Game Experience

* See Also Whats_the_Game_Like ??
* See Also MMORPG_Game_World
* See Also Game_of_this_type_-_Difficulties/Issues
* See Also Better Combat
* See Also MMORPG Missions
* See Also The_MMORPG_Idea
* See Also MMORPG_Player_Progress
* See Also Mission/Quest
* See Also Player_Residence
* See Also Standard_Possessions
* See Also The Player's NPC Team
* See Also Player Skills
* See Also Interfaces
* See Also Graphics_and_Rendering
* See Also Terrain Environment
* See Also Vehicle Use In Rapture
* See Also Player Appearance
* See Also Player Story
One would hope that all the game interupting interface interactions are eliminated. Stop Time usually does not 'work' within a MMORPG.
--- --- --- --- ---
Game Depth Beyond What You Can See ( While You Are Busy Shooting Everything In Sight ) :
Is it Too Much to ask for a story that is Cohesive and not full of Contrivances ... Gibberish story is all that is really needed for merely a 'Shooter' game (QED). 
ELEMENTS WHICH NEED HANDLING :
:: Quality : That takes alot of work, and it is possible (an excuse) that for Infinite BS they kept redesigning what the game was finally to be, and eventually did not have the time/resources/money to do the proper job (after retreating from things they simply couldn't implement). 
:: The Slaughtering part of game : well that gets first priority, as that is what sells a majority of Players on the game, but if the reviewers called it 'average' (their euphemism for 'bad') it would be a flop. Fortunately for the company they could sell this game on its Brand Name, and it sort of got by with combat less interesting than the previous game's. 
:: There IS the Pretty Scenery, which really adds little to the gameplay, check. 
:: Avoid Preposterous 'science', 'religion', 'historic society' ... not really what I would call BioShock (which tried to be well based on its nostalgia period for its background). 
:: That by-now-expected 'Twist' ending to all the linear choreographed 'story' stuff, and a few other special scenes -- They only had to be made to work sufficiently (they ditched alot of more-complicated plot/story inter-weavings/interactions they previously pretended the game would include).
So "Let the Buyer Beware". If Players could get more refunds these days, you might not see so much dodgy stuff like Infinite BS, being produced/sold.
The MMORPG would have to do much better than this.
--- --- ---
What The Rapture MMORPG Game Would Be Like to Play :
* MMORPG Setting and Context
* The World
** New Rapture City Center (a glimpse of what Rapture once was in its Golden Age)
** The Ruins
FPS interface :
* Alot more objects to manipulate
* Deformable Scenery NPCs controlled by player
* Task control
Activities :
* Communication
* Fabrication (crafting)
* Weapons Training
* Tools
* Slaughterfest Game Element
One CRITICAL thing that needs to be enforced (and justified somehow) is that what one Player builds CANNOT be destroyed by another Player, nor objects stolen to fix THEIR own projects.  Entropy will slowly deteriorate things, but sabotage should not be allowed -- no Griefing, which has ruined so many MMORPG games before.
Players Character - Player_Activities
Roleplaying - Splicer_Play 
--- --- ---
Experience What 'Ruined' Means :
Player goes into a long-past flooded city section to salvage and possibly to survey the damage for reclamation.  Flooded areas :
* All the lights/utilities are out - darkness except for faint light from surviving windows.
* Jammed doors, rubble blockage, warped floors, false ceilings/walls collapsed/eroded.
* Any flood long ago swept out contents into a jumble with alot of the less durable objects broken or severely damaged or rotted. 
* Water damage more than some peeling wallpaper and corrosion.
* Sealed sections behind safety bulkheads to protect from Sea Pressure - Water filled areas would need deep-sea diving equipment.
* Fire damage, pilfering, neglect.
--- --- ---
CREATIVE PART OF MMORPG :
Creating Assets for the World
Helping other people create stuff - The Creation Community
Story Telling
Game_Editing_Tools
Player_Creation_Contests
-
IN-GAME Majority of Players Placing things within the Game World - including various In-Game customizable objects.
----
Not just a 'Blast-fest 'GAME OVER' Shoot-em-up Game :
For Players who don't soon learn the lesson of "Strategic Retreat" (running away), there could be some very interesting situations when they are caught by Splicer NPCs opponents, and are subjected to various indignities and humiliations  (again, the game is NOT an endlessly Insta-fatal, reload-save slaughter-fest ).  The Splicers should be more than the one-dimensional kill-bots we previously saw, and have some very interesting motives of their own, and activities and ways of handling interlopers in their territory.
* Hold you for ransom - your 'Team' would try to buy you back or stage a rescue or somesuch or other Players might try to do a rescue (some clever way to make it work if YOU don't happen to be online ...)
* Take all your stuff, paint you purple and dump you naked at the City Checkpoint
* Attempt to brainwash you (possibly inject you with rather crude ADAM products)
* Make you into their slave, working a farm plot.
* Try to use you to break into New Rapture to steal some good stuff
* Remove bits of you for 'experiments' (cannibals cant go too far with this)
* Imprison you til they figure out what they want to do with you (you having an opportunity to try to escape)
* Sell you to some other Splicers for any/all of the above.
----
The MMORPG is not on 'Hard' mode (But maybe for some people actually having to THINK while Playing a game will be 'Hard') :
The Corpse Gnomes would 'go on strike' because of the constant/endless hauling of Player corpses back to the Hospital/Reconstitution facility, and the Players would get sick of waiting to heal before resuming their adventures (Idea - a dreamscape to give the Player something to do while 'recovery' is in progress - strange I don't remember Ryan having a giant chicken head or Trolleys being made out of chocolate or giant mechanical pigeons or chromatic colors everywhere...).
Less deaths, more maiming. There would be 'situation contingencies' in this game for Players to deal with (and exercise their imaginations to handle them - you have to play very differently tactics-wise when you can only crawl because both your legs are broken and Splicers are hunting you). No Insta-Heal in the MMORPG ... Deal with it.
These game enhancements DO require the In-Game World interactions to 'make sense' ( to be close to what real things act like, so Players don't have to continually second-guess whether any solution is a waste of time - 'It just don't do dat' ). Objects should behave like real as much as possible - so than player can know what to expect from them.
More options of actions, but making the interface easy to control ( to make it do what you decide without going down 5 levels of menus ). Consoles might NEED voice commands as they simply have too few buttons. One of the things I hate most about some games is having to FIGHT WITH a dimwitted mis-designed game interface/controls, when I am SUPPOSED TO BE trying to fight the simulated opponents in the game.
----
More Varieties of Plot/Story Clues :
They (makers of Bioshock) appear to have made use of the 'Accu-Vox mechanism' excessively (in all the games),  where they also could have used a SitS type 'Read Document View' (readable closeup view) for things that warranted a paper note, or form, newspaper, or other plot related evidence for the stories ( like in a case  where a guy needs an Accu-Vox in order to report or to supposedly send a distress message )   --  "WE CANNOT GET OUT .... They are coming .........."The last message in Moria in "Lord of the Rings" 
Particularly, that might have helped IF such Game Assets were far cheaper to produce than the Voice-Talent-type messages(recordings) - and would help the game by adding more varied/interesting bits of Clues ( and such ) to flesh out the settings/plotlines more.  
The backstory tidbits ARE an important element of the game, and having many more of them (done properly) would be an improvement.  Old newspapers blowing forlornly in the ruins would also have made alot mores sense than someones private Accu-Vox 'thoughts' being found again and again in weird places   (Found strangely in the right order, in your path, to lead you down the BS1 deceptive Plot 'Twist' path. 
Imagine if you had got an Audio Diary about Fontaine being a sociopath at the start of BS1 --- How it might have made it a better Psychodrama,  as you listened to his lies KNOWING they were lies ... )
For this MMORPG, with its massive use of 'Player Created Assets', it is actually simpler to use more 'document' form clues/story-details rather than producing 'Voice Talent Assets' for everything.
----
== We Will Rebuild It : ==
In-Game - You get a mailbox(Pneumo kiosk)/Phonebooth put in/restored nearby and that location might become a hangout for NPCs looking for work ( that you might 'hire' for your projects ). Soon other players start adding/restoring more businesses in that area and it becomes a source of many convenient services to handle normal 'needs'. ( NPC 'needs' don't have to be overly elaborate to be part of the game mechanism/simulation. But it gives the NPCs reasons for being certain places and doing certain things when you are there to see them ).
---
Interlocking Game Economy - We No Need No Fake Loot Economy ...
Of course in Rapture you need to consider WHERE the hotdogs come from that this Hotdog Stand will sell. That ties into other City systems (food supply) which may start out as rudimentary 'fish' (the SPAM/Beef-E ran out long ago) coming from the municipal dock, and some server-run NPCs providing that basic raw material.  But Players can create new sources ( asset creation templates spell out the limits to all this ) manufacturing/fabrication/production/conversions, and suddenly 'rats' are in high demand for a while ( Old joke about NEVER EVER going into the back of a sausage factory ... ) until some other source of protein is available OR some clever fellow figures out how to make fish taste like hotdog meat.
 Rebuilding is the Goal - New Rapture : 
The City will be 'organically' rebuilt (and used) by the Players who extend their own infrastructure (often cooperatively) via Tasks/Mission they can originate or contract for (and will apply their own controlled resources to).  Thus, the 'Game World' (simulation the Players play within) would grow as a result of Players actions -- something few MMORPGs have accomplished to any significant extent.  
Interlocking 'required' parts of the economy/institutions grow up with them, as things in New Rapture get put back together.  It will be important that critical basic resources be made available from the Game Startup Phase by the (default) Company run 'core' economy, so that lack of Player interest does not wreck the whole symbiotic system.  Again, this system does NOT have to be horribly complicated ( It is based largely on those 'needs' of the people(NPCs) 'living' in the City ).
--- --- ---
Fallen is Babylon, and It Cant Get Up !! ...
One advantage we have in this genre is that the 'people' can always fall back on very minimal 'needs' material-wise and social-wise -- As that's what they did for so many years as Splicers since Rapture fell apart ( We don't have to pretend to maintain the complex institutions of a medieval city -- as you might in any semi-realistic simulation of so many MMORPG games ).  WE CAN fall back on scrounging and squatting in wreckage if we choose ( or may need to if Players (for a while) cannot figure out what needs to get done on the road back to civilized living ---  some players might even CHOOSE to do so ).
--- --- ---
WE Need To Lower The Body Count :
Fewer Deaths in the Game ...
The Genocide I've SEEN perpetrated in some MMORPGs is quite strange for a normal human being. When the gamemakers cannot provide decent opponents which have plausible tactics and strategy, they simply use numbers which you shoot down as if you were in a shooting gallery. I think (seriously) when I played "Lord Of The Rings Online", that I killed/slaughtered more Orcs in Middle Earth than were seen in all the "LotR" movies all put together (including the Hobbit Trilogy). That's not including the Continents of wildlife I exterminated along the way. You could have built entire large islands using the corpses/bones of everything I killed.
Such absurd body counts would be shocking in the Real World, and make some Players irreparably damaged mentally.
SO lets try to fix that in the MMORPG .
--- --- ---
== What would this Bioshock Rapture Rising (or Reborn) be like to play ? ==
The setting would be after Dr Tenenbaum found a cure for the ADAM's effects and has returned to save the people her earlier work had so horribly affected.  This would be Post-Lamb(BS2), Post-Minerva's Den, and with Rapture left to survive however as it might.  It probably would be fairly soon after the time of BS2 because with little organized maintenance, the city is falling apart all the faster.  Tenenbaum cannot do it alone and somehow starts rehabilitating some of the less insane Splicers, and with their help expanded that project to bring more and more people back towards sanity.  Those people want to live as normal human beings and want The City rebuilt.  YOU are one of these ' cured ' Splicers (one character per Server-World).
---
You would start by getting some kind of tutorial sequence to walk you thru the basic controls and interactions with NPCs and other Players, and fill you in with the plot-line. That would take place first in the Rehabilitation Ward and then in a largely safe part of New Rapture (where civilization has partly been restored).
Activities :
* Basic maintenance actions would demonstrate the repair and rebuilding game activities
* Control of your 'Team' - your first personally controlled Ex-Splicers - who will eventually do alot of the more boring grunt work for you ( you would get a temporary assistant, as you will have to earn your own NPC 'Team' members by playing and with effort ).
* Interplayer communications methods (talking/mail/Pneumo/phonecalls/etc..) and vending (and other) machines would be demonstrated.
* There will be Justifications for Players not being able to do 'bad' things (PvP, stealing, sabotage, 'Griefing' of other players). They would be explained (something about 'conditioning' that is part of Tenenbaum's 'cure' (???)).
* The Money System would be explained --- the 'Rappy' (slang for the 'New Rapture Dollar') which is based on a (BUW) basic unit of work done - probably a man-hour of unskilled work.
* You may still have some of the Plasmid abilities/Tonic skills if the 'cure' doesn't destroy them -- though it may nullify them (this is still an open design issue  -- It has yet to be decided if you can regain them ).
* New Abilities -- via a skill advancement mechanism for your Character/Avatar AND for your 'Team' members).
* ADAM has been outlawed (for Splicing) but is now converted to anti-ADAM and is used by other technologies.
* Skills from all those people 'who went before' can (?) be extracted from what ADAM is found (?).
* The Little Sister program (Gatherer) has been shut down, but they continue to wander other parts of Rapture.
After that there would be a large selection of 'Easy' Quest/Missions to expose you to further aspects of the game and the Game World :
* Standard 'go there' Missions that familiarize you with the City's Core Area, and the various known areas.
* Maintaining your 'Team' with their basic needs (food/shelter/hygiene/work/etc...)
* Going into 'the wild' part of Rapture to recover usable materials/items (salvage Missions).
* How to rescue Splicers and take them back for Tenenbaum's treatment ( a fundamental Duty for all Ex-Splicers ).
* A 'brownie point' systems of building Reputation and Prestige (and what those are good for - benefits).
* Recruiting more personnel for your 'Team', Skills for them, and acquiring Tools to use for various projects.
* Going 'outside' to survey and do repairs for flooded/damaged parts of the city ( to bring it back into a habitable/stable state ).
* Interactions with the Big Daddy Maintenance Units (who are largely the reason that Rapture isn't yet a "dark cold water-filled tomb").
* Municipal Work Projects to restore/expand production of food and other critical resources for the growing population ("Those who don't Work don't Eat"John Smith, when President of Jamsestown ~1600.).
* Maintenance of the 'Core' safe part of the City - payments for such service will go toward increasing your resources.
* The hidden world of the Utility systems and access passages (and how to fix things that break frequently).
* Interface for assigning Tasks/Projects for your 'Team' of ex-splicers to carry out while you are offline.
* Repairs to vending/u-make-it/health/communications machines (TVs, Phones, Radios, Junction boxes) and how to unlock all those Closed-off-doors ( ... lots of Mini-Games ).
* Learning how to access and use submarines/ diving suits/ bathyspheres/ trains/ trolleys/ trams/ whatever.
* Setting up (restoring) a 'Store'/'Shop' to sell things you acquire ( or eventually manufacture ). With personalized business site details/improvements to be incrementally added as you can afford them.  Learn who to deal with to get 'stock' and skills for services.  "Simple manufacturing for Dummies" - formulas and processes to make things from other things.
* Use of Want Ads in the newspapers/bulletins (filling the 'auction house' game role). Auction House equivalents ...
* Safety Systems and how to keep them from killing you (also locks and lockers - Where to stash stuff you can't possibly carry all at once)
* The Amusing Rumor system - create a rumor via a NPC and see what happens (similarly - a graffiti system)
* Hauling garbage, not just a job, but a necessity (similarly, keeping those restrooms working).  There will be alot of work clearing debris and wreckage and general cleanup to repair your new home.
* Recycling and Repair - Important in Rapture since its Founding.
* That 'Thinking Machine' ( RODIN - The Thinker )  - what it can do and what we DON'T want it doing.
---
Later you can take on bigger projects of restoring a wrecked/ruined part of the City (of varying sizes ex- a building) , which has many sub-projects within it (many improvements being optional and/or up to the player how far to improve):
* Finding/Claiming/Keeping/Transferring the section officially as 'your' project (and collaborating with others to do so).
* Assessing the needed sub-project Tasks that will be needed to make it viable and gathering/arranging for the resources/manpower/skills needed.
* Using NPC 'agents' who find things for you ( I'll have my guy will call your guy... ) - hiring 'crews'.
* Breaking into blocked/damaged/locked doorways and halls.
* Sealing the section from the ocean may need to be done and repairing the airlocks ( and probably chasing out any Sea Life ). Broken windows may have to be replaced or plated over which takes alot of outside work in Diving Suits.
* Pumping out the area and repairing any leaks ( fixing and maintaining all the pipes ) and getting the machinery in working order that will keep it that way -- where does all that water go ??.
* Hauling out any wreckage cluttering the area ( much is reusable and who knows what might be buried therein ) and cleaning everything up sufficiently to get rid of health hazards.
* Restoring utilities (lighting/power/air/heating) back thru the grid (the continuity of connections which have to be made to work first)
* Repairs, lots of repairs and replacement parts/systems.
* Making a 'base of operations' for your growing Team and where you can stash your 'stuff' securely.
* Improving the environment further beyond basics (civilization factor) - convenience, safety, aesthetics.
* Connections to the rest of civilization - transport and accessibility and communications
* Beating the place back into a resemblance of when it was originally built (definitely fix all those holes in the walls and getting rid of that moldy wall paper)
* Attracting population to be residents and to use services and putting some to work maintaining their new home.  - Accounting for landlords.
* Setting up small manufacture to improve everyone's standard of living (and to make money to use for further projects and to get those people employed)  Whole tiers of additional activities open for Player...
* Upscale (Quality) - does it pay ?
--- --- ---
Other Possible Quests/Missions/Activities Are :
* Explorations seeking resources ( mines, supply stockpiles, industry, farms, ocean floor ) and relinking them to the city
* Finding pockets of Splicers to 'save' ( tripwires,traps,nets and chloroform )
* Meeting and 'handling' unfriendly groups of [[Splicers[[ (with 'Bosses') who need to be kept away from the growing normalcy.
* Dealing with Surface 'outsiders' who threaten Rapture's existence (KGB/CIA/Nazis/IRS/etc ... )
* Restoration of 'The City' by assisting in (long) prestige projects --things that prove that Rapture is 'rising out of the muck' ... City Hall, the Great Library, Kashmir's Monument, the Municipal Stadium, sections of the Atlantic Express, The Zoo and The Museum, those outside Neon Signs that once worked ...
* Reestablishing the big manufacturing and services needed to maintain/grow the city.
* Assisting other Players in getting the things THEY need done, both mundane and esoteric ( do/assist in their sub-sub-missions )
* Player organized activities (and things like Newspapers that help build 'community')
* Commercial interactions where Players set goals that drive alot of other Player's Missions, which also make further resources available to the masses (and how to grow them bigger and bigger).
* Sightseeing to go see for yourself what other Players have achieved/found.
* Hunting (for something other than fish to eat....)
* Covert interactions with Smugglers to get 'stuff' ( some things you just cannot get otherwise )
* Hunting for more Sea Slugs (Anti-ADAM for the Cure  doesn't come out of thin air after all)
* Visitations to key city locations ( Minervas_Den, Hephaestus, the Ryan Shrine ... ) and some critical mission to save Rapture (yet again).
* Specialty skills development (long training) to do things like 'Rewiring Splicers brains for fun and profit'
* City Hall Missions ( some politics - probably mostly 'suggestion boxes' for the Council to contemplate. )
* Hired Gun for other peoples 'unsafe' Missions and Projects.
* Probably will have some 'Tour all the X' type adventures.
* There is always 'slumming' in the 'wild' areas.  You never know what you might run into.
* Clothing (You and your 'Team') and Decoration (of your 'base') and the hunt for that upscale apartment.
* Catching all those $%^&*% butterflies that keep clogging the fan systems
* Treasure Hunting - all those wrecks and parts of the city Lamb The Insane destroyed.
* The usual Fetch ABC/See the man X/Deliver Y/Rescue Z type Missions -- EXCEPT with enough detail and variations so you don't do the same thing 100000 other Players already did before you.
* Posse, against the criminal element ( an City authorized situation where the 'guns come out' in the city ).
* Little Sisters and Rogue Big Daddies are still said to roam the lower levels...
* Lets tear down that @#$%^& Lighthouse that tells everyone where Rapture is...
* Something to do with Desks and Filing Cabinets. There certainly were enough of them in BS1/ BS2.. ( even in Ryan's World you couldn't get away from tons of paperwork )
* All those fancy machines that nobody knows how to use anymore - get them useful once more.
* Missing loved ones, the (hazardous) search for XYZ and closure for those left alive ( ghost hunting ? ).
* Farming in all those tunnels under the city ( and who's bright idea was it to inject cows with ADAM?? )
* Historian's quest for all those recordings people just left lying about, and notes and records from Rapture's past ( "Those who don't know the past, are doomed to ... Yada yada ..." )
---
Endgame ? Does there need to be an endgame ?   If Rapture is as big as it should be ( actually bigger than the cityscape you see out the windows in BS1 BS2 ) there is always more to do (and entropy keeps trying to tear it down).  With some ex-Splicers (Players) crawling back into their insanity to get away from it all, there are always new responsibilities to keep Rapture alive by those who are left.
== EXAMPLE MISSIONS : ==
Example Player Missions:
* Eliminate/Capture  the Rogue Big Daddy/Big Sister who has been terrorizing an area,
* Little Sister Rescue. 'Little Sister reported spotted at X' - Go and Rescue - Any remaining Lil' Sisters are to be emancipated.
* Demolition Job for the City - unstable buildings can collapse and damage other parts of the city.  You tear out an unstable section to remove the threat.
* Repair the Leak/FailSafe door - go fix a reported failure - bonus paid for required outside 'sea' work
* Retrieve the Body - Citizen died in the 'wild' and should be brought back ( 'Death Insurance' pays for it )
* Find the critical part/component - my X broke down and things are backing up - go get some part Y so that it can be fixed
* Information Retrieval - go to a remote location to find needed blueprints for a critical system
* Set up a security checkpoint ( with the supplied security apparatus ) - another Mini-Game ?
* Find and follow or apprehend the 'person of interest' (Bounty paid) - clues/guidance from central control
* 'Monster' in the sewer (in the nice safe section of the city) - investigate and eliminate
* Radio Msg - "You can't guess what I just found - come here and bring a wheel barrow" (based on some kind of 'buddy' relation with an NPC of your acquaintance ( probably one you did a Quest for before ).
* Investigate the shipwreck(s) for resources
* "X is sick can you fill in for him on our little mission" - (NPC group you join to do some activity, usually with some twist)
* Trailblaze a path thru to a cutoff part of the City (possibly repair airlock/docking port to allow access)
* Explore and Survey this tunnel - all records were lost and we don't know where it goes ...
* Treasure Maps - some ex-Splicers remember things they saw in their previous (insane) life that might be VERY valuable today, but many citizens aren't adventurous enough to go get it themselves.  Likely there will be some Player Missions to find these possible goodies.  Getting to it may be not easy, taking stuff away may be even less easy.
* Scout a Splicer Camp - we (city authorities) like to know what they are up to
* Help Citizen X by finding their lost Cat (reward...)
* Escort a repair party into a Splicer controlled/interdicted area
* Fix my Neon sign - its outside in the water...
* Move this pile of stuff from X to Y ( may be clearance job or supply run for construction or someone moving apartments ).
* Be a 'Buddy to a Big Daddy' - they don't have much of a life and sometimes can use a little vacation
* Section 8 squad - someone needs a little extra 'Rehabilitation'.  Go get them (Quietly) and bring them to The Clinic for a 'tune-up'.
* Odd dream you have (fantasy setting in a instance bubble created by Template scripts) that you have to fight your way back to reality from ( you are an ex-Splicer, these things happen ).
--- --- ---
==MMORPG details==
NPC 'AI' -- Appearance of Intelligence
ALL NPCs are active (they don't stand around like mannequin or follow fixed patrol paths like in most MMORPGs) and have at least simple 'live' to drive logical behavior - normal metabolism cycles/schedules (eating, sleeping, waking), Use of consume goods, can run shops, can work for players. They would react appropriately to numerous possible situations and have small activities so they appear to be doing appropriate things wherever they are. (instead of standing around).
* In crowded 'safe' city areas (well lit places) there would be alot of hustle/bustle of 'normal' looking NPCs (plus whatever player characters are there). Other behavior patterns would be used in abnormal situations (ie - Splicer in the City street -- a threat is present - run away OR a fire has broken out and NPCs try to put it out or get out of the way and watch, etc...)
* Talk bubbles of casual conversation (ie- the GTAGrand Theft Auto multiple figures walking about with their random one-liners - can be amusing (or not), or actually relevant to a current situation -- "lets get the hell out of here" or "did you hear about the Splicer in the Museum the other day..." or "Ack, the price of shotgun ammo has doubled again" )
There can be multitudes of gestures/animations used for all activities and NPC interactions (ie- if you walk into someone there is stumbling/tripping/falling down/bouncing off/dropping things). They should be used to enhance the players perceptions of a working community.
NPC-to-NPC speech/gesture interactions should be seen from a distance (doesn't have to be overly detailed) and don't really have to say much. Until the player gets closer they don't have to have much coordination. (unless they are shouting). GTA had alot of walkabout denizen smalltalk that was irrelevant to the game but added activity (appeared less lifeless than most games) and had amusement value.
* Appropriate sound effects for actions should be played (standard scripted sequences made up of animations and carefully timed sounds and results imparted on involved objects). Voice calls and short phrases, but will have to use text for any detailed conversations (just cant record all of them and stringing a dictionary of 'canned' words together always sound awful and real speech synthesis has too few voices/no accents/etc...)
* Vehicles (where appropriate) moving with passengers/cargo loads (NPCs actually go 'home' so this would be city NPCs using the available transports, the same way the players 'team' NPCs get around separately from the player).
* NPCs activities of all kinds --- doing work, traveling to/from work, in residence, looking for work, misc entertainment and casual interaction or lazing around/loitering, walking in the park. Interactions between NPCs (buying/selling/queueing in lines/avoiding collisions/having arguments/bumming smokes/whatever else you can think of...). NPCs would make appropriate reactions (ie- to avoid hazards, go into a shop selling a 'needed' item, etc..).
* There should be enough behavior detail that it is actually interesting to follow NPCs around just to see what they do. The 'Player Created Asset' system (again) would be instrumental in making this as varied as possible.
* Sea Life - various behaviors, flocking/schooling behaviors of fish (as we've seen). With players now being frequently 'Outside' in many more places and less restricted, will see more varying (less choreographed behaviors - more free swimming through/past obstacles). An Ecosystem with appropriate mixes of Sea Life (including predators chasing prey). Templates and variations (combinatorics) to cover all that outside space (with much less development work).
* Wildlife (non-humans) indoors, various vermin and animals (including pets) have simpler behaviors (than humans) but are programmed the same way - reacting to situations, going about a 'life'(even simple is a major improvement). Fills in the corners with little details.
* Bots and other machines with triggered behaviors. They react to situations and actions made upon them. Rapture's utility systems (electrical/water/air/...) are made up of system parts that form continuous networks that interact -- You cut power at one point and further along the line the power goes dead - the wire system is made up of objects buried behind the inner walls (that the player often needs to repair). You shut a machine off and whatever it was doing stops. Likewise you activate a machine or work some controls it will respond appropriately (...need at least one crane to load fish - that works...) Players like playing with things just to see what they do, so much the better if it actually does something useful to them in the game.
--- --- ---
NPCs Initiating Dialog :
Instead of annoying popups/forced unsolicited interruptions, you could have the NPCs (walk up and) gesture (some obvious/unsubtle signal to indicate magnitude/importance), and let the Player respond if they want. Of course if its important, and you ignore it, they might give up and you will miss out on something interesting.
Being unsocial (too often) might be its own message, and depending on who is requesting to communicate (and what role/social status/rank the Player and the NPC has), and what the current situations is can affect it all. The situation would guide the NPC's response to your non-response - ie- urgent then the NPC retries or escalates ( or rushes off to give that 'sweet' Quest/Mission to some other Player ).
Important things likewise might be being 'hailed' from a greater distance (versus just wanting to gossip about the weather ...) Public announcements and such would probably warn the Player when interesting things were happening (Players in lesser games tend to get their attention fixed on their mundane activities - ie- 'Bank' and 'Inventory' sorting - Almost as much at people 'Texting' today). Various ways would exist for NPCs to 'escalate' their signals.
--- --- ---
Combat ( FPS action in the game ).
* The rapid/abrupt movements of combat, hiding behind cover, coordinating between 'team' (Splicers do likewise)
* Combat usually takes place out in remote areas where there wont be large crowds or large numbers of players.
* Have more varied combat situations, terrain cover, more active enemies (hopefully with better tactics).
* More combat goals rather than just 'kill the murderous mutants' - players now trying to capture Splicers. Expect more 'running away', where you now have to pursue and likely have to react to unexpected things you blunder into.
* Enemies do more than 'scream and attack' (there is such a thing as fleeing the enemy, running for reinforcements).
* Now with object collision, movement gets blocked by friend and foe. Usually then there is also 'frontage' as part of combat where you get bonus's for attacks on rear and sides (where the enemy isn't as likely to be able to avoid/counter an attack).
* With a 'team' of NPCs assisting you, you now can do coordinated attacks (and the enemy AI should do likewise, and your friendly's AI should try hard not to do stupid things).
* I could see an XCOM like (overview) interface to pre-issue orders at least for the start positioning of engagements.
* With a more detailed world (more 'Physically-Correct' interactive game Objects), there is more potential for Tactics making use of the terrain.
The 'Wild' areas have that same dark/damaged/threatening settings which Splicers inhabit much as we saw in BS1/BS2, with Splicers lurking in shadows and other appropriate behaviors (before they see the player and then either fight or flee or freeze).
Even in the 'safe' city the lights may (should) be turned down for a 'night cycle' so that there are dark areas and potential for skulking in shadows and mostly deserted streets and closed shops. Some areas 'never' sleep (nightlife). With darkness, things behave differently.
--- --- ---
Arbitration of simultaneous Action Effects - logically (ex- NPC is under a leak getting wet when someone tries to set them on fire - fire put out by water) Much of this is physical effects and having the animations that can handle combinations of effects. (ex - On fire and blowing up at the same time). AI will make use of these countering effects (we saw splicers move to water when we set them on fire in BS1/BS2, so add alot more such in this game.)
Inanimate objects have 'physical'/'physics' behaviors that make them behave correctly when they are acted upon by animate objects. They fall and bounce and crush things they fall on, etc... The physics don't have to be perfect simulations (that can actually take ALOT of computer processing to do correctly), but show the properties of working more like real objects. (Have NPCs make use of these effects - AI uses such in its 'solutions').
Template and script driven modular system - behavior programming (NPCs inherit behaviors using role templates) Complexity is reduced by script reuse with alot of similar actions/reactions shared by many actors. Things that are common sense are shared by all 'intelligent' objects (just that they make pick differently what to do for a particular situation).
AI Templates created via 'Player Created Assets' allow great expansion of the behaviors available in the game (the more alternatives and variations the less repetitive the NPCs seem). New gestures and emotes can be substituted (if better), or added as more alternatives.
Some behaviors are not actually significant to achieving a goal for a NPC, but are their to add to the players experience. Those small scenes we walked into with Splicers talking in BS1/BS2 did that and it would be good to have MANY more of them and have an AI that figures out which ones to use when appropriate. The book has splicers sounding alot more deranged than the few things we heard/saw in the game and it requires good scripted 'AI' to make it convincing.
--- --- ---
Dialog Tree - Routine Player Interactions With NPCs (buying/selling/queries/job offers/jobs wanted)
Dialog Tree mechanism for standard menu type interchanges between player and an NPC :
* A simple 'dialog tree is : The NPC asks a question, The Player is offered Yes/No as responses and depending on the one the player picks (a branch happens) 'Yes' it does one set of things -or- 'No' it then does a different set of things. A tree can be a whole series of additional 'questions' and branches.
* Decision Logic can be built into the Dialog tree for quite specialized/specific interactions where
IF-THEN logic shifts available 'branch' options - situation factors enable branch options (ie- closing time, shop is out of item X, city emergency). A branch can have many more than 2 possible options. And there can be many branches.
* History based variations - Player is a daily customer gets different options (often shortcutting longer selection trees or putting previous selections at the top etc...) A player the NPC saw before might be addressed by name, etc...
* The dialog tree can program appropriate actions/animations/talking(with proper timing delays) to be done by the NPC (can act out proper reactions to players answers) Mechanism like this was in Neverwinter Nights Server & Tools system.
* The NPCs system can have extensive canned tree logic to cover variety of common behavior (like shop-keepers) Templates for many standard responses can speed up creation of dialog trees - they play standard animations any human figure can perform - ex- sit down, point at object,...). Players can clone from a selection of dialog tree 'outlines' and just fill in the text specifics.
* Local situation information (parameters/inserts - player name, time of day, shop name, available products, street shop is on) can be auto-inserted into text responses (to make them feel much more interactive/customized).
* Dialog trees used for quests can automatically insert log entries into the players Quest Log.
* Many/most NPCs have 'their own story' (some more extensive than others) that can be inserted as 'small talk' - reminiscences of their past life and their current position in Rapture.
A Dialog mechanism on the client should do preloading of assets from disk (sound effects/animations) to minimize hesitation when rendering/playing (its a predefined set that may be soon needed, so they can be loaded well ahead of time when the dialog is initiated).
NPC interactions with players include manipulations of props/objects in the situation (ie- ringing up purchase on cash register, handing over product to buyer, walking over and pointing out objects (stage direction type scripting is alot simpler for non-programmers to make work)
--- --- ---
Social Interactions - Feeling Like You Are Part of a Society : 
Walking in the streets - collision detection done (I dislike having objects walk thru each other, unless they are ghosts). NPCs will avoid each other and most places have a 'keep right rule' (except on the UK servers). NPCs will attempt to not be rundown by vehicles (largely by staying out of the track areas, but moving out of way when needed).
NPC shop vendor as mentioned above ^^^ (Dialog Trees, etc..) and some shortcut 'simple' interfaces like Display Cases to select purchase items and Priceboards (that do the same thing and offer quickly perused lists of items to buy or sell).
Effects of players 'prestige' -- difference responses from some NPCs to show deference or recognition of the players benefiting the community. There would likely also be a advancement 'ramp' for prestige that makes additional things in the game accessible -- city resources (sub rides/access to areas/bureaucrats that aren't as slow), different missions (built reputation), more/better 'team' members willing to join you, NPCs to help you, etc...
Prestige advancement should have many avenues (I get sick of quest trees and linear missions)
High Mucky-mucks (NPCs) -- ? are there any in the New Rapture that you can 'associate' with as part of your higher prestige levels (if you reach them)?? If there is a macro plot in the game these would likely be the channel. ie - Plot Explanations from Tenenbaum about coming back and starting this goal of freeing all the Splicers from the effects of her work, Missions of significance to the survival of Rapture, etc...
There can be choreographed scenes that NPCs (citizens or Splicers) act out so the player can watch (example was the Ghosts in BS1) - they are combinations of actions/animations/gestures/sounds/talk that are appropriate to a current situation. Of course at any time the situation can suddenly change drastically so all such choreographed sequences should have abort recovery and good transitions into various other behaviors. (Need I say - 'Player Created Assets ' again?? An MMORPG should not be "pretty terrain that otherwise is a Ghosttown devoid of interest" - Heh, the Ghost example above at least could make it a proper Ghosttown via a plethora of player created 'ghost stories' everywhere.)
Server controlled NPCs give missions/quests to players (enabled depending on players profession/skills/prestige).
Hints/Rumors of goings on in the city or neighborhood can be given (or queried by players). The 'small talk of NPCs shifts depending on the city state (ie- during a brownout, that's what the NPCs talk about while they try to find lights)
Attempts should be made for some consistency across all NPCs for at least basic interactions (their roles in society) and customizations (largely template driven with tweaked data variations). That's reuse of common scripts (part of this system that saves on development time).
--- --- ---
'Friending' Stuff'- Social Networking Aspects :
I've seen MMORPGs greatly diminished because the original Player Interactions Ideas were 'Dumbed-Down' when game mechanisms were insufficient for accommodating that level of interaction when real world Player life shifted. 
To encourage Playership (and this MMORPG is supposed to offer a wide range/variation of play/interest activities), I suppose there can be various 'social network' aspects (people will expect it - and it can play its part). But it should have to do with The Game, and not what someone did at school today or how incredible the latest hyped mass-media celebrity is, or "did you see that funny 'LOLCat' picture" ....
Various Avenues :
* Appreciation for Player Created Content - recognition is an important encouragement factor - and this games success/achievement is dependent on that aspect.
* People who organize in-game activities need appreciation - some of the more interesting things in MMORPGs Ive seen were due to players making things happen rather than the vanilla game system. This game may give them more to work with (and be creative with) than all the others combined.
* Players who assist other players - the goal is rebuilding Rapture, and intelligent cooperation can get more done and enable better/richer 'game play'.
* Players will create their own 'game' ontop of the basic mechanism - Enabling that will allow the players to take the game beyond what the developers expect/planned (as has happened in all the good MMORPGS).
* Recent MMORPGs have little 'Community' compared to 'the old days' and their dumbed-down operations/mechanisms/crack-monkey-panderings limit the opportunities to recapture and exceed 'the old days' in those legendary MMORPGs - THAT is a shame, and a denunciation of the current situation foisted upon the players.
--- --- ---
'Programming - Extensively Improved'
There can be alot of behavior variations based on NPC 'personal details' - attitudes, inclinations, tendencies, behavioral approaches that vary alot between NPCs (ie- a fawning/brusque shopkeeper...) With a proper Template system, these can be activated via simple control options - mode switches, numeric scale inputs that a non-programmer could easily select/adjust (or server could randomize). The 'programmer' types would build their behavior scripts to offer these control options (parameters) which then when set would shift the instanced NPC characters behavior accordingly.
Many basic 'personality' factors are held in common by most humans, so once a sufficient set of template options is available any NPC could make use of them (reuse). Some attributes (ex- risktaking vs cautious) are a specified via a numeric scale which if set to one extreme or the other cause the NPC to take extreme actions. While a setting in the middle has to be some compromise (non-extreme course of action). Such general attribute settings would 'color' all sorts of specific behaviors, reactions and roles. In combat a character acting high-risktaking would play offensively instead of defensively, in an economic situation the character would speculate. In a repair job the character might take the risk of trying to fix something when they don't have the skill that would make it more probable to succeed.
The clever bit of the 'AI' script programming is handling all the conflicting selections and complications (where the mix of two selected attributes causes a third set of result). A attribute "lawful vs unlawful" mixed with a "risktaking vs cautious" attribute together does not create a linear combination, but more likely a matrix. You would think that someone 'cautious' would not be 'unlawful' but you can have a 'cautious criminal' (like an embezzler), versus a 'risktaker' + 'Unlawful' who might be a flashy gangster who robs banks in daylight and shoots his way out and flaunts the money he steals.
Anyway, these kinds of things can get complicated (and we are only delving a bit further into realism) so it often is simpler to create a 'special template' for a particular character pattern and strongly set the actions and reactions they will chose to make in their game world behaviors. Those options themselves are controls to more primitive 'Templates' of behavior (like 'direct action' vs 'indirect action' or 'waiting for reinforcements' vs 'charging in', etc..) that control specific situational responses. Being a 'special template' anything that is expected to conflict or be complicated can have very precise logic written to override and handle the 'exception' situation correctly. Of course this should only be taken as far as needed and not be so subtle that the players cant tell the difference (moderation of detail level ...).
The 'art' of creating personality (for players to create) is to adjust and balance all the different 'personality' factors a NPC could be defined with, to act correctly specific to the flavor the player wants. That combination of settings then can become a Template to create other similar characters spread around the world (with minor variations and info applied). The randomization itself would be controlled by limit settings set by the player as to how much variation is allowed before the character isn't 'right' any more. (it does no good for an 'embezzler' to have too high a 'risktaking' attribute).
Ordinary NPCs can be largely '2 dimensional' (still a vast improvement over the '1 dimensional' characters in most MMORPGs). Even just their group interactions will make them interesting. Some can have more detail and stand out and others you just want to get on with buying stuff from them, without always hearing their life stories.
Alot of this is low level scripting work that can get fairly complex and can be extensive (awful lot of proper reactions for things that go on in the world), and would be left to qualified players for improving (reprogramming) the low level 'Templates'. Other creator players then would have 'high-level' additional/improved options to assemble/parameterize/recombine, thus allowing non-programmer players to create additions/variations/improvements for the game.
There is always cosmetic details that take NO programming/scripting at all, which are needed to fill in ALL the remaining appropriate details that make the NPCs appear right. The low level programmer includes a "fill_in_insult" placeholder that the Final Detailer would supply - "YOU FARGING BASTAGE, SO'S YOUR MOTHER!!!" (or even a list of similar insults to randomly cycle). There would be dozens of such text 'fill_ins' and even THESE could be ganged together as reusable sets ('templates') -- like a 'tough_guy_talk' set that can be dropped in with one control setting into any character...
--- --- ---
NPC Behavior Detail : 
Certain characters in the game (usually special 'bosses') will take ALOT more to make them act right. Imagine what specific attributes you would have to set for a 'Sander Cohen' character :
* Obviously the custom appearance (clothing/face/body), but also fairly unique animations (think Cohen's 'flourishes')
* His Plasmid uses (Houdini skills) obviously would be template driven (but maybe tuned to exaggerate them further)
* A coordinated set of preferred behaviors and reactions (existing standard templates for basics and further customizations for aberrations) - ie- an attack where He might run away but then drop a big flashy bomb on you (once).
* Interactions with specific 'Cohen' props and (for Cohen) his 'batty cave'... (some of those BS1 props were animated and they have their own 'programmed' behaviors -- now new ones possibly ALOT more detailed than we saw in BS1)
* All his very specific twisted sayings and quips referring to his 'art' (some unique sound bytes - like a 'laugh' that would be used repeatedly). If the 'creators' want to go all out a bunch of 'speech recordings can be made with a good voice actor.
* His insanity played out in a long sequence of 'special' dealings with the player. When at some unfortunate 'ordinary' NPC (like on on your 'team' or some incidental NPC as a 'vignette') he might point and shout 'Kill Him' to his splicer minions.
* Key Bosses aren't a one-shot encounter but are meant to have repeated incidents with a player (like a sub plot).
* 'Bosses' often control 'minions' (other NPCs) and THAT gets into a whole other area of 'AI' - coordinating actions between a group of NPCs (which actually would share ALOT of templates and programming with the players 'team' feature).
The Minions are basically 'slaved' to the boss and carry out fairly simple commands (with their own 'personality).
* Over-control of Cohen would be done via the Quest system that has alot of persistent logic/state scripting capabilities (yet more 'AI' there) to handle changes in Cohen's behavior in 'Phases' as your relationship with this unique character progresses (as you meet him again and again as the game goes on).
* Cohen could have Another set of 'missions' for you to carry out like in BS1
* Just alot of optional interactions for you with secondary minion characters (arena of death scenario).
* More of his insane monumental playacting/posturings.
* Maybe he just wants to trade something that the 'City' has and YOU get to go take his negotiations back to the 'city council' for his 'Big Return'.
* All stuff for the Quest system to coordinate.
* All of the above will likely require collaboration between all levels of the scripting/detailing skills ( including Cohen's 'props' which are not AI exactly but related details ).
Other 'bosses' might be more generic and many similar cloned ones exist in different places ( and CAN be killed, but replaced by another similar one somewhere/sometime later ). They aren't as specific as a 'Sander Cohen' but would take similar types of settings/details.
Imagine what other 'special bosses' you might come up with - this system is designed to allow you to actually create them for the game yourself (or in collaboration). Over time players would create many of them ( joining any company created ones ) and all the other players would get the fun of playing against them.
--- --- ---
AI Optimizations:
Another advanced feature ( starting to get too many of these ? ) would be to offload some AI processing to the players client machines -- In particular the players 'Team' of NPCs who are in the immediate area ( trying to run NPCs elsewhere in the city would require information feeds about those locations that are significant network loads ). Combat in particular is a (more complex) rapid response part of the game and may be helped by faster AI being run partially on the players client machine. The opportunity for cheating would be much less ( the issue of hacking the client etc ... ) as most of the information is already being shown to the player and things like 'AimBots' already exist anyway and would be protected by existing countermeasures).
The server will still be the 'authority' that validates actions, but the AI that figures out what the bunch of NPCs should be intelligently doing (especially with more complicated terrain and individual tactics) can take a surprising amount of CPU processing that would be good to offload from the servers.
With all this talk of 'cloud' computing, I suppose having part of the game system 'farm out' AI to players machines left on when NOT playing would be a way to expand the AI processing capabilities. Proper processing security would be part of the system as well as mechanisms to judge reliability ( good consistent network connections are crucial ). Compensation like a discount on the monthly or some in-game rewards would probably be needed as an inducement. Such a system would of course have to fallback to the servers only if players don't cooperate.
When no Player is there (close enough) to see, NPCs still carry out the effects of their proper behaviors (actions which effect the game world and other NPCs and players). They don't have to act out the visual motions, but the decisions and proper results will be enacted. The simulation goes on doing the economy and keeping all the objects in their 'right places' as the Game World moves forward. If the player walks in, all the right things will be in the right place and doing the right actions.
There can be optimizations to 'pro-rate' what happens outside of Player's seeing. ( ie- an NPC with a job of filling bottles with Nico-Cola by hand will have its script adjust the Game World in interval jumps like crate batches of 12 bottles - done when no Player is present to see, but instantly switch back to one bottle at a time when a player can see the activity ). The game's Servers thus doing less work (saving it for the more demanding processing of details near Players ) while still preserving a proper simulation.
Server processing loads may not be excessive for this 'simulated AI' as the scripts wait alot for Player actions/responses, and the logic (once decisions are calculated) are largely 'canned' sequences that take a while to play out. The AI decision process though WILL require more Server processing when things in the Game World change around an NPC -- Most of all when a player is there to see. Elsewhere, out-of-view 'abstract' behaviors can be largely designed to not conflict and to resolve interactions in a much more simplistic way.
--- --- ---
MMORPG Needs some of Those Driving Obstacle Course Type Missions Like They Had in GTA :
They were some of the most fun because you had to react quickly and couldn't finesse the action. Unfortunately in games like "GTA San Andreas" and "LA Noire", it was utterly stupid of the game makers having the game run where once you finished (Passed) those Game Missions (in the story arc) you could NOT later go back to replay them again. )
Vehicles on Rapture : 
* Subs (not Bathyspheres as the Cableways tracks/routes make them a bit to reliable)
* Golf cart
* the Great AE Robbery 
* Motorized Bikes (Bicycles)
* Simply On Foot (difficult terrain - probably will exercise the AI as its not so much 'on a track') 
* Trolley Chase (Ryan's war wagon) - sounds more like a "gun run" type situation
* Climbing Ruins (competing against time can be good with noone shooting at you) Equipment assisted situations for higher difficulty.
Note that these 'chase' situations can't interfere or be interfered-with by other Players, so would largely need to be run in Server Bubbles - The prop NPCs involved in these type of missions are usually carefully choreographed (scripted - especially their dialogue) and you (the game) cannot rely on AI to quickly adapt to a less controlled interactive situation.
As usual for this MMORPG with Player Created Assets Missions, there could be Contests for creating new scenarios which could constantly provide New (and Interesting) content for Players to enjoy running through (with an ever increasing mass of them AND existing ones being subject to incremental improvements).
Such 'Chase' Missions CAN take place in Flashback sequences, opening up the vehicles and situations to ANY TIME in Rapture's history.
Many players might do the scenarios of the challenge while others might do it for some Prize (but lets not let it become a 'cash cow' (easy way) to get repeated Goodies once mastered.
--- --- ---
The Richer in Detail the Game is, the More Players Have "What the #$%^ Just Happened ??" Moments :
* Not a bad thing as long as the Player isn't struck dead instantly by it.
* More things/items/effects/animations Players have never seen previously ( new ones/variations being added all the time is the intention of the 'Player Asset Creation Community" ).
* More odd things happening - something new constantly happening singly or interactions of entire scenes,  players learn to expect the unexpected and to 'handle' such.
* This NOT counting all kinds of realistic obscuration of various things ( things looming out of the dark ... )
* Bad - If for lotsa neat effects ( which creators put sweat into making ) the Player was looking the other way - may need some kind of cuing system to 'help' the Player not miss significant things   ( Choreographed  Quests obviously, but how to do it for Sandbox situations ? 
* "Pulling Punches" may be necessary alot in the game due to the Internet Comm Delays as well as the sensory limitations.
--- --- ---
Possibilities Made Possible :
Ideas are "a Dime a Dozen" ? Yes, they are, and that is why I talk so much about what is needed to make those ideas more easily into reality ( and how it might be done ).
The tools used to create Rapture's terrain settings ( map areas and temporary quest instance bubble ) can just as well create terrain/locations from other places ( assuming the available assets exist - and those too can be created via the game creation tools ).
We can have the storyline take place on the surface for various scenes - Flashbacks (which can be more limited as they are choreographed) and larger surface related quests. A generic Icelandic fishing village might be useful (the nearest land), as might a fishing boat or some other kind of ship that would be in various ocean missions NEAR Rapture. The various outside-Player adventure roles of being some Smuggler or Splicer or City Agent would open all kinds of behavior opportunities and scenarios to present ( some which could take place on the Surface ).
Example would be : Sitting in on a meeting of Ryan Corporation Special Division (In the Ryan Building in New York City), which still interacts covertly with Rapture, following Ryan's last orders. You would see them talk about status of various projects and plans and attempts to 'keep it all secret'. The Player might get an 'assignment' to nullify a rival company's industrial spy who has gotten a little too close to discovering Rapture.
Even more impressive might be : Taking sections of the City map ( small ones maybe ) and repairing them to 'like new' for a Flashback in the days before Rapture fell.
--- --- ---
One Reason for the Game to be One Character Per Paying Account : 
Immersion without becoming Schizo over the more-detailed/complicated character attributes (with even multitudes more skill abilities to try to remember you have) and game situational complexity. ( If you have more than one character its is far harder to remember character specifics ).
Responsibility - No Jeckle and Hyde (Griefers type Players with) sets of characters that prop-up/fund the bad behavior of the their other 'troublemaker' character (constant 'punishment'/consequences will cripple characters advancement - So no "insta-killers" possible in THESE game mechanicsI've seen some MMORPG games largely ruined because the game company did NOT bother to fix easy loopholes that made bad behavior VERY EASY TO ABUSE - Stupid/Moronic on their part because of the numbers of players that quit over many years time - over THIS issue.Problematic players will get stuck cleaning out sewers til they quit or wise up).   If you behave like you are a sociopath, you are treated like a sociopath (in MMORPG Rapture) ...  The possible 'Griefers' impact on other Players will be minimized/eliminated.    Players will be inventive (as always), but they wont be given any opportunities to ruin the game for others.
--- --- ---
There And Back Again - A New Rapture Citizen's Journey :
Along with the Player's Map System ( For this Rapture you need pretty good '3D' map visualization and a pathfinder mechanism to point the obvious ways to get to places you want to go without constantly getting lost ), Another good feature would be : 
Auto-Walk, which would take you ( without constant 'guiding every step' control manipulations ) along a selected path to a mapped/pointed destination.   Player can do other things simultaneously ( saving playtime ).   Collision avoidance  being built in (which you KNOW some Player will attempt to amuse themselves by trying to manually frustrate - so will have to handle that ... maybe part of some general system to handle 'impolite' Players -- waking up in a alley gutter with half your stuff stolen by bums might dissuade many of those 'impolite' people to desist .)
Your 'Team' NPCs also do their own navigation, and can get to places you need things done, by themselves  ( and Skills effect how good they are - particularly out in less organized 'Ruins' areas ). 'Getting Lost' can happen.
Obviously you should have trouble navigating to places (or taking paths) you do NOT know about, or haven't been to.  Discovery of your environment and all the interesting nooks and crannies (and with constant potential changes - unlike in most MMORPGs) is part of the game's interest.   Similarly, new paths can open up as your character/Avatar advances, sometimes requiring the right equipment and knowhow (ie- You don't get access to a Diving Hard Suit your first day, and you certainly wouldn't know how to use it).
----
Its All Pressing In On Us :
Bring back the 'Atmospheric' effects they abandoned in the original BioShock (mentioned in concepts interviews).  You can do alot (game effect-wise) with visibility obscuring mists (and sounds .. muffling, etc ...) and light beams thru dark spaces and such.  People living at 20 atmospheres of pressure ?? ( Splicers only could ... ) -- It might be a strange place to visit (AND if open to the ocean, the pressure varies quite a bit in just a few dozen feet difference of water depth)
As mentioned elsewhere, there might be some odd sections in the city which are NOT at the standard (Sea Level 14 psi) air pressure, and we want Missions where the Player gets 'suited up' in Hardsuit (along with going out in the ocean in them).  Breathing gear can be needed elsewhere, as the air in many places isn't very good for you - being stagnant, or contaminated  or having the oxygen gone because of a fire, etc ...
--- --- ---
DON'T WASTE THE PLAYERS TIME :
Mundane repetitive MMORPG stuff -- "Lets catch and cook 100 fish to sell them for a pittance, so you can level up and cook 100 virtually needless soy patties next ... (Before you can make the ultimate food on the fabrication skill ramp that nobody really needs in the game anyway) ..."
Unneeded travel through routine terrain (allow Players to do other activities, while their Avatar moves to their routine objective).  There won't be any 'Teleporting' around the map as a shortcut, as many MMORPGs have.  If Players have gone through 'all the work' to Create most of the Game World, you won't be skipping past it (Its the journey, etc... )
Have many 'idiot-proof' useful interface tools to pre-organize things the Player deals with routinely (nothings worse than a 3-deep menu selection interface to do the same idiotic grind task every one of a repeated 100 or 1000 times).
Automatic Actions/Tasks/Activities done by NPCs (Doing useful stuff - making their own low level (logical) decisions to carry out orders/policies) Kind of a little RTS element then ...
Something of possible interest anywhere you look (or there to find) -- So don't automatically ignore it.  
--- --- ---
Handy Hands :
Game Controls to allow more lifelike Picking Up/Carrying/Throwing/Placing Objects - Probably a weapon 'hand' mode to remove/free weapon from hands (a manipulation mode). Pulling Objects out of the way, moving objects, pushing objects, throwing objects ... would all be part of the expanded interactions Players would be able to do. Stacking objects to climb to reach things (but not too tedious like some games with this feature that made you endlessly do this ...). A variety of tool actions would be logical - Crowbar prying things, shoveling rubbish (do it a little and then have your 'Team' NPCs do the rest of the tedious work, chopping thru walls with Axe or Pickaxe, manipulating a block and tackle ...
--- --- ---
You Either Solve the Puzzle or Don't. There Is No 'try'.  - Yoda (Is That A Czechoslavakian Name ??)
Puzzles in the MMORPG game (some actually quite tough) would have to have solutions scrambled/different with sufficient combinations to thwart online listings of all the Puzzle Solutions - Players cannot/should-not look up Solution on Internet. The Players would have to use their own know-how and problem solving skills to gain the puzzle's reward.   Procedural Programming and a proper modular game system makes that not too hard (more a matter for Player imagination to come up with all the many alternative factors).  
Seriously - imagine the replayability they might have had in BS:Infinite if it wasn't such a "lead by the nose" closed path with such static events and props.  Freedom of even just that Skyline they showed in the early trailers would have been a major improvement ... c'est la gare .  The best laid plans of Mice and Men get Botched.  (Tell me again about the Rabbits George !!!).
--- --- ---
The Machines, the Machines, They Taunt Me !!! :
ALL of the machines in the MMORPG would be damageable.  It would make it more important to not fight near one (or certain ones).  But then, Players also would have broader Skills/Abilities repairing them. There would also be a wider range of possible damage and side-effects (they also have certain value IF you can manage to move them back to civilization).  With a general lack of maintenance, it might be rare to find an undamaged machine out in The Ruins, and/or an exposed one that still had anything valuable in it (unless someone was maintaining the machine as some Factions did - They also might repurpose them).  
It was simply SOLO game play requirement loopholes that some Vending machines could be damaged and others could not (actually that did alot to 'dumb down' the game -- if useful machine HAD been able to be damaged it might require you to THINK more).
Hacking/repairs are in real-time so watch-out what might be creeping up on you while your attention is focused on that activity ...
--- --- ---
MMORPG - Try to Leverage Symbiosis Between Players :
Where what one Player does helps give other Players a better game experience.
The outside-of-game Player Asset Creation is part of this, where the product of one Player's creating something for the game can give an expanded experience to thousands of other Players.
In-game use of old and new Player Created Assets - through the development of the City - Players see other Players have/do things that they didn't realize they could also do (and in their own way ... often creatively). New things to constantly look at and play with ... Customizations (Object interaction as well, combinations becoming more than what they are singly).
Various 'human interest' content - Rapture themed back-story infused everywhere. Lots of references to Canon/Lore. Imagination of magnitudes more people than a few game writers.
Discoveries in the Terrain (clues) can lead to additional new places to visit. Repairing City Infrastructure changes the environment and can make possible further City improvements and expansion (the games terrain/object system is flexible enough for this). The City actually changes as the Players live in it (often seeing things THEY THEMSELVES helped rebuild/improve).
-
Want to wreck someone else's in-game improvement ? Then the City's NPC Citizens will 'Beat the Shit Out of You'(tm), and THEN you can spend some long time in a hospital bed immobile listening to your bruised head buzzing and your skills atrophying. Sufficient of your hard won possessions would be auctioned off to pay for the damages you caused (or maybe just looted and any tools you used to do the damage would be confiscated). Eventually you might learn that YOU are no longer a half-insane Splicer -- so stupid sociopathic behavior won't be tolerated.
--- --- ---
Rocket Spear Fun ... Physics in the game :
I do like the amusing Physics Effects in the Solo BioShock games, and would have them be expanded (especially if just about everything in the game 'World' is now an independent object). You would want to avoid network delays between activation/actions/effect, which would require close coordination between the Player's Client (which originates the physics effects, trajectories, collisions), the Server, and other Players Clients (to echo closely what was shown on the original Players screen - the delay is less noticeable to the secondary observers).
Doing the processing on a Client does open up the problem of hack/cheating (having the Server do post-validation before posting permanent results is usually the way to thwart that).
All the interactive Objects which would be in this game by themselves may have alot of people playing. Good, easy-to-use controls for all these manipulations will be required - that's a 'tall order' in itself to do (alleviating the companies cost of Assets would make more money/effort available to do that).
--- --- ---
Duke Nukem Forever Object Activations :
Example of what it is like for a game to have many more interactive Objects  (activatable by the Player) even though that game was still a magnitude fewer than this MMORPG would have.    Many are just incidental for amusement, but could be more useful for a variety of activities. NPCs would also make use of them, and be seen to make use of them. A great deal of such objects' added Attributes mark them with what utility they have for Physics and generalized NPC AI behaviors to make use of).  Lots of detail everywhere to get rid of the 'Pretty Desert' most games (including Infinite BS) are.
In that other ("Duke Nukem" 2011) game, having the many Objects react more the way they did in BioShock (actions leaving animated marks/effects/blemishes/dents/burns/cracks/chips)  would have improved the feeling of the game much more.
Future games will have much greater graphics capabilities (and more capacity in general) - A good thing because games like this Rapture Reborn MMORPG will need THAT to present much more detailed scenes/actions/stories.
--- --- --- --- ---
MMORPG IDEAS Pushing The Envelope :
---
Creepy Idea - YOUR OWN FACE IN THE GAME :
(Common 3D recording & customization is just a little ways off in consumer products - ie- for the growing 3D Printing Products ...)
For system capacity leveling (SCL) : Can be viewable ONLY by you (you can import 'friends') - What you show on YOUR Game Client is your business.
Possible feature is putting faces on any/all NPCs. Issue with copyrighted faces ?? Such WONT be distributed via the company game service. Celebs ... (But what the Player does on their own system ???? Not the same thing ...) 
Unfortunately the 'talking face' 3D Geometries get screwed up by this, and modifying standard Templates might take more development work than most Creator Player are willing to do for very many of such Assets (even with Templates and Tools designed to ease the task : "Face Stretcher" tools to 'take a photograph/graphical image and 'rig' it to an adjustable 3D head mesh -- Easy to do wrong and create truly monstrous (wrong looking) faces - Which might be good/fine for Splicers, but NOT for 'Cured' Citizens ...).
Or for the (Player) Extroverts : as Assets for your AVATAR or one/more of you 'Team' NPCs. 
--- --- ---
OPTION - Quest Mode Simple/Full Story :
Might keep some portion of Players happier if long detailed backstories for quest/missions can have a short simpler version and a long version for their descriptive storyline. Likewise, the choreographed 'staged' play-acting can be more than some Players will care for. So allowing a 'cut down' version of the descriptions and fabricated cutscene-like machinima play stuff would be a useful feature. Some Players just want to get to the Action, and just need the basics of the situation, while other will want to hear the full story. It might be possible to have an additional reward for those ready to sit thru the full 'long' form (as the Player Creators actually went to the trouble of crafting it). Generally, missions/quests wont be able to be run more than once (which is different from typical MMORPG practice of allowing multiple attempts) so there wont be the 'bypass' that many games use to eliminate long tedious sequences the Player has already seen. Of course, there also is the text 'log' entries that describe the current quest(s) in sufficient detail the Player can get reminders from.
--- --- ---
Chase Scenes - For Game Missions :
With somewhat better AI tactics for opponents (Splicers), who will run away and try to lose you in the ruins, or lead you into a trap. Where you have to (learn to) use your abilities to maneuver and follow their trail, and actually be observant of the situations you pass through. (And you might not always catch them.)
Vehicles can operate in some parts of the City (ie- motorized bicycle chase scenes !!! ...)
In reality alot of those stair 'steps' on main throughfares wouldn't be there (reality/convenience trumps 'dressing up' a game to look less plain, in the real world.)
The traversed terrain would be simplified as attempting to show high Detail views of main MMORPG would lag too much. (This was the problem they couldn't solve in Infinite BS when they CUT what would probably be the most awesome part of the game - the Skyline movement/chase/fights within the full city (and not just some lame circular track within one map level). You need a special game mode for this (even with several years worth of GPU advancements) and they apparently discovered that late (or didn't care and just showed stuff in the Trailer/E3 Demos they never really intended to BE in the game).
--- --- ---
A Big MMORPG Improvement :
Problem with MMORPGs and 'Finesse' type adventures is interference (even by mere presence) of other Player characters (ie- those not in the involved adventure party).
* Triggering enemies when stealth is being employed or of mechanism that are part of the Mission sequence
* Taking of undeserved Loot or Quest items or Clues
* Ringers who help too much and affect the challenge of the Mission.
* Distractions of all kinds when concentration is required to follow plot subtleties
* Causing lame 'waiting in line' for the Mission to "Reset" (and the resulting 'camping')
So the Create On-The-Fly , Mission (Server) Bubbles (independent terrain partition) with controlled access for unwanted/unneeded interference stop that, and allow better control by the Mission scripting of the situation.
--- --- ---
Bunny Slope MMORPG Rapture :
Casual Players or Sight-seers - Some significant number of Players want to just look around and see the sights, and not have any (effort) heavy action requiring learning too much of the complex game mechanics/skills, or do bothersome work to advance their character.
Players in this Mode need to be able to Explore without something trying to kill them every other second/step (some MMORPG games have virtually a minefield of simpleton nasties to kill *EVERYWHERE* so they can handle "Game Expansion Deployment Day" - when the same areas are flooded with 20X Players - and with 100000 Players all going through the same limited game content). Probably there could be 'escort' NPCs who scare off troublesome Splicers or other threats to all the Player to continue without problems.
The City Center is usually fairly safe, and expeditions to more interesting places can be made (and retreated from). Most impact would be the Etiquette imposed on them, when most other games ignore/nullify potential bad behavior simply by limiting actions, and these "Casual" players HAVE BEEN largely Conditioned to attempt to act like assholes and suicidal. Such behavior would need proper handling to prevent such players from disrupting the game experience for others.
Hopefully, there would be sufficient things to see (many being Players in-game establishments and entertainments) and the social interactions simulating a realistic society to a higher detail.
--- --- ---
Some Players Like Character Leveling Activities (and Advancement Leveling Indicators and Point-driven Thingees) :
It tells them they are moving forward/making progress.
A variety of systems (and a choice of them) could be employed in the game (with Creator Players actually designing/creating different systems as part of the Modular mechanism). Unfortunately with only one Player character per paying account, picking such an option may poison a Player's game experience if it turns out to NOT be what they wanted to get from the game (and them having to START OVER). Online explanations of how each system works will still be ignored by many to their regret.
Marks of Advancement/Achievement (not all mutually exclusive) :
* Kills (various and sundry baddies) - Player taking a enforcer/cleanup role (there can be many baddies besides Splicers/Vermin).
* New Rapture City Prestige and City Service Recognition (opens up new opportunities as the City's confidence in your ability grows).
* Cures (how many Splicers you 'Save', and your 'Assists' in doing so)
* Business Success (NPCs buy stuff too) MONEY $$$ (owning STUFF)
* Explorer (lots out there to get to and find)
* Other specialized Ramps for specific game aspects ... "Achievements"
* Role Playing social elements ('likes' and such), Etiquette points ...
* Skill Mastery (including Fabrication)
* Historian - finding all those hidden truths about the REAL events of Rapture's past.
* Collectibles (the object variation system open this up quite a bit)
* Development of your 'Team' NPCs (who have their own skills/personalities/goals)
* Outside of the Game Playing there is the Asset Creation System having its own advancements.
The MMORPG's Avatar/Character system has basic skill metrics much like "Ultima Online" had (doing stuff advances the skill, and it got harder to advance as you reached maximum efficiency, and there being some Caps on totals so that Players can't become expert/max-efficiency in ALL skills - if they play long enough).
--- --- ---
MMORPG - ALL THE OLD FAVORITE CHARACTERS CAN BE BACK !!!! :
* Actually survived (like Ryan in an actually plausible (Canon fitting) story)
* Reconstituted (IF even needed, with the vague ways many supposedly 'died')
* Flashbacks (seeing the old days - of various times/situations/characters)
* Splicer Dreams (they see all kinds of Fricken Weird shit in their ADAM-addled heads)
* The Ones you 'Let Live' (with alternate "Reconstituted" if you decided to 'off' them)
* If all else fails - IN FAN FICTION (in an 'Out-Of-Game' presentation), using the MMORPG's tools and mechanisms to recreate whatever some Players can imagine/create (when its not appropriate to be inserted into the Main Game).
(THE real headache for the Vetters of the MMORPG about content is to decide what is or isn't Canon Appropriate for these well known/defined characters (and to prevent Players from trying to 'slip them in'). Matching up to storyline details new and old can take much research (Creators may have to submit the linkages to various details they include to streamline the process).
--- --- ---
Getting Rid of the (Bad) WTF Moments - Terrain/Movement Defects - FIX THESE:
It came to mind that "getting stuck on the scenery when you clip corners" is also something in need of improvement.  Too many Triple-A games still have this issue that leaves you saying WTF after you die, because you unrealistically got 'stuck' in your movement.  Your vision is limited peripherally and you really have hardly any sense of your avatars dimensionally (or your distorted bounding box the movement calculations are using).
* A Clipped sharp corner/obstacle should turn you instead of making you 'stick' in place.
* Running into walls at a diagonal should have you slide along it not simply stop moving
* Hitting an UP edge/some low obstacle at your feet should pitch you over forward (possibly to scrape on your face) NOT stop you cold.
* No puny Little Sister stops all 400 lb of you in your BD suit from moving forward. You would bowl her over when you want to move in that direction (saw many comments of how stupid this was in the Proving Grounds BS1 level).   Sure you might trip, but at least you wouldn't get the repeated WTF situation.
* Get rid of stupid unclimbable 'maze wall' terrain that you should be able to climb (particularly when you are allowed to in other places), but the choreographed scenario "doesn't want you off the path" so you will approach the staged scene in just the right place or so the scripted opposition doesn't have to be scripted to handle more than the your 'pre-decided' movements.
--- --- ---
Have to Find a Way for Players to Have Time to Think (In Action Situations):
This MMORPG would have more commands/actions, more options, which increases the chance of 'fumbling with the controls', when things are happening quickly.
It is simply no fun to have game situations constantly fall apart (maybe you don't die, but it messes up a Mission so that you simply have to abandon it -- this isn't like Call of Duty Modern War 4 where you can reload the same hard Choreographed situation over and over when it repeatedly goes wrong, having the Zerg-Rush (like half the Russian army) you are supposed to gloriously kill (largely by yourself) kill you -- as any such situation actually would in Real Life .... Sorry Deluded Game Players - ONE BULLET into YOU in real life and YOU are out of action.
Improvements :
* Smaller encounters (quality not quantity), more variety of handling the 'problem'.
* Static situations or slow dynamic ones (player has time to see and react and correct mistakes)
* Have few surprise popups, suddenly appearing threats that simply shoot you in the back. Blind corners, etc...  Any moron can create a Player-Killing Scenario.
* Have Team NPCs give you hints for something that really is a bad idea - forewarning, so you might be ready with action options.
* Interesting things happening at a distance before Player is 'in-range' to be affected - Player can see ahead of time the situation they are walking into (or are offered different approaches) and have time to prepare.
* Things that happen but are 'taken care of' by your Team NPCs (their computer control can ALWAYS shoot straighter/faster than you ever could.  (Games ARE all artificially dumbed-down to make sure you survive).  It is often hard enough to have the game present the happening so you actually realized what happened, let alone YOU actually taking action against it. 
* MMORPG - NOT a twitch game. It is rather dim that many Big Name Multi-Player Triple-A games have actually accentuated the latency/lag problems to feed the unrealistic expectations of the 'Crack-Monkey'-mentality Players, who if acting that way in Real Life would all be stone dead or twitching corpses in 30 seconds on a REAL field of combat.
* Opponents 'Pulling Their Punches' ('Telegraphing' their moves so the Player has some time to React with Counter-moves).
--- --- ---
The Social Game Interaction Stuff That is So Popular These Days :
Players can visit other Player's  'Team' Base which can be shown off along with their various trophies/decorations/prestige-awards/knick-knacks.  Recordings of their recent adventures - a slide show' could be viewed.  Some Players can be very innovative and others have real talent in creating assemblages of decorations.
I'm sure some kind of 'Like' equivalent could be arranged, or if that is Copyrighted/Trademarked, than you could have a 'Disdain' or 'Revile' *click* to apply.
--- --- ---
Get used to Considering Objects Laying About, A Bit More :
Stop Smashing Those Bottles, They Are Valuable. :
The value of what you might have considered trash has changed. Unfortunately, Splicers are as smart as you are, so in the MMORPG out in 'The Ruins' you won't be finding much of use in those various containers you once 'bin dived' in. Those containers are waterproof (VALUABLE!!!), so actually many would have been carted off themselves to be used for storage (and be something to be found in various Splicer lairs and other havens).
--- --- ---
Limited On-character Inventory - Players CANNOT Carry Everything (Including the Kitchen Sink) :
* Limits would be holster/gunstrap capacity
* Backpack carried weapons have to be extracted manually before they can be used
* Encumbrance game mechanism applies. You can overload but lose mobility, ability and efficiency.
* Clothing counts towards Encumbrance - bulky protective suits, armor, etc...
* Player weight can effect climbing and weak walk surfaces (you can go thru weak floor if you weigh too much)
* Guns can be used as clubs - when you can only carry so many items due to more realistic Encumbrance rules ...
**  Pistol whipping opponent
**  Giving them the butt of your rifle/shotgun
* Jumping upon Opponents or charge into them to knock them over - more options in the combat simulation
* Movement of running vs walking (running effected even more by Encumbrance).
* Everything else has to be stored somewhere
--- --- ---
The Rapture Reborn MMORPG A Monty Hall Game ? - NOT ! :
Tons of Generic (Scatalogical) Generic-Loot doesn't automatically respawn in this MMORPG.
There's alot of Misc stuff to 'Salvage', but places close to the New City center get picked over early on (and the 'spawn' shifts as the Player activity clears out areas). Don't worry, there are plenty of blocked places which can still be found all over. Lots of possibilities of 'Random' respawn of 'manhole cover' and 'vent' pockets to mix in some extra goodies. You never know what kind of goodies (or crap) might be hidden behind a wall.
No Salvage is allowed within City Limits or at Claim-Posted sites (areas which are being rebuilt should not wastefully be stripped of working/useful content).
Splicers might move some stuff about (replenish picked-over areas), but only where it is logical. 
Generally, many more things might be considered 'Loot', as repairing things is a significant part of the game. Generally there is MORE potential Loot than you can carry (and there are encumbrance limits), and you decide whether you need it or not.
Splicers themselves carry alot more than the "3 bottlecaps, $2 and a Pepbar" the other games had (Because of the high body counts, too much useful stuff from Newly created Splicer Corpses would have kept you way too oversupplied).
--- --- ---
Say NO to : Badly Made Game Terrain - Poorly Done Blocks To Player Movement :
I have a major dislike for games with obviously artificial blocks of the Player's movements. Many level designers are just lazy or incapable of enough imagination to justify WHY a Player cannot go a certain way (frequently used to cause the Player to go the-long-way-around thru the same terrain). The lamest of all are where the props are little different from those the Player can cross elsewhere, yet they block movement at THAT point (arbitrary effect of detail).
In the MMORPG, the physics engine would NOT have any 'magic walls', and it would be upto the standard scenery/terrain to have systematic/consistent VALID blockage (which also in this game the Player might have a number of alternate solutions available to get past). This is to have less Player being 'led by the nose' and being in a more realistic sandbox type world. Missions with 'on the fly' built scenery would be held to the same standards, and require the creators to properly justify limiting the Player's passage.
--- --- ---
Game Sensory Overload ?? :
Don't want to be constantly bombarded/accosted by NPC salesmen in the City or crowd sound all in blaring volume. Unsolicited Questgiver : "Psst hey mac you wanna tip on how to make a fortune?"  (for fifth time in as many hours - repetitions to be avoided).
Should have a mode that you are 'busy' to have NPCs not bother you (player should not be pestered by Team NPCs needing micro management).  
DO want some audio effects to give ambiance, and to simulate the bustle of something closer to being a city (volume slider for different categories of things usually can handle this).
Combat situations where everything 'breaks loose' at once  - Should happen sometimes, but more often shouldn't  (?? what is the threshold of how much ??)
Plot items/props/objects should not be too subtle as to be lost in the clutter/distractions.
Control interfaces/indicators should not cover half the screen (obscure the enthralling world being presented)
--- --- ---
Players LIKE 'Achievements' - What Kind Should  Be in the MMORPG ? 
Obviously there would be a place to see them and show them off (add one more interface to game and smartphone  activity).
To start, an interesting idea (along lines already discussed)  is to have Players create them (additional ones  ontop of a basic set).   They can be serious ones, funny ones, hard challenge ones, easy ones.  Obviously they  need to be vetted by the Creation Community.  'Achievements' tied to specific Quests obviously are included as  part of the Quest Assets, or can be later appended to it.   Early developers would want to define some kind of  classification scheme to figure out what constitutes an 'Achievement'.  
Some 'Achievements' may be tied closely to game mechanics (ex- Death from Above" - landing on and knocking out an  'opponent' by jumping from sufficient height...) to record particular interactions and results.  This requires  programming inside the game engine (thus should be well planned/designed in advance).  As usual, employ  modularity to streamline such programming and to maximize utility.
The 'Civic' Achievements are closely tied to game mechanics as they enable City Roles and access to various  resources.   In game activities will have ramps of character development and advancement which will tie in to  their own 'Achievements'.
There can be multitudes of quirky (but still real) achievements that payers get awarded - the surprise/amusement  factor - for many players these are of interest even if they don't amount to much else in the game.
'Leaderboards' and such (standard features these days) would for Players who are interested in competing in such  things....
--- --- ---
Avoid Turning The Player Into Manic Magpie - Like They Did in BS:Infinite :
The MMORPG can do things better.
Did it seem (in Infinite BS) like it was done more than you did in BS1/BS2 ?? -- Why have one garbage 'can' when you can have two ? (OR Just because there was so much less for the Player to do between combat sprees ????????)
How many Players would have seen even half the terrain in Infinite (or spent any time looking at it) if they didn't have to scrounge so much ?    How much shorter the game (time-wise) would have been ? OR how much more (interesting) terrain they would have had to build (Player noticing the 'pretty' cardboard cutout nature of the Terrain in that game)?
In the MMORPG, your 'Team' NPCs would be there to assist in searching out stuff (there will be Skills to be developed in finding and recovering stuff )  -- They find stuff, but don't just throw it at you like sidekick Elizabeth does. You can pick up/pry off wall/dismantle just about everything (Objects) in-game, and you HAVE limited carry-capacities, so its more about taking the right things.
Goodies should be in logical places, not in nicely spaced out illogically unattended/discarded container objects.   All obvious placed objects in Rapture would have been picked over by the ambient Splicer population. Garbage and rubble will be far more common than anything else.  Broken things get thrown away. Found items may need to be repaired before being usable.  Not everything will work or be fixable (but parts are still valuable).
You will have to figure that things have already been picked over by a generation of Splicers (note - intact containers themselves are valuable items ...).  But what Splicers thought valuable and what YOU think is valuable may be different.
No 'Bag of Holding' for unlimited capacities.  The most important thing to bring on an expedition may be a wheelbarrow. Overburden yourself and you may NOT be able to outrun that murderous Splicer.
Stuff in real life does not just respawn.   Natural actions of active objects (like Splicers - if they can be considered 'natural') may deposit/move objects (their possessions included) in the course of their normal activities (or abnormal as they drop crap when they see you and run...).  Some Splicers will no doubt make many things.
--- --- ---
Rapture - A 'Real Fixer-Upper' :
Going thru BS1 and BS2 again and I think, looking at it again, that just giving the place a new coat of paint would be a major improvement. Turning all the lights on too. In the MMORPG, with Players picking out a section to renovate, they will see for themselves how impressive Rapture actually can be again, with just a little fixing up. Sure there are lots of leaks to repair and rubble to be disposed of, walls patched, corpses and trash hauled away, etc... But those will get done too.
Another 'tourist' destination to add to the list - Central Computing at Minerva's Den ( 'See the Thinker' and and Don't forget to also see the newest Robotic Helper displays and have your picture taken next to that World Famous Statue ... )
--- --- ---
 "Would You Kindly Play My MMORPG ... " :
There's no WYK phrase taking control of you (your character) in the MMORPG. Such hypothetical conditionings are hard to create, and YOU as an ex-Splicer aren't to have been in the 'tank' for 4 years like Jack was.
Well maybe in revisited 'Jack' scenes ( Roleplaying aspect ) ... But consider there 'Jack' couldn't have been like a real person, and could only react beyond specific mission conditioning with a child's brain development. ( There would be a better simulation of THAT ).
Unfortunately, narrative Solo Games have to force you through their 'Maze' (can't have you wandering off their narrow/linear path into areas their budget couldn't let them build/detail/script). But the MMORPG is a big 'sandbox' environment, and it requires having alot of ( fully intended ) clever design and programming to see that you are NOT artificially obstructed.
--- --- ---
Methods of MMORPG In-Game 'Search' Skills Giving Extra Indicator(s) To Player :
'Search' Skill efficiency for different types of things the Player selects - concentrating on specific things/opportunities/danger/clues ( cause 'highlighted' markers in view ). Limitations for how many things can be looked for, or with what 'intensity'/'attention'. "WE are looking for Bio-Logic Modules as a Priority"... (Issued to groups/individual Team NPCs, or Player himself probably with several 'configurer' Quicksets to minimize reissuing same control/menu slections ad nausem over and over).
Automatic 'Spidey Sense' indicator ( different modes when Player is looking for specific types of things ) some sound/visual indicator that something of interest is near, but not as obvious as "the blatant glowing outline".
The Players 'Team' lackeys (NPCs) may point out objects of interest. ( Player can have Team NPCs doing searches, who notify the Player ). Preferably NOT while in the middle of Combat ... NPCs WONT be Throwing goodies at the Player - "Hey Boss, Rabid Cat !!! Catch !!!"
--- 
Search Limitations :
* Cost - The Mode operates with penalties of slowing movement and/or requiring tighter concentration when used.
* Situational/environmental factors may mask/obscure the ease of finding - distractions, etc... Actions which takes its own attention for a duration can cancel the sensing.
* Boresite and range ( other things - sounds ?? smells ?? ) - make limitations on how they work
* Tools of various kinds can assist, but have their own limitations/costs.
* Skills effect aptitude of the searcher (including Player's Team NPCs).
* Limits per individual to 'attention' simultaneously applicable for different types of things (more intense concentration is most restrictive).
* Some things searched for would have attributes of being hidden/camouflaged making them harder/take longer to detect.
--- --- ---
Turnabout is Fair Play :
You should be able to do a "Jump Scare" on a Splicer. The setup is an obscured view where you can comeup behind them or be waiting behind a door they will open (or even popup out of a garbage can).
Usually you scream at them or even quietly say 'Boo' ( When they aren't expecting something to appear right in front of them, THAT is often enough ).
Of course if you get position like that, punching the Splicer in the face to stun them so they can be tied up and led back to New Rapture for their 'Cure' might be far more worthwhile.
Of course there were endless opportunities in the original games for there to simply be a Splicer behind ANY door you opened, who might be holding a one-hit-kill elephant gun ( BTW, who hunted elephants in Rapture ?? ), but that would have got old very fast for the Player ( While in the MMORPG there may be many more such situations and for which you would take precautions against, and vigilance to get clues that someone was about ready to do that to you ).
--- --- ---
This MMORPG - A Different Game that Requires Thinking/Planning/Imagination :
There may have to be a 'Dummies Corner' where many Players wind up, again and again, before they adjust to playing a game differently than the "dumbed-down" typical MMORPG experience.
Fortunately in this MMORPG you don't get killed so easy, though crawling away in a severely injured/maimed state wearing a Clown Outfit ( or a old Little Sister dress ) some Splicers derisively dressed you in for fun ( after looting all the rest of your gear and clothing ) might be alot more embarrassing.
* The Jail - where impolite/anti-social Players are taught New Rapture's rules
* The Hospital - where adjustments are made to the Players 'Cure' after they do too many crazy/stupid things. Society has a way of 'adjusting' malignancies. Have a Mini_Game experiencing the 'Cure' Process.
* The Hospital (again) - where healing and repairs get done after the Player assumes the MMORPG allows the same contrived suicidal tactics that so many other games allow. An extended stay or quick release in a decrepit/disabled state can be a learning experience.
* Tied Up By Splicers and Left To Rot - blundering about so loudly even the dead hear you, gets you swarmed by incensed Splicers and 'neutralized' for quite a while. Mini_Game of trying to untie knots while avoiding getting eaten by rats ...
--- --- ---
Caution : Its not what you SEE in the Terrain that kills you, It is what you DON'T see :
--- --- ---
In Rapture, Three is a Crowd (Multi-Player Group Adventuring) :
A good game offers the Player the opportunity to use their imagination to achieve their goals using different resources and strategies available to them.  If a Mission/Quest is easier because the Player is Teaming with another  Player, then that's good and proper. It is also a goal of the game -- 'Multiple-Player' should be a significant part any M.M.O.R.P.G. , as the coordination between Players is a far more interesting experience than what you can get in a Solo game.   With the difficulty of getting people together regularly to play IS a constant problem these days. SO the design would have Two Players teaming to be the first priority to accommodate.   Groups of More Players, each with a 'Team' of NPCs, might create quite a crowd in the typically confined spaces of Rapture, but that offers its own challenges.
--- --- ---
Documents Are Gold (A MMORPG Thing) :
All those valuable documents (tech specs/plans, clues to legendary hauls of loot, the Secret of Rapture and the Universe ...)
Cleaning off the Shit-stain(tm) to make them readable (many are partially damaged and require further research to fill in the incomprehensible part. (( Bet you never thought you would be enthusiastically scrubbing crap off a piece of paper to become a virtual god did you ? ... Oh Wait ... ))
The New Rapture City Council is building a safe location for the New Rapture Archives and just about anything might be (modestly) valuable. You will find lots of stuff there for your own research later.
There would be Bounties on bringing such goodies back from The Ruins ... Lotsa Missions start this way
Semi-realistic 'document' Assets. Tools/Templates to help Players create them in their appropriate form and content ( INCLUDING a system of making them self mutating for Mission variability).
--- --- ---
Text Marquees and Messages - BE INFORMED :
Those Information Marquees showing info updates ("latest bulletin" ...) we've seen in a number of places (usually seen in the game indicating a security lockdown at transportation portals). So yet another detail for the MMORPG to have marguee signs like that operating and showing pertinent information -- important for New Rapture where security alerts to 'handle' Splicer incursion out in the 'border' area before they reach the nice 'safe' City Center.
Yet another 'prop' mechanism for Player Created Assets to have streaming content (the marquee is really just a looping texture that might be built on the fly with different text and with ties into a larger distribution system for the messages shown).
These machines are run from centralized offices with the data transmitted by ordinary Phone Lines to Building Cluster sub-units.
No Doubt, between Alerts and Announcements, the Time can be shown, as well as "SINCLAIR EVE SUPPOSITORIES ARE SMOOOOTHER"
--- --- ---
Damage Injury System For The MMORPG :
The MMORPG has much more detailed results of injuries - many Avatar states that fall short of 'dead' or a  simple 'health-bar' system.  So there would be multiple damage factors which effect the players action in various ways :
* Fatigue - basically getting tired from strenuous or long activities (requiring rest).
* Minor Injury - usually stabilization from shock/impact damage - can be assisted by various chemical agents.  Usually localized  (ie - you have to limp around (leg) or cant fire steadily (with your right) hand now, etc...)
* Major Damage - requires significant medical attention to repair (surgery).  Usually longer recovery.
* Sickness - causing weakness and impairment of mental facilities, debilitation.
Localized damage on body parts that can affect performing specific actions (movement and maneuverbility, using tools/weapons, carrying abilities)
Visual/Hearing impairments
Loss of control like shaking while manipulating objects, like weapons and tools
Indicators in Game Interfaces :
* Summary (visualization at a glance)
* Detailed (specific usually needed more for medical solutions)
* First person clues of your state (fuzzy vision, weaving, blood corona, glitchy seeing, impaired sound, view of body parts being affected, falling unconscious, etc...)
* Verbal clues from how your NPCs talk to you ("Hey Dude, you look Really bad. Can I carry that Arm for you?").
* Action impairment (waving of targeting, shaking hand, dropping tools/objects)
Visible Threshold markers indicating/warning where debilitating effects start interfering. Used to give a Player a clue to judge approximately at what point different injury start impairing them.  These shift depending on other factors and can be 'adjusted' thru character development (ex - Fatigue effects moved further up on the 'Fatigue' scale when you character builds up their conditioning,  but gets moved down when you have major injuries that sap strength or impede actions.
One import thing is ADAM-based Therapies ARE still possible for many kinds of damage, but a prolonged recovery is needed afterwards to eliminate the ADAM effects.  (Crawling back more dead than alive might make for a more epic experience).  No insta-heal in THIS game - thus impelling players to use cleverness and skill to avoid injuries or weight their cost/risk against what they gain.
This all requires careful balancing in the Game Mechanics to NOT require extreme caution and thus imapair action and excitement in the game.
--- --- ---
Things Player's Find in Rapture - In-Progress Inventions (Which Never Were Realized) :
With all the genius and wannabee-genius, you would have many amusing prototypes for things being developed to 'make a fortune', as well as just a hobby for a multitude of 'would-be' inventors :
* The automatic bartender (prefer one that doesn't brain customers with the martini shaker).
* Automatic toilet scrubber - remember that Auto-Diary about "someone has to scrub the toilets" ??
* Robot Fly-bot that cleans windows - never seems to be able to get those corners...
* Motorized roller-skates (goes fast - doesn't brake so good).
* Robotic Little Sisters (actually part of the Lore/Canon) -- Hmmm, if there's a mechanical way to extract the ADAM, then why not just gangs of Big Daddies to haul corpses to a central processing site ??? Perhaps the ADAM extractions was the failure point....
* Mint Flavored Suicide Pills (civil war era) - problem is, soon you have no more customers...
* The Pneumatic Transport (   http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?_adv_prop=image&fr=sfp&va=pneumatic+subway   ) was tried in the early days (used to transport bigwigs from Welcome Center directly to Ryan's Offices) but was not feasible as the maintenance cost (mainly clearing clogging by ice formation) was prohibitive.
* Dog in a wheelchair as a 'ADAM collector' ** (    http://irrationalgames.com/files/2010/01/StrayDogGath.jpg    ,    http://irrationalgames.com/insider/January-from-the-vault/  ). Man's Best friend might have worked out but they were less trainable then the Little Sisters who were much better at solving problems dealing with the Rapture environment (they could go up and down stairs without any problems)
* Someone somewhere suggested a Security-Bot to look like a Dalek... (again 'stairs' ....)
* Boys of Silence - potential was never really tested ... (as of this writing). These ones dont look like demented hood ornaments.
* Long tediously boring descriptions of potential computer game (for The Thinker...) that noone reads or knows how to comment on.
* A Better Mouse Trap - Good idea, bad timing - developed just as the 'civil war' was starting (not applicable as a Splicer-Trap, unfortunately ...... or is it ???).
* Soylent Green. Shutdown of Rapture's Ketchup Manufacturing put the kabosh on this idea.
* Video Phone - with the miniature TV cameras and obvious TV screens everywhere this should have been something that would be successful. Probably there should be some sinister story attached that explains why it never happened (RT&T protecting its monopoly or somesuch).
Player Created Assest added over time would 'stock the MMORPG's shelves' with more and more amusing/ludicrous/imaginative 'leftovers' from the Golden Age (when inhabitants were trying to find the next 'Big Thing' to make their fortune.) 
--- --- ---
Catch a Rat a Day and WIN BIG PRIZES (Daily Gimmick Contest) :
$50 $100 $150 $200 $250 Prizes !!!
Vermin are serious problems in cities, spreaders of diseases and filth and wastage of supplies. More than a few fires are caused by rats chewing through insulation ...)
SO, One more random thing in the New City to keep Players on their toes ( Spot a rat, Kill it, Ca$h in KA-CHING !!! ... )
These rats might not be exactly the little vermins you'd think ...
Need a way to prove proper 'catching', and not have people raising rats for the purpose of turning them in for the prizes ...
Trained Cats ? "Build a Better Rat Trap" ?? (For the Super-Vermin, maybe need some 'Super' Cats ?)
--- --- ---
To Glow or Not to Glow... :
Playing the Solo games, most of the goodies you find laying about are pretty obviously out in the open (besides a glowing indicator). I did wish that to a moderate extent they had a few that you had to look for a bit more (best probably random in 3 or 4 different optional locations each --- for replay value). In the MMORPG, there will be many more items (many to pick through and more not overly useful) and many well hidden (under wreckage or hidden by Splicers from each other). So many that if they all glowed it would be rather distracting. I'm not sure if the 'glowing' help mechanism will be partially present as a skill based ability (Spidey Sense 'glow' or some selection when actively searching for specific things, maybe a sound indicator when in proximity as an alternative ( to go along with sensing danger indicators).
--- --- ---
Visible Posting of Areas To Inform Players What Activities Are Going On In a Location :
* "Salvage Permit" - given to another player (don't bother trying to salvage stuff here
* "Free Salvage" - free for all - within the bounds of the posting (Please don't take the windows and open the place up to  being flooded out). Bring your metal detector as most of these places have been well picked over by the time you get  there.
* "Project Permit" - reconstruction in progress (usually marked with the players 'team' Company name). Location usually  will have a 'camp' setup for the players 'team' to live in area while work is 'in-progress'.
* "Danger - Unstable Structure" - City inspector has marked the area as hazardous.
* "Unpatrolled Area"/"Hazardous Area" ( marks much of the 'Edge' area where there is no Bot coverage )
* "Checkpoint"s are marked ( 'Edge' locations access ways to 'Wild' are locked down except thru manned Checkpoints )
* "Wet Paint": ...
* "Maintenance In-progress" Warnings (Please don't turn the power on when someone is rewiring the room)
* "Wet Floor" (Heh)
* "Beware of Puddle of Explosively Flammable Fluid" (No Smoking)
* "Free Fire Zone" (usually a buffer area in the 'Edge' used to suppress Houdini Splice incursions)
* "Bio-Hazard" - Open this door at your own Risk
--- --- ---
Wow !!! Gauges and other Indicators that Actually Work (in MMORPG) ... :
Not just canned animation on a prop (watch those gauge needles on the various machines in the Solo games).
Gotta have a few maintenance "Missions" checking important environmental systems.
A Zoom View for those not overly large gauges.
Whole panels of Gauges and Knobs and Switches and Indicator lights !!!! (and labeling)
Fairly simple Assets, and scripting of their behaviors (alot of it would be Templated). A variety of gauges and controls, many standardized (though the measurement face and label can be custom to its purpose - a bit like those 'widget' indicators people have on their computers). They (as objects) would tie-in to something else -- whatever they are an indicator for.
Standard Environmental Gauges (and monitoring) gives you hints (information) in the gameplay as to local conditions/problems.
--- --- ---
Realistic 'Throwing up' Behavior/Animations :
* Yet another use for the 'Gents' ... (and a few new effects 'Decals')
* Drink too much Booze and you don't JUST get blurred vision.
* Eat some 10 year old potted 'meat' and ...
* Looking too closely at things Splicers save in old 'pure water' jars...
* Bad Clams.
* Some Splicers throw noxious substances at enemies ... (you try aiming and firing a gun while being violently ill ...)
* That Experimantal Plasmid induces 'distracting' affects upon the Target.
--- --- ---
Bodily Functions in Rapture (Had to go there ...) :
We had our toilets in Rapture, but never did anything with them  ("Duke Nuken", though crude, at least delved into this subject more).  Probably should be one of those categories of 'optional' Player activities (but with positive effects if you take effort to do them ...)
How hard would it be for NPCs to be scripted with such behaviors (--- no different than anything else)
For some people's sensibilities we can again have that 'green mist' which descends upon us (as when we violently murdered Little Sisters in the Solo BioShock games ...) OR there can be a 'Poo-Poo-Free' mode (set as default to ON).
I'm sure there will/can be alot of crude humor available in the game.
--- --- ---
Setting Up Camp (Securing for Offline) :
Early, while playing the MMORPG, you have no Team (NPC) Lackeys, so generally you wont travel too far outside City Limits, and when you do, being alone makes it much easier to 'hide' (an adequate excuse to facilitate Players adventuring out in those dangerous places, as long as they are smart enough to retreat when appropriate - a tactical element most games skip).
Of course, if you (as Player) have to leave suddenly (or are knocked offline) your 'Team' (or your Avatar) will set up a defensive position to await your coming back (or implement policy or subsequent orders thru your Tablet 'Task' interface to return to base or to a safe marshalling point).
Long ago in a game called "Ultima Online", the game mechanics left you present for several minutes in-game if you simply logged off/disconnected.  Thus if you were in combat you were vulnerable (since there was no auto-melee or heal) and this prevented players simply disconnecting to get out of a bad situation (game loophole blocked).  Instead, with poor internet service (this was near 20 years ago), you frequently got knocked off or the Servers lagged severely and when you got back on, you were usually dead (and in that game you became a ghost, and your body would persist with all your possessions for 20-30 minutes before disappearing, during which time you were lootable by other players and you had a chance to get back to recover your stuff).  To log out, you actually had to either set up a camp -- really just build a campfire and logout after your 'camp' was established (while not in combat), or you went to an Inn room to logout.  In both cases your avatar then logged out immediately.  
The idea of this MMORPG game is to extend activites like that into the game mechanics to make it more than your usual shoot-em-up/hack-fest, and to give the player more problems to solve.  BUT also at the same time to NOT  have things be too tedious detail-wise.  Thus 'policy' of your Team doing things for you, just depending on some easy foresight of providing any needed gear, developed skills to give options, and some pre-set instructions.
Selecting a defensible position usually dissuades local Splicers (If they haven't already vacated the neighborhood) so you have a good chance of finding all you stuff still there when you log back on.
--- --- ---
Objects (Player Possessions) Should Have a Story :
They should not be mere "lifeless" disposable temporary props, but possessions Player's become attached to. Effort put into acquiring or making them (and even skill development for them) is rewarded. (and that effort should last, and NOT be immediately/quickly superseded by another 'gimme' object on the advancement ramp).
The story to create would be : Where the Player obtained them, Who made them, Who repaired/improved them. A tale when a 'significant' non-mundane Object is gotten from a memorable Mission. Story Info attached to these Objects/Possessions (in the games presentation interface), so that the Player can go back and reminisce about them (and the gameplay the Player did obtaining them).
In this MMORPG, good items are not to be discarded endlessly as part of some level ramp (In another MMORPG, someone once said : That they could have built an island out of all the 'magic' weapons and equipment they (too easily) acquired and casually discarded -- The Players being so inundated with them, and so many just being far too 'ordinary').
Well no 'magic' weapons in the BioShock MMORPG, but 'Special' can be handled other ways -- So as to have more significance to the Player's experience.
-
There are ways to make such 'special' Objects semi-unique - If not entirely, then at least so that the Player doesn't see/obtain duplications. The MMORPGs Auto-Generation can make use of combinatoric randomness to vary the items sufficiently, AND the 'Seed Data' used for the random functions can be kept in the Object's data to be checked to prevent giving the Player duplicates. (A similar mechanism tracks/prevents Mission Scenario repeats).
Yep, MORE TEMPLATES ... for 'Stories' for Player-owned Objects
--- --- ---
Play as a Ghost ?
A 'Tourist' Mode for when Players just want 'Casual' activity :
* Can't interfere
* Can watch (probably not walk through walls - just doors.
* Can talk only if the other Players allow
* Skill Ramp - activating objects (fun part of seeing all the Player Created Assets)
* Follow a group of Explorers/Adventurers (with 'go this way' interface features)
* Nothing says Ghosts see Everything - prevents 'scouting' tactics and hiving away 'clues' and such mission content.
* Might briefly be visible to normal Players.
--- --- ---
Funniest Things I've Seen In BioShock : Spawn Weirdness
I was playing in Minervas Den on Hard, and was sniping a bit in Operations before moving on to 'The Thinker' level -- to boost my resources (as if you really need much in The Thinker half-level) and also just to play with the Weapons/Plasmid/Splicer combinations.  I stayed for an extended period near the  entrance/programmings/airlock area for quite a while and then eventually headed down to the exit tunnel to the 'The Thinker' (I had already played thru all of it previously except for one last LS corpse harvest) ).  Anyway, there I ran into 30 - 40 'Wintery' Houdini Splicers which had spawned repeatedly (without removing the previous one or body while I was way down the other end of the complex).  
The game suddenly slowed down when they became active and even more when I used incinerate on them.  Because they were in close proximity, they all repeatedly set each other on fire, and they added damage upon each other.  Some 'teleported out' to be around me (about 10) and I had to fight them and I eventually retreated way back to near that airlock where the hacked Rocket Turret was still operating.  I mopped up what was left there, and going back flamed and shot a much reduced number of them again till they were all dead.  Lockboxes everywhere.   Anyway this was some spawn bug in that scenarios scripting cause by me Sniping for so long (trying different things).  
It became apparent how limited the respawn combinations were (the start positions,  specific Splicer types), as you generally don't hang around in the game terrain anywhere as long as I did, so most people wouldn't notice.
(I also noticed everywhere - How fast respawns reset -- and right when you enter doorways to the 'area' -- them popping into existence as you watched ... Another game scripting 'no-no' -- but then it was DLC  -  result of 'third-string' scripters, rushed schedules, limited testing, etc, etc ...).
Spawns of generic Opponents (or even GTA 'walkers') in Rapture Reborn wont be like "Your Grandpa's MMORPG"
--- --- --- --- ---
.
.