I started a topic in the lounge to see if I was going to far with this, but I think now I could put here. Wavinator, please delete this if it doesn't belong here. I was siezed with an idea for an MMORPG. Feeling inspired, I decided to flesh out the world. It currently stands at 600 pages covering creation, origin of species, history of the world, and short stories to augment the history. Now, I have no idea how to incorporate all of this into the game. I could with a single player RPG, and I think I could with a MUD. But in any event, I don't want to incorporate all of it in. I want it there to bring the world to life. [BEGIN EDIT] I'm considering a living world and a complete world to be more than simply a place where you hack and slash in a game. One that has more than a cursory history behind it and where everything there is there for a strong reason. Basically a world that could really exist and just begs for you to get lost in it. [END EDIT] So: Is there real value in a [EDIT] living/complete [EDIT] world in an MMORPG or would a standard fantasy knock-off work just as well? Or in short, would anyone notice? I wanna' ride on the pope mobile. Edited by - Hikeeba on January 17, 2002 1:28:43 AM

I think you need to define "complete world" a bit better. The things you mentioned would add character and background to your world... and could definately spin off into "plot lines".

Dave Mark
Intrinsic Algorithm Development

It depends on the purpose of the game. If it is going to truly involve players playing a role then IMHO the deeper the world the better. For example there should be propely thought out religions so that if the player is gong to be a priest then his character has a role to play.

i''d say go for it... so many people complain about lack of actual role-playing in MMORPGs, and bitch about hack-n-clash being all you can do, et cetera... so why not? assuming that everyone isn''t just blowing hot air (and i suspect they are not, as it annoys me too) i think you have a good idea.

--- krez (krezisback@aol.com)

I think there is value in a dynamic world, a world that players can affect. I wouldn''t care too much about there being 600 pages of background info about the world though.

Whoa 600 pages - might be time to write that novel you always wanted to.

I think a lot of depth is important in a game world, which you should have enough of. But it''s building the model for the game world that will be the really difficult part.

Ever watch The Thirteenth Floor? How about some kind of dynamic game world, where the NCPs are always doing something, 24/7? It would make sense that depending where you are in this virtual world, it could be night and everyone is sleeping, or day and there is a lot of activity in the square.
It would take a lot to do the AI, but if it is an MMORPG (what exactly does that stand for anyway) then they will all be controlled by the servers anyway, so a lot of the work can be removed from the client machines.
Imagine being able to break into someone''s home at night and steal some of their things while the sleep, or to kill them and cause a big stir in the city about mysterious killers? Of course, what does this say about your character when you aren''t playing? Do you have to sleep somewhere as well, or does your character disappear? If the former, then how do you protect against player killing when the player isn''t there? I think it should just be prohibited, although it doesn''t provide much realism. If it isn''t prohibited, perhaps your characters might be controlled by the server and fight for themselves? This would cause a problem in the server''s load among other things, but if this could be implemented, Wow! What a game!

Massive
Multiplayer
Online
Role
Playing
Game

There could be real value, but you''d have to be very careful about how you regulated your players. Otherwise, the players will twist your world to how they want to play, which is not always exactly how you antipate the world as being. Players tend to trample over the subtleties in their search for better armour or higher scores.

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If you''ve written 600 pages, you might be better off just writing a book.

No, im serious, go for the book, and then the game.

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The sad thing about artificial intelligence is that it lacks artifice and therefore intelligence.