Ideas for a great MMORPG

[Terin]

Ok, we all know that in general we hate the grinding that seems to be mandatory for almost every MMORPG out there. So let's focus on some of the things that can aleve that, as well as other things that make an average MMORPG a great one.


1. Quests. Let's face it, if it wasn't for quests, you would have to grind levels/equipment. So an obvious answer to grinding would be an increase in quests. Chain quests are even better, because you're working towards something for a long time. One of my favorite WoW past times was doing the Onyxia Key chain quest. I don't know how others feel, but I don't mind grinding if it's going towards a quest and I have a reasonable amount of things to collect (let's say 20 vendor items off of a trash mob.) So there is an acceptable level of grinding, primarily if it has mmore instantanious rewards. IN addition, you're so focused on completing the quest, you don't reealize you're levelling up naturally.

2. Non-battle related rewards. One of the coolest features of DOFUS was how you had to unlock emoticons. Whenever you saw a new one, you immediately HAD to know how and where to get it.

3. Class upgrades that require a certain quest chain. This would promote exploration. The more classes, the more variety. I'd say 10 basic classes and perhaps 5 elite classes would be a good starting point. Obviously the elite classes would yield greater results, and permit different things, such as entrance to class specific areas. A hunter, for example, would have to complete his ranger class upgrade before being admitted into the Ranger League, who controls the Sacred Forest, where Rangers can hunt, tame and mount rare creatures that cannot be found anywhere else.

If you have any other ideas, go ahead and post them!
-T

[Shurikane]

Monsters that aren't re-skins of others.
It was somewhat OK in PSO because you had easy-hard-hardest versions of the common grunts, but some MMORPGs loved to take it to a level of where the only difference between two areas at each end of the continent was the color of the monsters.

NO POINT AND CLICK!
I need to keep my fingers busy! There's nothing more boring than clicking on a mob and waiting 'till he dies. I want something with more, say "gamer skill" involved than just sitting around.

Music that makes sense.
Half of the MMORPGs I played had no music. Just a bit of wind and stuff, a little chant or two once in a while, and that's it. It's appropriate in places but I feel that when properly done, music can really enhance a game.

[Terin]

One of the most appropriate (and my personal favorite) song/place in a game is the tribal music in Nanaki's village in FF7.
-T

[Shurikane]

In my case, it was Tower of Caelum from PSO Ep.III. I wish this could actually be an area in the other episodes...

[Therin]

Originality. Bang. Got it all in one.

I want to see a game where my character can 1-hit kill nearly every enemy in the game at level one. But if I take a hit, it's game over.

I want to see a game where combat looks like a dance, instead of two walls trying to fall on one another.

I want to see a game that spans worlds, and galaxies. Not just nations.

I want to see a game where males can have arms that are smaller than my head, where females can have breasts that don't look like something dreamed up by naval engineers.

I want to see a game where not everyone is beautiful. Where a hideous, one-eyed, furred, winged menace can stalk out of the shadows and have an actual human being behind.

I want to watch my character fly.

I want to discover a story immersive enough to keep me interested in spite of grinding. (Read: Not WOW.)

I want to enjoy the late game as much as the creation of a character.

I want a game that actually seems like a world, and not just a game trying desperately to act like a world.




I could do it. All I need is the money.

[Silver Adept]

I want a game that you can pick up and put down without falling behind on.
I want a game that has a story and a world behind it, and that continually puts players on the hunt of trying to find a final answer, even if it doesn't exist. I want a story that I can act out in.

I want an RPG that emphasises RP and not G.

[Buda]

Has anyone here played EVE online? i havent heard any reliable opinions but it seems like it would be diferent enough.

I personaly want to see more develpers drop the RPG and add on RTS or FPS i have seen in the past an MMORTS that looked realy cool. everything still went on while you were logged off, so it wasent realy for anyone but "hard core" gamers who spend most there time on it, but there are ways you could solve that, during you 20 second loggoff, everything packs into a main base that goes into orbit, and you have to pick a new place to land when you log on. you could even have diferent plannets(servers) to log into. and i have always wanted to play Halo2 on a huge map with a team of 50-100 people, form intracate stratigies with pelecans droping in troops, then bringing vehicles once the DZ is cleared. you could have each zone be either an objective or slayer, and each week they switch up. you could have a huge map with 3 or more factions fighting over 30 zones accross an ailen landscape. personaly, i think the MMORPG is just going to get more and more stagnent unless its just left alone.

[Nogrick]

I want Player Politics. I want to have the players be able to design their cities and their rules. Let the players decide who the enemies are and the best course of action to take.

I want experience to be experience. If I use a sword all the time, then I shouldn't know how to use every other melee weapon as well.

More active battle system, Like Shuri said. I hate pointing and clicking and waiting for the battle to end. I want it to be skillful so that I may be a lower level, but I'd still have a chance against a strong opponent.

[Hoth]

Man you guyz need to play Asheron's Call 1. Or try DDO.

Thats all im saying.