Megaman Legends Online!

It's an idea but I've never been one for online computer games. The controls usually mess me up. X= this and C= is just too confusing for some people.

I agree that it's a fabulous idea, although when inclover mentioned Animal Crossing my train of thought kind of got derailed. Now my head is filled with visions of a pirate party raiding another party and getting nothing but gobs and gobs of stationary and maybe one of those stupid Lovely Chairs.

:B

You know, I had a similar idea to this back in late 2005/early 2006 when MMLEx was still going strong. I didn't take the idea very far, but I had some rough ideas as to the execution. I'd've started first with Kattelox, as it's easily the most developed city in the series and the only city that would house a good hundred or so players. Every player could have a (non-hostile) role, from providing food or working a desk job at the bank, but certain activities like defending against pirate attacks or grinding in the ruins would be available to all if they could afford the necessary equipment.

The job system would basically be a themed minigame* that you could play so many times in a 24 hour period...for example, there might be a fishing game involving Wily's boats, or a job where you have to deliver the town's mail quickly and efficiently, etc. The more times you excelled in doing your "job", you might get promoted and earn a better wage. If you screw up, you might get demoted.
*-By minigame, I mean something with a little more meat than just pressing a series of buttons, although that could be a component of it. I was thinking something along the lines of MOTB-esque gameplay, with particular consideration to the loading docks puzzles

The economy would be based on how many people were playing their minigames, which minigames were being played, etc. For example, if no one was playing any food-related minigames, prices for health items might skyrocket, but the pay would be extremely good. If too many people were playing games for a certain company, the wages might be lower because the company can't afford to pay so many employees. Ultimately, it would mean that the economy would be balanced and the minigames would not become monotonous because everyone would regularly be changing jobs to secure higher pay (just like real life! ). Prices of pretty much everything would vary from day to day based on the demand for the product, and the actions of the employees. Theoretically, it would also work regardless of if there were a dozen players in a month, or a couple hundred, because the less people there are, while everything costs more, everyone gets paid more; when there's more people, they get paid less, but don't need to spend as much.

The wages could be saved up to buy things like your own house (there would be a number of houses available in the Residential Area (basic), Downtown/City Hall (middle class), and Uptown (luxury). Kattleox would be logically extended to allow for dozens of new buildings and facilities where minigames/jobs, housing, and other activities/landmarks could be located. Buying a house would be required for certain game elements to become unlocked. Money would also be required to purchasing digging supplies (armour, weaponry, hiring a spotter if you don't have a friend who's willing to do this) as well as a temporary digger's license (this is to make sure that no one exclusively digs for zenny and refractors).

Periodically, the city might be attacked by pirates (which would be announced about a week in advance so people could prepare), and it would be up to the players to defend the city by using various methods (such as their digging hardware) to send the pirates into retreat. During the leadup to the attack, prices on supplies might rise due to an increased demand. People who take part in the defense efforts might be compensated based on their performance after the attack has ended.

Ultimately, if there was enough of a community interested in the game, updates and expansions could be created, such as enabling going to Yosyonke or Nino or the other islands, and perhaps new, original cities as well, all with even more opportunities for players.

At the point I had thought of all this, I hadn't considered a story at all...but really, MMORPG storylines are always a last-minute thought anyway, or so they seem.

EDIT: Oh yes, and it would be a real game, and in 3D. None of that half-hearted RPGMaker/Gamemaker 2D rubbish.

There's a reason I dismissed my ideas. It's not that they're bad, and I'm sure if people didn't enjoy it, things could be tweaked. The main problem is there is a distinct lack of willing and able people to work on such a project both here and at MLU. The majority of the Legends community's artists are strictly drawing based or writing based, where concept artists and writers have very limited roles in the creation of games (concept artists more so than writers, as their work is often not even used in the final product). The vast majority of game projects (see my thread in the 'other fan works' subforum) are based on RPG Maker or Gamemaker for various reasons:

• They've pretty much established that they're working on their own (and I don't blame them, due to the other points).
  
• They can't code to save their life, or can only code in languages such as BASIC or excessively simplified scripting languages which have no real place at the helm of modern, professional game development.
  
• They don't want to, or cannot commit the time, effort, and devotion required to produce a quality title. In many instances, they don't/can't commit the time/effort/devotion to finish their gamemaker title!
  
• They feel a need to be in control of their own project, and do not wish to take backseat to another. As a result, we have close to 3 dozen substandard (often incomplete) projects that do absolutely nothing for anyone instead of 1 or 2 substantial, excellent projects that people can take pride in.
  
• People have entirely different ideas as to the execution of a project, which falls in with the above point. The smaller the 'directing' team, the less deliberation would be required for critical gameplay and plot elements. However, who would comprise of the 'directing' team would have to be determined, and by and large everyone who has ever had an idea Legends-related would want to be a part of this committee. Those who are denied this may refuse to participate, potentially costing the project several valuable members and players.
  
• Specific to online games, there's no fun in not having people to play with. There would also need to be a devotion to playing the game, which cannot be guaranteed and is likely to not happen regularly. The Ultima Tournament mod is testament of this.
  
• Specific to online games, one requires to run a server. A server that can handle the load of several people playing costs money, even if it is run at someone's house. This is money that cannot be recouped unless money is charged for the game, which would attract the attention of Capcom (and more specifically, their legal dept).
  
• Specific to online games, it would need to be maintained and kept up-to-date. Without new stimuli for the players, they'd likely become bored and abandon the game. To prevent this, the development team would have to be active not only to the point of initial release, but after that, fixing bugs and creating game expansions. A game that would likely take 2 years to make from scratch (with a reasonably-sized team) might end up being as much as a 4-5 year commitment. Half a decade is a very long time and none of us can truly say what we'll be doing then, or what our interests will be. And of course, if the game ends up being lackluster and doesn't get the desired attention, then all these people will have wasted years of their life on this. When MMLEx ceased production, it was a huge burn, and made me step back and promise myself that I wouldn't invest that much time on a project ever again without some insurance that I wouldn't be burned again. I would imagine a great many people would become jaded in the same way if such an undertaking failed.
  
• In keeping with the above, a lot of people are already jaded in such a fashion. People won't join your project until you have something presentable, or show that the project is going smoothly. This is a catch-22, because you cannot making something presentable until you have people willing to join and work. Furthermore, IF you can make it to the point where it's running smoothly and you have enough staff that the game is being developed, why would you need these people who refused to join until the last moment that they'd be useful (if that soon)? How do you know that those hold-outs will still be hesitant to join even after you have something good going, because in fact the simply didn't want to do anything to begin with?
  
• Volunteers will only get you so far. At some point, you may need to hire someone to cover one aspect of the game creation that you simply cannot find someone to do. At that point, how do you compensate your volunteers who have not been paid a dime, if they call 'unfair' at someone on the project being paid? Do you simply ignore the parts that you can't find someone for, hoping that you can do it later? Do you look for new volunteers that are willing to ignore the fact that you are willing to pay people if people hold out a little?
  
• There are people out there who will join your team and not contribute anything of worth or will only do the bare minimum, because they want an easy way to get their name on something. Furthermore, they might try to 'relieve' the project of key members to work on their own project. This happened to MMLEx at one point, as well as a few other projects, and it's definitely something that should be warned against: there are people who want to destroy you and your work for their own gain.

The problems just go on and on and on. The first step is, of course, organizing everyone to work together, which unfortunately, I see as impossible, as apart from 2 or 3 man teams, the Legends community is too fragmented and independent to be able to function in unison as a team. It's an issue of too many chiefs, not enough Indians. Too many people with bright ideas and brilliant solutions, not enough people willing to sit down and implement. Everyone sees a big picture, but as of yet no one has produced anything more than a couple doodles on a pocket notebook. No one cares about the ambitious ones, the general reply being that of apathetic encouragement on par with anything else. Perhaps people have learned to not get too attached...?

If one can 'rally the troops', so to speak, and get them to function as one body towards one goal for more than a few months...then everything else in this list can be overcome.

And, of course, as an aside...you need a stable foundation for your game. Brand-name game makers are hardly this. These projects are doomed to fail because they simply are not powerful enough to entertain those looking for genuine, intelligent, and lasting entertainment and experiences. I have yet to see a game made with such software that hasn't been tantamount to a minigame at best.

PS: You know, there's nothing shameful in making a 2D game. Nothing at all. There are a lot of quality 2D games out there, even modern ones, which are above and beyond wonderful. However, in these instances, the team working on them were also dedicated and diligent. 3D doesn't make a game. Story doesn't make a game. What makes a game is how much people are ready and willing to actually make the game and make it well.