Hmm...
I've had an idea floating in my head for an MMORPG type game (or a single player Morrowind type game) where the largest focus is on change. Particularly quick change.
The idea is that first and foremost, eliminate the level grind. Any leveling system would be focused on constant and (relatively) easy progress. I don't intend that anyone would get to level 60 in an hour, but that the player will see constant and regular
progress in their character. Each time they play, by the time they log off they will have seen their stats increase, even minutely, gained new skills/abilities, etc. This concept may or may not even require a level system.
A second idea I had, which ties into the "quick change" concept, is the idea of "shortcuts". However, all shortcuts come at some sort of price to the character.
For example, you might get a "Lich's Robe" that increases your character's magical power to unbelievable proportions, to the point where you could single handedly scorch a village with a flick of the wrist. However, as a result, the character will contract a magical disease that slowly rots him away, a la leprosy. So the trade off is that for immense magical power, he must sacrifice his body.
Another example, where the trade off may be taken in a less tangible means:
Say you're some big bad ass warrior who is looting a cave. Then you find this
really evil looking sword, the inscription of the sword is, uh, lets say it's called "Soul Edge". So he picks it up... and nothing. No damage, no metamorphasis, nothing. Nothing, that is, except a very bitching sword.
After having a few hours of fun, life calls to him, so he log out. The next day, you log in, and his character is standing in the middle of a village, covered in the blood of NPCs and PCs alike. "WTF happened?" they might ask, well that was the trade off. He lost control of his character.
Quick change would also apply to the world. Maybe someone who levels enough and/or grabs enough powerful artifacts can start wrecking citys. Heck, maybe a player can get powerful enough to start digging craters out of the planet and even threaten it's utter destruction. Of course, other players and/or NPCs will want to stop this, and this uber-powerful character also has to race against the self-destructive attributes of the powerful artifacts that he uses.
So while few other players could beat him in a battle, if they buy enough time, he might be consumed by his own artifacts before his plan pops off.
Clearly in such a destructive (although there would be other things to do other than run around, looking for artifacts, and blowing people up) world, players will die. A lot. However, the idea is this won't be such a problem because a new character can level up quickly or perhaps find some sort of artifact that will rocket him up to the top. Also this may mean that staying alive is not just a matter of power, but also a matter of personal skill at the game.
I mention this because it may be a solution to the two problems that Nev pointed out:
1. Players can feel special because either they develop their character in a unique way (ideally there will be enough minute ways to develop a character through stats and skills that the player will be satisfied) or they may have found that one bitching artifact that does such and such way better than anyone else or indeed, any other artifacts can (or at least, it's the best that has been discovered).
2. The game will incorperate griefing. How better to ruin everyone else's game than to
blow up the fucking planet? However to do so, you must work within the game, and within the evolving story.
Of course, it's not perfect, and it won't stop someone from sitting on a street corner and cursing at everyone in leet, but it's an idea.
And since I have no programming skill of note, I figure I certainly won't be making this game.
