I thought I might throw another idea of mine up in the air, just to see what you all think.
This idea is a lot more complex than my character creation idea, and would probably again cause lag, but still, let?s see what you guys think.
I personally, do not picture Planeshift as being just another ?hack and slash? game, and I am not really much as a person for combat myself. To me, there are enough games out there, where all you do is kill monsters, that destroy the idea of actual roleplaying, so here is my idea to prevent this from happening.
The idea?
There is one game I use to play called Freelancer. It was a 3d ship game where you have a whole bunch of different Computer-controlled groups of enemies, similar the guild system here in Planeshift. Basically, if you did missions for 1 group, you would make that group become more friendly towards you. If you attacked that group, they would become more hostile towards you. You would earn a reputation within that game that would control how certain groups would react to you.
What if there was a similar reputation system inside Planeshift? Not necessarily between the NPC characters and you, but more between everyone in the game?
Question: So how would this work?
Basically, each individual player would have their own reputation screen as to who they are friendly with, who they are hostile towards, and who they are neutral with. Any player which you have not met (or have not established any reputation with whatsoever) will not be shown.
Optionally, you could make it so that you could see other people?s feelings toward you as well, although, you don?t usually know what your neighbour thinks of you in real life, so personally I like the idea of feelings being hidden unless if there is an obvious hostility involved. You could also make the option of yourself allowing certain people to see your feelings towards them, but I just thought of that as I?m writing this so I won?t go further with that at this time.
Question: How would reputations with certain people be triggered?
In real life, you don?t usually immediately become hostile to a person unless if some event occurs which triggers this. So in the game, you wouldn?t be able to immediately become hostile to another player, unless if there was an outside source to make immediate hostility happen, such as a war between two guilds. Aside from guilds, basically, reputations between two players would have to develop gradually. It would not be right to instantly say I hate you to someone and hack and slash away at him. Likewise, you don?t usually walk around asking for friendships without people even knowing you. Such enemies/friendships would have to be earned.
Now, I?ll admit, this idea may sound simple on the outside, but the BIG question here is how could this work inside the game, especially between player to player? What sort of interface would be involved? And how would the game make the decisions in order for players to actual become hostile or friendly?
One idea could be to make players be able to control their reputations with others themselves. They could scroll down to the player they want and then tell the game to either want to become more friendly with that person or become more hostile. The amount of hostility/friendship that would be able to be developed would be determined by the amount of time actually spent with that person. Thus, making sure people don?t say ?Hi. How are you? I hate you. I?m gonna kill you! MuahahAHAHAHAH HAH!?
The same could work between guilds. Instead of guilds instantly attacking each other, a reputation has to be established between the two guilds. This reputation would have to be developed between ALL of the players. In order to gain alliances, all of the players between the two guilds would have to show friendliness towards each other, and the same would have happen with enemy guilds.
Now having said that, when I mean all of the players, I only mean roughly all of the players. There could still be small trifles between two players between the two guilds, but if that trifle continues to develop into something worse, the reputation between both of the guilds could be at stake, and a war could still develop. This could mean more responsibility for the leaders of each guild to control their members, and maintain their alliances with their friends.
Finally, I?ve been reading through other ideas within this forums and have noticed ideas on thieves etc. I think such ideas would thrive on the ideas of reputation. Such event of thievery could allow people to become more hostile towards the thief. Basically, certain events would allow one player to become more hostile or friendly to another player. Obviously, a slight disagreement when talking would not give as many hostility points as someone stealing items from you. The amount of hostility allowed would be entirely dependent on the event.
Question: Are you mentally insane?! Do you realise how complex of an idea this is?!
Yes, it?s a complex idea, and yes, I will probably be inside a mental institute within a couple of years, but I feel such an idea would enhance the roleplaying of Planeshift to a more realistic atmosphere. It would probably take a lot of work and a lot more thought than I have provided, but instead of this game becoming primarily involving combat, there would also be a bit of a storyline, being guided through reputation.
Question: I?m confused. Have you had too much coffee this morning?
(Mmmmm coffee) Basically here is a summary of what my idea is:
Make a reputation system within the game. Each individual player will be able to control their own ?feelings? towards each other, but not to an extent of where they can immediately become hostile towards each other.
A reputation between two players would be gradual, although certain events and/or outside sources, such as guild reputations, could effect the reputation between the two players in a greater way than just talking with each other and disagreeing on something.
The same concept could be applied with guilds, except the guild?s reputation with other guilds would be established through the players within each guild.
This is an idea I thought up of today, and it?s by no means complete, just a quick brainstorm. I?m interested in hearing everyone?s idea on this and will be open minded. If you have any questions on this feel free to ask me. I do have other ideas for this, but for now this is probably long enough. Also, thanks for your time and patience reading this article, it?s not exactly just a few words to read.
-Eneji
