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Introducing: SOLDIER class
Anashel
Member UncommonPosts: 200
Hi! During this weekend we will reveal 4 classes. We start with:
THE SOLDIER
The backbone of The Black Watchmen, the soldiers are the first to be deployed in action. Supported by the community, they execute infiltration missions, secure rupture sites, and other special operations in hostile territory.
ABOUT CLASS SKILLS
In the Black Watchmen Universe, you will have to work with the following category of skills. Please keep in mind that, this being an ARG, you can highly customize our suggested templates and invent new types of characters!
Code Breaking and Puzzle Solving (LOW)
Skill at breaking codes, understanding how systems work, hacking terminals and generally good at solving various forms of puzzles.
Online Research and Analysis (LOW)
Ability to quickly find the needles in a haystack, connecting the dots in a large volume of information, prioritizing data and researching the web
Tactical Skill - APM Level (HIGH)
High level of actions per minute, using your weapon or various types of technology. High level of control and concentration over long periods of time.
Real World Knowledge (LOW)
Fluent in various languages and topics including art, history, war, and politics.
Companion App (MEDIUM)
Use of a location-based device and skills in urban and rural combat through augmented reality.
Community Leadership (LOW)
Ability to organize and plan group attacks. Strong skills in commanding Special Ops teams and diffusing tense situations.
You can improve your skills over time to enable access to higher-level game events.
DO YOU PLAN TO PLAY A SOLDIER CLASS?
Comments
Sounds interesting. Still undecided which class I'll be going for, personally. Studying a specific language and culture at Uni means I'll likely be looking for a class that has a higher rating in "Real World Knowledge" (RWK), and based on your previous ARGs, your puzzles are so intriguing that I can't help but look for a high "Code Breaking and Puzzle Solving" (CBPS), as well as "Online Research and Analysis" (ORA) - whether or not I'll be of any use in said areas, is something time will tell.
Made me wonder though, the "You can improve your skills over time" part; has it been decided whether or not the initial classes will be a static , one-time choice - or do players, for example, enter The Black Watchmen as an "Initiate", and then evolve into a certain class, based on their actions?
Perhaps a mixture of the two? Choosing an initial class to help determine what kind of missions you'll be undertaking mostly, and then slowly developing your skills by completing certain tasks more than others. So, for example, one enters as a Soldier, but after doing quite a few tasks involving RWK, your class becomes redefined as "Officer", or some such?
Finally, and I hope you'll forgive me for asking a general question in a thread dedicated to a specific class, looking at the Tactical Skill, how will "Weapons and Technology" come into play?
Looks good.
What would be the ultimate realistic way to go about this, is to give skill points according to the puzzles/missions solved. Maybe cairtain classes are locked until the player has proven him-/herself worthy in real life.
To start as an initiate is a good idea - and slowly build skill points to reach a class that the player wants.
And of course, if you have chosen the soldier class, but become an excellent puzzle solver, you may choose to stay a soldier with higher skillpoints, or all in all you may have reached the required skills to change into class xxxx - the class that favors high puzzle /code solving abilities.
- DrJens
I'm a big fan of being put into boxes, rather than putting myself into a box - that blasted subjective view is sometimes way off. So for me, the notion of starting as an "Initiate", and then have the game decide what class you "evolve" into, is an appealing one - but I can see that it may be somewhat more complex to carry out.
That way, the distribution of classes not only reflects preference, but also ability - and in return, the classes also ensure that players get the content they actually want, as opposed to giving them the content they think they want.
I reckon the disadvantage of starting as an initiate and going from there, is that there are likely to be other restrictions than just "what you want to participate in", for example that pesky real life thing intervening at the most inoppertune of times, potentially forcing you to shoe-horn yourself into a role you aren't all that keen on playing.
As for the further evolution of classes, regardless of whether or not we start as Initiates or one of the 4 basic classes, I secretly hope that it'll be the fluid progression once more. For example, as we progress, we evolve into a new class with very limited direct control, other than focusing on a specific task (I.e. Soldier -> Officer -> Intelligence Officer in case a soldier focuses on RWK and ORA, versus Soldier -> Seargent -> Staff Seargent in case a soldier focuses on Community Leadership and Tactical Skill).
We might then be able to turn down the "promotion", or we might not be. In the first case, we might very well start as Initiates, because any progression is something we can opt out of, but it is - whether we agree or not - the game telling us "It seems you like/are best at these kind of missions". In the latter case, we might have to start as one of the 4 basic classes, if we want at least some control of what kind of missions we'll be given, or how we can participate.
I realize I may be in the minority, but I would personally prefer as little direct control of my class as possible; it just feels so much more exciting not knowing what's in store, in terms of my progression. There might, of course, arise situations where the game isn't able to determine between Class AA, or Class AB (Base class/Next class), and in those cases the player is offered a choice.. Perhaps even a mission specifically designed to help the player decide that choice?
(Sorry for espousing my brainfarts, but here goes:)
For example in the case of a Soldier being caught between the next class being "Officer" (RWK/ORA) or "Seargent" (CL/TS); the player is given a mission that requires them to investigate a newly found Rupture. Near this Rupture they might find a tablet, enscribed with a series of symbols - in this case, kanji radicals, which can be substantially different in terms of appearence, from when they are used as "full" kanji on their own. Next to the tablet is, rather conveniently, a console connected to the Rift (I apologize for making this a very simplistic example). I assume here that locating Ruptures are part of the role of Soldiers, so the player then has to close the Rupture using one of two possible solutions:
1. Applying real world knowledge - perhaps by searching for it online - in order to solve the mission. In this case by translating what kanji can be written using the available radicals, and exploring what kanji best relates to the site in terms of meaning.
2. Gathering enough other agents to effectively "overload" the console, bypassing the encoded mechanism, and closing the Rupture forcefully.
Whichever option is used to accomplish the mission, determines what class will be made available to the player next. This type of "defining mission" could be prefaced with making the player aware it's decisive, in terms of the players further progression in the game, lending some degree of direct control to the player.
*looks at his rant, then looks apologetically - yet thankfully - at the readers who took the time to get this far*
I read it all and I love these ideas. I'm looking forward to seeing how the class system can be morphed and manipulated in the future!
A.K.A. nikel
Honestly I already know I would be a soldier due to how well that APM puzzle for Team Alpha during Mission 5 in the beta was pulled off. If you guys have more clicking boxes in store for us then I'm game.
But I would also like to see the other classes too, I can click 80 times per minute but I still can do research too
As Santiak said:
I'm a big fan of being put into boxes, rather than putting myself into a box(...) the notion of starting as an "Initiate", and then have the game decide what class you "evolve" into, is an appealing one
I agree with the idea of starting from scratch and build yourself over time. I think, It's one of the most appealing treats a game like this can offer you.
But, I think starting as one of the 4 basic class (based on some sort of selection process, for example a personality/abilities quiz) isn't a bad idea either. That way, players who can't decide, or don't know, wether they would like to be A or B can get something to start from.
As Santiak said:
As for the further evolution of classes (...) I secretly hope that it'll be the fluid progression once more. (...) In the latter case, we might have to start as one of the 4 basic classes, if we want at least some control of what kind of missions we'll be given, or how we can participate.
Totally agree, I think this would be a must as long as it's viable. That way you can focus on the type of misions or the skills you want to master and maybe become a class of your own xD. That relative class development freedom would be very enrichingm in my humble opinion.
As Santiak said:
here might, of course, arise situations where the game isn't able to determine between Class AA, or Class AB (Base class/Next class), and in those cases the player is offered a choice.. Perhaps even a mission specifically designed to help the player decide that choice?
(...) This type of "defining mission" could be prefaced with making the player aware it's decisive, in terms of the players further progression in the game, lending some degree of direct control to the player.
+1
Good idea about the selection process. In case they do want to have us select one of the 4 basic classes, a brief "personality quiz" offering a suggestion based on personality, sounds like an interesting idea.
Of course there'll be those who are dead-set on a class to begin with, so the test would have to be optional. However, since the amount of unofficial "personality tests" are quite prolific for games that don't have them, there is, quite obviously, those who enjoy defining their playstyle not so much on personal preference, but what is deemed by an objective viewer as suitable for them.
The boon of having this built into the game, so to speak, is that it adds credibility to the results of the test, and it would be less likely to include those annoyingly obvious answers.
Could, for example, be something as morbid as "How would you react to being diagnosed with a terminal illness?"
- Denial (Sniper)
- Anger (Soldier)
- Bargaining (Cybertech)
- Acceptance (Scientist)
- Depression (Null value, unfit reaction for the Division.. or some such - just to include the whole of the Kübler-Ross model)
In retrospect, perhaps a bit obvious. :P
But none the less, I agree it's an interesting compromise between the two models.
On a slight side-note, having an all inclusive "Initiate" class, would mean that players would be exposed to all available mission-types, and would then naturally gravitate towards their "ideal" class. It would also mean that players wouldn't feel as if they were potentially opting out of some content - content they might otherwise find enjoyable - but shy away from, especially if they are new ARGs, because of how intimidating it may sound to them to be specialized in Code Breaking and Puzzle Solving (CBPS) and Real World Knowledge (RWK).
Wow, that is some serious feedback, thank you! I can hardly think of any other community with that level of understanding of game development and game mechanics. I'm excited!
Initially we wanted to create starting area (basically your rabbit hole - your first contact) and have 2 or 3 missions to help you decided what class you like. Basically the mission are similar to the test mission in the Situation Room. You were presented with 5 various test, some focusing on APM, some on memory, some on investigation. (we would need to add a leadership test that is bigger then just asking X persons to help you solve your mission)
After that we didn't think of a way to organically evolved the "player template" but what you share with us is priceless.
We could easily imagine based on your progression, creating fork as it goes. If you level up and are heading in a template that do not exist, we create the class, name it and make a mission for you to claim it as your promotion.
Other can then follow in your footstep or start their own fork. And for the player who love clear progression and defined class, they can select any of the created template and play the game to reach that class. Combination are limitless.