Last week I asked everybody what their favorite sort of environment in an MMO is and most of the answers were rather unsurprising. Most people agreed that large empty spaces like plains, deserts, and wastelands are copouts by designers and are boring to adventure in. I was surprised however that Brandon’s favorite is large green rolling hill type zones. Those are probably tied with underwater zones for being my LEAST favorite. I guess living in Minnesota where I get to experience farmland while driving anywhere out of the city sort of turns me off to large green vast areas.
I was surprised as well to see that nobody said forests. Using WoW as an example for this, I don’t think that zones like Silverpine and Ashenvale are all that great for forests – but Feralas? Feralas is one of the nicest looking zones in my opinion in any game. I really enjoy the multicolored trees, the waterfalls, the spooky mist in the air, the pools. I think its just a real nice looking area. And the original Nektulos Forest in EQLive? One of my favorites by far.
This TalkBack is going to be similar in topic except I want to see everyone put your designer hats on. Can you think of an environment that HASN’T been done yet in an MMO? Or if not, can you think of one that hasn’t been done WELL?
This is tougher than the last one, but lets aim for more than 15 replies! =)
Tami Baribeau is the Associate Producer for Metaplace, Inc, currently working on Island Life. She is also the Lead Editor of feminist gaming blog The Border House, and the National Facebook Games Examiner for Examiner.com. She can be reached on Twitter or by email.
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I can’t say it’s never been done, but taken from the big list of RPG cliches, a haunted ship type zone has never been done well. Obviously it is harder to fit into the world when you are trying to make a (somewhat) believable environment but I still think it could be done well and be a ton of fun. I won’t go into specifics of what I would do with it, but I’ve always thought the idea was cool and completely underutilized.
Present Day. This may be more of a theme rather than an enviroment, and I am not sure where this would be integrated into a MMO, but a present day replication of a actual place irl, I have yet to see. (correct me if I am wrong)
Some MMO may eventually come along that uses this and could place it within a 3300 or Heroes type universe, but a new IP would probably be best.
Brandon, really like that idea. A haunted ship would be excellent if done RIGHT.
…a lunar landscape
(and yes, I’m being half sarcastic)
Taking lunar landscape and running with it, I’d like to see a really well done low-gravity environment where you not only got to jump and move in great leaps, but you had to learn how to get around effectively.
But really, I am a bit more interested in the genre or IP of the MMO versus the environment itself. I could imagine a cool, post-apocalyptic zombie game set in rolling green farmlands… farmlands of the undead!
Ruins of modern day earth.
It would be cool to travel the world in a future cyberpunk/steampunk or even fantasy setting that has landmarks from today’s world. The explorer part of me would love this.
The only question is: what level area is my back yard? There are plenty of duckies and bunnies there, so I’m guessing it is a newbie yard.
Using the classic D&D module ‘Expedition to the Barrier Peaks’ as a point of reference, it would be really cool to see a game area based on a huge crashed spaceship in a traditional fantasy setting, thereby introducing alien technology to the players and the world. The challenge of course would be in the balance.
I Dm’d this back in the 80’s and the players really enjoyed it because it wasn’t immediately revealed that they were exploring in a spacecraft from another world. Seeing the players connect the dots was pretty cool.
Here’s the link to the wiki which sums up the coolness:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expedition_to_the_Barrier_Peaks
Great blog by the way. Just added it to my daily must read list.
Brent…it sounds like you want a Shadowrun MMO (and who the hell doesn’t really). It would be awesome.
As for your yard…are these cyberpunk bunnies? Like with metal plating and enhanced hopping abilities?
*cough* *cough*
I believe I said forests. Well, jungles, but Feralas = jungle IMO and jungles are really just tropical forests anyway.
As for a zone that’s never been done well in an MMO, I think a “giant world” a la jack and the beanstalk has potential to be really cool.
An office environment, where you have to avoid being delegated work by the elite mobs roaming the corridors near their offices, fend-off attacks from wave after wave of co-workers who attack Fortress Desk because they want to steal your stapler, and then run the gauntlet of the irate secretary of photocopier expenses as you make your way to the holy grail, the life giving source of the whole office: the coffee machine. Epic quests would involve leaving the office on time, and staying awake during the latest management project review.
Otherwise: there’s plenty of sky up there, we should make better use of it.
CALL OF CTHULHU…fun thing is I had suggested this back on stropps site…CoC because it’s set in a period that I don’t think has been done & HP Lovecraft has lore! I love lore!