Every so often I really miss Seed, and when I do I like to imagine what I would love in a reboot.
Allow me to share my thoughts

Repair and general idea?
The idea would still be a roleplay centered game that focuses on player interaction and cooperation instead of combat. The tower would still require massive maintenance and repairs so players would still be needed to go around repairing stuff. You would have the option to create specialized crews or clans that deal with the more severe problems, like for example a crew that deals with radiation problems, or a crew that is specialized in engine related problems and so on...

When an area becomes problematic it would continue to deteriorate until it starts to affect other sectors or regions so more repairs or crews would be needed to deal with the issues. Radiation would slowly spread making the affected parts hazardous to enter without a radiation suit. Crews would need to coordinate their efforts, like for example, radiation crews would fix the radiation (I know it sounds weird but you know what I mean) so that the mechanical crew could enter and fix the broken machinery etc... The more specialized or experienced the crew the longer it would take the machinery to break down again.

Medical personnel would be in high demand and also here there could be specialized trauma teams, or surgery, paramedics and other medical related teams. Medical and science would consist of making, researching and inventing compounds that could benefit the user in some way (reduced radiation effect, immunity boosters etc...) Events or results from repairs would make it so that airborne viruses or toxins start to infest the tower so that medical would need to combine forces to fight this new threat.

Exploration would be in both the tower and the surface. Maybe a few % of the entire tower would be known and used while most of it would be in need of exploration. It would take a lot of time before new areas would be discovered and it would highly depend on a council that would decide on the course of action. Exploring would take a combined effort, surface exploration would require food which would be grown by players that focus on farming and or food processing, equipment would come from mechanics, inventors or tailors, medical would prepare inoculations or first aid kits and so on.

How would an exploration work?
Well the council of elected players would first decide on which kind of exploration. They would set a certain goal and time span and they would also issue a request for supplies. This would all be a team effort and a supply request would call for certain amounts of items that need to be crafted by players (crafting could take several real world hours or even days) and delivered to the hall of exploration. Once the entire supply request is complete the expedition would be ready to launch. Once on an expedition your team would be on their own until they either succeed or fail. No quick travel, no teleporting just good old walking and running. Eventually their could be vehicles but the planet would be very hostile. Think constant storms, snow, ice etc...

Player housing and customization.
Player housing would just be your cabin, but you would have an great amount of customization and upgrading you would be able to do with it. The cabins would not be very large but just the right size to be able to make it cozy and functional. You would be able to do some crafting from your cabin for example if you place the required stations which would also be made by players that chose this as their profession. Character customization would also be very vast. From hairstyles to clothing and on. Basically everything in the game would be player made. Recipes and blueprints would either be unlocked from TAU or found on expeditions. Unlocking from TAU would require characters that could hack or work with computers in an advanced way.

Basically their would be a lot to do for players, it would be an online society with elected officials and the desire to reach a common goal. Traders, crafters, scavengers, miners, medics, engineers, explorers basically all kinds of roles would be available. Eventually some sort of minor combat could be added to deal with the hostile environment or some sort of law enforcement if needed. I don't think the game would need it but I also don't think it would be too much of a problem since the main focus would not be combat related anyway.

Free time?
But Emine, all that work and no play makes me a very grumpy... colonist. No need for that! Their would be a few clubs or places to hang out. Great music (streamed by players that have the required real life set up) dancing, role play, socializing and so on.

Permadeath?
Well yeah, why not? It won't be easy to die, and an accumulation of conditions would make it so that a character could die from injury, maybe some heroic act of someone that sacrifices him or herself to save an entire sector from overloading? If you would die, you will leave your belongings to your heir. Basically your second or new character that is related to you in some way or another

Final thoughts.
So there you have it. My dream.
I truly believe that a non-combat mmo can work, and I also think that now is a pretty good time. The industry is congested with combat mmo's and people and looking for something new.

Just need someone to take the first step.

Last edited by Emine (2015-10-10 17:38:58)