Stronghold "random event" alert methods

[Thundercat710]

How will we be notified of something happening back at our stronghold while we're out macing evil in the face?  A rider comes up to us?  A bird swoops in and drops off a message?  How about if we're on level 8 of the mega dungeon?  Please discuss amongst yourselves while I watch.  My preference is just that it's not some text message popup...like something should actually come and alert you.  Ok...speculate away.  Bye.

[Gfted1]

You will receive a soulmail.

 

Just kidding, I don't know how you will be notified.

[Ailantan]

Soulmail orb:  "You have one new message."

[rjshae]

Probably when you return to camp...

[jamoecw]

that is realistic, but could get hilariously bad:

at camp you look at your messages after a long and grueling dungeon crawl taking several months.

"there is an army approaching, it looks like a tough fight, you should come home when you can."

"the enemy is at the gates, things are worse than predicted.  we need you NOW!"

"we managed to hold them at the courtyard, but we are unable to reach our stores.  we won't survive for much longer, where are you?"

"your castle if mine, its people put to the sword.  i await your return so that we may do battle, knowing that you were too late, HAHAHAHA."

"i'm getting bored, waiting for you, and am running out of things to smash.  are you scared?"

"i've leveled your castle, and left for you.  you must really hate your people, if you ever bother to return don't bother looking for me, i'm off sacking a castle that someone cares about."

"merchant can't find trade stall, leaving." *6

 

now you think to yourself:

"damn i left sword thing that i now know where to use it for the quest, and i bet the chest isn't there anymore.  well that is 20 xp down the drain"

 

 

okay, so i don't think it will be that bad.

[Lephys]

A bird swoops in and drops off a message?

That's actually how you get mail in Guild Wars 2,

 

Good question, though. I yearn to hear how they're going to handle this. I think the rider thing would actually be pretty cool. It would then make sense that, if your trusted strongholdians knew where you were going whenever you left the place, that they could send a rider with a message out to meet you somewhere. In towns, it might just be "the" tavern (or some particular tavern). If you go to a forest, or cave, or Od Nua, it might be that he just camps outside the entrance to the area until you return.

 

Even if there's some magical means or something, I sincerely hope it's not "you're in the middle of some dank dungeon, in the midst of some really important main-narrative segment, and BOOM! You get a call, and must deal with some situation back at the stronghold!" I'd rather it be more "when you're less busy, you'll get word of stuff." I mean, it's a stronghold. If someone's attacking it, they should have things under control for at least a day or two. If you're across the world, and someone smashes all the stronghold walls down in a matter of hours and is slaughtering everyone as you speak, I don't think there's anything you're going to be able to do, anyway, unless you teleport back immediately.

[rjshae]

that is realistic, but could get hilariously bad:

at camp you look at your messages after a long and grueling dungeon crawl taking several months.

"there is an army approaching, it looks like a tough fight, you should come home when you can."

"the enemy is at the gates, things are worse than predicted.  we need you NOW!"

"we managed to hold them at the courtyard, but we are unable to reach our stores.  we won't survive for much longer, where are you?"

"your castle if mine, its people put to the sword.  i await your return so that we may do battle, knowing that you were too late, HAHAHAHA."

"i'm getting bored, waiting for you, and am running out of things to smash.  are you scared?"

"i've leveled your castle, and left for you.  you must really hate your people, if you ever bother to return don't bother looking for me, i'm off sacking a castle that someone cares about."

"merchant can't find trade stall, leaving." *6

 

now you think to yourself:

"damn i left sword thing that i now know where to use it for the quest, and i bet the chest isn't there anymore.  well that is 20 xp down the drain"

 

 

okay, so i don't think it will be that bad.

 

Okay then, a magical nut pops out of your arse. Inside is a message printed on a tiny scroll of rice paper...

[Osvir]

What happens after you get the message?
 

1: How do I get notified?
Soul Cerebro at the Stronghold and a bald Cipher in a make-shift medieval wheelchair who transmits the message to you?

Jokes aside it'd look more like close-to authentic this, or like steampunky this*. 

Some real thoughts:
- Bird messengers
- Runners/Horseback riders~Messengers
- When you return to Campsite

2: How do I travel?
I've thought about this one quite a bit, and am curious how you defend. Do you always have to travel back? Can I take control of my units/companions I've left at the Stronghold? Can I invest money into the defense (FF7 and Fort Condor springs to mind)? Does the adventuring party teleport back to the Stronghold? Is there some in-game item that allows you to teleport between the Stronghold and other locations? (In Suikoden you have a Wizard that can teleport you anywhere pretty much, and to get back you have to use a Mirror, the mirror is a common concept and is pretty cool). In Divine Divinity you have these 2 pyramids that you can place wherever you like, which is also a pretty cool method.

Is teleportation even a thing in the world of PoE?

3: Dynamic or Static Defense?
Are these time-based, some urgency involved, or are they paused and static until dealt with? In the former we'd get some roguelike elements, things that'd happen by chance. You travel to the Stronghold, and the enemy has yet arrived, or they have arrived and are waiting outside your gates, or they are well underway of taking over your Stronghold. Maybe they've even managed to capture some prisoners/hostages. Some of the staff dead (which would need replacement later). Maybe you manage to get a favorable positioning, appearing in an ambush, or an unfavorable positioning. Rogue-like elements~

If static, can I just ignore them and continue adventuring until I take my time for it? Or will it be some sort of "dice roll"? Can my Stronghold defenses handle the assault by themselves automatically, "Resolve battle", or do I have to take control of it?

Can I intercept an incoming attack? Maybe troops could be seen on the world map, moving towards the Stronghold, but I have a pretty good position and can intercept it before it gets to the Stronghold and deal with it beforehand.

 

4: What happens afterwards? Maintanence costs?
Did anything break? Anyone of the staff died? Anything got stolen? Results basically.

 

EDIT:
* Coincedentally the steampunky wheelchair was a Xavier reference, I noticed this after pressing "Post" :D

Edited January 24, 2014 by Osvir

[JFSOCC]

How long will I have, how quickly can I travel? Am I the stronghold's bitch or can I finish what I was doing?

[Thundercat710]

Am I the stronghold's bitch or can I finish what I was doing?

 

If your computer alerted you of a virus, but you weren't done browsing r/aww yet, would taking care of the virus anyway make you its bitch? 

[Fatback]

 

 

Am I the stronghold's bitch or can I finish what I was doing?

If your computer alerted you of a virus, but you weren't done browsing r/aww yet, would taking care of the virus anyway make you its bitch?

 

 

Yes

[rjshae]

Wasn't there an option to leave behind your extra companions to help defend the stronghold? Maybe the game will allow you to switch back and run those characters during the attack?

[Osvir]

What if I only have 2 or 3 characters at the Stronghold then (too weak to handle a current attack)? Could I hire some extra "part-time" help?

Ideas:
- Gladiator slaves. Like the AP for the summons in Shadowrun: Returns, but reversed (pay too little and they might get a random "morale check" and flee for freedom, pay more and they'll stay and fight for you). Hiring the same Gladiator over and over (granted he/she survives and never flees) during the course of the game could give some sort of "Trust" and the morale check dissipates.
- Temporary Adventurer's Hall companions that run away when they are low on health (killing a deserter would give you back the money you spent on him/her, but could hit your reputation and/or future AH companions could cost more as a consequence).
- Some extra NPC grunts/units (infantry, archers, soldiers~, non-controllable).

Another thing:
How does the Stronghold know it is about to get attacked? If some bandits or random monsters engage the Stronghold on impulse, how would the Stronghold be capable of knowing and delivering a message to the adventuring party on time? Can you construct outposts?

Maybe there is a sort of VIP sensor-type character you can acquire plotwise or side-quest-wise that can "sense" incoming attacks somehow (non-controllable, a "butler"-type, stays at the Stronghold always)~ an Xavier Druid that gets notified by the land/nature, an Xavier Wizard that has put out a barrier or has some sort of "Farsight" ability, or an Xavier Ranger/Beastmaster who is notified by animals, or an Xavier Cipher that can "sense" an incoming ill intent somehow.

Or there is something underneath the Stronghold that simply is "alive" or has some sort of soul and is connected to the main characters soul somehow.

TL;DR;Repeat: How does the Stronghold know it is about to get attacked?

[rjshae]

If it's anything like the Stronghold in NWN2, then you should have some recruitable NPCs to staff the place, plus guards you can levee and train from the local populace.

[Lephys]

Yeah, that's one of the main reasons I think it would be silly if all the events were "DROP WHAT YOU'RE DOING NOW, OR YOUR STRONGHOLD GETS BLOWED UP!":

 

It's a friggin' stronghold. With... a populous... and guards and stuff. People running it, and an economy. Plus, yeah, it's supposed to be the companion hub, so they kinda chillaxinate there while you're out and about without them. So, I think it's more of a point that you make important decisions regarding happenings at your stronghold. Even things that could simply play out as a messenger getting word to you (via rider, or a falcon or something, or a crystal ball, *shrug*) about something that needs addressing, and your addressing of it via a response.

 

I'm thinking more stuff like "Sir, someone keeps breaking into the food stores" or "we've had problems with local bandits. What do you propose we do? about this?" So that it's not "YOU HAVE 10 MINUTES TO HANDLE THIS!", but rather, "this is going to keep occurring and possible escalate if you don't address it within a day or two, and/or someone's just going to decide to do something about it, which may or may not be what YOU would've done about it, had you addressed it, etc."

 

Of course, some things will require you to travel back there and actively deal with issues yourself, but, I would still think that the odds of them being in need of your attention instantaneously are slim. Again, unless you can teleport. In which case, it shouldn't even be an issue. It'd be like Diablo town portals. "Welp, *dusts off hands*, done handling the stronghold! *teleports back to the 13th level of Od Nua*".

 

That's just my thoughts on all of it. I think always only receiving notice about my stronghold whenever I emerge from an area/dungeon and/or aren't right in the middle of stuff (halfway through fighting a dragon) doesn't really prompt much disbelief from me, is all. Sure, you'd think sometimes that extra 15 minutes you might gain from leaving in the middle of the dragon battle would help. But... the odds are really incredibly slim. Finish fighting a dragon, or escape from the dragon fight halfway through, only to "rush" back to your stronghold (8+ hour trip), only to arrive JUST in time to deal with something.

 

If stuff were that urgent, simply traveling more than a couple hours away from your stronghold would instantly prevent you from dealing with half the issues, just because they happened to pop up while you were a little too far out. Even if you weren't right in the middle of something, and you immediately turned around and sprinted back to your stronghold, it'd be too late.

 

So, I think the stuff THAT urgent is probably best dealt with by factors at your stronghold and decisions you've already made/passive status, etc. A big group of orcs is attacking the stronghold? If you don't have adequate defenses, they breach the walls in minutes and easily enter and slaughter lots of people before they're put down/driven off. Have adequate defenses? It'll take them a couple days to actually breach the walls, IF they don't retreat before then, etc. So, message gets to you, and you either return to help out, personally, before they breach the walls, or you don't. That sort of thing.

 

You'd expect something worthy of the title of "stronghold" to operate with some modicum of autonomy without catastrophe constantly hinging upon the absence of a party of 6 individuals.

[Thundercat710]

The Speculati are well-represented in this thread.  Nice.  

[Lephys]

Well, we could all just sit around saying things like "I have no idea how this is going to happen. I hope they tell us soon." But then, I don't think the forums would be as fun if all the posts were like that.

[Vansinne]

Telepathy!

[Thundercat710]

Well, we could all just sit around saying things like "I have no idea how this is going to happen. I hope they tell us soon." But then, I don't think the forums would be as fun if all the posts were like that.

Mostly just wanted to use Speculati.  Try it and you'll see why.

[Lephys]

It is a splendid word. It must've been created by the Spectaculati.

[rjshae]

 

Well, we could all just sit around saying things like "I have no idea how this is going to happen. I hope they tell us soon." But then, I don't think the forums would be as fun if all the posts were like that.

Mostly just wanted to use Speculati.  Try it and you'll see why.

 

Isn't Speculati what the slaves scraped off the walls at the Vomitorium?

[Thundercat710]

...delicious

[jamoecw]

i think being able to control your companions back at the stronghold would be the best solution to any sort of random pressing issues (the huns invade, hulk rampages through our lands, the ferengi show up with a once in a life time offer).  though i think any sort of issues like this should be worked into the storyline so you don't have timing conflicts.

[Jobby]

Personally I don't think the idea of teleportation suits this game at all but I wouldn't spit out the proverbial dummy if they included it, my preference would definitely be the option to take control of your guards/spare companions, It could also give the npc's you don't use some kind of purpose, as opposed to just taking up space on your ship/camp/etc..

 

Perhaps you could be informed well in advance of events, i.e. Ivan Drago is marching his army of Soviet boxers towards your castle they'll be here in 20 days give or take, you could then make a fairly informed decision on who to leave to protect it or even plan your questing so you can be around to get revenge for him killing your pal Apollo etc.. 

 

I thought the morale checks situation with the hired help could be quite interesting, especially if they expand upon it and have morale checks for a tyrant (are they more scared of your revenge or the bandits that are attacking?) or for a leader (how loyal are they to you?)

 

Perhaps a familiar could safeguard the base in your absence and provide you with mental messages? Although i prefer the idea of messenger hawks, that would be cool!

[Nonek]

Perhaps a spectral guardian, an old soul bound to the stronghold who can appear to you at appropriate times, one suspects that mundane travel is not a problem for the incorporeal.

 

Mayhap the Lord of the stronghold is bound to it and will simply know when it is imperilled, some unexplained facet of animancy bound in with the investiture of the title and elevation to the nobility perhaps?