Game Plot or Story - Is it possible?

[andrewg_oz]

Some time ago I read a suggestion that someone made for a "story mode"/"single player offline" game.

The idea was that it would be completely separate to the main game. It would start in 3301 and use a series of missions/in-game events to walk you through the major events in the live game up to present time. As the live game updated, new chapters would be added to the story.

For example, now that 2.4 has finished and 3.0 been released in the live game, "chapter 2.4" would now be added to the story.

This would allow new players to at least somewhat experience what players who've played since the beginning have experienced.

IMO, trying to integrate a "story mode" into the live game would very difficult.

 

[Adhock]

...I see players are still requesting the game have a story or plot they can follow....

...One of the most common retorts to the game is 'mile wide, inch deep' yet I rarely see anyone qualify that statement will a solution. And after all my pondering of the situation, I really can't see a solution. ED has been designed from the concept to allow the individual player to create their own unique story, yet this seems to be alien to a lot of players. It appears too many players are use to being guided through a game, and have lost the ability to be the master of their own destiny within the game.

THANK YOU!

SOMEONE FINALLY GETS IT!

I have been saying this for MONTHS now and happy to see it's finally starting to take!

TAKE ALL OF MY REP! ALL OF IT!

 

[crushdepth]

THANK YOU!

SOMEONE FINALLY GETS IT!

I have been saying this for MONTHS now and happy to see it's finally starting to take!

TAKE ALL OF MY REP! ALL OF IT!

Unfortunately it is simply not true. Being able to participate in a battle to defend a station from thargoid attack - and to win or lose - that's blazing your own trail. You can engage with it, influence it in some small way.

When a station flips from normal to burning on a server tick - that's not creating your iwn story. That's a lifeless static POI that you can't interact with.

FD need to let us truly interact with our environment, instead of leaving us to wander the art gallery, handcuffed.

 

[Marc_Hicks]

To be honest, only 1 iteration of Elite has-so far-included any kind of story arc....& that was First Encounters. A story which I confess I had zero interaction with.

That said, to reiterate what I said above, there are a few key ways in which a "sense" of a story arc, whether personal or regional, could be created.

1) Significantly Expand on the Mission Wrinkle & Chained Mission systems.

2) Expand on the number of ways in which Commanders can obtain missions-like scanning, scooping or reading local/Galnet news sources.

3) Add Wrinkle & Chaining elements into Community Goals.

#3 has especial appeal to me. Imagine you take part of a conflict based Community Goal (one in which you are forced to take a side if you participate). One side *has* to lose. When the CG is over, you get a chain "mission" for each side. The winning side might get either a Bounty Hunt CG (mopping up) or a Repair & Fortify CG (trade-based CG) to choose from. The losing side will get either a Passenger based CG (Rebels, Terrorists & Refugees) or a Piracy based CG. The success or failure of these follow-on CG's might play a role in whether or not a 3rd or even 4th Follow-on CG crops up.

 

[M00ka]

OP here, a big thank you to all those who contributed to the thread, there are some very good ideas here (restored my faith a little bit in the community to be truthful).

So it appears that most agree that a central, all encompassing story just won't work with ED, there are too many things to do by a very diverse community of players. Which is good as I think it fits into DB's concept of a long starship captain blazing his/her/it's own way and not constrained but anything except their own drive and imagination.

As for the mini-stories via missions etc does sound good. Those that want to do them can, those that don't can just ignore them. I do wish they would try to tailor the chained missions though. Presently I tend to get assassination missions after doing a bunch of haulage missions - and I have no interest at all in assassination missions so my chain snaps there!.

The only problem I foresee with the great suggestions posted here is that it will take some effort and a degree of imagination, something I suspect those who continuously complain about the lack of content in the game are severely bereft of

 

[Frank]

I agree with M00ka that there'd be a problem devising a storyline that would be suitable for all the various types of players. But there is a single point where all the players are exactly the same, right at the start of the game.

What I'd like to see is a storyline that's like the first chapter of a book where the rest of the chapters are written by yourself.

This kills two birds with one stone. It provides an entertaining introduction to the Elite Galaxy, and it allows the complexity of the game to be fed to the new player one feature at a time.

Of course a lot of games have this teach-through-the-story mechanic, but I think there's a blindingly obvious reason why they all do this.. it works.

I nice little side effect of the effort to do this could well be Frontier selling a few more copies. Some players who don't want to reset their main commander might buy a second commander in order to play through this plot the way it was intended to be played.. as a raw recruit.

 

[M00ka]

I agree with M00ka that there'd be a problem devising a storyline that would be suitable for all the various types of players. But there is a single point where all the players are exactly the same, right at the start of the game.

What I'd like to see is a storyline that's like the first chapter of a book where the rest of the chapters are written by yourself.

This kills two birds with one stone. It provides an entertaining introduction to the Elite Galaxy, and it allows the complexity of the game to be fed to the new player one feature at a time.

Of course a lot of games have this teach-through-the-story mechanic, but I think there's a blindingly obvious reason why they all do this.. it works.

I nice little side effect of the effort to do this could well be Frontier selling a few more copies. Some players who don't want to reset their main commander might buy a second commander in order to play through this plot the way it was intended to be played.. as a raw recruit.

Frank that is a brilliant idea, duly Repped Sir.

I like the idea of it being a tutorial in disguise, especially if it covers all the main aspects of the game: outfitting, take-off/landing, mining, bounty hunting, exploration, trade etc. It could be something as simple as the player being a 'new commander' they are paired with an Elite NPC who shows them how to do all the different aspects of the game. When the new player has done enough to satisfy the Old Hand, he approves your Pilot licence and sends you on your way.

I would like to see this as being a voluntary thing, a new player can either do it or not. If they decline, then they start as they do now, a Sidewinder, so credits and no other help. If on the other hand they do take the tutorial at the completing of the umm training, as part of getting the Licence issued, they also get a choice between any of the next tier ships (Cobra, Hauler, Eagle for example) as a reward. So not only have they learnt to play most of the aspects of the game, all whilst earning credits, they walk away with basically a free upgrade ship!

Great idea Frank, I really do like the concept.

 

[Frank]

I would like to see this as being a voluntary thing, a new player can either do it or not. If they decline, then they start as they do now, a Sidewinder, so credits and no other help. If on the other hand they do take the tutorial at the completing of the umm training, as part of getting the Licence issued, they also get a choice between any of the next tier ships (Cobra, Hauler, Eagle for example) as a reward.

Of course. "Blaze your own trail" is Elite's main ethos. They could even have a decal for those who decide to do it the hard way "Lave Academy Dropout" <grin>

 

[Erasmus Boone]

I quite like that in ED im just a geezar with a space ship and not 'the chosen one', hero of the universe.
I never bothed with the story in the old X series of games.
I also think that MMO thing of everyone running around doing the same story mission is weird.

All that said, just because its not for me doesn't mean I cant see that others would like it (*) so if it could be implimented in a way that didn't negativly influence my game play then why not.

* I wish everyone posting on the forums could get that concept.

 

[M00ka]

I quite like that in ED im just a geezar with a space ship and not 'the chosen one', hero of the universe.
I never bothed with thew story in the old X series of games.
I also think that MMO thing of everyone running around doing the same story mission is weird.

All that said, just because its not for me doesn't mean I cant see that others would like it (*) so if it could be implimented in a way that didn't negativly influence my game play then why not.

* I wish everyone posting on the forums could get that concept.

You're not the only one who feels that way, in fact it seems it is just a typical small but vocal minority who can't play the game without being told how to play it.

This concept of 'playing my way' is what I like about the game. I can choose to get involved in the BGS as little or as much as I want, when I want. I am not forced to do anything in the game that I don't want to do - not many other games can claim that fact.

 

[LaTokk]

The 'every player starts the same' thing is a problem for Elite in terms of wider story-building - with no natural allegiances, the galactic politics means nothing unless you actively choose to engage with it.

One very simple change that I think would have quite a large knock-on effect in a number of ways, would be for players to start (randomly first time, by choice on a commander reset) in Alliance, Empire or Federation space. The tutorials should be moved in game and be a set of new player missions available from the local stations and, most importantly, you want those early missions to be heavily propagandised towards the local superpower. The aim being to make the player feel part of something and give them some grounding in the Elite galaxy before they start venturing further afield.

I like the idea from M00ka, about access to second tier ships.

 

[MadDogMurdock]

I think there'd be a lot of value in small story arcs to provide the ranks in Combat, Trade, and Exploration.

They'd use placeholders for whichever are the most relevant faction, systems, and NPCs based on where you are at the time, and be one-offs to achieve that particular rank.

They would also be a good opportunity to clarify an appropriate game element/function for the rank in question.

I also had an idea for the NPC crew:
The already hav small bios, but what if their backstories had some loose ends.
"Hey boss, I need to ask a big favour..."

Even better, what if they weren't always who they said they are.
What if you unknowingly hired the daughter of a pirate lord that you blew up a few weeks back.
She's out for revenge and just waiting for the right moment to turn the fighter's weapons on you.
A side benefit of that storyline would be doing away with that telepresence rubbish.

 

[Marc_Hicks]

I think there'd be a lot of value in small story arcs to provide the ranks in Combat, Trade, and Exploration.

They'd use placeholders for whichever are the most relevant faction, systems, and NPCs based on where you are at the time, and be one-offs to achieve that particular rank.

They would also be a good opportunity to clarify an appropriate game element/function for the rank in question.

I also had an idea for the NPC crew:
The already hav small bios, but what if their backstories had some loose ends.
"Hey boss, I need to ask a big favour..."

Even better, what if they weren't always who they said they are.
What if you unknowingly hired the daughter of a pirate lord that you blew up a few weeks back.
She's out for revenge and just waiting for the right moment to turn the fighter's weapons on you.
A side benefit of that storyline would be doing away with that telepresence rubbish.

Mr Braben himself mentioned things like "loose ends" when discussing Passengers & Crew members. That is something I would love to see.

 

[Muetdhiver]

True, it'd take more imagination than adding more progress bars for us to fill.

Maybe a story progress bar ? After 500 missions completed for a faction the story would be completed.

Wouldn't that be great for building personal narratives ?

 

[Marc_Hicks]

Maybe a story progress bar ? After 500 missions completed for a faction the story would be completed.

Wouldn't that be great for building personal narratives ?

You forgot the sarcasm font .

 

[Muetdhiver]

You forgot the sarcasm font .

Tbh i don't know if its sarcasm or resigned realism. What's the font for the latter ?

 

[Adhock]

Unfortunately it is simply not true. Being able to participate in a battle to defend a station from thargoid attack - and to win or lose - that's blazing your own trail. You can engage with it, influence it in some small way.

When a station flips from normal to burning on a server tick - that's not creating your iwn story. That's a lifeless static POI that you can't interact with.

FD need to let us truly interact with our environment, instead of leaving us to wander the art gallery, handcuffed.

...

The point he's making is the same one I've been repeating for months. Many of the complaints making Elite out to be a shell of game and not worthy of being called such.

In order to solve those complaints, they want an engaging narrative that hand holds them through the game.

Which would be difficult given that trying to railroad a narrative in a sandbox defeats the purpose of a sandbox.

If Frontier does do miniarcs through chained missions and lets them be repeatable, it would solve a great many whining threads.

One step forward. Two steps back with this crowd....

I am disappoint.