Tanith YarnDemon
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Posted - 2009.11.02 11:36:00 -
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I have two issues with how they are today.
First off, they lack consequence. I realize this might change with the pirate faction arcs etc, but they should be there to really change something. Flipping standings, making certain elements hate you, causing your sec status to go negative, etc etc. Some drastic change if you go down that path with the story. Basically, you should have a less rewarding sort of blend middle path in the arc, OR you could go wild get good rewards and dire consequences. Economical, social, legal, political or whatever, just some drastic change for the most extreme paths.
The other issue is the imbalance in rewards. You can run a certain string of the caldari arc and get a hyasyoda mobile lab. While awesome as such, the other arcs get no similar option. Basically, 400 mil reward from one arc, 50 mil if you're lucky from the others. And on top of that the arc as such is pretty simple and straightforward, with as noted above no real consequences.
The variety is decent, you get the options to play it rather safe, or you go to syndicate and run a courier. Sadly, while the backstory differs and adds a dimension to the arc individual missions are not really any more interesting than normal level 4's and it quickly becomes another min/maxed isk generating grind. You pick your paths not because of what you want, but because of what the final reward is. If we got a bit more variety, maybe some pvp elements where it's simply not possible for all parties to complete the same arc(not necessarily blowing eachother up, and definately not camping a respawning can, but more based on choices and timing.). I could see pitching two player entities onto the same field where one would get to escort the same NPCs the other is supposed to kill. I could see missions where the goal is to assassinate a single NPC and you could either enter with brute force OR sneak in a stealth bomber and just pop that one NPC before you go down in flames yourself. More focus on sidepaths and bonuses. Give a great bonus on a mission, but also a structure that may or may not add great rewards. Keep a bonus on several missions in a single line, where you could blitz them all, or go for a slower approach and earn a more stable and dependable income. If technically possible place agents within missions, let ships send out distress signals allowing you to abandon current line to sidetrack into something completely different, if you want to.
I guess what it's really three things. Consequences, Balance and diversity. And probably in that order. From what I heard at fanfest, diversity is something you had in mind already and something we might get to see in the dominion era.
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