Comments | wombat_socho: a few thoughts on RPGs

wombat_socho

a few thoughts on RPGs

Dec 20, 2009 21:37

If you've had to sit through this before, feel free to walk away and read something else.
If you have more insight into how MMORPG like World of Warcraft work than I do (THIS IS NOT HARD) I would appreciate your comments.
( In the beginning there was a little white box. )

wargaming

Leave a comment

Back to all threads

therevdrnye December 22 2009, 00:42:26 UTC

I can't comment vis-a-vis WoW, being a City of Heroes player. Nevertheless, I'd have to guess that one problem faced by any software developer trying to address the question you are asking would be how to integrate a MUD-like free-form player-driven kingdon/barony/shire creation system into your existing world. Such a system would require planning for allotment of data space to *every* character for *every* player - not that 100% utilization would be expected (or achieved), but so that there should be enough resources for a reasonable projection of need ( ... )

wombat_socho December 22 2009, 01:16:58 UTC

If EVE is any example, I daresay there will be more than enough goons and/or griefers to trash any baronies that don't exert themselves enough to maintain their defenses.

therevdrnye December 22 2009, 19:22:21 UTC

That depends on how (or whether) the developers decide to handle the PVP vs. PVE issue as regards personal domains, and it also depends on whether or not such domains can be owned by multiple PCs, or if PCs who have no domains can choose to be vassals or mentors to the domain holder. Those questions alone could, depending on their answers, require several man-years of programming effort to implement ( ... )

wombat_socho December 22 2009, 21:49:21 UTC

Moving long distances in EVE isn't as easy as it sounds, since most interstellar travel is through jumpgates, which in zero-sec space can be camped and/or bubbled, trapping ships in an interdiction field that keeps them from warping out to safety. Effectively, you can only move quickly in space where there aren't any gankers around, which is why it's a bad idea to travel alone. :)

Yeah, the economics of a medieval RPG are going to be a turnoff for some players, but you can rely on NPC seneschals to do some things for you. So I guess you'd wind up with a fusion of RPG (for the hacking and slashing, etc.) and RTS for building a barony.

therevdrnye December 23 2009, 01:29:03 UTC

Well, I didn't *say* that it would be a *safe* trip - just that it could be done fairly rapidly. The same just shouldn't be true in a fantasy setting, at least not for mass raiding parties.

wombat_socho December 23 2009, 02:51:37 UTC

Agreed. In fact, mass raiding parties would move slower than forces defending a castle, since raiders would need to bring supplies with them - or resort to pillage, which has its limits. Defenders operating out of a castle would have a relatively secure supply base, assuming the NPC seneschal (or PC seneschal) has been doing his job.

Back to all threads