Kitsune9tails

NINJA VANISH!

Warning: Tv Tropes links ahead

Costumes: Qipao

Visual Effects: Diagonal Cut, Swirling Dust, Flash Step

Powers: Super Mode, Combination Attack, Wave Motion Gun

Storylines: Tournament Arc, Always Save the Girl, Heroic Resolve

Sound Effects: Ominous Latin Chanting

Enemies: One-Winged Angel

Not to mention that we have Info Booths all over Paragon that do basically nothing but show Leaderboards that I'm not sure anyone cares about. Please correct me if you care.

It also seems like many of the stores, trainers, and other npcs could be given info on Lore appropriate to their location, purpose and history.

I want Dark Astoria to have multiple paths per side through the content anyway, so while I'm 'pie-in-the-skying'...

How about a path for the 'get on with it already' crowd and a path for the 'what's my motivation crowd'?

This ties back to what Arcanaville said about their being more than one way that characters with different capabilities could handle the content.

1: You have the main way through the content; the repeatable path. Simpler missions consisting mostly of 'defeat this bad guy and his guards', set on larger map with lots of enemies.

For the Devs, the purpose of this path is a straightforward environment where the progress of the characters in terms of rewards is easily monitored and controlled; not a lot of fiddly bits to be buggy, exploited or abused. The rewards here are straightforward as well, so there is a clear connection between time invested and rewards gained; mostly just Mission Complete rewards.

2: You have the 'Lorehound path' as well. Short to very short missions, but: Cut scenes, gimmick fights, random elements, dialogue trees, timers, alternate objective missions, branching mission paths, Moral Choices, the works. This path is specifically engineered to be basically played through once to get the story and background info that supports the main story. Heavily atmospheric and cinematic, it rewards those willing to brave its' hellish, hoary depths with badges, temp powers and long-lasting buffs (as well as standard rewards at a lower rate due to fewer enemies). It is made up of a series of independent but interconnected 'one-off' arcs for various Contacts whose fates you determine by choices you make during various stories. Those you successfully rescue can be bought from a shop to use as (buff/debuff/healing) Helpers.

From the Dev's point of view, this is where you turn the mission writing team loose with the 'make all the players who feel that this 7-year old game is behind the times and low-tech eat thier words; make scenes that people call their friends over to the computer to see."

The idea is that most characters can progress at normal speeds down the main path, but if your build is having trouble you can trot over to a lore arc and power up, at the 'cost' of a less directly profitable mission, or 'gambling' with a mission that you can fail.

I'm seeing this as an 'everybody wins' situation.

Gameplay-wise they aren't needed, but they are so much a part of the genre and character individuality, I'd be sad to see them gone.

Huh. I thought they did.

I know for a fact that many do. I often use this to my advantage when playing control heavy characters on teams.

I actually think the problem is not the binary nature, but a combination of the 'perceived' binary nature and the perma nature of mezzes.

In certain other games, I have liked the fact that controls almost always 'penetrate', but have short durations that you cannot really extend. Even when playing a controller-type character, it made sure that you had to actually fight. This extended to the critters as well: a mez meant that you were going to miss an attack or few, but you weren't going to get mezzed at the start of a fight and stay that way through the whole thing.

Long duration mezzes and chaining mezzes make the game more boring regardless of who has them.

Sadly, I think it's a bit late to insert that philosophy here. But we have purple triangles and Break Free inspirations, so there you go.

I'm not really sure what a non-binary mezz would do or look like. I'd hate for every opponent in game to have a visible bar for each type of mezz all the time; maybe as an option.

I like the idea of 'included options'.

Various npcs or objects ranging from right out in front to 'explore to find this guy', with lore, dialogue trees that change their 'attitude', maybe even variable minor rewards. Nothing that is forced on other players, but there for people who like the soloist playstyle to stroll around, find, and play with differently with different alts.

This can also include such things as 'gimmick fights' that are not necessary parts of the main storyline.

Economy, I'd wager.

As players, we want sets to come out all at once, because then we can get all the pieces at once at a discount. Also, we can see a bunch of pieces made with the same mind in the same creative moment together and pick and choose. Rather than getting a Colonial Marine helmet made by Artist A today, and A Colonial Marine Jacket 2 years later made by Artist C that doesn't really match it.

As artists, they can probably much more easily get money and time to work on something that has a lot of flexibility and can be used by npcs as well as heroes in various ways. "I need budget to produce space suits for the the Moonbase Expansion" probably goes over a lot easier than "can I make a giant, chunky, square bubble helmet for Sam Tow? "

Kind of like how a bank is more likely to approve a house loan than a burger loan