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I'm making a post on the SWG forums about instanced missions and the like, and would like to gather some feedback before i make that post.





Instanced Dungeons & Missions




A couple years ago i signed up for the Anarchy Online Beta test and got accepted, it was a horrible experiance, the lag was crazy, cities wouldnt load. You could barely move half the time. After the games initial launch things have improved greatly, i played the game for nearly a year before quitting, and I can still look back on a couple of the great things the game had to offer. One of them was the incredibly maintained story arc with constant GM events and story events to keep the factions interesting. The other thing i remember is the use of " Instanced " missions, a Player could take a mission from a terminal just like you do in Star Wars Galaxies, and proceed to the coordinates, at that time you would see an " Entrance " Whether it be a nest of sorts or a small building, but you could then proceed inside of the lairs after clearing out the scrap infront. Inside the lairs were underground caves/bases/hideouts only open to you and your group if you choosed to have one. They provided alot of mobs to fight and objectives, unlocking doors and searching for a " boss ".. It was a great experiance. Later down the line Anarchy Online implemented a revamp to the Instanced missions. a new " boss " level added to the lair, with some higher level mobs and then the boss, it just added to the level of enjoyment of the missions, a more challenging prospect.

With the recent sneak peak of the Corellian Corvette Adventure, we're introduced to an " Instanced " Dungeon, and as the article on it says SOE is planning to go with " Instanced " more often. My wish is that they would take that even farther and dedicate a Content Publish to Missions, adding instanced lairs/fortresses to the exsisting mission system. It is VERY tedious work to go back and forth to grab a mere 2 missions from a terminal, it takes me like 15 seconds to clear a mission and blow up the lair as a Bounty Hunter, and the same goes for large groups. Enraged Rancor missions, cleared in mere minutes. Instanced play zones with increased number of mobs, and objective based gameplay, I believe it will take SWG to a whole new level of gameplay and enjoyability. It will reduce the tedium that now plagues our current options for hunting mobs, I do not believe missions should be less desirable than wandering around a planet aimlessly envoking " scorched earth " killing everyone we see.

Also, In an attempt to preserve the quick cash/quick xp methodology of the current mission system, entering the lair should be accompanied on the radial menu with " Destroy Lair " or something to the like, effectively sacrificing the xp/money that lies within by sealing the lair for good, trapping the creatures/npcs within. With this as a " safety " for people who would prefer a simple mission system, you can't really go wrong...

World of Warcraft will be going the way of " instanced " dungeons as well, I think it's clear to see that this is the most favorable solution to a most repetetive system.

Now onto my most immediate concern, I am a Bounty Hunter, currently 2-4-4-4.... And i'm sure everyone realises how painful the investigation grind is. The content of a BH mission is a single target located a great distance from where you accept the mission... The experiance gain for these missions is low, BUT that is not my concern..

Bounty Hunters taking almost no efforts to track down a Mark, it just doesn't seem right... No bases/fortresses to fight through... no gangs of npcs trying to protect their leader... No back up for the mark? They're boring... REALLY boring... I see so much room for improvement in the mission systems of SWG. And i think it should be a top priority, It would add so much to this game, and attract even more people. I've seen quite a few people quit the game due to repetetive missions/combat. I realise that my ideas would not eliminate the repetetiveness, But it would make it a lot easier to cope with. Anything to distract a player from thinking about the grind would be a successful addition to the game.



While i'm on the subject of distractions, how about a built in mp3 player? ^_^


*EDIT* Added

Also, In an attempt to preserve the quick cash/quick xp methodology of the current mission system, entering the lair should be accompanied on the radial menu with " Destroy Lair " or something to the like, effectively sacrificing the xp/money that lies within by sealing the lair for good, trapping the creatures/npcs within. With this as a " safety " for people who would prefer a simple mission system, you can't really go wrong...

*STOP EDIT*

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Concord of Agriculturalists Initiative


Founder of Lucasism

Sounds fine to me. My only prior experience with instanced dungeons is the Cog Building type in Toontown. Those were always a lot of fun, so I'm sure it can work well in SWG.

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65 min: Fastest Accepted Member in Avian History (as far as I'm aware)
ARCHITECH (Peace to GG)

Soo anyone else want to give their opinion on the idea?

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Concord of Agriculturalists Initiative


Founder of Lucasism

Well, I've never had experience with instanced dungeons first of all. So, basically its like a spawnable dungeon or POI right? If that is the case then it sounds good to me. I can't think of any reason it would be bad unless the Devs just flat out screw it up.

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Romsuiag (Brad)
Former and Third President of Avian

I think instanced dungeons are THE way to get rif of some of the more annyoying parts of MMOGs and deliver stronger story elements in a MMOG.

I have yet to try the Corvette, so I can't say whether the SWG devs are able to take advantage of these things.

Generally I am all for it.

Edward/Rak Hagga

Instanced Dungeons & Missions are a great idea. I personally can't wait until more come, like the Imperial Star Destroyer one in a future upcoming publish.

I hate the Treasure Chest campers set with macros to loot the chests.

Instance dungeons seem to be a way to fix that and a lot more. I think they will be a major improvment to MMOs

However, AO instanced missions are are really bland and boring because they are randomly generated and have no inherent story, no cohesion, no nothing, just a bunch of stock parts jammed togther and peopled with level-appropriate monsters and some loot.

Not what I hope for from SWG.

Edward/Rak Hagga
is looking forward to handcrafted instanced areas in WoW

I ran a few missions last night in City of Heros and it kind of works like AO. But it was a lot more fun.

A few missions were like I'm going to describe but not all of them.

You talked to an NPC, they'd give you a contact that needs to speak with you on something so then you head out to that location. On the way there you might find thugs harrassing people on the main roads, or if you're like me, end up jumping right into one of their main meetings in the back alleys. Just getting to the contact is fun.

After you get to the contact, then you are sent on a mission to clear out a building and retrieve an item. More running/fighting. Once inside, you use your powers and take down all of the bad guys. Sad thing is there wasn't much to interact with but maybe further on when I get higher in level there will be.

Basically there is just NPC's running around scared in a few levels and then the bad guys you have to beat up. Some of the levels have more then one floor that you have to clear before finding the item you were sent to get. It is rather basic and reminded me of AO but it does have some potental. Basic but not easy, I had to really watch my power and health when I got to the harder missions which made it more interesting. AO I would either kill everything on site OR get killed in 3 shots. Can't wait to do some group missions.

I like instanced levels because I can do them on my own pace and actually decide how I want to pull of the feat. I've been lucky in the past to get a cave to myself for a few minutes before a horde shows up to steal it. I like the challenge of clearing them on my own and finding out what is at the bottom but sharing them with EVERYONE keeps that from happening.

Things I liked about City of Hero's missions was it wasn't just "go in there, beat them up", it actually had some story and made sense. Not only did your "mission story" make sense, but afterwards you also get a part into some larger story that is unfolding. That only drives you to want to find out more and make new contacts so you can find out what is going on. If something like that was in SWG then I'd be all for it.

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Warnel Redd TC: Toad
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Well said, Redd. I'm terribly addicted to CoH.

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:: Orbital :: Section Three ::

Official Avian Mascot - Sock Puppet
Board of Directors - Ex-Chairman

It's funny, then, that the new direction for MMOs is to be more like single player games...I guess some aspects of playing with everyone just aren't fun. Of course, most of these things allow you to bring along groups of your friends still, so it does preserve the multiplayer aspect.

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65 min: Fastest Accepted Member in Avian History (as far as I'm aware)
ARCHITECH (Peace to GG)

I think playing with all the killstealing, macrolooting, griefing asshats out there is not much fun, but playing with a group of friends is. That's what instanced zones are for.

Edward/Rak Hagga
is to weak to even steal kills

/agree

I HATE the idea of standing around waiting for something to spawn (and then have it smashed by someone else before I can even react) or hoping to find a location that isn't camped or cleared already (and usually I ride out there in SWG and find an empty cave).

Doing instanced zones like the Corevett are nice because-

You can control who goes in (just you and your trusted buddies).
Spawns are then when you need them.
Don't have to worry about XP being stolen.
Have a fair chance at finding good loot.
No one can sic a train of aggros on you for fun.

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Warnel Redd TC: Toad
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