For the devs. How much has your vision changed since you started?

[Kellzz]

I have noticed that Hamiltion will present an idea, or answer a question thus letting loose some tidbits of info. This info or idea is jumped on by the base and either agreed with, or - not so much rejected - but presented with new ways to handle it.

When you ( the devs) formed Wardog Studios, how much has the original idea changed?

I think it was the second interview with Wife-aggro that Hamilton said that (not verbatim mind you) That once they presented an idea that they thought was good, the base would then think of other ways to make it better, or something along those lines...

[Hamilton]

When you ( the devs) formed Wardog Studios, how much has the original idea changed?

There have been some changes, but the majority of the original concepts remain in place.  One item that is going to be...  well, has been undergoing changes would be how characters are defeated or killed and of a permanently dead state.  I figure that such system is still going to be changed around or modified right up to the end of Beta.  The recent proposed ideas of providing choices for players to decide when to either retire or clone their character seems to me to be a good direction to pursue.

Another that did surprise me, really it did I'll admit, is there appears to be a good portion of players that would like to have character to not start out with a Mech; or maybe with a generic Mech when recruited into a Faction's military force.  At first I kept wondering how can there be a Mech MMO when players do not start out with one?  Impossible I thought, as I do not want to mislead people into thinking that this is a Mech game, but it takes about two to four weeks of credit grinding to just be able to get the first Mech (and then hope that it doesn't get destroyed right away).
But given some time, some possible ideas or work-a-rounds come about.  Though a full Role-Playing system (or sandbox effect) would need to be available, so that players can still stay interested and motivated in playing, during those times without a Mech (either in not having one, or waiting for repairs, etc).  In the role-playing games that I have participated in, normally that period of time is called, "City Adventures."  The in between time of quests; figuring out what to do in the meantime.  Usually this is of causing more trouble and spending more money (the party's gold), ending with either getting kicked out of the city or the need to go in search of a quest or dungeon because we spent all of our gold.

Opppsss, sorry went off on a tangent.

Back to the topic...
Recently, just this Friday actually, some friends and myself had a discussion about running a campaign.  Although that discussion was about a table-top RPG, I believe it has the same key points with MMORPG's.  The way I see it, is that MMORPG's should be designed as a framework, much like the HERO System is.  Create a framework (or sandbox, however preferred), provide a grand story-arc with some sub-plots, and let the players go from there.  Fortunately a computer environment can be set up in such a manner, while providing such an environment with one person GM'ing for a table-top RPG can be difficult.  "What are the players going to do this time?"

[Agamemnon]

Personally, I don't think they've changed all that much over the course of development. Most of the original ideas in our early brain storming sessions are still ,intact. Many have been bitten, torn, chewed, spat out and rolled in the mud. For instance as Hamilton said, the perma question "to die or not to die", that really was a big question for us that we haggled over for the longest. We know its going to have the greatest impact on things.

I myself was of the non-perma camp seeking more to roleplay and build up a character and not wanting to lose it all to a link death, state of mind. On the other hand we had another team member who was adamamantly opposed to me in the "one-shot, one-kill" camp where death was instantaneous and final. We married those two to come out with what we think is a winning combination which will make things hard but interesting and not totally loss-less.(aka swg death express back to town).

Several other areas brewing discussions, included trading, crafting, skill systems, grinding and Lore. Hammering through these early on is really at the core of what we sought out to achieve in our vision. Things may sway a little, give and take wise but the core blocks of what we are trying to achieve are very intact. So I ditto above.

[texmechs]

Well, I originally saw this as a turn based, side scrolling game of muppets vs sock puppets, but I've come to expect a lot more.  :-) 

[Kellzz]

I think Texmechs needs to leave the 80's alone.

[texmechs]

I'd take the 80's over what we have now, at least culturally.  Michael Jackson was still black, high-top shoes were in, and if you wanted to play a new video game, you wrote it in math class.

[Agamemnon]

Not math class for me....we had the new Apple 2c's back then...and it was 7th grade!   Oops...did I just reveal something?

 

[Grim]

apple 2 c's? BAH i had the tsr=80 from radio shack baby! no such thing as windows and other than a floppy all data was saved on an actual cassete tape recorder lol.suddenly im saddened at how old im getting 8(.....excuse me while i go cry

[Sturm Kintaro]

Hey, the 80's aren't dead yet... for those of you who remember:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0481649/

[Agamemnon]

OMFG, Fraggles!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Deft]

WOO... Thats Funny... my dog is named after the Doozers... love it lol

[Mr_Red_X]

don't speak of the 80's....they bring me great shame. and I wasn't even alive