Looking for a Design Partner

I have been working hard to design an mmo that I believe may be the best game ever. The idea behind the game is that there are no levels, you gain exp in stats and skills by using them. There are also no classes, instead you can put your stat points (which are earned by using skills) into any of a number of different skill trees. In this way, it is possible to have literally any fighting style you would like. Some of the skill trees do have weapon requirements but they are balanced out by being stronger than other skills.

My reason for posting this thread is because it takes a lot of time to design a game (NOTE: I am only designing the game at this point, not developing it. The programming will be done by someone who knows what they are doing once the game is already fully designed.) and I would like to have a partner to help me jot down all my ideas (and any ideas they may have) and to help balance all the skills, weapons, and armor. My partner will obviously receive equal credit for the game design once the game is done.

There are only two requirements for a potential partner. First is that you must have experience in multiple mmos (someone who has only ever played one or two mmos is not as likely to know what makes a good game). Second, and probably most important, is you can't be transphobic. I am trans and that's a fact that, working in close contact, is likely to come out anyways and I don't want somebody who is going to run at the first mention of it.

I am not interested, but it sounds like you are planning on doing a mix of Secret World (no levels/classes) and Asheron's Call (when it was on the vanilla portion of the game).

I would like to suggest that if you are actually interested in making a game, that you learn what it takes to run a private server for something like WoW. This will get you an idea of how it works. Second, you check out the Unity game software, which will allow you to develop on their engine, for free - till you are ready to publish. Also look into RPG Maker. It's not free, but there are plenty of plugins for it. Last... RIGHT now, for the next 3-5 hours, Udemy is selling a course to learn how to code in Unity. Normally it's like $200+, but right now it's $10.

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Originally Posted by Spitt I am not interested, but it sounds like you are planning on doing a mix of Secret World (no levels/classes) and Asheron's Call (when it was on the vanilla portion of the game). I would like to suggest that if you are actually interested in making a game, that you learn what it takes to run a private server for something like WoW. This will get you an idea of how it works. Second, you check out the Unity game software, which will allow you to develop on their engine, for free - till you are ready to publish. Also look into RPG Maker. It's not free, but there are plenty of plugins for it. Last... RIGHT now, for the next 3-5 hours, Udemy is selling a course to learn how to code in Unity. Normally it's like $200+, but right now it's $10.

Thank you but I don't intend to program it myself. I've attempted to learn how to program before and I do well in a classroom setting (I did some study at YSU) but when I try to teach myself outside the classroom I can't retain it. My plan is to fully design it (i.e. creating the skill lists, balancing the exp, creating armor/weapons/accessories etc.) and when everything is planned and balanced I will find someone, probably a company like Nexon or an American company (I actually don't know any American companies so some research there), to program it for me and keep me on to design new content.

#moved

Just as a bit of information about me (so people know that I'm not just some random that's gonna drop out in the middle of the project), I have played a lot of f2p games, which is what I intend this game to be. I was highly active in the Shaiya forums both during it's peak and decline, I have been on the dev staff of a shaiya pserver, so I have some idea how these things work. I am also well-versed in computers, so I understand the limitations in the design process. I also have a method that allows both me and any potential partner to view and edit the necessary files at the same time.

Thus far, I have created 19 different skill trees, each of which has 5-7 skills. I have created tables and calculations for these skills so that they are somewhat balanced (though they still need a final rebalance to ensure that no one skill tree greatly outstrips another).

I have input the data for all the armor, weapons, and accessories, though the weapons, cloth armor, and leather armor still need names, as do all the end-game equipment.

I have created crafting tables for Jewelry/Enhancement Gems and for Armorsmithing and Weaponsmithing. I have fleshed out a few UI and Gameplay ideas that ensure the classless system does not allow any player to become too OP. I have laid out the stats that will be on the equipment as well as what stats each equipment type will give EXP towards. Finally, I have created an ever expanding item list in excel that lists every item that I have so far and gives them unique IDs as well as buy and sell prices.

You have some artworks & concepts you can show off? You know such a online game is just big, very big. First you need some concept artist/s who can create objects, charakterdesign, level design etc.
You need some 3d model artists with a lot of experience, concept artists & 3d artists need to work together (live). And then after all, you need at least 3-4 developer and one for story telling. Don't forget concept artists and story teller needs to work together. You need webdesigner/developer too and server and much more resources.

What's your ideas? Are you willing to pay? How much? Who are currently working on this project? What's the story?

Btw. I'm a artist, currently working on my character design skills and soon in france to study arts/graphics. I would maybe help your project but first i need further information's.

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Originally Posted by binhood You have some artworks & concepts you can show off? You know such a online game is just big, very big. First you need some concept artist/s who can create objects, charakterdesign, level design etc. You need some 3d model artists with a lot of experience, concept artists & 3d artists need to work together (live). And then after all, you need at least 3-4 developer and one for story telling. Don't forget concept artists and story teller needs to work together. You need webdesigner/developer too and server and much more resources. What's your ideas? Are you willing to pay? How much? Who are currently working on this project? What's the story? Btw. I'm a artist, currently working on my character design skills and soon in france to study arts/graphics. I would maybe help your project but first i need further information's.

I am working on concept. As far as art and actual coding goes, I won't be able to any of that, well beyond my abilities. The plan is to create the story and the basic concept. My hope is that if I can design the game concept, I can present the idea to an established development company like Nexon, and if they like the idea then I can work with them to make it a reality. As for payment, I can't afford to pay anyone. This would just be a side-project for anyone who wanted to work with them. Payment would come later when we present the idea to whichever company will accept it.

Based on what you've said, you're a professional. I'm sure this is something you wouldn't be interested in because there is no guarantee that my plans will work and there's no guarantee it's going to make money. I'm just looking for someone who has spare time that they don't know what to do with and is willing to take a chance.

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Originally Posted by GentleCharmer Payment would come later when we present the idea to whichever company will accept it.

I would try it with Kickstarter, a company like Nexon will never accept a unfinished project. Big Companie's are looking 99% time for finished projects (finished working games), where they can buy that project and make money with it. You won't be able to work with them, i would start with Kickstarter. Crowdfunding is the best thing you can do for a project like this. If you have a nice Story & some great Story telling concepts you will be able to gather some fans.
But first you need a story and then some concepts.

Sounds a bit like Sword Are Online to me :D

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Originally Posted by binhood I would try it with Kickstarter, a company like Nexon will never accept a unfinished project. Big Companie's are looking 99% time for finished projects (finished working games), where they can buy that project and make money with it. You won't be able to work with them, i would start with Kickstarter. Crowdfunding is the best thing you can do for a project like this. If you have a nice Story & some great Story telling concepts you will be able to gather some fans. But first you need a story and then some concepts.

I'll have to look into that when the time comes. honestly, if a company isn't looking to do some work then why exist? You can't call yourself a dev company if you don't want to do the actual development. Now I understand why every game I play ends in disappointment.

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Originally Posted by Daikota Sounds a bit like Sword Are Online to me :D

Hahahahaha very different actually but thanks for the laugh. I loved SAO but this is not it. SAO had levels, my game won't have levels. Instead, there are passive abilities that increase with usage, higher armor abilities means better gear. Same with skills, each time you use a skill you get exp towards a skill bar, when you reach 100% you get a skill point that can be put into any skill that you've unlocked. Skills are unlocked by putting enough skill points into lower tier skills in the same tree and activating a skill book that gives level 1 of that skill. And it's not all physical either, there are four magic skill trees, a healing tree, 4 dark skill trees that include pet summons, a music skill tree, 3 melee trees, , 3 ranged trees, and a stealth tree. I didn't want to leave out any possible combination of classes. With all these trees, you can make pretty much any kind of class you want. The only real restriction is that the music tree and one of the melee trees have weapon restrictions, which means you're limited to certain builds when using them.