General Game Design Suggestions...
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...that at least I learned from previous Games.
Most Important Points first:
- A World that has to be “Thema Park” Designed will not sustain as long a generic World, at least for some parts. Good Examples are Wormholes in EVE, or Escalation Sites, that have to be found a offer a fair Ammount of Challenge and Rewards. The same is for Resource Nodes. I understand the “Typical” Farmer, that is lucky to know that in Area XY ware Resources Z but this lead to Overfarming, and stupid Node hunting. With a more or less Generic World you’ll design against this design faults. Without knowing how this gonna work out for Fractured, Rare and Random Bosses with Rare and Radom Abilities. I could see situations where some guys counter a Random Boss, that has such difficult Random Abilities, that it’s likely that this Boss will never be killed. You Could Attach the Reward on the Difficulty of Abilities, and on how long the Boss has survived yet. I think you get my pint. With that in Mind you maybe never have to design static Bosses , you have to design Abilities you can reuse. Randomess brings surprise…even on Items (e.g. D3, PoE)
- Combat. It’s difficult to describe, as a Game Developer I think you know how good Combad looks like. If you see 1vs1 Combats in Albion you’ll most likely fall asleep. Hasn’t much to do with Skill or the Right Spell Choice.
- Sorry for comparing this so often, but a Bad UI breaks Games too. Albion has one of the Worst UIs ever Experienced. One reason I Quit. First it was because they have a Cross Platform Focus, but now the divided PC from Mobile…but still…its awful. Best UI, Hands Down are the UIs you can customize, because there are mode talented and Motivated Designers out there than anyone could pay. Who plays WOW with the Default UI ? Not sure but I don’t think a lot of people. Instead Blizzard Crowdsources this to the Community, because everybody can choose their UI as Needed.
- Character Customization (Individualism). Nobody wants to look like everybody else (e.g. Albion expect Tabard and Shield)
- Make good Social Interaction somehow rewarding vis versa. Plus you have to have a good reporting anti GoldSeller, Botting Feature. Otherwise this will ruin most likely the Economy and thrives Players away.
- Make the Game B2P rather than “Premium” or give it a small monthly fee
- If you want a broader Audience, make the game not too Hardcore or you’ll push out the Bread-and-Butter Players that you need to develop further. I mean that in the sense, that someone “with a lot of time on his hands” can outplay someone with only 2h / day to an extend where he’ll never catch up.
- Endgame is important. I’m not sure if there is a Story or a phase where you have to do things in order to get there…but Endgame, or Lategame is the part where Games stay or Fall. Most games that are still on the Market do that by “Resetting” stuff from time to time (D3, PoE,…) or just Adding tons of Content very year (e.g. WOW). I have no specific Idea here, but there should be something beside doing the same stuff over and over.
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good points
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@pogo said in General Game Design Suggestions...:
Character Customization (Individualism)
problem is the more unique you make a character the more the client has to make it look unique, which means the hardware requirements are higher.
how many times do you look at other characters and remember their eye color or how their hair is fixed, most characters wear a helm all the time (depending on cosmetic/transmog).
If you want a broader Audience
i think it's better that DS focuses on the type of person they want and don't design the game to appeal to everyone.
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@pogo said in General Game Design Suggestions...:
A World that has to be “Thema Park” Designed will not sustain as long a generic World [...]
The argument here is that a world with distinct biomes that each spawn specific enemies and specific resources will lead to crowding and overfarming, as opposed to a wider and randomized spread of enemies / resources all over the game world.
There are a few ways to solve this with a "theme park world":
- Scaled resources: In Elder Scrolls Online, a given resource node will always spawn the same kind of resource, but it will spawn a different tier scaled to your character. There is a 50% chance the node will match your character level, and a 50% chance it will match your corresponding crafting level. e.g. If you're CP150+ with maxed Metalworking, all ore nodes you ever find will be the top-tier ore, while someone else will see a different tier of ore in the same spot.
- Instanced resources: In some MMOs, nodes only appear for specific players to begin with. Anyone else who walks to the same spot will see nothing, and you'll be free to gather uninterrupted. These resources might share to party sometimes.
- Dynamic fertility: In some MMOs, harvesting resources in a sub-area or killing many enemies in an area temporarily lowers the spawn rate of resources / enemies in that area and raises the spawn rate in every other nearby area instead. This prevents camping of one area and is especially effective if players can't tell what the fertility levels of each sub-area are to begin with.
Character Customization (Individualism). Nobody wants to look like everybody else (e.g. Albion expect Tabard and Shield)
Character customization doesn't at all guarantee uniqueness because most players are not the slightest bit creative or original. If given the ability, 2/3 of the player base will be pure black Demon ninjas with Japanese rice hats and flaming green wings named XxXS3phir0thXxX.
But for the sake of the other 1/3, I say yes to as much customization as is plausible. Keep in mind that more options means slower development for new content that has to work with all options.
Make good Social Interaction somehow rewarding vis versa. Plus you have to have a good reporting anti GoldSeller, Botting Feature. Otherwise this will ruin most likely the Economy and thrives Players away.
There's only one way to fight bots on a longterm basis, and I don't want to talk about it in public because 1. it's very complicated to explain and 2. that would help the bots defeat it before it's implemented.
But I can safely say that the practice of most MMOs to ban every bot they see as soon as they detect it is the single worst way to fight bots ever. It would literally be better to do nothing because then you free up processor cycles and manhours for more fruitful tasks.
Make the Game B2P rather than “Premium” or give it a small monthly fee
Fractured is already planned to be buy once, play forever.
If you want a broader Audience, make the game not too Hardcore or you’ll push out the Bread-and-Butter Players that you need to develop further. I mean that in the sense, that someone “with a lot of time on his hands” can outplay someone with only 2h / day to an extend where he’ll never catch up.
You really need to read the existing information. This is the first thing addressed.
Endgame is important. I’m not sure if there is a Story or a phase where you have to do things in order to get there…but Endgame, or Lategame is the part where Games stay or Fall. Most games that are still on the Market do that by “Resetting” stuff from time to time (D3, PoE,…) or just Adding tons of Content very year (e.g. WOW). I have no specific Idea here, but there should be something beside doing the same stuff over and over.
Every game eventually devolves into "doing the same stuff over and over" once you have done everything in it once. Even "new" content (new dungeons etc.) is the same thing with new skins. The game can't make up for your gaming hygiene, and it's up to you to find fun in the game that isn't rushing to "endgame" and then stopping.
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@pogo said in General Game Design Suggestions...:
- If you want a broader Audience, make the game not too Hardcore or you’ll push out the Bread-and-Butter Players that you need to develop further. I mean that in the sense, that someone “with a lot of time on his hands” can outplay someone with only 2h / day to an extend where he’ll never catch up.
I think you meant, not make game too "grindy".
Also, I would agree, skill should matter more than gear. However gear should still have a meaning, otherwise gear progression would be pointless. Why go to any dungeon, or spend time on crafting, if better gear doesn't give you any bonus.
I like the system of original The Secret World (not the Secret World Legends, that's just total crap). Original TSW had a gear system, where you needed not only to spend effort to craft your gear, but also use knowledge in choosing what kind of stats it will have. So the gear not only had more stats, but stats better fitting to the deck you wanted to use.
Higher gear was a LOT stronger then lower gear there, however SKILL was still more important, and player in full blue could completely destroy a player in full epic if he had better skills, even though epic gear was a lot more powerful than blue gear.
I've never seen any MMO do the gear and skill system so perfect like original TSW, not even close. If Fractured will have half as good system like original TSW had, it will be a blast to play it.
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@gothix said in General Game Design Suggestions...:
However gear should still have a meaning, otherwise gear progression would be pointless. Why go to any dungeon, or spend time on crafting, if better gear doesn't give you any bonus.
Fractured seems to be aiming for very little if not zero gear progression. Prometheus has made claims that a brand new player can compete gear-wise with a veteran. Different gear instead serves different functions. For example, plate armor might offer more physical protection but slow you down. There are also survival mechanics that take gear into account. Going into a desert with full plate armor will probably be a bad idea.
You also won't be able to loot full items. All gear will be crafted.
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Hi all!
I too would like to see good character customization -> I think that leads to increased "immersion".
And I'm not just talking about looks and items, but also skills/builds/character progression. I personally dislike games where -especially at endgame- everybody has to choose the same skills (and items) in order to be effective. That's just boring and totally unappealing to me.
In regard to the topic of the audience/player base: I agree that if you make the game too hardcore, you will discourage casual players, but you have to avoid creating a dumbed down system where one has just to click 4 different buttons in sequence in order to beat the game! Luckily this is a PC game (with keyboard controls) and not a watered-down console one.
Just my 2 cents, plz don't hate me console lovers!!
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@sunlion said in General Game Design Suggestions...:
Luckily this is a PC game (with keyboard controls) and not a watered-down console one.
I think the same ;). Cross-plat is the worst thing ever.
