This is not the normal "how do i" game question, but more a discussion on something I''ve seen in alot of games. Alot of games have a claim of "experience the world in a different way depending on the class you choose" When in reality the only difference is how you fight monsters...you don''t really experience the world truly differently. Im going to use the classic fantasy genre as my example. For an example of the problem Im talking about, take a look at EQ. This discussion is going to focus on MMO''s in general, since single player games are easier to do this with. First off a character should see the game differently than other players depending on two major choices they make, class and race. What I see is really that race is chosen for its stat bonus''s and a character for its skills. Its a little harder to tailor a games differences for race, but easier in concept for classes. Each class should interact with and see the world from completely different angles. Wizards for example should see things from a mystic point of view, including an astral plane, ley lines, and a very complex magical system. Thier focus might not be on blasting and killing things, but have the tools needed to do it. They might be attracted to certain areas that a fighter might pass by without a second look. Thieves/Rouges should experience things from a dark and shady underworld point of view. While other players hunt gangs, thugs and such while being safe in the confines of a town, a thief might be safe inside bandit camps, and do thier hunting among guards and passerby pocket books. Other places that players use regularly as a supply shop, bar, hotel; a thief might just go into and treat completely different; weaponshop, training, safe house, smuggling route etc. Clerics might see the world similar to wizards, but it would be shaded by thier religion. A fighter is how most games focus on the worlds i see now. Nobles might not even focus on fighting at all, but in power and hidden political games. Thats my thoughts, it would take alot of extra work to put together an mmo on this type of scale, but I think it would be well worth it. Take a look at the futureistic game Shadowrun for how different "classes" can truly see the world differently.

Things that help each character see the world differently are:

* Class context sensitive descriptions (How would a wizard describe what he sees? How would a rogue describe it?)
* How NPCs react to you (think necro in EverQuest), the areas you are more readily allowed into, the architecture and culture of those places... as I recall Necros practically had to enter every city through the sewers - which just deepened the sense of the art you undertake
* Skills available - that''s a given
* Skill advancement - also standard

Anything that can enrich the player''s experience without adding too much fluff or complicating gameplay is a good thing.

EQ took some steps in the right direction, but in general each character went through the world the same. Besides, an NPC shouldn''t react to you based on your class, most of the time a person shouldn''t be able to look at you and go that is a Necro. Of course if you walk into town wearing necromantic ceremonial robes...then yeah. NPC reactions should be based more on race. However what would a necro be interested in as a necromancer? Graveyards come to mind first, a place where a necromancer could gather minions, converse with the dead and other things. Battlefields would be another one. A necromancer being surrounded by a shroud of death shouldn''t really have much to fear when it comes to attacking ghosts, skeletons, and ghouls, they should almost see him as a brethran. A shadowknight would react in similar ways.

I can see this working in a single-player story but not a MMO style game. For example, depending on the character''s race and personality disposition, the character might "see" things differently than a character of a different race or personality. You could do this by having NPC''s for one character seem like they are having a normal conversation, but to another character, perhaps it seems like the NPC is scowling and being rude.

Altering reality in a MMO universe is possible I suppose, in that you can change certain aspects of the player''s avatar. For example, you could make the character seem more aloof, or more menacing by having the character constantly look about and seem tense. However, depending on the mode of communication (voice IP or text) you can''t really do too much to alter the actual words.

I think altering directly what another player see''s in an MMO would be a powerful tool in defining how characters exist in the world they play in. If you really wanted to do it well, you wouldn''t even mention at first that different characters will actually see things differently just use the generic "differing game experience" line.

While this may not seem specifically realistic, I think something that is often lost in game designs nowadays is that by definition there''s a limit to how effective realism is and so a level of abstraction in how things are presented to a player could be very powerful.

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flying starfish

It''s an interesting concept, and it could be *easily* abstracted into a game (with some exagerations, for sake of playability, of course).

As example, when playing with a character with better hearing capabilities, the sounds in the game would be player in a different way. The sound settings could change so noises can be heard from longer distances, and certain kinds of sounds could be louder than others, to simulate selective hearing. As example, when playing with this character, the waterfall noise would sound lower, while footsteps would be easier to perceive.

A character with higher mystical abilites could see items and maybe even entities other characters cannot, or be able to see magic aura, thus detecting the presence of powerful mages, or being able to see magic "trails" left by a mighty mystical creature.

When playing as a thief, small items noone would notice could be visible, or highlighted, as if the thief could notice and focus on small details, and so on.

If properly executed, it could add some interesting replay value to a game without the need to make the envronments dynamic: simple play as a different class, or improve certain abilites of your own character and go back to previously visited areas to see things and new areas you missed.

If the class you choose doesn''t means that you have a diferent final goal, like saving the world from the same bad guy no matter the class, you could use that to use diferent aproaches: Uppon entering the enemy''s operation center, a thief would be stealthy avoiding fights, but a fighter would have to fight, with a heavy armor he moves slower and makes lots of noise, a mage would have many choices depending on the spell it has so being a mage would mean more like a more puzzle-like game because he really has to think what to use...

I like all these ideas. Other things I would like to see would be things that Wizards have to watch out for as enemies, that no one else has to due to thier connection to the astral plane. Alot of the NPC Mobs out in the wilderness actually welcome the rouges instead of attacking them.

Basically imainge making a differnet MMO game for each class type. (not counting sub-class)
Wizard
Rogue
Fighter
Cleric

Then once you have a unique game for each one of them, merge the games into one. Almost like playing a new class is like starting an entirely differnt type of game but it uses some common rules and interface.

The trouble is with ''ALL'' MMORPGs is that eventually players loose sight of what every race/class combonation is actually about i.e. humans hate ogres and vice versa etc.

Why?

Because of Stats.

Before long players see that what they are playing is a glorified snakes and ladders, where the only thing to do is get to the top of the board the fastest.

They don''t really care about alignment (which I would have said is the one way to get players behaviours to change) because all they have to do is spend a few game days killing the local mennice to get the NPC around them to be friendly.

No clever Graphics Engine so far has managed to hide or improve the basic gameplay of MMO Games to make it more immersive or authentic.

I think for a player to truly gain an ''Expierence'' out of MMO game, the whole system would have to be re-thinked, and I personally think that dropping stat points and levels, is one way of doing that.

In short: MMO Games need to be based on a social behaviour orientated system, rather than a stat. point based one, that is the best way for players to expierence the game differently, depending on the type of character they are playing.

How a game would be constructed when the entire play system is based around social behaviour is beyond me, but thats just my opinion.

Nah, an entire social system would not be able to be worked. But in my opinion its not so much the races and classes that need to have the world tweaked around it, but more the classes.