Parties in Cities

[Aldereth]

The actual split party thing with taking over NPCs sub group (either by means of flashback or other kind of narrative device) may be fun for once or twice for story with a very prominent central character. I feel it could easily be too distracting unless there is plot event or theme that tied the separate storyline together. It is like what was said about losing control of the central character is not good. So, I don't think it would be a good fit with a story centric game.

 

However, a off screen managed approach can worked with both story with or without a prominent central character. I don't know whether using a game map to manage your party would be the best way to go though. It does take away from the immersion. I think it may be have it done when the party make camp or is inside an inn or player housing with dialogs with the NPC you wish to assign task. And as a ease of use option, perhaps, a management tab on the characters menu with a list of recruited characters and their current task status could be helpful. Meantime, if resource allow, game map with a small marker of various PC party member location with a short note on their current task would be nice also.

[Osvir]

The actual split party thing with taking over NPCs sub group (either by means of flashback or other kind of narrative device) may be fun for once or twice for story with a very prominent central character. I feel it could easily be too distracting unless there is plot event or theme that tied the separate storyline together. It is like what was said about losing control of the central character is not good. So, I don't think it would be a good fit with a story centric game.

 

Well, the Player is the central character imo and whatever happens in the game should be narrated to the Player (whether it is in a Flashback or not). I agree that it shouldn't be something that happens every 5 minutes, but a few of them that fits well into the story of your character or another character that you want into your group or are interested in recruiting.

 

Wish to highlight this Quote below again:

Example A: Before In-Party/Quest Flashback

You meet Minsc and Dynaheir in Nashkel and Minsc yells and boasts of his and Boo's valiant endeavors, it piques your interest and you wish to know more. You are taken to a flashback at the bridge of Gnoll Fortress and you follow a story that is narrated by present Minsc (or narrated in gameplay of flashback Minsc). You play the entire Gnoll Fortress with solo-Minsc, and when you save Dynahier you are taken back to Nashkel, and now you can decide if you want to recruit him or not.

 

What is the difference between the method I Discuss in the Example above AND getting Minsc into your group and saving Dynaheir with him? There is quite a big difference from a Roleplaying perspective but technically there is no difference at all, possibly more difficult in my method (Depending on Game Difficulty) and possibly shorter (as you wouldn't have to explore every single area leading up to the Fortress).

Edited November 7, 2012 by Osvir

[-Zin-]

Well, one thing that I always found weird was that in a lot of games like Zelda, Dragon Age, KOTOR 1, is that you can just run into a house, loot it clean, and the family living there doesn't even care. I actually think it's a little weird to enter random NPC's houses to even get a quest. In real life, no one really barges into random people's home and ask if they need help. If a random person is in a random person's home like that, he/she is probably there to steal/loot. I would like it if only 2 out of a 100 houses have a quest in them. In most cases, the people/families in there would insist that you leave, unless you're in stealth mode. However, it would be funny if you try to rob a house.. and you walk into a house where everyone's dead, and the place is already looted... and then a guard comes and find you at the scene of the crime lol Or maybe you find an empty house leading to a thieves' guild.. or just once or twice there's a person who actually needs help, but mostly, houses are to be looted.

 

This is an opinion I just made up. I haven't given it too much though, but I'm just contributing to the conversation for the sake of contributing

[Osvir]

Interesting thoughts -Zin-

 

If we look at Baldur's Gate, you can enter pretty much any house (You can bash in the door and when you enter the house the NPC will say "What are you doing in my house!?" and you get to choose some anwers, Good/Evil/Neutral pretty much). I think if the door is open it is open and you should get something like that in the dialogue, but if you pick a lock (or like I did, bash the door open) and enter a house with NPC's they should be very hostile, might kick you out or even call on guards because you are breaking an entry.

 

However, in Oblivion there is this quest where you have to hop into a painting and save some dude. The problem that arose after I finished that was that the guy I saved spawned in the doorway so I couldn't leave, and moments later he became hostile and told me to "Gtfo" of his house, then he started to attack me, then the guards came, and I couldn't do anything about it (The game bugged/glitched or something, it wasn't supposed to happen like that but it did).

 

^Something to think about. Don't get us stuck in positions that were not intended for us.

[-Zin-]

Yeah, true. As I was writing about the weird nature of barging into random's people's home and looting their stuff, I did recall Baldur's Gate. I had forgotten that the families there did complain if you took their stuff. I had forgotten because Dragon Age was supposed to be the spirtual successor, better in every way, but Dragon Age is like a step backwards in that area lol

 

But you're right, a lot of games are handling that aspect pretty decently already. Still, there is something off about stepping into people's home randomly. Maybe if was established more clearly that you could be invited into commoners' homes to gather information I would be happier. Because as it is with RPGs as of late, a lot of times there is a part where you come to a big city, and that's when you just turn on your song-list and mindlessly start looting people's homes for 20 minutes. It feels a bit like a mandatory chore. And I'm just not for doing the same thing over and over. That's just a cheap technique to prolong the game and make you feel like you're accomplishing more than you really are. I feel the same about really long dungeons, like the Deep Roads and the Fayde from Dragon Age Origins. That's really not a moment you want to go: "Damn. I left my iPod at home." Most of it is just mindless slaughter, and even with cheat codes, it still takes some hours to clear out. Geeze.

 

So I'm definetly for new ways to remove tedious grinding and chores with more fun interactive role-play. I like the idea of sending your party around the city. Maybe the companions can fast-travel to certain areas in town not accessible for the protagonist. This would create different a experience when controlling your companions. Maybe they know of places that you don't, and you won't have time to learn about them because your character is so focused on the quests. He has specific people to see, time is of the essence. This also creates an artificial feeling of vastness, but without being annoyingly big. It's somewhat efficient and optimized, so you can get back to do doing awesome quests. This also makes companions useful and entertaining outside of combat, and it would be fun to watch two party members of your choice work together wether they are compatible or not. Maybe you put two party members together who don't have good chemistry. That would be highly amusing to watch them try to work together while gathering information, or selling and buying items. Maybe they didn't gather too much information because they were too busy arguing with each other, but maybe since they're both angry people now, they get way better prices because the merchants can't really mess with them too much. This would give the leader the opportunity to check out the important main quests, like checking out the more popular areas and do his thing while the others are away.

 

Again, these are just rushed thoughts that I just came up with based on my own preference. After thinking about this, it doesn't sound like the greatest ideas, but maybe others got better ideas from this. Others might think: "No thanks. I just want a proper huge city, and I like to explore places and get shweet loot." That's fair enough, but personally, this is why I prefer Obsidian games over Oblivion/Skyrim. I want a smaller but smarter built game with well written memorable characters with great depth, just the right amount of combat without getting bored by its' repetiveness, some side-missions, and a cool main quest. This is good pacing. I don't want what Skyrim/oblivion offers, which is shallow written npcs, just a ton of random loot that offers no intelligent feedback, and a pretty generic main quest that is overshadowed by way too many unmemorable, unimportant side-quests.

[Aldereth]

Well, one thing that I always found weird was that in a lot of games like Zelda, Dragon Age, KOTOR 1, is that you can just run into a house, loot it clean, and the family living there doesn't even care. I actually think it's a little weird to enter random NPC's houses to even get a quest. In real life, no one really barges into random people's home and ask if they need help. If a random person is in a random person's home like that, he/she is probably there to steal/loot. I would like it if only 2 out of a 100 houses have a quest in them. In most cases, the people/families in there would insist that you leave, unless you're in stealth mode. However, it would be funny if you try to rob a house.. and you walk into a house where everyone's dead, and the place is already looted... and then a guard comes and find you at the scene of the crime lol Or maybe you find an empty house leading to a thieves' guild.. or just once or twice there's a person who actually needs help, but mostly, houses are to be looted.

 

This is an opinion I just made up. I haven't given it too much though, but I'm just contributing to the conversation for the sake of contributing

 

I feel that the anti-social behaviours from players are partially an indication (indictment) of how boring the towns and villages has become in cRPG that the only game/fun thing to have is a scarvenger hunt or random killing. A little off topic here, but here are some suggestion:

 

Make shops more interesting like let player try out the items in the shop. Let shop give customization like color or even item model. Yes, it's cosmetic but it does replicate some real shopping experience. Have the inventory be reactive to the changes in the game world either by the action or inaction of the player or plot related.

 

Make the city/town more dynamic. New shops, inn opening over time or old one going out of business. I would love to see a village and town grow or shrink like I suggest in another thread but if that is too resource intensive, then just make it change a little bit to keep things fresh. And move people around. Yes, the plot related character has to be at specific location at specific time. But the random person on the street can change around. The town smith's kid went to college in the mega city, the baker's baby grew up...etc. Heck if resource allow, make these be reactive to world event. eg. instead of wiping out a neighboring kobold tribes, the PC negotiate peace. You see some kobold merchants in the marketing place selling wierd crap and may be offering lesson in some really off beat skills.

 

Just some food for thoughts. And apologies for going off topic.

[JFSOCC]

A scarverger hunt is where you hunt scarves. a little miniquest where you need to steal, beg, or take the scarves of certain npc's in town. when you have all of them you'll be the envy of every man in town...

 

In KOTOR2 you had sections in which certain party members had their own side missions. Atton getting a drink/assassinated, Mira going to the 'tar. I really liked those side quests, but not that they were forced. I'd be nice if there was some sort of mechanic where you could click "Gather information" and the party would split up, each npc offering different ways to get information. So a rogue might eavesdrop somewhere, a bard would go into a bar, have a drink with some of the fellows, play a little music, and loosen some tongues, the fighter offers to infiltrate the guard, until he knows what he needs. the wizard will consult the academy, etc...

 

That has never been done before (to my knowledge) and I think it is strange that it hasn't. Gather information quests should be a staple. Something fun to do in town. and your individual characters each get a chance to shine. Also, failing to get information won't be tragic, so you can have failures (for once) without needing the player to retry. Makes the game world more flowing and I think would encourage players to play without save scumming. (as it wouldn't even come to mind)

Edited November 7, 2012 by JFSOCC

[Xienzi]

 

This intrigues me :D

 

FYI, Magic Candle handles the split party by giving the ability for the player to "flip" to the "non-adventuring" characters when the "main party" is not in combat. The non adventuring members will be at the location appropriate for the job in the town you left them. eg. smith for forging, library for researching. I don't think there is too much interaction for the crafting players other than stop whatever they are doing. I don't remember exactly what happen if you stop their job, I think they will rejoin your party after "x" amount of time passed or walk around the town they are in and start another job.

 

I think split party can be an idea that can be further developed. Personally, I would like more "game"/activity for the non adventuring party integrating some of element from that old, old Koei strategy games like Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Nobunaga's Ambition. Like NPCs would have some "off line"/non-adventuring stats they can develope by doing jobs/quest. So if the player decide to rotate them out for other duties like running a shop, would improve their "business skill" + some extra change in the pocket. And when you get your stronghold, you can have the guy you groom for running a business to take charge of the treasury to improve your domain's income.

 

A more elaborate version could involve a character volunteer as guards and with improved skill in "military leadership", your NPC can become guard captain in certain city thus giving you some mid game benefit of know the guard captain in a major city. And in late game, you could run into the problem your NPC friend has found his life calling as a guard captain and kind of leave the adventuring to you. A further complication can be in late game, your decision made you an enemy of the city you former ally is now defending making him an antagonist/enemy.

 

I do like the idea of having the "other" playable characters actually having something to do instead of, you know, just sitting around waiting to be picked to be part of the active party.  In that sense, it would also give an incentive to make use of the Adventurer's Hall to hire(create) adventurers to do things for you such as patrolling and hunting around your player home and/or stronghold. Another idea for that mechanic is that maybe certain towns and dungeons can only be found by having a sub-party go out to scout the area and then report back to you.

Edited January 23, 2013 by Xienzi

[JFSOCC]

That's a really nice idea, having a few default tasks for characters who've joined you but aren't in your current party to do. Nothing to absurd, but something which is decently useful, and where you can find them fairly easily, without having the idea that they'll be waiting around for you while doing nothing at the copper coronet.

[Osvir]

Some quick-fire:
* You've got 6 characters, the task ahead only requires 1. Leave 5 behind and go with 1.
* [burglary] send off a character in a city to steal gold (leaves party for X amount of time)
* [scout] send off a party outdoor (leaves party for X amount of time) basically physical "Divination". When character comes back: [Text] of what's in the area.
* [street Smarts] ^same but in cities.
* [business] (sell trash, trade/buy/sell items. One Issue that can arise with "Pre-Trading Management": Too much UI, Torchlight 2 had some minor stuff, like buy potions),
* [Read Ancient Poetry] at Library? 
* WarCraft 3: Cave-in, control your party split up. One character falls through a hole, or into a trap.
* [Jail], save a character caught. Trap, Thief, Murder, Kidnapped, Caught by Monsters (when [scout]).
* [Etc. etc.] ~what else cool stuff can be done?

I think we are ready to touch some base with "abilities that has no animation" but fulfills a feature in text only. Could some features be extremely simplified?

* Climb
* Jump
* Toss
* Dig
* Teleport

All are the same, none of them require an animation (simply teleport character from A to B). * Climb a character ~he gets a favorable elevation, perhaps on a roof and can scout the area ahead/below. Controlling the rest of the Party you get further "Vision" ahead. Essential for a Stealth path, also part of "Splitting up" the party.

Does one of your characters have a bad reputation, perhaps "Wanted" posters, and bringing that character into the City by itself alerts the Guard? Perhaps you could send such a character ahead on [scout] or just leave them outside.

In some ways, Reputation being a big business as well?

EDIT: Xienzi, great idea.

Additionally, far-fetched: Adventurer's Hall = Create an army? Lesser "units", to fortify "your Kingdom", perhaps? Not "Classes", but you'd be hiring (for gold/silver/copper) different types of "Units" serving different functions? A "Footman" from a Barracks.
^Maybe not for P:E. It would be cool though

Edited January 23, 2013 by Osvir

[Xienzi]

Some quick-fire:

* You've got 6 characters, the task ahead only requires 1. Leave 5 behind and go with 1.

* [burglary] send off a character in a city to steal gold (leaves party for X amount of time)

* [scout] send off a party outdoor (leaves party for X amount of time) basically physical "Divination". When character comes back: [Text] of what's in the area.

* [street Smarts] ^same but in cities.

* [business] (sell trash, trade/buy/sell items. One Issue that can arise with "Pre-Trading Management": Too much UI, Torchlight 2 had some minor stuff, like buy potions),

* [Read Ancient Poetry] at Library? 

* WarCraft 3: Cave-in, control your party split up. One character falls through a hole, or into a trap.

* [Jail], save a character caught. Trap, Thief, Murder, Kidnapped, Caught by Monsters (when [scout]).

* [Etc. etc.] ~what else cool stuff can be done?

 

I think we are ready to touch some base with "abilities that has no animation" but fulfills a feature in text only. Could some features be extremely simplified?

 

* Climb

* Jump

* Toss

* Dig

* Teleport

 

All are the same, none of them require an animation (simply teleport character from A to B). * Climb a character ~he gets a favorable elevation, perhaps on a roof and can scout the area ahead/below. Controlling the rest of the Party you get further "Vision" ahead. Essential for a Stealth path, also part of "Splitting up" the party.

 

Does one of your characters have a bad reputation, perhaps "Wanted" posters, and bringing that character into the City by itself alerts the Guard? Perhaps you could send such a character ahead on [scout] or just leave them outside.

 

In some ways, Reputation being a big business as well?

 

EDIT: Xienzi, great idea.

 

Additionally, far-fetched: Adventurer's Hall = Create an army? Lesser "units", to fortify "your Kingdom", perhaps? Not "Classes", but you'd be hiring (for gold/silver/copper) different types of "Units" serving different functions? A "Footman" from a Barracks.

^Maybe not for P:E. It would be cool though

 

That's a nice idea, I think. The one about having characters of notorious repute go and do other things for a while until you're done. It should, like I said in my earlier post, also be applied to the inactives with the "leave party for X amount of time" part applied to all non-combat tasks. Furthermore, as JFSOCC stated, you might encounter them doing the tasks you assigned if it's located in the vicinity if you wish to recall them for some reason or check on progress. A note with the innkeeper or in your home though could serve just as well if you want them to stop their assigned task.

 

As for your ideas, here's my two cents:

 

[scout] - Primary Function: Gather materials, find the lay of the land.

    Secondary Function: Depending on the scouting party's composition, have a chance to stumble upon different kinds of dungeons. For example, putting a magic user in the group has a chance to find an old wizard's tower. An abandoned grove for druids, ideal hunting or camping spots for rangers, ruins of religious import for paladins/monks/clerics.

 

[street Smarts] - Find out what's the talk of the town, people hiring adventurers for quests, rumors of a dungeon in X area. Ideally, I think it should have better chances to unlock optional maps rather than scouting.

 

[Research] - [1] At the local library. If you have the right person do it, you might be able to discover some new magic spells and even unlock a chain quest to discover more old ruins.

                  - [2] Or if you have a laboratory, have a character mess around and create things.

 

As JFSOCC also stated, it shouldn't be needlessly complicated. Rather, it should just be some quick dialogue options with the results determined by learned skills, the amount of time allocated, party size, and ultimately by the RNG. Another incentive to use the Adventurer's Hall, I would think, since you can just build a character for these non-combat purposes and just keep sending them off to do things for you. These things probably would require some measure of resources to successfully accomplish, though. Both monetary and physical.

 

Edited January 24, 2013 by Xienzi

[JFSOCC]

As JFSOCC also stated, it shouldn't be needlessly complicated. Rather, it should just be some quick dialogue options with the results determined by learned skills, the amount of time allocated, party size, and ultimately by the RNG. Another incentive to use the Adventurer's Hall, I would think, since you can just build a character for these non-combat purposes and just keep sending them off to do things for you. These things probably would require some measure of resources to successfully accomplish, though. Both monetary and physical.

There's 2 ideas here and they shouldn't be confused.

I like single-party member quests in cities, which show off their own abilities.

However, since it might be possible that the number of recruited members is higher than you can take in your party at any given time (or, "camp members" as was suggested in another thread) And these I wouldn't mind "sending away on a task" the latter one is what I talking about in the post you referenced.

[Xienzi]

 

As JFSOCC also stated, it shouldn't be needlessly complicated. Rather, it should just be some quick dialogue options with the results determined by learned skills, the amount of time allocated, party size, and ultimately by the RNG. Another incentive to use the Adventurer's Hall, I would think, since you can just build a character for these non-combat purposes and just keep sending them off to do things for you. These things probably would require some measure of resources to successfully accomplish, though. Both monetary and physical.

There's 2 ideas here and they shouldn't be confused.

I like single-party member quests in cities, which show off their own abilities.

However, since it might be possible that the number of recruited members is higher than you can take in your party at any given time (or, "camp members" as was suggested in another thread) And these I wouldn't mind "sending away on a task" the latter one is what I talking about in the post you referenced.

 

Ah, right. Things tend to slip my mind when writing lengthy posts. On that note, should crafting and enchanting be an included option for these "send-away tasks"? I feel as if that would take out the fun of doing it yourself. Maybe have them research new recipes?

 

Edited January 24, 2013 by Xienzi

[JFSOCC]

Ah, right. Things tend to slip my mind when writing lengthy posts. On that note, should crafting and enchanting be an included option for these "send-away tasks"? I feel as if that would take out the fun of doing it yourself. Maybe have them research new recipes?

Well, I think that's entirely up for debate. Maybe they could do work for factions you're in a leadership (or management) position of?

[Osvir]

@Xienzi

 

 

 

Ah, right. Things tend to slip my mind when writing lengthy posts. On that note, should crafting and enchanting be an included option for these "send-away tasks"? I feel as if that would take out the fun of doing it yourself. Maybe have them research new recipes?

 

 

Star Wars: The Old Republic~ the mere mention of it might make some people cringe but I thought the companions in TOR was implemented good (for being an MMO). Don't know how well it'd function in a Single Player game though.

Sending off a party member like a "Dog" (Torchlight 2) to sell stuff only feels "Please no", maybe if you are in a city (but not from a dungeon).

Sending off for crafting could be a "City-Only" thing.

[Amentep]

I'm reminded a bit of Star Ocean 2 (ooo, Japanese RPG - burn the heretic!) where, upon entering a city your party broke up and did things that they wanted to do (this furthered the character relationship aspects as the Player could then find the NPCs and have dialogue scenes with them, finding out things they were interested in or wanted to do).

I feel that the anti-social behaviours from players are partially an indication (indictment) of how boring the towns and villages has become in cRPG that the only game/fun thing to have is a scarvenger hunt or random killing. A little off topic here, but here are some suggestion:

 

Make shops more interesting like let player try out the items in the shop. Let shop give customization like color or even item model. Yes, it's cosmetic but it does replicate some real shopping experience. Have the inventory be reactive to the changes in the game world either by the action or inaction of the player or plot related.

I think part of the reason why shops are uninteresting is that there isn't really an incentive to shop, most of the time. So they exist as a system element as opposed to a world element. Ditto taverns. While I liked the idea of buying a beer and getting hints in a tavern, most of the time the implementation has left something to be desired, thus creating no incentive for the player to participate.

 

These things could be changed if the party "split up". Some of it could be fixed by making areas more reactive (and thus the player more inclined to experience). Maybe buying a round from the bartender gets something, maybe it doesn't. Maybe buying a round for the house gets you something maybe it doesn't. Maybe sitting in on a game in the corner gets you some information, or coming in with a specific NPC or class.

 

But I imagine each of these ideas increase the difficulty a good bit for testing/reactivity.

 

EDIT: Typo - "buying a bear" at a bar would be pretty exciting, though

Edited January 24, 2013 by Amentep

[Osvir]

I'm reminded a bit of Star Ocean 2 (ooo, Japanese RPG - burn the heretic!) where, upon entering a city your party broke up and did things that they wanted to do (this furthered the character relationship aspects as the Player could then find the NPCs and have dialogue scenes with them, finding out things they were interested in or wanted to do).

 

Burn it with fire!!! Star Ocean 1 was first!

 

I think.

 

Jokes aside, loving that. Completely forgot about that (And Star Ocean 1 and 2 are two games I've finished twice each. So good). I think some earlier "Tales of" games has that as well, in some cities and places (story-related party splits, in fights though).

[Amentep]

I never played Star Ocean 1, so I can't vouch for it - did play 2 though. I just remembered actually enjoying searching through town to find where everyone went so I could see if I was going to get any extra dialogue.

[AGX-17]

I'm reminded a bit of Star Ocean 2 (ooo, Japanese RPG - burn the heretic!) where, upon entering a city your party broke up and did things that they wanted to do (this furthered the character relationship aspects as the Player could then find the NPCs and have dialogue scenes with them, finding out things they were interested in or wanted to do).

 

That's more of a Bioware Social Network thing, really. The frothing rage at the mention of JRPGs, that is. Chris Avellone loved Chrono Trigger, as far as I'm aware, from his celebratory tweet upon acquiring a set of figures of characters from the game.

 

Anyway, the idea reminded me of a mechanic from Super Robot Wars Z2, in which characters you didn't deploy in the previous battle could be assigned to one of four tasks which would give them some degree of growth or contribute to your monetary holdings to make up for their inability to do so during the last battle. You could assign ten characters to each of three tasks, each of which would grant benefits of some kind. e.g. One would increase the assigned pilots' level by 1, one would increase their kill count by 2 (this being useful for acquiring "Ace" status for little-used characters, granting each character a unique "Ace bonus,") and one would acquire money, with each character bringing back an amount proportional to their level (money being the primary means of improving your combat ability by buying upgrades to a given robot's stats.)

Edited January 24, 2013 by AGX-17

[Xienzi]

 

I'm reminded a bit of Star Ocean 2 (ooo, Japanese RPG - burn the heretic!) where, upon entering a city your party broke up and did things that they wanted to do (this furthered the character relationship aspects as the Player could then find the NPCs and have dialogue scenes with them, finding out things they were interested in or wanted to do).

 

That's more of a Bioware Social Network thing, really. The frothing rage at the mention of JRPGs, that is. Chris Avellone loved Chrono Trigger, as far as I'm aware, from his celebratory tweet upon acquiring a set of figures of characters from the game.

 

Anyway, the idea reminded me of a mechanic from Super Robot Wars Z2, in which characters you didn't deploy in the previous battle could be assigned to one of four tasks which would give them some degree of growth or contribute to your monetary holdings to make up for their inability to do so during the last battle. You could assign ten characters to each of three tasks, each of which would grant benefits of some kind. e.g. One would increase the assigned pilots' level by 1, one would increase their kill count by 2 (this being useful for acquiring "Ace" status for little-used characters, granting each character a unique "Ace bonus,") and one would acquire money, with each character bringing back an amount proportional to their level (money being the primary means of improving your combat ability by buying upgrades to a given robot's stats.)

 

Speaking of Japanese games, I took the idea of sending out allies to gather materials from Wild Arms XF. Anyway, would sending those "campfire" allies out for "tasks"  reward them with less quest exp than what you would get from doing normal quests with the active party? That's a fair way of doing it, I think.

Edited January 24, 2013 by Xienzi

[Lephys]

Speaking of Japanese games, I took the idea of sending out allies to gather materials from Wild Arms XF. Anyway, probably sending those "campfire" allies out for "tasks" would reward them with quest exp? That's a fair way of doing it.

Maybe it's just me, but it seems like actual XP is best reserved for things you actively control. Otherwise you end up having to balance the level/difficulty of all the game content against yet another factor: "How many out-of-party characters did this person send on errands that awarded XP, and what if a player sends them all on money-only errands or something else?"

 

*Shrug*... it just feels like passive XP gain. "You there! Focus your efforts, for the rest of the day, on acquiring XP!"

 

"Okay, I'm back, and I picked up a 6-pack of XP on the way home, just like you asked, ^_^"

 

I would not, however, be against any other manner of rewards. Maybe even skill bonuses sometimes. It really just depends on contextual elements in the game's mechanics and design.

[Xienzi]

 

Speaking of Japanese games, I took the idea of sending out allies to gather materials from Wild Arms XF. Anyway, probably sending those "campfire" allies out for "tasks" would reward them with quest exp? That's a fair way of doing it.

Maybe it's just me, but it seems like actual XP is best reserved for things you actively control. Otherwise you end up having to balance the level/difficulty of all the game content against yet another factor: "How many out-of-party characters did this person send on errands that awarded XP, and what if a player sends them all on money-only errands or something else?"

 

*Shrug*... it just feels like passive XP gain. "You there! Focus your efforts, for the rest of the day, on acquiring XP!"

 

"Okay, I'm back, and I picked up a 6-pack of XP on the way home, just like you asked, ^_^"

 

I would not, however, be against any other manner of rewards. Maybe even skill bonuses sometimes. It really just depends on contextual elements in the game's mechanics and design.

 

It's not like he'd be doing it for free since, like I said in a previous post, those tasks would have to take up both monetary and physical resources to somewhat balance the system out.

 

*Edit* Well, now that I think about it, you do have a good point. Perhaps only certain tasks should give XP?

Edited January 25, 2013 by Xienzi

[Lephys]

*Edit* Well, now that I think about it, you do have a good point. Perhaps only certain tasks should give XP?

Yeah, it's just something that could easily cause a problem if not taken heavily into consideration.

[Osvir]

I never thought about is as XP giving at all, I think it'd be better and more beneficial as a resource income of sorts.

[burglary] meaning the "Thief"** leaves the party for an X amount of time, perhaps you choose in which area of the City (AoE, or an entire City Area Location). Y% of City Total Gold (or Area Gold) would be stolen or a the "Thief" gets sent into jail based on a Z% factor, compromised together with Y+X (making [Jail] happen if X+Y+Z all match correctly or something).

Would there be a experience reward? Maybe.

If [successful]... entering the City you send off your "Thief" on [burglary] and go about your doing. As you are leaving the "Thief" comes back. You earned some copper and the "Thief" also found a weapon. Re-telling his feats, you gain some minor experience as your party chuckles at his endeavors.

If [Failure]... entering the City you send off your "Thief" on [burglary] and go about your doing. In the middle of your "stuff" you get a "Notify" message or w/e, saying that the "Thief" got caught. Bail him out by paying copper, or by busting him out with force (or with guile). Gain more than minor but less than normal experience, with a cost of it (either more [Wanted] status within the faction or costing a resource/income). EDIT: Bailing out with [Money] could yield 1/2 of Successful Experience, and ofc cost [Money]. So busting out could be more attractive (as it would give you 1/2 of [successful] experience for both busting out, and 1/2 of the [successful] Experience because the "Thief" did the [burglary] thing earlier, and not costing anything but [Reputation], and maybe that could be a [Risk] too? Do you want to anger the [Faction] you are siding with or apologize for your "mistake"?).

** Thief = Can be any Class.

[in Soul Essence]: You'd be able to send off your party member on a [Fetch Quest] for some very minor experience (in my opinion) with some [Risk] to it as well. A [scout] in a forest might be captured by bandits, or fall into some trap/dungeon. With [Mortality] your character sent off could even [Die]. Or would that be too harsh and too chaotic? Answering that myself; Yes. I think it would be too chaotic, but that in itself could be an interesting [Risk].

On Exploiting such a mechanic: With [Rest]* only once a day, make it a "Once a Day" [Function], example below:
* Should post this in a [Rest] thread but w/e, [Rest] being an [8 Hour] resource that replenishes each Day?
- 1 in-game Day = A minutes (let's say 24 minutes)
- You didn't Sleep anything on Day 1. [Morale]+[Fatigue] stuff for one, but similarly you wouldn't get [16 Hours], but you'd still have [8 Hours].
- You Camped [2 Hours] on Day 2 to replenish some slight [stamina]+[Health]. Maybe some 10%. Now you have [6 Hours] left to spend within this Day.
- When Day 3 begins, you get [8 Hours] again.

To the point of the [Exploit]: You would be able to leave the game "On". Time would pass. You'd use the [Function] once a day, you'd get your minor experience (let's say 50 exp, shared between 6 characters).
- Day 1, use [Function] = Takes 2 minutes = 50 experience
- Sleep [8 Hours] (to negate 8 minutes, now only 14 minutes til next day)
- Wait 14 minutes
- Day 2, use [Function] = Takes 2 minutes = 50 experience
- Sleep [8 Hours] (to negate 8 minutes, now only 14 minutes til next day)
- Wait 14 minutes
etc. etc.

Basically, spend 48 minutes for some minor B experience (100 in this case) so not too much consideration (if done as above) needs to be taken imho.

Edited January 25, 2013 by Osvir

[TrashMan]

There are many ways this concept could be done.

 

 

Each character should have specific goals and varios points of interests on maps.

 

So you get to town and as you walk around, characters might express their desire to split and do stuff. You can go do your own stuff, or tag along with one of them (if possible).

The other party memebrs go off on their own and there's a chance that they might trigger some event. They might get back to you later with a story. They might wait for you at a specific place. You mgith bump into them unplanned as they do errand in the town.

Ifthey run into (simulated) trouble, you might get a prompt to switch to them and fight.

They might get captured.

They might bump into an interesting lead they decide to follow (so when they don't show up you get curios and have to find them)

 

 

tons of possibilities.