Guild Leader Design Doc v0.1
Genre:MMOG Guild Management Simulator
Platform:Flash
Timeframe:2-3 months depending on scope
Developement Stage: Early Concept
The Pitch:
Think fantasy football for an MMORPG Raid Guild. You recruit members, you lead those members on raids into various dungeons. You distribute loot found in those dungeons. You manage the inevitable guild drama that will arise.
Target Audience:
Anyone who has ever managed, or been a part of a raiding guild on any MMO. Anyone who has ever gotten up at 3AM to catch a worldspawn, or stayed up till 3AM so that the guild can get just one more attempt in on that final boss. Ideally I would use an existing MMOG for a boss/class/level/gear framework for this, but if I intended to sell it I would have to create it from the ground up so as not to encroach on someone's copyright.
Gameplay Overview:
I haven't really worked out the specifics of the game. Like I said in the previous section it
will largely be decided by what world I set the game in. There are two primary mechanics that I
know I want to include though.
Pretty straight forward. Regardless of how many actual classes there are, there will only be three class types, DPS, Healing, and Tanks. Each class type will have an ability that the player will be able to trigger once per boss fight to assist the raid's victory. DPS will be able to do more damage. Healers will be able to heal more damage. Tanks will be able to force the bonus to attack them.
Quality of available recruits will be determined by a statistic called public opinion. This is essentially how well know and liked the guild is by the game at large. As you complete more dungeons this will increase and with it's increase the gear quality and level of the guild's potential recruits will also increase. When members leave the guild due to drama, the publics opinion of the guild will lower.
In order to replicate the pettiness and drama that occurs in most guilds, a simple moral choice system will occasionally force the player into a situation where he has to make a choice that will either increase or decrease his public standing. As an example, the guild's main tank and main healer where dating. They recently broke up and both demand the other be removed from the guild. The player must choose to kick the tank, kick the healer, kick both, or do nothing. Kicking one guarantees that the other will stay, but will cost him a small amount of public opinion. Kicking both means he loses both members, but increases public opinion because it shows that the guild won't put up with petty drama. Doing nothing means that either, or both, may leave and in doing so give the public opinion loss associated with that.
Fun Factor:
The game is fun for two reason. Firstly, it is a minor god game. You decided who gets to join your guild, who gets to go on raids, and who gets the gear bosses drop. And Secondly, it is fun because it is also a puzzle game. Each boss in a dungeon requires the right balance of Damage, Healing, and right number of Tanks of a certain level. And during each fight you have to tell each of these groups when to use their special abilities.