TITLE:Metaverse (working title, Neal Stephenson reference)
GENRE: Sci-Fi, First Person Action Adventure MMORPG, Circa 2284 A.D.
EPOCH: Dawn of self-aware self-designing AI's, VR-exclusive Communities, Nano-tech Factories, Gravity Propulsion, Children and Pets Genetically Engineered, 'The Truth' religion emerges dedicated to revealing the simulation they believe we are all trapped within.
LOCATION: Earth and the Sol System, limited forays beyond.
In the beginning of the game you can map you own (or any other) face (with multiple expressions and voice samples) onto your toon. You can also link all PC-based media to in-game virtual media-terminals, and patch whatever live TV/radio feeds are available (both game-generated and RL channels), which others can see/hear if they are in the vicinity of your in-game media device. The gamer, now with a unique face and access to supplemental media content, is ready to then begin constructing their full morphology, home and career.
Players earn in-game credits (money) by following one or more chosen careers (from thousands of different player-defined options), which all produce different elements of the games actual content. By using career-specific in-game work-terminals to practice their chosen career, players have the opportunity to design and produce new and unique items, services and media content, so are actively shaping the world around them. Members of any given career can specialise in their field by incorporating (an infinite number of) unique add-ons or programs into their in-game work-terminals. If a specific tool is required to construct a new type of vehicle chassis, or an architect would like to use a new kind of transparent brick, the mechanic or the architect pays in-game programmers from the coders guild to write and mod that unique add-on/program into that players in-game work-terminal (and only that players). Rather than advancing by accumulating IP's via repetitive tasks, the game experience improves as the player makes new 'innovations' that allow him to become a commercial success, and thus advance the reach and scale of his operation or agenda.
The gamer might choose to be a combat engineer who designs and trains genetically engineered troops, or a fashion designer creating fashionable attire and holding outrageous shows and parties, or a talented painter, a dedicated weapon-smith, a devious industrial spy, a slightly seedy pet and sex-toy-smith, a wily reporter, an austere architect, a mad inventor, a handsome actor, a prolific musician, an inscrutable judge, a technical communications engineer, a cool-headed cop or a cold-blooded assassin. Game advancement is accumulated not by grinding dungeons, but in a much more non-linear way. By designing the best gun, or by travelling to a far out asteroid, you might have a huge success after much tinkering or travelling. Likewise a DJ with thousands of subscribers, or a painter who sells a picture for a small fortune, or a cult leader with a huge congregation, will all receive credits relative to their innovation or success. Which in turn affords them the wealth to have new work-terminal programs written for him. Thus creativity, imagination and technical skill determines the players advancement, turning the gaming experience from a traditional dungeon-grinding kill-fest, to a creative self-perpetuating forum of expression and free enterprise, without limitations. Killing will by no means be removed, but the whole game will not revolve around it either (although of course this would totally depend on the players preferences).
Wake me up when the beta's ready.
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