01-05-2011, 02:58 PM
I've got a lot of ideas that I think will manage to bring in players, KEEP them, and build and engage a community, but it would be a bit of work and I'd need a competent scriptor (or we could just use some pre-built RunUO scripts)
The basic idea is to make the game as simple and enjoyable as possible, while engaging the community and letting them have a hand in the building of quests, storylines etc.
Some ideas I have for easing gameplay:
Auction System: (premade script) Allow people to sell stuff through a more convenient system. Eliminating the need for vendors which take up space and are a hassle to sort through. Also functions as a gold sink if you add an auction fee (possibly based on the price of the item). HUGE stimulus to the economy.
Trash Token System: All the shit items that are on bodies can now be dropped into a trash can (like the newbied trash can) and you are rewarded by tokens that can be either converted to gold or used to buy special items. This will streamline the selling process (drop the junk into your trashbag, you get the tokens in your pack). No recalling to various places to sell junk, less horded items, more interest and fun.
Community Oriented:
Build-A-Quest: A GM can create a story in the forum, along with an accompanying quest in-game. At some point, the quest line will end and the people who completed it will be given a chance to vote for the next step in the quest chain, which will then be added the next week, etc.
Example: Some NPC gives you a quest to find some magical MacGuffin and after gathering some information, you find out that it could be either in some Dragon's lair, or in an ancient Crypt. The people would then vote on where to search first, so the next step would be determined by the players, then built by the GM. The next week, new bit of story, and a new bit of quest chain.
When one quest chain ends, there may be the normal reward and also a special reward for the people who complete it within the first week/month, etc. Once a new quest-game starts, the quest will stay in the game, but the bonus reward is no longer available.
Making Staff's Jobs Easier:
I'd be willing to try to write a program that would automate the quest-text building. That way the GM could simply input some speech text, triggers, rewards, etc, and the program would output the text needed to copy/paste into the XMLQuest dialog. Shouldn't be too hard to do, *knocks on wood*.
Ugh, I have so many ideas but I have to go do homework now.
I'd love to help build a new shard. The only thing is, I think that it should be a staff run shard. This seems like a "well, duh" statement, but I think that the problem that we had was that we weren't able to innovate, try new things, etc, because we always tried to listen to the players before doing anything, and then canceled the idea at the slightest opposition. (this doesn't mean ignore players, it means staff build things and implement them and then we fix major bugs if they arise and fix major complaints IF they're valid)
I think that a few intelligent, fun-loving developers can create a fun, addictive, easy-playing shard that will keep players. I think that the difficulty should be relatively LOW for 90% of the game, while adding a few difficult bosses and dungeons for the more elite players.
I'd love to talk to some staff in Vent or teamspeak if this is actually going to happen so I can share my other ideas without getting carpel tunnel. :<
Sorry for the giant wall of text.
-Eru
The basic idea is to make the game as simple and enjoyable as possible, while engaging the community and letting them have a hand in the building of quests, storylines etc.
Some ideas I have for easing gameplay:
Auction System: (premade script) Allow people to sell stuff through a more convenient system. Eliminating the need for vendors which take up space and are a hassle to sort through. Also functions as a gold sink if you add an auction fee (possibly based on the price of the item). HUGE stimulus to the economy.
Trash Token System: All the shit items that are on bodies can now be dropped into a trash can (like the newbied trash can) and you are rewarded by tokens that can be either converted to gold or used to buy special items. This will streamline the selling process (drop the junk into your trashbag, you get the tokens in your pack). No recalling to various places to sell junk, less horded items, more interest and fun.
Community Oriented:
Build-A-Quest: A GM can create a story in the forum, along with an accompanying quest in-game. At some point, the quest line will end and the people who completed it will be given a chance to vote for the next step in the quest chain, which will then be added the next week, etc.
Example: Some NPC gives you a quest to find some magical MacGuffin and after gathering some information, you find out that it could be either in some Dragon's lair, or in an ancient Crypt. The people would then vote on where to search first, so the next step would be determined by the players, then built by the GM. The next week, new bit of story, and a new bit of quest chain.
When one quest chain ends, there may be the normal reward and also a special reward for the people who complete it within the first week/month, etc. Once a new quest-game starts, the quest will stay in the game, but the bonus reward is no longer available.
Making Staff's Jobs Easier:
I'd be willing to try to write a program that would automate the quest-text building. That way the GM could simply input some speech text, triggers, rewards, etc, and the program would output the text needed to copy/paste into the XMLQuest dialog. Shouldn't be too hard to do, *knocks on wood*.
Ugh, I have so many ideas but I have to go do homework now.
I'd love to help build a new shard. The only thing is, I think that it should be a staff run shard. This seems like a "well, duh" statement, but I think that the problem that we had was that we weren't able to innovate, try new things, etc, because we always tried to listen to the players before doing anything, and then canceled the idea at the slightest opposition. (this doesn't mean ignore players, it means staff build things and implement them and then we fix major bugs if they arise and fix major complaints IF they're valid)
I think that a few intelligent, fun-loving developers can create a fun, addictive, easy-playing shard that will keep players. I think that the difficulty should be relatively LOW for 90% of the game, while adding a few difficult bosses and dungeons for the more elite players.
I'd love to talk to some staff in Vent or teamspeak if this is actually going to happen so I can share my other ideas without getting carpel tunnel. :<
Sorry for the giant wall of text.
-Eru