My Dream Sci-Fi MMORPG

Ever played the classic Wing Commander: Privateer? Indeed, Privateer 2?
Hang on... my dream Sci-Fi MMORPG is WingCommander: Privateer Online!

To fill in those who don't follow, I want a Sci-Fi space combat MMORPG where the player begins as a bum with 2 space credits in his pocket and a rusted single seater space fighter to become a hero of the universe!

The basic options in the classic game are: Bounty Hunter, Pirate or Trader. In my game I would expand this to: Military (multiple factions).

1. Bounty Hunter: takes jobs, server and player created to assasinate, transport or escort.
2. Pirate: destroys other players for salvage, ransom, technology theft and cargo theft.
3. Trader: transports items and technology from planet to planet for profit.
   
4. Military: polices shipping lanes and govt installations, and goes to war.

Game economy has to be structured to encourage Traders to employ escorts (make transport ships weak, and fighters have too low a capacity to earn profit). Pirates will need no encouragement, but the penalty of being a pirate in Privateer was too high - instant death after you reached a certain rank of 'evilness'. Make it possible to hide your pirate reputation via identification codes (like paint change in GTA), changing ships, jamming communications and sensor sweeps, operating out of nebulae that prevent identification.

Have all members of the universe start off attatched to a particular faction, and enable an online 'democracy' by having users vote or abstain, on politics - who to invade, embargo etc. Only a few main types of global govt commands, which would start server driven dynamic political changes. For example, a decision to 'Embargo' State X would move a number of State Y's warships (where the military pilots are stationed) onto the border, and generate job missions to confiscate all cargo from ships with destinations from Y to X, or X to Y. With each successful job completed, Goods peculiar to each State (of which there would be many to unsure trade is necessary and profitable) would dramatically increase inprice, bringing out smugglers trying to bust through the embargo, or take the long way around - where pirates would be waiting! Pretty awesome hey? Global political conditions might last for a maximum of 4 weeks but be on different timers, so while X and Y are not-trading, Y might be invading Z.

'War' would lead to the most exciting political state. If Y declares war on Z she sends most of her military ships to Z's border and invades their nearest planet. Each factions planet space would have a roughly linear invasion value, so war could be waged along a 'front'. Missions would include escort of personel (diplomats) through enemy territory, destruction of military stations and fleets!(aww yeaaah!) Supply jobs for traders would be commissioned to fuel the war machine, inparticular difficult to source resources from neighbouring states; and arms and technology shipments would be attractive to pirates - such high value jobs would be 'leaked' to pirate job boards to create pvp missions. Finally persistant salvage from epic battles could be collected by privateers or even fought over. To further encourage participation, and to swell 'military' ranks, privateers can enlist for military missions.

To keep 'military' careers intersting, a player need only complete one or 2 military missions each play session and can then choose any of the others on the side - even piracy (so long as they aren't caught)! Political states could range from: Allied, Neutral, Embargo, War. Allied would provide a trading benefit (less tax on goods and sharing of technology), and would go to war together if attacked (think of the possibility, Universal War!). The votes on state changes would be initiated by player conflict (X number of State X's ships are destroyed in a week, or particular missions completed by Trader or Pirate guilds).

Pirates and Traders would be given a huge incentive to form guilds - namely, Persistent Base Creation! The costs would be huge, so that only traders or successful pirate guilds could, or would want to create them. Bases would have be persistant in the universe and could be created on any number of asteroids that would be strategically placed in anticipation of either Trader of Piracy occupants. Base benefits would include, cheap repair and technology upgrade (if available), somewhere to store ships and items at no cost, base defenses and information scanning. This last technology would allow suitably ugraded bases to view intercept job news and political developments (so pirates can discover and attack convoys). Similarly Trader and Pirate factions would be encouraged to send states to war to maximise profits and be given periodic server generated missions to provoke 'incidents' such as the destruction of a military station or civilian base, or assasination of political figures.

Technology would be different state from state, with a trading state making the best Cargo Transports, a militaristic state making the best Fighter Ships, a technology producing state selling the best Ship and Base Improvement Tech's, and an anarchic terrorist state providing the best Fighter and Base Defense Weapons. Ships would have to be purchased direct if you couldn't find a player/guild to purchase from (guild's could get bulk discounts to make this viable, also the missions to get the tech/ship would be increasingly difficult). Technology on the other hand would be spread by players as it was server released, and bought and sold as a commodity (tech codes) until it was spread globally, and new techs - ship designs, base designs, improvements. This could be incorporated with resource movements, so that manufacturers need both the code (recipe) and materials access to create those items for players.

The feel of the game itself would need to provide excitement for flight-sim players like me and enable a benefit to good dogfighters, but also give non-sim players an option - automated turrets and employing escorts. Gorgeous graphics of course, ala Eve or X3. But unlike Eve, there must be a 'planetside' feel, not just one industrial space station interior after another. Privateer created authentic stereotyped feels for each planet (industrial, university etc) and this was possible by the small exterior pics and the necessity to travel planet side to Bar's or Commodity markets to gain access to missions or items respectively. This would be upgraded to a small 3d engine where players would run about in 3rd person and be able to chat.

Reputation would be important, and despite the masses of information available, it musn't be made instantly available - to encourage exploration and deception!
"He's using a scan blocker..."
"Means he's a car thief. Blast him!" The Fifth Element
This is what we're trying to achieve. All players can fire on anyone, but it affects their reputation if it is 'observed'. Observation is made by other players nearbye, or within range of NPC space stations or any Military craft. Individual users who are defeated in combat also observe, but observation is limited to "Pirate activity in this area", this way players can get a feel of dangerous areas of the universe if they are linked to faction news service. Scan blockers can be turned on and off so pirates can submit to scans by military missions, or traders who want to hide their cargo from would be pirates. A technology upgrade could include false data inserters! Cargo scans would have to be done at close range, tractor beams would be available for salvage and for military to enforce embargos, or pirates as a ransom weapon. Nebula and asteroid belts would prevent you from seeing enemy ships on radar, and make visual scanning (guild colours) important. But at the same time, a guild colour would represent the reputation of a party and would also be detected by Military if that colour was observed as a pirate faction.

Some other non-typical mission types might include regional Race tracks, Space combat tournaments, and Round the Faction/Universe Cannonball Runs! Scouting missions to locate Trade, Pirate Guild bases or Military Capital Ships (for all factions). In all the main mission types would include:

• Scouting
• Transport
• Escort
• Combat (attack/defend)
• Embargo - scan and confiscate
• Police - scan and confiscate/destroy
• Tournament

A balance would have to be reached in allowing persistant bases and ships, while also allowing for destruction/theft of ships and components to encourage piracy/guild membership. Faction wars would allow use of military ships (5 lives) which would launch from the capital ship as long as it survives. However simple reallife destruction and theft of increasingly more expensive ships would be too much of a loss, however bases MUST have incentive to be destroyed to keep down population and maintain group animosity. Salvage to pirates from a large battle would be worthwhile, and destroying Pirate bases would make nearbye shipping lanes safer for traders (pirates spawn from their own base).

This is MY dream Sci-Fi MMORPG and if you are a game company who wants to give me $100,000 to take my idea and earn yourself millions of bucks, let me know! Otherwise this idea is totally copyright my huge brain.