Hi Snapjaw, I think a few of us have already danced around the idea of player generated content, permitting players to serve as quest givers, and I for one believe that this is the way forward. However while I have thought along exactly the same lines as your previous example I see some problems; notably that many players will want to be the hero in their own story, leaving very little room for others except as group members. While thats fine it will tend to mean that some of the more complex plot lines wont develop and if they do only a few of the total world population will ever encounter them. Indeed the idea of walking into a bar or tavern and looking for some work will only work if the world generates more jobs than people, and thats a real problem. In real life most of these jobs would be created by people not willing to act directly themselves(I accept that some will be crafty folk doing dodgy stuff, but they would be few in number), those who are not heros, in short NPCs.
What we need is an environment where players need to recruit the assistance of others, perhaps presenting them with multiple tasks they must complete in order to suceed, and so force them to spread the load with either willing allies, hired participants, or even dupes; depending upon the personality of the quest patron.
Its not impossible, but I would imagine who ever does it well may just have themselves a nice earner (so dont expect it to be broadcast on a forum till its already sold).
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Hi Snapjaw, I think a few of us have already danced around the idea of player generated content, permitting players to serve as quest givers, and I for one believe that this is the way forward. However while I have thought along exactly the same lines as your previous example I see some problems; notably that many players will want to be the hero in their own story, leaving very little room for others except as group members. While thats fine it will tend to mean that some of the more complex plot lines wont develop and if they do only a few of the total world population will ever encounter them. Indeed the idea of walking into a bar or tavern and looking for some work will only work if the world generates more jobs than people, and thats a real problem. In real life most of these jobs would be created by people not willing to act directly themselves(I accept that some will be crafty folk doing dodgy stuff, but they would be few in number), those who are not heros, in short NPCs.
What we need is an environment where players need to recruit the assistance of others, perhaps presenting them with multiple tasks they must complete in order to suceed, and so force them to spread the load with either willing allies, hired participants, or even dupes; depending upon the personality of the quest patron.
Its not impossible, but I would imagine who ever does it well may just have themselves a nice earner (so dont expect it to be broadcast on a forum till its already sold).