23. STORY

Will be there a main story line ?

"The taming of the planet." There you go. At last, an easy to follow main story line that all the players should be able to follow. Players would doubtless make a lot of other stories. If we (developers) find ourselves with time on our hands we might do some story stuff too.

Can a single player change or affect the future of the entire world?

It would have to be an exceptional player just as in real life only exceptional people can affect 'the world'.

Are you going to implement monthly events, such as treasure hunts, festivals, wars, invasions, etc?

Hell no; you'll be lucky if we talk to you after we put this out. Seriously though, I'd have to say 'no, we will be working on other stuff'. I'd rather have people working on putting new resources into the land, coming up with new treasures to find and make than having them run some gladiator contest. All of the tools for towns to be able to sponsor those sort of contests will be available. If your town doesn't do a lot of neat stuff like that, we suggest moving to a different town that does.

I want to know more about the background.

I've seen way too much background stuff that doesn't matter worth a damn once the game gets going. (IE in every MMOLG published pre-2002). I'd rather not have any and concentrate on what's going on and what will happen.

How do I find out what is going on in the world?

In a medieval or post-apocalyptic campaign, you talk to travelers. You may find out news days, weeks or months after it has happened. You will be living in the dark...ages - so to speak. If the game is set during a futuristic period, we will provide an in-game (only) internet. People can rent web pages, rent programs to make web pages, type up all kinds of stuff. One of the characterizations of the present (and presumably the future) is communication. We are going to have rental cell phones, rental TV ads, etc. (Note: All rent is game coin).

So - no story?

There would be a lot of stories. The players will be the ones making them. With the ability to create and destroy buildings, establish and infiltrate borders, move merchandise, etc the players will have all of the tools they need to make the story. We (the developers) might put strange elements into the story or subtly influence it but the movers and shakers among the players will be the ones who make the 'story'.