Darklands: Flamed

This is part of The Darklands story.

The second floor of the mines were even more claustrophobic than the last, and this one was inhabited solely by hell hounds. The fast firey canines tried to make use of the narrow passages but the team was always one step ahead, leading them back into open areas to put them down.

There were numerous treasure chests here too, but after failing to disarm the trap on the first one twice Ravanel decided to leave them alone. Despite this, Lyle managed to get his hands on a dwarven battle axe and before long Lothiriel found the stairs to the next floor. Here they were confronted by three doors, and behind the first one they opened was what they can only guess was Vulcar.

It looked like nothing at first, just fire on the ground - until it threw a glob of flame at Lyle, exploding him into little bits. The rest of the party charged, but even with all their skill the creature was too powerful - knocking Ravanel out and immolating Schulz and Lothiriel with its fiery magics.

Sorry all, I got curb-stomped.

The dwarves and miners must have dragged Ravanel out of there, because when she opened her eyes she was back at the miner's camp. They had packed up all their stuff and were beginning to head back to the city, abandoning the mine to the dwarves. One even tried to cheer her up saying not even the Queen's Guard could have cleared the threat. A sudden alarm then scattered the miners into the wind as wandering bandits attacked the camp. Weakened and alone Ravanel had no choice but to run and hide until they passed before making her own way back to town.

Darklands: The Mines of Goslar

This is part of The Darklands story.

The miners at the topside camp tell the party of their problems with the "knockers" or elves of the mine. Lothiriel translates that apparently elves means dwarves in this case. Anyway while these knockers have previously been benign and even beneficial they have lately began attacking the mining crews forcing them to stop all work. The party heads in to get to the bottom of this.

The first floor is a maze of mining tunnels filled with foreboding emptiness and the occasional groups of green dwarf men. They are all easily dispatched, and even two great stone guardians near the end of the floor are eventually brought down with good tactics and using the narrow terrain as an advantage. Ravanel in particular, is getting pretty good at sword play though not yet a match for her more martially inclined companions.

Flanking the Stones.

The team finally manages to speak to one of the dwarves at the end, and upon asking for an explanation of their actions the dwarf apologizes - saying that they were forced closer to the surface by the fiery "Vulcar". If the team could sort out the Vulcar problem, then the dwarves can go back home and the miners can get back to work. Lyle rolled his eyes upon hearing this.

It sounds like the start of a long chain, what's at the bottom - a balrog? Did the dwarves dig too deep? The team has only one option to find out.

Darklands: A Cold Winter

This is part of The Darklands story.

Winter is setting in when the party leaves Berlin, continuing on the road to Goslar. The usual thieves on the road are easily dispatched but for the first time the group is caught in an ambush by bandit-soldiers. These heavily armored troops have the team flanked, forcing them to fight on multiple fronts against superior numbers.

Something like this!

It is a difficult fight, the end of which sees all hostiles and Jeromai laying dead in the snow. Saddened by the loss the team pushed on to Braunschweig to recuperate, spending a week or so there without being able to find a replacement party member. They are left even more short handed when they leave the town as the first Schulz decides to head back to Kolberg. There's nothing anyone can do to stop him.

The remaining Schulz, Lyle and Ravanel then push on and finally reach the town of Goslar where Ravanel prepares by buying rope and torches while Lyle manages to recruit the 20 year old courtier and skilled fencer, "Lothiriel Wanderer" who hopes to earn some fame in helping to solve the problem in the nearby mines. Once all their preparations are done the team of four leave the city gates and proceed South to their nearby destination.

It wasn't long before they reached the mines of Goslar.

Darklands: Folkwin of Kyrburg

This is part of The Darklands story.

Back at Kolberg the replacement Schulz (since the original one is in the party) tells us they were still raided by bandits recently, this time those of Folkwin of Kyrburg based East of Berlin. That's a surprising distance to be raiding, but the replacement Schulz offers to come with the team to help slay him and since it is on the way to Goslar there is no reason to not accept.

The team, now composed of Jeromai, Lyle, Ravanel and the Schulz twins begin the long journey South West, scaring a wolf pack with fire, defeating many bandits in the woods, resting at a friendly lord's tower and learning some stuff from Aerbo the hermit before finally reaching the ominous castle of Folkwin the robber knight.

Because Hermits always know stuff!

The same plan as before works yet again because it seems these robber knights are stupid. It isn't long before Folkwin is caught alone in his room almost literally with his pants down, and this time the robber knight is slain without any friendly casualties. The team rejoices... and sets his castle on fire, because that seems to be tradition now. After watching it burn, they decide to head to the nearby city of Berlin to celebrate.

Darklands: Lothar of Bar

This is part of The Darklands story.

After resting up in the hamlet the team proceeded East into the forest where the robber knight kept his base. Apart from an empty cave and some misguided brigands the journey was pretty smooth. Ravanel and Bhagpuss decided to try the same technique Bishop Syp had used before, walking up to the gate and asking for food and shelter. Proving she was an excellent student, Lothar let them in again and offered a room for them to spend the night.

Two handed swords hurt.

Sneaking out and finding him alone was almost too easy thanks to Lyle's tracking skills, however it turned out that he was a much harder adversary than their first robber knight. Even with five of them, Lothar managed to wound all of them with his sword skills and in one fell stroke slew his most dangerous opponent, Bhagpuss.

Enraged at his mentor's demise Jeromai went berserk and with a combined team effort managed to bring the big man down. As before the yellow bellied thugs fled upon the sight of their dead leader leaving the team free reign on looting the place, and then setting it on fire in Bhagpuss' memory. Feeling the loss, the Schulz of Kolberg agreed to stay on the team awhile longer which was welcome news.

The sombre trip back to his hamlet was only interrupted by a pack of wild boars who were easily slain and turned into a delicious, revitalizing dinner.

Darklands: Providence

This is part of The Darklands story.

Bhagpuss insisted on travelling North East as that's where he felt the town of Goslar was. It was surprisingly difficult to find a map or reliable directions Ravanel realised and now more than ever she missed Syl, her gypsy friend. Fortunately the bishop had taught her well in talking her way out of tolls so entering other towns and random road tax enforcers (other than those employed by the church) were easily convinced to let them by.

There were much fewer bandits while following the road, and those that did show up were easily dispatched of by the soldiers Lyle, Jeromai and Bhagpuss. There was even a wandering merchant caravan they managed to sell some loot to. Eventually they reached the northern sea, and entered a friendly little hamlet called Kolberg.

The Schulz of the town, who acts as their leader, informed them they were headed the wrong way. Pointing out where Goslar was on the map (I seriously only found it then). However since they had already come this far he asked if he could use their help in solving a problem they were having. A problem by the name of Lothar of Bar, the robber knight. In addition he offered to come along to assist the team in putting an end to this evil sinner.

Sounds like a bad guy.

They agreed without hesitation.

Darklands: Rogues of Prenzlau

This is part of The Darklands story.

Walram's men fled upon seeing their leader's corpse, leaving Bishop Syp, Bhagpuss and Ravanel free reign on looting the castle. As they left Bhagpuss decided to set it on fire, since that's what he wanted to do from the beginning. They then travelled to the nearby city of Prenzlau where Bhagpuss said an old friend was staying. This friend was named "Jeromai Wolf", a veteran soldier or 30 years.

It was no surprise to him who set the fire.

Jeromai agreed to join them if they'd first help clear Prenzlau of the local thieves, a task the Bishop was more than happy to accommodate. Not long after dark they came across their first group, and Syp managed to simply persuade them to not be bad with his high speech skills. Unfortunately the second group did not speak Latin, and during the scuffle one managed to backstab Syp with his falchion, killing him instantly.

This only spurned on the remaining three in slaying those scum along with the next three groups they encountered that night, being joined by a young 20 year old night watchman recruit named "Lyle Grinder" as they wandered the streets. As the day broke they returned to the tavern to mend their wounds in silence. Directionless, Ravanel prayed for a sign as the old bishop had once taught her.

It was then that young Lyle Grinder spoke up, telling the others about a rumor he heard - troubles of a supernatural variety in the mines of Goslar. With renewed purpose the team sold the extra gear they looted from the previous evening and headed out to find this new adventure.

NBI - Armchair Game Designer

[Part of the Newbie Blogger Initiative: Talk Back Challenge]
[Part of my MMO Design Folder] 

Armchair Game Designer: Take the parts of current games you like, listing the specific features. Make a game out of those features, any type of game, any genre. You could also mention features that you would never use under the same criteria.

Lyledark has a neat little list that he'd like to see where as Liore specifically targetted designing an MMO player economy. Some good ideas on both, and for kicks I decided to make a list of my own... which turned out to be quite long... :P

I might be doing this wrong because of the "current games" section of the brief given most of these come from either Ultima Online, Mabinogi, Knight Online, Wizardry Online, Neverwinter Online and Guildwars2 with some original ones thrown in the mix. Anyway this would be my (undoubtedly incomplete) list of things I'd want to have, starting with the ones that need little to no explanation (or I've talked about them previously):

- No Pre-determined Classes, no over-all levels. Each skill gains through individual study and use.
- School to learn combat and life skills.
- Exams to attain higher levels of skills.
- Gear will break, ammo runs out, hunger must be catered for
- Text bubble above the head of who is talking, not disembodied chat window
- Emote window for ease of access to all character animations and dancing
- Typing a smiley face would actually put that expressions on your character's face
- Crafting and skill mini games
- In-game supported voice chat in a party or squad channels
- Musical instruments, freedom to compose your own music and jam with other players (possibly using MML)
- Open world Ship travel, people can join for the ride and you manually steer where to go
- Non-territorial Enemies have no leash, they'll chase you to forever.
- Mounts! - Shared mounts (two people on a horse)! Flying mounts! Mounts (and pets) that can fight!
- Customizable and useful housing/homestead items.
- Interactable furniture. I like chairs I can sit on.
- Dangerous Traps can be avoided by just knowing what to look for, or disabled temporarily via minigame
- Open world quests / Dynamic quests - anyone in the vicinity can join
- Open world dungeons with "boss" chambers instanced (long cool-down per player to prevent spamming).
- Foundry, player made content!
- Guild Management Tools that let you see the last time someone was on, and lets everyone leave short messages
- In-game Calendar so people can see when the next releases are due, what events are on and for how long they go.
- Magical gate travel to cities only. All gates travel to one target city which changes based on moon cycle.
- "Summoning" Spell/Scroll to summon one party member to caster's location (lengthy cool-down).
- No return to town spell, or return to wherever unless a mage is summoning you.
- Blacklist feature. Always handy.
- No auto maps/radar. Cartography as a skill can make map items for the local region you are in.
- Story Instances. Can be added by patch yet are "permanent" in that all characters can then run them once.
- Content geared primarily for solo play. Scales up (instead of gearing for group and scales down).
- Each character can only join one guild at a time.
- No auction House. No gold. Barter system all the way. Even with NPCs!

And now for the ones that need more text...

- Not so Diverse races.

This is more of a money constraint (I'm designing on a budget :P). I like Neverwinter's races where a dwarf is a short but stout human, an elf is a slender human, a tiefling is a human with red skin and a tail etc. Apart from minor facial differences (horns/pointy ears and what have you) the bulk of each character is basically the same, just scaled differently. Why? It's easier to release new armor and clothing items for just one model. Compare it to Guildwars 2, where the races -are- quite different. Ever wonder why most of the living story rewards are either weapon skins or back items?

- No voice actors.

Again more of a money constraint. While I can put near limitless text on the screen, if I then need someone to read out the lines that's going to be painful on the budget. More so if it's multiple VAs doing the same lines (numerous protagonists). If there are no VA's the development staff will get more money to produce more content, and it will be slightly faster to roll out (and be a bit smaller file size too). To compensate, must have a fantastic music score (that can be reused more easily). Age of Conan level or better. :D

- Dangerous combat relying on Player skill over Character skill.

Isn't all combat dangerous? Well, Mabinogi takes the cake for me here and I'd love a version of their rock-paper-scissors-shotgun combat system in my MMO. Most battles are very short but not in the fast paced way. Either you use the right skills and curb stomp your enemy or you screw up and get curb stomped in return. My character is over level 2000 yet a regular skeleton can still kill me in 4 hits (or less) if I mistime my moves or use the wrong counters. In comparison a skilled player can beat the same skeleton with a week old character, if the player behind the screen fights well. It just may take them longer to win.

- Death is to be Feared

Upon dying you become a ghost who can no longer see the living (or undead) nor interactable objects like levers, doors and buttons. You can only see other spirits (dead players), NPC healers and statues that will ressurect you if you manage to run back to them. If you make it you have a 100% chance to be revived. Wait, -if- you make it? What's stopping you? 

One of the most terrifying NPCs in all my MMO adventures.

Yep, the reapers from Wizardry Online. They chase you and will try to permanently end your existence - the only thing you can do is run. Each time you are "caught" you are returned to your body and the chance of your revival drops by 10%. If you fail your revive roll then your character is gone (seriously, they become a tombstone).

That's in Wizardry Online, but I know most people don't like permadeath so in my version - the % is how much of your skills are retained on revival, so if you got caught 3 times then all skills drop by 30%. You'll have to go retrain them. Oh, there's also still a "roll" on the % too. A fail means all your equipment is obliterated, but don't worry - there's no character elimination whatsoever (though losing 100% of all their skill puts them back as a newbie anyway). See, I can be a nice guy. ;p