The Solo/Small team Trial Assist
By
Adeon Hawkwood,
Posted on: 2011-06-30 14:07 in Suggestions and Ideas
Honestly? That sounds needlessly complicated for it's purpose. If the devs want to implement a non-Trial path I'd prefer to have one that isn't mechanically related to the trials at all. I like the basic theme of small groups hitting the flanks to disrupt supply lines but I think trying to tie them into the trials mechanically is not a good idea.
It doesn't really provide any tangible benefit to players (since suddenly their rewards are partly based on people who aren't even playing with them) and would (I suspect) require a huge amount of programming time to implement since now the server has to change things based on activities in another zone (something which I do not believe the game does at all currently).
Well, that is part of why I mentioned "future trials." 
That said, even if it's just having those effects "in story" as opposed to actually having them, it'd be something to run through when there aren't enough people to form a trial (or you just missed it.)
(And I do want non-trial content, yes - I still think taking Incarnate vs Ruularu would be good for a whole other Incarnate storyline. But I figured tying these in, well... consistent theme, same assets, etc.)
No, I saw it. My point was that even if it was designed into a trial from the ground up I don't think it would be a good idea. I like the the idea of it having a "story" impact on the trials I just think trying to give it a mechanical impact is a bad idea.
From the point of view of the people running the trials it's, essentially, causing random variations in Trial difficulty based on who happens to be running solo missions at the time. From the point of view of the people running the solo missions their rewards are, effectively, semi-random. I cannot see any situation where this would end well unless the differences were so minor as to be unnoticeable and in that case what's the point?
The other problem is technical. Now the server has to adjust one instance in real time based on activities in a different instance.
I like this idea. In fact I'd say have an optional slot unlock arc prior to running the trials as well. It would be an excellent opportunity to explore the story around the trials and give the developers more room to show us why the trial is important and players to experience it. Having us sneak in on a mini attempted rescue of brainwashed prisoners or disabling horrifying weaponry intended for use in Cole's war could tighten things up nicely story wise.
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Yeah, that's part of the other reason for the suggestion, really. The trials feel like... well, DOOM. (Not to be confused with DOoooooooooooooooommmmmmmm, I do mean the game specifically.) You know. "Um, you're a space marine. it's mars. Here's a gun. Shoot whatever isn't you." |
Originally Posted by Violet Sorceress
I like this idea. In fact I'd say have an optional slot unlock arc prior to running the trials as well. It would be an excellent opportunity to explore the story around the trials and give the developers more room to show us why the trial is important and players to experience it. Having us sneak in on a mini attempted rescue of brainwashed prisoners or disabling horrifying weaponry intended for use in Cole's war could tighten things up nicely story wise.
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If we're going to have these things... flesh 'em out some. if not in the trial itself, in some surrounding missions.
Instead of a solo incarnate path, I'd actually like to see a "small team trial" that's along the order of difficulty we have now. Something meant for "an elite team of superheroes" that can do the surgical strike. Perhaps it couldn't have an AV, though, I'm not sure.
One of my issues with the trials is that they're "mob of heroes" and no one gets the chance to really stand out.
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I agree with Adeon on this one, this seems very difficult to implement for its purpose.
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Nice try, though.
I'll just quote myself from the beta forums:
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Incarnate story arcs. Get behind this idea and it works for everyone. It scales in difficulty according to your team size. So if you are one player or you have 8 players on the team it still remains difficult. By default its set to +4 enemy difficulty and +1 player but as your invite people or raise the difficulty as you so choose it eventually is up to +8 players. So we have a solo option or a 1 team option. A story arc with incarnate level enemies. It could be something as simple as an introduction story arc to an incarnate trial. Perhaps a resistance fighter in Imperial City giving you intel about the Baf and some rumors about escaping mindwashed. The story arc has a few missions where you would infiltrate the baf and eventually uncover mother mayhems plan. And then they could add other story arcs related to the baf so you'd have even more options than repeating the same one for the emp merit everyday. Then we just need a couple for the lambda and keyes. It would work for everyone and if for some reason you can't solo it then bring a friend along and it will scale up in difficulty to challenge both of you or all 8 of you if you bring a full team. Essentially a mini incarnate task force. |
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Yes, this ties into "solo/small team incarnate content," but hear it out.
"Solo" path (independant) Incarnate stuff aside, there are times I've seen 1-2 trials go out... and 2-3 people left over because there was no team with room (or they just showed up too late.) What do they get to do? Stand around for a while.
Why not "help out" with a surgical strike? A fast 1-2 mission "arc" that becomes available that's related to whatever raids are underway. (Why 1-2 missions? Because trials take, what, 20-30 minutes now, and they should be able to join the next run.)
What sort of things would this team do? Well, they could be integrated better into future trials, of course... but what if they interrupt WarWorks delivery, changing the composition of the spawns that show up in the mission? Or have to fight through (or, hey, stealth... if they can) to reroute *more* supplies to Lambda? Or temporarily blind the Seers, forcing them to relocate and diverting more normal Praetorians over? Or having other temp powers show up, or getting information to the Resistance for some NPC allies to take some of the heat in (say) the training/containment areas?
Say, each guarantees a 5 thread reward. If the trial succeeds, one of the merits. If you run multiples, every five (or so) rewards an astral - those numbers and such could, of course, be juggled around. This is mostly to feel like, yes, you *can* help without being #24 of 25, or that if you miss a trial you'll be wasting time until one shows back up - it's a little "something related to do."