if it would actually add something new to EvE though, in that you'd just be transporting elements of the game to surfaces.

You could even have gravity effect the gameplay (large asteroid vs moon vs planet) . . .

I know it is difficult for you "who cares it just a fetus" people but if you believe that a baby begins at conception then you won't choose abortion to fix this problem.  A 16 year old is not ready for the emotional and financial burdens of taking care of a child.  So you say it is your child and take care of the child as if it was yours. 

Poor family values would of been getting an abortion.  Poor Family values would of been sending your child to school to be mocked by the other children (which still happens to this day) because she was pregnant. 

 

Sorry for you liberals but this is anything but an example of Poor Family Values.

"Who cares it's just a fetus"?   Anyone that approaches a discussion of abortion with this attitude is ignorant.

This is not a place to discuss when life starts, if it starts at all.

It is very gracious of you to have the VP candidates actions elevated to the status of "martyrdom".

She covered up an embarassing situation for herself. She avoided facing up to the fact that her daughter had pre-marital sex - a taboo in her cultural/political sphere.

What happened to abstinence? The VP candidate's daughter did not pass family values 101 it seems - either she was a bad student, had bad teachers, or both.

So people make mistakes, some choose abortion, others chose to bring a new life into the world. Neither is right or wrong, but thinking makes it so. That is "pro-choice".

As to "family values" . . . I can't even begin talking about what's wrong with that statement.

I'm not sure if this is what your talking about, but take a look at Fantasy Grounds.

It doesn't have voice/chat capabilities, but with Vent or TS it could easily be done.

Hope this helps.