I originally posted all this on my facebook group, but someone asked me to post ideas here so I will. If you agree or disagree, write down your opinion and we can come up with ideas. This just for fun so dont expect it to be made ^_^ Now I think that this game would put in control of an everyday unit, like a marine, zealot, or zergling. You start out as the basic unit, like a novice, and grow from there. However, your eventually maturing of the character is not reflected on killing monsters and gaining experience, rather its about cumulating your skills over time. Every time you make an accurate shot, your accuracy will of course become better over time. Using this trait based system, your character will become as he practices. You could wind up with a big hulking unit, capable of intimidating others, but a meathead who cannot pick a lock for his life. There will be places to further develop these traits, like an academy, science facility, and such. This brings to actual gameplay, what can you do in this world? You can do simple actions such as hiding in the bushes, to climbing a tree, to more complex things such as piloting a wraith. The whole game takes places in SC universe, there are planets in the galaxy to visit to, and each has it own inhabitants and cities. You could either go solo, just seeing what the universe has to offer, or join with a faction, and attempt to conquer everything. Planets would be divided into territories, each with its own benefits. One area could be rich in minerals but not very inhabitable for other life. This brings to another aspect of the game, the players can shape and develop the landscape. By building starports, or refineries, the player could create a constant changing galaxy thats full of suprizes. How would someone create a massive command center in the middle of nowhere? It would take many resources, labor, and ownership of the land. The constructor will first determine where he wishes to place the building, and which angle it will face. He then gives the order to begin constructing, and nearby AI workers will begin working with what resources are available. Over the course of a few hours, the building will be done and the faction or group that controls it, will be able to use it. This brings to resources: including the minerals and natural gas, this game will also feature currency. In order to acquire the resources lying beneath their feet, the players will have to construct refineries and extractors to find the wealth below. The workers would slowly mine the treasure below, and storing it inside the building. The player could come at any time to collect, but they would also have to be careful, as thiefs could sneak in and steal them. The resources would eventually deplete, but they would appear elsewhere on the planet as soon they depleted. What kind of enviroment is this MMO set in? At first there is very little life on the planets, At start of game players will wake up inside of a transport, delivering to a nearby planet. Before logging in, the player would choose which colony ship he wishes to join, and while onboard the ships computer would have a tutorial to prepare him for whatever he would soon encounter. Upon arriving, the colonist may either work together or split apart. They will have to decide roles in this new world, such as leader, architect, and soldier. After establishing a simple base, they may construct a trade route, such as a portal or a starport, which will encourage more colonist to come. As their city grows, more civilans will start appearing, more stores will open up, and it will soon be a metropolin, busy with cars and such. There are many roles you could play. A warrior will be the most common, you go out in search of conquering new territories and killing its inhabitants. The warriors will obviously need good leadership, so picking the right leaders will be essential. But theres more than just killing whatever doesnt look like you. You could become an engineer, designing the world you live in, or a scientist, researching new technology for your faction to use. You could become a smuggler, stealing resources or technology and selling them to highest bidder. Or hell, just a homicidal maniac whos main goal is to destroy every person in the universe, its up to you to decide. But how would this world work? how can a busy use they many people living in his city? The leaders would have many things to govern, like the economy ( Decide what tax rate is, how much things may sell for) , or the laws of the land (You can banish certain players from ever entering, decide what determines prison time and what deserves death) Leaders would also have to decide what to use their population for. They can assign some to their armies, others to be merchants, some to be scientist, unlucky few to be workers, or perhaps even guiniea pigs for future experiments. Leaders may also assign civilians to the control of their lieutenents, and have their help controlling. Now about the biggest aspect of this game....battle. In order to conquer a territory, you'll need to either kill all the controlling faction leaders, or force a surrender. Before going into battle, the factions would have to make sure their armies are prepared. Assign Soldiers to captains, make sure all vehicles fueled, and just have a general strategy on how to take the land. Captains could control a squad of up to 24 units, each of which he can customize to his own benefit (This includes naming, equipment, personality, and other traits) The captain may also hotkey commands, to use in the midst of battle. The two factions will then battle it out, whether it be on a space station, jungle, volcanic land, or right inside a city. Once the faction leaders or dead, or have surrendered, a message will appear declaring a victor, the losing side will then be forced to disarm, and submit to their new rulers. Just to talk more about the commands, The would initial be simple ones like Retreat ( Units in Squad will consider fighting a smaller priotity to staying alive) Take Cover ( Units would seek shelter immediately, such as under a rock or behind a tree) Scout ( Units will search within a predetermined distance for anything valuable or important, and when the units return to player, the information will appear on map) or Sabotage (Destroy any kind of nearby equipment) However the player can program new orders into his squad, ones that would suit them best. Well thats all I can say in one breath, feel free to add your opinions or ideas here too. Just before I go heres some other just random ideas I'd like in this game [Radio Stations] - Giving the voice to the people, players could pay an additional fee to host their own station. [Xel'Naga Ruins] - The perfect sidequest, become like a futuristic indiana jones and explorer ancient ruins filled with deadly traps, but have rich treasure. [Weather Conditions] - Rain can make the ground soggy, making running harder, Hot days can drain your energy faster, or perhaps a meteor shower comes raining down on your capital. [Weekly Events] - maybe a hide and go seek of universal proportions, or just kill the giant rabbits, let the admins decide Bonus 400 minerals for a great post.
Well, first off, thanks for bringing the discussion here. (For those of you who don't know, I encouraged him to bring this discussion from Facebook to our site) I really like the way you've laid out such a detailed explanation of how the game might work in an MMORPG format, but there's a couple issues that I see with the implementation of this kind of game for Starcraft. 1) Starcraft is not WCIII or WoW. Those games are centered around the development of characters (Heroes in WCIII and characters in WoW) that are integral to the playing of the game. Starcraft is more focused on the live and die mechanics involved in real warfare. Its aim is to be more "realistic" to the storyline, rather than units reviving, etc., or magic being involved. It's not that its real or anything, but things need to be explained, unlike in Warcraft. 2) At some point, a game just becomes way too complicated for a user to even begin to play the game. Sure, it might be fun when you're awesome at it and you know every facet of the game, but there needs to be a level of playability that is continuous through the entire game. It needs to be fun as you just start out. In such a complicated environment as you described, that might be difficult to achieve. Personally, I really liked some of the discussion that occurred on Facebook about the possibility of an MMOFPS and an MMORTS. Of course, a massive multiplayer online RTS probably isn't all that possible. It could be done, but it might not be worth it. However, a MMOFPS might be possible and I think it incorporates the important aspects of the gameplay of SC as well as the appealability of an RPG that you might find in WoW. I think those games (for instance, Call of Duty 4) that you're immersed in a larger battle, but you're doing your own tiny thing, is amazing. It contributes to that WOW factor. And I know there have been references on this forum to the MMOFPS called "Planetside" which was basically three factions fighting for control. If AI units had been added, as there might be in an MMOFPS version of Starcraft, it would only further enhance the feeling of a massive battle. But anyway, I don't think the real discussion here lies in HOW it would be done, but rather in WHY it should be done and for what reasons.
I like this idea. It sounds to me like EVE Online. It starts you out in a Newbie Ship (its actual classification) where you do a tutorial and then can run a few missions. You can form Corporations (guilds) which can build their own space complexes. You are never forced into joining but there is a strong team aspect. Alo its open where in unsecure space you can be a pirate or bounty hunter. You can be a miner or trader anywhere ect. It isn't all too complicated. I think a SC MMO would work well with that kind of formula Also Jon on the subject of MMO types there is an entire discussion on a SC MMORTS I proposed a few months back.
Good Points Jon but I think this game would not be just another WOW. I neglected to mention some things that I'll bring into more detail here. I want this game to be more centered on the players unit, is it adds greater perspective in this conflict than an rts does. In an rts, you can sacrifice units easily, whether you just dont care or want to have more supplys available for a better unit. But when your that unit, you dont want to die. You will do your best to survive, most people wont sacrifice something they've invested time into. So if your pitted in a tough situation, you'll do your best to survive, as to opposed just standing there and getting mauled by a zerg. Plus with an character-focus MMO, your more involved in the world your playing in. With an RTS you may occassionally be awed by the things you see, but an MMO makes everything much epic. A nuke may seem cool, but imagine being hitted by the nuke, thats gotta be mind blowing. One element of gameplay I should of mention of course was death? What happens when you die. I have an idea of succession which follows. When a player goes into a situation, where they are not sure of the outcome, they can decide a successor. This successor will be placed under the players full control after the death of his current character. His successing unit can be many different things. For one it can be an AI under his control. However you can actually have a spare character keep in cryofreeze, this is more costly but characters are more skilled than AI units are. Another player that doesnt play the game anymore can also offer his character as a successor. There are two types of succession 1)Quick time succession - this is for during battles where you have little time to adjust. Upon your death, you immediately transfer to an AI in your squad. You gain control of that AI, but only have the rank and privlege of it. It last as long as the player is in the server, and if the player dies he'll go to next highest AI and soon on until the squad death, where he'll be forced to either exit server or prepare to inhabit next successor. Whenever the player chooses fit, he can end the quick time succession and prepare to go to his next successor. 2) Primary Succession - This is the normal type, upon death you will receive a message that a new inhabit is ready. If you have a unit chosen for succession, you immediately go to it. If you have one waiting in cryrofreeze, you will have to name it, determine its appearance, and so forth. After moving to new character, you will have to transfer your fallen characters information,status, and currency to new one. The whole process should take around 3-10 minutes. Now in the case of the player having no plans of succession, he will have to start from scratch, creating a new character, and boarding a colonist ship back to the city. This might be tedious so if you think you know a better method or can improve this go ahead. Now when asked why blizzard so make this there are many reasons. Financial - obviously after the success of WOW, starcraft has great potential to become a popular game. Starcrafts fan base is still active (Duh), and the game would surely have support. First starting month the game would have around 2-4 million subscribers, and with perhaps a monthly payment of 15.99, blizzard could make between 31,980,000 to 63,9600,000 dollars in first month alone, even with a budget of 100 - 120 million, they could easily make the budget after 2-3 months. Plus, players would easily want their friends to get involved, and number of subscribers would continually increase, even if some quit after awhile. If say 5% of current subscribers invited their friends, that would still be well over 100,000 people! at a rate of 5-10% more subscribers a month, by the end of the year, you would have well over a million people joining. But thats only a pessimistic view, as a popular franchise like starcraft would most likely increases by 15% of subscribers a month. This game also has great market in the world of advertisement. This is also the ideal game for it. While warcraft is set in a per determined middle ages world, starcraft is set in a futuristic setting, with plently of billboards to go around =D With the shops and vendors a growing city will eventually have, corporations could easily add logos to some mechandise or equipment (Which like in the real world, logos make a big difference) would be a sure way to increases brand awarement. Plus with the player actually designing the many cities or starbases, the could slip in a few advertisements easily. I'm not a money whore, but I do think this game has good potential. And back to my idea of radio station, thats an easy way to make money as well. Small fee for hosting, bring in endorsements, and voila, moola. While I lack the knowledge of business world I think this game is good deal, one that would easily make a profit well after its first year. But sometimes it not just about the money, you need to consider other aspects of the game. You need to have something positive about playing it. This game, I believe, can bring in several good reasons to play. 1) Promoting Leadership Skills - While in most MMOS, the leaders main job is just make sure everyone follows him to the dungeon and has spells hotkeyed, the leaders in this game will actually have to lead their people more in depth. They'll have to be charismatic, as someone wont die for a total dick, even in virtual world. They'll have to be good organizers, as managing cities, military forces, and just every common activies of their followers. 2) Promoting Teamwork - Obviously you cant take down a zerg swarm but just sending in a bunch of disorganized marines, its gonna take planning, cooperation, and strategy to prevail. Unlike other games where a highly leveled player can just go solo and isolate himself as much he wants, this game require you to work with your fellow players in order to accomplish things 3) Promoting Future Interest In Careers - Though this is not a good way to become a scientist or engineer, if being one in this game is fun to you, you might consider it as a career and work towards it. and of course what this game would mean to the Starcraft Fanbase should be obvious. I think everyone would appreciate a game where you can be a unit you thought unique before. Really if they gave us a turd, we'd do our best to polish it. And after cancelling Ghost, I think this would be a more than excellent replacement ^_^ I think I can up with valid reasons why this game would make a good addition to blizzards franchise. If you agree or disagree post why.
I'm not gonna argue with you about how successful this game could possibly become if Blizzard could pull it off. The real problem is complexity. This is an incredibly complex game type, as can be seen from WoW, which was incredibly intricate and is basically a 3D mixed version of Diablo and Warcraft that ended up being a highly addictive and alluring hybrid. Make no mistake, it's a great game. But if you go back over the history of Warcraft, this game series had really been set up to become what it has been. Warcraft II was undoubtedly a primitive version of an RTS and led to the rise of Starcraft, which is as close to perfection in an RTS title as was ever achieved, hands down (the question is if SC2 can surpass the original). Then came WCIII which transferred the series from RTS based to 50% RPG and 50% RTS. Heroes were incredibly important. The game was won or lost with them, not really the primary units. It was basically a Hero duel with other factors thrown in. Since a little RPG was already included in WC3, that led to a successful transition of fans of the series. It wasn't a huge shock. The Starcraft Universe and fan base is entirely different. A good portion of us HATE the WC3 series (I'm not a big fan) and think it was a travesty to RTS. We haven't been conditioned to seeing our players in RPG form, except for as heroes in campaigns. That's not to say none of us WANT to play as our favorite characters, but there will definitely be a loss of a portion of the fanbase, and perhaps a larger one than you would like. Lastly, there's the fact that WoW is already out there. Blizzard has a tradition of expanding upon titles and heading toward different niches. That's why I think WoW is what is it. They gave up on RTS as a realm of Warcraft, really. They've reserved that for Starcraft, which is a good idea. The only question now is what happens to Diablo, a game that would traditionally fill the shoes of WoW. Was WoW the replacement for Diablo? Seems like it to me.
yup, the number one thing I want to avoid in this game is just being a science fiction version of WOW, Without being solely RTS. It would defintly be hard to do (Halo + Sims). I'm sure its possible and would love to see it but who knows. The main ideas having given me regarding this would be like starcraft mixed with the upcoming spore title (Players create life on planets, and players invade each other planets). But I really just want to stick by being just a common soldier during these battles, you cant determine the battle by yourself, and require hordes of people in order to fight. No super player can just cast a spell and obliverate the battlefield (Exception being perhaps a Templar or a Ghost launching a nuke) Thats the number developers would have to be careful with designing a game like this, I dont want a bunch of abilities like intimidating shout or thunderstorm, I just want to shoot a zergs head off, or rip a protoss in half with my claws. Combat needs to be intense grenades, plasma cannons, and acid spraying everywhere. I dont think this game will ever exist but ill keep dreaming hehe
I think if they actually made Ghost they might score enough of an audience todo an MMOTPS or MMOFPS Also rememer MMO does not require RPG and not all RPGs are the same anyway. Also as I pointed out a EVEesque MMO would also fit well. Its heavily combat oriented and there is no specific classes its all based in skill what you are allowed to fly and use. The same formula could work for a SC MMO with some people training in medical systems and others training in heavy arms and tank driving. THe biggest hurdle to overcome is ho the Zerg would fit in. Would a player be able to play as them or would they just be enemies and you can only be Terran or Zerg
If i was going to make a 3D starcraft FPS i would make it almost exactly like Planetside, with be able to enter combat suits such as marines and firebats and entering ground and air vehicles or even being able to command the massive guns of the thor. This would be worth it. For Zerg i think i would come up with a ingenious way for a player to control several zerglings at once but make each one less armored and do less dmg, maybe let them choose what they want to hatch as and they control maybe 3 zerglings or 2 hydralisks at once. For Protoss i would have the player start out about to be warped into the battlefield and there they get to choose what they want to play as a zealot a immortal a stalker and as you level up in battle you can choose to unlock new units such as the Colossus or a Carrier. Now wouldnt it be sweet to control a colossus and attack a zerg base?
