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For various reasons, I find myself pondering MMOGs and superhero RPGs every now and then. For instance, I think 'wouldn't it be neat to work a superhero MMORPG into a story about virtual reality that crosses the line into actual reality.'
Lately, perhaps since I've been watching assorted Marvel movies, I recalled that while I played on an X-man themed MUSH a long time ago, the whole X-theme hasn't really been tapped into in MMOG form. There's a Marvel Heroes MMORPG, but rather than playing your own hero, you get to choose from a rotating cast of iconic heroes. That's one way for Marvel to protect its brand, but it really doesn't fly for me as an opportunity to 'play yourself'.
But that made me wonder-- how much control do people really want over character creation?
Avatar customization is obvious. City of Heroes was justly famous for its character creator. But...
Powers? City of Heroes only let you choose from major archetypal powers, and from optional power pools, and then these powers could only be allied in set ways-- ice blasts and shields, for example, rather than free-form creation of ice. Allowing free-form use of powers would be a major game-changer, and likely game-breaker-- what happens if you freeze the water in a human body?
Background? What I'm curious about here is how much people want to be able to define their own backgrounds, versus having it set by the game. City of Heroes handwaved this, letting people write freeform text and simply categorizing superheroes by their 'origin type'-- magical, scientific, technological,et cetera. An X-men-based VR MMOG might specify all players had to be mutants of some kind, giving them 'origin stories' to play through which would clearly explain to them how their character was viewed by the world, a la the Dragon Age origin stories. How much control over your character's origin would you want, versus having your origin be supplied by the game, along with plot threads and known NPCs that might show up?
I'm not proposing to run a superheroes RPG just yet but I do wonder what my friends would want in a VR MMOG.
Lately, perhaps since I've been watching assorted Marvel movies, I recalled that while I played on an X-man themed MUSH a long time ago, the whole X-theme hasn't really been tapped into in MMOG form. There's a Marvel Heroes MMORPG, but rather than playing your own hero, you get to choose from a rotating cast of iconic heroes. That's one way for Marvel to protect its brand, but it really doesn't fly for me as an opportunity to 'play yourself'.
But that made me wonder-- how much control do people really want over character creation?
Avatar customization is obvious. City of Heroes was justly famous for its character creator. But...
Powers? City of Heroes only let you choose from major archetypal powers, and from optional power pools, and then these powers could only be allied in set ways-- ice blasts and shields, for example, rather than free-form creation of ice. Allowing free-form use of powers would be a major game-changer, and likely game-breaker-- what happens if you freeze the water in a human body?
Background? What I'm curious about here is how much people want to be able to define their own backgrounds, versus having it set by the game. City of Heroes handwaved this, letting people write freeform text and simply categorizing superheroes by their 'origin type'-- magical, scientific, technological,et cetera. An X-men-based VR MMOG might specify all players had to be mutants of some kind, giving them 'origin stories' to play through which would clearly explain to them how their character was viewed by the world, a la the Dragon Age origin stories. How much control over your character's origin would you want, versus having your origin be supplied by the game, along with plot threads and known NPCs that might show up?
I'm not proposing to run a superheroes RPG just yet but I do wonder what my friends would want in a VR MMOG.
