Zombie Survival MMO?

[Sneaklemming]

I agree with BonsaiK. In a Post-Apocalyptic world the thing which would keep people alive is some brighter future in the distance.If that was not at all possible, the very point of survival would be meaningless as soon as the people realised it.

Of course, people might have different priorities, different "missions" (some people might try to act heroes and simply help others, for whatever odd reason) but when there is nobody left to defend?

When there is a set goal in a game, or a number of possible outcomes I believe players will look more positively at always there being a chance to win, rather than a moment appearing where all that is left is sad defeat.

Glad to see that you get it. This is why you can't have a Zombie Survival MMORPG. Zombie Survival FPS? Yes. Zombie Survival RPG? Yes. Zombie Survival tower defense game? Yes. Zombie Survival MMORPG? Absolutely not, not ever. Because MMORPGs are designed to be infinite, and Zombie Survival is a temporary situation by definition. The game attached to it must have a begining and an end or the story and the action will make no sense.

I just dont think this is accurate, many MMOs are set in a state of constant/static war/crisis.

Its simply a setting. If its player driven, (like EVE), then theres no reason it couldnt work. There doesnt have to be a 'light at the end of the tunnel'

Think outside the Warcraft bubble; because that type of MMO would not translate well; but travelling 0.0 space in Eve is like travelling Europe circa 1943. As long as the game world isnt too small; it can be entirely player driven; no need for any/many NPCs except for the hordes and hordes. You can even have sub-plots and politics interwoven into this setting.

Thats why I said "see Max Brooks; World War Z" - It goes beyond the standard robinson cruiso scenario usually depicted by Films. The first 48hours is nothing. - thats the tutorial, getting to the mall roof, and being extracted. The game begins after extraction.

You're thinking too narrow buddy- and I definitely recommend World War Z to you; that book will make you look at human nature/zombies/politics in a whole new way

But if there's no light at the end of the tunnel, why bother surviving?

did you read my whole post- maybe it doesnt make sense, its late at night here.

Just stop being an existentialist man, and read World War Z. Please.

Or be an existentialist, and read World War Z.

 

[BonsaiK]

I agree with BonsaiK. In a Post-Apocalyptic world the thing which would keep people alive is some brighter future in the distance.If that was not at all possible, the very point of survival would be meaningless as soon as the people realised it.

Of course, people might have different priorities, different "missions" (some people might try to act heroes and simply help others, for whatever odd reason) but when there is nobody left to defend?

When there is a set goal in a game, or a number of possible outcomes I believe players will look more positively at always there being a chance to win, rather than a moment appearing where all that is left is sad defeat.

Glad to see that you get it. This is why you can't have a Zombie Survival MMORPG. Zombie Survival FPS? Yes. Zombie Survival RPG? Yes. Zombie Survival tower defense game? Yes. Zombie Survival MMORPG? Absolutely not, not ever. Because MMORPGs are designed to be infinite, and Zombie Survival is a temporary situation by definition. The game attached to it must have a begining and an end or the story and the action will make no sense.

I just dont think this is accurate, many MMOs are set in a state of constant/static war/crisis.

Its simply a setting. If its player driven, (like EVE), then theres no reason it couldnt work. There doesnt have to be a 'light at the end of the tunnel'

Think outside the Warcraft bubble; because that type of MMO would not translate well; but travelling 0.0 space in Eve is like travelling Europe circa 1943. As long as the game world isnt too small; it can be entirely player driven; no need for any/many NPCs except for the hordes and hordes. You can even have sub-plots and politics interwoven into this setting.

Thats why I said "see Max Brooks; World War Z" - It goes beyond the standard robinson cruiso scenario usually depicted by Films. The first 48hours is nothing. - thats the tutorial, getting to the mall roof, and being extracted. The game begins after extraction.

You're thinking too narrow buddy- and I definitely recommend World War Z to you; that book will make you look at human nature/zombies/politics in a whole new way

But if there's no light at the end of the tunnel, why bother surviving?

did you read my whole post- maybe it doesnt make sense, its late at night here.

Just stop being an existentialist man, and read World War Z. Please.

Or be an existentialist, and read World War Z.

You haven't really answered the question.

For the purposes of facilitating forum discussion, it would be better if you actually fully explained your argument instead of saying "go and read book x". It makes things a little difficult to discuss.

 

[Sneaklemming]

The idea is alright... but I don't think the game would work very well.

The whole point of a zombie apocalypse is that humanity is on the verge of extinction.

MMO =/= extinction.

However if you made a zombie games based around numerous servers (each server possibly representing a town or survivor strong hold) with the focus on surviving in a world populated by the undead; that would be a step in the right direction.

Just.. not MMO..

Single server - persistent world - See Eve Online, then add the features needed for players to build and maintain their own strongholds, and watch em fall/survive etc. Just like the strongholds in eve, sometimes they fall other times they flourish. (im talking 0.0 nullsec here)

You haven't really answered the question.

For the purposes of facilitating forum discussion, it would be better if you actually fully explained your argument instead of saying "go and read book x". It makes things a little difficult to discuss.

Yes I know, I know. Just I think that the overarching story isnt as important to the PC as personal achievement. And no thats not answering your question either, and Im sorry. Im just so tired and feel so strongly.


I may come back to this in the morning tbh. Ive got alot to write on it.

PS ur avatar is awesome Bonsaik

 

[Seydaman]

yea it could be set in new york city, and you need to continually eat(you can set it so you auto eat when offline), if the city was big enough it would be coool, but zombies only come out at night

 

[Sneaklemming]

I wouldnt. I find MMO's are number based.

You cant get that zombie *crunch* with an MMO based number system.

I agree that this is something I havnt seen an MMO break out of. I cant think of an FPS/action MMO or any MMO game that wasnt very number based- except maybe Planetside


Edited: Post sanity

 

[Escapefromwhatever]

how about left 4 dead, but with character skills, such as radioman or advanced barricader, ect

so when you wanted to go deep into the city, to look for rarer supplies, you may start getting overrun. you run into a store and makeshift barricade the door. you run upstairs while the guys downstairs quickly look whatever ammo they can find while you stack things next to the door, your radioman is setting up a generator and a portable radio and starts broadcasting.

seconds later you hear a scream and your friend is dragged upstairs by the medic while the fighters keep the infected off them while retreating. they get inside and you all pitch in to barricade the door.

yes, that would be epic

Interesting...sounds almost like an L4D/TF2 hybrid, wherein you have a group trying to survive the zombie apocalypse, and even though it is a first person shooter (I don't think an RPG would work very well with this, but RPG elements, such as character progression, would be neccesary), the player has the option of choosing from many different classes.

That could work. Somebody e-mail this to Valve.

 

[iblis666]

i could see a mmo being made if it was like a mix of wow, fallout 3, L4D and http://www.thezombiehunters.com/

in this way you have your basic base of operations (maybe like a guild style area that you have to get invited to and before that you are forced to be on your own or small gangs(parties)) probably a heavily fortified island and then in the mainland you have sectors of harder and harder foes and more of them maybe even boss style zombies(mutant Siamese twin acid spitting zombie?). As for the characters themselves there could be classes such as the sniper or explosives man or the cutter or even a guy that came back from being a zombie(tank like char?) then they could have a minimal lvl system and a complicated skill system. as for armor and weapons you could wear anything id think but using certain weapons and armor not meant for your class could have some drawbacks. The main objective of the game would be foraging, reclaiming territory, and killing zombies as well as a multitude of other types of quests.

 

[The Last Parade]

I've been thinking more along the lines of Dead Rising (Romero) Zombies, you could have NPC's that defend settlements and every now and then they would require your help, however you'd need to put a population cap on the servers and private games would rock as well... and less grind... but still have SOME grind because the guys who'd play this would be FPS players and too much grind (WoW style) will not go down well, a CoD5 style challenge and unlock system would work, or even a FO3 style leveling system

 

[iblis666]

I don't think that it's impossible, but it would require a very BIG wasteland. Have you ever read The Zombie Hunters? It shows the most likely way a game like this would be handled. For those of you who haven't:

www.thezombiehunters.com

A central hub which is largely non-fighting is center to most MMOs, after all, where do you start out.

looks like we both have the same idea

 

[AhumbleKnight]

how about left 4 dead, but with character skills, such as radioman or advanced barricader, ect

so when you wanted to go deep into the city, to look for rarer supplies, you may start getting overrun. you run into a store and makeshift barricade the door. you run upstairs while the guys downstairs quickly look whatever ammo they can find while you stack things next to the door, your radioman is setting up a generator and a portable radio and starts broadcasting.

seconds later you hear a scream and your friend is dragged upstairs by the medic while the fighters keep the infected off them while retreating. they get inside and you all pitch in to barricade the door.

yes, that would be epic

I like. I have been thinking how much I would love L4D more if it was more like a Sandbox city where you can take any possible route you may find (including hot-wiring cars). I particularly want to be able to alter the area, ie. make your own saferoom. Also, imporvised weapons.

I like your idea of specialist characters. Like an armourer or mechanic. Ah the fun that would be had.
I don't know about the MMO thing but longer, more difficult co-op campains with up to 10 friends would be fantastic.

On a side note: I have not the time to make but I would love to play a TF2/L4D mod with the TF2 characters in L4D maps/campaigns. Sentury guns on survival, heavy/medic commbo backed up by pyro in campaigns, Scouts double jumping over the horde to get to the saferoom...

 

[resultsmayvary]

I'd just make it like The Secret World looks to be. It's a new FunCom mmo. It's like a Lovecraft/zombie hybrid mmo.

 

[Deadarm]

It would have to have RAGE virus style zombies in order to be any good. Each server would have 10 channels that hold 100 people and you can go back and forth between at your own whim. When you spawn the first time you are on a random location in the map they may or may not be completely compromised, same when you respawn from death. However when you die unless you are torn to shreds you watch your character try to kill your friends for 10 minutes or until it or your friends are dead. You would be able to kill other survivors. Zombies would have to outnumber people in the server at least 100-1. It would be possible to kill all the zombies but the game resets the zombie count to the 100-1 ratio every week. It would have to have a very good salvaging system, with unlimited access to any building in the game. You would be able to fortify a position but theres always the chance that a huge number of zombies can compromise your location. When you change channels on the server you spawn exactly where you were no matter how compromised the location is in that channel. There will only be a set ammount of supplies after every reset based upon the number of players that are usually in the server. There would be 10-52 maps that are randomized upon the server reset so that the game doesn't get boring or repetative and they always cycle through all the maps before they can be used a second time, the order in which they appear will always be different up to the limit of the combinations due to the number of maps. When you start or when you respawn you dont have a weapon or any supplies until you can find them yourself. There would be no global chat and whisper chat would only work if you are in the same room as the other person. The zombies will always find a way to compromise any fortified locations 12 hours before the servers reset unless they were all killed before that. The higher player population in an area increases the zombie population. The day/night sequence would take 12 hours for a full game day giving 2 days and 2 nights every real time day.

Yes I've thought about this alot and if I were to learn how to make games I would make this, while this is unlikely I am just hoping that someone will make it before I get off my ass and learn to properly code and program games. But if someone would make this game you gotta admit it would be pretty good. Then again I doubt we have the technology to make it come to fruition.

Also it would probably have to play like an FPS.

 

[Chiefmon]

how about left 4 dead, but with character skills, such as radioman or advanced barricader, ect

so when you wanted to go deep into the city, to look for rarer supplies, you may start getting overrun. you run into a store and makeshift barricade the door. you run upstairs while the guys downstairs quickly look whatever ammo they can find while you stack things next to the door, your radioman is setting up a generator and a portable radio and starts broadcasting.

seconds later you hear a scream and your friend is dragged upstairs by the medic while the fighters keep the infected off them while retreating. they get inside and you all pitch in to barricade the door.

yes, that would be epic

I'd like something like Fallout 3, with huge environments, and strategically located items, like medkits in hospitals, ammo in pawn shops, ect.

 

[Chiefmon]

It would have to have RAGE virus style zombies in order to be any good. Each server would have 10 channels that hold 100 people and you can go back and forth between at your own whim. When you spawn the first time you are on a random location in the map they may or may not be completely compromised, same when you respawn from death. However when you die unless you are torn to shreds you watch your character try to kill your friends for 10 minutes or until it or your friends are dead. You would be able to kill other survivors. Zombies would have to outnumber people in the server at least 100-1. It would be possible to kill all the zombies but the game resets the zombie count to the 100-1 ratio every week. It would have to have a very good salvaging system, with unlimited access to any building in the game. You would be able to fortify a position but theres always the chance that a huge number of zombies can compromise your location. When you change channels on the server you spawn exactly where you were no matter how compromised the location is in that channel. There will only be a set ammount of supplies after every reset based upon the number of players that are usually in the server. There would be 10-52 maps that are randomized upon the server reset so that the game doesn't get boring or repetative and they always cycle through all the maps before they can be used a second time, the order in which they appear will always be different up to the limit of the combinations due to the number of maps. When you start or when you respawn you dont have a weapon or any supplies until you can find them yourself. There would be no global chat and whisper chat would only work if you are in the same room as the other person. The zombies will always find a way to compromise any fortified locations 12 hours before the servers reset unless they were all killed before that. The higher player population in an area increases the zombie population. The day/night sequence would take 12 hours for a full game day giving 2 days and 2 nights every real time day.

Yes I've thought about this alot and if I were to learn how to make games I would make this, while this is unlikely I am just hoping that someone will make it before I get off my ass and learn to properly code and program games. But if someone would make this game you gotta admit it would be pretty good. Then again I doubt we have the technology to make it come to fruition.

Also it would probably have to play like an FPS.

..I think I just came in my pants...

 

[Deadarm]

It would have to have RAGE virus style zombies in order to be any good. Each server would have 10 channels that hold 100 people and you can go back and forth between at your own whim. When you spawn the first time you are on a random location in the map they may or may not be completely compromised, same when you respawn from death. However when you die unless you are torn to shreds you watch your character try to kill your friends for 10 minutes or until it or your friends are dead. You would be able to kill other survivors. Zombies would have to outnumber people in the server at least 100-1. It would be possible to kill all the zombies but the game resets the zombie count to the 100-1 ratio every week. It would have to have a very good salvaging system, with unlimited access to any building in the game. You would be able to fortify a position but theres always the chance that a huge number of zombies can compromise your location. When you change channels on the server you spawn exactly where you were no matter how compromised the location is in that channel. There will only be a set ammount of supplies after every reset based upon the number of players that are usually in the server. There would be 10-52 maps that are randomized upon the server reset so that the game doesn't get boring or repetative and they always cycle through all the maps before they can be used a second time, the order in which they appear will always be different up to the limit of the combinations due to the number of maps. When you start or when you respawn you dont have a weapon or any supplies until you can find them yourself. There would be no global chat and whisper chat would only work if you are in the same room as the other person. The zombies will always find a way to compromise any fortified locations 12 hours before the servers reset unless they were all killed before that. The higher player population in an area increases the zombie population. The day/night sequence would take 12 hours for a full game day giving 2 days and 2 nights every real time day.

Yes I've thought about this alot and if I were to learn how to make games I would make this, while this is unlikely I am just hoping that someone will make it before I get off my ass and learn to properly code and program games. But if someone would make this game you gotta admit it would be pretty good. Then again I doubt we have the technology to make it come to fruition.

Also it would probably have to play like an FPS.

..I think I just came in my pants...

Yeah I've fantasized about this game way too much... I just wish that I knew how to make it.

 

[ClaptonKnophlerHendrix]

I'd definetely play it if it was like any other MMO with quests but the constant threat of zombie attacks within the city. However, for an MMO it would need to be a MASSIVE city.

EDIT: BANG! This just hit me and I like it. What if you and your guild or faction controlled a certain area of said city and could either work with other guilds or factions and fight off the zombies and complete quests or work against them and try to bring them down for their area. With a little work I think we've got a game on our hands.

EDIT II: An I Am Legend zombie system could also work, safe by day, prey by night. And you can choose to lay low and hide or fortify and kill all the fuckers you can see.

 

[randomsix]

I think they have something like that already. It's called Dead Frontier or something.

The dead frontier online thing is sort of like that, except with (from what I know) much less strategy and depth that has been proposed in this thread. It's pretty much just the Dead Frontier Night 3(?) flash game with a limited foraging, leveling, and player interaction mechanisms.

 

[linchowlewy]

Urban Dead has some good pointers to how you could get this to work. Infact, Urban Dead works very well and is an MMO.