obonicus

As a second bit of input, what I'd like to see above all is space for player agency. Too often players are told where to go, what to do -- whether it's by being given actual missions or by having exposition thrown at you. So what i'd like to see is a game that does a better job of recognizing player agency. If I decide to wipe out a town somewhere, I'd like to see that represented somewhere, even if it's just a Fallout-style flashcard that says 'and town X is dead'. At the pinnacle of this, and this may not be feasible, I want a game to recognize the player as a power in the world. If I want to become king, and I have the power, well, let me pull a Conan and actually become king (or mayor, or Caesar). Sculpting an empire would be interesting, but not necessary. This ties into what another poster said, which is a fear system. I excel at everything, and in the fields I favor, I'm unsurpassed. I'm wearing shining armor from the lost Golden age and carrying weapons of incomprehensible power. I've wiped out every slaver, raider camp I've come across and even a couple of armies. So maybe people shouldn't be so eager to start fights with me.

In no particular order: If going for a D&D license, Dark Sun would be pretty cool. Still on the licensed product side, I'd love to see a game in White Wolf's Exalted setting, but realize it's pretty unlikely. Probably more attainable: something based in the Arcanum world would be good, if that license is available. Darklands is another unique videogame setting, and could be pretty interesting. In any event, I'd prefer a game with a more open-ended structure: more Fallout than Torment. I feel games are particularly well-suited to world-building over storytelling, though naturally it's not one or the other. Most importantly, I'd like to see huge scale. Something along the lines of Baldur's Gate 2, where you start off powerful and end fighting dragons and godlike wizards. To get that I'd be willing to make concessions on graphics and voice-acting -- voice-acting in particular is nice, but hardly a requirement.