Vanguard - Fansite writeup from E3 about Diplomacy

[Braen]

http://www.silkyvenom.com/forums/showthread.php?t=556

Some highlights:

Diplomacy in Vanguard takes place through parley – a sort of mock combat in which the player uses his diplomacy abilities and the NPC “defends” against them. Parley is an abstract way of simulating a conversation. Each individual situation has context on either end, text scripted to let the player know the situation at the start of the parley and to make the outcome clear. Parley abstracts the argument/discussion/persuasion aspect of the conversation, so rather than picking particular conversation options from a text list, the player uses his diplomacy skills in what amounts to a conversation simulator.

A diplomat has a set amount of “persuasion” – think of it as the hit points and mana of diplomacy. If a player’s persuasion runs out before he completes his conversational objective, the fight is over and he loses experience as if he died. Players will have escape abilities that, if successful, allow them to disengage from the conversation without losing the experience. Sigil also demonstrated a diplomacy buff, swagger, that increased the amount of persuasion in the caster’s pool (and had a spectacular, Elvis-esque animation that is *not* to be missed).

A diplomat has a set amount of “persuasion” – think of it as the hit points and mana of diplomacy. If a player’s persuasion runs out before he completes his conversational objective, the fight is over and he loses experience as if he died. Players will have escape abilities that, if successful, allow them to disengage from the conversation without losing the experience. Sigil also demonstrated a diplomacy buff, swagger, that increased the amount of persuasion in the caster’s pool (and had a spectacular, Elvis-esque animation that is *not* to be missed).

As the player uses his abilities to push his agenda, whatever it may be, the NPC “fights back” – ignoring the player’s efforts to persuade, figuratively telling players “talk to the hand” as they drain their persuasion pools.

The demo quest involved a charge to make a merchant happier so he pays his taxes. The goal was to build his happiness up to the appropriate level before the player’s persuasion pool emptied. The player used abilities such as “dazzling smile” and “shoulder to lean on,” as well as the aforementioned “swagger,” to achieve his goal. When these abilities “hit,” the effect can be quite noticeable – one player move elicited a fit of knee-slapping laughter from the NPC.
When the player successfully convinces the NPC to be happier through parley, appropriate text adding the closing context to the conversation appears in the text box. At that point, the player can return to the quest giver for his reward. In addition to the tangible reward, the player is also rewarded indirectly; because the merchant is paying his taxes, the city is running better now. The diplomacy quests are the knobs and dials players turn to run the city. And the city, running better, is able to help the players do better. While players cannot take control of an NPC city, they can exert significant influence over how it is run.

Each player city will also have NPCs associated with it. One thing the players have to do to manage their city is to deal with the NPCs. The city has statistics that can be changed, and as with NPC cities players control those statistics through, among other things, diplomacy and NPC interaction. The NCPs are a window into how the city works. Each player city will support multiple players interacting with the NPCs to help the city run.

Lots of interesting stuff!

[GiR]

I read that and think... Sims style NPC interaction.

[Cybsled]

I actually thought Monkey Island ;p Brad, please add a diplomat trainer named Guybrush ;O hehe

[Zehn - Vhex]

Meh.

[Brash]

Great way to get some real use out of your cities. Now if my rogue can sneak and parlay his way into the king’s daughters room late at night. Now that’s what I call RPG. Sounds like Vanguard’s PC’s will be well rounded with plenty of things to do besides killing things. That’s the kind of immersive world I want. I want a game that breathes! Someone, somewhere said that.

[Kaxmax]

Sounds interesting. I hope they add some kind of random element to it, so it's not all spoiled early in beta. Something that adjusts for different NPC moods, so a /dazzling smile, /hug, /reacharound won't get the same results every time.

[Zehn - Vhex]

The only problem is...how long until the dialogue responses become rote? This is me expecting the worst, but is it going to be like morrowind where after the fourth or fifth person you woo the responses all become the same shit different pile? Is every guard going to have his/her nuances you have to adjust too or is saying, "How about them Red Sox?" going to get you by every single time?

Kudos to them for trying to add a 'new' dimension to MMO's...but I fear unless they pump alot of talent into this, it's going to suck wind.

[Iannis]

If I had the Sims, I'd totally make a pimp and his "family" of hos just to watch him slap them all.

[Chantado]

I suppose some of this is cool, but a lot of ideas like these end up being "features" that get old really quickly and add very little fun factor to the game. They make them sound cool by claiming that players can have a _significant_ impact on the game. However, this has rarely been true in almost every mmo that has made such a claim. Here's to hoping those ideas are carried out well.

[Wowbagger]

I just want a "++" to appear over the head of your opponent when you make a critical "hit".

[Elgonn]

Originally posted by Braen
If a player’s persuasion runs out before he completes his conversational objective, the fight is over and he loses experience as if he died.

I just can't imagine even with "escape" skills how on earth you'd lose exp failing some sort of diplomacy. Hopefully you can't lose more exp than you'll get for killing the unwilling bastard.

Is NPC happiness global or character based? It would seem stupid if some gruff character can't use the happy time created by an elven stripper to get things done.

[Brash]

The pressing question I have is FOH planning to start their own player city? Is that appealing for a hard core raiding quild? There is no denying your in game status peering over the hillside and seeing your own city with the guild flag at the city gate.


add: Furorville?

[Digo]

Diplomacy battles? What is this, Henry Kissinger Online?

[Braen]

Personally, I think adding a Machiavellian aspect to the world gives the world that much more flavor, especially with player made cities. Imagine running a town and being able to give a tongue lashing to some NPC merchants in the town to start paying their taxes on time, or motivate the guards to be a bit more diligent on their patrols.

It's all about the detail.

[Stragi]

Originally posted by Cybsled
I actually thought Monkey Island ;p Brad, please add a diplomat trainer named Guybrush ;O hehe

Insult swordfight!