A few days ago me and a friend were reminiscing about a good idea that was implemented horribly. And thus failed in the video game world, some of you probably remember Black Prophecy, some of you have probably never heard of it.

For those who have never heard of it let me give you a few details. It was an MMO RPG (which I think was the reason for its downfall). The story behind it was one of the most interesting to date. Why do I say that? Because it did not have this optimistic bullshit view of the future. Their motto probably was “Shit Happens” and in the BP universe it did. The lore stated that in the future the human race split into three, the Genides, the branch of humanity that took hold of their evolution through genetic manipulation, the Tyi which did the same thing but through cybernetic implants and the low humans who now were considered second class citizens by the new overlords of humanity. The unenhanced humans were, slower, shorter lived and less intelligent than their masters and they were treated as such, this discrimination was law.
And to add to that some crazy religious beliefs that would make scientology look like Buddhism and you have a recipe for lore.
Now this could have become a legendary game if only the developers would have taken hold of this lore and developed a single player or coop game rather than the shitty MMO but that is life

Why am I rambling on about BP on the LT forum? Now obviously the game can’t have a story line due to the procedural aspect of the game, at least not a preprogramed one. But what I am suggesting is that factions need not be uniform. In fact given an un-uniform society we could make the universe more interesting. If the players spawns in a society as a second class citizen and then proves he’s worth by ascending into the higher ranks. This could make for a very enjoyable but also frustrating experience. Imagine you’re a miner and no one wants to buy from you because you are second class. Imagine you’re a warrior and no one gives you credit for your achievement because you are not worthy of respect.

Then you also have the choice of either embracing this Apartheid or fighting against it, such divisions in society could always spark a civil war and thus make the universe more interesting. Do you choose to be part of the overlords and take advantage of your status or do you fight for equality?
Personally I always tend towards despotism.

But I’d like to hear what everybody else thinks.

Hadrianus wrote:Why do I say that? Because it did not have this optimistic bullshit view of the future.

The story aspect sounds great already.

No other thoughts apart from that for now. I haven't slept properly.