07-11-2012, 02:07 PM
Playing Dayz got me thinking, could a survival based MMO be possible and profitable?
For those who haven't played Dayz, its a sandbox, fps, zombie, permadeath, free for all game. You start with basically nothing and have an amount of time before you start to get thirty and hungry. To get those things you have to get past NPC zombies (and other players) or kill other players. All items obtained are in this manner with a few exceptions. However, when you die, you respawn without items and the "journey" begins again.
What if this was expanded with some other features found in past MMOs. Obviously, the FPS engine would have to be decent (WW2 online style would be my preference with a limited hitpoint system much like what Dayz has currently). Larger sandbox type world maps would be needed to allow for more MMO style of play. My thought is something like SWGs. I would also add a character development system, something simple for example 6 categories with 5 tiers each and experience is gained by doing various actions (example: days survived = delaying hunger and thirst, zombie kills = % dam to zombies, pvp = some type of tracking, mechanics (things built) = access to more buildables, etc). All of these would wipe if killed. The AI system would not only be a spawn at x location but also allow packs to transverse the map. Items would be a huge part of the game with them scaling with difficulty of obtaining them. Currently Dayz makes it fairly easy to get military equipment and farm it. I'd make it more raid style so you'd have to travel into a huge amount of zombies in a few "refugee bases" for example to obtain ammo for your badass sniper rifle. You risk death by zombie and other raiding groups. Otherwise you can use your 38 special and find ammo in houses with less risk.
Its hard to say with the current MMO style out there that players would be able to handle losing their top tiered character. That could turn off players of a permadeath game. However, if the journey to "endgame" is interesting and accessable enough then it might not be that bad. I think, speaking as a person who has suffered from altitis, this concept could change the idea that players must grind xp to level 60 and get bored. A game like this could make that "grind" to survive unique and exciting every time. However, there are a lot of gamers who need that leveling structure system to provide "level success" satisfaction. I'm unsure if a stats, badges and/or leader board system would help in that case.
For those who haven't played Dayz, its a sandbox, fps, zombie, permadeath, free for all game. You start with basically nothing and have an amount of time before you start to get thirty and hungry. To get those things you have to get past NPC zombies (and other players) or kill other players. All items obtained are in this manner with a few exceptions. However, when you die, you respawn without items and the "journey" begins again.
What if this was expanded with some other features found in past MMOs. Obviously, the FPS engine would have to be decent (WW2 online style would be my preference with a limited hitpoint system much like what Dayz has currently). Larger sandbox type world maps would be needed to allow for more MMO style of play. My thought is something like SWGs. I would also add a character development system, something simple for example 6 categories with 5 tiers each and experience is gained by doing various actions (example: days survived = delaying hunger and thirst, zombie kills = % dam to zombies, pvp = some type of tracking, mechanics (things built) = access to more buildables, etc). All of these would wipe if killed. The AI system would not only be a spawn at x location but also allow packs to transverse the map. Items would be a huge part of the game with them scaling with difficulty of obtaining them. Currently Dayz makes it fairly easy to get military equipment and farm it. I'd make it more raid style so you'd have to travel into a huge amount of zombies in a few "refugee bases" for example to obtain ammo for your badass sniper rifle. You risk death by zombie and other raiding groups. Otherwise you can use your 38 special and find ammo in houses with less risk.
Its hard to say with the current MMO style out there that players would be able to handle losing their top tiered character. That could turn off players of a permadeath game. However, if the journey to "endgame" is interesting and accessable enough then it might not be that bad. I think, speaking as a person who has suffered from altitis, this concept could change the idea that players must grind xp to level 60 and get bored. A game like this could make that "grind" to survive unique and exciting every time. However, there are a lot of gamers who need that leveling structure system to provide "level success" satisfaction. I'm unsure if a stats, badges and/or leader board system would help in that case.