The Broken Kingdom

The Broken Kingdom is the first planned installment of the Shatterpoint MMORPG, and is set in Kent in the UK.

Country-Specific Chimeratech
England was the pioneer of Nanogeneration technology over the last hundred years, leading to technology that can create sustenance from scrap metal or bullets from the dust in the air. This is used primarily in Nanogenerative guns, which never run out of ammunition but can suffer from overheating. The six types are; These weapons are all designed to be robust, and are heavy and unwieldy but practically ignore recoil and can be used in melee like a club, rather than simply pistol-whipping enemies.
 * Handcannon (Pistol).
 * Storm Pistol (Assault Pistol).
 * Slugger (Solid-shot Shotgun)
 * Ball Gun (Scatter-shot Shotgun)
 * Hail Rifle (Assault Rifle)
 * Rail Gun (Sniper Rifle)

Country-Specific Player Factions
The Broken Kingdom has six Factions available to starting characters;
 * The Eagles. American refugees.
 * Eternal War. Darwinist soldiers.
 * Maintenance Crew. Altruistic scientists.
 * Radslummer Outcasts. Tribal mutants.
 * Trojans. Techno-pirates.
 * The 143 Freehold. Militant spiritualists.

Country-Specific Areas
Faction bases (blue dots); Battlegrounds (red dots); Uninhabited Scraplands (green dots) (from West to East);
 * Ashford (Designer Outlet). The Maintenance Crew.
 * Canterbury. The 143 Freehold.
 * Dover. Eternal War.
 * Maidstone. Trojans.
 * Margate. Eagles.
 * Tonbridge. Radslummer Outcasts.World_Map.jpg
 * Ashford (City Centre). The Maintenance Crew Vs Glasback Omnisects.
 * Aylesford. Trojans Vs Wilders.
 * Broadstairs. Eagles Vs Children of Ichbaum.
 * Herne Bay. The 143 Freehold Vs Thornback Omnisects.
 * Southborough. Radslummer Outcasts Vs The Steel Tide
 * Temple Ewell. Eternal War Vs Eternal War Initiates.
 * Hell Hole.
 * Scrap Fields.
 * The Girder Forest.
 * Dead End.
 * Midkent.
 * The Glassford Downs.
 * Autoshire.
 * The Gear State.
 * The Pile Up.
 * The East Kent Downs.

Expansions
The Broken Kingdom can be expanded in three ways - New areas/items in DLC/Patches, single-player DLC focusing on the game's backstory, and expanding out to other countries.

For the new areas, I believe the best bet is to expand outwards rather than focus on Kent more. London is a battleground between all six Factions and the Westminster Royalists (and as such should be released towards the end of The Broken Kingdom's run), but the rest of the country could happily be added in piece by piece. A large part of my vision for these next areas is a larger, more open feel and the introduction of vehicles and mounts, but I would like these kept out of the main game to help it feel more beginner friendly.

The single-player DLC can be focussed anywhere, but a good starting point would be the origin stories of Devastation, KarnEvil and Overlord, all of which were alive before the Invasion started and would give an excellent opportunity to show the Invasion from the viewpoints of different parts of society. If completion of these gives rewards in the form of new items of clothing, housing decorations or other customisation options, they would sell very well to both people who want more content and people who want more customisation.

Expanding out into other countries should be handled carefully and slowly. Use of a new country as an expansion could revive the entire franchise as it starts to run out of steam, and also allows for yet more of the first two pieces of DLC. Currently, I have firm ideas for France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Russia and China. Spaced out at 18 months-2 years between them, they could concievably keep the franchise going for 10-15 years without having to come up with anything new.

Why Kent?
I would be lying if I said that I chose Kent primarily for a reason other than that is where I grew up and I know it well, but over the course of developing this idea, it has made more and more sense to me. I say this for several reasons;
 * It makes a good starting point. I would ideally like for Shatterpoint to be a series of games that gradually spreads over the rest of the world, and England is familiar enough to the American audience to make it buyable to them, while still maintaining links via the channel tunnel to France, which then opens up the whole of Europe and Asia.
 * It's never been done before. The English GTA was based in London, Driver was based in London, even the other England-based post-apocalyptic MMORPG was based in London. Kent is close enough to let people think it's "near London", but has enough differences and it's own culture to set it apart as something entirely new.
 * It has potential. With it's connections to mainland Europe, Kent has the best chances (apart from London) of developing due to continental business. This means that it would be entirely in character to change anything that doesn't look or feel right for the purposes of making a better map.
 * It's still mired in tradition. Even with the sweeping changes that can be made, Kent still clings to it' tradition meaning that it wouldn't be unfeasable to have, say, a 15th Century Pub next to a sparkling new office building. This can create some interesting juxtapositions that would further encourage exploration, just to find them.