An Evolving World - Taking Disappearing Contacts to the Next Level


Dark Lost

 

Posted

Standard Code Rant Applies

It's a good thing to keep in mind for the future though.

In Praetoria, certain contacts vanish after certain story events have been completed. This is not a new technology. It's the same tech that allows Stalkers to sneak up behind you and sink pointy things in your back, and it's been available for years.

The MMO-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named refers to this system as "Phasing". And unless The-Company-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named copyrighted that phase, that's what I'm going to refer to this as.

...If it is copyrighted, forgive me. Please don't send your death eaters after me, Company-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named.


Anyway, the cool thing about Phasing is that it allows you to drastically modify the world's appearance, depending on the events your character takes part in. With the advent of Praetoria, I think this would be a wonderful addition to the game, for new and old zones alike. Here are a few examples:

-Billbored: Paragon City, Praetoria, and the Rogue Isles are covered in Billboards. In Atlas Park, these advertisements offer an interesting glimpse into the mindset of the people of Atlas at the start of gameplay. You see lots of Vanguard Advertisements and Anti-Alien propaganda, for instance.
You also see a lot of advertisements for Crey, and other companies.

Using Atlas Park as an example, these billboards could be modified after certain missions. For example, when you complete Crey Missions, the billboards for Crey could be vandalized, and then eventually replaced.

Completing missions that improve Rikti - Human Relations could cause the number of Earth for Humans billboards to drop as well.

-NPCs: The game is full of incidental NPCs. As your character completes missions, the nature of these NPCs could change to reflect the status of the world. Some examples...

  • Crey NPCs could serve in low level zones as Guard NPCs until they've been outed as evil. They could be replaced with PPD NPCs upon returning to those zones.
  • Rikti Traditionalists could take a larger role in society as characters work through the Vanguard Missions. First in Vanguard Bases, then at Portal Corp or D.A.T.A., and so on. By the time you complete the Dark Watcher's arc, you might even see a "Rikti Traditionalist" Pedestrian roaming the streets! (This would be perfect if you ever release a Rikti AT by the way. <_< ))
  • As players complete missions with Praetorian Content (and as more Praetorians become Expatriots) the worlds could change to reflect each other. Clockwork could appear in Paragon City, for instance.

Basically, the world changes to reflect your story. If you choose to fight for Rikti-Human peace, then the world will change to reflect that. If you choose to ignore Crey's evils, then that aspect of the world will remain static.


 

Posted

That could work if it were a solo game. But this is an MMO. You may make certain choices but someone else may make different choices to yours.


 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dark Lost View Post
That could work if it were a solo game. But this is an MMO. You may make certain choices but someone else may make different choices to yours.
The vanishing contacts set up is a personal change, not a global one.

So it is -conceivable- that you could do it with billboards or specific "Standing Around" individuals. But when you've got moving units, it becomes a problem as they walk through people who don't see them.

-Rachel-


 

Posted

So very /signed! Great suggestion! There are some things to take into consideration in regards to teaming and Oroborous but I fully support this kind of change!


>


"I am a Tank. I am your first choice, I am your last hope." -- Rune Bull

"Durability is the quintessential super-power. " -- Sailboat

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by NightErrant View Post
  • Crey NPCs could serve in low level zones as Guard NPCs until they've been outed as evil. They could be replaced with PPD NPCs upon returning to those zones.
While as was said, this isn't really possible to do with phasing tech, this needs to happen anyway for story consistency reasons.

At the moment, you meet one Crey character, who is an optional encounter (in the tutorial), before level 30. After level 30, Crey actually start showing up and they're immediately portrayed as corrupt and evil.

We need a few missions/arcs in the mid-levels where you actually work alongside Crey, the Paragon Protectors, and even Hero Corps (two contacts notwithstanding).


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