Combat systems
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All characters should be capable of all roles, with special racial abilities specific to race creating a sense of diversity and effectiveness.
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Combat effectiveness should be a sum total of -
a. Player skill (hand/eye, understanding/mastery of game mechanics).
b. Progression through skill advancement (character skills such as melee, ranged, magic, etc).
c. Progression through weapon advancement (high level/rare items, whether crafted or dropped). i.e. peashooters should be ineffective against Titans, and a Mace of Ancient Doorknobs +5 should kill rats in one shot. -
Damage should take place within a range that includes random variability. ie. A wooden bow does 5-10 damage. A 10 is a critical hit and can be further augmented by a particular character skill (bows, critical hits, etc)
Crafting systems
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Tiered progression related to skills (skills such as Dirt, Wood, Stone, Bronze, Iron, Steel, etc)
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Some random variability where crafting Wooden Blocks might result in a Gnarled Wooden Block only 0.1% of the time, leading to rare components for rare items.
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Should the instrument or instruments used for crafting be mobile (character can craft deep in the field/backcountry) or should crafting require the presence of non-mobile devices (a kiln located in a character’s house or capital)? I’m still up in the air over this consideration.
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Consider offering a system that allows a skilled character to take a chance to ‘overcharge’ a crafted item for a very small chance of creating a very powerful item or enchantment. If failed the components would be lost and nothing would be created. This would offer several benefits - skilled characters capable of such feats will be sought after, the rare items would be very special and sought after as well, it will create a destructive process that allows components and/or currency to leave the game which helps maintain a balanced and healthy economy.
Construction systems
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Simple click to build, click to destroy for single blocks.
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The ability to use a tool like a highlighter to select and highlight blocks in order to create macros or copyable blueprints to create smooth mass production (if one builds a 3x3 cube they should be able to highlight it, copy it, and paste it in order to create mass production). This would allow for smooth teamwork and cooperative building on large projects.
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The blueprints mentioned above could be a saved macro with a maximum block size that could be saved in a designated guild blueprint storage chest offering only limited storage. This would allow members to save and share useful/common macros among members and friends.
Progression systems
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All skills, both combat and non-combat, should be progressive (eg. 1 - 100)
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Consider offering all characters one skill of their choosing that can be taken beyond the standard hardcap (eg. to 110), therefore allowing them access to the rarest of items and crafting options within a narrow field (Bows - 110 would allow a character to use a very rare crafted bow that can only be crafted using a component drop from a Titan that requires a crafting skill of Wood 110 to be made, but the same character cannot both make and use the bow). This would create some variety from character to character and incentivize cooperative planning among characters in guilds. Just an idea. It could draw from idea #4 above in crafting. Maybe only those skilled to 110 in a field are capable of special attacks or overcharging a crafted item as I mentioned above.
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Some degree of destructive processes that allow for money and items to permanently leave the game. I intend on creating a thread on this topic.
Player customisation systems
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Players should inherently look unique due to race and character creation choices, but further customization should be very in-depth, potentially offering rare drop costumes or items that can be placed in vanity slots that have no effect other than appearance.
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Instead of the above, limiting vanity options so that worn gear determines appearance, which allows a character’s role to be known and understood at a glance.
Titan systems
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Titans should require groups of no more than a dozen people or so, and no less than five or six.
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Killing a titan should require a reasonable commitment in time, no more than an hour. If a Titan takes longer to take down it will cause a massive change in the concentration of the server’s population, as people come from all over to try to get a share in the kill.
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Killing a Titan should require quite a bit of skill and a solid mastery of in-game mechanics and cooperation. That should be the main focus of the fight - skill and cooperation.
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There should be multiple types of Titans, each dropping different components.
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Titans should drop a variety of things - components for crafting, maybe a trophy or decoration for a character’s home, maybe a vanity item or costume, maybe every Titan kill leaves a single mote of light floating around one’s character… so that veteran Titan killers can be spotted immediately… or maybe a scar or a tattoo… similar to the Ta Moko of the Maori.
Beacon / land claiming systems
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There should be a LOT of real estate… so much so that spotting another character will be rare if one so chooses. Imagine walking for a long while to a remote area that is only accessible by walking/riding/flying and finding a small city that belongs to an individual or guild that has been choosing to remain hidden. Those moments are very special in gaming, and lend a genuine sense of exploration and adventure.
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No character or guild should be able to claim all the land in a world.
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Beacons should extend in a sphere in all directions above and below ground for a given distance.
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However, rare resources can be monopolized. Maybe the above guild has chosen to remain so secretive because their town resides on top of a rare vein of ore. They should be able to claim that vein within their guild beacon’s range, and should receive some defensive advantage in protecting it.
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Personal or guild beacons could provide a notification to a player, either through a live message and/or journal entry, that another character that is not on an ‘approved list’ is now within their beacon’s range. No specifics other than that should be offered.
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Beacons should prevent the building of most, if not all, structures by someone else within their range. If there is a structure that can be built within the range of someone else’s beacon, then that structure should quickly degrade over time. Maybe that particular building is required in order to attack someone else’s beacon, creating the need for teamwork (someone to repair, defend, and maintain the building while others go to attack the beacon).
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Single-player beacons should not require maintenance. Real life gets in the way. People take vacations, have hard times, can’t find time to make it in the game. Players with a life or event outside the game shouldn’t be saddled with heavy maintenance. Guild beacons should require maintenance.
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The broadcast distance of a guild beacon should relate directly to the individuals within the guild. For example, maybe the broadcast distance of a guild beacon is the simple mean average of each individual member’s beacon distance divided by the total number of members. Founders with a beacon bonus would therefore offer more to a guild by providing a better beacon broadcasting distance.
Guild systems
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There should be a hardcap on guild size, therefore preventing massive guilds that dominate servers.
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There should be guild bonuses that must be chosen and are mutually exclusive. Maybe ten options - 10% PVP damage, 10% PVE damage, 10% crafting yield, 10% mining yield, etc). Only one can be chosen at any given time. Maybe they can be changed periodically for a fee.
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There should be an economic cost for operating a guild to create another money/commodity sink within the game.
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Guilds should have tiered sizes dependent upon membership. In order to go up to the next tier a fee has to be paid, that would allow more members and new privileges (larger guild bank, storage, guild hall, etc).
My apologies for being wordy. More ideas to come.