An idea I had bouncing around... what do you all think?

[yaustar]

"douchebag" is no more a swear word then "jerkwad".

[hero_of_canton]

I just know what that word means, and it's kinda creepy.

What do you think about the idea?

[yaustar]

Originally Posted by hero_of_canton

I just know what that word means, and it's kinda creepy.

Huh.. just Googled it and I stand corrected. Learn something new everyday.

What do you think about the idea?

The MMO bit just sounds pointless to be honest. What you are describing is a team based FPS with leveling up (like in Modern Warfare 2) on a rank ladder.

[bob]

I wouldn't say having an MMO bit is pointless. It could provide something unique and interesting to your game, though finding that way seems challenging.

WoW does it in a sense with Arenas. Arena matches are almost a completely different game from the leveling up/raiding portions of the game. It's possible.

[EvilLlama]

One of the greatest strengths of MMOs is they allow for a really strong virtual communities that really enhance the exploration component of a game (if it has any). Thus, if you're making a game based off Ender's Game and keeping it strictly to battle school, making it an MMO may involve more effort that is worth.

The part I liked best about Ender's Game was the virtual fantasy world the buggers used to communicate with Ender. It might allow for a more interesting way to level up than only fetch quests, and allows for a greater exploration component that would make a better MMO.

[bob]

Speaking of expanding the scope of the game... maybe the MMO content is fighting battles against the buggers! Like, the buggers are the mobs in a traditional MMOs quests. Of course, from a narrative perspective you'd have to make sense of the fact that the Battle Room is the main part of the game and the bugger-fighting is on the side.

Or maybe you copy the WoW formula. "Questing" and raiding are against the Buggers (with massive fleet vs fleet battles being the highest-end content) and the Battleroom serves as the PvP.

[Isaak]

Originally Posted by hero_of_canton

Isaak, it *is* sort of a hybrid- that's the best way to describe it. The action in the battleroom would be more like your standard fps; the stuff outside would be more like an MMO. I looked up Shattered Horizons and it is that sort of thing, but with a twist.

I'm guessing the MMO addition is the twist here.

Only reason for the MMO stuff is that you can't spend your whole life in there, there're only a certain amount of battlerooms for everyone to use and you have to plan practices accordingly. (It's more like playing a real-world sport... you have to get everyone there at a certain time.)

People spend hours upon hours playing every single FPS you can think of. It's pretty safe to assume you could actually spend your whole life there.

Is the only reason the MMO 'stuff' (don't take that too lightly) to add a bit of variety, outside of the Battlerooms? Of course now I'm assuming the battlerooms are the focus of the game, which I gather from what you're saying, but I could be wrong here.

You can't just focus on the battlerooms and tack on the MMO part for kicks, there needs to be a focus in your design: What is the game about?
Distill it to the absolute core, like... 'bringing players together in an action-packed universe based on Ender's Game.' and design around that.
Further down the line, when you're designing extra features and such, rewind back to that core and see if it still complies. If it doesn't, you're doing something wrong and you need to rethink your features.

If you remember, there were a lot of jerkwads leading the teams in the book. Rose the Nose much? I don't know about a guild system. On the one hand, it could be really, really cool. On the other hand, deciding who would play who would become exponentially more complex. Go figure.

I don't know if following the source material to the letter works here.
I understand you love the book, hence the idea of making a game out of it, but what works in a book, doesn't always work in an interactive environment.

[hero_of_canton]

The virtual world game is a *great* idea; I just wasn't sure how to work it in... but it sounds like it would be cool.

About everyone else's posts ("it would be cool as an MMO!" "no way!"):

There are three ways I've thought of that it might be fun.

1. MMO/ FPS hybrid- thingy.
2. Console game with two "modes"- Campaign Game and PvP.
3. Online and multiplayer, but closer to FPS than MMO.

... Maybe the buggers could be part of a simulation? In the book, there was a ship-based "game" that was actually the war against the buggers. Maybe we could use that...

Or not.

[Isaak]

Originally Posted by hero_of_canton

The virtual world game is a *great* idea; I just wasn't sure how to work it in... but it sounds like it would be cool.

About everyone else's posts ("it would be cool as an MMO!" "no way!"):

There are three ways I've thought of that it might be fun.

1. MMO/ FPS hybrid- thingy.
2. Console game with two "modes"- Campaign Game and PvP.
3. Online and multiplayer, but closer to FPS than MMO.

... Maybe the buggers could be part of a simulation? In the book, there was a ship-based "game" that was actually the war against the buggers. Maybe we could use that...

Or not.

I'm not saying you can't have one without the other, I'm saying you should focus on the entire game first rather than one specific bit which could easily go for a stand-alone downloadable title. Or... maybe even a browsergame based on Unity... but I digress.

Point is, take a step back. You have one awesome idea which is sort of worked out but it's part of a larger MMO game which really, really isn't... worked out.

The battlerooms you described could easily work as training/tutorial grounds where new players can practice or seasoned ones can test out newly earned abilities. These rooms would have no impact on the 'outside' world (yet?).
Or maybe they could indeed serve as PvP arenas where hostile 'guilds' can settle their differences or friendly 'guilds' just spar.

The settings of this room could be agreed upon by each guildmaster and then submitted to the 'Battleroommaster', or whatever equivalent exists in the book (if any).

But now I'm already going to far into detail, this isn't bad and you should definitely, definitely write anything this detailed down for futher use, but first you need to know what the game is actually about. What's the goal of the game? What are the player goals of the game and then finally and most importantly, how are both game and players going to reach their respective goals?

That's how I roll though, if you like rolling differently then go roll your way, I'm just here to help you out.

Also, and I might be presumptuous here, it seems you want to do everything you can to keep this intact.
I'm not saying you should always, but be prepared to 'let go of your baby' if things just don't work out, because you seem to be awfully protective of... her.
Be it because of a lack of time, resources, whatever... if it doesn't work, it just doesn't work.

Be as open as you can for feedback from your peers, because a fresh pair of eyes might just be what you need to solve an issue.
Only take advice from knowledgeable people though, humanity has a knack for maintaining large quantities of absolute bell-ends.

[/rant]