This is a continuation of the post below. Please read it first, or this won't make sense and you will think I am crazy (you may anyway.)


The point thus far: In your average RPG or MMORPG, there is seldom a) a point, b) a story/system which allows you to actually roleplay, c) a feeling of reality in the world, and d) a lasting change effected by the actions of the players.

I will spend a little more time on point D. Even in a single player game, most often after you have won the game, saving the world from it's inevitable doom, the game ends. You are told in an epilogue how happy everyone is, but you don't actually reap rewards and benefits of your actions yourself.

I've thought on this a good deal more than I should, but enough complaining. What would I do if I were the game maker?

To transcribe the problems above into positives, a good MMORPG should : have a point, have a story and system that allows players to roleplay, have a feeling of reality, and utilize a system that allows players to have a real and lasting impact on the game world.

Think back to fantasy novels you have read in your life. Where does all the good stuff happen? Where do you see character interaction? Where do the characters meet party members, gain quests, and acquire information? What is the heart of any good fantasy town? The tavern. I have seldom seen a tavern actually implemented in a game, but yet it figures prominently in all my favorite books. The game model I have in mind would center around this strategic point.
I also would like to toss around this idea. What decides, in a real world, whether a man is a king or a beggar? Birth. He has little choice in the matter. I would like to see if a game which used a system where your societal position was randomly selected would fly. Think of this. You enter the game world, and select "Create new Character." The game then randomly selected a class level. Your character comes out being the son of some earl of some fiefdom. It would be real - the starting point for your character would be in tavern near the earl's land, and you could go visit him, stay in the keep, direct the activities of the serfs and so on. You would have more money than someone who was generated as the son of a merchant, but less physical strength, charisma, etc.
Now, you aren't stuck being an earl. The game randomly generates your situation, but you are free to choose your destiny. You may become a knight, and seek glory on the battlefield. It won't be as easy for you as for someone who was born and raised a fighter, but it is possible. Do you see where I am going with this? The situation each character is "born" to will provide them certain benefits and drawbacks, but they will start off fairly advanced in that area. No more killing rats in a cellar. Everyone is "born" with some skill and importance.
For this to work, the game world would have to be quite large, or else we would have some extremely prolific earls. I think it should be so vast that folks generated in one corner of the world would be hard-pressed to visit the other corner even if they traveled for weeks. It would be divided into a number of countries that start with a certain relationship to the other countries. Each would have an equal number of resources and deficiencies that would complement each other. For ex. Kingdom A would have abundant fishing, but little iron ore. Kindom B would have farming in spades, but little fish available.
Kingdom C would be rich in iron ore, but have no farmable land.

So, what classes could be randomly generated? Everyone has to have a job and a purpose, and they need to be able to work in some sort of hierarchy.
Nobility- Rulers and councilmen who decide the trade agreements of a country, and it's relations to other countries. These would have quarters in the keep of whatever land they rule.
Merchant Classes- Traders who roam the land, buying here and selling there. These would start with a caravan to sell from, or a store in town.
Artisans and Farmers- People who create the saleable goods of the world, they would have a massive impact on economic relations. These classes would have their own homes.
Fighting classes - Mercenaries, Soldiers, vagabonds and thieves. Probably the most common, just because that's what people like to play for some reason. Depending on the situation, they would live in barracks, or in the guilds of their organizations. A mercenary might have a small home in a village of such men.
Clergy- This would be special. No one would be "born" a clergyman, but any character of any class could choose to join orders. He would live in whatever religious institution he joined.

These are situations of birth, not stuck roles. A man born and raised a soldier could through a number of means come to be a ruler. They would all work together to make a working society. Each class would need the other at some point, either directly or indirectly. Merchants or nobles might require fighting men to escort them to some diplomatic or economic meeting. Any man might require an assassin. A fighting man may need a merchant to find equipment for him. An artisan needs to sell his goods to a merchant. A noble may need an artisan to craft a specific item for him. All these and more are quests of neccessity spawned from the act of a player going about his business. And, where would you be able to enlist other players for these quests? The tavern, of course.

I'm sure the game would never work; it has to many rules that players always seem to want to break and bend their own way, but I would love to see at least some of my ideas in a game, someday.