Book-Based User Interface
This idea has already been partially adopted in UO as part of the Mondaine's Legacy expansion, but the current form is only a partial implementation, and not very immersive or complete.
Essentilally, I would like to see most of the multi-use skills (crafting, magic systems, etc) implement a book-based user interface. In this model, each of the multi-use skills would be represented by a book, and as additional portions of the skill were learned additional pages would get added to the book. On the surface, this model would operate in much the same way that spells are added to a spellbook as they are learned, although there are many additional ramifications if the system were implemented in a wholistic manner.
Some of the design elements that I would like to see in such a model:
- Individual books for each multi-use skill: For every skill that has multiple uses (such as craft skills) or capable of representing multiple objects (such as the lore skills), a skill book should be used to represent the skill knowledge. The books should be generic and craftable as generic books (yes, I would do away with different kinds of books for magery versus chivalry, etc). The books can be tagged for their skill when they are first used, and otherwise made generic.
- Skill pages: As portions of the skill are learned/used,
new pages should be added to the book. This can take the form of scrolls that
are dropped onto the book, or in some cases the pages can be automatically
created. There is a tremendous amount of room here for making this an important
and immersive system. For example, under the current system, mage spells are
simply bought at the store and then learned, while ML craftables come as recipes
that are awarded for completing a mini-quest, neither of which contributes
to the immersiveness of the game world.
Instead I would prefer that different kinds of recipes be distributed to NPCs throughout the game world, with players having to seek out training for the different skills. For example, perhaps there are a couple of dozen blacksmiths throughout the lands, who each can teach you how to make different kinds of armor and weapons. At each stop, the blacksmith tells you how to make the item (ie, the ability to craft the item is granted on a temporary basis, for as long as the quest is open), and once you are able to make the item in an exceptional form you return and the recipe is added to your book. [Recipes for artifact-level items probably needs to stay on a separate track (don't want everybody having pendant of the magi recipe probably), but otherwise a model like the above should probably be used.]
[Note: with some further development here, it is theoretically possible to entirely replace the points-based skill system that we have now with a learning-based quest system as described above. While I am not suggesting such a radical change for UO, it is obvious that the idea lends itself to an open-ended, skill-based game design.] - Craft "circles": It might be a good idea to implement a circle-based crafting system, similar to the one that is used with magery. IE, ringmail armor and simple weapons are in the first circle, while polearms are in another, swords in another, and so forth, all the way up to plate and dragon armor. Then again, it might not be such a good idea, and given that the newer spell systems are not circle-based (necromancy, bushido, etc), a more open-ended design may be more useful.
- Lore books: Some lore-based skills also lend themselves to the book model. In particular, skills like Animal Lore and Item ID could be implemented in such a way that whenever a particular kind of object is studied, the notes are inscribed into the appropriate tome automatically. This can be used as part of a supllement to other suggestions. For example, the "summon creature" spell could be used to summon any kind of animal which has been lored [high-level creatures would obviously need high-level animal lore for this to be balanced]). Similarly, a "summon item" spell could be used to create a temporary instance of anything which had been studied and learned, on a temporary basis (ie, a tool or even a weapon, although it would only last for a few moments). The biggest hurdle with this is that the lore skills are not integrated into the current game very well--some skills are useful for multiple targets while others are extremely limited and weak (Taste ID is the most grievous example of this, and Arms Lore is a lesser example). So some significant work would need to be done here, meaning that it is probably beyond the current game implementation boundaries.
- Tear-off icons: Just as spell icons can be torn-off from the book and dragged to the UO desktop, the same model should also be implemented for crafting and other book-based skills. In particular, I would like very much to drag the icon for "create dagger" to the desktop, so that I can bang them out as needed [this assumes the need/desire/ability for frequently creating GM itmes like daggers, which is moot in the current game system where crafting is just a mule sink].
- Personal bookshelf: If multiple skills start using books, there is a potential problem with the number of books that might be in someone's pack at any given time. Some kind of no-count container ould need to be devised to hold them. Currently this is implemented with a small bookshelf on the paperdoll, although I do not really like that model, since it does not mesh with existing container modelling. I don't know what the right answer here is, but this will need to be dealt with eventually and the current approach is not the right answer.
As can be seen, there is a tremendous amount of potential in the book-based metaphor, which goes well beyond the capabilities of the current game system. And while not all of the suggestions are practical, there is plenty of room to implement much of the system within the current model, which would make the overall gameplay more immersive and enjoyable.