Why isn't everything role-playing? If the character has a freedom to do something, then why not design a path for the action. I think role-playing mindset needs to move away from the chat bar, who cares what words you are saying, they don't effect anything. If a player wants to randomly kill people, then fine, single player games always have random bad guys; it is the game's fault for letting them get powerful and having no consequences.
My solution:
A PvP based open world, turn-based MMORPG with permanent death.
Setting
Post-apocalyptic wasteland. Low backstory to get in the way, unknown previous tech level. Life based on towns and camps. A setting where random murderers and gangs would help the setting.
Class/Sub-class/Survival-style based system
Three Classes: Warrior, Sage, Special. Each corresponding to the three skill groups: Combat skills, knowledge skills, and special skills like tracking, stealth, disguise etc...
Each skill group has several skills.
Sub-Classes are different skill combos within each skill group. Classes can cross train between the groups but the maximum level they can get will usually be lower then starting on the parent class for that skill group.
Survival-style choice at start is between town citizen, raider, or wanderer. Towns produce what they need, Raiders take with they need, Wanderers do odd jobs.
Towns can fight each other if they really want to declare war (getting there in a large group would be hard). Raiders can attack towns, wanderers, and other raider clans if they want. Towns and wanderers don't fight (towns can deny entry). Wanderers don't fight each other. To attack someone you aren't supposed to, you would have to switch
styles first.
Wanderers can become a raider or citizen of a certain town according to their actions. Citizens can become wanderers. Raiders can become wanderers if their reputation is good enough (didn't kill people, completed some contracts). Towns grow, wanderers take jobs, and raiders have mobile camps and limited production.
Starting out/ in game world
Instantly start with good abilities (create character that isn't a retard at age 23 and god at 23.5). Single player style advancement from weak to superstrong doesn't work in a multiplayer environment, they want to you waste time.
New character skill level will slowly rise as game goes on to stay competitive.
Skills have a hard-cap (move with time) according to class.
New skills could appear (The game world is actually moving forward)
[Example: As technology increases, throwing spears would become more common then when guns are found, firearms skills slowly becomes more common]
Character creation sets random or pre-set-limits human name, nickname is free.
No magic, no res.
Any skill progress that a player makes in an area is permanent to that player.
At death, the character is gone and is put in player's graveyard menu with journal or whatever.
The sub-class and reputation of the character is locked out for a month, they have to play a wanderer or opposite reputation. This blocks them from doing reputation changing actions for a month.
After a month they can play the sub-class with all of the skill progress they made, and rejoin the locked out reputation but cannot rejoin their exact previous town or raider clan for an additional month.
The new character must have different name, and will start as an unknown.
Towns and Camps
Towns are controlled by the mayor (any class). New players that choose to be a Town Citizen are assigned to a town according to what the town needs. Constructing buildings, defences, and mining/farming are important. If the town doesn't approve of what a citizen is doing (or not doing) they can cut rations/pay or banish the player from the town.
Towns are run by players and have set rules, being a jerk leads to banishment; killing really requires combat. There would be no pickpocketing (no careless nobles), stealing involves armed robbery and/or assault.
If the character is in his hometown then they get a survivablitity rating increase (having doctors around you also increases this), going to critical condition (unconscience, broken bones) will be more common then death in a guarded town.
Doing stuff
Each Non-combat sub-class covers a lot of areas (knowledge in post-apoc would be gathered among select 'Sages') that they would stay occupied with: teaching others skills, surveying, managing resources, crafting, learning, researching, helping construction, repair and equip people, explore other areas, travel and trade. Sages would be skilled in all those areas (skill min for them would be max for others), sub-classes would be specialized but all could help out in any area, no 'merchant class' just those skilled in managing equipment and examining items.
Fighting and travel is a big part of the world. Trade routes benefit both sides if they can travel around but they have to deal with raiders. And exploring can gain riches and technology.
Progress
Research and artifacts are required to increase technology (real-time days). The landscape changes and revealing new artifacts is left up to developers.
Food and water is needed.
Recovering from a fight uses a doctor, or resting in base.
Limit on how much a skill can gain in a day + hard cap.
Environment barriers that spell death and sickness.
Progress would be based around towns, and town population is limited by food/water. If one town is progressing fast raiders would be alerted. And the weather/water/minerals can go sour in a rich town or turn good in a poor town.
World Map and Turn-based Combat
Travel is done through a worldmap (shrew traveling for hours, as long as there is danger).
Players are asked if they want to enter a combat zone (area on world map or town/camp). Turns would be faction based, so the entire town would move then all raiders, and smaller groups have less time to give all commands (so a single fighter has to think fast and doesn't slow down others). And there would be a limit on more groups walking in. Areas would be small. Escaping would involve comparing different values (non-combat classes get bonuses) and location, time units would be chosen to be put into 'escape' at edge of map and the strength of both sides decides units needed. And charging at someone gives bonus distance (to avoid constant turn, run, turn).
A lone traveler would have to travel on caution mode to help avoid being surrounded, and escape would involve surviving in the fight long enough.
Raiders and Monsters
Raiders could set up circles of cover on the worldmap over land areas and set demands: demand goods, services, or try to surprise attack (forward scouts help).
Players can ask for mercy or offer money (done with tree-branch dialouge) to an attacking group, if they first tried to fight them it would be harder and less raider penatlies for rejecting. Player raiders also can set demands to be paid for mercy.
Critically wounding someone that is offering all they own would have a large reputation effect and a decrease in the raider's skills.
Killing a non-combat class that is not a threat would decrease the raider's skill.
Cutting apart a merchant wouldn't help raider's train their skill and would cause them to lose their fighting edge with over-confidence, decreasing their skill.
So a lone griefer would die trying to attack someone in a town causing no death to others, or would die trying to attack a guarded caravan alone. They would need the backing of a town to get better weapons and skill gaps aren't that important. And killing someone peaceful would hurt his skills (grab items thou). Killing also gives one a reputation which can be good or bad.
Combined with permenant in-game characters (staying at a town under custom AI control while logged-off), and a bounty hunter system, murders would help the gameplay.
Killing a merchant hurts his town and they have to replace him with someone less skilled or wait a month for a new "character" that doesn't have a sales record. Killing a raider would mean one less raider for a month and a possible unknown raider after that.
Beasts are not a big part of the game, only exist past environmental barriers, and usually cause critical wounds to limbs over death.
Special Differences from other MMORPGs
Use of branching diolouge trees between players, making contracts and deals using ingame means. This makes turn-based combat important because deals can be exchanged for ceasefire and talking within a group during the enemies turn is important.
Player created contracts, job offers, and marketplaces easy to access.
Town communities have to work to survive and raiders fight together, that is the best way to build friendship. But there is heavy turn-around so everyone has to meet and work with new people, so new players aren't left in the cold and old players can't stay in a shell. There is much less group barriers which stagnants a community.
Justice systems are hard in MMORPGs. I don't think imprisonment should ever be an option, either they can't log in and play their role as a criminal in the game for a while or they stay logged in over night and clear time. This is why I think harsh settings help MMORPGs because banishment from a town would mean facing the dangers outside or the death penalty would be in wide use because resources are too rare to spend on jails.
" -> "<smiles>"). Then there are ban/mute/ignore lists, etc.
