Tosarthros
   |
Posted - 2010.03.05 23:08:00 -
[1]
Eight Epic Arc suggestions:
1. Pay no attention to the whiners; EpicÆs are exactly where you want to force runners into low-sec (unlike the Gallente low-sec storylines which are really just a nasty, nasty punishment). They just need to learn to fly cheaper ships if they want to do the arc.
2. Pay no attention to the whiners; if you have a gazillion in implants in your head, well, thatÆs what jump clones are for.
3. That said; the low-sec missions should spawn in multiple systems. There is no sense at all for a pirate gang to roam when they can just set up shop in one system and wait for a slew of hapless solo runners to come to them. Remember, most players donÆt enjoy being chum in a shark tank. A real low-sec experience should be more of a meeting engagement than a set piece trap.
4. To be truly ôEpicö the missions should touch on every aspect of game play in eve possible. Missions requiring exploration skills, transport, trade, mining, production, PvE shooting, surviving PvP, wormholesà all of it. If you can take one boat and do the arc from beginning to end, then itÆs not ôepic.ö
5. Some missions should have goals rather than a task of ôgo to system x and shoot y.ö An otherwise worthless and untradeable item that can be snagged from a kind sleeper anomaly, for example, could force the player to find and explore a class one wormhole. Require the runner to join the militia and reach a certain rank. Create a killzone, an empty free fire deadspace in empire that only accepts frigates, and have him get a kill-mail while in it to complete the mission. There are endless possibilities that are more goal oriented than set-piece task oriented.
6. When you do send us on a shooting mission, consider throwing some sleepers in the mix now and again. TheyÆre a higher class of NPC, and otherwise not found in empire space. A ôPlug the wormhole before the sleepers escapeö narrative would be cool.
7. Drop the sequential nature of the missions. Part of the fun should be finding the way thru the mission arc by having each action taken within a mission affect others. Think of the arc itself as a maze to find your way through, with mission doors opening and closing based on your actions during the current mission, and with dead ends and backtracking. Rather than a ôbranchö each of which leads to an exit, open several missions at a time with many false leads. Also, when you do have two or more missions that branch toward the exit, have them require different skills. Finally, if you can have the missionÆs path work off a randomized table so there cannot be a ôguideö to selecting the missions to beat the arc, that would be nice.
8. Above all please remember that a grind is not the same as hard and hard is not the same as a grind.
|