I wanted to shape and explain my idea a bit better so that I’m able to show more clearly how and why it can work. Just as an exercize.

Requirements: Obviously the idea is possible only if the programmers are able to implement it. From my point of view it’s nothing fancy but there are non-trivial parts. The biggest issue to solve is that the databases need to communicate between each other. Some of the data of a character will be moved (cut and paste, not simply copied) from a database to another and the problem is a possible data loss during the transition. Now I’m not a programmer but I imagine that it’s something solvable in a creative way, for example using a system similar to the journalized filesystems (ext3, XFS etc…). There shouldn’t be other problems since what I propose is simply based on the possibility of that operation/transition. So, once this problem is solved, the rest should work.

The goals: There are three different goals. The first is to regulate the load on each server/shard, so that the population is spread equally on the servers, avoiding overcrowded, crashing servers and totally empty servers. The second goal is to regulate the balance, so that the population is more even between the factions of a PvP environment. The third goal is to insert the previous two into an in-game mechanic/gameplay. So that this system is part of the frame of the game, within the frame of the roleplay and not just an Out Of Character mechanic based on the technical data coming from the math on the servers.

Beside these functional goals there are other three “design” goals:
– Create an united, global and massive environment that doesn’t artificially encapsulate the players inside air tight spaces.
– Allow the players to travel cross server, meet and play together with their friends and reorganize and build new guilds without the need to restart from zero or create alts specifically to overcome the limits in the current mmorpgs. The choice of a server won’t be “tragic” (as an unavoidable consequence that cannot be made up) as it is in other games.
– Break the overall community into smaller, manageable units-per-server through the shard system (too big communities are overwhelming and, paradoxically, make social ties nearly impossible).

“There were a lot less of us back then, so it was easier to get to know most of the folks around you. Since there were so few players reletive to current community sizes, you become friends of friends of folks and a lot sooner you really end up knowing virtually everyone whos playing, or at least are familiar with guilds.”

How it works: For this example I decided to simplify more and more my idea to show how it works in the core. All the rest are layers allowing a more precise control but the core is what it makes it a valid idea. For now I don’t need fancy data, what World of Warcraft shows in the server login screen is enough. It just tells the load of a server in three different states. Low, Medium, high. That’s all I need. At release it’s obvious that I cannot achieve the third goal I explained above (transforming the system into an in-game PvP action) so for the first month it will work in a “special” status.

The idea is that the world is still differentiated into cloned shards. Each shard has a perfect identical copy of the landmass of the game-world. On each shard you can find two types of portals. One to leave the shard you are in, like an exit, and one to arrive from an external shard. To understand better the server structure you need to look this diagram:

As you can see the shards aren’t directly connected between each other. The exit portal doesn’t bring directly a character to another shard, instead it brings it to a “limbo area” working like an “hub” (similar to Guild Wars or Tabula Rasa, but the hubs are unique and not instanced). So the transition is:

Shard(a) => Static Plane => Shard(a-z)
From a shard you can only exit to one of the planes/hubs, from a hub you can exit to every shard in the gamem (if the portal is open).

Now. As I said we know just the load of each of the shards in a three-way status. The portals simply work on the following way:

– If a server is flagged as “low” population, both “in” and “out” portals are open.
– If a server is flagged as “medium” population, same as the first case.
– If a server is flagged as “high” population, the “in” portal is closed, the “out” portal is open.

At release when you create a character you *cannot* choose a server. The game will randomly pick a “low” population server and send you there. Once you are in the game you can freely leave the shard and follow the portals rules as I explained them here. At any time players in a “high” population server can leave to migrate to a less stressed shard. Noone can get in that high populated zone till the population number will decrease under a set limit. This means that the server will never crash for server-load issues. Once a server is capped the players can leave, but not come in. The new characters instead will be sent to “low” population servers. This will help to have the players equally distributed.

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This is how the idea works at its core. Then there are a lot of “complications”. The first complication is about the real math formulas used. We cannot simply calculate the load of a server in a precise moment. Instead we’ll have an algorithm that will keep track of:

– The load on a precise moment
– The average load in the last hour
– The average load in the last twelve hours
– The average load in the last day
– The average load in the last week

The server will then combine this data and decide (giving to each a percent of relevance) if a server has “high, medium or low” load. This means that you won’t see these three statuses change sharply as the players log in and out. Instead it will be a relaxed movement. The formula isn’t done, though. Because the server also needs to track the number of unique characters it holds. This because we cannot forbid a player who logged off on a shard to not log back in because the server is set as “high”. So another percent of relevance must be granted to the number of passive (not logged in) characters inside the server. And that value must be considered once again in the calculations to sort out the status.

At this point we have a strong system to enforce *always* a precise load on the servers. Avoiding overcrowding issues and obtaining an even load on each server. But this isn’t the end. The complete system that will trigger *after* the first month after release will have three progressive “checks”:

– The first check is the one I explained above, unchanged. Each server/shard calculates its load. If it’s “red” the “in”-portal is closed. The other two checks aren’t needed. The portal is marked “red” and cannot be unblocked in any way. The players can only move out. Instead if it’s “green” or “yellow” (the load isn’t heavy) we move to the second check. At this phase the portal is still marked “red” and blocked at the eyes of the players.

– The second check is about the PvP balance. The server/shard calculates the proportion of the various PvP factions of the game, following a similar algorithm used to calculate the server load. It’s at this point that the players could see the portal change its status. If the players belong to a prevalent faction the “in”-portals are blocked even if the server load is low. Instead if you are in a faction with lower numbers AND the server load isn’t high (previous check), you’ll see the portal marked as “yellow”. It still isn’t open and usable.

– The third check is more complex because it’s about the third goal I explained above. From the player perspective the first check is hidden, passed or not. Then we pass to the second if the first was passed. If the second check fails (still red due to PvP population unbalaces) the players still have the “in”-portal blocked and red. But if the second check goes ok, the portal changes its color and becomes yellow. Now the portal CAN be opened but still isn’t opened. And we are at this third check. In this phase the system becomes gameplay. The players need to organize and conquer (PvP) power nodes inside the shard where they play. When they own enough power nodes the portal finally becomes “green” and can be used.

This is how the system works in the long run. We achieve the first goal because the server load is always under control, we achieve the second goal because the PvP faction population is as equilibrate as possible (within a threshold), we achieve the third goal because the portals are an in-game mechanic requiring you to *play*. To go out, take part in the PvP, conquer the land and then be able to move to the limbo areas where there will be access to an instanced form of high level PvE (the “adventures” in the diagram I showed above).

Have fun ;p

P.S.
As I explained here the shards will be PvP zones where the RTS layer (and the economic system) of the game takes place. But in order to participate in the conquest system and build/own/maintain properties the players will have to be organized in guilds and alliances. A guild can only set one “home” shard and cannot conquer or own territory on multiple servers. A guild can still relocate its “home” but only after giving up all its current assets.

This means that the cross server travel is always a possibility but won’t be part of the daily use. The mechanics of the game, as explained, encourage the players to organize and settle down in the home shard they choose. It’s in their interest to maintain and consolidate their progress there and not take everything and move somewhere else without a major motivation.

What is retained can carried over in a server move is the character and its possessions, plus the guild identity (if the whole guild decides to move and select a new “home”). But not the guild progress and status in the former server.

Started as a thread on Grimwell.

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We always discuss about games, if they are fun or not, if they are boring or frustrating etc… One of the most important part of a “standard” mmorpg is the combat system, so… How would you build the “perfect” combat system for a “dream mmorpg”? The rules are simple: you can imagine anything possible with the current technology. If it exists on another mmorpg you can have it too, if it’s something new it must still happen inside the technical limitations that we know or imagine. So no negative ping gode, no broadband required and no absolute twitch.

Today I took the challenge myself and started to develop the combat system from the “dream mmorpg” I’m imagining and design from various months. So I’ll describe here the general “shape” of my idea. To begin with I need at least to explain the general principles of the character creation and management since the combat is tied to them. First: no levels. Woot! My game is based solely on skills. Both combat and miscellaneous skills work in the exact same way. They are in percents. Each character has a value that goes from a minimum of zero (with no modifiers) to a maximum of 150 (it’s possible to go above 100 even with no modifiers). Each time a character uses a skill, the server makes a check. So it rolls a 100 dice, applies possible modifiers (bonuses or maluses) and then the result is compared with the skill of the character. If it’s below it’s a success, if it’s above it’s a failure. Simple and smooth.

The characteristics of a character (Strength, Dexterity etc..) are fixed. The player won’t be able to increment them aside exceptions. Those exceptions are: by the use of magic equipment or as a side effect of a complex advancement system on the “planar levels” that I won’t explain here. So the stats aren’t meant to change directly with the progression. During the char creation the race will determine the values, so they are fixed. The same will be for the related stats. Health and mana directly depend on the stats so each players will be basically the same. A “tank” won’t be directly more “healthy” than a mage and the mage won’t have more “mana” than the tank. The only differences will be about a series of modifiers (armor used, magic, buffs etc..).

How a character advances? This again keeping a general glance and without delving. The whole progress of a character is related to: 1- Skills 2- “Tools” 3- Equipment. The skills are the general template of a character and the tools often depends directly on the skills. But they are a separate entity because you can get new tools even without related skills. So, if you reach 45% in “magic”, for example, you will unblock a new spell like “fireball”. But there will be spells and other tools that won’t be unblocked directly and you’ll have to research or gain them in another way. Now, how the skills go up? Not directly through the use. The WHOLE skill system is completely quest-driven. During your adventure in the world you’ll use the various skills to do stuff. When a skill is used (successfully) many times, the server “flags” it. You will see this in the UI. Once a skill is flagged it means that the skill can *potentially* go up but nothing will directly happen. To finally use the flag you need to accomplish something. It can be a PvE quest, it can be the kill of a major monster, it can be a PvP mission etc… These special events, when accomplished, will unblock the use of the “flag”. So, we assume that a character went through a quest and finished it. Now it will have to camp and rest. During his rest the player will be able to bring up the character sheet and choose two, and only two, precedently flagged skills. Plus he’ll be able to re-flag another one (I’ll explain later). When the two skills are choosed, the server will make a check. It will basically roll a 100 dice. If the result is *below* the value that the character has in that skill, the progression is failed, till the next attempt. If the result is *above* the progression is successful. This is repeated for the second skill choosen. After all the checks are done all the previous flagged skills (assuming that the character used more than two skills) will have the flag resetted aside the one that was re-flagged and saved by the character. The skill that is going to be improved now needs another check. The server rolls a 20 dice. And divides it by 10. The result is how much the skill is going up (going from a minimum of 0.1% to a maximum of 2%). So, let say that we have “stealth” at 40%, ok? We roll the 100 dice a first time and we score 78! Great, it means that the check is passed and the skill is going to be improved. Now we roll the 20 dice and we score 12. The stealth skill will then climb to 41.2 (original 40% + 1,2% of the 20 dice roll).

Now on the combat. I’ll explain just the melee to keep things easier. Each type of attack is obviously based on a weapon, assuming that even a fist is a weapon. Usually the player will have a different skill for every weapon type, but this isn’t directly true because there will be also a side-skill that will measure the “fondness”. So a character loosing a short sword will have the “fondness” reset to zero even if it will grab and use another very similar short sword. The weapon skill is the skill of the *weapon type* (short swords, long swords, axes, 2h swords, etc..) then the skill is modified by the “fondness”. This isn’t everything. Each weapon type has also two possible values. One to attack, one to parry. The character, on its own, will also have a dodge skill that will be always active but also directly modified by the equipment. It will have a low value, for example, if the character wears a plate armor, or a two handed sword, or a shield etc.. It will have an high value if the character has only a dirk. Shields and other non-standard weapons will also have attack and defensive skills (bash/block in the case of the shield). As far as the mechanic are concerned there’s no autoattack. Each “swing” is the result of a direct action of the player. Instead the defensive and reactive styles like dodging, parrying and blocking will be checked by default by the server. When a “possibility” for one of them triggers, the UI will show a power bar, near the character filling up quickly. The player will then be able to choose if to use the opportunity or not (will have effects on the tactic, so it can be also useful to avoid to parry or block to have then a different result). This will be as much “twitch” as possible since it must involve both reflex and tactics. At the same time I believe it can still be implemented by tolerating even a 800ms of ping. So semi-twitch and perhaps similar to EQ2 eroic styles.

As I wrote at the beginning also the attacks are normal checks on the percent value of the attack skill. So the player presses a specific attack and for each “swing” there will be a check server-side. The revolution here is that the opponent IS NOT involved. The “to-hit” roll is completely undependent from the opponent. If the server’s check on the skill is successful, it means that the attack landed. This means that newbies don’t have any penalty when trying to attack even a demi-god. They only need to use successfully their skill. Only at this point (if the swing isn’t a miss) the opponent is involved. This is when the server checks for a parry, a block or a dodge. Before the combat the player is in fact able to distribute a value as a “style”. So you can chose to tell a server to always try to dodge, or dodge and parry together but the prevalence of dodging… and so on. This is what is called a “defensive style”. The plan is built outside the combat as a preference to set. During the actual fight all the defensive “work” is made by the server and only when the possibility is triggered the player will be involved to decide if effectively use the it or not. This explains how the whole defensive work happens.

Back to the offensive part. All the gameplay is basically about this one since the defense is semi-automatic. As in other games there will be a bunch of styles to choose and here I had a lot of fun to create the system. The styles are selected in a similar way to what happens in WoW or DAoC. You have a quickbar and you can see there the options. Now the fun is that the quickbar isn’t built by the player, instead it’s dynamically shifted by the client/server. Basically you can only see in a specific moment what you can directly use. The combat will be fragmented into various, consequent phases. If you choose an attack in the phase 1, you’ll be able to choose directly connected styles in the phase 2. A different choice during the phase 1 will produce different possible styles to choose in the phase 2 (this is built like a tree diagram). This brings a great deal of dynamic into the combat. The skills basically exist as “chains” of events based on effects and countereffects. Each previous choice brings to a consequent one so the whole flow not only is fast, but it is also exciting because you need to quickly plan and choose your tactic. To make this more fun and compelling I added two “aids”. The first is a way to get easily the segmentation of the combat. Instead of defining each phase as “phase 1”, “phase 2” etc… These will be graphically represented by “rubies”. I plan that the game will have a max of five “chains”, so five phases or five rubies (it’s possible to go forward, backwards and reset. So you start always at phase 1, then you can move to phase 2, then to 3. At 3 you can choose to go at 4 or go back at 2 or even reset and go back at 1. As an example). These five rubies will have five different recognizable colors. So for example, phase 1 -red- phase 2- blue- phase 3 -green- phase 4 -violet- phase 5 -black-. At a glance you’ll see the phase you are in that moment and the styles available on the quickbar that are tied to that specific phase will be colored so that you can see directly if they’ll made you move to the next or the previous phase.

More on the styles: the styles represent the whole direct interaction. These styles are acquired in the standard way. For the design level they aren’t “skills”. They are “tools” (as defined at the beginning). Like a spell. They will be unblocked when you improve a skill. So when you reach with “short sword” at 40% you will unblock a new style, and so on till a max of 150% (catassing for the win! Reaching 150% in a skill is basically impossible since to go above 100% you need to score 98-100 with a 100 dice roll each time you try to improve). Special styles can also be acquired through PvP or quests. Each style will have an effect. They can give you bonuses to the next “to-hit” roll, they can give you bonuses to damage or defence. They can hit all the targets in front of you in an arc of 60 degree etc.. Plus they will apply, remove or interact with five set “states”. I haven’t defined them yet but I expect them to symbolize effects like “stun” “dizzy” “poison” etc…

Two important side notes: The first is that each phase/ruby will have a maximum of six different styles available, so from “1” to “6” on the keyboard. But I didn’t say that each phase doesn’t represent a single attack, instead each phase groups TWO consequent attacks that will be performed in combo. In this way form a side I slow down the the combat a bit since the plan goes on from two actions to two actions, offering a wider timespan, from the other side I added some finger-twitch fun :) In fact it’s true that you can choose on the keyboard pressing the keys from “1” to “6”. But you need to do that in combo, pressing also the secondary style that is represented by “7” to “+” on the keyboard. The second side note is an important value that I didn’t consider till now: the speed of a weapon. Since there’s no autoattack, the speed has a strong role into the combat, it defines directly how fast is the interaction (so the duration of each phase/ruby). Since each phase includes two attacks it means that for weapon with a 2 second speed a phase will last 4 seconds.

Final quirk: a player can also choose to do “nothing” in a phase. It can be a choice or it can be “lag”. This is a mechanic anyway. The fact that the players isn’t attacking actively means that the defensive skills are boosted up till the character will perform again another action. But still remember that if a defensive style is triggered the character still needs to choose and activate it dynamically. Movement is also considered as a bonus/malus over the defensive styles.

Basically the gameplay offered is a chain (phases/rubies) of combos (two attacks for each phase to select at the same time) paced by the speed of the weapon with defensive styles to activate as reactive, occasional events. The speed determining the pace can also be used to define playstyles. From the highly twitch based combat of a rogue, with super fast daggers, to a more tactical, slow view of a 2h sword guy.

Final note: a roll of 1-3 represents a critical failure. In the combat it means you’ll loose a few turns. A roll of 98-100 is a critical success and in combat represents double damage.

So. I made a strange diagram showing how the whole world is built. More than the real server structure it shows the interaction between the instances from the design/player point of view.

As you can see there are three rows:
1- Worlds or shards
2- Planes
3- Adventures

The first row is about various “cloned” shards. A common concept for mmorpgs. This is where the main action will take place. Both PvP and basic PvE happen here. Each shard will be exactly identical but you still have to remember that the world is built to be dynamical and under the control of PvP. So cities will be conquered by factions and there will be a concrete conquest system with land management and ownerships.

Under specific situations and requirements, the players will be able to open portals. These portals allow the players of a shard to move to a “plane”. In this case each plane is unique (not cloned or instanced). Each will have a specific “mood” and a name. Planes are conceived as large zones but still way smaller than a world/shard. They are major hubs where particular activities can be done. The permanence on one of the planes affects the character permanently, developing abilities and weaknesses. When a portal is open it works in both directions. This means that from a world you can transit to a plane and from a plane you can go back. This isn’t all. In fact the main innovation is that from a plane you can go back to a shard/world different from yours. This means that your character is able to travel between the shards thanks to portals and planes. There are many rules about portals, travel, permanence and so on, I’ll explain the specifics elsewhere.

From a plane, then, you can also choose to start an “adventure” (instanced PvE). Each plane gives access to its specific adventures. Each adventure is an instanced session right at the beginning and can involve from one player (single-player type game) to 50+ large raids. Even here the adventures can be accessed by opening portals under specific rules. If you die or fail during an adventure there could be a “cool off” timer that could go from a few hours to a few weeks. So you can only try once and you could need to wait the timer to go before you are able to try again.

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This is basically how all the game is built. All the content works inside that structure. Obviously the creativity is in how the content itself is built. For example the adventures will be different from how they are being used till now. Offering varied and fun gameplay.

Just two ideas I had are about time-related intances:
– The first type is tailored for a small group (even single player or duo). You have a dungeon and a time limit to respect. You need to reach the end before the time is over and it’s basically a race. The dungeon will be structured with “rooms” that will allow you to move to another section only after you have killed the monsters.
– The second type is an arena. You are in and your goal is to survive as much as possible. Just that.

These two examples are about a form of “trials” which must be passed to achieve various goals in the game. The idea is also to build a “ladder” of players with the most awsome performances.
(I loved the training session in the first X-Wing and the trials are a similar idea. With an extremely fun and tense gameplay. Even in this case some time will pass before you can try again a “failed” trial).

Not from the real world, just from my idea of a mmorpg. The site is still on vacation but I’ll add a few notes about random ideas.

Basically the world based on the Stormbringer’s setting is flat. Not flat because the men believe that but because it’s really flat. The world has borders, if you reach those borders you’ll see the “chaos” exactly as it has been described in the books. It will be also a very dangerous zone so it won’t be something common to see.

More or less the landmass is a big square. In the center there’s the most important place, Melnibone’. This isle will have a major role in the game and it will be another element aside Law and Chaos. Melnibone is a faction on its own, still near the Chaos. This race won’t be playable at the beginning because of this role and because of its power. They will be able to fly on dragons and dragons are cool and powerful. I have special plans about all this but I won’t explain them now. Just remember that in the center of the map there’s a very important isle, home of the most powerful race available in the world (think to Jedis, but they won’t be lame as in SWG).

Around the isle there’s the sea and it’s where piracy will happen. You’ll have here the dynamics about the commerce. Everything is real and not faked. You’ll need ships to transport goods from a place to another and I expect to build a full naval combat on a very big scale. Realistic as it’s technically possible. And tweaked around the “fun”, so no endless journeys to move a cargo from a part the world to the other.

Then you have the land at the margins of the sea. Each zone will have its style and it will go from a tropical setting to enormous and strange mountains, to deserts, to medieval cities built around big castles, to small outpost and farms. Each style will be affected by the population/race of the zone. Each of these places will be completely in the hands of the players. Every small building can be conquered or bought and managed for concrete purposes purposes. Nothing can be destroyed or built from the void. Each structure can be damaged till it will be useless but nothing will leave or join the world. Cities and each structure part of these cities is already there. The crafting will have a minor effect to tweak and transform all this, but not radically.

The margins aren’t static. As in the books the world will change completely. New lands could come out from the mist of Chaos, along with populations and demons. The idea is that whatever will appear on this main world will still be suitable for conquest. Everything on this “side” of the game is completely in the hands of the players. You’ll have here the basic form of PvE regulated by meaningful and factional purposes and you’ll have the main part of the game, the factional PvP.

The fact that new lands will be added just means that the game has space for additions. New races, new types of commerce, new resources to manage and so on.

This is a side. Then there are the planes. In the planes of Chaos everything can be built (from devs perspective). From a technological point of view the main land is static while the various planes are instanced (these instances happen outside the single server boundaries). Instances could be built as “worlds” or “adventures” (for the lack of better terms).

Worlds are zones communal to all the servers. The access will be restricted but you can meet here players coming from different servers. Worlds are instanced but also persistent. You don’t have different “copies” of the same world. Each “world” will be absolutely unique and communal to all the servers/main-lands.

“Adventures”, instead, are instanced as in the common implementation but they are still server-independent. You can build a party (coming from a “world”) of players coming from different servers than yours, then enter an instanced-adventure. Each instance is an “adventure” and each will be cloned if different parties want to experience the same adventure.

Each of these adventures will have a purpose, a mission to figure out. The access to each of these adventures will also be limited, it could happen that if you fail you’ll have to renounce for an amount of time (a few days or even weeks). Everything on these planes behaves following precise rules. The access to these worlds (both worlds and adventures) happens through portals built on the main land and these portals can be activated only if certain conditions are met (think to Darkness Falls in DAoC).

Once a portal is activated you can step in with your friends (the portal could hold or not, based on different elements, like the number of players passing through it). And you’ll enter a “world” along with players coming from other servers if the portal is also active on their servers.

Each of these worlds will be a quite big, closed zone. Each will have a main city where you’ll be able to get basic equipment and informations, if the aligment won’t determine that NPCs in the city want to kill you. From these commonal “hubs” you can find your way to have access to different adventures starting from this world or going back to your own server. There will be conditions to meet so that you will also be able to enter a different server from your home. In this case the character will suffer a penalty. Each character will be weakened during its permanence in a foreign server but some missions could send you to a different server to accomplish your duties and only a few magic tools could allow you to limit the effect of this weakness.

A long permanence will have persistent effects on your character. Both good and bad effects.

The other possibility is to remain inside the “world”. Movement between different planar “worlds” isn’t possible and portals to “adventures” and back to the main servers/landmass are limited and they vanish depending on what happens on those main standard-worlds. So you could finish “trapped” in a plane for some time, without being able to go back to your server. This could be a choice obviously.

Also in this case the permanence on a plane will affect your character in a persistent way. As you enter a new level your affinity with that level is very low. You won’t be able to use magic for example. As you pass time on these planes the affinity will raise and you’ll reach a point where, potentially, your power can grow out the boundaries you have on your home server. A long permanence on a plane allows you to develop new skills and powers. The positive effect is that the affinity could reach a point where you’ll hold these new powers and you’ll be able to reach new levels even when you are on a different plane or back to your home.

Each plane is like a “school”. You’ll develop an affinity with that school based on your actions and your permanence on that level. And you’ll be able to bring back this new power with you even outside the proper level. The cost is that you’ll also be corrupted by a plane. The affinity you develop in one will contrast with another plane.

This happens if you decide to remain on a plane, without going back to your home (or another server, if you can) and without building a party and start an “adventure”.

If you decide to start an “adventure” you’ll enter the proper instanced dimension. Here you will never meet someone else. You’ll be able to invite a player from the outside but you are basically safe from interruptions. During these adventures everything could happen. The purpose could be to explore a dungeon to recover an artifact, or get it in a limited time, or a trial you have to pass, or knowledge to discover etc…

Purposes can be tied to your homeland in a similar way the homeland is tied to what happens on these planes but basically these zones (both worlds and adventures) are conceived to develop each character beyond its limits. Magic items can be found ONLY here.

So this is how the whole world is shaped. Each server represents a cloned landmass with the characteristics I’ve explained at the beginning. There’s an isle in the center, home of the most powerful race, not enabled to be played right at the start. The rest of the landmass is the scenery for the “main game”, the factional PvP and the basic PvE. You can build or destroy empires, conquer lands or just buy a small house for yourself and start a commercial activity, or train your mount or whatever else. This is also where the basic development of your character (or other “items” like magic tools, mounts, pets and so on) happens.

Then you can jump through portals and have access to communal worlds, unique for all the servers. Here you can meet other peoples coming from different servers. You can stay here to develop “special” powers tied to the affinity with a level, or go on a mission on a different server from your starting one, or build a party to start an “adventure” to discover some kind of magic loot or accomplish a major objective useful for your homeland, or whatever.

That’s the general idea of what players do in this game.

Note that the main land where the PvP and basic PvE happen is located on different shards/servers as it happens in the various mmorpgs today. Youer character, instead, is unique and you’ll see this when you access the other side of the game: the planar levels. Here you have “worlds” that are built as communal instances for all the servers. Each character here is unique and these zones are at the same time huge hubs and the tie between each main server and the instanced “adventures” where most of the “loot” will come from.

All these worlds/shards/servers/dimensions are accessible to EVERY character.

More on my own Stormbringer idea:

Guild System

The players can have four different statuses:

– Common peoples
– Guilds
– Houses
– Fallen Houses

Common Peoples
Each player falls in this category as he enters the game. This status already determines a precise position. Mobs and NPCs will attack or help (commerce, services and quests) the player depending on his faction/aligment value. But he will also starts with a precise position in the PvP. A common player will be always flagged for factional PvP. So a “Law” players can be attacked from a “Chaos” one right at the beginning (or by a fallen house, see below). In this case the rules about the factional PvP apply. Each player will be able to choose if accepting the fight (and the consequences) or flee. It’s not completely open PvP because you can always have the possibility to flee. What you cannot do is mind your own business and ignore the menace. Mercenaries are also considered common peoples.

Guilds
Guilds are easy to build. You just need five other players and the guild is done. The structure is similar to what you have in current games. There’s a communal chat and various ranks (ranks are shown graphically). There’s also a special rank for the active mercenaries. A guild will be able to hire mercenaries (other players). The system is easy. Each mercenary will be hired behind a contract. This contract is based on two elements: payment and time. Basically a mercenary is a temporary guild member paid by the guild. If you set the cost to zero you can use this rank to recruit new players and test them before really add them to the guild. Guilds don’t have a “built-in” tax system.

Houses
A guild automatically becomes an “house” when it owns a part of the land. So if the guild owns a castle, a village, an outpost or various cities, it becomes automatically an “house”. If these structures are lost, the “house” goes back to its “guild” status. Being a house let you manage the real core of the game. You really have the control of a part of the world, you have NPCs under your services, you can set taxes, commerce, manage guards, territory boundaries, upgrade the structures and so on. Then you also gain a special status in the PvP system. Once a guild becomes a house it is more exposed. Not only the factional PvP is always active but also other houses inside the same faction can declare a war to another one. The declaration of war is one-way. Once it’s set you have a warning and from then you can only fight. This system allow battles inside the same faction and it’s active by default as your guild control a piece of the land. To limitate the possible disasters, there are systems that prevent the players from exploiting this rule. Each time a player kills another player in the same faction (this is the case of House vs. House) the *whole guild* (each character inside the guild, logged or not) will suffer a penalty in the faction/aligment value. So, if the battle goes on for long, the houses involved could reach a status where their factional value is reduced to zero. In this case an “house” becomes a “fallen house”. (there should be mechanics that allow an house to become a fallen house even without directly warring against its own faction)

Fallen Houses
A “fallen house” is another new status. In this case the status is determined by a timer value. To pass from guild to house you need to own a piece of land but once you pass from a house to a fallen house the land isn’t anymore important (a fallen house can own or not a part of the land). A fallen house will be flagged this way for a period of time. During this period not only the opposite faction can attack it, but everyone can: the enemy faction, the rival house/fallen house and the whole, once-friendly faction. It’s a special status where you have the world against you. Attacking and killing a player that belongs to a fallen house in the same faction doesn’t have anymore a penalty on the factional value. This is the path if you want to stay out of the three factions (Law, Chaos, Balance). Once you are a fallen house you are against everyone else. This status “heals” with the time and just the time but can still be redeclared if a fallen house wants to stay so.

—

The whole system is built to give depth and strenght to the three faction system (Law, Chaos, Balance). At the same time it allows the players to play even inside the same faction by exploiting the politics. The “fallen house” status is another position that allows a guild to build its own presence in the world without being a force included in the three factions. At one point a “fallen house” could become an even stronger reality than what the game’s structure expect by default.

There are two exceptions to the system above. The first exception is about alliances. Alliances are just a communal chat between various guilds and houses. Fallen houses alliances can only exist between fallen houses. In the gameplay the alliances have no value. It’s only a way to communicate.

The other exception is about the “Balance” faction. This faction behaves differently from Chaos and Law. There aren’t guilds or houses here. The Balance is like a big guild and each player already begins inside this structure. The revolutionary idea is that this whole thing will be governed in democracy. There will be periodical elections and who will win the elections will lead the faction. The government will be built around 20-30 members that will decide together what the Balance will do. They will control the commerce and they will decide if the Balance allies with the Law or Chaos. Everything about Balance is being determined by the government. No other guilds or houses (or even solitary players) are contemplated in this strange faction.

By default the Balance can only attack a fallen house but not another faction. If the balance wants to attack Law or Chaos they need to build an alliance with one side. These alliances can be public or secret but they cannot be broken every few minutes. Each decision will last for a limited and fixed period of time.

P.S.
As a side note: To hold a piece of land not only you need to defend it but you need also to pay an upkeep. The system is built so that this payment is easier if you are inside a faction. For a fallen house it’s a lot harder to mantain the control over the land and this because of the complex commerce/resources system that isn’t explained here. Since a fallen house has no contact with the other three factions (all enemies), it’s obvious that it will be hard for them to find the resources for the upkeep.

Lately I’m re-reading Elric/Stormbringer saga and it’s something extremely stimulating. As I read, I imagine to transpose all that in a mmorpg that could be at the same time extremely innovative and fun. Joining together what could be a very strange and niche product with an experience that surpasses everything already on the market. Even on the popularity level.

Obviously I don’t hold my ideas to stay into the limits of the tech, because this is only a useless work of mind and I’m the only limit to what I imagine. For now I focused two elements that will be really hard to realize technically. The first element is the player collision. FFXI has it and my form of collision is not so different. You’ll be able to move through another model (monster or player) only if you keep pressing very hard on the limit. It’s what happens already in FFXI but with a stronger effect. The second element is about the fly. I want to have in the game a strong presence of flight. In particular about dragons. A bigger part of the PvP I have in mind is about fighting with war machines and other tools that will need more than one player working on them. The idea is to move from a player-centered gameplay to a wider range where you are really part of an army. With complex strategies, a concrete role of the land and the structures, and the use of complex war machines. So the exact opposite of an open-field arena where all that matters are the skills of a group of players. I want the warfare. I want complex tactics based on emergent elements than just a flat arena. A warfare that pivots around concrete combat and concrete consequences. And I have strong ideas to accomplish this.

The other part I’m developing is the PvE experience. In this case completely integrated with the aligment/karma system and in the basic world where the factional PvP happens. So PvE inside the PvP and as a concrete part of it. Then, aside that, there will be the instanced zones. These zones correspond to the various (infinite) planes of Chaos. Here you can invent everything and the limit is simply your fantasy. Each plane will be like an inner world, with its soul and purpose. Each of these planes will be used for a precise adventure that will show a new form of “storytelling”. The direction where I want to aim is what “ID” is trying to achieve with Doom 3. I want to push the cooperative gameplay of a tight group of players till the limit. The limit is about involving a party in a frightening experience. These instances won’t be always open. It will be an event to go inside them (the idea is to tie the planar levels to a system like Darkness Falls in DAoC, so they open if you achieve and perform various actions in the real world). If you fail an attempt you’ll suffer a loss and the access to the planar dimension will be forbidden for a period of time. Many gameplay elements I have in mind to transform and push the PvE expereince to a complete new level. Just as an example: a new concrete use of the light system. If you enter a cave you need a light. These light will be magical forms of a torch that will produce various types of effects (like “cones” of light). You will *hear* the monsters moving and lurking around you but you’ll have to point these torches toward them to see them. They’ll dodge the lights and will try to fight unseen. The animations of the players during the combat will make a full use of these light sources to create a realistic effect. You’ll have the fear of fighting against something that you can barely see and with a solid menace because these attempts are tied to a “one time only idea”. You could be able to access the planar level again only the following week, or the following month.

To this I want to add a depth to each monster. Each will have a complex data. Each will have a story, a behaviour and a purpose. The AI will make use of different types of attack and each monster will have various tools to use realistically in a fight. I want a soul here, not just meat you throw to the players to make them loose time. Each monster will have a schedule, they won’t just stay on the place. They could be friendly or enemies depending on your alignment and each entity of the world won’t be just something you need to aim and attack. You will be able to find your own way by killing them, or by making them your friends and allies. These monsters have their own life and objectives. They have a role in the gameplay and a part in the ‘politics’ and the story of the world. Sometimes the players will start to believe that they are just tools, in the hands of these alien entities coming from the planes of Chaos.

Then I want demi-gods. Here I want to really introduce revolutionary ideas. I want that the players will be able to become demi-gods. The loot will have a new purpose. Legendary swords like Stormbringer and Mournblade will be in the game and *unique*. These tools will really have their full powers along as many other tools. Each of these high level tools will have a complex story and a complex path to follow if someone wants to hold them. As in the books they will be both an amazing, unmatched power and a burden. A curse. A demi-god player using these tools will be able to fight against tenths of other players. There’s NO balance. But they will also be the objectives of “raids”. Instead building groups to fight a big NPC, the players will gather to defeat other players that have reached this “uber” status. Their power will be sensed and localized with the use of magic and till they hold these powerful tools everyone will be able to see them and attack them in an attempt to steal their power. The “loot” will be a side of the center of the action and enemies and alliances will be formed to defend and attack these poweful tools in the hands of the players.

Obviously the PvP here is “full loot” (when tricky magic won’t be involved). Each of the magic, powerful tools will be completely unique in a single server. There will be timers attached so that you’ll be able to hold one of these tools only if you can mantain a minimum presence in the world (reasonable, not many hours a day). If not, they’ll return to their planar homes, ready to be found by a new group of adventurers.

(to explain, these tools reside on the planar levels. So to get them you need to follow long and complex quests that revolve both on PvE and PvP elements. When these unique tools are brought in the “real” world everyone will be able to percept their presence with the use of a specific magic. So everyone will see if a relic is present and active, who holds it and where he is. The demi-gods cannot hide. They will have to play pand participate to the PvP if they want to hold these tools or the tools will reset to their old position, after being “available” in the world for a limited period of time. Yes, these tools give you an absurd power, you are a demi god with the possibility of invoke demons and big scale catastrophes but till you have the power, you are a clear target. Both your enemies and your friends will try to steal the tool from you and you cannot hide for long since each of these tools requires an “upkeep”)

Aside these major tools every single other element of the game will have depth. Even the lower magic swords will have their own soul and exclusive “meaning” in the gameplay. Each magic tool will have its own name, story and data. They are like characters. They’ll grow with your character and even the weakest stupid magic dagger, one day, could become a powerful tool. This will follow an advancement system that I’m developing that works on various paths. Each tool will follow its nature and have an easier path to follow, growing quickly on a side and slowly on another. In this case, these tools will produce a bond with the player. You won’t loose them. There’s magic involved and you’ll be able to create your unique legend around these tools. Each single element of the world has an evolution path. A treadmill in a way or anther. Dragons used in a battle will have their own story and will develop abilities based on their own expereince.

I want each player to micro-manage all these elements like sub-characters. The balance will be hold so that everyone will be able to achieve all this, following its own path. The “personal” legend is an advancement path that *everyone* can achieve slowly. A different thing are the limited tools (and unique) like the two swords that will turn a player into a demi-god.

And all this is to be applied to the structure I’ve explained here.