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Discussion: NPC Immersion outside the cities. Static vs Non Static AND LEASH
novercalis
Member, Founder, Kickstarter
What is everyone thought and what % if any would you like to see in AoC?
Static = Stationary mobs - that may move but rarely far from their spawn points. Most of the times, these are orc camps, bandit camps, goblin camps, or mobs in a quarry, near a small pond, etc.
Personally - It feels most MMO is static 90-100%.
Non-Statics = A mob spawn and has a path / route that it moves and de-spawns if it reaches it's end point.
Think of, to a somewhat extent - Fel Reaver in WoW or a more better suited example - Stitches from WoW who has a large roaming path.
Now we know AoC is gonna have a mixture but how much. To my knowledge - it seems to be designated to world bosses only.
Should the scope increase to normal mobs as well?
For Instance - in Everquest - it was 50/50 on mobs being statics. East Commonlands had few orc camps but their wolves, skeletons, snakes, griffon, bears all roamed the map freely. The "Dungeon Zones" were mostly treated as static CAMPS vs the non dungeon zones were a mixture of static and non-static. This was very immersive, seeing a living, breathing world - one that I can't recall many other mmo doing to a great effect.
Now Leashing.
With Everquest - they had Zones and AoC does not however I feel as there should be a way to kinda mimic EQ leash mechanic (or lack of). What was great and immersive and also scary is - wandering a forest, only to find a high level skeleton (or army of skele) Aggro onto you and chase you for the next 5 minutes until you're able to zone out freely. There is no leashing.
But AoC isn't a zone by zone game, it is a seamless world.
how would you feel if AoC mobs never unleases from you and continues to chase you down until the end of the world?
Well, let's be realistic - until you reach town or a outpost safety, wandering high lvl patrols (depending on node progression) to make the rescue and pull the aggro away??
In the end - on a personal note - I hope I don't just ride my mount for 5-10 minutes, seeing static elks, orcs, scary monsters eyeing me down while doing nothing but look menacing at me. I hope - making a turn from a dense forest, I didnt spot a potential owlbear whom I cant kill chases me down. I hope to see, as I ride my mount, a flying baby manitcore is also flying parallel to me from a distance. Orcs being spawned - All going to destination "F" and converges together and moves together to the next point "K" - if not killed - it builds a orc camp and the threat continues to grow.
LOOT can be incentivized - 2 windows of oppurtunity. Kill the orc within a minute of where it spawned may yield a higher drop of rate of something in it's loot table - or wait for the full progression of the orc route/path for better loot. Reward those who nipped it in the butt, and reward those who took on the hardest battle a little bit more than any other events in-between.
Once again - what would YOU like to see in AoC in terms of static and non-static mobs.
Only on Bosses, themed mobs or 50/50 in biomes outside of "dungeons" or included in dungeons as well?
Thoughts of Story-telling / scripted events with convergences of NPC MOBS?
Static = Stationary mobs - that may move but rarely far from their spawn points. Most of the times, these are orc camps, bandit camps, goblin camps, or mobs in a quarry, near a small pond, etc.
Personally - It feels most MMO is static 90-100%.
Non-Statics = A mob spawn and has a path / route that it moves and de-spawns if it reaches it's end point.
Think of, to a somewhat extent - Fel Reaver in WoW or a more better suited example - Stitches from WoW who has a large roaming path.
Now we know AoC is gonna have a mixture but how much. To my knowledge - it seems to be designated to world bosses only.
Should the scope increase to normal mobs as well?
For Instance - in Everquest - it was 50/50 on mobs being statics. East Commonlands had few orc camps but their wolves, skeletons, snakes, griffon, bears all roamed the map freely. The "Dungeon Zones" were mostly treated as static CAMPS vs the non dungeon zones were a mixture of static and non-static. This was very immersive, seeing a living, breathing world - one that I can't recall many other mmo doing to a great effect.
Now Leashing.
With Everquest - they had Zones and AoC does not however I feel as there should be a way to kinda mimic EQ leash mechanic (or lack of). What was great and immersive and also scary is - wandering a forest, only to find a high level skeleton (or army of skele) Aggro onto you and chase you for the next 5 minutes until you're able to zone out freely. There is no leashing.
But AoC isn't a zone by zone game, it is a seamless world.
how would you feel if AoC mobs never unleases from you and continues to chase you down until the end of the world?
Well, let's be realistic - until you reach town or a outpost safety, wandering high lvl patrols (depending on node progression) to make the rescue and pull the aggro away??
In the end - on a personal note - I hope I don't just ride my mount for 5-10 minutes, seeing static elks, orcs, scary monsters eyeing me down while doing nothing but look menacing at me. I hope - making a turn from a dense forest, I didnt spot a potential owlbear whom I cant kill chases me down. I hope to see, as I ride my mount, a flying baby manitcore is also flying parallel to me from a distance. Orcs being spawned - All going to destination "F" and converges together and moves together to the next point "K" - if not killed - it builds a orc camp and the threat continues to grow.
LOOT can be incentivized - 2 windows of oppurtunity. Kill the orc within a minute of where it spawned may yield a higher drop of rate of something in it's loot table - or wait for the full progression of the orc route/path for better loot. Reward those who nipped it in the butt, and reward those who took on the hardest battle a little bit more than any other events in-between.
Once again - what would YOU like to see in AoC in terms of static and non-static mobs.
Only on Bosses, themed mobs or 50/50 in biomes outside of "dungeons" or included in dungeons as well?
Thoughts of Story-telling / scripted events with convergences of NPC MOBS?
{UPK} United Player Killer - All your loot belongs to us.
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Comments
If the NPCs had goals like hunting/gathering/tending to crops....fashioning items...cutting down their own trees and getting pissed if we start cutting down trees on their turf...
NPCs smart enough to realize when its safe to continue the chase.
That's the kind of interactions I'd love to see.
Roaming packs are also a good idea. Would love to see some random movement of elites in the world both dangerous and helpful.
Never played EQ or EQ2 very much. But a friend of mine talked about a dragon(raid boss I think) that roamed a zone and attacked players. Or a Fel Reaver type creature from WoW. Just some big nasty roaming around. With nodes the way they are I would also hope they are not tied to any one node.
In most MMOs, the illusion of enemies being tangible entities in a fantasy world is flimsy to begin with. What little suspension of disbelief I can muster goes down the drain the instant an entire band of brigands suddenly turns immortal and 180s like a bunch of roombas to return to their designated area.