The Pewter Web: Plot Flexibility

[septembervirgin]

I feel that certain options are unlikely and so decided not to explore these options, but largely these are possibilities and I feel they can be brought into the game. Please make decisions based on what you'd really, really want in this story from A to Z, o spice people.

[Tale]

The poll seems to be basically "do you want X? Do you want more than X? Do you want even more? How about more yet?" People will always want more. I think the better question to ask is "how important is this to you?" Which I think some people will use to modify their answer and report less than they actually like because it's not so important. But it'll still confuse the results a bit.

 

That out of the way, I like the idea of having a dynamic economy. Especially one influenced by visible factors.

[septembervirgin]

One thing I'd love to see is NPC talk to eachother in dialogue trees. So if the player has done something or said something significant, the NPC effected by this will alter their dialogue. An NPC with altered dialogue will talk to other NPC and trigger a dialogue option from them that normally wouldn't trigger without the deed or statement.

 

If, for example, I were to utter, "Free P***y Riot!" in a crowded subway full of elven emigre, they would go to the elven dormitories at Harvard (where the elven fraternities and sororities have been outlawed) and talk about the punk rock band that was imprisoned in Russia for performing at a shrine. If I happened through the dorm on my way to visit my dear friend and activity partner, her dialogue with another elf might differ from the norm and so would his. If he turned to talk to another elf, their talk might also change. And some dialogue would change invisibly if I wasn't privy to a moment.

 

So elves at Harvard and Smith and Radcliffe, not to mention BU and MIT and UMass might all be discussing P***y Riot.

 

Similarly, if you come up with suitable ideas for restoring fraternities and sororities to the Harvard campus, it's likely you'd be mentioned in some esteem for a half-decade or so. This would seem like emergent behavior but it could be plotted out with some care.

[alphyna]

I don't really care for the first two questions, but being able to influence your companions is crucial for me.

[Oerwinde]

I would like the economy to make sense somewhat. If I'm in a town cut off from everything with little chance of resupply, the merchant prices should be gouging. This is enough to show that a real economy exists without having to model whole economic systems.

 

I would like the world to react enough that if major stuff happens the map changes too.

 

The third conversation option is far too much. I would npcs to react to their surroundings, but if I need to re ask a question I'd rather not have the npcs ridiculing me on my lack of information retension.

[septembervirgin]

I think scarcity and supply should be influential in the game also. One shouldn't be able to make a tycoon's wealth by selling items en masse in this game. Maybe items and gold slowly replenish in stock, maybe magical items take awhile to distribute to potential buyers in the city populace (and nearby cities). Maybe a merchant feels unhappy because the magical item she was sold is not selling to anyone -- it's so powerful no one can really afford it -- and the thieves guild is beginning to inquire about maybe giving it to them for free?

[curryinahurry]

Given that NPC interaction in PE is going to largely be driven by Factions, its pretty safe to assume that many of the items in the OP's poll will resolve themselves through this mechanism. Availability of certain quests in the game will probably be affected by reputation vis a vis these factions, so that pretty much deals with point 2 & 3. How much is more a matter of balancing resources and fun.

 

It would be interesting to defeat a bandit gang in locale x, travel to locale y and find the price of potion reagents lower, or possibly have some other type of economic effect, but given the game time that we will likely be playing within, a matter of months, I wonder if real economic changes would be felt or even noticed unless spelled out for the PC.. Economic changes in particular require a frame of reference, so in the reagent example above, one would have to be in location y, notice the price on mandrake root, travel to location x, defeat the bandits, and then later when back in location y, you would notice that mandrake root is now less expensive. Will people really be paying that much attention?

 

Also, I think it would be interesting to see how fame and wealth might attract people to the PC. In most games, it means more quests, but what if the PC became a target of a blackmailing scheme or a powerful warlord assaulted the PC and his party because he viewed the PC as a potential threat?

[Lostbrain]

I think this poll is too oriented for reflect everybody's opinion. Also, like Tale, I Truly think that the idea of a dynamic economy is a good one.