I've spent the last month trying to flesh out the design document some more. I also spent the better part of the last month playing other games that had a similar theme to what I'm aiming for. I looked at games like Ultima Online, Legends of Aria, Conquerer's Blade, and even Elite Dangerous. Each of these games have a common theme, and that's open world sandbox, with a, somewhat, player driven world, which is what I'm looking to do. I looked at the mechanics of these games, considered what they do well, what they don't do well, and what each of them has unique, and it made me think about what I would like to have unique about this game.
I settled on a few things.
The first unique concept I applied is that items and equipment are unique. Too often do you see that multiple players can have the exact same equipment, exact same look, same exact skill build, etc and the only thing that really separates them is the player behind the controller/keyboard. There's no uniqueness to the characters themselves, which, to me, is a core requirement to RPGs and especially MMORPGs. Players create these characters to be unique, to stand out, to be individualized, it makes the world they're playing in feel more real. For me, this is a major necessity, so naturally, crafting and treasure hunting are major focus areas.
The second unique concept is the idea of land ownership. Unlike most other games, a player is not limited to the amount of land they may own. This doesn't mean that one player can just go around and purchase all of the land, however, there are constraints to owning land, such as taxes, upkeep, cost to purchase, etc. This isn't a piece that I've added to the document yet, but it will be in the next draft.
The third concept is the ability for the players to affect the game world. This idea takes a lot from many different games and simply mashes them together. For example, the player base can and will affect the world around them, whether it's by causing a certain species of animals to go extinct, to taking an action that could cause two cities to go to war with each other, the players aren't just spectators or participants in world events, they're dictating world events. Out of everything, this is easily the most ambitious concept I have for the game.
As I continue on with my document, I'm realizing more and more how ambitious this project is and it's exciting and frightening at the same time. There have been numerous attempts at making a game like this by more knowledgeable and skilled developers than I, but I'm not going to be discouraged. If I fail, I fail, but I'm going to learn tons either way.
Once again, I welcome any and all feedback.
