That''s an interesting idea. Something else i''d want to see is a replay option, like what you can find in RTS games. I''m sure it''s possible to implement, and i wouldn''t mind watching the interesting events offline.

Y.

It has the possibility of abuse, where other players follow high-level players, or players doing quests, to see quest results, how to go to high level area''s, see secret doors other players have discovered.

I have another option: make a small world on a separate server, which plays just like the real game, with low maximum limits on stats so you cannot play it forever. Many shooter games do this, eg. soldier of fortune 2 had a 1-level multiplayer demo which is still very popular. You can play that for months.

If you would put the bandwidth load onto the the spectated players, I recommend you give them the option to define the following:

Maximum number of public spectators.
Maximum number of private spectators.
Password for private spectators.

From a business point of view you would almost certainly want to limit peak access. No point in having people dragging down system performance during peak playing hours if they aren''t even paying.

Dan Marchant
Obscure Productions (www.obscure.co.uk)
Game Development & Design consultant

AI driven cinematography, used to produce replays of significant and interesting moments of certain events which were produced by players would be enjoyable to view, assuming the realtime graphics in games gets better - events such as a spontaneous brawl breaking out in a saloon because of a gambling disagreement, or an event such as a showdown at high noon on the high plains of some dusty little town. The camera swings down and floats right behind the holster of one of the participants...

It would have to be a really good MMORPG. I mean, most MMORPG''s are boring to play, much less watch.

That said, I''m not sure it would be worth the added server load, hassles with spectating/spying in PvP, etc.

I would suggest adding something besides simply spectating to make it interesting. For instance, after you die in PvP, you can "haunt" the enemy that killed you and lower his stats, if you want to take the time to do so.

Something like that.