Player Breeding
My current game: MMORPGRTSFPSRLG. Read: Some sort of mmorpg with a special something that will make everyone want to play but I wont tell you what it is.
Status: Pre-Production, Game Design
Team Openings: None
For serious though, my goal is to create a MMO. What kind? Not sure yet. MMO games are my passion and it's a goal of mine to change the industry for the better. Do I know it's an unrealistic goal? Yes. Do I care? Heck no.
If you ever need someone to bounce ideas off of, feel free to contact me.
--------------------------Hail New^Internet
If it wasn't the least subtle (and least effective) attempt at controversy, then it was probably the most boring and least rewarding of the features present within the game.
Skip it, do something good with your time.
Only make sex an integral part of the storyline and leave the porn up to rule 34.
It worked for Mass Effect. In a way.
Do you include sexual diseases? Yes!
What about inter-species? Depending on the # of species, yes! With too many, programming in all the small genetic differences would be hard or near impossible. This could be fixed by setting a lower limit on how much of a character's genetic makeup can be from one species (any less than 1/4 and it does a coinflip, for example). What does a 5/32 wookie, 13/32 human, 14/32 orc look like?)
If you allow the players to have kids, are the kids PC's or NPC's? Maybe both? Both. Non-aging Tamagotchi NPCs until you decide to take control of them, and then PCs.
Do the kids get any bonus's to skill from the parents? Yes!
What happens when the parents die? Do the kids turn into NPC's, disappear or does the PC take control? If the parents die while the children are NPCs, they could just disappear, or be put up for adoption? If the parents die while the children are PCs, they should gain a new descriptor (orphan?), and continue playing.
Hopefully this gives you some ideas. Keep us updated, this sounds like a cool project.
If I were to make an RPG I'd probably take something like each character only having so long to affect the world, then if you did manage to have children(anything from a serious relationship to some whore's child) you'd get to choose one of them to play as. Of course this leaves the problem of how to manage dynamic story lining based on such.
Interspecies I would certainly include, since I think a lot of players would consider that fun.
I'm not sure it would really be an RPG to make children playable - I'd design them to be more like a collection of vanity pets, something to make a player's house seem more alive and homey, and in a humorous way they're like trophies.
I want to help design a "sandpark" MMO. Optional interactive story with quests and deeply characterized NPCs, plus sandbox elements like player-craftable housing and lots of other crafting. If you are starting a design of this type, please PM me. I also love pet-breeding games.
Sexual diseases? Sure, why not (but make them curable).
Inter-species? Of course. Make it into a chemistry experiment. Heck, if the child isn't going to eventually become a new player avatar then have some good combinations, and some really bad ones, or even silly ones. I mean, if a human avatar mated with an ent NPC, then maybe our offspring is something akin to Pinocchio. Seducing an Ent could certainly be an interesting encounter! What do tree people find sexually attractive?
PCs or NPCs? That depends on the story as well as the system. Be prepared to weave the kids into the plot somehow if they are to become player avatars, that is if the parents are getting such treatment in the story.
Inherited traits? Sure, if they are to become player avatars or can contribute to battles as henchmen or minions. Otherwise it might be a waste of time.
What happens when the parents die? Hard to say without answering a lot more questions about your game, but I'd avoid forcing the player to assume a new avatar unless you really have thought through the ramifications. I think most players will enjoy being able to control different avatars, but losing an avatar that they like, even if it means they get a new and better one, is a hard pill for them to swallow. People get attached to their avatars.