| bgumeny |
11-08-2006 12:11 AM |
My playerworld project, Meridia.
The Meridia Playerworld Project
I posted an idea for a playerworld a while back (see here) and since then I have been rehashing some of those ideas and have decided to go ahead and begin working on it. I have kept some ideas from my previous post, but have altered others and expanded on most of them.
Setting I had originally planned on having a Classical/Medieval setting, but decided to slide up the time line a bit to the Late Medieval/Early Gunpowder age, circa 1500 A.D. I feel this fits the overall theme of the playerworld better. Things found in the world will include Swords, Armor, primitive Muskets and Pistols, Cannons, and Tall Ships. The main modes of transport will be by Sea or by Horse, there will be no trains or automobiles, however horse drawn carriages will be utilized. Magic and Alchemy will be usable.. Theme The theme of this playerworld will be Exploration. When a player logs on to the world they will be prompted to create their character, choosing such things as Gender and skills in various areas like Magic, Manual Labor, and Combat. They then must choose a 'Home City'. They will be able to choose from a list of several cities, each with distinct differences. Some will have more of a focus on trade and economy, others on combat, and still others on industry. Once they have picked a Home City they will be warped there and will not be able to come back to the character creation screen without resetting their account. Once in these Home Cities players can battle, collect resources, craft and forge things, learn new spells and skills, purchase a house or apartment, and most importantly put together a team of explorers. The main goal of the playerworld will not be to succeed in the Home City, but to gain a charter and sail across the ocean to the 'New World' (Cliche, I know, but what else is there to call it?) where they can begin to settle and colonize. Charters will be expensive, so it will be difficult for one single player to obtain one and run a colony at will. The New World Once players have arrived at the New World they will instantly be faced with new and difficult challenges that they were not confronted by in their Home City. Things such as weather, natives, and nature in general will play a big role in a group's success in the New World. They will have to begin collecting resources such as food, timber, and stone to build shelter, and build up their new colonies. At this point, players will be able to completely interact with those from other Home Cities, whether they wish to cooperate and trade to find success or crush them on the battlefield is up to the players. This 'New World' will be vast with plenty of space for players to build up their own colonies, and it will be possible to contract indentured servant NPCs to do some menial labor in the colonies (such as harvesting and logging) for a high price. This will allow colonies to become more self-sufficient and give the players time to focus on things such as diplomacy and further exploration. Players will be able to sail back to their Home Cities for supplies or to find more settlers, or to trade goods from the New World for cash. The Economy The economy will be largely based on the trading of items from the 'New World' with players' Home Cities, and vice versa, as well as trade of items between colonies in the New World. Prices will be affected by how common an item or resource is in that area of the world, so the more of an item that is sold the less valuable it will become. Players will be able to run their own businesses both in the New World and their Home City, providing a good or service to other players. Businesses can include shipping, blacksmiths, farmer's markets, gunsmiths, stables, real estate and surveying, or even a mercenary business. Levels and Experience Players will not 'Level Up' in a traditional sense, but instead will have certain base stats as well as stats that are specific to each skill or item. The base stats will include strength, speed, accuracy, dexterity, magical ability and intelligence. All of these stats will be able to be trained (either by physically training them or by studying) and will allow players to accomplish tasks such as cutting down a tree, building a house, casting a spell, or firing a gun much more quickly and efficiently. Enemy NPCs that players will encounter will include passive animals such as Deer, Rabbits, Fish, and Buffalo, to hostile ones like wolves and bears, as well as enemy natives. As an example, if a player successfully defeated a Buffalo with a musket, they would gain overall accuracy and dexterity points (the two stats primarily used for a musket) but they will also gain some musket skill and some hunting skill. Thus the next time they go to hunt with a musket, it will be slightly easier. Dead animals can be used for food and their skins can be used for numerous items, killing a Native will reward the player with whatever items and weapons they may have been carrying (such as beads and headdresses) which can then be traded, but it will also raise the hostility level between the player's colony and the Native's tribe. These are just some of the ideas that I have drawn up, there are many more. I have begun working on the gmap for the New World, but my leveling skills are lacking and I am not able to do much more than outlines, cliffing, and forests. I plan on purchasing the server space in a few weeks and would like to assemble a team of staff to really get this thing off the ground.
As far as the staff team goes I am only looking to hire 3 or 4 people whom I can trust with their own teams. I want to hire one LAT, one Scripter, one Graphic Artist, and one person for other aspects of development. The most important position I am looking for is that of a Scripter, as this is the area of development in which I have the least knowledge and which I feel is the most important to make this server really work. Once I am sure I can trust these people I will allow them to assemble their own teams to complete the tasks that need to get done in a timely and efficient manner. I understand that most of us have lives outside of Graal, and won't expect too much out of my staff, but I need people that are dependable as I really want to see this project succeed. I need staff whom I can bounce ideas off of and who aren't afraid to speak up if they feel something needs to be changed or doesn't seem to fit with the rest of the playerworld. I also do not mind any feedback from people who aren't involved with the project, so any comments or ideas from all of you are welcome in this thread.
If you are interested in becoming part of the team you can post here, Forum PM me, or email me at [email protected], and we'll talk. If you want to simply help me brainstorm feel free to just post in this thread.
As a side note: If you like the idea and would like to help out but are busy with another project or something outside of Graal, there are plenty of little things that people can contribute. Let me know if you want to pitch in with something small.
Updates:Updated Economy section. |
