HJ-Dune Walker
Cadet
Heyo folks, been a lurker here for some time now, but since I am now all activated up and ready to go, I thought I'd present an interesting idea that came to me. The concept is a somewhat different one, and was birthed mostly by reading through such threads as:
I'll just launch right into it.
One of the greatest things about DragonRealms, a previous favorite of mine, was that there was a massive system underlying the game that players did not immediately understand. You have verbs for things, and these verbs do different things for different items. Smelling one thing is completely different than smelling another, turning a cloak might be visible to other people nearby, and even the very nature and usage of items and world components could be changed by using certain verbs on them.
This system of verbs allowed for a number of cool game factors.
Clearly, verbs unlock a lot of potential in a game like DragonRealms. Without them, the system doesn't work. It is a fundamentally different system than most MMO's as we now know them. The biggest limit on modern MMO's is that they are mouse and cursor based. If you can't click it, you can't do it. And worse, clicks are nonspecific unless you code them to be. You can't have a different button for every single possible command. Your screen would be an immense mass of icons, all muddled and confusing.
If I want to take off my hat as a lady walks by in World of Warcraft for example, I can't type "/tip hat at [Character]". I have to use the /act or /emote command to type "[Player 1] cordially tips his hat to [Character] with a smile", but this doesn't actually do anything besides display a chat message to everyone around. There is no animation, it's clunky, and it's not really target specific. In DR you can perform verbs that only the target sees, but in WoW everyone sees an emote because the system is so limited.
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"But DR is a text-based MUD. How can we make a system like DR's work in a 3D graphical world like an MMO?"
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My idea? Hybridization. Every MMO has a chat function, and underlying that (unaccessible to players of course) is the console system. This can easily be transformed to create a text-based graphical MMORPG. Madness? Perhaps. But let's run with it.
Imagine a game like World of Warcraft. The chat system already is used for a small number of verbs. Emotes are done by manually typing /grin, or whatever, and then your 3D graphical avatar acts out that emote, with an accompanied message in the chat box. So what if we beefed up this system?
If I type...
/tip my hat at [Character]
...it should literally initiate an animation for my 3D avatar, where he tips his hat toward the passing lady and smiles. If I type...
/tip my hat mock at [Character]
...it would be a rude hat tip made in jest, overwrought and with a sneering mock grin. Such things aren't currently possible in modern MMO's because the system doesn't exist for it. If, however, you specifically designed your system to work like this, it would be entirely possible for a game like Hero's Journey.
A verb command foundation, with a 3D graphical representation of those verbs, would be an ideal hybridization of the two systems, taking the best of both worlds. You could type /swagger to shift your walking animation to a devil-may-care strut. You could frown on command, and then draw your sword and menace someone with it. The possibilies for player action and interaction explode in number, because a Verb System is just more robust in nature than Point and Click can ever be.
Of course, you would want P&C for certain things, surely. Managing your character inventory, stats, menus, shopping, and all the normal Mouse-Based actions should retain their P&C status, but should definately be integrated with a Textual Verb System, to allow for maximum flexibility.
I think I've rambled on long enough to explain myself sufficiently for the moment, so I'll give you fine folks' eyes a rest. I sincerely hope that this is the direction that games start to move toward in future years. It would allow us so much more potential I think.
Anywho, leave my some feedback, tell me what you think about my crazy idea, and don't be afraid to criticize! *grins*
May Fortune Smile Upon You.
~Dune Walker~
- Why are there no secrets in MMO's?
- Easy to Learn/Hard to Master.
- Little Things in MMOs that would mean a lot.
- Role-players vs. non-Role-players.
- ...and a few others too.
I'll just launch right into it.
One of the greatest things about DragonRealms, a previous favorite of mine, was that there was a massive system underlying the game that players did not immediately understand. You have verbs for things, and these verbs do different things for different items. Smelling one thing is completely different than smelling another, turning a cloak might be visible to other people nearby, and even the very nature and usage of items and world components could be changed by using certain verbs on them.
This system of verbs allowed for a number of cool game factors.
- Items: Anything you can pick up and possess might have the capability of being really intricate, or cool, or useful, or whatever.
- Combat: How well you fight certain enemies with certain weapons is greatly affected based on what verbs you use.
- World Components: Verbs are very important in such things as prepping and firing mangonels, or even just getting into a building by crawling through a window because the door is blocked.
- Roleplaying: With verbs being applicable to pretty much everything, you can roleplay much more effectively. You can use that wooden comb to actually comb your hair, or you can polish your sword with a rag, etc.
- New Things To Find / Secrets: No one ever knew all the verbs in DR, nor how to use them with every item, world component, or whatever. Even now, people are still finding (and GM's are still making) new verbs and uses for old ones.
- Immersion: Actually being able to pull up a bucket of water from a well and then drink that water makes things a lot more real than just having a terrain polygon shaped and painted like a well lying around.
- Min/Maxing: With so many verbs for so many uses, is there really any one "best" way to do anything? Can you really call one weapon, or spell, or whatever, the "best" when there are seven different ways to use it, each working differently than the others in certain situations?
Clearly, verbs unlock a lot of potential in a game like DragonRealms. Without them, the system doesn't work. It is a fundamentally different system than most MMO's as we now know them. The biggest limit on modern MMO's is that they are mouse and cursor based. If you can't click it, you can't do it. And worse, clicks are nonspecific unless you code them to be. You can't have a different button for every single possible command. Your screen would be an immense mass of icons, all muddled and confusing.
If I want to take off my hat as a lady walks by in World of Warcraft for example, I can't type "/tip hat at [Character]". I have to use the /act or /emote command to type "[Player 1] cordially tips his hat to [Character] with a smile", but this doesn't actually do anything besides display a chat message to everyone around. There is no animation, it's clunky, and it's not really target specific. In DR you can perform verbs that only the target sees, but in WoW everyone sees an emote because the system is so limited.
-------
"But DR is a text-based MUD. How can we make a system like DR's work in a 3D graphical world like an MMO?"
-------
My idea? Hybridization. Every MMO has a chat function, and underlying that (unaccessible to players of course) is the console system. This can easily be transformed to create a text-based graphical MMORPG. Madness? Perhaps. But let's run with it.
Imagine a game like World of Warcraft. The chat system already is used for a small number of verbs. Emotes are done by manually typing /grin, or whatever, and then your 3D graphical avatar acts out that emote, with an accompanied message in the chat box. So what if we beefed up this system?
If I type...
/tip my hat at [Character]
...it should literally initiate an animation for my 3D avatar, where he tips his hat toward the passing lady and smiles. If I type...
/tip my hat mock at [Character]
...it would be a rude hat tip made in jest, overwrought and with a sneering mock grin. Such things aren't currently possible in modern MMO's because the system doesn't exist for it. If, however, you specifically designed your system to work like this, it would be entirely possible for a game like Hero's Journey.
A verb command foundation, with a 3D graphical representation of those verbs, would be an ideal hybridization of the two systems, taking the best of both worlds. You could type /swagger to shift your walking animation to a devil-may-care strut. You could frown on command, and then draw your sword and menace someone with it. The possibilies for player action and interaction explode in number, because a Verb System is just more robust in nature than Point and Click can ever be.
Of course, you would want P&C for certain things, surely. Managing your character inventory, stats, menus, shopping, and all the normal Mouse-Based actions should retain their P&C status, but should definately be integrated with a Textual Verb System, to allow for maximum flexibility.
I think I've rambled on long enough to explain myself sufficiently for the moment, so I'll give you fine folks' eyes a rest. I sincerely hope that this is the direction that games start to move toward in future years. It would allow us so much more potential I think.
Anywho, leave my some feedback, tell me what you think about my crazy idea, and don't be afraid to criticize! *grins*
May Fortune Smile Upon You.
~Dune Walker~
