Cultivating Your MMO Ideas - Wizards and Warriors: Massively Multiplayer Online Game Creation - page 61

n Manufacturing: In most MMOs you can combine items to make a
new item. This manufacturing can be in the form of creating new
weapons or decorative objects. In the game Ultima Online, you can
chop up some wood, do some wood-working, and buy some
additional items to make a clock, which you can put in your own
home or sell. Manufacturing can add a lot of depth to your game, but
it does require lots of combinations to be effective. You also need to
take into account the issues of supply and demand if you decide to
have some market/buy/sell system. In Ultima,youcanmakealotof
the same item. However, when selling the same item to an NPC
shopkeeper, the more you sell of an item, the lower the price you get,
until the point at which the shopkeeper doesn ' twantany

more of it.
n Household and general items: Making your world more believable is a
big step in ensuring that your game can immerse the player in the game
world. The ability to buy random items such as household goods, chairs,
tables, and furniture might seem like a pointless exercise, but it can allow
the players to express themselves and decorate their game homes anyway
they want. The ability to manufacture items as well as buy them can add
a lot of depth to an MMO.

All of the mentioned groups can add a lot of value to your MMO, because
different items can cost more to the player and are something to aspire to,
whereas some items might be unique or rare.

Here are some ideas for the different types of items that you could find in
different MMOs (in no particular order).

Weapons:

n Axe
n Short sword
n Long sword
n Two-handed sword
n Rifle