Telastyn don't get ahead of me here, it will all come together in due time. If I were to post everything at once it would get confusing and I wouldnt be able to answer questions fast enough lol, So what do you think thus far? pretty cool idea to bring a mmorpg game on earth with real cities, culture, and real people. Well, as far as people go, I'm not sure if we should include major political and religiouse leaders? Don't wanna have deal with catholics when a raid goes and kills the pope in a game.;)

Jook

I mean i was going to say, the problem with this is the moral and ethical dilemas.

Ethnic cleansing, world domination, breaching the line between video games and real life...all sorts of things

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So what do you think thus far?

I think the idea is far too grand to be implimented well by a large experienced team. I think that you likely have neither a large, nor experienced team. I also think you've very little idea about how to technically impliment many of the ideas you have, which will lead to a great amount of problems when it actually comes to making this game.

Oh, and I don't think the idea is very great, nor very fun. It kind of sounds like Lionheart's idea, which was far more interesting [imo]. Though that game was one of the worst games in recent memory. A good example of what happens when a story idea outrides its implimentors.

If you ever make this game, will you put Cthulhu in it as well?

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Original post by yapposai I always liked the idea of non-player controlled transportation in a world. perhaps the player needs to hitch a ride on a ship going from england to china, he can buy a ticket, smuggle aboard,or go the overland route. An adventure like around the world in 80 days. This would reqire simulations for train, ship, systems spanning an entire world. Time should also move with day/night cycles to give importance to schedules.

For some reason I like that idea too, but it must not be too strict, to limit the player too much.

Hm, so far this idea sounds like: "Let's take the whole real world and put it in a game. Oh, and the real world's legends too". Yes, we already know that if we put the whole earth in the server would make a kickass MMORPG(maybe). What we don't know is how to do that.

What I was expecting to hear was some innovatives in gameplay or atleast a unique, coherent theme and story. This is various elements from the world's history throwed in together. The point of a MMORPG is that you set up a theme and a basic background story and let the world and the players evolve. If this game is a "copy" of the real world's history including its legends, where's the point? You said, for instance, that in that period a lot of things happened in Europe. When exactly will the French Revolution for example happen in the server? Who exactly will carry it out? NPCs? And the players will just stand there and watch? And then what? For instance:

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...in Baghdad, Haroun al'Raschid will be punishing Djinnies for forsaking the laws of Solomon

When exactly will that happen? In the server, will Raschid be eternally punishing Djinnies? Will it happen once and then the history will progress to the next fixed milestone? And again, where's the player's role in all that? In the game, what facts happened that lead the NPC Haroun al'Raschid to punish the Djinnies?

Well I agree with what you say spacemonkeystudios, that’s why I made the comment about the pope. I have a solution though, ther's no real way to get around the mentally ill people who take a game too seriously but if we include myths and legends and exclude some of the events and people in the world. We may be able to slim the controversy down and, like allot of games, implement statements and agreements that tell people its a game, its not real so don't kill yourself over it.

Telastyn need to chill out, you haven't even heard any of the technical information, in fact, I stated that at the beginning of the first post. You don't think its a good idea and that’s fine. I'll still feed more information. So far, We have earth, starting points, and allot of story lines going through your heads. Make a picture of it in your head, Pick your starting race, lets say you start out as a tribesman in Africa, your training to be a mighty warrior or a great shaman. A strange looking man speaks of a great temple over the horizon that holds a mystery long lost. From there you could go a million ways, such a simple story line here. To make a long story short, you traveled to Europe, found out what a gun is, you make it over to Asia and learn karate. Understand it from that angle? Now the game will be more interesting than that simple story but I just want to get you guys in the same mind set as me.

So, does anyone ahve anything to say about the races you start as? changes needed to be made? or is it a fairly good start?

Jook

mikeman has a great point, havent got that far but nows a good time to point some things out. My idea is simpler than that, for one I imagine the date will be set, we will keep your example going here. The story of Haroun al'Raschid punishing the Djinnies will have already been implemented, you hear/know the story of why he is doing it and what they did. While you play you'll be able to fight with or against Haroun al'Raschid. The whole world will be in that mode, each area has their story going. Events would decide where they go, whether the PC or the NPC's do it. I personaly would not like to see real polotics involved with the game, war and such could just cause problems(feedback would be great). Basicaly, the areas you start in will have small stories, sometimes unrelated to real world history. As you travel around you start to discover the real and unreal things of history and you are able to interact with them at that very moment. Now as far as the motives go, its could go 100 diff ways. I like the idea that culture and adventure will keep people motivated to move around. Search the globe for adventure is the main story, you decide where you go and what happens on the way is all the fun.

Jook

Do you plan to make the locations geographically correct? How will you wall players in? You say trains and boats will most likely be the means of travel, but does that mean the player could choose to walk all the way around europe? Can players choose exact destination way-points as they travel in boats?

Also, you mentioned a very large range of the time period. Does the game's time actually progress, or will you just pick a specific time out of that range? If this is a MMORPG, what happens when the time reaches the end period?

By the way, the first functional self-propelled steam vehicle wasn't around until the mid 1700's. And the first steam locamotive to run on tracks didn't exist until the 1800's. But I guess there's no harm in stretching the facts a bit, considering there will be dragons.

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The story of Haroun al'Raschid punishing the Djinnies will have already been implemented, you hear/know the story of why he is doing it and what they did. While you play you'll be able to fight with or against Haroun al'Raschid. The whole world will be in that mode, each area has their story going. Events would decide where they go, whether the PC or the NPC's do it.

That's what I'm talking about. Okay, let's say we start on the time and place were Raschid starts "war" with the Djinnies(btw, I have no idea about that fact, so forgive any mistakes). You, as a player, pick a side and fight. The fight must end someday or else it would have no real point. From that day, noone will be able to log in to the server and participate in that fight, since it has already been done. We're talking about an MMORPG, the world is the same for everyone. So, after that, the story will have to progress based on the outcome of the battle. If it progresses based on player's actions, then the players create the history of the world, which beats your whole idea(presenting to the player history facts and elements you have selected). If the events are fixed, then the player has no reason for participating in the game except as a spectator.