Brainstorming Game Ideas
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With the genres I’d be interested in, I have noticed a ‘slowing down’ of activity and interest. While there’s some interesting things down the pipeline, there isn’t much by way of things out right now.
I would like to make a game, but, I don’t want to put in hundreds of hours in development hell just to have it stall on release or have a player base of 3.
What ideas in terms of text-based gaming, specifically an Evennia-based platform, do you think would do well in the current gaming environment?
The idea that I keep circling around is a CK3/Vampire styled game in an original setting; where, instead of using +vote as XP-generation, it’d be activity based. XP is generated by spending blood and dice-rolling in Staff-run activities.
Players would try to acquire swarths of territory to fund their own rise and the rise of loyal vassals.
But, again, I don’t know how popular of an idea that would be; text-based gamers are notoriously anti-change.
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@Jupiter said in Brainstorming Game Ideas:
I would like to make a game, but, I don’t want to put in hundreds of hours in development hell just to have it stall on release or have a player base of 3.
I don’t think there’s any way around this. There is no guarantee for what will be popular. Sometimes games with a dumb premise do really well for a long time, and sometimes games with a great, extremely popular premise go from boom to bust in 6 weeks.
IMO you can’t build for “what people want.” You can’t even build for what your friends might like, because even the closest of us don’t always like the same things. You can only build what you personally love, and that personal enthusiasm makes the work less “hell.”
If you like original setting vampires, do original setting vampires. People will come or they won’t, but if you’re excited about it and you/your team put genuine care and effort into it, I do think that players notice and appreciate.
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@Jupiter said in Brainstorming Game Ideas:
The idea that I keep circling around is a CK3/Vampire styled game in an original setting; where, instead of using +vote as XP-generation, it’d be activity based. XP is generated by spending blood and dice-rolling in Staff-run activities.
Players would try to acquire swarths of territory to fund their own rise and the rise of loyal vassals.
But, again, I don’t know how popular of an idea that would be; text-based gamers are notoriously anti-change.
My thought on this would be that a lot of people still in the hobby are very PVP-shy, even when the narrative should result in two PCs fighting to a terminal conclusion. I think you could do this and have fun with it, but you need to accept that you’re probably not going to have more players than the average multiplayer game of CK3 anyway.
Proud Member of the Pro-Mummy Alliance
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@Ashkuri said in Brainstorming Game Ideas:
IMO you can’t build for “what people want.” You can’t even build for what your friends might like, because even the closest of us don’t always like the same things. You can only build what you personally love, and that personal enthusiasm makes the work less “hell.”
The only thing that will motivate someone to create and put the hard work into starting a game long-term is to build what YOU want, to some degree with no eye toward whether it might be popular or not. That doesn’t mean ignoring advice, though frankly sometimes it does.
I want something else to get me through this
Semi-charmed kinda life, baby, baby
I want something else, I'm not listening when you say good-byeShe/Her or They/Them
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@MisterBoring said in Brainstorming Game Ideas:
@Jupiter said in Brainstorming Game Ideas:
The idea that I keep circling around is a CK3/Vampire styled game in an original setting; where, instead of using +vote as XP-generation, it’d be activity based. XP is generated by spending blood and dice-rolling in Staff-run activities.
Players would try to acquire swarths of territory to fund their own rise and the rise of loyal vassals.
But, again, I don’t know how popular of an idea that would be; text-based gamers are notoriously anti-change.
My thought on this would be that a lot of people still in the hobby are very PVP-shy, even when the narrative should result in two PCs fighting to a terminal conclusion. I think you could do this and have fun with it, but you need to accept that you’re probably not going to have more players than the average multiplayer game of CK3 anyway.
The more time you have spent in this hobby, the more you realize how cooperative everything is and needs to be to create a successful and fun story. This includes PvP which makes it incredibly challenging, one not everyone is either capable of or willing to put the effort into. I’m not saying that as a slight but it takes a lot of communication, trust, and mental energy. PvP in RP, unlike in other games, isn’t about a player winning or losing. To win, all players involved have to enjoy the experience and accept the results.
@Third-Eye said in Brainstorming Game Ideas:
@Ashkuri said in Brainstorming Game Ideas:
IMO you can’t build for “what people want.” You can’t even build for what your friends might like, because even the closest of us don’t always like the same things. You can only build what you personally love, and that personal enthusiasm makes the work less “hell.”
The only thing that will motivate someone to create and put the hard work into starting a game long-term is to build what YOU want, to some degree with no eye toward whether it might be popular or not. That doesn’t mean ignoring advice, though frankly sometimes it does.
This I fully agree with. My view on game creation and game creators is that they should be creating the game for themselves, that is the root. They are writing their own, grand story with a large vision for that story. The creator then hires trusted individuals, staff, to help create that story with them either through more world building, coding, or management.
Then, players are invited to help with the writing and make their story become more alive. This invitation, is a privilege, not a right. It’s like inviting a guest into your home for a party you are hosting. Players should be people who you want helping you build your story and your world.
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Kinda in addition to that, my experience is that if you’re passionate about Your Weird Thing, it’ll find its audience (if it’s made with some degree of competence and dedication, which are harder, but leaving that aside). It might not be the audience you expect, and you may have to tank some of your buddies being offended you didn’t make the game ‘they’ wanted, but it’s more rewarding in the end.
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@Jupiter said in Brainstorming Game Ideas:
instead of using +vote as XP-generation, it’d be activity based. XP is generated by spending blood and dice-rolling in Staff-run activities.
I kind of get what you’re going for here, but in this day and age when most of us have less, not more, time for MU, basing advancement on activity is a recipe for disaster, as only the players that are either on all the time, or crawling up staff’s butt to get in all the plots are going to move forward. Perhaps that is what you want, but I wouldn’t play on it.
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@Pacha said in Brainstorming Game Ideas:
I kind of get what you’re going for here, but in this day and age when most of us have less, not more, time for MU, basing advancement on activity is a recipe for disaster, as only the players that are either on all the time, or crawling up staff’s butt to get in all the plots are going to move forward. Perhaps that is what you want, but I wouldn’t play on it.
I can agree with this, and I’m looking at a flat XP model for the game I’m tinkering on in my spare time. All characters will earn the same amount of XP each month, regardless of activity levels, and new characters will come in at whatever the total is for all characters, so that if the game does go for years, PCs created in year 4 won’t be confused as to why their brand new PC is involved in storylines built around characters with dozens or even hundreds of XP more than them.
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@Third-Eye said in Brainstorming Game Ideas:
The only thing that will motivate someone to create and put the hard work into starting a game long-term is to build what YOU want, to some degree with no eye toward whether it might be popular or not. That doesn’t mean ignoring advice, though frankly sometimes it does.
This. Also you’d maybe be surprised how much fun you can have with a handful of really passionate players.
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I think the biggest pull for a game, more than theme, is how excited the game runner is to be there. If you’re connected, if you’re putting in the energy-- you’ll get someone. You might not get dozens and dozens of people, that’s rare these days anyway. But frankly you can run a very successful game with a core group of players who are excited with you.
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make no mistake, doling out reward currency just for activity would absolutely attract players. 100% of those will be the players you don’t want dominating your game
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@tsar said in Brainstorming Game Ideas:
I think the biggest pull for a game, more than theme, is how excited the game runner is to be there. If you’re connected, if you’re putting in the energy-- you’ll get someone. You might not get dozens and dozens of people, that’s rare these days anyway. But frankly you can run a very successful game with a core group of players who are excited with you.
This.
A game creator who has a strong vision for their game and is excited about the things they want to do with the game will hook me in if the game is even vaguely in my thematic wheelhouse. It might not KEEP me, for various reasons, but if a GM can talk with great enthusiasm about their farming fantasy MU* where everyone is trying to grow the best crops for the Harvest Festival in Autumn, going out to track down rare seeds, magical fertilizers, and whatever? I’d be drawn in!
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@Pyrephox said in Brainstorming Game Ideas:
farming fantasy MU* where everyone is trying to grow the best crops for the Harvest Festival in Autumn, going out to track down rare seeds, magical fertilizers, and whatever
I’m in
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@Pyrephox said in Brainstorming Game Ideas:
farming fantasy MU* where everyone is trying to grow the best crops for the Harvest Festival in Autumn, going out to track down rare seeds, magical fertilizers, and whatever? I’d be drawn in!
Sold! Let’s go Starmush Valley!
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Man, I wish. I would play the heck out of that game. All the players can be the quirky townsfolk with our own farms, and the Harvest Festival is this MASSIVELY OVERWROUGHT thing that nobody in the surrounding towns understands and thinks is kinda weird, but you know what, it means we somehow manage to grow bizarre and magical variations of all sorts of fruits and veggies, so they just…let us do our thing and buy our food.
Meanwhile, we’re all gearing up and marching into magical wildernesses to try and find the Perfect Turnip Seed and grow it in our special soil made from dragon manure, the soil beneath a dark cult’s sacrificial altar, and shards of sunlight taken from the peak of a frozen mountain.
And if our Perfect Turnip weighs even an ounce less than our Rival’s we will throw the biggest tantrum in the county.
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@Pyrephox honestly farming systems are the best kind of minigames for MU, they don’t rely on timing or getting 8 people to pay attention for 3 hours
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@hellfrog
New update for Animal Crossing: New Horizons now requiring a timed buy-in and voting system for all crop management options from adjacent populations.Tom Nook last seen fleeing for bordering country.
