So say that my very first player will come into the game onto a brand new continent. He or she will be equipped with the barest of essentials. A tent, a flint, and maybe a small weapon. From there, they will have to set up camp. A camp could be considered a 1-person town. But if more people come on, I would want them to build their camps next to the first persons camp so that it could become a village. So, Ill have to insert a rule about how to build towns by bunching up dwellings, and advise people that building next to an existing camp or village will cause it to grow and provide more resources. Good.
Then the people will need to get things. Say one person wants a sword instead of the dagger he has. Since he is not a blacksmith, he will have to let someone with the blacksmithing skill know that he wants a sword. Ill have to create an in-game classified ads of sorts so that people can read the ads and get their quests from there. Someone with a blacksmith skill reads the ad, and builds the sword. Or if the smithy doesnt have the materials, he'll have to put in his own ad to have fighters go out and collect the materials for him.
It sounds good in theory, but starting out, this game might end up being a bit boring. Or the first few dozen people will have to become a jack-of-all-trades to be able to get what they need. Ill have to wait until beta is up to find out.
..Which of course is very cool in many cases, but also makes it easier for a player's experience to be ruined. I build up a nice city for a couple hundred hours, then a gang of baddies run by and torch it all to the ground. Great. Doh. [smile]