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Stealth in an MMO.
GrayKodiak
Member CommonPosts: 576
Stealth in the age of Wushu
So I am doing a spy mission, not because I really need to I have enough exp for the moment but I think I need to stock up on the school certificates for in the future. Anyway, I start to realize I am doing something that reminds me more of a single player element in games than something I run across often in MMO's.
Stealth.
I am not talking about WoW style turn invisible stealth, no I mean the old fashion hide behind stuff so your opponents do not see you stealing stuff stealth. There are two times in the last two days I have done something like this in Wushu. One was last night when I found an unprotected scholar book case and had to make it out of the map without being caught by scholars or goon tang guild members...either of which would have killed me had they seen me with the juicy scroll case on my back.
The other time, the time it really clicked, was the spy missions and I began to wonder if this could work in other MMO's because...well it can be fun and why not? I believe the biggest barrier in other MMO's would be the artificial walls it puts up between factions. Nothing stops you as a Wudang from walking into Tangman's school grounds and trading with friends but if you tried to spy on ogrimar in WoW the npc guards would just kill you. TSW has invisible walls to keep you out of other factions HQ, in fact the more I thought about it the more I realized it would be hard for some titles to implement it like it has been in Wushu (though they could still try damn it)
There are other types of stealth as well in Wushu, kidnapping and watching kidnappers both involve hopping no one sees you doing it. I take the looong way when I kidnap in some cities just so I can stay in the alley or on the roof or anywhere that is out of site. I imagine if you get a bounty on your head you practice stealth on a whole new level...that or you are so Badass you just kill the people who come to collect the reward.
I like this kind of stealth, not the stealth that comes from being a rogue or having a cloaking device on your ship, but the kind that comes from using terrain and just trying to avoid attention until you complete your goal. I often get caught when spying and kidnapping and often enough I just win the fight...but I know at that point things just got much harder and it would have been easier had I been just a tad stealthier.
Comments
I also liked the chameleon suits in PS2, though it often had me shooing friendly spies if I didn't know who was in that haze.
The school spy missions are definitely one of the best things about AoW. It's exciting to have to creep around behind buildings and on roofs to get somewhere without being spotted. Even more exciting when there are other players with a mission to seek you out and kill you.
One of my most exciting spy missions ever was in the Emei school. Had to leap off a cliff into the water below to escape!
"There are other types of stealth as well in Wushu, kidnapping and watching kidnappers both involve hopping no one sees you doing it. I take the looong way when I kidnap in some cities just so I can stay in the alley or on the roof or anywhere that is out of site. I imagine if you get a bounty on your head you practice stealth on a whole new level...that or you are so Badass you just kill the people who come to collect the reward."
Every now and then you might see a shadow go over your head, or a bag over the back of someone hopping a wall. Vool stuff.
I like to hide behind a corner and let the guy escorting a guild cart trott happily by, then put ddaggers in his back