it seems like vendetta has been stuck on this story line. I think the game needs a revolution as far as the technology for the ships, i mean i like the new frigates but theres no entry on why they just appeared. The reason why im saying this is because the reason why i like playing this game is because of the heavy story line, dont get me wrong there is events in the game but as far as eye candy changes and government changes they need to make an impact on the time line. It seems like vendetta's story line has been the same since it came out, and i think it needs to take a step forward.

Thank you for your input nbrownzie,
Obviously, you are the person we have all been looking for. You can be the person responsable for creating a plausable story line that explains all these events and maintains current status quo. I think a week should give you time to submit a draft. Thank you in advance for your contribution.

I want to move the storyline forward, but I'm still waiting for mission features to be more stabilized before I can start doing that. I want to trigger storyline events based on what happens in the game, rather than just arbitrarily.

This is definitely something we want, however.

That would be hot, Inc. You mean that events and actions, if popular enough can make it in the backstory? Even people, if they get famous (or infamous) enough?

Yes, that's been a fundamental goal from day 1. Involving the users IN the storyline as much as possible, and triggering the evolution of the storyline based on their actions.

That sounds awesome!
1ight

Oooh that'd be neat.

/me works on his drunkeness (Legend of Drunken Master!)

/me works on his infamy

I've been fantasizing about something like this but never voiced it before because it would have sounded just pretentious given I've made a push recently on RP (along with other people).

I was thinking we could have RP-specific medals, but not marked as RP in-game. Something like "Influential Character" badge or "Historical Character" for those who make it into the backstory.

I was juggling the idea that historical characters would have to be dead in-game though so that noobs dont confuse those players with guides or "special" people related to game development or something rather.

Anyhow. Hearing from the devs that player/users WILL have influence on the backstory is something amazing I think. Bravo. I'm looking forward seeing who will get the initial honors.

lol @ TRS.

I certainly hope that individual players wouldn't be recognized / named for 'changing' the universe. Guilds, perhaps (even that is shaky). My line of thinking: people would just be doing everything they possibly could to satisfy their ego of saying "yeah, I was the reason the game is like this... or that... blah blah." While it certainly would be 'cool' for that person, the drive of the game would be thrown off a bit. It would just turn into a bunch of poser vs. not-a-poser arguments.

But that's just my take on it.

If the players are to have any input on the game's RP development, then it stands to reason to try to include as many players as possible in those events that will have consequences. As in, better to decide the outcome with a series of battles or events that take place over the course of a whole day or a week even, so pretty much everyone playing can have a say in how things go, rather than a single event at a single time that would be resolved for a few people. That way we avoid precisely what Doukutsu is describing, and which I also dislike, specially when some people jsut get that status out of being lucky enough to be around when the event happened. Having a small bunch of players directing the story would be BAD, and lead to grandstanding and other stupid stuff like the medals mouser's suggesting.

The medals would be there to notify others that a particular character has a meaning the either the current or past history.

Not as a trophy for the player behind it (although...)

TRS: You were a dork when you played, and you're an even bigger one now that you've decided to come back to the boards.

Jex: Stop trying to troll. Seriously. You don't start off a post with a serious comment and then try to squeeze in an insult. Just stop.

Nbrownzie: Cool suggestion! I'd been wanting this since I first read the backstory and noticed it didn't really get to "present day"

Inc: Sounds sweet!

-

So it sounds like if this had happened earlier, I *would* be in the backstory from the IA-VPR Alliance! Woo! Or is that not big enough, inc?

Then medals tied rather to the specific event (Say, for example a "Hero of the Battle of Deneb" medal) would be much appropiate than "This character pwns in RP" medal (Which is what both your medals amount to). And the direction of the story is to be indicatedby the Devs and not the players (as in, the Devs decide what events are going to happen while the players decide the outcome of said event); as much fun as they are, things like the Void, the Spike, the Neutron MkIV and Solra's geminorians are too over the top and not all would fit well with VO' storyline. Plus, many more players would be able to get a "Hero of the Battle of Deneb" medal if they do well in said battle, which is also better than just giving arbitrary "RP importance" medals to a few. You want to reward people who go ingame and perform well in an event, not someone who goes to the RP forum and posts "LOLOLOL I r0xxorz!!! ONEONEELEVEN"

Many mmorpgs I've played have claimed to allow the players to shape the story and none have succeeded before but that doesnt mean VO cant find a workable solution. The playerbase seems small enough for it to be possible and the devs seem to be on the ball enough to do it. With the number of players that seem to be online I recon event arcs could be run pretty well and good RP stories could well be used to shape the game by the players actions. Exactly how, I dont know as I have no idea what sort of tools the devs have at thier disposal but It'll be fun to see what comes of it.

The small playerbase is kind of vital to having a good event arc. Theres nothing worse than turning up at an event to find theres 200 other people all wanting in on the action and your own actions become insignificant. It seems having frequent events is key to making it work. If events are few and far between then everyone trys to turn up to get involved. With too many players there at once it gets hard to run, higher strain on the server creates lag and ultimatly folks feel unimportant, frustrated and left out. With frequent event players dont nessecarly feel they MUST attend as they know there will be another along soon.

i'd say the key is to have good guides with the power to create missions, widgets, NPC's etc. but also it requires players (be they actual guides or just deputy guides of some sort) who are willing to play NPC characters.

That way there can be actual people behind the key players in the storyline. for example the Dr. Lector trial that was held a while back. The comander of [Itan] (sorry forgot the character's name). was played by somone who was willing to turn that character into a fugitive, and as a result the RP fallout from the event was far more interesting than a lot of the events we have that generaly take the form of side A vs side B and at the end somone wins.

[edit] the problem of coarse is finding people reliable enough, creative enough, and with enough free time to actualy do that on a regular bases.

Well, some player made stuff can get in. I mean, the Deneb Run would be one example.

Yeah...who was that guy? Leber? Jess? Hmm...

Some of the events like the Deneb Run can be easily incorporated into the game (Momerath's been tinkering with a Deneb Run mission, IIRC), but in general, only things scripted by the Devs should really move the story forward. That said, it's great we can get widgets and such to make our RP events a little more tangible, even if at the end most of them come down to "who's got the widget?".

NBROWNZIE AKA FOTHESSI SHALA - "CONTRIBUTION" YOUR FUNNY TRS