Hey, Goog,

Man, first off, major props and all that has to go Gilbert for his AMAZING idea yesterday. When I read that early morning Sunday, my mind constantly popped in and out of a raging debate about how one would exactly implement this idea into a MMORPG and circumvent any problems that could pop up. (Obviously, the system would have to be almost completely random every single time to make sure that only one person got one story and you don't have 2 - 20,000 new players with the same quest and story). Andrew brought up a good point in saying that to have it be completely random, in the fact that any joe - schmoe newbie could end up being the King of some land and screw around with hundreds or even thousands of NPC's and PC's by randomly attacking allies and/or themselves, would be a catastrophe. I don't normally discuss my ideas with anyone (let alone the entire gaming community), but since this is Gilbert's idea and I'm only expouding upon it, here are my suggestions for making it a little bit better.

Instead of having players jump from life to life after completing it, have them stay with their same character, but each time they complete a main "quest" successfully, their status would go up and allow them to have new quests that deserve more skill and obligations, but alos more priveleges and rights in the game world. For example, say you have two characters; Simon and Drake. Simon is a starting out 1st level ranger from a small village near an imposing forest, and one day, a group of bandits raid the village and kill his father and one of his friends. He goes into the forest to bring the bandits to justice. Drake, a starting out 1st level fighter/soldier, is a young soldier who is also sent out to bring the bandits to justice, who have been raiding military shipments. Drake and Simon meet up, join forces, and squash the bandits. Not only are they now probably buddies, but they gain "Destiny Points," meaning their plot will now becomes more interesting and involved and their advancement goes up. Killing the bandits reaches the ear of a young lord, who then hires them to help find his kidnapped fiance; accomplishing this mission means they have a young lord (who maybe even be a PC himself) on their side, increasing their prestige and coolness of their future missions. Of course, the game could go the other way; maybe the bandits in the forest and the thieves who kidnapped the young lord's fiance are under the command of a powerful evil PC Duke, whose mission is two - fold; subvert the kingdom and get rid of these pesky do - gooder PC's. The Duke, like Simon and Drake, started out as a common thug, but through good, hard playing, has cheated, lied, and stole his way to becoming a Duke, and has his own share of PC enemies and allies, all at different levels of advancement. Hell, he could even serve a Demon Lord, who is a PC himself!

Of course, consequences would be severe if a player detracted from his path; if a major knight in a Paladin Order decides randomly to run off and work for a demon lord, he can expect his old buddies to send NPC and PC Paladins to go wack him; conversely, a Dark Knight who finds the path of light and defects to the Holy Kingdom (which is fighting the forces of Hell), he could throw the war on the side of the holy warriors (due to his knowledge and power), who previously were being routed by the forces of Hell.

Players, of course, who got tired with their character or simply didn't have the time to run them anymore could opt out and start fresh; their old characters could then be turned into NPC's (and therefore fodder for budding PC's).

I think that Gilbert's idea (with my improvements, but mostly it's his) would definately present a much more realistic presentation for MMORPGS. The plot problem is definately solved, and developing relationships with other players would be required, but in a way that is up to the player; never again will players be forced to go with groups of 80 - 100 people (unless they want to), and we can have a world filled with power mongering dukes and princes and wandering swordsmen and minstrels (if, you know, being a bard is, ah, appealing to you). An entire contained community could evolve, one that would be a lot more intimate and personal than any other MMORPG, more than Everquest or anything else.

~Dante Macbeth~

Hey Goog,

This weekend I was watching Friday the 13th Part 3, and I came up with a great idea. Somebody should make an RPG where you're in a (relatively) small area, and you're being stalked by a psychotic killer who knocks people off one by one, and you have to defeat the killer before he gets you, too. There could be quests like you have to find certain items that will increase your chances of getting him, and stuff like that. The obvious problem would be that the final battle would be one on one since everybody else would be dead, but there have been RPGs where you only controlled one character. What do you think of that idea?

Robust Stu

Googs!

New issue - Golden Sun! Yay! I just picked this game up a few days ago on a whim, and after just a day of playing I snapped up the expansion the very next chance I had. It's got such an odd look like an old game I couldn't remember that I can't help but irrationally love it.

I really couldn't place it until my roommate pointed it out, but this game is really like a nostalgic blast from the past, almost entirely in part due to its resemblence to Shining Force (I can't point this out enough.) The 3 stats, the simple (in some ways) storyline, and the lack of slotting Mako-aeon-combo-chart-overly-complicated weapons also help, but the Shining Force-ish graphics and sprites really make it seem like they're related. Do you get that nostalgic vibe from the game or am I just entirely too obsessed with Shining Force?

-R.Griffin

Im afraid you were slightly off in your information about Shadowrun the pencil and paper version.

Whizkids does own it.

HOWEVER, they are not printing the RPG. They are about to release a collectible action figure game based on the property.

But all is not lost!

They have given the rights to the old games they have ownership of (the founder of Whizkids was also the founder and creator of many fine products from now defunct game company FASA!) to Fantasy Productions Inc, a German game company responsible for THE fantasy RPG in Germany, Das Schwarz Aug (It roughly translates to "The Dark Eye") and who printed and translated Fasa products into German.

They are now making Shadowrun products, reprinting some of the old stuff, and even making new products available in both languages, and uses Fast Forward Productions as their North American distributor.

I know this because I am HUGE fan of Battletech, the giant robot strategy game which has spawned many electronic products, a cartoon, over 50 novels, and an upcoming movie by the people responsible for Stargate, ID4, and erm.. Godzilla..

Some links for the fellow who wanted to find out about Shadowrun:

http://www.srrpg.com (Official Shadowrun site)
http://www.classicbattletech.com (Official Battletech site)
http://www.fastforwardgames.com (Fanpro distributor site. Does individual orders for product should your local game/comic shop not carry Shadowrun stuff)

Glad to have been of help to fellow Gamer Geeks..

-Bloodcat

Tori Amos quote for you, eh, nevermind.

Hey Google-sama,

I was just writing to see what you thought/knew about the Mother 1 and 2 rerelease?

And i just realized that all of this is assuming a North American release... oh well right, as I was about to say... I'm excited at the thought we'll finally get to play Mother 1 legally, haha. Do you think Nintendo will beef up the translation, or just pick up the one they abandoned? And what would you speculate they would call it? I assume they won't call it Earthbound 0 like the rom community... Maybe Earthbound -1... Anyway...

I sort of wish if people were going to do rereleases they'd enhance the games. An 8 bit game on a 32-bit handheld doesn't really make sence to me. At least do something with the music...

Which brings me to another question, what do you think about companies making games for GBA and not really getting everything out of what it can do sound quality wize? I seem to of noticed a lot of gbA games with old gameboy style sound quality (Robotech comes to mind... I love Robotech music, but not the 8bit twangy version...).

Thanks
Stevie

Ps. What's a Pokémon Box? (You wrote it in your New topics area there... by the way, I picked up on how for two days you've put swords vs. guns in the old issues box.... I agree.)

Hey,
*snip* We covered this on Friday.

Still on the **** swords vs guns topic: What's your opinion on the rational behind giving Yuna (staff bearer) a pair of guns?

~Ladyhawk

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