scripted MMO with dynamic gameplay, ideas

im going to use a Sci Fi genre to flesh out some of these ideas, setting aside story/lore for now........

avatar creation:
-choose race or species (sets limits on affiliation)
-choose affiliation (federation, resistance, pirates ect)
-customize your avatar

avatar management:
-you can create multiple avatars
-edit/customize call sign & emblems
-manage rank

The reason I say avatar and not character is because in a scripted MMO you really don't ever get to play as your character in the game world, instead your character only represents you in the world.

Rank:

In this idea of a scripted MMO with dynamic gameplay, rank will be a HUGE factor. As you play the game you gain experience, sometimes gaining a promotion will just give you special privileges during the game, other times it will completely change the game and gameplay up if you accept the rank. You can of course deny any promotion if you want and choose to manually apply for the promotion later.

Dynamic Gameplay determined by rank..............

for instance:
A CO's gameplay will be very RTS based
A captain's gameplay will be very RPG based
and the rest of the ranks gameplay will vary greatly but be more mini game/arcade based

for example; the CO will manage the movements of the fleet and manage resources, and issue top down orders

the captains in the ships will choose and execute commands like you would any RPG, the type of commands may be effected by the top down orders of the CO where an order may actually gray out a command

the rest of the ranks will essentially opt into playing mini games that basically act out the commands that the captain chooses, higher ranks of course get first dibs


Scripted:
-the whole battle scene is almost entirely scripted some by AI & algorithms, but a lot of it by human players and their choices and actions
-which almost guarantees complexity; as in no two games will ever be the same

 

affiliation:
-think of the affiliation as a society or ideology within the lore/story
-its also on a technical level a social network within the app
-this is essentially so players can plan out battles and thus be able to promote & organize it within the community inside the game
-of course the majority of the battles will be lobby driven and created on the spot by the gamers or automatically

story:
-the story is mostly lore and backdrop/deposition for the game
-but i do want it to evolve as the game progresses
-as in affiliations collapse or are defeated or conquered
-new affiliations appear
-ect

i also want 3 kinds of games: (maybe??)
1) campaign; which follows the story arc
2) Vs with many different variants and settings that can be edited
3) pro; for sponsored/community driven organized and promoted games



joining a game session.......................

-first log on
-you will be shown a list of games that you can join
-this list will be from games that you are invited too (by friends or contacts)
-and may also include games that you applied for through the community and were accepted and are about to start
-and last but not least recommended games that your friends are playing, ideal for your connection/location/rank and skill ect
-the list will automatically update and always keep itself relevant and fresh it should not show games that players will not be able to join
-you can also customize the list by setting some filters and/or criteria

in addition to this list there is also options to:
-quick play
-join a specific type of game
-and start your own game (but only for higher levels)

 

game session.......................

i dont exactly know how the game sessions will play out to be honest but here is some initial thoughts:

-there is only one CO for each side which may be controlled exclusively by AI or interns at launch
-there can be many captains
-and many lower ranking officers
-the captains will run each of the ships and execute commands like a really deep and complex RPG
-as these commands are selected and executed mini games become available to the lower ranking officers
-depending on how well the players did in these mini games will determine the outcome of how the command plays out as an ultimately how much damage is done, or how much HP is regained ect