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Characters staying in game after logging off? (Becoming npc's and opening up more interactions, kidn
Stiler
Member Posts: 599
I have been trying Age of Wushu recently and this is something that it does, I've never really expeirenced it before in antoher mmo before and I think it has merits.
In most mmo's when a player character logs off their character "leaves" the world and that's that, they come back once they login.
In age of Wushu however players when they logoff can take on the forms of npc's in towns/cities, where they can chose to do things as mundane as a street cleaner (sweeping the grounds, etc) to being a firebreather entertainer and other jobs that most games regulate to making an npc do (there's still npc's that aren't player characters) as well as stalls to sell things, etc.
While offline your player character stays in game and does this things, which in return you earn money and experience for while you're logged off.
In turn this keeps those players visually in the world and helps make certain towns look more alive and dynamic. Instead of simply making those players non-existent once they leave.
So lets say for example, in a normal mmo you have a server population cap of 5000 give or take some, now you're never really going to see those 5000 people all on at once, as there will usually always be people logged off (time difference, etc). This in turn helps keep those people in the game and it can alos open up new ways for players to interact and mechanic sthat can add to the game as a whole.
In Age of Wushu these npc player characters can be "kidnapped" and in return can be sold and other things, whcih are fitting for that game and it's lore. When you kidnap someone in Age of wushu it isn't an instant thing, it's not like you can just "poof kidnap" someoen and then right away sell them. You have to physically kidnap them, then carry tehir body somewhere to sell.
Once you kidnap someone you are open to other players to kill/stop from kidnapping that players character. If you make it to where you're taking the player to sell you can get money, and also special rewards depending on other things (some npc's give out kidnapping jobs that require certain types of characters to be kidnapped).
Now how this works for the player that is kidnapped. When you are kidnapped you no longer earn your money that you would have normally earned while offline. You are also given a 5-hour debuff so that oyu can not login/off again and earn money for this time. However you can "pay" for your freedom with money you have (if you login and have the debuff) or another player can pay for your freedom (and gains a chivalry point ).
In return players that kidnap are seen as evil (think as "reds" in UO) an dplayers that stop kidnappings and earn chivalry are treated as lawful/good. Both types have their uses, unlocking special titles for characters as well as story and gameplay things.
Certain factions (schools) are lawful (IE Shaolin monks wouldn't take kindly to their own players kidnapping people) whiel others might embrace it.
Now in CU, it would make sense (setting wise) to capture players and ransom them (IE how knights could be worth quite a bit of money and sold for ransom).
This can open up new types of gameplay, form kidnapping to other things that fit within the CU setting.
Imagine the stealthers and certain classes that can be more apt toward doing such actions. Being able to sneak into another realms city and trying to kidnap an important player character or such, this could be different and made to fit more for CU's setting compared to AGe of Wushu's eastern setting and how things would work more logically for it.
What are your thoughts? do you think this kind of system has merit in CU? What do you think it may add/idea's about it vs kidnapping? (IE what about assassination missions or such?)
Comments
Ozek - DAOC
Niix - Other games that sucked
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No. Kidnapping will just make players mad and irritated, especially for this type of game.
No. Shops and gaining exp when your logged off just encourages laziness. I woudln't want to play in a world where its just cities with a bunch of Player NPCs walking around.
Plus shops have been done in many mmorpgs, (Lineage 2 for example) people just afk and leave their computers on while they set up shops. Its nothing new.
So in the end. Bad idea.
NPCing after logoff - yes that sounds like a very good idea.
Kidnapping - no that sounds a bit too complicated (and prevents people from playing/logging in whenever they want). I agree if it s ransom of characters who are unconscious on battlefield, as that fits in how it really works in Medieval times.
I agree, that does sound a bit interesting. It would make you have to say rent a room in an inn. The only thing that concerns me, is that the capital cities would be a ghost town, with players standing around like zombies. Sounds like something from a bad movie!
Aspiring Game Musician <<>> Inquiring ears, feel free to visit: http://www.youtube.com/user/vagarylabs
Why?
Extremes.
There are world shops in AoW. Limited space. You have to bid on them once a week. They do not require you to be in them. Wars break out over shops space. it's a incredible system that literallly move the population.
CU doesn't have to clone the systems, but atleast put some thought into it's own systems instead of the same old unoriginal regurgitated stuff we've been getting out our western developers.
I know that Dawn brought up that idea about...12 years ago, turned out to be vaporware, but it was interesting.
I like the concept, but i dont think it'd be a good one for CU.
It would be good for something that plays more like UO
Bowbow (kob hunter) Infecto (kob cave shammy) and Thurka (troll warrior) on Merlin/Midgard DAoC
Thurka on WAR
No one stands around when offline, they do stuff
all over the place. It's hard to imagine, because we've never seen it in the west. It's one of those things that when you play another game, and it's not there, it feels like it's missing.
Somebody, somewhere has better skills as you have, more experience as you have, is smarter than you, has more friends as you do and can stay online longer. Just pray he's not out to get you.
I sort of like the idea of yer toon staying in the game world constantly, but man, what a pain it would be when you have maybe an hour to play and log in and find out yer kidnapped. Maybe a cooldown timer could be imposed so you can't be kidnapped too often (once a week? twice?)
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I think some of you aren't understanding the "kidnapping" system.
It isn't like you get kidnapped, then you login and you're in jail/can't play your character. No not at all.
When you login after being kidnapped you simply have lost the money that your character would have accumlated over that time, plus you have a 5-hour debuff placed on your character so you can't logoff and accumlate it for that time.
You do not lose "Gameplay" and it doens't mean you can not play the game as you normally would, adventuring, exploring, doing everything your normally do.
Offline jobs do not "play the game for you" at all, it merely gives you some side money (not enought hhat you can become "rich" by not playing the game, by far, you'll be making a lot more money and things while playing the game.
When you logoff the jobs you do are built into the game, it FITS witht he game and you don't just "stand there," your character actually does the jobs, sweeping up the streets, shouting about a shop he works for in the town, putting on a firebreathing show to oentertain people, etc.
It makes the towns more lievely and everything.
In regards to CU, this can help guild cities. Everyone has talked abotut he "midnight" raids and such, about how a guild can wait til the wee early hours to try and raid another guilds keep while they are sleeping, etc. Well with this kind of system in place, while it certainly wouldn't be as "good" as real players, it can be as such that guild cities/keeps can hav eit so that the players of that city, when logged off, are turned into npc's for said city. Taking up npc roles (watchtower guards, shop keeps, etc) and if attacked the npc's can defend the city. This cian lead to player ran cities having npc's that are composed of real players characters and also creating at least some form of resistance that makes sense.
Obviously people in real life have to logoff to do things, but this helps keep the guidl cities from being "Ghost towns" and leads to other elements that can add to the gameplay and other things.
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I find Wushu's kidnapping system annoying at best... troubling at worst.
I'm not sure I want to play, or to recommend a game where people are drugging women on the street, stuffing them into bags, and selling them to brothels... that's a little too much historical verisimilitude for my taste.
You can kidnap anyone, male or female, and sell them to a variety of people, geisha houses are just one shop that takes them.
Also historically, many females in geisha houses were sold to them by their own parents. Geisha's are not all prosititutes like many western peopel assume they are all high-class prosititues.
Obviously in CU geisha houses aren't the norm and probably wouldn't fit/make sense in the game.
I played it for a few months as a VIP. It is a very good game on a lot of levels, and its "the lives of offline PC's" is both original and well done.
But not that kidnapping bit. 8 out of the last 9 kidnap victims I either rescued or saw being snatched in Wushu were women. At which point I 'dis-recommended' it to my brother and nephew. I'm kinda serious about that one. That's a big, game-breaking, inexcusable red light for me.
But offline PC staffed shops and workshops in CU would be a Very Good Thing as it would help build our 'brand" as a crafter.... that'd be cool. Seriously.
i'm just not sure where you're going with this, are you saiyng it's ok for men to kidnap other male avatars, but not female?
Geisha houses are part of asian culture and fit in the setting/lore of Age of Wushu. Geisha's weren't all prosititues like many people believe, and could actually marry high up in their rank and become famous/wealthy.
Regardless of the point, in CU I doubt that'd even be a part of it. Kidnapping could be treated more like a classic "knight for ransom" style of affair where players that can sneak into another realms keep/town and then capture a player character and in return ransom him back for money in a similar style, That would fit in with the setting of CU and the middle ages style roots.
Unless, of course, players could renounce their loyalties and become an outlaw or something to that effect and attack anyone. Just a thought.
Currently playing: GW2 (Maguuma), DAoC (Uthgard), & Aion
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The kidnapping aspect would have to work differently. Instead of just being able to kidnap "anyone" like in Age of Wushu it would make more sense that it only works against enemy factions, mor elike my example of "knights" being ransomed back to their factions.
So players (like stealthers or such - that could maybe use diisguises to mask themselves as another realm/race) could infiltrate another enemy realm and try to kidnap a player npc, then in-return if he's successful and makes it back to his factions city or place of safety, he can then make some money for capturing that other player.
I don't know about putting your character in situations like being kidnapped because you weren't there to try to prevent it. But I do think the idea is interesting.
For example, could you character be a guard at a keep your guild has claimed? For the stat-driven, it wouldn't affect your stats in terms of kills/deaths, but it would make the guard more than a just a generic guard.. even if it has to tone down your stats or bonuses. Even better, it could be something you select as an option if you don't want to be keep fodder when offline. But it would be funny, for example, to keep track of the number of /rude emotes from your guildmates while you are offline.
I doubt the game will include anything like this, but I think it is a clever idea that could fit here with some fine tuning.
Well, offline character life seems nice, as long as it doesn't interfere with my avatar. I mean i'm good with my toon defending the city, but there will be stats changes in function of what you do (for example, taking 1000 blow will takes its toll) and i'm not inclined to have my character with diminished stats or worn out items when i log back in.
About the kidnapping thing, it wouldn't make sense in CU, the three realms are at war and hate each other, why would you kidnap the enemy soldier to give it up just after? We aren't even supposed to understand each other's language, how do you make a ransom? If you can get to the enemy, you kill him, that's all.
EDIT : Add to that there will be a big world map with very limited fast travel options, how long would it takes to get back while dragging a body?
You would need to not give any exp for killing the logged off players too, or there will be groups specialized in NPC cities attack that won't actually play against the other players
And last, what do i do if i need to quickly log off in the middle of enemy territory because of an IRL emergency? I will likely get back on my toon and find him dead or at the release point, with the death penalty it implies.
Other than a crafter who man’s his store virtually while he if offline, I see no reason at all for characters to stay online after the account logs off.
Nanulak
Geisha is not Chinese culture mate. This is a game of CHINESE history, not Japanese.
Please be careful when you talk about chinese culture in front of people who are from Chinese culture lol
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Also I agree with grimjakk I can see kidnap system being annoying... log off, log in, lost money, wtf? What did I do?
That sounded annoying on paper already.
My bad, I stand corrected.
As far as the kindnapping, you don't LOSE money you already have obtained, you simply lose the money you would have "gained" from your offline npc working their job (because they were kidnapped). You odn't "lose" anything nor do you suffer from any kind of gameplay-releated thing.
You merely lose money you would have gained and have a debuff placed on you which doesn't allow you to gain money from offline jobs for 5 hours (which you can get rid of if you want to).
Oh that's sounds okay then.
But if that's the case what is the actual gain then for the kidnapper? Cuz you get hostile rep as well right?