My problem is this: I have two fairly cool ideas for coldstone games, and I only have enough free time to work on one. So you decide, which of these two sounds cooler:

Prototera- Playing the rhole of a young man from the fictional world of Prototera, you discover one day that you have magical powers. Others observe this as well, and within days you are hunted by no less than 3 governments. A war is on the horizon, and people with magical skill are being captured all over to serve in various armies of Prototera's eight continents. There is one hope left however. Lord Menerin of Isurien, the head of a highly respected order of magi, has taken notice of you and is willing to help you escape. Through training with the Isurien order, you could become a powerfull mage yourself, and perhaps aid Menerin in his quest to avert a bloody world war.

Untitled Game- In the year 2180, major world governments have collapsed and large corperations have risen to take their place. Without the athroity of governments, however, these corperations have resorted to a feudal state, going to any lengths to gain market share and crush compitition. Most major companys have built armies for themselves, to attack rivals and defend their own assets. You play the rhole of a mech pilot, working in the service of the International Trade League, who maintain an expansive global trade network. Mecha are the key to defending this network oweing to their versatility and adaptability. Through the corse of the game you (the player) are given various missions to carry out which wil earn you money, and allow you to buy upgrades for your mech, or even entirely new mechs. Basically mecha EV, but a bit more story driven.

I've done a lot more work on the first one already than on the second, but they both seem like such cool ideas. Which do you guys like better?

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(/mindless babble)

I'd go with the first one, because you've put more work towards it and it's a bit more workable (no govt means no stable currency and no commerce of any kind).

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-TheDarkDragon
Lots of luck, we're all here to learn anyway.

I agree with Dark Dragon that you've put more into the first one...but I think the second would be cooler...

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Power Corrupts, and Absolute
Power Corrupts Absolutely.

Door number two!

myshkyn

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"I'll give the fans just what they want, and nothing else at all."

Well, the first would certainly be easier to do, especially since you've done so much work on it, but....

Since the release of Coldstone, there are a great deal of people working on games, and to be perfectly honest, most people writing their game stories, be they an experienced developer, or a part time Coldstone Engineer, will not be really inventive in their tales. Basically, the object of an RPG normally comes down to saving the world / maiden / preventing some terrible cataclysm. As a fan of original writing, I'd go with the second one, because I seriously doubt that many other people would go along with that particular storyline.

But of course, just because most of the stories will be clichéd doesn't mean that the games they are part of will be bad.... it's just that original stuff sells better.

-Andiyar

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"Any good that I may do here, let me do now, for I may not pass this way again"

Quote

Originally posted by TheDarkDragon:
**(no govt means no stable currency and no commerce of any kind).
**

Governments still exist, they just have no power over large corperations. They still do things like regulate currency, provide public services, and engage in diplomatic relations, but they are only secondary.

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(/mindless babble)

Global corporations taking over are as big a cliche as secret magic cults wearing long clumsy dresses and sporting more jewelry on their 'staffs' then a pimp coming straight from the eighties.

Add some genetically engeneered halfpeople , some elves et voila, you got yourself a big ass copyright infringement lawsuit.

But who cares?

Tarnćlion Andiyarus has got the right idea: His story is not only historic but just tosses aside all attempts on originality and goes straight for the jugular : the characters, the atmosphere, the game.
(clarification: I don't mean it's not original, I just mean it seems he doesn't write in function of originality but in function of the story )

If you just go : oh- this is a original idea, maybe I can use this, you are on the wrong track. You should be obsessed with the story , and live the characters. Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet has been done over hundreds of times, as most of his plays, and nobody cares about their originality. The only thing that matters is if they work.
(In fact you could make a great game out of Shakespeares works, and it would save you a lot of trouble with filling in the background and anguish over copyrights as well.)

Don't pick the best idea, pick the one you would like to spend most of the year's time on. Cause you will.

ps:
the day global corporations start waging wars I'm going to start baking my bread in my own oven and not give a rats ass. All global corporations are is a board of directors and a gazillion minority shareholders. They do not control the world. One day Bill Gates is going to ask the president to invade Sri Lanka or Taiwan and then everybody is going to have a big laugh.

The fact of the matter isn't: 'is this likely to happen?', but: 'will people believe it?' I don't think mech drivers will care or even know about politics and economics.

(This message has been edited by -LethaLGraphiX- (edited 02-17-2002).)

Quote

Originally posted by -LethaLGraphiX-:
the day global corporations start waging wars I'm going to start baking my bread in my own oven and not give a rats ass......they do not control the world

Four words: British East India Company. In the late 1800's, they had their own army and controlled the entire country of India (in the name of Britan of corse). If it happened once, it could happen again ;).

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(/mindless babble)

I personally prefer the first idea, because it seems a tad more original. The second sounds more like a rip off of a handful of SciFi epics.

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-Fyre
http://www-students.biola.edu/~johns

Thanks everyone. Based on your reactions and some discussions on #coldstone I've decided to stick with my original plan and go with the first idea. However I may still do the story for the second game and leave it to another developer to finish, if any are interested.

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(/mindless babble)

:frown: The first idea is just another one you have magic powers - save the world from the bloody wars - boring game. The second one have a much cooler and a more original story, and I know some scifi books and such have similair stories not many games have it but alot of games have stories very similair to the first. Please reconsider.