Harvest Moon: Online

If you're not familiar with the Harvest Moon video game series and want to know more, click here. Basically, the game is an RPG Farming Sim, and it's a lot more fun than you'd expect.

Harvest Moon: Online does not exist. If it did, I'd have a link to it...and I'd probably be playing it :D The following is how I'd like to see Harvest Moon done, if it was ever made into an MMO game.

Like all MMOs, at the start of HM:O you create your avatar. But before you begin playing you're presented with a choice: Do you want to play HM:O as an MMO Farming Sim? Or do you want to play it in the more traditional MMO vein, a la WoW, EQ, WAR, LOTRO, etc?

Cast your mind back to the first Dungeon Siege game. You began life as a farmer, and when you entered the game your farm was being attacked by the Krug. So you grabedb a nearby pitchfork and drove them off. You then set out into the world to become a mighty hero.

But imagine if you'd been able to choose to stay on the farm, remain a simple farmer, and just work the land.

That's HM:O in a nutshell.

Some people want to be the Hero, others are more the stay-at-home type. HM:O would give you that choice.

So your first choice is whether you want to be a Hero or a Farmer (unlike typical MMOs, in HM:O a Farmer is not necessarily a bad thing ;)

If you choose to be a Hero, you're plopped down into the world where you can join up with other like-minded souls, go out, slay monsters, obtain shiny armor and powerful weapons, become a Hero, etc.

If you choose to be a Farmer you'll be presented with a second choice.

Where do you want to "build" your Farm?

You'll be shown a map of the game world. That's a real map, where you'll see existing farms being managed by other players, etc, along with all possible locations in each zone. Naturally most of the prime locations will already be taken if you're coming in late, but, HM:O will have a tax/upkeep system in place so if you stop playing for a while you'll lose your farm, thus making your plot of land available for other players.

If you're a regular Farmer, logging in just a couple of times a month would be sufficient to keep your farm running and your taxes paid. If you do lose your farm, HM:O will "sell" off your assets, deduct any outstanding taxes, and deposit any remaining gold into your toon's bank account. So if you come back to the game after losing your Farm, you can choose a new plot of land (or maybe your old plot is still available) and you'll be able to rebuild.

We don't need to talk too much about the Hero side of HM:O because most people know how traditional RPG MMOs work. However, there will be no open world PvP, otherwise Heroes could just gear up then come into town and slaughter/grief the Farmers. Heroes can still choose to Duel each other, and perhaps there'd be a BG system similar to WoW, but unlike WoW the BGs would just be for fun. If it turns out that one or two classes are the strongest when it comes to PvP, and everyone else gets slaughtered by them, then that's just the way it goes. The designers would not try to balance PvP by nerfing those classes because PvP is just a side game in HM:O, and if everyone rolls a Mage or Priest, or whatever the two OP PvP classes are, then that's fine. Personally, I think a BG would be a lot more fun if every player was the same class, or one of two classes, and everybody was fairly evenly matched. But that's just me.

Back to the Farming side of HM:O.

Players could grow crops, raise livestock, etc, and sell them on the in-game Auction House. Now I say Farmer, but in HM:O a Farmer could be one of many different types. A Farmer in HM:O would actually be a dedicated Crafter in another MMO. For example, you might have a Farmer who's chosen to settle down on a very rocky, barren plot of land.

Why?

Because he's not so much a Farmer as a Miner, Stonecutter, or Stonemason. Unlike WoW and other MMOs, Players cannot just wander the land and mine random lodes. A Player needs to become a Miner and work their own Rock Quarry in order to gather Stone. And in case you're wondering, two neighboring Miners could not Ninja each other's stone. Now as the Player improves his Farmer/Miner within the game, his Farm/Rock Quarry will likewise improve. The Quarry will initially produce the most basic rock, but as the player levels his Miner and Rock Quarry with new Buildings, learns new Techniques, etc, his Rock Quarry will produce better grade stone, perhaps even ore or gems at higher levels.

The Farmer/Miner can then take his finished goods and sell them on the in-game Auction House where another Player will buy them to advance his own Blacksmith, Armorsmith, or Weaponsmith. If nobody chooses to be a Miner, the game itself will seed the Auction House with Stone & Ore of various grades, but it will be expensive to buy, thus players will be encouraged to create Miners to take advantage of this seemingly profitable profession.

Another Farmer may choose to raise Cattle for slaughter, to provide other players with Meat and Leather which they turn into Pies or Sausages (the Meat, not the Leather), which provide Food Buffs to Hero players. The Leather is naturally bought by Armorsmiths, for quite obvious reasons.

Hero classes cannot be Gatherers or Crafters, which only makes sense.

A Blacksmith may leave his hearth & anvil to become a mighty Warrior, but in doing so he is no longer a Blacksmith. He still knows how to wield a hammer and beat out a sword, but he's no longer a Blacksmith.

The Farmer who leaves his land to become a Soldier and fight for his King will still know how to till the land and raise crops, but he's a Soldier now, not a Farmer. He's not going to do those things even if he still knows how.

Essentially the Hero players will be relying on the Farmers to outfit them, which is how the Real World works. Yes, the Heroes can still do quests, kill 10 rats, and pick up weapons and armor (& vendor trash) but in most cases armor & weapons dropped by Mobs will be inferior to what the Farmers/Crafters can make, with Epic Items from Instance Bosses being the exception.


*Edit* - Just had a thought, that with this being a Harvest Moon game versus your more traditional hack & slash RPG, that Instance Bosses and Raid Bosses should not provide better items than what can be manufactured by the best in-game Crafters. But rather, they should drop Recipes or Patterns which would be used by those Crafters to manufacture the desired item.

PROBLEM? - How can the Hero trade his Pattern for an Uber Hammer of Thumpiness to a Weaponsmith and not get ripped off?

SOLUTION! - A Weaponsmith or Armorsmith's "Farm" could have an RFP Ledger where Hero-types could deposit their Pattern and...Ooh! The Hero providing the Pattern must purchase and provide the Mats along with the Pattern. As said Mats are purchased The Game will check if they have a Pattern in their inventory, and if so, will ask the Hero if they want their newly purchased Mats linked to said Pattern (assuming, that is, said Mats are a requirement of said Pattern). The Hero can also Examine/Read the Pattern at any time and when they do, the game will again check their inventory (& bank) and if it finds required, unlinked Mats, will ask if they want them linked to a particular Pattern.

Once the Hero acquires all the Mats and has them linked to the Pattern it can then be deposited in an RFP Ledger. The Hero will be prompted to pay a fee for the service (yes, on top of acquiring the Mats) which the Weaponsmith can accept, reject, or counter with a higher offer (or a lower offer if they're feeling benevolent). On accepting the RFP the Smith will immediately and automatically begin crafting the desired item, which will be automatically mailed to the Hero on completion. At any time, prior to acceptance by the Smith, the Hero can choose to cancel their RFP, and the Recipe, linked Mats, & fee will all be returned to him/her.
*END EDIT*

Unlike traditional MMOs, the Blacksmith will not need to make lots of super expensive Items for those last few Skills points, because a Blacksmith doesn't level his profession by making countless weapons. Instead he gains the ability to build better Weapons & Items by upgrading his Smithy, perhaps with an improved Forge, a better Anvil, higher quality hammers & tools, etc. He's also not reliant on selling weapons to the Hero players; the Blacksmith can also build superior Tools that other Farmers can use to improve their own lot in life.

A Farmer could just buy a Hoe from the Sears & Roebuck catalog, but if he wants to increase his yield and make more Gold and improve his Farm, he'll till his land with a Superior Hoe made by a Blacksmith. And if nobody is buying the Blacksmith's Tools, or perhaps there's a glut of Tools on the Auction House? The Blacksmith can just vendor them rather than sell them at a loss. Remember I mentioned the game will seed the Auction House with Mats? The Tools the Blacksmith makes will always vendor for more than the combined price of the Mats at the inflated AH price. So he can still make a profit and still, slowly, improve his Smithy.

Just as in traditional MMOs where players acquire more and more powerful weapons and armor and their Avatars become more and more visually impressive, as the HM:O Farmer/Blacksmith upgrades his Farm/Smithy so too would its appearance change and improve.

I could go on, but that's what I'd like to see in Harvest Moon: Online. A vibrant, living community where towns and even cities are built, quite literally, by the players.