What I am most looking forward to - branching arcs

I just started doing tip missions. I love that you choose between two missions based on your values. And at the end of the mission it reminds you of the part you didn't do - the bad guy is still out there, even though you rescued the captive.

So now I am eagerly awaiting the next step - branching arcs.

You have to stop X from doing Y. Do you go vigilante and just go after him, or go through the side missions to stop his plans before you go after him.

Maybe an optional mission is rescuing hero Z, and if you rescue them they appear to aid you in the final mission against X.

The devs are very creative, and the content has gotten a lot better in terms of stories. And the tech has gotten better. I am eager to see them push this to the next level.

Pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease so.

The new DA arcs have some interesting choices in them - including one that becomes easier if you take the evil path.

Given the "one-and-done" nature of First Ward and Praetoria as a whole, I wonder if this is the way forward players really want? Choice is good, but something went wrong with goldside and especially First Ward, as you see very few people teaming there.

WARNING: I bold names.

In the same sense, there are hardly ever teams in the Hollows or Faultline. It is not because the content is bad, it is because the majority of players are in Steel and those looking for teams go where the other players are.

it is a vicious circle
There are not enough players in Praetoria to make teams
Since that is the case, those interested in teaming do not go there

I find the problem with First Ward to be as simple as replayability. The more "bang" you pack into a single playthrough, the more of a chore it is to replay. First Ward is written like a movie more so than like a game, with your character just playing out a role through the single line of the plot. And like a movie, once you've seen it, there's very little reason to see it again unless it's amazing. And given that First Ward ends on a cliffhanger, and a mean-spirted one at that, I'd rank it as less than amazing.

I've always found that trying to tie multiple story arcs into the same one storyline kills replayability. Kills it dead! Counting just Launch content, most level ranges have five story arcs, but around enough time to run three. On each playthrough, I run a different combination of those five story arcs in that level range, and in a different order. Faultline, by contrast, has four story arcs split between two level ranges, and always played in the same order. In essence, Faultline has just one storyline, and every time I go there, I'm playing the same storyline.

I'm not saying that stories need to be standalone and unconnected. Far from it. But I'd appreciate if I had a choice of more PARALLEL storylines to run. Like in Praetoria proper, though what sinks THAT is ambushes and difficulty.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arcanaville Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.

I definitely regard a series of arcs where one contact leads you to another as being a single storyline even if the story does not really continue.

And I see that as a bad thing when they change dramatically enough to change the flavor without being so different that they seem different storylines.

First Ward is the prime example of that. The whole survival of the little group of outcasts from the starting arcs is lost by the end. I'm still in First Ward, it seems to be the same storyline, but they just tossed out most of the "main characters".

I have the same issue with the WWD series, in that they seem unrelated to each other due to the differing villain groups and plots. They are tied only by a cutscene at the end. On the other hand, each is its own TF and I don't do them one after another usually, so I can see each as a standalone story.