G33X Nexus Entertainment > Precursors

What do Characters do when Players go offline?

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Dewbacca:
There is Downtime, but there must be downtime. I'll look around for the article... but to sum up what I read once... Downtime is when characters not only heal, or trade and repair equipment, it is also when they meet other players in a neutral setting, when they can reveiw the past events and create thier own piece of the story from Rapid fire game play.

It is the banking, which in Uo was where players gathered to learn more about the game from fellow players, and it is the Tavern is so many other multiplayer games where friendships and rivalries are forged.

It also is the opportunity to learn more about a complex game system that is constantly evolving. And its better we plan the downtime and make alternatives (multiple characters per account or offline tasking) than to answer angery players who either can't keep up with the pace of the game, or bored players vote with their feet.

Morgul:
Oh, I agree. To me, there's offline time, and downtime. Downtime would be in game, and it would be like you said. There are going to be bars, pubs, markets, recreation facilities, etc. all over the place. That is where characters will gather, to talk, chat, and do just about everything you said. The offline time will be what we allow them to do while the player is offline. I really think that we need to make having them doing anything that would give gain inherintly dangerous (aka risking death, or capture, or imprisonment, depending). That would make the other players not feel cheated, but will also allow for 'persistan' characters, which is something I really want.

--Chris

woodspider:
ok i played eve for a while it was ok but wasnt great, one thing i liked about it was the training, you could train your character off line. maybe make some lower skilss be able to be trained while off line? just a thought. i wouldnt make them all that way but some of the lower ones would be cool.

Morgul:

--- Quote from: woodspider on October 25, 2005, 01:44:32 pm ---ok i played eve for a while it was ok but wasnt great, one thing i liked about it was the training, you could train your character off line. maybe make some lower skilss be able to be trained while off line? just a thought. i wouldnt make them all that way but some of the lower ones would be cool.

--- End quote ---

Well, I think that we will definitely allow the players to train offline, but we should limit how useful this is. I was thinking that in general, 'book' training can only get you so good at something, while 'simulator' training can get you better at it... but 'real life' training is the only way to ensure you're great at something.

Maybe we can limit which ones of those they do, by how dangerour they are... so give them risk for being offline, and letting th AI handle the dangerous training?

contingencyplan:
Well, I think I posted somewhere else in the forums about having training simulators that allow you to learn how to use particular weapons and such without the threat of dying. However, the simulators' training abilities would be limited, as you always learn more in the real world than in a simulator. I also agree that we should add book learning to that - books > sims > real life.

Perhaps we could combine this with the day planner idea: You can schedule to attend a class (book larnin'), then spend time in the simulator. This way, you wouldn't have to be spending all your time online in those areas to advance your skill areas. Also, you don't particularly have to worry about safety - odds are you won't come back and find that someone bombed the school or something. However, the law of diminishing returns takes effect - you can spend more and more time in the class, but you won't be getting nearly as much out of it (until you're actually getting nothing at all by being there). This way, players have to return to gain the practical, real-life aspect of their training and redo their schedule for new classes and simulators.

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