There are always solutions as you mentioned. Implement them.
1) The NPC's that leave the town, maybe just more of the excess in the town do, preventing the quest problem? Just the "militia" leaves?
2) NPC not in place because it's off doing something else? Why even have to communicate like that? Why click the ! - why not be able to mail the NPC information, spelling out its name if you want to (this is after you've already communicated with it at least once), being able to receive quests like that, communicate several ways to PC's, NPCs too, how could that shape the game?
What if you send out a bird to give him the message, why cant the AI of the NPC be better than scripted communication through ! in a stationary position to give/receive? Why aren't birds part of the game that send/recieve messages on the fly along with the normal mail system in EQ2/WoW.
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Originally Posted by Ngruk  at the end of the day the bottom line is if 1-2 people are 'enjoying' something and the other 8 out of ten are not, that sucks for 80% of the people 'experiencing' that 'cool thing'. |
It depends on what you're talking about, and also how you handle your variability. I have to respond with there's always a solution again (that is, for the bigger scripted variability/events and possible town events).
The things that aren't involved in a seamless algorithm are always a concern.. With that said it's not like everyone was involved with Kerafrym The Sleeper, people just heard about it - and were pretty amazed. Pissed off? Yeah I'm sure that was the case, but at the same time happy knowing that that type of variability can exist in their game, and that the development is achieving that sort of progressive mentality in their lore. The Sleeper is easily one of EQ's defining characters, not just because of the lore behind it, but because of the event, the hardships, and the stories that were told from that massacre. Bring that back.
The point of diminishing returns is a good one. I think we can relate that to other things besides just cities. Quite frankly things that would be subject to diminishing returns wouldn't necessarily need to be large scale things, rather small scale anomalies that happen outside of the basic algorithm. To make that clear, we wouldn't be seeing ten kerafrym type events in one year. Finding the sweet spot between variability vs constants is where everything lies.
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Originally Posted by Ngruk I mean Boston runs just fine without me, people, and lots of them, are ALL busy and going from here to there and NONE of them need me to quest for them. Having said that I don't drive into the city to sit back and watch it happen.... I might, I don't know, but certainly not more than once |
I hear you. I think there's a certain psychological value to realism in a fake world though, something that we
can't discredit, especially in something that truly innovates itself from the pack. In EQ how many nights did you leave your computer on, character near the water while people ran from BoT to PoK book? Not to mention with the PoTranquility sound still on.
Hell, WoW kicks you off the damn server. WoW is all about the combat, the structured instanced zones, which are important...but where's the magic? Where's the personality in that? I'd argue on WoW's behalf that the art pallet they used is fascinating to a degree, there's a certain use of coloring that draws people in and is easy on the eyes. There's got to be more than decent art in the world to create a psychological attraction though. This is just my opinion on WoW really - I actually quite like WoW, but I feel It's too structered. IE. The zombie event is awesome.
Not everyone cares about anything more than strict structuralism which I well understand, but the next big thing, in my mind, enhances the aspects of structuralism and introduces the variability of a world that's truly magical.
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Originally Posted by Ngruk People aren't always 'home' or 'in distress' or 'at work' but there is at least an appearance that they are 'living' beyond standing around with a yellow ! above their heads waiting for the next 'hero' to come along and save their lost cat. |
Sadly that reminds me of EQ2...I remember in Qeynos that girl that always would run around chasing her cat and crying.
Some of your comments seem to be interested in accepting current problems with MMO's. I don't know if that's because you cant hint at innovation on your end, but I'm a bit concerned there.
