Concept: Shadow of the Colossus MMO

[DuctTapeKatar]

I have had this idea in my head for a long time. I have been mulling it over, and I think that this concept NEEDS to be better explored and expanded beyond my circles.

Basically, it is an MMO which is largely based around the slaying of gargantuan monsters in the style of Shadow of the Colossus. The boss monster is supported by a selection of monsters that go about and attempt to kill the players and support the monster. The players climb around the arenas and on the monster to find its weak points while their friends act as distractions to prevent the monster and its minions from killing them. There are some twists added, like support minions that rain hails of magic at tanks, and minions that spawn on the monster's back to defend specific weak-points to spice things up, and plenty of variety in setting and monsters.

The class system is complicated. I have made a chart because of this.


*
Skill
Endurance
Magic


Skill
Assassin
Myrmydon
Ranger


Endurance
Cavalier
Crusader
Paladin


Magic
Druid
Cleric
Sorcerer



As you can see, there are three categories, and within said categories, there are sub-categories that the classes fall into. Skill is DPS, Endurance is tank, and Magic is support, as per usual. I was considering sub-classes (Like having you able to choose whether your Myrmidon was going to be a "gladiator" vs a "phalanx"), but this is long enough as-is, and I don't want to go into too that much detail right now.


Assassin: Typical sneaky rogue. High-damage, low health, like to stab giant monsters. Quickest at climbing stuff.

Myrmidon: The fighter class. Has a whacky-stick, maybe a shield, likes to hang out 'round squishies and protect them.

Ranger: Guy that can use a bow, set some traps. Maybe has a pet he can use for cool stuff. Typically used to tangle up the minions.

Cavalier: He has a horse, and it is amazing. Support for the tank, flanking the minion horde and charging through them or giving covering-fire.

Crusader: A lot of armor, big whacky-stick. Attracts the minions so they aren't paying attention to the people crawling around on the big monster.

Paladin: Whacky-stick that's on fire. Really good at taking down the smaller enemies. The big-monsters like to stomp on him.

Druid: A mage who is able to transform into different creatures to provide support to the people on the big-monster. Isn't a tank, but can get to the right places at the right time.

Cleric: Healer with a big whacky-stick. Helps out the tanks by keeping them alive while whacking minions.

Sorcerer: AOE spellcaster that either sets everything on fire or makes people chill. Has a tendency to glow ominously and attract minions while casting.


I personally think that a multiplayer version of Shadow of the Colossus should have been a thing already, but wanted to throw this out. There is plenty of ways that this idea can be implemented, and I think that there is a lot of potential with PVS with this (giant monster with player support vs. giant monster with player support).

... Well, I guess I need feedback, criticism, and concept-building.

[Razade]

I have had this idea in my head for a long time. I have been mulling it over, and I think that this concept NEEDS to be better explored and expanded beyond my circles.

Basically, it is an MMO which is largely based around the slaying of gargantuan monsters in the style of Shadow of the Colossus. The boss monster is supported by a selection of monsters that go about and attempt to kill the players and support the monster. The players climb around the arenas and on the monster to find its weak points while their friends act as distractions to prevent the monster and its minions from killing them. There are some twists added, like support minions that rain hails of magic at tanks, and minions that spawn on the monster's back to defend specific weak-points to spice things up, and plenty of variety in setting and monsters.

The class system is complicated. I have made a chart because of this.


*
Skill
Endurance
Magic


Skill
Assassin
Myrmydon
Ranger


Endurance
Cavalier
Crusader
Paladin


Magic
Druid
Cleric
Sorcerer



As you can see, there are three categories, and within said categories, there are sub-categories that the classes fall into. Skill is DPS, Endurance is tank, and Magic is support, as per usual. I was considering sub-classes (Like having you able to choose whether your Myrmidon was going to be a "gladiator" vs a "phalanx"), but this is long enough as-is, and I don't want to go into too that much detail right now.


Assassin: Typical sneaky rogue. High-damage, low health, like to stab giant monsters. Quickest at climbing stuff.

Myrmidon: The fighter class. Has a whacky-stick, maybe a shield, likes to hang out 'round squishies and protect them.

Ranger: Guy that can use a bow, set some traps. Maybe has a pet he can use for cool stuff. Typically used to tangle up the minions.

Cavalier: He has a horse, and it is amazing. Support for the tank, flanking the minion horde and charging through them or giving covering-fire.

Crusader: A lot of armor, big whacky-stick. Attracts the minions so they aren't paying attention to the people crawling around on the big monster.

Paladin: Whacky-stick that's on fire. Really good at taking down the smaller enemies. The big-monsters like to stomp on him.

Druid: A mage who is able to transform into different creatures to provide support to the people on the big-monster. Isn't a tank, but can get to the right places at the right time.

Cleric: Healer with a big whacky-stick. Helps out the tanks by keeping them alive while whacking minions.

Sorcerer: AOE spellcaster that either sets everything on fire or makes people chill. Has a tendency to glow ominously and attract minions while casting.


I personally think that a multiplayer version of Shadow of the Colossus should have been a thing already, but wanted to throw this out. There is plenty of ways that this idea can be implemented, and I think that there is a lot of potential with PVS with this (giant monster with player support vs. giant monster with player support).

... Well, I guess I need feedback, criticism, and concept-building.

So basically...not Shadow of the Colossus at all? Instead of a puzzle based game about crushing loneliness you want it to be a hack and slash dungeon crawl with the thin veneer of Shadow of the Colossus and all the same crap as every other modern MMO?

This idea is almost as bad as the "100% scientific Dragon" MMO that was thrown around a while back.

[DuctTapeKatar]

So basically...not Shadow of the Colossus at all? Instead of a puzzle based game about crushing loneliness you want it to be a hack and slash dungeon crawl with the thin veneer of Shadow of the Colossus and all the same crap as every other modern MMO?

This idea is almost as bad as the "100% scientific Dragon" MMO that was thrown around a while back.

... Yes. That statement is accurate.

[Shamash]

Maybe you should try the Dragon dogma MMO? It has a grab mechanic, classes and huge monsters.

[Nilehus]

Huge part of SotC was that you had no help beyond your horse. Just you, your sword and bow, and Argo against the Colossi. I don't see how having friends swarming them would help at all.

Sounds like it might be fun, but not SotC at all.

[Anteros]

I don't think OP was saying it had to be a MMO of that exact game, just that it would be involve giant monsters and the killing of giant monsters. There's no need to be so rude about things.

[Kaptin Keen]

So .....

Instead of a giant boss being inside a raid dungeon .... the giant boss is the raid dungeon?

Is that essentially right?

[JeenLeen]

made a slight edit to acknowledge minions are a thing, but I think point is still overall the same since minions accompany the boss

Overall, I like the idea.
I think the biggest problem with this as an MMO would be that some players like to play, at least part of the time, as single players. I reckon this game, since it is just the boss (EDIT: with minions), would generally require a party to defeat the boss and thus solo adventures would be extremely hard.

I played the D&D MMO (Neverwinter?) a year or two ago, and liked it a lot, but I pretty much only played solo. Eventually even game back to earlier stages to beat the boss level on my own. I loved Diablo II, but always did solo. Just my playstyle doesn't go with group. In general, this means I don't play MMOs and MMOs just aren't the game for me (except for real casual play)--which is fine. But an MMO that practically precludes solo play would likely cut into the potential player pool enough to be considered a financial risk.
To perhaps phrase it better (not much sleep last night): most MMOs can appeal to players who don't like the group-play aspect of MMOs, at least for a little bit. It sounds like this game, by this aspect of having just big bosses, would preclude solo play and thus cut out a potentially-sizable (if still a minority) of potential players.

And even for players that like group play/raids, it means if your guild is all offline or you choose a bad time to get online and play, well, nobody to group with and what ya gonna do?


So .....

Instead of a giant boss being inside a raid dungeon .... the giant boss is the raid dungeon?

Is that essentially right?

That's how I read it. It sounds cool to me.
If the above is not correct, a lot of my earlier comments are null.