Missions and Quests on other planets - more gameplay & interaction?

Discussion in 'General Entropia Universe Discussion' started by Lykke TheNun, Sep 27, 2010.

  1. Lykke TheNun

    Lykke TheNun In Loot We Trust

    I know from other forums, that players in EU for years have been asking for a better storyline / more interaction and quests in our Universe.

    We got the missions on PlanetCalypso - and that's always a start, as it seems popular as well.

    Peter and I are playing other games than EU - all containing quests based on a unique storyline - and very thought throug into the smallest details in game and so much, that you really feel a part of it. Of course it is easier to make a story line in a mmo like LOTRO (Lord of The Rings Online), where the whole history and it's caracters are served to you on a golden plate - but it really also does something important to the gameplay and experience, that you feel you're a part of a history.

    Personally I always imagined, that when creating a game, you first 'invent' the basic history. Like a novel - what's the background, the story, the people, the future etc.. Some might like the 'unknown' and mysterious, and to some the story is being built up as the game goes - but the very basics should be there - and everything should be connected to it (perhaps not known for the actual player, but at least for the company making the game).

    I really really miss this in EU. We have had a little inbetween with the professor and his finger - or the Atrox Queen and egg. We even have a wonderful area for the Thorifoids - with a temple and a door which could never open ... but it was there. And even though it wasn't much, it added some more meat to the bone of Entropia and made everything just a tiny little bit more interesting.

    As said, now we have missions. But these missions are not like quests as I know or wish them to be. Scout the area, kill xxx, xxxx, xxxxxx mobs ... and all of them are somehow built of the same.

    Now new planets are being added - and I can't tell how much I look forward to experience new areas of the game - to see how much else are 'out there' - to see the possibility and have the feeling it can continue to grow and evolve.

    But I wonder now what is going to happen with the very thin storyline of EU. Especially since the new planets histories and storylines (which I HOPE they will have) seem to be so much different from what they started on Calypso.

    How do I get the feeling, that I'm in the same Universe, thos on different planets - but that I am an important part of it all and not just jumping like a skitzofrenia from one world to another?

    What is done to ensure, that I still feel at home - no matter what planet I'm travelling to?

    My wish here is, that the planets somehow can cooperate about the over all storyline to keep the thread. But also that the PlanetPartners will think about expanding the experiences of *missions* and make them Quests - preferably in a way that makes it possible to interact in game (for example being able to open hidden doors, find things, open books and read them - or 'read the history on the walls' so to speak).

    There are SO much potential - and so much which would be more interesting than killing 1 thousands mobs ...

    Am I rambling, dreaming - or did you think of this already??
     
  2. GeorgeSkywalker

    GeorgeSkywalker Explorer

    Some interesting questions there. I think for Calypso there is a lot in development that we haven't seen. Maybe we won't see interactive stories for quite a while as they seem to be focusing on fixing the different towns etc. Port atlandis and swamp camp are up next for some changes. Perhaps after a lot of that development work is out of the way we may see actual stories...

    Planet cyrene i think will be quite different. They are very likely to have stories from the very beginning.
     
  3. From the descriptions I have read - I am very much a fan of Tolkien's work but don't play LOTRO - the quests in LOTRO are very good and well thought out as regarding fitting into the overall storyline. Not advancing the world (can't do that there) but tying in. Escort the Bill the pony and so on.

    Unfortunately Calpyso seems to be almost going in the opposite direction - the reintroduced Calumsoid have a new, generic description that doesn't say anything about experiments on colonists. So while it would be interesting to get a quest line on for example the Furor (why they drop proteron neckbones, find out where do Furor come from, etc) I'm afraid this won't be. Might not even contain any more killing than the "gather part from robot" missions. Shouldn't really need to contain any killing as such. Same for many of the locations and creatures on Calypso that are not well known or just contain hints to history now.
     
  4. RAZER

    RAZER Custom title ... uh ...

    I have been shouting for a long time that SO MUCH more can be done with this system they have and I have seen so much great ideas on the forums already. Sure I know it is easy to think of them and a bit harder to actually make them so they work and don't screw up the economy, but I REALLY hope FPC adds some more 'interesting' missions with some puzzles maybe and traps as mentioned above and some caves for sure (ROCKtropia has them), but lets wait ans see what the new VU tomorrow will bring, I hope some of the fun stuff we had before VU10 will be back even if they are just useless landmarks, they were fun to discover !
     
  5. narfi

    narfi Lost

    Saw your post here this morning, and then I see something interesting at pcf

    Pioneer saying hello

    looks like you now have a guy to blame/give recommendations too :P

    narfi
     
  6. Well considering they actually hired someone to write te missions the total output is still a bit disappointing. Then again a lot better then nothing so not really complaining. If planet cyrene would come with a full storyline and good missions i would migrate there the first day. (don't think too much of next island yet, afraid it is overhyped)..

    And while we are on the subject how hard could it be to actually write a mining mission?
     
  7. Lykke TheNun

    Lykke TheNun In Loot We Trust

    Thanks for the replies and thoughts.

    First of all, I know things take time - and that FPC(the EU platform) now implemented a nice mission system. And that hopefully it will be even more advanced, that it is now.

    But what I would love to see is something which doesn't contain "kill 1K mobs", to take an example - or 10K mobs - or scout 6 different areas ... I have never played a game where this happened. And I personally find it to be a boring way to set up quests. But I also know, that since this game is dynamic and can't be compared to a game like World of Warcraft (where you can loot special items which you hand back into the quest-master as a part of the storyline) the 'ways' to create the quests might be limited.

    Perhaps it would be possible to create something more exiciting by adding a better and more deep storyline to it all though? Why are the thorifoids there - what's their background - why do they have a temple, what are they hiding? What's the crystals for - and where can you get them? Imagine it was a part of the quest to gather the crystals. When you did, you had to place them in the stones at the Temple. The door opens - a big ass thorifoid leader comes up - you have to kill him - and THEN you recieve an extra health point or strenght or whatever. After you killed him, you can enter the cave underneath where you find ancient scripts on the wall, telling a story through some drawn pictures - and you find out why the big leader was locked down in the secret depth ... When you leave the cave, the door closes again and it's not possible for you to enter anymore (or if the game could follow the individuals in game, like they do in a lot of other mmo's - the cave is now open to you and other's who did this quest, but not to those who didn't).

    Above is only a small example of the possibilities of awesome little story lines - which only requires some ablity to create and imagine.

    The same could be done on a LOT Of areas on Calypso (OHHH I could invent stories for all of it lol) - but also for ROCKtropia - story lines about Lemmy to take an example - zombies, wolfes - you name it. The planet SHOUTS for stories.

    And when the other planets go life, I'm sure they open up for a lot of other kind of stories, you can built up cases, quests, missions and events on.

    The trick is to connect them - and I get what some say, that the purpose for each planet is to have their 'own' story - nevertheless - all planets are connected (now through teleporters - later perhaps even through spaceships) - which means, that it would never make sense if they are not connected somehow in the storyline.

    Just saying, I hope MA thought about that - and that FCP is already planning this (looks like it, with some of the new people they gotten in the crew) - but that they also thought about it regarding the new planets.

    It should not be a 'game' where the only thing which matters is to bring in more planets, to create more traffic and get more money. That will shine through and make it cheasy - the universe needs substance and some flesh! And I'm not shooting the planets down either - I LOVE the idea with different planets and possibilities (and storylines :D) - I just hope there is a thread in it all, which will make me feel im a part of something 'bigger' and not just there to poor more money into the lootpool (and even it might be so, adding to the history of the game, giving me something back I can relate to and feel a part of, makes it worth it and not that obious).

    Just my opinion ;)
     
  1. This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.