 Sigil Developer Tracker
|
|
The dev tracker is no longer actively scanning, however you may continue to browse the archives collected over the past several years here.
Please remember that these developer posts
are taken out of context, so beware of any silky venom being spewed forth.
Color Key:
Green - Sigil Games Online Employee
Pink - Sony Online Entertainment
Gray - Microsoft Game Studios Employee
Orange - Community Member
|
|
Good post -
I'm every bit as much a sucker for story as anyone. I think I'm equal parts power-gamer and RP buff. I can 'grind' on a game for hours if I'm given a compelling reason. If my efforts have a 'real' impact on the world or the lore, well, then consider me compelled.
Changing the world is a lofty goal in a MMO though. Especially in a huge world, it's a challenge getting a decent base-coat of content in place and debugged. If you are going to allow a player (or group of players) to actually change the way the game is played or a story is presented then you have the responsibility of ensuring that the changes are just as compelling for those who follow as the original content was.
Going down that road, it's easy to exponentially increase the amount of work that must be done. What happens if you spend 1,000 man hours on a content 'path' that players opt not to pursue? As a designer, you're probably looking for a new place to work.
I've given it quite a bit of thought, and experimented with it a bit on previous projects. I think one elegant solution is to set up a win/win scenario, where trailblazers are able to impact the world in a way that benefits the more casual player. Where their efforts expand the story instead of causing it to completely change direction. Then, in order to maintain the benefit, follow-up players must perform acts that perpetuate the setting, or it will eventually revert to its original state.
Ultimately this doesn't break anything, work isn't wasted, and players of all types can feel like they're playing a significant role in impacting their environment.
Does that sleep deprived ramble even make sense? I'm interested in your thoughts.
|
reply to this post
Find all posts by Akkirus.
Find all posts in "The STORY behind the game".
|
|
I've given this topic quite a bit of thought, and it's been discussed at length with many of the other devs as well as some of the fans that have paid us a visit.
1. One thing I feel pretty strongly about is that quests and other types of communication (notes, books, etc.) need to appear in a separate window by default. Even out of combat, enough information gets sent to the main chat window that it would prove frustrating to sort through the spam while engaging in quest dialogue. I anticipate that we'll allow the player to make a number of chat windows to filter the various messages coming in.
2. The means of progressing through quest dialogue was a subject that everyone seemed to have a strong opinion on. I'll detail the solution we're going into beta with and why. While we love the 'discovery' element of hidden quests that can be offered by covert keywords and the like, most people feel that for baseline quests the minigame of 'hunt for the keyword' or 'read the designer's mind' was tedious and frustrating. So, in the spirit of maintaining depth while being as accessible and inclusive as possible, we'll be doing both to a degree.
The vast majority of quests will have a list of in-character responses to choose from. (This has the added bonus of not requiring me to include the desired response in the original body of text.) Clicking on your chosen response will progress the text, obtain the quest, etc. Players who are attentive though and look for subtle clues or by luck or ingenuity unravel in-game mysteries, may learn of more obscure plots and quests. Hidden keywords spoken to the right NPCs may be very rewarding. Often, for these keywords to work, they will need to be uttered by a player with specific character flags present.
For example: The dwarf guard/smuggler might not heed the player who comes up and says, "I know your secret!", but the diplomat who has extricated the dwarf's name from the bartender/fence through brutal interrogation says the same thing to our dwarf and reveals a hidden quest where he may choose to take a payoff or win a ransom for revealing the criminal.
3. There was a 3 when I started this post, but Aaron came in and completely distracted me... <sigh> FNGs. I'll be back if/when I remember.
|
reply to this post
Find all posts by Akkirus.
Find all posts in "Interface (Talking) with Npcs: Clickable Chat bubbles or text based interaction".
|
|
One of the conversations I had last week touched upon this topic, so I'll share my response here.
Two and a half years ago, when we were making our big list of ways to improve on MMOGs, we listed the things we were unable to pull off with previous tools and technology - things we wanted to take into account from the start here.
One of those frustrations was being unable to reward a small group for overcoming something that might be just as difficult for a handful of players as a raid was for 40 of them.
As a player, I felt a great sense of accomplishment for being in a small group who had bitten off more than most groups could chew, and through quick thinking, cooperation, timing and luck - managing to win.
As a developer, I wanted to create this experience and reward players appropriately for their risk, but I had no way of limiting the number of people who might overpower and trivialize the encounter. In Vanguard, we have developed solutions to this problem that won't break the immersion of a non-instanced world.
Don't misunderstand though. There will definitely be big raids too! Some classic ones and others that will rely heavily on player tactics and strategy - ensuring that everyone feels that they were instrumental in the outcome and not just 'Healer 1 of 9' or 'Nuker #5'. More details on that later...
|
reply to this post
Find all posts by Akkirus.
Find all posts in "Epiq Quests should not mean Guild Quests".
|
|
since it's likely one of my remarks that initiated this.
The context, if I remember correctly, was in regards to a quest I was demoing.
In the quest, the objective was given, along with several pieces of information. The player was then able to complete the quest in a number of ways. There were solutions for soloing the quest, for simply brute-forcing it, or even for being resourceful and creative [each solution having their own rewards].
In response to a question, I stated that some of the solutions in these multiple-outcome quests may only be limited to a single attempt. The fact that the other solutions would still be intact may not have been clearly communicated.
That said, I can think of scenarios where this functionality could be used well in normal MMO quests. If a player failed to complete an objective in a reasonable amount of time, it may cause that solution to no longer be an option - perhaps this would open up an alternative solution, or another objective entirely.
For example, if you're questing to save a man's only child from a zealous cult who intends to sacrifice him in three days, and you fail to get to him in time, maybe that's it... or maybe now your objective changes to exacting revenge for the deed, generating an entirely different reward. When all is done, that father who issued you the quest will remember you and in what way, if any, you helped him - and may direct you to content related to how you assisted him, content that might not be accessed any other way...
Bottom line, while we may not be able to get completely away from 'groundhog day' [yet], I think it's good to mitigate it when we can.
I hope that those of you who've been following us for the past couple years - or longer if you're familiar with our previous work - know that we're all pretty hard-core gamers and trust that we have the judgement not to use tools or fuctionality in a way that's going to... well, suck. 
Please, if nothing else, don't assume that we'd use something like this to disqualify you from some epic, career-building quest because at level ten you lost connectivity when attacking your named kobold.
|
reply to this post
Find all posts by Akkirus.
Find all posts in "A Very Very Bad Feature".
|
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Oloh
All registered. Now here is the question. Is there any man (or woman) among your ragtag crew that can defeat me at pool or at Pod Racer? I think not.
Akkirus, it will be especially nice to dominate you in real life prior to dominating you in any pvp context. That way, you wont be able to pull the "you suck at real life stuff" card.
You and your domination fantasies aside, I have a little challenge for you next time you visit. The conditions will include the loser and a picture of their punitive consequence posted for all to see. Sort of a RL 'I pwned joo' screenshot kinda thing... You'll need to become accustomed to appearing in those sooner or later anyway.
Ohh yes, almost forgot. Remind me to show you Ohlo Mudswaller's debut appearance in Vanguard. Guaranteed to bring a tear to your eye  .
|
reply to this post
Find all posts by Akkirus.
Find all posts in "Fanguard!! One week left to register!".
|
|
|
|
|
All times are GMT -4. The time now is 03:44 AM.
|
 |
|
News
