For a few days, I have explored this forum and the net for a while, in order to have a view of what fans have made on the thema "fan made DotHack MMO". It has been a little surprizing to see that there are tons of projects (as I wasn't aware that DotHack was so popular), and nor less surprizing to see that there were tons of fails/fakes with a ratio project/success nearly equal to 0. Well, I guess that creating an MMO is hard work that not everyone is able to create. But, beyond that amazing success rate, an obvious fact to me was that absolutely no project seemed to take care of the true essence of .hack.
Sure, its universe is somehow interesting, with its places, its classes, its skills. It is the surface of DotHack, what we see first, what we play with first. But... Let's imagine. Is there really a point to create an MMO only based on this part of .hack universe ?
Put this into an MMO. Except its universe, would such a game have something better than any other MMO ? Honestly, playing this MMO would be terribly boring to me... Basic game mechanics, poorly designed class system, etc. DotHack is nice only because there are strange and unclear events occuring all over The World. Except this, it would be a plain and dramatically standard game. A shame when looking at DotHack over all its medias.
So, my question is : why none of those fan-made games are able to give only a piece of information about events ? I am not talking of events in its MMO meaning (like festivals, PvP competitions, spawning of mobs, all this kind of events mostly created by Game Masters), but events as facts, as "something happened at this place, at this time, and those players have seen it". Something not foresaw, spontaneous. Why none of these projects have a true speech about their way of creating events ? Maybe is it just me - and that is why I am here talking about this, so that people could throw me a nice "gtfo" - maybe not... But all the events taking place in DotHack has given it all of its epic dimension, not its game mechanics.
Of course, I talk about events generated by AI. Morganna, Aura, AIDA. All of those AI are the cause, directly or indirectly, of what happened in The World. Obviously, players are a lot responsible too. But at the beginning it was all about AI acts. It was only players actions, their misunderstanding of events, their suppositions, the wishes they have placed inside, that had led them to act in consequence of AI acts.
In my mind, a DotHack MMO without this aspect would be nothing. Just a boring MMO, maybe with some GM events in order to simulate AI acts (like one of the project I've seen)... But fake acts.
In this case, what to say about these acts, how to make them real ? How would it be possible to make players to feel them true ?
My answer (feel free to give yours) take place in roleplay.
To understand what I mean, I'll have to give a view of what I think about the roleplay. I divides it in two:
- First, the "fake" roleplay. The one that is an actor game. The one where people can change in an impressively manner their way of thinking, of talking, to reflect their character's mind.
- Second, the "true" roleplay. The roleplay reflecting the mind of the player, not its character's one.
I guess some people here know a little about Pokémon and all its rumors. Years ago there was this famous truck to push to get a Mew, for example. It was not the only one rumor, there were plenty of them, but it was a rumor that had passionate many people, who tried again and again to discover what was hidden behind that truck. This kind of rumors has created something like legends around the game. This was at the beginning a truly simple fact : a sprite in the game at an unusual place. Players have extrapolated so much about this sprite... When I think about this, I can't avoid the comparison to DotHack : Aura, Key of the Twilight, Tri-Edge signs, BBS rumors spread, etc. In DotHack, noone know what is hidden behind facts, and this is what make them passionating, because those are not generated by people, but by AI whose working is obscure. IRL, however, if you look at fan-made Dothack MMO (or all MMO in general) it's just something like a scavenger hunt. Somewhat interesting following what is given at the end... But not really passionating : someone has prepared the thing, it's a fake that won't go really far. Where is the feel to discover something, to be the first one to go there, the first one to have this ?
At this point, everything is a fake. Imagine a DotHack where Haseo can't look for "Tri-Edge" Azure Kite between 6PM-9AM because it is a GM that plays the character and that he has to go back home. Ridiculous ? That is what is currently done.
To summarized all my previous words : AI. Those two letters are the root of The World, of DotHack events : thus, why can't I see those two letters in fan-made games, and noone complaining about their absence ? For me, it's the core, the essence of DotHack. AI, their acts, players actions and reactions, rumors, BBS. Am I wrong ? Am I the only one to think that what is great in The World is not its classical gameplay, but its autonomy, its mysteries ? If it is the case... what is your answer ? What is so interesting into The World ? Why imagine it becoming real gives you a heartbeat ?
Feel free to discuss a lot about this topic. A true debate would be really great. Just forget all technical problems that a real "The World" would imply. Think about the feelings that this game gave to its players in DotHack, and how you could feel them IRL if such a game was reality.
Thanks in advance
