I sat in bed one night, and couldn't sleep, becuase I was thinking of this game - so I wrote a piece. I'm sorry for drudging up an old topic, but:
What the KotOR MMORPG Needs to Be, Really.
The one outstanding thing that made *Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic* great was not the lightsaber battles - you could play *Jedi Academy* for that. It was not simply being a Jedi, nor particularly the setting. It was certainly not the space battles. It wasn't the d20 system, copied straight from *Neverwinter Nights*.
What made KotOR great was the story. It was the same with *Half-life*, it was the same with *Portal*, and all great games. The story makes the experience. It was lacking in the sequel.
So, how to translate that in to a persistent world?
Firstly, you have to think big. You can't have people roll up a Republic grunt, or Sith trooper, and have it be KotOR. When you get to the character generation screen, a single Jedi/Sith should be the lowest you can go, and only then because they have so much potential. No bounty hunters - those are always the side characters, not the main characters. They could be persistent NPCs you'd encounter every so often. Recurring villains, if you will.
No, you should start off as some sort of commander in the military - squad commander, ship captain, etc. All but Force-users would start off with NPCs under their direct control. Then, as you 'level up' you get promoted. You'd be responsible for more NPCs, and new players joining the ranks.
You should start off as a planetary Governor, move up to galactic Senator, even the chance that one player could get elected Chancellor. As a new Jedi, you should start off as a Padawn under an NPC master, gain Knighthood, and then have the possibility of being elevated to Master, and a chance to earn a place on the Jedi council. As a new Sith, you also start under a Master and eventually bully/connive your way up to more influence. You could start off as a planetary criminal, and work your way up to a position in the Exchange.
Eventually the game's players will self-govern. Perhaps the Sith will conquer the galaxy, and perhaps the Jedi hold the line. Nothing is set, the future is always mobile.
Next, the mechanics.
Every 'class' gets random stats, generated from a D&D style dice roll, then being able to move points around as seen fit ? no point buy. Everyone would have at least a minimum force sensitivity, with those choosing to be Jedi/Sith getting a +5 bonus, or so. This creates imbalance - this is necessary to allow some players to rule, and not all. This would also create a natural hierarchy - Peter's Principle, if you will. Only a small number of players get to the top roles, like Jedi Master, Sith Lord, or Supreme Chancellor. This mirror's life, and creates a believable universe.
You should also institute Character Death. Everyone can and will die, and have to re-roll. This not only creates motivation to grind, and allows for nigh-infinite re-playability, it creates self-correction. There would never be one player always at the top, all positions would eventually open. It will have to be true PvP. Anyone should be able to hurt, hinder, or kill anyone else (within their ability). Griefing will be community-policed. If there's marauding Sith, the Jedi will step in. If a Jedi abuses his powers, he falls to the dark side, falling to the very bottom of that path (needing to gain influence) as well as the Jedi path, if he wishes to atone. Corrupt politicians get arrested or assassinated, criminals get arrested or murdered, and soldiers die in battle.
To create the actual game play, you also need to think big. KotOR isn't a galaxy of 5 or 6 planets. It?s a galaxy of millions of planets. You obviously can't go in and draw up/code millions of planets with unique quests. This leaves one choice: procedurally generated planets. Low level Jedi, Sith, and soldiers will get random quests on procedurally generated systems. They go in, do their mission, and the planet 'goes away' (or gets stored in an enormous database, for future reference). Politicians and Criminals will get their own planet on character creation. It will have problems and solutions, much like the indie game *Democracy*. You can even have several players vie for the same planet! You will then come to have Republic space, Exchange space, and Sith space, ever fluxing. Most planets don't need more than a 'seed type (water, desert, forest, etc) and a minimally functional capitol - a bar, a spaceport, etc. Governors could then add to their planet - Swoop track, Shipyards, etc, as they see fit! The only planets you would have to design beforehand would be the major hubs / starting points - Coruscant for the politicians, Jedi and Republic soldiers, Nar Shaddaa for the criminals, Korriban for the Sith.
The one thing you have to remember about *Knights of the Old Republic* is what it isn't. KotOR isn't *TIE Fighter*. It isn't *Jedi Academy*, it isn't *Force Unleashed*. It's much, much bigger. You can't code 4 games into one - you get *Spore*. Stick with what makes KotOR great, and you can't lose - superb story, on a galactic scale.
Obviously my version of the game isn't for everyone - but trying to cram all the fanboy goodness into one game *will* ruin it. And with the expected official announcement in a week or so, I expect it's already too late. If not, however, BioWare - hear me! This can be so much easier than trying to out-WoW WoW! Remember the failures of Star Wars: Galaxies! Learn from them you must!
