Think of most zombie apocalypse movies/shows/comics/...etc. for a moment. How many people did you see in those that weren't main characters?
The Walking Dead was an exception, and had a bunch of young gangbangers get together and protect each other and an elderly home, but not many else did. Even then, in Dead Man's Land, that would've qualified them as another player group.
There will be close to zero NPCs in this game. The few NPCs that do exist will be spawned by players, once they secure their territory, and maintain it for a certain amount of time. The characters you meet inside a player city that appear to be NPCs will most likely be players logged out.
Get a quest from a marker that leads you somewhere? Probably placed there by a guild member wanting you to head over and join up. Found a shop with decent weapons? That's been set up by a player craftsman. Wanting to put something up on the auction house? There's either going to be a player run one, or you'll have to set it up yourself. Remember: Wall Street started with people gathering at a walnut tree to trade.
Nearly everything will be modifiable by the players. This is going to be a virtual world, not just an online game.
--Lunas
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Monday, November 21, 2011
Friday, November 18, 2011
Dead Man's Land
The current focus for Geekin Out is Dead Man's Land, a zombie apocalypse MMORPG set in the NW Arkansas, and slowly spreading out. A few details of the game will not be published on the blog, as it's more fun to actually play and discover a game, but over the next few months, we'll be taking this idea from daydreaming/mental tinkering stage to fleshing out the system and getting ready for programming.
Some of the basics of the game:
No classes, just skills and perks. Want to be a tank? You got it. Want to mix in some medic training? Spend the time working on the skill and you can. We'll be working to make every skill have a purpose, so that way there's not the equivalent of everyone wanting to be a tank mage. Considering that resources will be scarce at certain points in the game, a lot of people will become experts by necessity, which should be interesting to see.
A robust guild system that takes advantage of the crafting and construction systems. Guild members will be able to work together to claim a territory and build it up to survive onslaughts from the zombie hordes and even other players guilds. Guilds will be especially important because there won't be any prebuilt cities guaranteed safe.
A crafting system that allows players to submit designs for new creations and slowly affect the world. From modifying designs for weapons and armor to unique architectural styles for guild cities, we want this to be a virtual world that grows with and from the players as much as the staff.
Different types of zombies will make appearances, but at first just the crawlers: Standard shambling corpses that aren't a threat individually, but tend to be attracted to the same things, and quickly become a lethal hazard.
There will be open pvp, but in this world you really don't want to piss off too many people.
That's all for now, looking forward to feedback. The players interested in having a virtual world and not a theme park experience will help me hammer out what hasn't already been decided definitively.
---Lunas
Some of the basics of the game:
No classes, just skills and perks. Want to be a tank? You got it. Want to mix in some medic training? Spend the time working on the skill and you can. We'll be working to make every skill have a purpose, so that way there's not the equivalent of everyone wanting to be a tank mage. Considering that resources will be scarce at certain points in the game, a lot of people will become experts by necessity, which should be interesting to see.
A robust guild system that takes advantage of the crafting and construction systems. Guild members will be able to work together to claim a territory and build it up to survive onslaughts from the zombie hordes and even other players guilds. Guilds will be especially important because there won't be any prebuilt cities guaranteed safe.
A crafting system that allows players to submit designs for new creations and slowly affect the world. From modifying designs for weapons and armor to unique architectural styles for guild cities, we want this to be a virtual world that grows with and from the players as much as the staff.
Different types of zombies will make appearances, but at first just the crawlers: Standard shambling corpses that aren't a threat individually, but tend to be attracted to the same things, and quickly become a lethal hazard.
There will be open pvp, but in this world you really don't want to piss off too many people.
That's all for now, looking forward to feedback. The players interested in having a virtual world and not a theme park experience will help me hammer out what hasn't already been decided definitively.
---Lunas
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