Shadows of Nightside ~ Blog

As the old joke goes, “good artists borrow, great artists steal.”

When I need to create something, many times I outright thieve.

How, of course, is the subject of this blog.

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NPCs are a critical component to any MORPG, as they are the “people” your player may most often interact with. NPCs will act as vendors, opponents, wanderers who add a sense of population to a zone, quest-starters, etc…

And as such, it is the responsibility of the game designers to create NPCs with names and backgrounds deeper than say, Bob the Sword-Seller, or Grrr the bad Orc who kidnaps young Elves.
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The question new MMORPG projects must ask themselves, is how are they different from the other game available. More specifically, how are they different from the giant gorilla in the room. Namely, World of Warcraft (WoW).

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Quests, or structured-adventures if you will, provide the backbone for most player’s activity. A good quest will engage the player through various means.

A well thought out quest will advance the player’s mythological knowledge of the world their character inhabits. Furthermore, it will advance the players knowledge of the physical world, by having them travel far and wide to search for people and items in fulfillment of that quest.

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How does one go about creating an item that goes beyond the usual “Helm of Strength”, or “Boots of Speed”?

In my case, I doodle with pen and paper. No computer for my creative process. Too much potential distraction housed in that plastic box. Blue pen and a blank piece of paper have always served me best in this regard.

Once I find some quiet time, and a quiet space, I get to work at being creative
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