Second Life? Are you mad? I don't want some naked goth avatar on a sex bed in the middle of the street!
Yes I can hear your shock at this proposal but ask you hear me out. While yes SL has issues. Many. Of. Them. It also, from a role play perspective, has several good aspects and the SL designers and many modders have built many tools within SL to help foster ambiance and RP potential. There is a very large RP following in SL, and not just furry sex role play clubs either. Everything from fantasy D&Dish to Shadowrun/cyberpunk to Star Trek to various Vampire settings. Granted while some of these groups and locations are little more then excuses for cybersex just as many have a solid, interesting and lively role play within. And it is these aspects of SL I want to examine and point out some things the World of Darkness MMORPG can take away to enhance the RP setting.
What Music They Make!
It was confirmed at this past Grand Masquerade 2011 that players can acquire their own personal havens. And it was implied what happens in your haven stays in your haven. It will be a no holds barred place. For those that want to add some mood to their place for a RP session or simply to wallow in your undead life with like minded others lets have a function to stream music.
In SL all parcels of land have a built in setting to plug in a streaming music server address. And that station will be heard by all who enter that parcel. The same kind of concept should be utilized by the WoD MMO on player owned areas like their havens. Imagine entering your haven to the beats of Type O Negative or Dead Can Dance. Not only will it set the mood for RP but also simply be conducive to social gathering which is what CCP wants the focus of this MMO to be, social interaction. Music is a great way to help people interact, why clubs and bars do it and why the WoD MMO should as well.
On a side note, this can also be taken a step further. In SL people buy music stream addresses, and using their own software on their local PC, stream the music to said address. Thus plug that address into settings and you play the music you want on your personal parcel of land. In effect being your own DJ. Could be useful and fun in your own haven but if in game clubs and the like can be bought or run by players. You could DJ your own music in said club to those attending.
Not much better way to set ambiance and mood then this feature.
All Your Base Are Belong To Us!
I think the crafting system which they have spoke VERY little about can take some ideas from SL. In SL builders can actually create objects, import textures and add scripts to them to interact with the world and 'do' things. While this may be a bit much for the WoD MMO a middle ground may be worth looking into. For example, everyone can craft armor +1 but what if each crafter can put their own spin on it. Import their own Gothic textures or at least use from a pre-defined list. Also be able to some degree morph the jacket to make it longer or shorter. This way every set of +1 armor has its own unique spin and look. And this could be used for non-special items as well. Simply crafting every day clothing with a unique spin or twist. In SL a entire industry is build around clothing designers and makers. With the type of players in WoD I can easily see the same in our MMO.
Speaking of items, how about theft and loss. In SL it is possible to have some items, not flagged properly, to be picked up by other SL users and stolen. I feel in the WoD as well as final death physical loss should be a possibility as well. If you are incapacitated some things can be looted/stolen from your broken body for example. Or if you let the wrong people into your haven...
I think these kind of concepts have some merit in a game of danger and interaction.
Can you hear what I hear?
Voice chat. A long time ability within the SL client. While it was rumored at TGM of a Skype like feature is planned for the MMO it still goes into the wish list. I can not think of a better feature RPGers could use. Not so much to RP their character (however awkward a male RPing a female or vise versa, it can be.. odd.. to say the least) but simply expedite clan meetings, organizing a attack/raid, discuss in game politics, have a PnP RP session and so on. Many uses can be though of and all of them quite useful. This seems like a no brainer feature, we will see.
And if you decide to voice chat having your character emote in game while doing so would be quite interesting and add immersion.
Speaking of emoting...
Don't just stand there...
Emoting, there needs to be a lot. Everything from being able to sit on a chair or couch to dancing to embracing/kissing to leaning against a wall brooding. In SL there are, literally, thousands of emotes and animations you can acquire within the game. And that in the RP areas simply add a extra level of depth and immersion. While having a intense discussion of your clans goals in game with the Primogen have you character emote standing strong with arms folded. Or seducing a mortal to feed and you take him or her on the dance floor. And so on. This is a feature that adds quite a bit of visual immersion while role playing. And also adds hints to a characters mood or attitude that simple text communication can not convey easily or clearly.
And finally...
I have a tool for that.
Ways to interact with the game world while off line. SL has many 3rd party tools to keep in contact with your friends like and private messages received in world. For a game that's clearly being built around networking, social circles, alliances, friendships and moving up the ladder by hook or crook this is crucial. It would really piss a lot of people off if you missed a PM about a important clan meet up only to find out too little too late and your the odd man/woman out with the short end of the stick because. Some kind of applet you can have for your DROID phone or/and desktop app that give you basic communication ability in game to keep track of your friends (and enemies) via in game PM's. Seem like another no brainer function for a game with the goals such as this.
And there you have it my 5 top things the WoD MMO can take away from the role play community on Second Life. Agree or not feel free to post your feedback!
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