Monday 19 January 2009

What can Roguelike Developers learn from MMORPGs?

My original post on the relationship between MMORPGs and Roguelikes seems to have caused a bit of a stir, judging by some of the comments. I've clarified my thoughts in the comments there. Meanwhile, I'd like to ask a few follow-up questions on the subject:

1. What can Roguelike Developers learn from MMORPGs?

2. Are there any features in an MMORPG that should (or could) be implemented in Roguelikes?

Or alternatively:

3. Are there any features from Roguelikes that would work well in an MMORPG?

There are a few features in MMORPGs that I'm considering adding to the (ever-expanding) todo list for Kharne once I restart development, but in the meantime I'd like to hear your thoughts on what you'd like to see in Roguelikes in general (not just Kharne).

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I like those quickbars where you can bind potions and spells to function keys. I think this is not a genuine MMORPG feature, but certainly most often used in these games. In LambdaRogue 1.4 I have implemented a first step in that direction; in future versions the quickbar will be far more flexible and configurable.

Secondly, I like the concept of growing contents with every patch. But this is done in roguelikes anyway, because they tend to be never finished.

Other than that, I don't see anything in MMORPGs which I want to have in classical single player roguelikes.

The other way around: I like that some MMORPGs have randomized dungeon instances. It would also be interesting to have randomly generated items -- but this would make balanced trading between players nearly impossible.

Dave said...

During my frenzied bout of recoding last year on Kharne, I had partially implemented a hotbar-type system which could be bound to keys.

At some point, I would like to implement in Kharne, either a reputation-based system or a crafting system from MMOs.