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Failed missions to affect rest of map
itsbrou
Posts: 1,778 Arc User
A world that seems like it's going someplace every hour is sure to be more interesting than that which is static.
Open missions are restricted to their perimeter, and it would be better to see that change. Suppose we allowed failed open missions to cause a crimewave elsewhere in the map, or failing to stop the prison break in westside causes a wave of arson, carjackings, and robberies.
What if Mind Inc agents or other gangs started to recruit students in Westside High in a new open mission, and failure to stop the recruitment meant a higher density of enemies or criminal activity?
I know I saw Robobo describe events to be more than what we ended up getting. I really expected the beefed up offspring of the open mission system. Nighthawk gave me that feeling, but what we've seen lately is a primitive step back, with some dailies that are reminiscent of the Roxstar event and isolated missions.
I came into this game with expectations that Champions Online, made by the people who made City of Heroes, would someday reproduce events that were not only as good as putting out building fires caused by the Hellions, stopping a fleet of Rikti dropships in Atlas Park, Putting down Lusca, Eochai, and other giant threats while in the actual overworld, and more all inclusive zonewide events, but do it BETTER. You've even released new zones around this content.
Maybe what I am asking for is for champions to be less static, and when I hear the word "event," it is the above paragraph that states my expectations, and as of December of last year, those of many more players who know that you can do better in events, because you have.
Open missions are restricted to their perimeter, and it would be better to see that change. Suppose we allowed failed open missions to cause a crimewave elsewhere in the map, or failing to stop the prison break in westside causes a wave of arson, carjackings, and robberies.
What if Mind Inc agents or other gangs started to recruit students in Westside High in a new open mission, and failure to stop the recruitment meant a higher density of enemies or criminal activity?
I know I saw Robobo describe events to be more than what we ended up getting. I really expected the beefed up offspring of the open mission system. Nighthawk gave me that feeling, but what we've seen lately is a primitive step back, with some dailies that are reminiscent of the Roxstar event and isolated missions.
I came into this game with expectations that Champions Online, made by the people who made City of Heroes, would someday reproduce events that were not only as good as putting out building fires caused by the Hellions, stopping a fleet of Rikti dropships in Atlas Park, Putting down Lusca, Eochai, and other giant threats while in the actual overworld, and more all inclusive zonewide events, but do it BETTER. You've even released new zones around this content.
Maybe what I am asking for is for champions to be less static, and when I hear the word "event," it is the above paragraph that states my expectations, and as of December of last year, those of many more players who know that you can do better in events, because you have.
Brou in Cryptic games.
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But seriously, I like any idea that involves expanding on the open missions, because I like the open missions. Some sort of zone-wide buff/debuff would be cool... say if prison break succeeds, everyone in the zone gets X% more resources from stuff while in the zone. If it fails, on the other hand, everyone gets X% less resources! Or perhaps a leveled G reward that ends up being about 3.5G at level 40.
Also, change all open-mission npcs to use skull tech so that they remain relevant no matter what level you are, and also prevents high-level players from ezmoding low level open missions for the rewards.
And then... more open missions! They should be all over the place! You shouldn't be able to throw a TK Lance without hitting an open mission!
Maybe they could drop a special new Open Mission Lockbox that has a chance to give you a UFO vehicle! Or a rideable Unicorn vehicle! Or a Caliga AF! :eek:
Champions Online: Be the hero you wish you could be in a better game.
No, not really.
Suppose they made success/failure in an open mission drop clues or leads to additional missions?
An example: success in prison break allows you to accept a new mission in your crime computer, where you can have your teamup enter Westside prison to hunt down the villain behind the breakout.
Similarly, failure results in a mission where you sweep the zone with your teamup for escaped prisoner activity, then pinpoint the villain for a confrontation.
The rewards could be equal to prevent preference to success or failure.
Similarly, Bullet for Biselle failure would cause a few Ospreys to start dropping squads of VIPER mooks at key positions around town.
So, if there's very few players in, Westside keeping control of the prison, then Westside will be full of escaped criminals turning it into a total and utter chaotic bloodbath, or City Centre will be dominated with snake-themed terrorists.
Not enough that it's non-manageable, but it gives a two-pronged incentive for players to do open missions on occasion.
1. To feel heroic. You're doing something that benefits everyone, since these overflow mobs will be trying to grievously harm civillians (note: maybe we need a small proportion of civillian NPCs to not have infinite health so we actually feel like we're protecting them?). Which is pretty cool.
2. For other players! Taking care of the prison breakout means that other players will have a smoother journey through whatever Zone the open mission is in. You're doing a public service, hero, and the world will thank you for it.
Also, from the perspective of someone playing the game for the first time, seeing gangs and groups actively fighting each other and generally being nasty would give a better impression than the slightly theme park-ish "wait in line to punch this Hired Gun in the face" the MMORPG format we have kinda forces us to see.
Sure, we see a bit of inter-gang and civillian attacks, but it's all heavily scripted to be in specific locations.
And it's not that complicated, from what I've seen, to include a "if fail, spawn NPC X, Y, and Z *50, then set a route through which they march, maybe four to five blocks away, where any NPC that isn't of their faction gets their aggro" thing.
It seems plausible from what we've got. And that's my take on it.
My take isn't really... content. Not exactly, but it's a loose, open-ended challenge, which kinda fits with the feel of what the Open Missions seem to be: a challenge that can be repeated in which multiple players feel compelled to join in, of any number. Adding consequences to failure just adds to that compulsion, and is good.
Also, the skull levelling needs to be put on. That really should apply to all mobs in the game, in my opinion, except the actual bosses and named characters. Mooks should always scale, except where it's the current "OMIGOSH END OF WORLD" threat, in which case they should be just slightly under the maximum they can be in terms of what the players can achieve.
No. No no a thousand times no.
I worked hard-ish to build my armored Hero's invulnerability and defenses. I shouldn't be getting chumped by Purple Gang on a rooftop somewhere. Same goes for just about every one of my heroes. I don't want to be flying or swinging or whatever around and because some group of Cobra Lords decides they miss prison I should now have to worry about a fight that could do damage to me.
There's a reason why NPCs in a zone are specific levels, and that's because Superman doesn't get blindsided by your average minion (or more accurately, he does but it has zero effect.) The way the game is designed, you work your way up from a wannabe with low-level powers and/or gear to being one of Earth's mightiest heroes, so it makes sense that even the majority of mobs should be of specific levels. Iron Man doesn't worry about the gang of thugs outside because his armor protects him. Flash doesn't sweat the army because he can take their guns and punch them all out in a few seconds or less.
In Open Missions, yeah, skull levels make sense from both a game standpoint and a story standpoint, but not ALL the mobs in the game.
You seem to be misunderstanding how the skull tech works, and you're greatly overestimating how it would make things more difficult. Fact is, in leveling games, you're always fighting things the same level as you anyway, unless of course you're going back and doing missions that are way too low level for you anyway.
Think of it this way. First of all, no the mobs won't be kicking your butt suddenly; if your character is built to have high defense, then that will continue to hold true the same as it would right now if you went and fought npcs the same level as you. Second, if you are doing missions that would normally be too low level for you, now they aren't too low level for you and you get a reasonable amount of xp for your time spent.
Converting everything to skull tech is actually a great idea when you really think about it. Imagine going to whatever zone you want to, no longer restricted by your level. Ever made a vampire hunter character, and then had to spend about 30 levels doing everything but hunting vampires? With everything skull tech, you could go right to Vibora. It expands on the games core concept of customization.
Champions Online: Be the hero you wish you could be in a better game.
There can be so much more done with this. Just another thing in the game that needs an update.
Fair enough, I did misunderstand the concept of Skull Tech, and I see your point to that. It would be nice to fight the foes I want to fight, and have them be more or less my equivalent, no matter my level, but that also seems to bring up a problem.
Namely, if I had a mission in, say, West Side (like a nemcon mission) and I'm playing a character who is a walking tank, having a bunch of gang punks even come close to kicking my butt seems crazy to me, which makes the zone-level thing more appropriate. I can walk through the worst sections of West Side with my 40 and never really be in any danger (even if I catch aggro), but under the Skull Tech rules, I'd still have to be cautious, because it'd be just like facing a boss or a pile of minions of my level.
The difference is that I'm not doing old missions, I'm doing a level-appropriate mission in a zone that should be nothing to me. That's what I'm worried about - losing the freedom to be careless in lower-level zones when I'm "responding" to danger. Like when I go do one of the Nem missions in the radioactive crater. The Grondlings don't bother me, only the minions at the drilling / survey stations. That mission would become entirely different under Skull Tech rules, and not necessarily for the better.
That wouldn't happen though. To illustrate, think about level 40 super tank toons... like say Caliga, you know about Caliga right? Of course you do, he's the superest super tank around. Do you know where Caliga feels like he's in danger? Nowhere. He doesn't even feel like he's in danger when he goes to places with npcs that are above level 40. That's because he's a super tank, and because of this mobs equal level as him cannot hurt him, and neither can skull tech mobs... because he's a super tank.
This would be the case with your super tank as well, even at level 40 heading back to do some west side missions that you missed. You would go there, the little gang members would shoot their guns at you, and you would laugh at how stupid they are for doing that. Because you're a super tank, that didn't change at any point.
NOW THINK ABOUT THIS very important aspect that you're not thinking about. If your level 20 super tank were to, say, walk into Vibora bay as it is right now and try to mess with some pathetic vampire or werewolf minions.. what would happen? Why the heck should these lowly minions be able to hurt your super tank? They really shouldn't, when you think about it.... but for some reason, these pathetic lowly weak minions might actually have a chance to hurt you....because they're in vibora and not somewhere else? That doesn't make sense.
If everything was skull tech, then that wouldn't be the case. Lowly minions, no matter where they may be, would be the pathetic little insects pecking at your armored skin that they should be.
If Iron Man goes to china, do their 9mm pistols suddenly smash through his armor just because China is a higher level zone? NO. 9mm pistols are 9mm pistols wherever you go.
In the same token, if Fisty Mc Amazing Armor Piercing Lazer fights you in Australia, does his amazing armor piercing lazer suddenly no longer pierce your armor just because you're fighting him in low level Australia? Then if you fight him in China suddenly he one shots you? That's just stupid, but that's how it works now!
Champions Online: Be the hero you wish you could be in a better game.