Not-Exactly-Massive MMOG

[duaiwe]

Take an MMOG. Scale it down a bit and distribute the server software so individuals can setup & run their own small scale/private servers. However, require said server to be able to communicate with a central server, i.e. "call home." Traffic should be encrypted to prevent people from spying/spoofing it, and the inability for a server to call home

Comments

[karaksindru]

isn't that kinda what Guild Wars is/was?

[duaiwe]

Nah, for one.. guild wars still utilizes a centrally located, operated-by-the-company server. So you have no freedom to control access. And it's fundamentally based around massive pvp, which obviously wouldn't work in my scenario.

I'm more focused on the idea of a truly dynamic world. Where actions by players have persistent effects in the game world. Given how Guild Wars handles it's pve content, that's arguably possible, but I think well outside the scope of it's design.

Also, it would be hard to reconcile differing "world states" among players who've done things differently.

If you're dealing with a small privately operated server a la Neverwinter Nights, you have much more freedom in that regard.

[hawklord2112]

isnt that pretty much a corrected version of NWN / NWN2 online?

[duaiwe]

In a lot of ways, yeah. A well done and maintained persistent world in NWN could probably come pretty close to what I'd like to see. Although there's some aspects of its design & implementation that I'm not sure I'd go with.