I think you should move the setting to Irata III (perhaps calling the game Irata), it links to the storyline perfectly.
Maintain FPS real-time combat dynamic. DO NOT dull freedom and complexity of gameplay for the general audience. Originality in the industry is at an all-time low thanks to larger companies like EA consuming the market and then playing it safe with their investments, their idea of a sci-fi game is to make a futuristic clone of Prince of Persia.
Please try to limit server choice to a maximum of two in order to keep population high (in that case, German & International). Expansive server architecture allows the population bottleneck to be increased / decreased to keep costs down.
The only small development house that even comes close to Reakktor in my opinion is Icarus, a small, efficient studio who have kept their studio size down and have taken things at a respectable pace which in the long run has awarded them a moderately small but stable in-game population with Fallen Earth. They run ONE server and it works perfectly in maintaining an engaging multiplayer environment for players. This is also backed up by their game being fairly original compared with 99.5% of other MMOS so the players that they have are there to stay as there is nothing else like it.
*Don't sell out to a publisher that will jeopardise creative direction. Instead of focusing on publishers, strive to make the game AVAILABLE ON STEAM! This will help your launch more than any small publicity campaign and people will take you more seriously than with some small F2P publisher.
Gameplay suggestions:
Maintain the addictive/strategic dynamic of OP wars.
Introduce open PvP flags for bounties if safe zones stay in the game (although reduce safe zones and replace that with more powerful NPCs, enabling raids if large groups really organise themselves).
Furthermore a possibility of eradicating safe zones altogether and replacing them with tradeskill friendly zones, within these specified zones you can be invulnerable to attack if you have a tradeskill glove equipped and no weapons in your inventory. Leaving SL penalties to do the work. Ofcourse these areas should be within the most heavily populated areas to enable players to do business around one another, avoiding segregation.
Maintain the dark, claustrophobic, multi-story combat environment from the cities and expand on that. To date it's the most unique area of NC's in-game setting when compared with what the rest of the MMO market has to offer.
After playing BP, I strongly urge you to avoid tacky 2d & video cutscenes. Keep everything INGAME please.
Bring back sewers so we can jump people :D
And most importantly(from a clan combat perspective), add a few outposts to URBAN zones this time.
And i'll say it again,
..Make the game AVAILABLE ON STEAM. You'll be off to a great start!
I've been around since the B3 days and feel so passionately about Neocron. Nothing comes close, if population was higher and hacking was patched I would still play it over anything available on PC or PS3. Hell, if NC2 went over to gamigo with a re-launch and BP was avoided altogether I believe it would be quite popular now, likely just as much if not more than BP will be. But I do see how KK needed a break from all the NC associated bad luck they had. I think they will be ready to return with a refreshed head-space soon.
p.s hey Strife, long time ; )
