Regarding the story for the MMO…
Space is dark.
And silent.
Aside from the occasional grouping of some hydrogen & helium atoms, and sometimes some heavier elements, space is largely full of…nothing.
It is a very lonely place, an endless void.
…and no one can hear you scream.
The MMO should reflect such an environment. Now of course, we can't just have the players staring at a black screen with nothing coming from their speakers. Rather, I mean the "atmosphere" of the MMO should be dark, and mysterious. Even frightening. At the same time the player is experiencing the wonders of technology and space travel, they should also feel this sense of uneasiness, as if there is someone…or some
thing watching them, hidden in that blackness of space. All the while they are building this new little empire, they should have a sense of foreboding, that at any moment they could be attacked and lose everything.
And that's exactly what should happen.
Space may be a largely empty void, but there ARE other people out there, and most don't want to sit with you for a nice cup of tea. The story the player experiences in the beginning, leading them up to their newfound opportunities should prepare them for this quiet, but deceptively hostile, universe they've found themselves in. Show them the amazing possibilities that lay before them, but also build up a tenseness, an itching that speaks to the dark recesses of their mind, that all is not well here…that they are in danger, even if their normal senses tell them otherwise.
And then show them what that danger is.
That's where the game can introduce the other races which may be hostile toward the player's chosen race…the ones who don't want that damn tea. Go ahead and have the player lose everything at this point. Make it part of the story (
before they reach the "real" MMO part, playing with other people in a live universe), so that in the long term, they haven't really lost anything because they were never meant to have anything after this encounter anyway. Though it would have no real effect on the player's situation long-term, it would certainly make a VERY clear point in the player's mind:
This is a dangerous universe.
You can also introduce some friendlier races here. Have someone, an alien to the player's chosen race, show up and manage to get the player out with their life…but not much else, and only barely. From there, the story can take the player through a tale of struggle and hardship, but also one of hope to show the player that no matter how low they get, there is still always a way to claw your way back up again. This part of the story can also let the player see the "politics" and larger scope of relationships between the various races & empires of the game universe.
I have some more ideas for some races, empires, or other entities that might be able to find a place in the MMO, so I'll start "fleshing out" those ideas and post them here when I think they're ready enough to endure the criticism.
However, I do have an idea that might be ready now. This is more of a general concept, rather than a specific attribute or feature. If there's one thing that I've always found tiresome and annoying in almost every MMO I've ever played, it's that virtually all of them have this "safe haven" for people to hide in, who don't want to participate in the more combative or PvP aspects of the game. It's so artificial. The real world isn't like that, and the future of space certainly won't have that either…far from it, actually. No one is ever truly safe; anyone at any time can break into your little bubble of perceived safety, and shatter it to pieces. The game should be no different. Just like in the real world, there can be places patrolled by military or police forces, to provide some semblance of security for law-abiding citizens, but don't create some artificial game mechanic to make the players there immune to harm. If another player wants to charge in there guns blazing, let them. They'll have the military and/or police forces to contend with, but that's their choice and they should be aware of the consequences. Point is, they can likely still do a lot of harm before those forces stop them…so any other players caught in the mess should be prepared to either defend themselves or have an escape method…if not, then they suffer consequences as well.
I guess another way of looking at it is like this…let all players have an impact, good or ill, on all other players. Let them choose their actions, and let the consequences play out as they should. Let the players determine their own fate, and the fate of the game universe as well. They're the players…they are the people with the most power in this universe, so let them shape it as they choose.
That's my idea, anyhow.
Poll
