Seed: A Brief Introduction

Seed is an intriguing hybrid MMORPG/virtual world I first heard about today through Wagner James Au’s blog, New World Notes. Apparently, they have hired Wagner to write about this new virtual world for their blog. The Seed storyline is remarkably similar to another MMORPG/virtual world hybrid I have blogged about in the past, Virtual Universe, where humanity has to start all over again:

“HUMANITY IS DEAD. LONG LIVE HUMANITY.”

ENDLESS EXPLORATION OF A LIVING, BREATHING EXOPLANET

Voyage across a persistent, Earth-like planet to harvest resources, collaborate with other players, and conquer new lands. This vast exoplanet is abundant with all forms of biomes, filled with various habitats, seasons, unpredictable weather, and ecology.

MANAGE YOUR SEEDLINGS AND FORGE RELATIONSHIPS

Develop and define the hierarchy of needs across multiple characters to ensure the growth, and more importantly, the survival of your colony.

Handle essential human demands and emotional states – hunger, thirst, fatigue – by forming routines that can be carried out to ensure the longevity of your colony. These routines are carried out even when you’re offline.

When multiple characters start interacting with each other, complex behavioral patterns will emerge – birth, death, marriage, divorce, love, hate.

WITH PURPOSE. WITH CONSEQUENCE

Players will be able to construct comprehensive colonies that feel alive, with every entity having a purpose or role.

Every move, thought, or decision made by a player will have a knock-on effect and impact a colonization and overall structure of the planet, no matter how small.

COLONIZATION THROUGH COLLABORATION

Collaboration is the strongest asset for colonization. As a colony’s population grows, resources, research, and construction will increase, which can permanently impact the economy of the planet.

Players can freely construct and build structures to benefit themselves and their colony. This freedom can unleash the player’s sense of creativity and desire for recognition and power.

Through collaboration comes security. Players can contribute to the defense of a settlement, which builds dependency and forms a “power in numbers” mentality.

This sounds like a very interesting virtual world experiment! Here’s a more recent promotional video:

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