The Perfect MMORPG

[Slysoft]

Taken from another website. Warning, epic wall of text.

Disclaimer - This is simply what MY perfect MMO combat system would be like. This really has nothing to do with Aion, I'm not asking NCsoft to make any of the changes I've listed here. this is just my opnion and was brought on by a few posts talking about how Aion relied too much on Randomness... which I totally agree. but this thinking on how to limit randomness in Aion led me to just coming up with my very own MMO combat system. so please read the whole post, maybe a couple of times over, because I know it's complicated and my writing isn't the easiest to understand... Comments and suggestions are always welcome.. but please keep things constructive.

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Collision Detection - in order for a game like this to work there has to be a very good collision detection system in place. similar to the collision detection of action games like God of War or Devil May Cry.


Targetting - NO MORE TAB TARGETTING. More like an action/FPS game. For melee abilities it is like God of War or Devil May Cry. You have to be facing your enemy and they must be within range of your blades. For ranged abilities it's like an FPS, you have a reticule on your screen and if that reticule is over an enemy when you finish your cast, then the ability will land (it will move like a homing missile to the target if they move after you've fired the spell). There is also a lock-on function, so if your reticule is over an enemy you can hit the lock on button and it will automatically make your character face the enemy and the abilities you use will hit them assuming they're in range. This allows players to look around a bit while still firing spells at their target. But if they notice a healer casting a big heal that they want to silence, they can release their locked-on target and point the reticule at the healer and cast their silence spell at the healer, then return to their previously locked-on target.


Block - requires a shield. the character puts up their shield and the shield negates 40% (can be increased by stats) of the damage taken and slows the player to 20% of normal movement speed... block does not have a cooldown and also protects against knockdown, snare, and root effects (the damage from these attacks will still be done, but the root/snare/knockdown will not be applied), and reduces the affect of knockbacks and CC by the % of damage negated by your block. ( for example if you have a block of 40%, you will fly back 40% less less far if you block than if you hadn't.)... or if you have 55% block and you block a Sleep spell for example, the duration of sleep will be 55% shorter)... some classes may also have abilities to break a block/guard and force it into a cooldown.


Guard - almost identical to block but available to every class and doesn't require a shield to be equipped in order to use it, instead it uses your weapon to block/absorb attacks... it has no cooldown but will negate less damage than block, probably around 20% (can be increased by stats). also can't be used while moving... and it does not protect against knockdown/knockback effects... but does reduce the duration of CC abilities just like block does... and also protects against root and snare effects.

Increased Guard/Block - if the % amount of guard/block has been increased, it not only increases the damage negated, but also increases the reduction in knockback distance, and CC duration... so the duration reduction of a Sleep ability on a warrior with 50% block would be 50%... but on a warrior with only 35% it would be only a 35% reduction... so increasing your  block/guard stat not only helps with damage mitigation, but also with CC and/or knockback mitigation.


Evasion - If you've played God of War or Devil May Cry or pretty much any decent 3rd person action game, then you'll know what I'm talking about here. Basically evasion is available to all classes and has no cooldown... there should be a slight pause at the end of the roll to keep players from using it constantly... However, evasion doesn't automatically lower or negate damage taken. Evasion is like Kratos's roll ability in GoW, if it is timed right it can take you out of range of an enemy's attacks, but it takes some skill and reflexes to use well. For warriors the evasion would have a quick sidestep animation, which doesn't travel as far as the other classes. For scouts the evasion would have an animation like Kratos's roll, a cartwheel, or flip or something. For casters it would have a kind of teleport animation (or very quick and far sidestep) where you teleport  a few feet away instantly... casters and assassins travel slightly further with their evasion than warriors.


Auto-Attack - No auto-attack. Instead every class gets 2 basic attacks... one quick/light damage attack.. and one slower/heavy damage attack... these attacks can be strung together to form a few different combos.
 - For example : Light,Light,Light = slightly more Damage... Light,Light,Heavy = small radius AOE damage... Heavy,Heavy,Heavy = small radius AOE damage with knockdown... etc:...


Ability Build-up - Some skills in the game can be built up. For example: a Mage's fireball spell can be held longer and the longer it is held the more damage it does, if it is held to a certain point the spell might gain an additional status effect, like AOE splash damage, or a 2 second stun. when you press the button the spell begins casting, once the spell has been held the minimum time required, it begins to build up, while building up the character will do a different animation which takes some specified amount of extra time and builds on the regular animation, to release the spell and actually send it at the enemy you simply left click. you can release the spell as soon as it's completed the mandatory cast time, or you can wait and let it build to full, when the ability will do the maximum damage, and possibly an added special effect... you can also release the spell during the build up, but before it's maxed out, this will do a certain amount of added damage (based on how much build time was accumulated.. so just a small build-up will do less damage than a lot of build-up), but not the special effect of a true critical.
 - This system can apply to pretty much any skill in the game. So for example: a caster is casting a 3 second long nuke, then they hold down the button past that 3 seconds and the spell starts building up for the next 3 seconds... or it could be an AOE melee ability, 1 second cast time + 1 second build time to get a full critical... or even a trap set by a ranger, 1.5 second cast time + 1.5 second build time = trap that stuns enemies in range as well as damages them.


Critical Hit - A fully built-up ability is basically the new critical hit. This system gives you the choice of when to critical. In reality if you're fighting someone, you don't just by chance score a "critical" hit, you plan that critical, it takes more time to perform, and YOU decide when it happens, not luck. This system is similar to fighting games where the best abilities take a little longer to perform and leave you more vulnerable. This adds another layer of strategy to the combat and makes it more realistic and interesting.


Weapons/Abilities with Min/Max damage - The maximum damage should not be more than 10% greater than the minimum damage. So there is a possible damage spread of about 10% for every ability in the game. For example: an ability would have a minimum damage of 900 and maximum of 990. Or min of 300 and max of 330. Or min of 5000 and max of 5500.


Global Cool-Down - Every ability other than every class's 2 basic attacks, takes at least .5 seconds to cast. There is an animation that goes in time with the cast. Only abilities with a cast time of 1 second or longer require the player to stand still. For example: A basic sword attack, the animation takes .5 seconds (so it's usable while moving) and during those .5 seconds the character is bringing back the blade and getting ready to swing, at the end of that .5 seconds the damage is done and the blade whips around and hits the enemy. If instead you decide to build up that attack more, then the .5 second animation goes into a new 1 second animation (which is still usable on the move) where the character brings the blade back and gets in a more aggressive position and the sword gradually starts to glow/burn/spark/etc:.. depending on the attack type. At the end of that 1 second animation the blade flashes and everyone knows the next attack will be a critical hit and the player can left click and deliver the strike whenever he wants. (up to a certain time limit... probably around 5 seconds till the ability fizzles out.)


Ability Cooldowns - There should be no ability cooldowns longer than 5 minutes. Every ability should be an active part of the players arsenal... There should be no "I-Win" button every 30/60/120 mins.


Morale Abilities - Similar to WAR's Morale ability system, there should be certain abilities that only unlock after you've been in combat and dealt/healed a certain amount of damage for a certain amount of time. These abilities become like your 30-60 minute cooldowns in other games. This allows players to choose when to use these "I-Win" like abilities, but they are only available after they've been in combat for a while. There is still a small cooldown limiting the use of these abilities to keep players from abusing +morale gain buffs/items/abilities.
 - Basically I think this is one of the few mechanics that WAR got right... and I think every game should copy this mechanic because it makes a lot more sense and is a lot more strategic than just arbitrary "I-Win" buttons on 30 or 60 minute cooldowns.
 - similarly to how Aion has an orange/purple glowy animation that gets stronger the more DP you have, there should be some sort of animation that shows everyone when your morale abilities become usable... the more morale you have, the more obvious the animation.
 - there are 3 tiers to morale abilities... and each tier has a couple different morale abilities that a player can pick from to put in that slot.
 - the first morale ability slot is gained at lvl 15 , the second at lvl 25, and the 3rd and final slot gained at lvl 35.
 - when a morale slot is gained you are automatically awarded a morale ability to put in that slot, but there are other morale abilities available, these other abilities can only be received by completing a difficult quest for each ability.

Screenshot of sample Morale Abilities UI frame below :






Similar Examples - Look at some videos of the combat in some of the Action MMO games in development such as, Continent of the Ninth, TERA, and Mabinogi HEROES, not the regular Mabinogi. These games have some similar things to what I've listed above and can give you a reference for what a sweet combat system can be.


-   A side-goal of this combat system is to make it accessible to console gamers as well as pc gamers. In order to do that the number of skills would have to be smaller, but with the Build-Up system it allows for a smaller number of skills and still a very complex and strategic combat experience. Since each skill can basically become 2 skills, it's possible to make a rich and compelling game with half the number of skills of a more traditional MMO.

-    Also note that you can block/guard/dodge in the middle of an attack. So if you start building an attack then all of a sudden decide you need to block, you can immediately block, although of course this will interrupt your attack.

-       There would also might be skills that only activate after a block/guard/dodge... or on certain status effects etc:...


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I know that with this type of system it would be very difficult to implement in large-scale battles. There's a reason why online FPS games limit the number of players per map, and this game would be very similar to a modern FPS in the amount of twitch reactions, precision, and aiming that it requires. But it could do extremely well in small-scale competitive play. It seems to me that this "skirmish" type of gameplay is what the majority of gamers enjoy the most anyway.

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Here are some videos illustrating a step in the direction i'd like MMO combat to go...

This first video is from TERA online... it's kind of long but it's definitely worth it... the video starts with a little solo pve from a melee class and then a caster... then ends with some group pve and gives a good idea of how groups could coordinate attacks together.

YouTube- TERA 1vs1 gameplay





the second video is of Continent of the Ninth... it shows gameplay from a warrior type class and then a ranger type class... the nice thing about this video is that it shows the key combinations used to perform each move.

YouTube- C9: Continent of Ninth - Gameplay Trailer (HD)



neither of these games have quite the same targeting system, or the Build-up mechanic i would personally like to see... but they're similar and these games give a good idea of the camera placement and combat pace i'm looking for.

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Classes - instead of choosing a class at the very start of the game and being stuck with that class forever... i'd rather you be able to switch classes later in the game if you so choose... i'd prefer something similar to FFXI where you can go to your house in the city and talk to your moogle to change classes... so this makes the most important choice at the start of the game not which class you pick, but which race you choose... another thing i thought FFXI did really well was how it had additional classes that could only be unlocked at high levels and through a very difficult quest series... Aion does something similar with its 4 classes branching into 8 at lvl 10... but i'd prefer that branching to take longer and require you to complete a difficult task in order to be awarded the new class, not something arbitrarily granted to you when you hit lvl 10 and earn your wings.


Class Quests - The quest required to branch into your new class should be designed in a way that shows you the playstyle of the class you're looking to learn. the quest should be long and each part of the quest you complete should give you a skill from the new class you're trying to learn, then the next part of the quest teaches you how to use that skill effectively and after completing that part, you gain another skill.. then the next part uses those 2 skills to gain a 3rd skill... and so on... untill you've got a decent handful of skills and then you have to complete some difficult tasks (kill very tough bosses, waves of enemies, etc:..) with only these new skills. once you've completed all the final tasks, you are awarded with the unlocking of a new class.
 - so for example... if you're a scout and want to become a ranger... the ranger quest (available at around half the level cap) will start with giving you a bow and teaching you how to use it well, then it will give you a trap ability and teach you how to use it, then it will give you a slowing attack and teach you how to kite... and so on until you've got a good idea of what the ranger class is all about. (the quest and enemies encountered during it will also scale depending on what level you are when attempting the quest... also the newly learned class starts at the same level the quest became available, so about half the lvl cap).
 - also note that each of the 4 basic classes should be playable all the way to the level cap.. so at the end game, you have the 4 basic classes + their branched counterparts... so 12 classes in all ideally.
 - a good way to give players a taste of the new classes would be some sort of quest where their character sees into the future and they get to take control of a possible version of themselves if they decide to choose the path of a that particular class.


Races - unlike almost all pvp focused games, i don't think there should be 2 completely separate warring factions... instead everyone belongs to the same faction but there are a ton of different races to choose from... like 8-12 different races.
 - all races co-exist together just fine and speak a common language.
 - There can be some rivalries and drama between races but for the most part they all co-exist peacefully and aren't in open conflict with one another.
 - but just because all the races co-exist peacefully doesn't mean there isn't any PVP... the PVP comes about because of pride and a desire to test your mettle against other teams.
 - PVP is more like a sporting activity... less like a war... there is no good guys vs bad guys... it's more like red team vs blue team... and away from the battlefield everyone is peaceful and civilized.


Racial Skills - Race specific skills should NOT affect combat!.. they could perhaps affect crafting, maybe npc faction allegiances, and each race gets a special teleport skill that takes them to their own capital city... this is on a separate cooldown than the usual "hearthstone" or "recall" ability.
 - when creating your character the starting stats of each race will be slightly different, but by the time you reach the level cap the differences in stats will be negligible, almost non-existant.
 - the stats are different to start with just in an attempt to push players toward classes that their chosen race would be well suited for... it might make the first few levels a little harder if you pick a weird combination, but it won't gimp you at all end-game if you really want to make a tauren mage for example.


Dungeons - LOTS of them. ideally the first 10 or so levels are your traditional "get comfortable with the game" levels. then the first dungeon is available and it should be possible to level all the way to the cap doing nothing but dungeons from there on out, if you so choose. however you should also acquire quests while in these dungeons that require you to go out in the regular open, persistent, pve world to complete them, and vice-versa.
 - another unique thing i'd like to see from PVE dungeons is the ability to scale the dungeon based on the size of the group in the dungeon... basically the dungeon would adjust based on the number of players in the instance... on top of that, there should be different difficulties.. like normal difficulty, hard difficulty, and epic difficulty.
 - you still shouldn't be able to solo a dungeon, it would still require a group of 2 or more to be able to enter an instance.
 - the max party size in my game would be 8... so you could zone in with 8 players and set the difficulty to normal and breeze through the dungeon. or if you want a challenge you could set it to epic difficulty and have a much more challenging dungeon, with new areas unlocked and added bosses to kill.
 - the higher difficulty shouldn't just rehash the same boss fights, it should open up completely new content. so players don't feel like they've beaten the whole dungeon after they've done it on hard, because there are still areas and bosses that they haven't even seen yet.
 - a good way to add these areas/bosses is to have locked doors, blocked off areas because of cave-ins, etc:.. that way on normal difficulty players can see where the content they're missing is located. which will make them want to try the harder difficulties even more.
 - additionally, each instance could have a pool of bosses and trash mob packs, when a new instance is created the game would randomly pick from this pool of bosses and trash mobs so that each run through the instance is slightly different and keeps you on your toes.


Dungeon Loot - Loot in dungeons is based on the number of people in your group and the difficulty.
 - when in a dungeon you receive the regular trash loot + random nice stuff from mobs and bosses... but the mobs and bosses also drop tokens... the number of tokens is the main thing determined by the difficulty... while the size of the group determines the random loot drops. (better and more stuff is dropped the more people are in the group.. so it encourages you to create the largest group you can find.)
 - the random stuff that is dropped in dungeons is slightly better than what you would find from killing mobs and elites in the normal outdoor pve areas... but the main difference is the number of tokens dropped... the higher the difficulty, the more tokens dropped.
 - the tokens you acquire can be turned in to an NPC in exchange for gear... each dungeon has its own set of gear for each class (5-6 pieces)... and a selection of weapons/rings/trinkets/profession recipes/etc:...
 - it should take about 9-10 runs on normal difficulty to get the full set of gear/items you might want from a particular instance... on hard difficulty it should take 7-8 runs... and on epic difficulty it should take 5-6 runs.

 - it should be noted that the token gear is one step down in rarity from the loot dropped by the bosses themselves. so boss drops are still the best stuff available from the dungeon, but tokens allow everyone to slowly gear up and feel like they're accomplishing something even if they don't get any boss drops.


Scaling of Dungeons - the best way i can think of to scale the dungeons based on group size is by assigning everything in the dungeon a scale value (which determines the physical size of everything)... then lets say that with a group of 5 the scale multiplier is 1... at 4 the scale would be smaller, say .9... at 3 even smaller, .8... and at 2, .7.... and above five the scale multiplier would increase... so 6=1.1, 7=1.2... and so on up to 8=1.3... so EVERYTHING in the dungeon would increase or decrease in scale depending on the group size... this includes the mobs/bosses, random doodads, even the width/height of the path through the dungeon.
 - this way with only 2 players... the entire dungeon is a good bit smaller than with 5 people... and with 8 people the dungeon is much bigger... this allows the 8 people to not feel claustrophobic in a tiny dungeon meant for fewer people, and the 2 people not to feel like ants in a giant area designed for more people... just add a scale variable to every object in the dungeon, including the walls/pathways of the dungeon itself and let the group size raise or lower that scale variable.
 - this scaling of the physical aspects of the dungeon seems to be the hardest part... since scaling the HP/Attack/Defense/Speed/Skills Used/etc:... should be pretty easy if the programmers have half a brain and have developed an efficient system for adjusting enemy stats.. especially since this type of scaling happens constantly throughout the entire game.


Death - i'm usually not a big fan of losing xp upon death... but i do like the way Aion handles death... so death would basically be handled just like it is in Aion... the only difference being that you don't have to bind to an obelisk.. you are automatically resurrected at the closest one... also, obelisks are not located in high traffic areas like towns/cities... they are located on the outskirts of towns/cities and in the wilderness... similar to the kind of places that WoW's graveyards were located...

 - kind of related, when you die and respawn your character flashes and is immune to all damage and affects for 15 seconds, or until you perform an action (block/evade/use an item or ability/etc:..)
 - this happens not just when you respawn but any time you zone into a new area... this helps keep players from dieing as soon as they zone in to new areas and such.


Quests - quest is such a watered down, overused word in MMOs... so i would propose a system that has "quests" and "tasks"... tasks being the mundane "kill 10 rats" or "gather 10 rat tails".... while quests are ACTUAL quests that require you to basically go on an adventure and do some badass heroic deeds... Quests should be much more rewarding and also much more difficult... a good example of a QUEST would be the daeva ascension quest line... or even better... the Molten Core hunter epic bow quest in original WoW... or the priest's staff equivalent... or the lvl 60 warlock epic dreadsteed quest.
 - there should be a lot more quests like the ones mentioned above than there currently are in most MMOs... at least 1-3 for every lvl above 20ish.
 - Quests can be broken down into different categories: Repeatable Task, Single Task, Normal Quest, Class Quest, Ability Quest, Public Quest, and Attunement Quest.


Public Quests - another thing where WAR was really onto something awesome... but executed it poorly... basically copy WAR, but instead of having 15 PQs in each zone... have only 2-3 really good ones.


Leveling - There should be many different ways to level...

 - Ranked in order of Leveling Speed (top=quickest, bottom=slowest)
Outdoor Group Elite Grinding
Group Dungeons
Quests + Tasks
Tasks only
Solo Mob Grinding
PQ Grinding
PVP

 - Ranked in order of Loot Quality (top=best, bottom=worst)
Group Dungeons
Quests
PQ Grinding
PVP
Outdoor Elite Grinding
Tasks
Solo Mob Grinding

 - ranked in order of Difficulty (top=hardest, bottom=easiest)
Outdoor Group Elite Grinding
Group Dungeons
Quests + Tasks
Tasks only
Solo Mob Grinding
PQ Grinding

 - PVP (is kind of a Wildcard because it mostly depends on the player)


Battlegrounds - characters should start with access to 1 bg at lvl 10... then every 5 levels a new bg opens up... so if the lvl cap is 40... then by the time a player hits the lvl cap, they should have access to 7 battlegrounds. you can play any of the 7 at any time... they are not restricted to a certain level range.
 - the level range of battlegrounds should be split every 5 levels... so you'd have bgs for lvls 10-15, 16-20... etc:... until level cap... then you have 36-39, and only lvl 40.
 - at the level cap a few new lvl 40 only battlegrounds should open up.
 - you can pick just 1 individual bg, or you can click "Quickest Match" and it will queue you up for all of them.. or you can make a group of only certain bgs and queue for just the bgs in that group... something like a drag and drop to create a group of favorites with the bgs you want, and then click "Queue Favorites"
 - you can also queue up as a group, with all of these options still available.
 - if queuing as a ranked battle group, you would also have the option to join a "ranked" battleground.


Ranked Battlegrounds - are only accessible by ranked groups... in order to become a ranked group, you must first create a "Battle Group." .. similar to arena groups in WoW.. you can create a group, then register your group, and create a name and emblem (displayable on cloak/shield/banner)... you can only be in 1 battle group at a time... battle group size is limited to 16 and you can only have 1 group in a ranked battle at a time.. (but you can have 1 group in a ranked battleground and another group doing unranked battlegrounds for example, if you want).. and if you leave or are kicked from a battle group, you cannot rejoin that group for 7 days.
 - in order to become a "ranked" battle group instead of just a regular battle group, your group must win a certain number of regular bgs and have a certain win/loss ratio... once you've met the requirements you'll then have access to the ranked bgs where your wins/losses will actually mean something and earn you points/tokens that can be used to purchase gear and items...
 - these items and gear will have a certain rank requirement.. there are 5 ranks:

rank 5 - top 5% of the ranked groups on the server
rank 4 - top 10%...
rank 3 - top 25%
rank 2 - top 50%
rank 1 - all 100%

groups start at rank 1 and can move all the way up to rank 5 if they're good enough.

 - also, there are ranks for each individual BG that can be used to grant certain titles or items or buffs specific to the bg:

rank 3 - top 10%
rank 2 - top 50%
rank 1 - top 100%

 - in addition to the ranks, the very tip top teams will have their banner displayed in the capital cities or at the entrance to the bg where they are ranked.

 - also, once you become a Ranked group, you get a standard... similar to the standards in WAR... you can customize the buffs/abilities it has and anyone in your group can carry it... it can be destroyed but not captured... you spawn into the bg with one stuck in the ground waiting for you, once that standard is destroyed you don't get another in that bg... you don't have to buy the standard, it just spawns at the start of every ranked bg, and it never leaves the bg.
 - the standard is only attackable when it is planted in the ground, not when it's being carried... it should take about 5-10 seconds of focused attack from a full 8 player group to destroy the standard... and it is unable to be healed.


Duels - duels can be 1v1, or all the way up to 8v8 or anywhere in between... you can even duel 1v2 or 1v8 if you really want... once a duel is initiated a standard will appear marking the duel area and a timer will count down till the duel commences... duels then can basically be used like WoW's arenas if that's what you want... but they're just for bragging rights and not actual points. (or possibly gambling)
 - every city and zone will have an area free of mobs and npcs that can easily be used for dueling, but duels won't be limited to these areas, dueling will be allowed anywhere, even in battlegrounds and dungeons... cities will have coliseum-ish areas where people can also gather and watch.
 - you could also hold tournaments and players could perhaps bet currency on duels... so basically a "Duel for Profit" is requested (instead of the regular Duel) and an option pops up to wager gold that you'll win... both characters can agree to an amount and then the gold is extracted from them and placed in limbo till the end of the duel when the victor collects the winnings.


PVE vs PVP Items - end game PVE dungeons will require a fairly difficult "attunement" quest just to be able to get inside. PVE dungeon armor sets will also have set bonuses that increase their effectiveness in their respective dungeon (and similarly PVP gear will have set bonuses that increase their effectiveness in PVP).. this way those that PVP for their gear will still be able to do the end game dungeons, but they won't be able to blow through them without breaking a sweat, and it would still behoove them to get some gear from the dungeon to help make progression easier... and vice-versa for those with PVE gear... end game PVP and PVE gear should be very similar.. actually, damn near identical stat wise... and about the same % of people should have the top PVP gear as the top PVE gear.


DPS/Healing/Threat Meters - NO meters of any kind will be built in.


Skills - new abilities learned while leveling up simply become available in your skill book... no more of the leveling then running to your class trainer to learn your new skills... they simply show up in your skill book once you reach the required level.
 - skills also level up each level with you... so once you learn a new skill you never have to worry about getting the next rank of it... it will automatically rank up and get more powerful along with you each level... at a certain level however a status effect might be added to an ability (like a knockdown or stun)... in which case the game will let you know that an ability has been augmented/upgraded.


Crafting - crafting will be handled very similar to the way Aion handles it. except there are 2 "gathering" professions, Gathering and Scavenging... and then all the different crafting professions. the crafting professions are basically exactly the same as Aion's but there is no chance to fail. every crafting attempt succeeds... and possibly procs a better version of the item... however these better versions are not required in future recipes.. so you don't have to get a proc.. then take that proc and get another proc.. in order to get the very best items... you only have to get 1 proc.
 - also you'll be able to get very high (lvl 300 out of 400 max) with every single profession if you so choose, but work orders will only take you so far... like 1/2 of the way to mastery (or lvl 200, which will get you the basic stuff), the rest is much more difficult to come by, but offers some pretty sweet rewards.
 - You can only fully Master 1 profession... but if you decide to switch professions at any time, that profession does not go all the way back to Zero... instead it just drops down to the max you can be without specializing in that particular profession... and you can always switch back and decide to master in that profession again, but you'll have to level up the last bit of the way to complete Mastery again.


Flying - NO flying allowed... except as a means of automatic transportation, aka Flight Paths...


teleportation - there are 5 teleports in the game, your hearthstone, your racial recall ability (which takes you to your racial capital city), the mage classes' portal/summoning spells, and buddy stone teleports... everything else requires you to actually travel across the world.. with the help of flight paths, boats, trains, mounts, etc:...
 - each of the mage classes will be able to create portals to the main cities just like mages in WoW... however in order to create these portals they will require 2 additional people to help them with the spell.. similar to a WoW warlock's summoning spell.
 - also each mage class also gets a summoning spell just like the WoW warlock's summoning spell.


Mounts - just like normal non-combat mounts with a speed boost (approx 100% speed increase), except they have a few skills... a short-term sprint ability, a charge ability, and a throw the rider forward ability.

Sprint - increases movement speed by an additional 30% for 10 seconds. 30 second cooldown.
Charge - you jump off your mount and it charges forward 20 meters doing damage and knocking down anyone in its path. 30 second cooldown. dismisses your mount.
Throw - your mount bucks and throws you in the air, you fly forward 20 meters. 30 second cooldown. dismisses your mount.

 - mounts are summonable in combat but have a 3 second cast time and are interrupted with only 1 hit... so not likely to be a good getaway strategy.
 - furthermore, it takes mounts 3 seconds to get up to full speed, and every time you are hit while on a mount you take 50% less damage but your mount gets slowed down and it will take a second or 2 to get back to full speed.
 - stopping also takes a little extra time because of the mount's momentum.
 - knockdowns also cause players to be dismounted, and knockbacks are half as effective on a mounted target.
 - mounts can jump, but they cannot strafe. instead the strafe keys act as turning keys while mounted.
 - mounts also are not slowed down by large bushes, tall grass, snow drifts, etc:... like a player on foot is. (will be detailed later when i talk more about collision detection)
 - there will be certain places mounts will refuse to enter, such as sandstorms, blizzards, muddy swamps that they'd get stuck in, etc:.. or maybe certain types of mounts are just scared of certain environments or specific mobs and they refuse to go near them.

Crowd Control - CC is all either very short duration, like 5-10 seconds, with a long cooldown... or has a long cast time, with no cooldown...
for example :

Polymorph - 1.5-3 second cast, no cooldown, lasts 15-25 seconds, any damage will break the effect.
(the 15-25 seconds depends on how long you build-up the spell for... 15 secs if not built up, 25 if fully built up.)

Disorient - 1-2 second cast, 2 minute cooldown, lasts 4-8 seconds, target is disoriented and wanders in circles, any damage will remove the effect.
(4 secs = not built up... 8 secs = fully built up)

all CC breaks on damage, except for stuns... there will be no "fear" effects where the target is CC'ed and can still take damage.


Stealth - when in stealth, if you are standing still then you are completely invisible... but if you're moving there is a slight blur around your character (which makes you slightly visible to enemies) while you move, but you cannot be targeted with the lock-on function while in stealth.. in order to be brought out of stealth you must be damaged.. so ranged damage dealers have to manually fire a projectile where they think you are and connect... melee characters have to attack in your direction and the blow has to land.
 - stealth reduces movement to 70% of normal... in later levels stealth characters will learn the "tip-toe" ability that will act as a toggle you can turn on and off.. while tip-toeing you are completely invisible, like if you weren't moving at all... but you only move at 50% of normal movement speed.
 - stealth also has a 5 second cast time and can be used while on the move (at 70% movement speed) and in combat... character gradually fades to invisible over 5 seconds.
 - also, there are no "opener" moves that are only usable in stealth, although abilities can be built up while in stealth, but as soon as you release the blow you will lose stealth... instead stealth is used mostly for positioning... but if you're good you can build up a "backstab" type move and close in behind an enemy while in stealth and unload a huge crit on an unsuspecting victim.
 - guard/evade are not usable while in stealth... well, they are... but they remove stealth if used... all abilities when fired will remove stealth.


Day/Night Cycles - Day and Night cycles should mimic the real world, so if it's 12 noon where the server is located, then it feels like noon in the game... if it's 7pm server time, then it feels like 7pm, if it's midnight, then it feels like midnight... so a 1:1 time ratio basically.
 - you can use this system to create interesting time-based interactions with NPCs (i talk about this later on in the Living NPC World section)
 - also you can add some interesting night/day only quests. as long as they are clearly labeled this shouldn't be a problem for players.
 - you could also have some mob species that are nocturnal and only come out at night, perhaps these are used for the night specific quests.
 - you could even add interesting events using time... for example there could be Gremlin mobs that grow bigger and turn evil when the sun goes down... so during the day they are these cute little feisty critters but at night they become big lumbering scary monsters... note that they should NOT necessarily become more powerful... they should just change their abilities and require different tactics to kill depending on whether it's day or night...
 - you wouldn't want to make anything that forces a player to do something at a certain time, especially anything important... you could maybe have some repeatable tasks to kill the day/night only mobs for a small amount of gold and xp.. but nothing major like an attunement or important quest line.
 - this system should be used to add flavor and variety... NOT to limit or force the player to wait around till a certain time in order to accomplish something.... as long as this philosophy is kept in mind then there won't be anything to annoy or frustrate players and this system can add a lot of depth and interest to an otherwise shallow and boring world.


Resurrection - Classes with rez spells should be able to use them in combat, but they should be long cast times... also there should be an animation over the dead character when someone starts to rez them... this animation should also point toward the rezzer... for example there could be a light, swirly, mist coming from the general direction of the rezzer and infusing the dead body with life... this mist should not come directly from the rezzer, but you should be able to look at the mist above the dead body and tell the general direction of the rezzer... this way multiple rezzers don't try to rez the same person.

Sample Rez Spell:

Resurrect - 10 second cast, no cooldown, revives the target with 10% health.


Potions - all potions share a 1 minute cooldown... and none of their status effects lasts longer than 30 seconds... potions are only used for short-term buffs/health/mana etc:...


Flasks - Flasks are high level potions... they can last up to 3 minutes but have a shared 10 minute cooldown and a much better effect than regular potions.


Food - Food is the long-term buff item... and you have to sit down and spend 15 seconds eating in order to gain the buff... food buffs last until death... that could be 5 mins.. or 5 hours.. depends on how long you can stay alive... also you can only have 1 food buff up at a time.


Class Consumables - certain classes might have access to class specific consumables... similar to a WoW mage's mana stone... so tank classes can create a healthstone with a 1 minute cooldown... while mages can make a manastone with a 1 minute cooldown... so essentially these classes have 2 potions on a 1 minute cooldown each... however, mana/health stones take 5 seconds to cast, are interrupted with 1 hit, and only 1 can be carried at a time. they're also NOT trade-able.


Mini-Games - lots of mini-games to do when you're bored... playable against the computer or you can challenge someone else in game.. games like:

chess, checkers, pong, tetris, etc:..

 - maybe some more advanced games like a racing game where you use your mount and try and be the fastest around a track, with powerups to demolish your opponents... mario-kart style.
 - or a frogger type game where you ride your mount through traffic/moving platforms/etc:..
 - maybe a rail-shooter type game where you ride a mount and try to pick off as many baddies as possible.
 - or a trap shooting, or duck-hunt style game.
 - there are a lot of mini-games you could create with the basic combat and movement systems in-game.


Actual Classes - here are the 12 classes I'm thinking of...  the starting 4, then broke into their possible branches... warriors and rogues use Action Points (AP), while priests/mages use Magic Points (MP)... but both MP and AP basically act the same... just the color of the bar, and their recovery speed is different.

Warrior - traditional MMO warrior class, like Aion's Gladiator/Templar.
-   Blademaster - this is a more radical idea... basically this class doesn't have any equipped weapons, instead they conjure weapons/shields with their mind.. so they could have some attacks that summon a translucent/glowing sword to deliver the blows, or another attack that uses a polearm, and another that uses a mace... basically they don't have any weapons until they initaite an attack and the the weapon materializes out of thin air, is used, and then disappears... i'll detail this class's abilities and how it works a lot more in depth when i get around to creating the actual detailed class abilities lists.
-   Knight - like a pearly white version of WoW's deathknight, can use some basic magic and imbue his weapons with magic. specializes in polearms.
(The Warrior and all its branched classes should be clearly labeled TANKS... not melee DPSers... although they should still have decent DPS, and lots of knockdown type annoyance abilities.)

Assassin - just like Aion's assassin.
-   Ranger - just like aion's ranger.
-   Beastmaster - like WAR's White Lion class... short range dps w/ pet but also some stealth.
(The Assassin and its branched classes all have access to stealth... however, only the assassin can become totally invisible... a ranger/beastmaster always has the slight blur around their character when moving, while the assassin gets the ability to move very slowly while still staying completely invisible. (no blur))

Priest - just like Aion's Cleric
-   Paladin - like WAR's Warrior Priest or aion's chanter... healer that can do a bit of melee.
-   Druid - similar to WoW's druid but focused more on healing... NOT a hybrid.
(The priest and its branched classes are all HEALING classes... they can do a bit of damage but these classes are nowhere near the hybrids they are in some games.)

Mage - just like Aion's Sorcerer.
-   Summoner - just like Aion's Spirit Master.
-   Necromancer - like a sorcerer but deals with death magic and can summon temporary companions.. . not permanent pets like the spirit master, but temporary small armies of baddies.
(All wear light armor and use magic.... pretty standard.)

I think these classes pretty much cover all the bases... and unlike Aion and so many other games, instead of only having 1 pure tank class and 1 pure healer class (with a few offtank/offhealers)... you have 3 pure classes for each, this should make it much easier to find tanks/healers for grouping.


Determining Class Skills - to determine what skills to give what class you should first think about the archetype and what is required to perform that role... for example:

Tank - think about what skills should ALL tanks have... a pull ability, a melee snare, a charge ability, some defense buffs, etc:... then those skills essential to the archetype go to the Warrior class in its first 20ish levels... then when the Blademaster and Knight branch off, they take the warrior skills with them, and then start gaining skills that make the class unique... so in this way all the tanks are viable tanks... but still have another 20ish lvls of uniqueness layered on top. (also the animation for the basic tank skills can change based on the class... but the basic mechanic of the ability is the same... so a Blademaster still has a pull ability, but it might look different from the warrior or knight's pull ability.)

Healer - essential healer abilities... a quick heal, a long heal, a damage absorption shield, a HoT, etc:... just like the tank abilities, the priest gets all the necessary abilities in the first 20ish lvls then the rest is just adding a unique feel and a few special abilities to each class... and once again, the animations on the basic skills can change with the class.. but the ability still does basically the same thing.

Scout - essential scout abilities... basic stealth, a backstab, sprint, disarm, stun, etc:.. i think you get the idea...

Mage - essential abilities... blink (short distance teleport), some sort of CC, quick nuke, long nuke, some sort of AOE, root/snare, etc:..


Titles - titles should be used sparingly... similar to the way they are in Aion, there should be relatively few titles and they should only be given for completing especially difficult tasks... like clearing a dungeon on difficulty lvl 10, or becoming a grandmaster of a profession, or completing a particularly difficult quest, or for special PVP prowess, etc:... i also like how titles in Aion give stat bonuses to your character... some of the more unique/silly/weird titles should have weird/silly bonuses to a specific stat, or a few stats... but the more elite/difficult to obtain titles should give broader stat bonuses.. like 1-3% increase to all stats... that way you don't have to choose a title just for the stat bonuses, and the elite titles would be useful to all classes.


Outdoor Bosses - there will be the usual wandering outdoor bosses that require a full group to take down... but instead of just dropping some rare loot... they drop tokens which can be turned in for some pretty nice items... also they drop crafting items that are essential for some of the best in lvl crafted gear... for example:

 - a giant wandering Fire Elemental would drop a token to each player, and also a "Flame Crystal" which is soulbound and is an essential ingredient used in crafting to create some of the most badass armor/weapons/earrings/etc:.. for that level.


XP from Professions - just like in Aion, you should be able to gain XP from crafting... not a lot... but enough to provide a little more incentive to craft... the better the item you create, the more xp you get from it... so a basic normal rarity sword would give a very small amount, but a badass sword like the one created from the "Flame Crystal" above would give a pretty hefty chunk of xp... of course you would get less xp per potion or food item made, but you'll be making a lot more of them than you will armor pieces...
 - every time you gather/scavenge something you'll also receive a small amount of xp


Tagging Mobs - Mobs are tagged based on whoever hit them first... furthermore, if you tag a mob.. and someone else tries to attack it, they will be stunned/disoriented/put to sleep/etc:... for 3-15 seconds.. 3 seconds if it's a normal mob, 5-10 secs if it's an elite, and 15 secs if it's a big outdoor boss... however you do have the ability to "Call for Help".. if you call for help then anyone can help you with the mob, but then it's no longer worth any xp and won't drop any loot.
 - so if your group is fighting an outdoor boss, and someone comes along and tries to help, they'll be stunned for 15 seconds every time they try and attack the boss, OR if they try to heal anyone in your group.... the attack/heal will still land.. but then they'll be stunned for the duration... so it's possible to get a little help from outsiders.. but not a game-breaking amount.
 - if you call for help on an outdoor boss... then the boss will grow and enrage and his defense/attack will go up and he'll start 1-shotting even tank classes... so it's not a good idea to call for help on the big bad outdoor bosses.
 - but regular mobs and elites don't enrage when you call for help... only bosses.


Zone Maps - Maps are similar to how they are in most MMOs... but more in-depth with the ability to zoom very far in (using the mouse scroll wheel)... basically it starts with the artistic zone map, then as you zoom in the map becomes more realistic, and more detailed info becomes available about the area.
 - if you haven't uncovered an area of the map, it will still be covered up even if you zoom in. you must have discovered an area in order to see it on your map.. but once discovered you can look at it anytime and even zoom in and see all the NPCs in the area.
 - if an NPC patrols around, the icon that represents him will not move... but when you mouse over his icon, it will show little footsteps which represent his path, letting you know where he can be found.
 - you can scroll in on the world map/zones/cities/dungeons... and maybe battlegrounds.
 - i've made a jpeg to hopefully describe it a bit better... in this jpeg there are 4 stages of zoom... there could be more stages if needed... or you could make it scroll smoothly if you want to be really fancy.





Advanced Targeting Info - I've given a lot more thought to how specifically the targeting system should work... basically the camera controls like a PC based FPS (Quake for example... since I've been playing QuakeLive a decent amount lately)... you don't have to hold down any buttons for the camera to move with your mouse... every class, even melee classes, have a targeting reticule in the center of their screen.... when that reticule is over someone, they light up/glow like happens when you mouse over someone in Aion (the yellow glow around their silhouette)... once you have someone highlighted, you can click and hold the right mouse button and that will lock-on to the highlighted target... now you can move the reticule away from them and they will stay targeted... if you release the right mouse button, you also release your target... while you're locked on to someone, you can spin the camera wherever you want and look around but your character will still cast spells at the locked on target.
 - homing spells/abilities will shoot straight forward in the direction your character is facing, but then home in on your locked-on target. spells that aren't homing will just fire straight ahead at wherever your reticule is pointing, regardless of wether you have a target locked-on or not.
 - you can also click the middle mouse button while still holding the left mouse button to immediately spin the camera back to your locked on target... so lets say you're locked on to an enemy, then you decide to look behind yourself and see if there is any backup coming... instead of panning behind, and then all the way back to the front and trying to find your locked on target again... you can just click the middle mouse button and it'll instantly center the camera on your locked on target.... or if they run through you to try and get behind you... you can middle click and spin around to face them immediately.
 - if you left click while you have someone selected, then you can interact with them... this is how you talk to NPCs for example.
 - if you left click and hold with another player targeted, a radial menu will appear (picture a pizza with 6-8 slices, each labeled with an action you might want to do)... you move your mouse so the reticule is over the action you'd like to perform and then release the left mouse button... this way you can inspect, message, check their personal store, invite them to a group, etc:... with just one click. (this mechanic can also be used in a lot of other in-game interactions... but i won't get into every possible use.)
 - you can also hold down the ALT key (default) and the cursor will show up and you can use the cursor to interact just like in a traditional MMO.
 - the targeting reticule may also change depending on the spell/ability you're using... or who you have targeted.
 - if there is a group of people clumped up you can use the mouse wheel (default) to switch among those under your targeting reticule... it will only switch between those right near/under your targeting reticule though.. so you can't just scroll through all the players on your screen till you find the one you want, you have to actually put the reticule over them... but if there is more than 1 stuck under your reticule then it'll switch between them... then when you get the one you want, you can right click to lock on, or left click to interact with... this is especially useful when there are a bunch of players clumped around a questgiving NPC.
 - also... only SOME, not all, ranged spells will be "homing".. as in follow their intended target even if they move before the projectile gets there... some of the harder hitting spells will not be homing and instead will require you to aim well and plan your attack.


Size of Outdoor Zones - Zones should be HUGE... in a game that requires so much in the way of reactions, timing, and precision it's important to spread people out when they're out in the open game world.. if players are all clumped up lag could become a big problem... the smallest zones should be the size of the Barrens in WoW... every zone should also have 1-3 roaming outdoor bosses and at least 1 dungeon... as well as a large area full of elites.
 - there should also be a couple different channels available for each zone... however to keep players from channel swapping and killing the same named/rare/outdoor boss mob over and over there will be a buff placed on you for 1 hour after you kill certain rare/boss mobs that will keep you from killing them again for 1 hour....
 - for example if you kill some rare elite Ice Giant boss in the Frozen Lands... you'll get a buff that says something like "Covered in Ice giant blood. increases physical defense by 1%" ... so naturally if you come across this same huge ice giant guy later in the frozen lands he's going to be pretty pissed that you're covered in his buddy's blood... so if you get close to him, he'll get desperate and go crazy and enrage as if you had called for help on an outdoor boss (described earlier in the Tagging Mobs section)... and he'll massacre you... so basically after you've defeated him, you can't engage him again for at least an hour.
 - needless to say these buffs cannot be dispelled, or removed in any way, and persist through death.
 - going along with this idea... every wandering outdoor boss will give a buff when you kill it... in early levels these buffs will be really small (1-2% defense/attack/speed/etc:..), but in later levels these buffs will become more and more powerful... to the point where killing one outdoor boss could give 10% increased HP/MP, or 10% increased damage/healing, or 5% increase to all stats, or 10% movement speed bonus, etc:...
 - also as you go up in levels the buff lasts longer... so at low levels it lasts 1 hour... at the level cap these buffs might last 3 hours.
 - so a possible strategy for tackling difficult content would be to kill a few outdoor bosses in the area to gain their buffs before entering the most difficult dungeons.


Wipe Recovery - each Priest class will have an ability that allows them to create a resurrection stone (similar to a tank's healthstone or a mage's manastone... which is similar to a WoW warlock's Soulstone) that takes 5 seconds to cast, is interrupted with 1 hit, does not expire, but only 1 can be carried at a time... the priest can activate this resurrection stone to return themselves to life... however they can only use a resurrection stone once every hour.
 - there are also first aid Resurrection Kits... these kits can revive 1 player... the kit is destroyed upon use and another kit cannot be used for another hour... these kits are somewhat expensive and are extremely useful to Assassin classes since they can stealth during combat and drop completely off the enemy's threat list... after their group members are dead and the enemies have reset, the assassin can revive the priest if their resurrection stone is on cooldown.
 - also resurrection stones and kits are usable in combat... however the stone takes 5 seconds to bring you back to life with 50% health and mana (gain 10% each second for 5 seconds)... while you're being brought back to life you are in a transparent/ghostly state and are attackable but you cannot attack back... if you reach 0 life before the end of the 5 seconds... the spell is cancelled and the stone is destroyed and the 1 hour cooldown starts... so you have to be wise about when and where to use it.
 - the kit is also a 5 second cast but it's cast by the player with the kit, not the player being revived... 1 hit to the caster can interrupt and cancel the revival spell (and therefor destroy the kit and start the cooldown)... at the end of the revival spell if it's not interrupted the target will be revived but with only 10% health and mana.


Resting - resting should be handled similarly to the way it is in Aion... every class has a toggle ability that says "Rest" which makes them sit down and rest... while resting the player regains hp and mp much much quicker... however unlike Aion where you regain health/mana in chunks only once every few seconds... it should be much smoother... so you regain health/mana like every .5 seconds.. so it seems smooth and flowing and you're not waiting for a big jump in hp/mp to stand back up... also the action of standing and sitting should be much smoother, quicker, and more responsive than it is in Aion.
 - while resting your defenses are also lowered and you take an additional 30% more damage while resting... being hit while resting does not automatically force you to stand up, but stuns/knockbacks will.


Bandages - bandages are also available to regain health quicker than just resting... they are almost exactly like bandages in WoW.. they have a 1 minute cooldown and act basically as a channeled spell which restores hp every 1 second for 5 seconds.
 - there are also mana bandages that act like normal bandages but restore MP instead of HP.
 - all bandages (both HP and MP) share a 1 minute cooldown... so similar to potions you have to decide which type of bandage is best for the situation.
 - bandages can also be interrupted in 1 hit.. so you'll want to make sure you're safe before you attempt to bandage.


Guilds - handled very similarly to how they were in WAR... guilds level up with you and at each level a few new guild related features open up... however there are only 10 ranks instead of the 40 found in WAR...

ranks and rewards:

1 - Guild Created (basic guild features, including in-game calendar)
2 - Can create a logo to put on cloaks/sheilds/banners
3 - Guild vault becomes available
4 - Guild standard becomes available with 1 ability slot
5 - Access to Guild Hall
6 - Second ability slot in standard becomes available
7 - Access to Guild Stone (basically a hearthstone that takes you to the Guild Hall.)
8 - 3rd ability slot in standard becomes available
9 - Access to "Summon Moogle" ability... basically the guild leader can give 5 guild members the ability to summon an NPC to his location once every 3 hours... this NPC gives access to personal/guild vaults, also players can change their class at this NPC, and respec their talents/stigma skills. (this way members can switch classes, grab their gear, and respec to fit a group role that needs filled).
10 - the guild leader gets 3 Guild Summon Stones... these stones can be passed out to members of the guild so that 3 people in the guild have the ability to summon the entire guild to their location.

Guild Summon Stone - 10 second cast. 3 hr cooldown. summons everyone in the guild to the summoner's location. not usable in instances like BGs and dungeons.
 - basically when the leader uses the stone it pops up a "you have been summoned" box to all guild members and they can click "Accept" or "Decli

[Nikran]

i dunno about that giant wall of text, but imo the best melee combat system is demon's souls one. stick that into an mmo and that would be 1 step to perfection.

[Lupin]

Life?

[Viseroid]

i dunno about that giant wall of text, but imo the best melee combat system is demon's souls one. stick that into an mmo and that would be 1 step to perfection.

Yeah, I really liked the DS combat system. It was very consistent (unless you were PvPing someone across the globe) and I always knew if I died it was my fault.
My biggest gripe about MMOs was the grinding. It is never fun to do the same run over and over and kill the same monsters. Diablo II grinding was a little bit better since you were constantly fighting for your life in Hell mode (until you got 1337 items ).

[logos]

....so I read the entire wall of text, IMO that guys's an idiot.  Almost everything he wants to change just makes the game easier, evasion? So you wanna tell me that you wanna give mages an instant teleport dodge ability...so if I'm a warrior I have to walk up to the guy attack, oh no he dodges, but I have to play in first person so I ahve no idea where he went. Oh he doesnt need to target me at all cuz I'm locked on, so he shoots me with a fully held attack I get 1 hit KO...man that sounds like some great combat. 

His exp system....are you kidding me, lets pander to the guild freak only play in groups.  Exp should be better in groups, having better loots makes sense as well, but being penalized jsut becasue you play solo is crap.  Aion has a perfect blend for exp and loot, stick with that (I assume this was posted in the Aion forums). 

And I'd like to know how root/ensnare/traps w/e could be blocked by a shield? or how blocking with a shield should automatically block x amount of damage from a magic attack.  Why would a wooden board (or even a metal one) protect you from...enveloping ice, flames erupting from the ground, lighting strikes etc.  And give wizards a guard similar to a warriors?! Wizards dont use weapons, they use magic, dont let them start blockig my attacks with a magical orb.

No auto attack....seriously, mmo's already have enough button mashing, turning it into gauntlet legends is not an improvement.

And not having opposing factions or racial enhancements, what would be the point in choosing between a dark elf, a sun elf or a wood elf? theres gotta be something besides looks that determines your choice of character.

/rant over (mostly cuz I dont wanna type more)

[Meomix]

You know, my biggest problem with mmorpgs in general is the FUCKING LEVELING SYSTEM! Every. Single. Mmorpg. Revolves around grinding like freaking sheeple.
It doesn't matter how grand the games machanics is, or how flashy and innovative the event systems are. At the end of the day most if not all of your game time is spent grinding.
''''. Hah quests you say!? Same shit, only with specific items crumbled on top.

[wolkec]

i think darkfall gets pretty close to that

[iindigo]

Really, for the most part, I'm mostly happy with what WoW provides. There are a few key things that I'd definitely like to see changed:

- Zones definitely need to be bigger. Especially now that everybody and their grandmother's drycleaner's dog has methods of lightspeed travel, all the zones feel tiny. A game on a world-scale should not be tiny, plus tiny zones get boring fast. It's always fun to go back to a zone you thought you were long finished with to find little undiscovered corners and all kinds of things that you never noticed before.

- While WoW was never really hard to begin with, it's become so easy a rock could play it. Put the challenge back in. Make it so completing game content is a challenge, but NOT a real "grind". There is a balance to be had, however - don't go to the opposite end of the spectrum, where if your character dies you lose three level's worth of XP, all your gear, your learned spells, your memories, your limbs, and part of your extended family. That's just silly.

- Ressurect long, adventuring, epic questlines. The "Walk five feet and grab this for me" quests of late are a terrible bore. I miss traveling and exploring the world as a result of long quest chains.

- World elites. Having groups of elites dotted throughout the world added and element of danger and make a fun break from the usual questing (especially when devising strategies for soloing them instead of getting a group!).


On the PvP side of things, just remove something like 75% of the various "counter" spells (those which exist to counter other classes' abilities). It's unbelievably frustrating to have the vast majority of your abilities nullified and made useless every time you enter a PvP situation. Oh, and reinstate defense/survivability tradeoff - for example, there's no reason a high-defense class with heals to be able to dish out nearly as much damage as a "core damage" class.

[AceHigh]

You know, my biggest problem with mmorpgs in general is the FUCKING LEVELING SYSTEM!

Not Guild Wars, there you level up to max level in the noob island and it takes less than a day. The rest is endgame.
Global Agenda, 3rd person shooter MMO. Level 5 character has the same HP and armour as lvl 50 and the only difference is that higher levels have more different guns and toys to choose from although they are not more powerful as the starting weapons/skills.

[Proin Drakenzol]

I think dude in the OP needs to take a lesson in game design. His text-wall was epic fail.

Overall the "perfect" MMORPG for me is one I can play casually and for free. I really prefer pencil and paper games.

[Ixarku]

I really prefer pencil and paper games.

No disagreement from me there.  I'd rather get together with my friends for a half-day and run a pencil & paper game than grind my way to max-level in something.  I've got two problems with pen & paper games though -- one is getting everyone together on a consistent basis, and two is that my game ideas have gotten more and more ambitious over the years, meaning I end up spending a lot more time & effort on crafting the campaign & the adventures.


Somewhat OT, I probably had the most fun playing an MMO in vanilla WoW.  Aion had some good ideas, but the drawbacks were too significant for me to get past.

[Excale]

May I suggest something to the "Class Section". I suggest that classes shouldn't even exist but instead you start out with a bunch of skills to build on. (Mabinogi is what I am comparing to). Over time you unlock skills though you are unable to use them (Buying skills maybe?) but to improve you increase that certain section of your battle technique. For example, there can be 3 skills you can pick from, heal, double slash, fireball; You can increase heal a lot but put in a bit of "double slash", giving you basically a title similar like "Warrior priest" or something to that effect. This will remove the entire "class limitation" for equips and remove the need to create 1+ characters just to try out several classes but instead maybe to try out new builds or what not.

As to my reply to other pplz posts, The zones do definitely need to be bigger as instant teleportation to any city just shrinks the entire game world to a fraction.

I'ma post more later.

[iindigo]

May I suggest something to the "Class Section". I suggest that classes shouldn't even exist but instead you start out with a bunch of skills to build on. (Mabinogi is what I am comparing to). Over time you unlock skills though you are unable to use them (Buying skills maybe?) but to improve you increase that certain section of your battle technique. For example, there can be 3 skills you can pick from, heal, double slash, fireball; You can increase heal a lot but put in a bit of "double slash", giving you basically a title similar like "Warrior priest" or something to that effect. This will remove the entire "class limitation" for equips and remove the need to create 1+ characters just to try out several classes but instead maybe to try out new builds or what not.

As to my reply to other pplz posts, The zones do definitely need to be bigger as instant teleportation to any city just shrinks the entire game world to a fraction.

I'ma post more later.

This system is certainly an interesting idea, but it can be extremely problematic if not designed carefully. Assuming there's no restrictions on what skills one can learn, some really "overpowered" combinations can be made. There'd have to be something in place that prevented these overpowered skill combinations to be learned.

The other thing that I see happening under a "build your own class" system is that over time, players would figure out the most effective combinations and would only accept those combinations in raiding guilds and the like (similar to how in WoW, many classes are expected to be a certain raid-optimized talent spec or else be left sitting in Stormwind when the raid starts).

[Malific]

OP, Your combat characteristics are not MMORPG, they are ACTION GAME. Which is why you keep referencing God of War. Personally I don't play MMORPG's to fight in a maneuverability battles, where the fastest button masher wins. Also I have to agree above, a shield should have no effect on magic attacks unless it's magic shield designed specifically against those types of attacks.

Retical Targeting? This isn't a shooter, click target, tab target will always be and should always be options in the type of game you're discussing.

Maps changes.. Yes we need that. I have an addon for wow that does exactly that.

PvP - No comment, I hate PvP in a MMORPG with a passion and always will, Comes from my days of Diablo I and UO when it wasn't called PvP it was called Player Killing, was very frowned upon, and something only snerts, jerks, @55holes and 10 years did because they wanted to make somebody's day miserable and there was no consequences for it. Gave rise to the whole player killer killer group, Which I was avidly involved in during my UO days, but I digress, I know now-a-days it's not the same thing and, people live for it, so have at, just don't expect me to be there.

@someone who replied I forget who:
WoW being too easy?  So I'm assuming you've killed the Lich King already on 25 man Herioc? You 'WoW's too easy now' complainers need to STFU. Making end game available to everyone is a good idea. I wouldn't want to buy a game if I wouldn't be able to "finish" it. If you want more challenge, Up the difficulty setting, me and my guild are working on them and they're Very hard.

I suggest that classes shouldn't even exist but instead you start out with a bunch of skills to build on.

Ultima Online - No classes, learn any skill by doing. Cap Total on skill points (was like 400 back when I stopped playing)
DragonRealms - Classes, but you can learn any skill by doing, no limits except on how much time you spend on it, classes learn specific sets of skills faster.

[iindigo]

@someone who replied I forget who:
WoW being too easy?  So I'm assuming you've killed the Lich King already on 25 man Herioc? You 'WoW's too easy now' complainers need to STFU. Making end game available to everyone is a good idea. I wouldn't want to buy a game if I wouldn't be able to "finish" it. If you want more challenge, Up the difficulty setting, me and my guild are working on them and they're Very hard.

No, I haven't fought the Lich King at all. I haven't even been playing WoW for the past 3 or 4 months because when renewal time came up, I couldn't afford it at the time (college life, heh).

I wasn't speaking of raiding, though. That's because, at least to me, raiding is not the entire game. I'm talking about all the content lying outside of instances. I remember leveling to 60 back before any of the leveling nerfs (I started playing at around 1.5) and it was an epic journey. Not only because I didn't know what I was doing, but also because the world was indeed more challenging. There were many, many more time and situations where you'd find your character close to death or dead if you weren't careful. You couldn't just recklessly run through and blast away every mob (or even large groups of them) you ran into. You had to strategize and work around your particular class' strengths and weaknesses. This was especially true when attempting to solo the elite mobs that use to be scattered around Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms.

Also, green and blue quality items were worth something back then. When you finally got a full set of blue items from working your way through the level 52-60 5-mans, it was an accomplishment. Nowadays, green and blue items might as well be greys.

The classic 5-man dungeon designs were infinitely more interesting than the "hallway with a boss" design that has taken over post-60 instances.

All that disappeared with the Burning Crusade onward, and I have to say that I sincerely miss it. It made the game much more interesting to me - it didn't have to be all about raiding if I didn't want it to be. In the summer, when I had more time, I could raid to my heart's delight, but when I was busy, I could still sign on for a couple hours in the evening and make headway by just working on a profession or running a 5-man.

[Slysoft]

WoW being too easy?  So I'm assuming you've killed the Lich King already on 25 man Herioc? You 'WoW's too easy now' complainers need to STFU. Making end game available to everyone is a good idea. I wouldn't want to buy a game if I wouldn't be able to "finish" it. If you want more challenge, Up the difficulty setting, me and my guild are working on them and they're Very hard.

WoW is not hard. WoW = gear. Gear = skill. If you have gear you can complete any raid encounter. It's impossible to be good at wow, all you need is gear and an IQ above the threshold of retardation so you can memorize this week's boss gimmick.

[Morgia]

I think dude in the OP needs to take a lesson in game design. His text-wall was epic fail.

Overall the "perfect" MMORPG for me is one I can play casually and for free. I really prefer pencil and paper games.

which P&P do you play again? If my memory serves me right D&D 4th Ed? Ever heard about fantasy grounds? It's an online platform for p&p rpg where you can upload your character sheets, get icons for your chars, can roll animated dice and the gamemaster can upload interactable maps... nice gimmick if you live in a small town where you can't really find yourself a group or happen to be stationed on a ship ( ) but I guess you can find enough bored sailors for a permanent group where you are ^^

[shabutie]

WoW being too easy?  So I'm assuming you've killed the Lich King already on 25 man Herioc? You 'WoW's too easy now' complainers need to STFU. Making end game available to everyone is a good idea. I wouldn't want to buy a game if I wouldn't be able to "finish" it. If you want more challenge, Up the difficulty setting, me and my guild are working on them and they're Very hard.

WoW is not hard. WoW = gear. Gear = skill. If you have gear you can complete any raid encounter. It's impossible to be good at wow, all you need is gear and an IQ above the threshold of retardation so you can memorize this week's boss gimmick.

I have to agree here.

WoW was much better when endgame wasn't available to everyone.

A very wise man once said, "It's better to travel well than to arrive."


Which brings me to my point about what the perfect mmo should have.  The end game should feel as if you're progressing through it.  You shouldn't ever feel like you have to finish the game/do all the end content.



Though, my personal perfect mmo only has to have bearable gameplay and a kickass group of people to play with...  Because I play mmo's to have fun with others.

[MammalSauce]

nerds and their silly time sink mmos

[Fool010]

nerds and their silly time sink mmos

Now, that's a very useful comment ... thanks a lot