Should Frontier Create A Position Called "Game Master Technical Advisor"?

[Iskariot]

We all know the ordinary coders at Frontier are good people.

It's in the "game" part of the game that Frontier falls down, like Wile E. Coyote, off a cliff.

How many of us here are pen and paper, face-to-face Game Masters, who could hep Frontier with therapy, about being a Killer Dungeon-Master, and railroading the game, etc?

I have only been running Traveller since 1978, so I'm a rookie. I need some of you, with more experience, to help the leadership at Frontier out of the Pit Of Despair.

No. The story is fine as is, albeit slow (Idon't think it should go faster though, this is not that kind of a game).
I like it that FD leaves us a lot of room for speculation about what the Thargoids really are.
I look forward to seeing their space stations, planetary stations and other types of ships. I hope the stuff is awesome and alien.

What is really needed is revisiting of the core mechanics. That is what it is all about. The core mechanics of exploration, mining, bounty hunting, piracy etc need to become more solid, more interesting and deeper. Now is the time to create really solid foundations of game play that can withstand time.
If FDev does that right this game will still be played in 20 years time.

When all that has been done and after they have added stuff like atmospheric planetary landings, and perhaps walking around etc., then they can create a cool solid story campaign, throw in a few new ships and perhaps an SRV for good measure and sell that to me for full retail price. It would be epic to start as a noob on some planet, earn my wages, do a bit of discovering, and then earning a spaceship and then eventually leaving that planet.
I would be happy to pay 50 bucks for that on top of what I already paid. It would be worth it.

 

[Stealthie]

Execs, who greenlight things, are money/sales people, not writers. Harvey Weinstien got busted, not because of sexually harassing actresses for decades, but because he wasn't making money anymore.

Conversely, writers are crazy, and cannot be trusted to run any large project/need adult supervision. Orson Welles is the examplar. JJ Adams is one of the current ones.

See: Hollywood.

I suspect that's more true of "triple A" developers than it is of a "boutique" operation like FDev.
I imagine it'd all be very "clinical" at a place like, say, Electronic Arts.
You're doing the latest version of FIFA, Madden, BF or whatever; there'll be market surveys to decide what features need to go it, you'll have a lead dev' who know's what "must have" next-gen' features should be added and you build the game around that information.

At somewhere like FDev, I think it's more about having a core idea and then coming up with features that are intended to enhance that core idea.
Alas, it sometimes doesn't seem like there's anybody there who's especially gifted at that.
DB has given us one of the all-time iconic Sci-Fi franchises (IMO it really is up there with Star Wars and ahead of pretty-much everything else in terms of video-games) but it doesn't always seem like anybody at FDev who can take on DB's original vision and cultivate it.

There's an old saying which says a camel is a racehorse designed by a committee.
I think that applies to video games too.
If you've got a strong person directing development you'll probably end up with things some people don't like but the people who do like it will REALLY like it.
ED seems to be suffering a bit from "camel syndrome", whereby they take a bunch of ideas plucked from here and there create something which everybody can find some fault with but nobody is REALLY impressed by.

 

[Schlack]

I don't believe its needed. Player groups since launch have done extraordinary story and character development. We don't need someone to moderate those stories, our interactions with the game and other players/groups do that. What is missing is the means for integrating those stories into the game.

 

[Ralph Vargr]

I don't believe its needed. Player groups since launch have done extraordinary story and character development. We don't need someone to moderate those stories, our interactions with the game and other players/groups do that. What is missing is the means for integrating those stories into the game.

Which any decent GM can do.

I suspect that's more true of "triple A" developers than it is of a "boutique" operation like FDev.
I imagine it'd all be very "clinical" at a place like, say, Electronic Arts.
You're doing the latest version of FIFA, Madden, BF or whatever; there'll be market surveys to decide what features need to go it, you'll have a lead dev' who know's what "must have" next-gen' features should be added and you build the game around that information.

At somewhere like FDev, I think it's more about having a core idea and then coming up with features that are intended to enhance that core idea.
Alas, it sometimes doesn't seem like there's anybody there who's especially gifted at that.
DB has given us one of the all-time iconic Sci-Fi franchises (IMO it really is up there with Star Wars and ahead of pretty-much everything else in terms of video-games) but it doesn't always seem like anybody at FDev who can take on DB's original vision and cultivate it.

There's an old saying which says a camel is a racehorse designed by a committee.
I think that applies to video games too.
If you've got a strong person directing development you'll probably end up with things some people don't like but the people who do like it will REALLY like it.
ED seems to be suffering a bit from "camel syndrome", whereby they take a bunch of ideas plucked from here and there create something which everybody can find some fault with but nobody is REALLY impressed by.

Two words: leadership failure.

 

[Ralph Vargr]

No. The story is fine as is, albeit slow (Idon't think it should go faster though, this is not that kind of a game).
I like it that FD leaves us a lot of room for speculation about what the Thargoids really are.
I look forward to seeing their space stations, planetary stations and other types of ships. I hope the stuff is awesome and alien.

What is really needed is revisiting of the core mechanics. That is what it is all about. The core mechanics of exploration, mining, bounty hunting, piracy etc need to become more solid, more interesting and deeper. Now is the time to create really solid foundations of game play that can withstand time.
If FDev does that right this game will still be played in 20 years time.

When all that has been done and after they have added stuff like atmospheric planetary landings, and perhaps walking around etc., then they can create a cool solid story campaign, throw in a few new ships and perhaps an SRV for good measure and sell that to me for full retail price. It would be epic to start as a noob on some planet, earn my wages, do a bit of discovering, and then earning a spaceship and then eventually leaving that planet.
I would be happy to pay 50 bucks for that on top of what I already paid. It would be worth it.

I wrote house rules, Frontier can do the same for things that don't work too well. Character death during chargen was one of the first things thrown out of almost any Traveller game, by the referee. (Mine was that you got fired, court-martialed, etc)

Frontier has a habit of letting bugs, and quality of life improvements sit around, until they explode.

I don't believe its needed. Player groups since launch have done extraordinary story and character development. We don't need someone to moderate those stories, our interactions with the game and other players/groups do that. What is missing is the means for integrating those stories into the game.

Which is a major GM fail.

 

[Ralph Vargr]

If there were a story to tell, then I'd say yes, most definitely.

Frontier isn't telling a story in Elite.

They generate events.

The only story is your own - and only you can tell it.

So, I can write fanfic.

SJA writes things that *sell*.

Which one of us should replace Braben?

 

[Vorxian]

If I was a GM... someone could ping me a tip-off about shenanigans at Erevate, and if griefing is going on... I'd go all 'Voyager' and pull the culprits into a rift and send them 70,000 LY to the Delta Quadrant.

See how long it takes to get home

 

[Ralph Vargr]

If I was a GM... someone could ping me a tip-off about shenanigans at Erevate, and if griefing is going on... I'd go all 'Voyager' and pull the culprits into a rift and send them 70,000 LY to the Delta Quadrant.

See how long it takes to get home

I like this idea. I called it "misjump".

 

[Ralph Vargr]

OK, come out of the closet, geekdom, and tell how you would write simple, in-game tools, to fix almost all the wailing from the game group. How many of you are GM's?

This is a company that has just discovered a car radio news broadcast, after three years.

 

[Drelthar]

What would be better is a huge team of "DM's" who can log into the gamer actually "possess" NPCs, send out galaxy wide messages, set up events, control ships/etc etc.

I mean, entirely impractical to achieve, but it would be great.

 

[Pumabear8]

Not sure if one person can do that job.

A small select community group for bouncing concepts off would be great. Put them under an NDA and have frank discussions and maybe Alpha access.

BUT, the outcry from those not involved would be horrific. Like in Beta, but worse. The "My opinion counts too" screams would create enough salt to cover the winter roads of Canada several times over.

There would be an outcry, because this is no different than the council made up of select players that was suggested on these forums not too long ago.

 

[Nutter]

I know a group that can help.

Spoiler

 

[Ralph Vargr]

I know a group that can help.

Spoiler

http://blog.truffleshuffle.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/The-A-Team-original-cast-001.jpg

But, can we get George Peppard back? And, chromed AK-47's?

There would be an outcry, because this is no different than the council made up of select players that was suggested on these forums not too long ago.

Player councils are poison.

We need a GM who has the authority to call in an intervention, for when the execs go nuts. Also, to smack down writers with too much lens flare.

 

[Vorxian]

I know a group that can help.

Spoiler

http://blog.truffleshuffle.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/The-A-Team-original-cast-001.jpg

I vote Ziggy Stardust to be BA.



PS Maynard is definitely H.M.

 

[Mangal Oemie]

We all know the ordinary coders at Frontier are good people.

It's in the "game" part of the game that Frontier falls down, like Wile E. Coyote, off a cliff.

How many of us here are pen and paper, face-to-face Game Masters, who could hep Frontier with therapy, about being a Killer Dungeon-Master, and railroading the game, etc?

I have only been running Traveller since 1978, so I'm a rookie. I need some of you, with more experience, to help the leadership at Frontier out of the Pit Of Despair.

Good idea, though I do feel it could consists of an hour discussion explaining the difference between sandbox and railroad.

 

[Ralph Vargr]

Good idea, though I do feel it could consists of an hour discussion explaining the difference between sandbox and railroad.

Therapy, with a good counselor, takes months, at a minimum. It's like a 12 step group.

 

[IndigoWyrd]

If I was a GM... someone could ping me a tip-off about shenanigans at Erevate, and if griefing is going on... I'd go all 'Voyager' and pull the culprits into a rift and send them 70,000 LY to the Delta Quadrant.

See how long it takes to get home

Either 2484 jumps or one self-destruct.

 

[5 Puppis]

Either 2484 jumps or one self-destruct.

Spawn them docked in a "punishment station". Only thing sold is fuel and a 1E fuel scoop.

 

[Ralph Vargr]

Spawn them docked in a "punishment station". Only thing sold is fuel and a 1E fuel scoop.

I put them in K'Kree Space.

 

[ROSS-128]

Well, I think if I was going to be the "GM of Elite" or put on a board that performs that function, I would want to be an actual employee who gets paid to do it rather than just an "esteemed community member".

Though even if you have a gM/GM Board, you've got to settle on a GMing philosophy. Are you making a Monty Haul? A power fantasy? Or are you running a game of Paranoia? How tight should the rails be? How much of the Henderson Scale will you allow before dropping rocks?