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EQN - Day 1
Sephastus
Member UncommonPosts: 455
So... this game has emergent AI... the quests should be different, and the moment something is completed in an area, it has been said it will not be available to that area. NPCs interact with you based on what you have done, and there is a hidden set of factions that determines what opens up to you.
But... what about on Day 1? A few hundred players in a starting area... beasts of all kinds big and small extinct as far as you can see... All beastmen of all kinds vanquished. How is an AI supposed to handle this?
My proposal: Instead of just instancing your first interaction with the game or dropping all players in the same starting zone, have the game randomly drop you in a different part of the world, in any of the tier 1 areas. They can then have an npc, or 2 that only you see and can interact with, that shows you the basics of the world, and has you hunt a few area appropriate spawns as practice... and then THAT IS IT! You are left to your own devices.
If you want to participate in the Halas event, you would have to travel to that particular area, avoiding all the scary beasties that are beyond your ability to destroy. Stop and talk to the world NPCs if you feel generous. Bring a few pelts in case you can get some money for it later... The world will feel HUGE, and you will feel like you are really traveling and have purpose in mind.
My opinion.
Comments
I agree with your opinion, but I think everyone will start near Halas and get an intro to the game and be gently pushed toward the Rally Call.
I've always been a huge fan of separate starter cities, to me it adds excitement to travel.
Asdar
Ignoring the obvious technical difficulties associated with everyone starting in the same area....
I think a big factor here will be XP. With no levels as such there is not real need to grind. And so while people may still go on wanton rampages there will not be any reward for it.
So on day 1 I see various things happening. Firstly, because there are no quests hanging in the air or with big pointers people will generally start exploring the world. So there will not be any queues to talk to NPC's giving out quests as the quests could be anywhere.
As for how the quests will work. I imagine there will be NPC's who will have various requirements, some will want wood, some leathers, some metals, some will have tasks to clean local caves or mines, other to scout the Forrest, some to explore further inland, some to actually build structures and part of the first city.
Then once the initial work has been assigned things will start to happen. Those mines being cleared might contain something that will be forced to flee and who knows where or who it will encounter. Those people mining might uncover other area's to explore thus giving the foreman of the mines new quests. Groups to explore, groups to mine, groups to gather wood for torches....
I can picture the system cascading outwards where each little event triggers another or multiple events and as each event unfolds new quests and opportunities unfold.
Of course this is all assuming I actually get how Storybricks and the AI will work but I think I do and that is how I can see it working.
So initially when seeing your post I had planned to tell you that you are a care bear idiot and get another 3 day ban from mmorpg.com, but I have to say, pretty cool idea. (not saying you arent' a care bear as I have no clue, so you aren't off the hook). Either way, very cool idea to have people start in random spots, just not sure how it'd work based on the difficulty of the area you are dropped in.
Incognito
www.incognito-gaming.us
"You're either with us or against us"
I imagine the Rallying Call at Halas is going to serve as the noobie area where the game holds your hand a bit, which is very helpful for new players. After a while, the content around Halas will mature into less of a noobie zone, and a new Rallying call will open up to serve as the next noobie zone.
Main problem I see is dumping thousands of players into a single starting location. A year after launch it's probably a good idea to have everyone start in the same place to avoid having empty noobie zones, but at launch it will be a complete nightmare.
I think there almost has to be at least 2 different starting locations, and probably 4-6 if we are going to have an even remotely playable game at launch. Maybe they could charge to start in a place separate from the general population?
Noobie areas turning into ghost towns is a game design problem.. There are alternative ways to keep a vibrant world, especially home cities meaningful.. But I'm not on the payroll and devs aren't listening.. so...... We'll see what happens in the future..
How can you say dev's aren't listening? They are making an entire game just so that we can help come up with ideas for the real version...that's amazing.
Incognito
www.incognito-gaming.us
"You're either with us or against us"
I hope they do it based on the new lore. Basically most of the races had to band together to exist and they were on Kunark for a great long while. So they are exploring Antonica for the first time and there is huge lore and ancient things and civilizations that have been left undisturbed to evolve. Now we have made the trek back to the mainlands and are starting life there much like pioneers settling a new place. There will probably be a basic small village comprised of maybe a few structures with some npc's and we must make our way from there.
No. I don’t want to be randomly placed in such manner. I want to choose where I start and be able to rally with friends starting characters in the same region easily. I am totally against the suggestion OP. but I am amused at how few actually read your post before replying.
Whether or not I even play this game will have a lot to do with stuff they have not even explained yet, mainly crafting and item decay and such.
But if the systems look good (and I like the destruction and layers and stuff) then I would probably start out in the newbie area and immediately leave....
screw you guys I am not hanging around to build a fort. I am going to find a nice spot to mine somewhere in the mountains.
Choosing where "in general" you want to start, goes along with "random assignment". For example, there could be named regions across the qeynos outskirts area. You tell your friends that you want to start in qeynos outskits, and you all start in different areas near the outskirts. You then tell each other where you are in relation to the closest named area, or invite each other to a party, and you can see exactly where each of you are on the map (even if you can't see what physical formations are in the map itself). and then just choose a common area to get together, and play along from there.
This is all moot though if the Devs have it in stone how they are going to be doing this. Its another wait and see argument.