This article presents a list of ideas, detailing some of the thoughts, gameplay mechanics, and cool implementations I'd love to see in the next big MMORPG. Somewhat akin to a World of Warcraft sequel or WoW 2, this list aims to provide a foundation for envisioning a more immersive online RPG video game experience.
One of the biggest problems with MMOs and video games in general is that the computer always knows where you are. Once you're in the vicinity of a mob in a dungeon, it's over. He will follow you forever. In the next big MMO, you should be able to have the liberty to hide from mobs and other players, no matter your class, and elements such as time of day, shadows, and view distance should have a significant impact on this. See, for example, what they did in League of Legends and possibly Dota 2.
Without that cool idea out of the way, let's talk about some specific categories.
Professions
You don’t just press a button and that’s it, you’ve crafted 100 short swords. No, there’s a process. And you also don’t skill up blacksmithing just like that. To progress from beginner to master, you have to really prove yourself, and there has to be some sort of test. It could be a profession quest chain that involves speaking with the local authorities, mayor, and/or the blacksmithing guild and getting commissioned by them to craft 100 swords to support the war effort.
And when you make those 100 swords, you don’t just vendor them afterwards, you literally have to transport them to wherever they are needed (say, the barracks or something), so to do that, you will have to take an NPC carriage and pay him for the transport. Once you’ve delivered them, the mayor gives you a deed, which is a document that attests that you have delivered.
Of course, you can get this deed without making yourself these swords. Just buy them or have a friend make them for you. Deliver them and get your deed. But here’s the trick. With the deed, you have to go to the blacksmithing guild to get your trinket (gives +10 blacksmithing and +10 armor or something, and recognizes you as an official blacksmith; trinket is upgradable) and +reputation for doing the previous quest (100 swords), and the ability to progress further in the quest chain of the blacksmithing guild.
Since the guild doesn’t fool around, they will test you. And, because you haven’t crafted those 100 swords, your skill might not be high enough, so you will fail the test.
But let’s say you’ve crafted 100 hammers, then you will also fail the test because they will ask you to craft a sword, and this is where the fun starts. When you craft a sword, you don’t just press a button, and that's it. No! You need a forge that is lit (by you and kept afire), a hammer, and the other thing that grabs hot metal, a fire protection robe - otherwise, you need to cool off very often, get away from the forge, etc. This would substantially increase your forging time, and most importantly, the act of forging itself should be a somewhat simple minigame that requires attention and practice. No one should be able to make a sword on their first try. Because you lack the skill, you shouldn’t be able to properly hammer it down. Yes, you have to hammer the blade and put it in water afterward.
So, the blacksmithing guild asks you to do this, and you also have a timer, of course. A crafter of 100 swords should have no problem making a few of them in a short period of time. It should take at least a minute to make the simplest sword and hours to make a legendary.
So basically, you can’t fuck with the blacksmithing guild! Or any other guild, for that matter.
Once you pass the test, you get a reputation, a trinket, and can buy a robe of fire resist and +blacksmithing skill, one that keeps away all the fiery sparks from all that forging.
Of course, there should also be all sorts of blacksmithing events across the world. Stuff like finding an old abandoned forge and reconditioning it. Everyone who ISN'T a blacksmith sees it as repaired afterwards. Layering plays a key role here. Also, in all other areas of the game (pun intended).
Or teaching young apprentices in faraway cities the art of blacksmithing (basically, once you choose a profession, the world changes to fit that need and quest chain scenarios).
Of course, you can skill up further without the trinket and without helping the war effort or getting acknowledged by the blacksmithing guild, but that would be harder, and you will not be able to buy reputation rewards, which should most likely include unique weapon/armor recipes only available from those vendors.
Blacksmithing vendor should sell the specification, but tailors should be able to make a blacksmithing robe that gives +skill and protects from fire. Yes, forges count as fire damage.
Game World Logic
Spell logic should be tight! You can't cast a blizzard spell while inside a house. You can't lay a trap inside a house; it would need terrain. Etc. You can't cast fireballs underwater. If you hit a fire elemental with a fireball, it should give it life back or empower it, not just do nothing to it.
Paladins get +healing when the sun is up in the sky. Rogues can’t vanish or stealth in the sunlight. Warlocks get +damage during nighttime. The full moon gives +concentration. A spell such as Taunt or Challenging Shout should distract the enemy player, making him change target or lose hit rating for a short while.
Arrows that miss might hit other targets. So, ballistics should play an important role too.
Implement the inability to be mounted in capital cities/towns. Auto dismount in certain areas. Park your mount in special stables. Implement mount fatigue.
When you jump from high distances with your mount, you get a debuff on your mount, 'fracture', which reduces speed for 20 seconds or some other penalty.
You can't go back just like that to the starting zone, so that, in time, being far from those awesome starting zones, you get nostalgic, but, like any hero on a journey, you press on towards defeating the dragon or whatever. Of course, one day you will come back. But not easily.
When each zone is as big as the whole continent of Kalimdor, or bigger, you can afford to implement stuff like a dragon’s flying path, be totally random. So, going to kill a dragon should be this epic gathering up of players and really starting to hunt for it in the vast open world. Not just going for his lair and fighting him. If you wipe, then he is gone. You have to hunt for him again.
More dynamic dungeons and raids. I.e., right now you fight a pack. Stop. Regen. Fight another. Stop. It is too sequential. Some dungeons should be much longer, like a medieval adventure from the movies, a continuous running battle against weaker but more numerous enemies. And you can't automatically stop at any time because they will attack you. Like in that section in Blackrock Depths where they respawn, for example.
Game World Mechanics
Layering should happen with the players who are on the same stage of the quests that modify the surrounding environment. The layering system should be much more dynamic. This deeper layering should be called staging. As a subset of layering.
Implement a 'weary' debuff after long travel in the world - minus damage buff, for example, triggering people to also take breaks and get back to real life.
The more you gather from a bush, the more chances you get to get better plants. Also, some plants can still be dependent on the zone, of course. But having to actually look for bushes and prospect each of them sounds like more fun.
Parry should work regardless of having a weapon equipped. You could parry with plate bracers or mail. With a weapon, 100% damage reduction on parry. Less if you're doing it with bracers. 75% damage reduction if plate, 50% damage reduction if mail, 25% damage reduction if leather.
Besides the head, chest, etc, slot item implement 'harness' which helps you hold the weapon on your back, but also/or the things on your belt. The harness is on your back and can give +1 to everything, or +armor. Found at a low level first, when you are a squire. But after many quests, certain quests, and certain reputations, you can find harnesses that have some extra stuff.
Not knowing which class players you meet are. Never show "warrior", "priest", etc. Based on their spells and actions, you can determine what they might be able to do. Will this guy try to pick my pocket later? Is he a rogue? Is he trustworthy? Can he cast spells?
At max level, after you choose your spec, you will have to use that spec for a while. And each of the spells in the spec until you master them. And when you master the spec, you get a +1% crit, etc. Mastery!
You can build/unbuild/modify the crystal on top of staffs/staves. For example, a red crystal adds +fire damage. Modify it with a blue one, now you have +frost damage. Could it be part of a profession, possibly enchanting?
Your PvP tabard changes when you reach 10k kills and so on, etc, showing I or II or ranks or something.
