A Man with a Mission

Brooklyn said:

Leave it out and nobody has a false sense of entitlement and those that really enjoy the idea of a quest for the quest's sake will praise the company as it creates new more complex, psychologically, story enhancing, sophisticated, engaging and challenging quests. IMNSHO a better class of players... people, who unlike you, can truly appreciate an EU beyond the pecs and peds. It's better for all of us especailly in a IRC to attract and keep these types of players.

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Sure, like I said, there are so many fantastic 15 usd a month games with that in it already.

If it is going to be brought into existence in Entropia the rewards need to be relative to the cost involved undertaking the quest - RCE context.

Simplez !

I do not decide such things, MA does.
It is the one that charges people 2 - 2.5 USD an hour or more to play the game.

Maybe your talking about the simple newbie & low level quests ?

I am not and have no interest in those that are designed to keep sweaters and newcomers happy - They have their place, yet the milk run quests are not the ones I am referring to.

I am talking about the more advanced player quests with a lot involved, including associated PED cost to complete.

^^ At the end of the day, these are the quests that will be paying for Krister's employment and anyone else who may be working in his team at a later time.

Otherwise he is considered a drain on company resources/revenue and the calculated return rate of those paying to play the game.

And before you start jumping up and down - Even with 15 USD a month games;
Point to one successful MMO that does not have a reward attached to a quest that is relative to the challenge undertaken in currency & items

Go read a good book if it is just the psychological value your after.

You will find a lot more can be obtained from doing this than an online game that costs a bucket load to play as you progress past the lower levels - Whether earned from another paying player or from your own deposits.

Moonfish said:

I personally prefer The beacon's - they were like a Quest - the Quest was to take part, survive, kill the boss & loot as many boxes as possible - The financial gain in the boxes rarely out weighed the cost of the mission, but the thrill factor and comradeship balanced this out, it was fun, involving & great society events.

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yep, agree with that. Beacons were the last part of EU that I actively took part in and specifically deposited for. When vu10 launched with new continents I collected the tp's and since then I've pretty much stopped playing, only logging in occasionally to let people know I am still around. I was a maze specialist and opened all the boxes solo a few times. I can still draw the map of the maze level with all the possible box locations on it from memory, to bad its not with us now

back to the missons.....

If I'm not going to get something useful from the mission why should I bother? A storyline is ok but this can only go so far. People playing for the missions will do the new ones and disappear until the next batch arrive and its more than likely to be the approach I take (if I bother). The ability to play the ones people enjoy would make all the difference especially if they're not just collect X amount of A,B or C item or kill X number of mobs but have some random element to them. A few games have manage it and become classics but many fail.

Part of gaming for me is going back to play a game I've liked and trying to find the optimal approach to achieving the goal, probably why I liked beacons so much, not being able to do this will limit the fun and use of missions unless we all have multiple avatars just to play our favourite ones over.

One way of allowing items is that a player would only be able to loot the mission end item once in their career, playing the mission again only netting the equivalent tt value in oils or residue.

The same could be said if it's a skill level increases. but if it's an equal amount of skill for all players then I'm not sure how useful it will be to the people who are in the steeper inclines of the skill gain curve. Completing a mission would seem pointless as it only make a tiny difference compared to a new player. A lot of effort for little reward does not make a happy and contented player.

i can't wait to see what stories will they present us

Hi,

1.) I'd like to mention that I like what I see here - MA ppl actually communicating!

2.) Some are discussing quest/ mission rewards here. Guess we can assume as given that there has to be rewards/ incentives of any kind, right? And I guess we can also assume as given that there'll be no stream of valuable stuff (TT value) coming as rewards - this would severely damage the game economy and MA's income.

But there's a lot of possibilities to make quest rewards worth the questing, some examples:

• The reward could be some temporary items, only usable in this quest:
  "Hello, young colonist! You have been reported getting revived severely hurt by the Atrox in the far north. Yes, these are a problem for us! Unfortunately the colonists here are no match for those, but they need to be taught a lesson. So take this weapon - it's an "ImpMk.V (Q, Atrox culling)", it comes with 100 shots built-in and you'll only be able to use it for 2 hours, and only against Atrox. Well, and for your survival - take this "ModFAP (Q, Atrox culling) with identical restrictions.
  Now head north, and take your revenge - kill 10 of them, and then come back immediately!"
  "Let's go!", "Cancel", "I'll do later!"
  
  The quest weapon would be a powerful one, suiting the candidates highest weapon skill - so I'd get some nasty sword. These would exist only during the given time frame, and hurt only the designated mobs, that then would have a different loot table (see below). The FAP would only be usable in a similar matter, and only heal if you got hurt by Atrox in the minute before.
  
  After the 10th Atrox slain there would be an incoming message "Hurry back immediately, we received an error message, and your quest equipment will collapse in 15 minutes!"
  
  This way the reward would be to be able to use otherwise unreachable "big gear" and kill mobs out the participants range - fun.
  .
• Now let's take the quest as mentioned in A., but without the quest equipment. Let's change it a little:
  "Get some friends to your help, and slay one of them! You'll need to create a team!"
  
  Now there'd be a different loot table - each member of the quest team would receive the equivalent of 105% of the ammo/ weapon decay spent in loot, in animal oil residue, as "return-of-investment". Nothing else. Only the team members having this quest would have a chance to loot something additionally, maybe a kind of token to collect for further use?
  
  This way the reward would be in the loot, and in a very small addition to the return-of-investment.
  .
• Now let's take the quest in B., this time without the additional loot for quest members.
  The team wouldn't be able to attack (and wouldn't get attacked by) anything but Atrox, and the goal would be to slay 10.
  
  All would receive the above mentioned 105% of ammo/ decay spent, but the questing members would would receive 3x skill gain during the quest.
  
  So the additional skill gain would be the reward, and a very small addition to the return-of-investment.
  .
• Now let's have a look at the tokens mentioned in B., what use for it? TT = 0, for sure. But they could work for improving the chance of success in crafting when added, for instance? Not this much, but enough to realize a nice price?
  Or could be inserted in any enhancer slot, improving loot a little for some few uses, like a mining amp?
  Or could be eaten, improving the stats of the avatar a little for a short time?
  
  Tokens could be used, too, to "pay" for advanced quests - maybe a L1 crafting recipe that creates a beacon using 30 tokens?

This was just some examples how to work with quest rewards without handing over huge sums of PED - it isn't this hard. For sure there'd be some problems in what I wrote, it's just a quick try.

But to have quests/ missions inevitably requires some sort of rewards/ incentives - ppl are used to it, and would get upset if there'd be none, for sure ...

Have fun!

nice interview. Sounds like you have a nice big system in the pipeline.

As many others have stated, and not out of being gready or anything, but doing missions for sweat, dung, fruit and stones is just a 0 motivator. There are already a missions for that, called "sweat your balls off" or "wander round for hours looking at the ground". You dont need to write special missions for that...

0 TT gear that you can use i much more interesting, like SGA items but special mission versions. Or clothing. Like your giveaways. Say there was a special mission armour that you would get one piece at a time.

Also missions that unlock at certain levels is a good idea I think, give you a reason to skill up to be able to do that cool mission that will give you that cool (0 TT) gear. So what if it would be giving uber players more nice gear? They have payed for their high levels in peds or time (or both).

also: I too miss beacons, bring them back please

Just loving the feedback and ideas you guys come with... Its great stuff, and certainly a lot food for thoughts.

Malacalypse said:

0 TT gear that you can use i much more interesting, like SGA items but special mission versions.

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How about some missions where you use special "Mission Gear" that is removed from your inventory after the mission?

bigdeal said:

Speaking of bunny's, so thats where the energetic batteries go that we need for our eastern bunny's.

greetings,

bigdeal

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well on my part they can have the ticking batteries that go into middle eastern bunnies

p.s. because the clock reminds that it's time for some fine arabic coffee ( so u know i'm not pulling a Shinobi over here ;-p)

Posted via Mobile Device

Well, points for communication. Yes...mark the date down, I gave MA/FPC their due. Now to muss it all up.

I don't like what I heard, which is basically that "Yes, once again, our newest feature will be a waste of time, money, and effort; except for those already established or willing to morgage a house, twice."

Spare me the "MA needs to make money." We are SOOOOOOO past justifying MA's bills. If their book keeping is correct they move the same amount of money as a third world government. They can afford to humor the player base some less then rediculous and insulting odds.

Frankly, allowing more non-depositors some prosperity will initiate better growth and stability in the long run. Don't bother arguing, I remember when Calypso had a real economy; and I also remember it was because we had a middle class. How many people here have seen a city, other then PA and Twin, where the average economic activity is above that of small hunting parties? Events don't count.

I remember when PA, Fort Troy, Fort Ithaca, Twin Peaks, Jason Centre, and Nymphtown easily had 20-30 street merchants in them at any given time. Now four of those are basically ghost towns. Aside from ores and enmatters, I rarely see anything not on auction being moved between persons.

An economy with the rich and the poor, and little inbetween is ever stagnant. The poor can't afford that which the rich have, and the rich can't afford to keep procuring new stock, because they can't move what they already have.

So call non-depositors leechers if you want, but if you want a healthy economy, you need able bodies to provide demand. The quest system COULD be a good way to bolster the practically extinct middle class. That said, I have little hope of it turning out that way, since MA were the ones who wiped out the middle class in the first place.

Well, either way, no skin of my back...I have happy little dividends to collect from EIF.

Nighthawk said:

How about some missions where you use special "Mission Gear" that is removed from your inventory after the mission?

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yeah, I liked that idea also. Gives you a chance to get a feel of what its like playing around with uber gear and perhaps an incentive to deposit insane amounts of money and buy some

I would like to see special missions that can be looted or found in mining for example. There can be "rare" missions that give u something nice and not everybody can do it until u loot one.

U should be able to open "quests" like u do with a beacon so u can meet "bosses" etc

It doesnt need to be items that u get, why not skills or 2x skills for a limited time period for axample (since its impossible to gain skills when u get close to 110k )

Marco|FPC said:

It isn't hard at all to bind items to avatars, but it isn't in-line with the real cash economy aspect that is a fundamental part of the colonist experience.

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the real cash economy has already bound items to avatars. i cannot afford to sell my gear, for any price, as it has become my daily occupation to employ that gear against the loot system.

Skippie said:

the real cash economy has already bound items to avatars. i cannot afford to sell my gear, for any price, as it has become my daily occupation to employ that gear against the loot system.

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The things you own end up owning you. - Tyler Durden

i would like to see hobo missions like running and finding something for free ....like dumpster diving or finding a bottle of crunk...free cigarettes or ped

big YOOOOO for the Zero-calorie chocolate

Cant wait for the new missions

Bertha Bot said:

What kind of rewards can be expected?

We are still looking at the reward model. It’s a challenge due to the real economy, since that prohibits us from giving stuff away. We are looking at some possible solutions, including using Sweat, Dung, Stones, Fruit, Fragments and the occasional Ability increase as rewards; a token system; and achievements. We haven’t decided which one we will use yet, and we may find something else.

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I don't se ethis like that at all, you candefinately give out stuff, RCE non-withstanding:

• You can hand out 0 TT repairable items (you already do this)
• You can give out minimum condition items for equal TT value of items (your usual MMO "grind" quests are all similar)
• Instead of items, you can hand out (L) blueprints with 1 click and 100% success with then are effectively "instant, just add residue" items
• You can hand out limited blueprints of some level with a low number of clicks and "regular" chance of success and have the player decide whetever they will click the blueprints (if they have the skills) or resell / barter the blueprint

At the end of a 'hunt daikibas with a shortblade' (yes, you said you thought about an Opalo quest and it not working...) quest the award text would be :

This way the items gained would be related to the actual skill use (get a shortblade for hunting with shortblade) and at the same time envigorate the economy as there will be more crafting and trading as a result aswell. 3 attempts makes it likely at least one blade is produced - and at the same time, it has less TT value than a Daikiba skin.

Overall I think handing out limited blueprints with a small number of clicks is a worthwhile way to give quest awards.

remontoire said:

Thank you for the Daikiba skin, here is a Castorian Survival EnBlade-A Modified Blueprint(L) with 3 clicks. You can either try crafting it yourself at a manufacturing machine or find a skilled colonist to do it for you.​

This way the items gained would be related to the actual skill use (get a shortblade for hunting with shortblade) and at the same time envigorate the economy as there will be more crafting and trading as a result aswell. 3 attempts makes it likely at least one blade is produced - and at the same time, it has less TT value than a Daikiba skin.

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Relying on loot mechanism can cause frustration, especially if missions aren't restartable. I mean, you can kill 100 daikibas without one skin, and you can click a BP 5 times without one success if you have bad luck. If that happens, what would happen next? Should you be able to try again with same mission, or is it "tough luck"?

There is a difference between "kill 10 daikibas" and "get 10 daikiba skins", because in the first case you know when you're done, while the second case can take forever if the Daikiba Skin "pool" ingame is full. I guess a few of us have hunted turps for skins .

aia said:

Relying on loot mechanism can cause frustration, especially if missions aren't restartable. I mean, you can kill 100 daikibas without one skin, and you can click a BP 5 times without one success if you have bad luck. If that happens, what would happen next? Should you be able to try again with same mission, or is it "tough luck"?

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Tough luck. Absolutely. Its not as if you even have to take this (or any other) quest. What the luck in finding Daikiba skin and successfully clicking the blueprint controls the markup of the item, provided it is at all a desirable item. Same for exchanging the blueprint for an item. Also, if you want to have high skill in knife-fighting, why does it matter how many daikiba you kill before you get the skin?

aia said:

There is a difference between "kill 10 daikibas" and "get 10 daikiba skins", because in the first case you know when you're done, while the second case can take forever if the Daikiba Skin "pool" ingame is full. I guess a few of us have hunted turps for skins .

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Yes, and I think that is the beauty of it. We already have a "kill 5 daikiba" mission. Oh wait, no, its a "kill 5 exa" mission, but lets pretend these are just long necked daikiba Unless it is a rare spawn or something that spawns on some specific conditions, all "kill n of X" missions are the same and boring.

It's funny how he mention the Santiago book. That book influenced me to write several Mutant Roleplays in the early 90s.

That book is a perfect rawmodell in how to write a story. It shows how you by different choices can go furher. Pick up a small clue and then you have the means to do a choise with in the next step let you pick up a new clue.