Web MMO - Settings / Brainstorming an idea
So once I’d decided I wanted to write an MMO, I needed a setting, an idea that might make a good setting.
To generate the list below, I simply started by listing as many different, one line, settings that I could think of. I don’t worry at this point about feasibility, how the game will look or anything, just get the ideas down.
Once I’d come up with basic ideas, under each idea I tried to think about 3 lines or so of things a player would do in the game. Essentially the twenty second elevator pitch for the game. Anything I couldn’t think of a description for, got knocked out at this point.
I also discussed them at the office, seeing if anybody liked an idea, seeing what people thought of the concept. You can get immediate feedback, and remember an idea like “A Web based MMO like the old game Syndicate where you build or train agents and execute missions” is worthless. Don’t be afraid to share ideas around. Preach em up came from this, as the people I sit with started discussing other ideas and given my faith, decided a “Preach Em Up” would be funny, still it goes on the list.
You may also notice that I have shamelessly stolen ideas from old computer games, old Play by mail games, and classical fantasy books. There’s a reason that these ideas have sold well and been successful. Providing you are not producing a like by like copy of something it’s good to think across as many sources as possible.
So without further ado here’s the list I came up with:
- Fantasy Realms Battle
- Build an army
- Manage your kingdom
- Invade other kingdoms
- Provide food / arms for your army
- Wizards War
- No Ideas
- Space station wars
- No Ideas
- Planetary Exploration
- Start at local system,
- Buy a ship
- Explore the universe
- Build mines
- Setup trade routes
- Space Traders
- Buy a ship
- Outfit it
- Fill your cargo with trade goods
- Steal cargo from others
- Mutiny
- Pirates Vs Sea Traders
- Buy a ship
- Outfit it
- Fill your cargo with trade goods
- Steal cargo from others
- Mutiny
- Monster Island
- Explore the island
- Fight local monsters
- Get Loot
- Cthulhu Investigators
- Manage your madness
- Research the dark mythos
- investigate unexplained incidents
- Fantasy Hero
- Start with a character
- Delve into dungeons
- Win treasure
- Fight in arena
- It’s a Crime
- Manage a criminal gang
- Loot, Rob, Pillage your area
- Fight other gangs
- Syndicate
- Setup a team of agents
- Send them to regions
- Complete missions
- Outfit the agents
- Manage R+D
- X-Files / Investigators
- Run a intelligence department
- investigate weird happenings
- Always miss the important plot piece
- government conspiricies
- Preach em up
- Convert people to your spaghetti monster religion
- Rewrite your holy texts
- Execute the heretics
- Publish pamphlets
- Programmer em up
- Open source your code
- Fight flame wars on usenet
- Produce a blog and flame new technologies
Once I’d written this out, the one that most captured my attention was the concept of exploring an unknown island and defeating it’s natives. It’s based loosely on a Play By Mail game I used to play a long time ago, called Monster Island, run by KJC Games. Of course this is a different game, a totally different system, but it’s good to honour your sources.
So with the setting decided it’s time to start designing a game.