Will the world change because of our actions?

I've always wanted to see an instanced MMO with dynamic NPCs/mobs that show differently to different players based upon what they've done. I've always thought with instances this should be possible.

If a town is being overrun with Kobolds and I save the town, when I come back, I shouldn't still see the town being overrun just so that it is always that way for players who haven't done the quests yet.

I should be immersed in a dynamic world where I matter, and my actions matter.

Lately I've been playing a simple kid's MMO with my daughter (Wizard 101). Despite being a simple game aimed at kids, they pull this off to an extent.

There was an NPC in the commons who always appeared there for me, until I reached a point in the quest line where she was kidnapped. In her spot, a diary was left behind instead. With multiple players in the same area, we saw different things in that area depending on where we were in the quest. Once I rescued her, she appeared back in the Commons again.

I really hope SotA can pull this off. If not in Episode 1, then hopefully down the road. Please make the world feel like it is living and breathing.

 

This is what The Elder Scrolls Online does. Because of your decision during a quest, an NPC dies and he stays dead for you. Or one of your decisions causes a fortress to be destroyed... This is done with phasing. The downside of this is that you only see other players that are in the same phase as you are - players who made the same decisions as you. But at least for me it worked very well to create a plausible and atmospheric game world and made me feel like I accomplished something that has a lasting effect on the world. Would be great, if SotA offered something similar.

 

1) The instancing does this to some extent. Parts of the game can be different for you than for others.
2) Actions done at a larger level like a guild (or faction?) certainly should change the world in a big way.

 

In a true dream scenario, what I envision is a new plot element in game every month.

The actions of the players on the whole someone sway the outcome of this scenario and move the plot forward going into the next month.

Legend of the Five Rings does this with their story continuity. They hold tournaments for the card game. The winner of the tournament at a given Con represents their clan, and that clan gets what they want in the story moving forward. So building decks of the clan you like and winning tournaments permanently changes the story of that world.

Let's say there is a High Priest of the Oracle who is kidnapped from Brittany. They add an instance to the game for the month where there is a quest to resolve that. When the player encounters the kidnappers and learn of their motives, they are presented with 3 options:

1. Rescue the Priest and kill the kidnappers
2. Aid the kidnappers in their escape once you learn of their motives by fighting off the local guards
3. Seize this opportunity to kill the priest yourself and frame the kidnappers. "The priest was already dead when I got there!"

The game keeps track of our choices, and which ever choice is picked the most by the players on the whole completing this quest will advance the plot in that direction. If you care about the story, you have incentive to keep logging in and playing these new quests.

 

It would be interesting to see player driven changes, but that also runs the risk of alienating those that "miss" the events or even the other side's choices. I'd much prefer if it were on a large scale scenario (say, an enemy conquering a city-state), and if we defend or lose, then different outcomes occur.

For personal questing and small interactions, my choices and reputations shouldn't directly change your gameplay, and vice versa. Otherwise, I could easily see it being abused and trolls by those looking to disrupt normal commerce and gameplay.

 

Yes, I expect the world to change based on faction vs faction scenarios. Some of this may be direct combat, but much can happen through anything. WoW would generally open up new dungeons first to the side who did more of different quests and the quests where diverse enough to there were many ways to contribute. Warhammer did the same thing. Lineage2 let you choose the dawn or dusk faction every two weeks, and this completely changed the effects of castles on the world depending on which side one.

Again, I'm hoping to avoid hard wiring the factions. The scenario above effectively describes 3 factions.

 

SotA doesn't appear to be faction based as much as MMOs, because they focus so heavily on PvP, which falls clearly down faction lines.

We don't know enough about the SotA setting to know what factions exist, but I can't imagine a simplistic decision at character creation forever tying you to a singular fashion. I expect factions to be more numerous in SotA, but each with smaller spheres of power within the setting.

 

Actually, this goes back to some current lore questions I have regarding the Blade of the Avatar novella:

Spoiler

The novel itself is set centuries before the actual SotA timeline, so the factions of the Obsidian Empire versus the Council of Might remains unanswered. Has the Empire been overthrown? Does the Council still exist? Are we called to choose sides between them? Or have they since splintered into newer organizations, where the free-state Council could be the dominant power, with remnant fragments of the Obsidians looking to reclaim Order.

There could certainly be factions available, in fact, I seriously hope we could influence game events by our support or defiance of their goals for New Britannia. I just don't want a rehash of WoW's "blue vs red" mandatory split of players. We choose our fates; masters of our hearts, guides of our paths, and captains of our souls.

Edit: I should note that many of these questions will probably be answered as more chapters and Developer information is released. This would greatly affect and assist players, I think, towards deciding their character's back stories and RP decisions. Right now, we're guessing blind.

 

I eagerly await information about the setting of the game in the current era.

 

I'm certainly hoping players will change the world. It's likely going to happen but to what extent... we'll see.
I like the ideas of collaborative efforts resulting in greater changes. Hopefully devs have got big plans with the dual scale map

 

With instancing and selective multiplayer, they definitely could do this but with it comes some serious issues with never being able to see other players during your story arc (playthrough) that took "the other path". But you know what, that's perfectly fine. Towns or other globally persistent areas are excluded from that design. But when you venture to other areas that are quest-related, you will only be put in instances with other players that made the same decisions so that your "worlds" are internally consistent. If there was a quest that determined whether or not some NPC died in that area, the players would be put in appropriate instances where that NPC was alive or not based on their choice in the quest. Likewise for destruction of buildings or altering terrain.

To extend this, they could have a branching quest design system not just for general quests but for the primary storyline such that there could be multiple ways to "end" the story arc of your avatar. And I'm thinking they may just do that due to this quote:

TH:
So I guess the answer to that is yes, there is a very good reason why there are so many avatars who are here. Not only does it not break the story, it is an integral part of the story. And is there a destiny for an avatar? Absolutely. Absolutely. We just can't tell you about it.

RG:
<LAUGHS MISCHIEVOUSLY> And you know there might even be more than one...destiny.

 

I think that they're probably going to be taking much more of a "Big Picture" approach.

First off, players will be able to influence the lore of the game. You'll be able to write fan fiction, submit it for approval, and if it's approved you could find it in-game as a book, journal, legend, or oral tradition.

Second off, many in this thread seem to have a skewed view of what SotA considers a quest. It's not gonna be some guy with an exclamation mark over his head. You might overhear someone in a tavern say "I saw some skeletons walking out of a cave near the river." - That's your indicator of a "quest" for the most part. You'll find hints, snippets of lore, and other things that point you in the general direction of adventure. Sometimes people will be direct in asking you for help, but I don't think that's going to be the norm.

 

Yep, the team are big on this and user generated content (UGC) is going to be a big thing for the next generation of games, especially indie ones that relies on the crowd. Richard and Tracy are big on weaving player stories into their game and are fans of player generated stories. Hope they can manage the influx of UGC though. With custom crests, game music, books, NPC designs (dev+ folks) and other submissions, they'll have their hands full to review and design the game.

I think most are aware of that and the ideas talked about here are agnostic to the quest "user interface". I love though that the "user interface" in this game is the conversation system. That's a game changer in terms of quest design and NPCs (AI, knowledge, schedules).

 

I don't think SOTA is about instancing and phasing, it's more about a persistent world for everybody.

 

Do I remember correctly that RG mentioned he wanted to bring some of the Tabula Rasa's "Capture Point" concepts into SotA?
I think that'd be great!

And I also seem to remember that either Starr or Chris (or was it someone else?) stated that "important" NPCs would respawn if they die?

 

Guild Wars 2 has these "living story" type events in which you seem to be able to influence the world outcome in a miniscule way. The main issue with this is the amount of developer work required to implement something that will only be available in game for a short period of time and is then never to be seen again.

In my opinion it would be of much better utilization of development time to create the ability for the players themselves to influence and affect the world.

• Burn down a house and it stays burnt until someone repairs it later.
• Move a chair in the tavern and it stays put until moved again later on by some other player.
• Post a Wanted sign offering a reward for the capture, alive or dead, of some villain.

Tying it all together: Set up a lemonade stand and offer drinks to the thirsty crew rebuilding that burnt house after the villain with the Wanted posting was finally caught and and convicted by a jury that sat in chairs borrowed from the tavern.

Although I certainly enjoy a main story arch through the game ( I'll leave that to the fine work of Mr. Hickman ) I don't want my each and every move pre-scripted and/or on rails. We have many gifted and talented Role Players in the community. Give them the tools to flex their Role Playing might for the benefit of all.

Yes, I'm aware that's a very tall order but it is a goal we could strive towards. Now, if only I could resist the urge to constantly burn down that house!

 

They could leave the old quests in, and allow people to still play through. New players can play through the whole chain of quests to catch up on the current living story.

 

Well, without wanting to be rude, this is why single player RPGs exist.

In an MMO environment there is always, always, always some "give and take" when it comes to stuff like this.

 

Yet there's been precious little "give" in the past 15+ years.

M59 had more tangible in-game effects (affecting every player) than any game since, that I'm aware of. The actions of players aligned to a particular NPC faction changed the prices of all consumables, world-wide, for all players.

I've never seen another MMO do that, since. That one mechanic still hasn't been expanded upon, in all this time.

 

FWIW, I provided suggestions on how an MMO can do this better. Heck, a simple kid's MMO does some of this already, showing different things to different players in the same instance based upon quest flags.