Kidding. MabiNovels were released on July 14th, 2016 (only two years ago), and haven't been touched since, despite the many flaws in the MabiNovel system. It's a shame, because it had quite a bit of potential, and it appealed to at least some players. Moreover. any UGC (User-Generated Content) in a game helps maintain the community.
Here's a few ideas I had to overhaul the system.
Gameplay
- Do not force players to select a main character. Rather, make it account-wide, yet the account must have lost beginner benefits (i.e. to have (had) a character above Cumulative Level 1000).
- Unlock content through Collection Books. There are more Collection Books than there is space in Aeira's Book Bag, so this would make it so players can put their favorite MabiNovels inside the bag instead.
- Having a profile section. A profile would allow players to have pen names displayed on the MabiNovel instead of their IGN; it would make it easier to follow your favorite authors; it would offer an "About Me" section, where players can define themselves by more than just a name.
- Adding tags to MabiNovels. Things like "Fantasy," "Romance," "Humour," etc. added would help players find MabiNovels that suit their taste.
- Adding icons for MabiNovels, to help make the UI more colourful. Icons could be taken from the Talent Icons, or could be something new entirely.
- Remove the expiration date for MabiNovels, to make it more like the Bard Bulletin Board.
- Or, remove the MabiNovel and Bard Bulletin Board options from the menu, and integrate them into the Traveler's Guide UI. The latter has so much wasted potential.
- Allow "Likes" on MabiNovels, and when one passes a certain threshold (e.g. 100 likes), they become a permanent addition to Aeira's Shop (after inspection by the GMs, of course).
- Accounts may be prohibited from using the MabiNovel system should they break the ToS intentionally.
Structure
- Improve the "Save Draft" option so that it actually works, and that it doesn't lock dialogue out of nowhere.
- Allow CGs from the Generations, as well as item icons, to be used for MabiNovels.
- Restructure the Locations and Actors lists so that they are either alphabetical, or divided into sub-folders.
- [WIP] Allow players to integrate their own pictures into the MabiNovels, to allow a greater range of options. [I am aware that some players will act like 10-year-olds and abuse this.]
- Allow MabiNovels in two formats. One, the classic Digital Novel format, and the other, the in-game book format for actual novels.
- Allow actions (e.g. the appearance of a new character) without forcing them to be the one speaking.
- Allow a third character in the center, for group discussions.
- Allow characters' names to be altered to the author's liking.
- Add a new system where you can create character CGs. This could be used for more than just MabiNovels, but also for everything else in the game. They would have to add art for various clothes, faces, hairstyles, and more, but by combining them together, players can create (somewhat limited) character CGs.
Any other ideas or constructive comments are welcome.
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