Greg Street was in the golden age of WoW at Blizzard in a key position: As “Ghostcrawler,” he was the Lead System Designer of WoW and the public face of the game from 2008 to 2013. Today he is working on the new MMORPG “Ghost” and has a new idea for the old concept of zones.
What do we know about the new game?
- Currently, very little is known. Originally, Ghostcrawler wanted to design a LoL MMORPG for Riot, but he has now become self-employed for personal reasons and is working on a new MMORPG “Ghost.”
- So far, the game is primarily characterized by being a mix of several ideas: It aims to be both a theme park and a sandbox, offering both single-player and multiplayer elements.
- One idea that clearly illustrates this “dual approach” is the considerations regarding zones.
Classic MMORPG Zones and Procedurally Generated Chaos Zones
What plans are there for zones? In a recent podcast (via youtube), they delve into the idea of the “Red and Blue Zones” that the MMORPG is supposed to consist of.
Red zones are areas familiar from theme park MMORPGs. They are elaborately crafted maps with points of interest, world bosses, and resources that spawn predictably.
You can learn the intricacies of these maps and thereby gain advantages.
However, there will also be Blue Zones, which are randomly generated and promise dynamic content with location-specific quests and goals. This is where they deviate from “linear” gameplay.
How does the experience of the zones differ? In the podcast, Candance Thomas, a content designer, explains:
- Red Zones can be imagined like the WoW dungeon “Deadmines”: It follows the same pattern every time, with minimal deviations. Mobs may change patrols or perhaps a rare boss spawns only once, but the zones fundamentally follow clear patterns.
- Blue Zones are more like Valheim; you can’t just look up online where to go next. The tasks are like FATEs in Final Fantasy: You go into an area and complete tasks there, meaning dynamic events that also change. You can’t expect everything to be permanent here.
How will players access these zones? Details are still unclear here. Players should be able to consciously decide whether to enter a red or blue zone, and there will be a transition, but Street does not yet know what that will look like:
“Hopefully it will be more exciting than a loading screen!” he says in the podcast.
Project is still in its infancy, will have difficulties being relevant
This is what it’s about: Currently, the MMORPG is still in the early stages of development. Ghostcrawler apparently has similar ideas for his new MMORPG as those that have been circulating for almost 10 years: dynamic events that react to player actions are supposed to provide “endless content” and break the feeling of experiencing the same sequence over and over again.
Everquest Next promised us this a long time ago.
However, the current podcast has 1,100 views – this shows that Ghostcrawler is facing new challenges. At his former employer, Riot Games, the LoL MMORPG would guarantee the attention of hundreds of thousands of viewers interested in LoL: With “Ghost,” he will have to start from scratch again and fight to remain relevant.
