Ok, I know you guys heard this before but here it goes: I got a Game Design Document almost finished for a MMORPG (yeah, i know that''s funny), but the point is that hiding in it are like half a dozen detailed algorithms and concepts solving some of the most glaring problems of today''s MMORPGs including: - players may very easily design quests without stepping out of the game world - getting instant background for new characters so they automatically get parents, siblings, attributes etc. - simple but effective crime system solving A LOT of realism problems with karma, alignments, notoriety or similar arbitrary systems - yes, you can play a detective, or a bounty hunter - the world (mobs and geography) is truly alive and will regenerate itself... nuff said - skill advancement system which prevents players from killing the same old orc a billion of times to advance to 164th lvl but forces them to quest for knowledge. - a player may actually finish the game, and in a meaningful way... etc, etc, etc so, what do i do with these concepts and stuff? I would send this document around to publishing houses but they would most probably throw it in the waste basket without giving it a glance. The best scenario would be if they included (stole) some of the algorithms for a game of their own. What should i do? Is there a way of selling a game concept? Some of these "ideas" have been extensively tested in simulations with a virtual MMORPG environment and are the result of A LOT of work and experience and i would hate not to see them in a game. And no, i have no intention of giving them away to the public because they would a) get mangled and b) i probably wouldn''t get any credit. so, what should i do? never trust geeks bearing gifts

If you send your ideas to any publishers or developers they will throw it away, because of potential law suits. You say you want others to use your ideas and alogirthms but you dont want to release them, that will be a tough problem to solve. No publisher will touch your ideas, unless you give up your rights to them.

Just my thoughts.
Graham.

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Hrm, this may sound a little awkward but if you''ve got the skills for it, why not employ your own ideas and make a game out of them?

Designing quests doesn''t sound too hard, designing unique non-generic quests would be a challenge, particularly if you wish to avoid repetitions like a "list" of quests would provide. You''d have to rely on player interaction for those (ie, one player whose character is allied with one country decides to assassinate a major NPC from an other country and the info leaks; that would be two quests for either side: kill the NPC or prevent the assassination).

Background could be generated at random from lists of possible, say, financial status, parent personality (caring, strict, etc..), major events, etc..

Crime-solving, hrm... I suppose closest would be something like the example "quest" I provided earlier... Not sure how that would work...

Having a world where people and creatures are born, grow up, then die could lead to VERY interesting possibilities ("Not so tough now, huh, hatchling red dragon?"). But think of the cost of maintaining such a world...

Perhaps advancement could be acheived by quests like, say, training under masters who assign quests relevant to your class (Collect a holy relic from a dark temple if you''re a cleric-type, assassinate some random king if you''re a rogue-type...). Or maybe advancement could be based solely on learning new skills and increasing your level of mastery with the game (ie, very little actual in-game progress as opposed to player progress). Then again... never saw anything wrong with the good ''ol level system...

Finishing the game could be easy to implement (a final, difficult quest) but what then? Someone somewhere in the game world will eventually bring in his group of 50 people and wipe the last dungeon clean in an hour max, then everybody else just sits there and looks at the nice fireworks and start over? Or would it just affect the player(s) who cleared that final quest in question?

Also, keep in mind that a lot of people come up with ideas for MMORPGs. If companies took the time to read every one of them or considered everything that comes out, they''d never get any work done.

quote: Hrm, this may sound a little awkward but if you''ve got the skills for it, why not employ your own ideas and make a game out of them?

Actually, I''m working on a demo using Blitz Basic but it''ll have to be single player since Blitz isn''t fast enough to run a server with this thing.
What do you think of a publishing strategy where I would first publish a single-player low-budget thingy and then use the profits to finance the online version? Of course, a lot of features that make the game unique are network-play only so there is a chance it won''t get noticed...
Is it too much bother?


never trust geeks bearing gifts

Honestly, I think you would be hard pressed to get much profit off a game, enough to "finance an online version". I''ve never published a game myself, but from what I understand, it''s very hard to make money selling independent games. I''m sure of course that they''re are exceptions, but take make sure you look at the idea realistically too. If "financing an online version" means hosting a MMORPG, you might want to reconsider.

Well, producing this single player version would have four functions:
1) Developing and testing the bulk of game mechanics which could then be easily ported to online version, leaving us to implement only the MMO features later
2) To earn enough money for a modest "war chest" to be used during the production of the full-version
3) To use it as a demo for prospective investors and distributors
4) Hopefully build a player base which would sign up as soon as the game goes online.
From your experience, does this sound realistic?

Mrako, check your email.

Our game dev team would love to partner with you to put your innovative ideas to work. Obviously ideas are commodity, so we would extend partnership in our project based on the usefulness of the ideas and the amount of work you put in to make them successful.

In my mail I outline more about us, our project, and how you might fit into our existing team of developers.

I look forward to helping you showcase your talents.

Alfred Norris, VoodooFusion
Team Lead - Conflict:Omega