Profile: katriell
Send PM
Forum Posts
Forum Topics
| Username | katriell  |
| Real Name | |
| Rank | Hard Core Member |
| Joined | January 23, 2006 |
| Gender | Female |
| Age | (hidden) |
| Location | Salem, OR, United States |
| Last Visit | July 19, 2008 |
| Post Count | 859 |
| Biography | |
| Quote | Boredom is in the temperament of the beholder. |
Latest Blog Entry - Storyline Implementation
From my blog Stuff, Mainly Ryzom [katriell]
Origin: mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/186994/page/1
My opinion is that "storyline" quests and roleplaying don't mix. Storyline quests usually only make sense if just one person ever does them. But the reality is that thousands of people save the same town over and over again. They get the same speeches, the same experiences, and the same gratitude. Storyline quests are for single-player games, not MMORPGs...at least, not MMORPGs that actually care about roleplay-conducive consistency and logic.
This opinion might not be understandable unless one places it on the foundation of a particular definition of roleplaying: in a massively multiplayer online environment, playing a role is not sufficient - instead, in-character interaction between players, the game world, and each other is the primary factor.
In replacement of "storyline" quests, I suggest live storyline events that have persistent effects on lore that evolves over the course of the game's existence. This isn't a new idea, it's been done in Horizons/Istaria and Ryzom, just to name two (there have been others no doubt, but I'm less familiar with them).
In Istaria, for example, two playable races and a racial capital city were unlocked in events.
The lore on Ryzom's website depicts the playable races' perspectives on what they think they know about their world, not necessarily the truth of the backstory. From there, that lore would've been updated to reflect the state of the races' knowledge as they uncovered fragments of their past, understanding of their present, and inklings of their future. Furthermore, the lore progress would differ between servers.
With live storyline events, your character has unique experiences that they can tell stories about to their metaphorical (or literal) grandchildren. Epicness is justified and genuine, requiring no exorbitant suspension of disbelief. Though not everyone gets to participate in every event, there are always more to look forward to (unless, as in the cases of Ryzom and Istaria, bad companies take over and neglect the game; note however that Istaria is now under the care of a fine company who are already getting their feet wet in running events, releasing more lore, and providing lore-grounded explanations for mechanics changes).
Ultimately, what I want, as a roleplayer and a sandbox enjoyer, is a storyline implementation that fits in the persistent massively-multiplayer environment instead of being an ill-conceived port from the single-player realm.
Read more from my blog [katriell]
Latest User Gallery Images [more...]
Recent Forum Posts [more...]
-
- I want a sandbox is there anything left?
Seconding colenorm: wait for Ryzom.
In regard to the screenshot someone posted as demonstration of their perception that Ryzom's models need improvement, keep in mind that Ryzom allows customisation not only of several aspects of a character's face, but also their height and the thicknesses of their torso, arms, and legs. You can make a very ugly, misproportioned character or you can make a beautiful one whose proportions are good considering they're not human. You can also mix and match all armour types, styles, and colours; the ensemble a random player chooses for their character to wear may not be aesthetically appealing to a random observer.
Also keep in mind that Ryzom's graphics are stylistic, thus not necessarily realistic.
That said, I admit that there are a few issues with some model combinations, i.e. the over-thinning effect Fyros light-armour sleeves have on male Zorai forearms.
- Posted: 7/18/08 6:07 PM
General Discussion
-
- Do you...
Originally posted by tvalentine
Originally posted by katriell
How often do you question whether you're right?
right about what? religion, or just stuff in general?
Stuff in general.
Originally posted by tvalentine
Originally posted by katriell
Do you think these questions are silly?
i think the better question is, Do YOU think these questions are silly?
Depends on the answers I get, in a way.- Posted: 7/18/08 6:11 AM
General Discussion
-
- Saga of Ryzom is comin back...
What Grim just said is truth.
I'm probably sounding like a broken record by now, but Istaria/Horizons and its latest company Virtrium is a profound example of the kind of development paradigm Ryzom needs to survive and thrive.
- Virtrium's core (paid) team is very small, less than a half-dozen.
- Their team is supplemented by volunteers. This includes devs in several fields and community correspondents.
- They listen and communicate. This occurs via forums, support tickets, the community correspondents, and a monthly newsletter with additional email announcements when necessary.
- They fix bugs first and foremost, but each patch also includes small content updates.
- When revamping existing mechanics and content, they do so without sacrificing any of Istaria's spirit.
- They adjust changes/additions/fixes at all stages of development from planning to post-release according to player feedback, but judiciously.
- They make extensive use of a public testing shard.
- They're finishing old projects, but with tweaks to make them more appropriate if necessary.
- Although they can't place much focus on live events for now, on occasion they log in as GMs to spawn simple invasions, and they introduced two new holiday events that were firmly based in lore.
- More lore is being released through multiple mediums: forums, in-game, emailed RP explanations for some patches, etc.
- Overall, Virtrium is not trying to push Istaria toward millions or even hundreds of thousands of players. Instead they are nurturing it within its own niche, and they've stated this intent explicitly.
- The development team is composed of people who have great familiarity with the game. Some of them were there when it was created and for years afterward. They know exactly what it is and what its history is, and they've learned from that history.Virtrium is showing no signs of financial distress, even as they support three shards and active development on a population numbering only in the hundreds.
If Nevrax learned as well as Virtrium did, I believe they are our best option and I hope Spiderweb is a front for them.
Naysayers to the preservation of Ryzom's niche status should keep in mind that at this point two major financial issues Ryzom had are gone: debt and an oversized development team.
- Posted: 7/18/08 6:05 AM
The Saga of Ryzom
-
- Do you...
...put much thought into your beliefs and preferences, and the (re)actions that spring from them? Do you examine and reassess them to ensure they're relatively logical?
How often do you question whether you're right?
When was the last time you underwent a significant intellectual, psychological, or emotional change?
How well do you know and understand yourself?
Do you think these questions are silly?
- Posted: 7/18/08 4:56 AM
General Discussion
-
- Does Entropia Universe universe have cyber sex in it?
Originally posted by Dlore
Yeah...it's sad how far pervs can go '_'
Cybersex and virtual sex games are worse than infant rape? Statements like yours create that sort of implication...I don't personally care about cybersex, I'd just like to see less people with such baselessly negative attitudes toward an activity that harms no one, yet allows people in long-distance relationships to have a semblance of sexual activity together and allows teenagers to experiment without risking STDs and pregnancy.
- Posted: 7/18/08 4:17 AM
Entropia Universe
Special Offers
MMORPG.COM Polls
Which IP would you like to see become Bioware's new MMO?