Creative Anger

I’m in a rut. I could definitely use some intellectual stimulation, and I also need to work out some deep-seated anger issues through a creative outlet. So I’m going to design a game on paper. Of course, by ‘design a game’ I mean ‘just write down the design’, and by ‘paper’ I mean this very lovely blog of ours.

I’m thinking about dispensing the whole thing in chapters, as the ideas come along, so as to not crash the net with a wall of text. It could also be a good opportunity for our distinguished readership to chime in and express their likes and dislikes about the thing as I go along. Given my history (and luck) I’ll get a ton of bad comments, but the odd thumb up is bound to slip through, which makes it all worthwhile. Somehow. It would also give me a chance to defend “design decisions” against a live audience, and not just the wife whom I suspect is tired of hearing me elaborate about game theory, cuadruple-guessing player motivations and why “Diku” would be an awesome baby girl name in 20 years.

Chapter 1 will come “when it’s done”.

17 thoughts on “Creative Anger”

  1. Actually, no. You know what? I like a challenge. Throw me a concept or a setting, I’ll build something around it no matter what it is.

    Within reason.

  2. “Actually, no. You know what? I like a challenge. Throw me a concept or a setting, I’ll build something around it no matter what it is.”

    OK, Julian… Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to design an MMO for McDonalds based on working at McDonalds. McDonalds wants you to design an MMO that includes working at the big M as a significant part of the gameplay, and they want it to be fun.

    What would that look like?

  4. To start the disagreeing early, no girl’s name that sounds like “Dick” will ever be awesome. Nor men’s names, except as humor value.

    Your setting is Twilight. The game is designed for tweens. There should be faction-based PvP, obviously, with Edward and Jacob as leaders.

    Okay, that was just mean.

  6. You know, as a veteran manager of a group of McDonalds, I have no problem coming up with several ideas for an MMO consisting only of internal stuff that would be entertaining only to that limited market of people that actually work there…

    Scares me how quickly my mind put ideas forward, even with this week-strong migraine I have.

  7. I’ll have to pass on the Twilight, merely because I know zero about the source material, and you’ll have to excuse me if I’m not too keen to find out. I’m doing this for fun after all. Give me something else, Zubon, I don’t mind mean.

    Suzina: Does it have to be Micky Dee’s or could it be fast food in general?

    Rav: Dynamic environments. Intriguing. Let me think on it.

  8. Sandbox world/universe where everything can be interacted with, built and destroyed. Mobs that live lives, interact with each other, move, grow into larger groups, take over areas. Fantastic crazy powers/abilities unlike anything I can imagine. I want to do things and see things I may never even be capable of imagining. And make it fun. And easy to solo. And encourage grouping by making it amazingly cool. Allow me to advance without combat but make whatever else I do important and useful. Oh, and no levels.

    Get cracking.

  10. How about just an idea that is completely new and could be applied to older MMOs, an idea that would have made those games more enjoyable.

  11. Design an anime martial arts MMO in the vein of DragonBall Z or Naruto. It should have completely over-the-top attacks and special effects to appeal to the bling crowd. Include a World Tournament of some sort that allows the players to duke it out and see who’s the best.

    Challenges:
    Giving the players something to do when they aren’t beating each other up in the tournament.
    Balancing characters when you have attacks that can destroy continents.
    Creating a combat system that mimics the fast paced attacks of martial arts without suffering from latency and lag.

    Enjoy the challenge :)

  12. Silvanis: NcSoft is building one.

    I dunno, McDonalds sounds pretty simple. The Tycoon games are winners, all you have to do is MMOize it. I’d pick something less strongly branded, but the structure is there.

  13. “Balancing characters when you have attacks that can destroy continents.”

    Oh, that one is easy – create defenses and parries that can protect continents. :)

    That said, I like that setting. Hmm. If we could work in dynamic environments somehow…

  15. I still think a robot based MMO would be cool, imagine the upgrades. You’d never be stuck in a single role as you can change what you do quickly and easily. A lot of things begin to make more sense. Upgrade skills, repairs, death and reanimation, travel powers, teleportation, combat damage, etc.

  16. Come’on… McDonalds based MMO. You’ve been hired by McDonalds corporation. The MMO doesn’t have to make life working at McDonalds look like all roses, but the company wants it’s players to be staring at the McDonalds brand all day long.

    One of the executives has asked you to work in a “Burger-ler” as a possible class, because he heard of something that sounds like that in Lotro.

  17. Sorry, but I got it already. Thanks to Rav and his dynamic environments tip. It was just the thing I needed for the whole to click.

    Stay tuned :)

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