Theorizing : me makign an MMORPG, lets brainstorm

[chibiarc]

Ha! I know I have posted this somewhere else already, but can't find it.
Anyway here are my ideas about rpg design.


What I hate about RPGs:

CHARACTERBUILDING:
- grind just for the grind of it, you need to grind otherwise you can't continue for example job changes at level 100, you are too low for this area, special case: always low on money -> grind again
- skillpoint system, what the heck should I skill? Chose from: Strength, Agility, Vitality, Intelligence, Dexterity, Luck, Morale, Power, Armor, Might, Will, Fate, Wisdom, Endurance, Perception, Concentration etc...

FIGHT SYSTEM:
- random fights, decide if you want to fight or not, for example you have to solve a puzzle in a labyrinth and can't concentrate due to random fights each 3 steps

QUESTS:
- endles, long quests e.g. collect 10 bat wings, ah I forgot, while you on it also get 27 teeth, 34 furs, 46 eyes and all this for...
- useless rewards, like a healitem which heals 5% more than the standard shop potion and sells for nothing
- long ways, however onetime long way and high reward would be ok. For example aaah would you mind going to the other end of the world map to town A and asking for the time? Once back: Ah, the towns time is off by 3 seconds, go back again and report, also ask about the weather etc...
- endless search for objects, places, persons etc. For example find me this person and that secret well hidden place without any clue. Oh and did I mention it is a key plot quest? Don't even think of skipping it if you want to beat the game.
- repeating quests with different "content", for example kill 20 wolves. spiders. undead. rats. thieves. dogs. unicorns.

STORY:
- boring generic story, you are the outcast hero, you have to save the world (again)
- important story decisions you don't know what will happen, e.g. chose a stone out of 17. -> replay 16 times to see the other cases doh



From those negatives I try to create positives as design rules, e.g. knowledge vs grind. Everything is available and the outcome just depends on your amount of knowledge and not on the 0.04% drop chance for something good.

Also another conclusion is the adaptive game. The content is generated upon the players preferences. E.g. statistical analysis of the gameplay. Are quests taken? Does the player level alot? Read the story? Based on this more quests / less quests, easier leveling / harder etc.

But it's really hard to forget the "traditional" rpg elements and come up with new because I'm heavily influenced by the existing market and previous games I played.

arc