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Ninajrr · 12-14-2007, 06:29 PM

To make this short and to the point...time travel.

First, just as a note, we've all seen the advantages of capitalizing on nostalgia, and we've all experienced the excitement of nostalgia.

Now to the meat of the problem and my idea:

We all know that the environment of an MMO(RPG) completely directs the audience of the game. Being limited by this factor is a terrible burden on the industry. IMO, this is easily overcome with a bit of ingenuity, though I personally haven't seen it present itself in any significant manner.

What I would like to see is a culmination of the prime environments (High Fantasy, Steampunk, Prehistoric, Post Apocalyptic...) in a single game through use of time travel. Allowing for a game to have nostalgia within itself, as well as a living "history". The expansion of a game in this way allows for much more creativity in story, environment, and encounters. No long are you strictly held to the conventional "races", but now can explore "era-races". Additionally, the same applies for "classes", you open an opportunity for different "classes" to exist based on the era the character evolves in.

Now, this extension is far deeper than gameplay mechanics. Different game environments attract different audiences, as I mentioned. In having multiple settings in one game you allow for multiple communities to develop within the game which become the eras' societies, just as you as a developer would like to artificially create.

This idea really opens the doors for game design. Anywhere from "butterfly effect" expansions to "time quests", the game becomes an open canvas.

12-14-2007, 06:29 PM	#3 (permalink)
Ninajrr meant to type ninjarr Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: CA Posts: 1,714 -11 Internets	To make this short and to the point...time travel. First, just as a note, we've all seen the advantages of capitalizing on nostalgia, and we've all experienced the excitement of nostalgia. Now to the meat of the problem and my idea: We all know that the environment of an MMO(RPG) completely directs the audience of the game. Being limited by this factor is a terrible burden on the industry. IMO, this is easily overcome with a bit of ingenuity, though I personally haven't seen it present itself in any significant manner. What I would like to see is a culmination of the prime environments (High Fantasy, Steampunk, Prehistoric, Post Apocalyptic...) in a single game through use of time travel. Allowing for a game to have nostalgia within itself, as well as a living "history". The expansion of a game in this way allows for much more creativity in story, environment, and encounters. No long are you strictly held to the conventional "races", but now can explore "era-races". Additionally, the same applies for "classes", you open an opportunity for different "classes" to exist based on the era the character evolves in. Now, this extension is far deeper than gameplay mechanics. Different game environments attract different audiences, as I mentioned. In having multiple settings in one game you allow for multiple communities to develop within the game which become the eras' societies, just as you as a developer would like to artificially create. This idea really opens the doors for game design. Anywhere from "butterfly effect" expansions to "time quests", the game becomes an open canvas.