Formulaic Events

Eli

Prowler
Joined
Jan 5, 2006
Posts
1,326
Avatar Name
Elissia Eli Talor
I know, comparatively, I have not been in Entropia for as long as others. However, I have seen a good handful of events within Entropia since joining Dec '05. From my first robot invasion, to the yearly Eomon migration and high maturity creature migrations, the mysterious Atrox egg (still mysterious), the introduction of Borums (for some reason they were specially introduced, unlike other new mobs), the strange and creepy story about the Orb(s)/Argos/Umbranoids (still not sure where this was going, but there were so many side stories if I think too hard I might explode), to our current Robot War.

As the events rolled on, I have become increasing frustrated with the more-of-the-same feeling I am getting from all of the events. We all love a clever story line, some tasty loot and some extra slinky new mobs.

But it occurred to me that the core player involvement has continued to be the same: hunt (mine and craft is appearing now) the event mobs, loot rare items, and (maybe) turn it in for a reward.

I love events in my games, always have, and I am sure many others will as well. I love, even more, an event that actually feels like I have some part in the story. That my game play can actually be affected by the event.

So when I consider taking out the entire concept of hunting for hours on end for the extremely unlikely chance of looting one of the few rare parts in order to obtain an item, I've realized that Entropia would not be any different during this time of "war." The ending has already been written out. We as players are just killing and looting. We aren't needed to collectively take action to alter the story, or even really coming together to win anything as a community. 15 people are slated to win. Who, we don't know, but the rest of us, after it ends it ends.

A good storyline is fantastic and I love to be captured by a good story. It doesn't help that we can't seem to come to some conclusion for any of the stories we embark on in Entropia. That just makes it worse. Not only are we given an elaborate story (even on EForum here, we have some story going on), we see loads of updates about the troubles on Calypso. But log into the game, pick up a gun (or get on a machine or drop a bomb), and nothing is really different.

So what is my point?
My point is, they have the technology to give us so much more...



WARNING: Are you sure? You are attempting to teleport into hostile forces. Defense systems are off-line. Restoration in progress, 68%.

- Concentrated simultaneous invasions in multiple locations involving short spawns but requires groups of hunters to split up in order to counter them all. Hunters are needed to keep the robots away from the city. If robots enter the city, the defense system ticks down. They're robots with advanced technology, don't you think they can easily take our guns down? Or even revival? Crafters are needed to create components specifically turned in to an NPC that essentially acts as a counter. With enough components, turret or even revival systems can be restored. If you really want to go crazy, you can have minerals that loot only during this time.

- Anti-Robot limited weapons and ammunition, crafted or looted, it doesn't really matter. Specific ammunition that has added damage to bots? Gimme. Crafted from robot parts? Why not. Limited anti-bot weapons that aren't rare would certainly be helpful.

- Robot beacons - So the robots are invading. I have not been on a beacon recently, but I imagine they are unchanged. But it was, at some point, a possible concept to build robot beacons. And it would not really break the system to create blueprints that will build one time robot beacons using more event robot parts looting from the bots themselves. Loot more beacons during mining. Why? For any reason, but what if completing the boss on a sequence of robot beacons could mean chasing away one of those towering spaceships above the towns?

- Loads of small, not so rare treasures - kill a robot. Find a little key code. Encrypt it if you'd like. EForum continues to be very clever in decoding robot speak. Decode it, and find a location. Ask others for help, it doesn't matter. Only the person holding the key can activate the little spaceship that will be there so its not just about getting there first. Loot an item that somewhere a crafter is holding on to a 1 click BP for, in order to create an item that is then needed to make something for the anti robot effort. If it doesn't happen, its okay, it can loot somewhere else. OR an anti bot gun. Or anti bot ammo. Anything.

I can probably go on all day, trying to think of ways to actually band players together during an event while taking into consideration the current fuctionality of the game. I understand that some things just can't be done, (we can't run around visually trashing cities and abducting players, no matter how much I'd love that, simply because it would be unreasonable to try and build that into the game).

But really...they can give us so much more.
 
Dangit!!

So many people with great ideas!

Marco! Are you reading this?? :deal:

This sort of content would keep me enjoying Entropia for a much longer period than it has. I feel washed up from not being able to support myself ingame, but if only a few of the various ideas I have seen posted were implemented, I wouldn't mind loosing so much.

~Washed up. Broke. Sad.:grumble:
 
Excellent points and suggestions!

I'm interested to see how the current game mechanics will be utilized in future events. I'd be a bit surprised (and disappointed) if Marco and his Planet team didn't have some sort of unique event twist up their sleeves.
 
Well, I've quite enjoyed the Robot event. Partly for the variety of unusual mobs, partly for the chance of looting something special, partly for the triple skills, partly for the storyline, partly for the general mayhem and density of players, etc.

And its been a while since we've had an event like this so its nice to see it happening again. But yes, sure, it could be improved. I think it would have been fun if the bots actually attacked a city for real rather than just spawning outside it and waiting to be killed. Like you suggest, we could have a gauge representing how the city defenses are holding up, and maybe we could actually lose a city for a while and the tp goes down for a while and we get a 'Ithica taken by Bots' storyline in the client loader.

But maybe things like that will follow, I think the event has been positive as a whole, and hopefully those involved in its creation will be taking on new ideas from it. The storylines and ideas in the client loader this month have been better than anything I've seen in my time in EU before. Now, fingers crossed, this little story actually gets a proper wrap up conclusion.
 
Last edited:
I continue to hope for an event where team work on a large scale is necessary. I'm mixed about the triple skilling. I feel like they cheated a bit, in that there are so many people willing to log on to get triple skills, not because the event is just that good. They intentionally made the Robot War and the triple skilling coincide with each other, but neither are really related to each other. I feel like we're being fish-lined in. But if the event was just that exciting...we wouldn't need to be. My :twocents:
 
I like your comments and maybe we will see better concepts in the future. Atm the system allows only this kind of events, we can only click, drop or shoot. So the system is not prepared to hold more complex intercations.
 
OP is absolutly right. The flaw I see here with the events is that it's really not in real time, so to say. For example, MA posts that there is an event going on, and that the robots are going to atttack. Yes, they do attack, but all they do is spawn in a group and wait to be attacked.

What would be a real cool event, as others have mentioned, would be to have an actual invasion, for example, a mass of bots spawn below a space ship, and begin a massive mob train to a city. And have this done in waves, perhaps 100bots at time, and mix it up, bring in 500 bots, etc.

EVERYONE that want's to participate can, but the catch is, you do not loot anything until ALL the bots are dead. When all the bots are killed, based on how far the bots advanced, or how much damage they did, or how many people died, etc... loot is distributed. Have the loot vary depending on how much damage you did, how many criticals you did, how many bots you dropped, etc.

This way it would make it more of a challenge to kill the bots before they achieved their goal. And if they do reach the city, then a new phase begins where they will estabilish a stronghold by getting reinforcements and we need to take the city back.

I think this would make it a whole lot more interesting, and anyone can participate.
 
Good post, i agree...
Formulaic is perfect description too.
I honestly wish Entropia events would involve more than just huge spawns.
These new bots are fantastic though, i think the effort that has gone into making the drokas and legionaires should be commended. I mean...they changed the textures.. :scratch2::rolleyes:
 
:laugh: I do have to admit, I thought the same too about the legionnaires and the drokas. I admit there are differences in the shape of them, but the movements and speeds are roughly the same.... even the sounds are the same... :(

I thought they did well with the Eviscerators, and wish there were more like that.

And probably more loot differences too...
 
... Like you suggest, we could have a gauge representing how the city defenses are holding up, and maybe we could actually lose a city for a while and the tp goes down for a while and we get a 'Ithica taken by Bots' storyline in the client loader.
....

You only have to put one rare item on ground in one of the cities, covered by tons of bots and you'll have a very interactive event. Sure maybe only for skilled ones, but at least those will have quite some fun.
 
You only have to put one rare item on ground in one of the cities, covered by tons of bots and you'll have a very interactive event. Sure maybe only for skilled ones, but at least those will have quite some fun.

Hehe, yeah that'd be entertaining. I guess that kind of happened when the launchers were introduced.

A contraction unit in a dense field of Warlocks would be amusing to watch :D
 
I could not agree with the OP more ... it's a brilliant post, and as one who has been around since the beginning of 2005 and coming up on 4 years, I see these events (despite presented storylines) as a looped cycle ... shoot, loot (maybe get something), die (if that happens), revive, and start over.

What the OP proposes ... has far more depth and relevance with regard to storyline than what we experience now. I too believe that engagement of this sort by the community as a whole in these events is what would entice more to get involved, and remain as more dedicated players.

Right now ... it's deposit, shoot, loot, rinse and repeat, except for the creative stories being presented at this forum. That's where the engagement is, but certainly not in the game where people either solo or team to take down the bots ... what else are they doing, really? It's all in hopes of getting the necessary parts by 15 people (out of how many) to acquire the PoE armor, and it will be interesting to see just who these 15 people will end up being ... and just how much ped is laid out to acquire parts some may be missing from their collection.

In all reality ... the rest of the community has contributed perhaps to their personal enjoyment, but at what cost, and at what return that justifies the continued involvement ... not to mention the considerable amount of decay that is experienced. Sure, the 3x skill gain is a nice bonus, but how many are going to be able to afford to step into the higher level armor and weapons necessary to continue along that path without mortgaging their soul?

Sometimes this kind of stuff makes my head spin ... because we think in such immediacy, rather than long-term thinking and how we will fair in the end. I'm very much looking forward to the CE2 transition, and the additional planets that will be joining this Entropia Universe platform, but ... as has been said and made very clear ... MA is still controlling and managing the RCE factor of the game, and despite the new graphics and special features that will be available after the transition, if the core dynamics of the game doesn't change, then it's business as usual.

I would like to see ... a more dynamic and player-involved storyline that actually means something, and has an end to those means (such as the OP suggested), as well as a more balanced economy that doesn't require one to deposit a crapload of money to get somewhere. Playing with newbie toys after growing up gets rather boring.



.
 
Right now ... it's deposit, shoot, loot, rinse and repeat, except for the creative stories being presented at this forum. That's where the engagement is, but certainly not in the game where people either solo or team to take down the bots ... what else are they doing, really? It's all in hopes of getting the necessary parts by 15 people (out of how many) to acquire the PoE armor, and it will be interesting to see just who these 15 people will end up being ... and just how much ped is laid out to acquire parts some may be missing from their collection.

In all reality ... the rest of the community has contributed perhaps to their personal enjoyment, but at what cost, and at what return that justifies the continued involvement ... not to mention the considerable amount of decay that is experienced. Sure, the 3x skill gain is a nice bonus, but how many are going to be able to afford to step into the higher level armor and weapons necessary to continue along that path without mortgaging their soul?

:( These are the unspoken words for a lot of people. And I can hear plenty of others saying "Well if you don't like it, don't play it." But really, that's not the point, is it?

We keep hearing that EU isn't just a game, it's a universe, its a community. However, the way these events are laid out, it only serves to create the worst kind of competition. It's not economic competition, it's the how-much-can-you-deposit-while-skipping-work-to-keep-up-with-the-OLD-players competition. There are going to be a lot of people who spend days and days and weeks only to end up disappointed and envying the 15 out of thousands who are trying for this reward.

It's too focused on rewarding the few with something BIG, and not enough about rewarding the community on a lighter level. And I'm not talking about awarding armor out to everyone. I'm talking about creating an event where people will talk about after it ends, saying "Yeah, man, that was a close one, good job making those components in time," or "Nice take down on that Warlock before it took the system down." Good times, no just 3 disappointing weeks before Christmas.

/sentimental rant
 
Hmm well i'm actually beginning to like what they did to Jason

Basically "FU here's a spawn" rather than neatly placing it somewhere far from the turret, seems far more like an ivasion (though robots are incredi-dumb) than a placement of mobs. I think if ehy disabled the turrets at thsoe places (screw jamraiders, put in permanent turret locks) it would make it all the more interesting.
 
Hmm well i'm actually beginning to like what they did to Jason

Basically "FU here's a spawn" rather than neatly placing it somewhere far from the turret, seems far more like an ivasion (though robots are incredi-dumb) than a placement of mobs. I think if ehy disabled the turrets at thsoe places (screw jamraiders, put in permanent turret locks) it would make it all the more interesting.

I'm for having spawns like the one at Jason. What detracts from the impact of the "war" is that 1) the turrets are online and 2) we know that, its not a matter of defeating the invasion, it a matter of the robots spawning for a predetermined amount of time before leaving. If it involved killing a specific number of bots/spawns, to get rid of it, it might actually feel like we're pushing them back, rather than going somewhere to hunt because thats where they spawn next. If that makes any sense? And I'm sure that also would not be too difficult to spawn a certain amount of times and determine what's left on the ground before spawning again (and turn the turrets off)
 
I am resurrecting this post to say, thank you MA for finally almost getting there. :D
 
It's too focused on rewarding the few with something BIG, and not enough about rewarding the community on a lighter level. And I'm not talking about awarding armor out to everyone.

This gave me a moment's pause. So true, it seems like 90% of the good reward stuff only gets doled out to the top 5 percenters, and the vast majority has no hope in hell of looting anything really amazing. Back in the ol' days, I looted a MKV from an Atrox Young and Camo Arms Urban Stalker from a Maffoid. Mod Merc could be looted from a Feffoid. Pretty much ANY mob could drop something really cool, albeit extremely rarely. Now it seems you only loot something amazing from huge, massive-HP mobs that only the best-equipped hunters can hope to tackle. All this does is make the rich richer and increase the separation between the haves and the have-nots. It would be nice to see MA change this policy, but it's ALWAYS been their way, sadly.

How about an event, "Punies ATTACK!", where all the puny mobs in an area go psycho, like a school of piranhas, mobbing any and all who get too close? And they drop something NICE, not this bullsh!t 10-PED global crap, something that newcomers could have a chance to loot.

Or how about a massive "Fugabarba Feeding Frenzy", where a massive spawn of Fugas attack, and a FugaBossBarba who is 10X the size and bites hard makes a surprise appearance?

Those events could be advertised in-game with large red notification texts appearing, so that anybody logging in would know something interesting is happening, and where....not just by reading in-forum or client-loader info blurbs.

There's so much MA could be doing more to this game.
 
  • Like
Reactions: San
Absolutely, and note that I had written this back in 2008. Back then the events really were all about spawns of mobs and going to hunt them. There was nothing more to it, just hunt special mobs, someone loots great stuff, and event is over.

It got stale really quickly. Granted it's been 7+ years, but its nice to see they are getting there...
 
ok, skipping the mass necro, this caught my eye.

Or how about a massive "Fugabarba Feeding Frenzy", where a massive spawn of Fugas attack, and a FugaBossBarba who is 10X the size and bites hard makes a surprise appearance?

Guess you missed the mutated chirpy event long ago that dropped the one and only wedding ring? They even repeated it a few times. Those f*ckers hit hard!
 
ok, skipping the mass necro, this caught my eye.



Guess you missed the mutated chirpy event long ago that dropped the one and only wedding ring? They even repeated it a few times. Those f*ckers hit hard!

I seem to remember that, yes...but we need things like that much more often, and with better player notifications than mere Client Loader/forum blurbs...something players actually SEE when they login.
 
... if the core dynamics of the game doesn't change, then it's business as usual.
Those words were prophetic...

Changing the core dynamics means a qualitative change.

Now we have 1st signs of the ability for the players to interact with the story line, influence it. That's a start, a baby step to the right direction.

Still, if that's all your doing, ultimately it's still a dead end.

Why?
Even if you spend enormous resources to improve the game mechanics for the mobs and NPCs, sooner or later you will run into a brick wall where AI can't be improved any further. If ureally good at it, the mobs won't behave like brainless zombies but they still perform much worse than a 5-year old kid. And that's it, you've hit the brick wall with nowhere to go.

So if u took this as your only true long term strategy your were betting on the wrong horse.

What's the working strategy (most gains with least resources)?
Involve the "human AI". Either game side (eg. GM's) or player side (human2human interaction).

And don't tell me this is not possible in RCE. I have been in micro transaction-based economy where withdrawal was possible and they managed this just fine.

Here's one example how to do that (not the only one possible!):
  1. Create a relatively simple and robust playing field.
  2. Throw in a small amount of AI driven obstacles/opponents (without worrying too much about their AI level).
  3. Set and enforce a few simple rules.
  4. Introduce a good amount of randomness (luck factor that can turn the tables)
  5. Let the human players create all the dynamism and variety on their own.

As u can see, essentially the result is e-sports.
Nothing terribly new, the same old well proven concept.

By fine-tuning the basic components (environment, competition, skill and luck) you can create endless varieties. If u smart u can easily find a flavor that majority of your player base will love and appreciate.
 
It's actually quite simple. A basic mmo boss scenario is easy. Put him behind an army. Make him only accessible after the army is defeated. Go to big boss. Get special things, have a great day!

At least there is a goal and a consequence. I'll be interested in seeing what happens if this event fails. :scratch2:
 
It's actually quite simple. A basic mmo boss scenario is easy. Put him behind an army. Make him only accessible after the army is defeated. Go to big boss. Get special things, have a great day!
It might be a slight improvement... possibly, maybe.

In a way, this has been in game for a while already. Wave spawn boss comes after the army of minions is defeated. "Behind" in time and "behind" on the location is not so big difference...

OK now, if I try to be really really tolerant I can even imagine this might work as a perfect solution for all problems, for some people... (at least for a while)

My deeply personal opinion, however... Well, TBH I hate all things WoW (and hundreds of shameless WoW clones, and gazillions of MMO's that are somewhat different but still faithfully copy the general logic of it's instances, boss fights, etc).

So, idk, I would prolly even do this kind of stuff a few times and be mildly entertained... but the novelty would wear off very fast and then we're back on square one - repetitive, predictable, boring. Which is what we already have... :)
Why waste development funds for the pseudo-solutions if there's a better option available.

So... What I meant by a qualitative change is quite the opposite:

  • Don't try to embellish a dead horse. Don't waste all your energy on the mob AI*, spawns, triggers and all the clever scripts trying to make it seem more intelligent.
  • Instead, change the way of thinking, the whole underlying logic. Harness the infinite resource you already have readily available inside your game: the human brains. This way you can actually make it more intelligent and thus create if not infinite possibilities then at least a magnitude higher than any static system you ever could devise.
    OK, never say never. Give it a 100 years or so and the hard AI will work miracles. So let's say, any static system u could devise until then. :)
I make it sound easier than it really is. I didn't mention the problems this approach potentially creates. Yep I know. No such thing as a totally free lunch. It's just that some taste way better than the others. :)


_____________________________________
* I'm not against improving mob AI (or spawns or triggers or scripts)! Every improvement is cool and fancy. It's just that I don't believe betting all your money on these is a smart thing to do.
 
Last edited:
It's actually quite simple. A basic mmo boss scenario is easy. Put him behind an army. Make him only accessible after the army is defeated. Go to big boss. Get special things, have a great day!

At least there is a goal and a consequence. I'll be interested in seeing what happens if this event fails. :scratch2:


In that basic MMO you normally don't kill the whole army and then have the boss provide a "no loot" message.

In EU, however...
 
In that basic MMO you normally don't kill the whole army and then have the boss provide a "no loot" message.

In EU, however...

Indeed. In my experience, with the mobs I hunt, it seems the chance to loot frags or a no-loot seems to increase with mob maturity. :scratch2:
 
In that basic MMO you normally don't kill the whole army and then have the boss provide a "no loot" message.

In EU, however...

No, no, you get nova fragments! :wise:
 
Back
Top