It might be interesting if someone decided to try a design experiment. Design a game where one of the core design principles was to strip as many items out of the UI as possible and place them back into the game world. What would a game like this look like, sound like and handle like? What demands would it place on the player?
As an example of what I mean. Take a typical UI, you have chat boxes, combat logs, party tab, inventory windows, character sheet, a map, current target, player point pools (hp and mana), ect, ect.
Now, start removing or replacing these elements with in game, in world indicators. So instead of seeing a target's current hp level is low, you instead notice that the target is slowing down, bleeding profusely, retreating or just wavering on it's feet. It wouldn't be as precise as a health %, but it would force a player to look at the in game model of their target and notice cues from that. You could still target a player or enemy so you could maneuver around them, and they will have an indicator floating over their head or under their feet, but that's all the info you get.
Take the mini map, and remove it. Instead the player gets a map screen that rolls out in front of them in a first person view. They can still look up from the map and look around to see if anyone is coming, but the map is something that they have to concentrate on to use. Allow them to make marks and notes on their map. And give the player the ability to make marks and notes on other players maps if given permission. Allow npc's to make marks when telling the player about certain things. Have some of the Npc's make mistakes or not remember clearly. Have the map be finite. It only shows a small area of the world. Other areas will need to have their maps purchased and many areas will have no maps immediately available and will have to be created by the players and traded to each other.
Inventory screen. The inventory is no longer a personal pocket plane the player carries around with them. Instead, the inventory is determined by what they are wearing. If they are naked, their inventory consists of their equipment slots and that's it. If they are wearing a belt, they can attach pouches and containers that are limited in the types of items they can hold. If they are wearing clothes with pockets they can have a few small items tucked away in each. If they are wearing a backpack, before they can place or remove items from it, they must take it off and place it on the ground. Wearing a backpack will also affect your ability to perform certain actions like rolling or swimming.
Chat windows, this might be the most controversial item on the list. But limiting chat to only local chat when not in certain buildings or structures. You can only hear what is going on directly around you unless you are inside a specialized structure. If you are in an auction house you can hear a global trade chat. If you are in a tavern or Inn you can hear a local general chat, in a market place you can hear a local trade chat for that town. If you are in a Tower, keep, castle, and are of the proper affiliation and rank, you can hear a defense chat. The only chat's that would persist anywhere would be guild chat and whispers from friends. Even party chat would be limited to a local area, much larger than /say but still limited.
I think another interesting thing would be to put hard restrictions on a players ability to see the game. Draw the camera in closer to the player. Do not let people zoom out to 300 yards behind their head. Keep the third person in fairly tight, almost like resident Evil 4 close. This allows for a third person view and some situational awareness, but also allows for the player to be ambushed from behind. Maybe if an in game skill like "tactical awareness" or "eyes in the back of your head" was increased the player could gain the ability to zoom out more or reverse their view without turning around but do not make these the default.
Also, make dark areas that the player can not see in without aid. Essentially any cave anywhere. Require the use of light sources to navigate these areas. This allows players to take advantage of the shadows and limited field of view from behind and ambush other players.
Place limits on a players movements. Make it very dependent on what they are wearing and what their proficiency in acrobatics is. Doing a combat roll in full plate should require a huge amount of strength and agility, otherwise the player should probably wind up pinned to the ground and struggle to right themselves.
Anyways, the whole idea behind this is to offer up a brand new experience, something that almost feels like a simulation rather than a straight up arcade game. It will put greater constraints on a player, it will withhold lots of information most players are used to seeing floating right in front of them, it will greatly limit a players ability to do several things simultaneously, and I believe it will draw players into the game world more than most other experiences. They will have to be cautious about when they decide to do certain things. They will have to setup effective information and trade networks. They will be paying much closer attention to what they can see and not a bunch of bars and graphs. They will be listening for the sounds of the enemy.
It would be interesting and different to say the least. How fun it would be is a different matter.
