Forums » Suggestions
Periodic Exploration Expansions?
The racetracks are an interesting addition, especially the labyrinth in Sedina G-5. In addition, the capital ships have great potential for the expansion of the story.
If possible, I would wish to see more exploration. It seems that most of the time on channel 100, most people seem to be chatting about little else than dogfighting, and that this aspect is taking away from the role-playing aspect of this MMORPG. What about sinister plots and exploration? There seems to be too much focus on just fighting, and not enough focus on the plot and on exploration.
If possible, I'd very much wish to see periodic exploration expansions that develop upon the story content. For example, in Final Fantasy® XI Online ( see http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/index.shtml ), "Rise of the Zilart™" ( see http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/zilart/ ) and "Chains of Promathia™" ( see http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/promathia/ ) are expansions that develop upon the basic story and add new characters, occupations, frontiers, and subplots.
For example, in "Chains of Promathia™," a strange phenomenon called "Emptiness" ( see http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/promathia/emptiness/emptiness.html ) is eating away at the very fabric of the world, causing areas gradually to be replaced with nothingness. If left alone, this phenomenon could eventually destroy the entire landscape.
I would wish to see something similar, on an epic scale, in Vendetta™ Online. Most of the events transpiring now seem to be an isolated hodgepodge of unrelated events: CtC, capital ships, and racecourses, to name a few. But what is seriously lacking is tension.
I get the feeling that even if everybody suddenly stopped playing one day, story-wise, this would change almost nothing. The worst that could happen would be that all the CtC transports would dock successfully, and that hive queens would mine ore unmolested. But what else? I can't think of anything, story-wise.
IMHO, there's something wrong with this situation. What's the overall purpose? In "Lord of the Rings," it was to destroy Sauron's One Ring ( see http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/fellowship/summary.html ), lest Sauron and Saruman conquer Middle Earth. In "Harry Potter," it was to prevent Lord Voldemort from returning to power ( see http://www.answers.com/topic/harry-potter-plot ). In Final Fantasy® XI Online, it was to prevent the beastmen from taking over Vana'diel ( see http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/welcome/ ).
But how about in Vendetta™ Online? Right now, it just seems to be to dogfight and become the best dogfighter. There's no overarching purpose. It is precisely this lack of any overarching purpose that makes VO seem more like an FPS (First-Person Shooter) than an RPG (Role-Playing Game).
But that neglects the crucial RPG aspects of strategy and intellectual challenge. Everything seems to revolve around just dogfighting. Where's the story? I know that there's a superb backstory, but it seems completely disconnected from gameplay.
Can't the two be connected and further developed? We need periodic exploratory expansions: periodic crises to assault the VO universe, unify the players (or at least groups of players), and provide some tension.
Recently, I took a week and a half off to play Geneforge 3 ( see http://www.spiderwebsoftware.com/geneforge3/ ), a currently Mac-only traditional turn-based non-online fantasy RPG with lots of exploration and a deep plot, and returned to VO to experience a kind of serious reverse cultural shock. That game is not an online game, has no PvP and only turn-based combat, and has vastly inferior 2D graphics, but it has a great plot and lots of exploration, and good enough graphics to provide a very immersive atmosphere. I hadn't noticed this aspect while playing VO every day, but it suddenly became apparent just how lacking VO is in the exploratory and plot aspects. The combat in VO is great, but I often wonder, to what end, though? What is the purpose of all that happens?
Purpose is crucial in an RPG, and, after all, VO is officially classified as an MMORPG (Massively Multi-player Online RPG), not an MMOFPS.
-- DekuDekuplex Ornitier
If possible, I would wish to see more exploration. It seems that most of the time on channel 100, most people seem to be chatting about little else than dogfighting, and that this aspect is taking away from the role-playing aspect of this MMORPG. What about sinister plots and exploration? There seems to be too much focus on just fighting, and not enough focus on the plot and on exploration.
If possible, I'd very much wish to see periodic exploration expansions that develop upon the story content. For example, in Final Fantasy® XI Online ( see http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/index.shtml ), "Rise of the Zilart™" ( see http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/zilart/ ) and "Chains of Promathia™" ( see http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/promathia/ ) are expansions that develop upon the basic story and add new characters, occupations, frontiers, and subplots.
For example, in "Chains of Promathia™," a strange phenomenon called "Emptiness" ( see http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/promathia/emptiness/emptiness.html ) is eating away at the very fabric of the world, causing areas gradually to be replaced with nothingness. If left alone, this phenomenon could eventually destroy the entire landscape.
I would wish to see something similar, on an epic scale, in Vendetta™ Online. Most of the events transpiring now seem to be an isolated hodgepodge of unrelated events: CtC, capital ships, and racecourses, to name a few. But what is seriously lacking is tension.
I get the feeling that even if everybody suddenly stopped playing one day, story-wise, this would change almost nothing. The worst that could happen would be that all the CtC transports would dock successfully, and that hive queens would mine ore unmolested. But what else? I can't think of anything, story-wise.
IMHO, there's something wrong with this situation. What's the overall purpose? In "Lord of the Rings," it was to destroy Sauron's One Ring ( see http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/fellowship/summary.html ), lest Sauron and Saruman conquer Middle Earth. In "Harry Potter," it was to prevent Lord Voldemort from returning to power ( see http://www.answers.com/topic/harry-potter-plot ). In Final Fantasy® XI Online, it was to prevent the beastmen from taking over Vana'diel ( see http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/welcome/ ).
But how about in Vendetta™ Online? Right now, it just seems to be to dogfight and become the best dogfighter. There's no overarching purpose. It is precisely this lack of any overarching purpose that makes VO seem more like an FPS (First-Person Shooter) than an RPG (Role-Playing Game).
But that neglects the crucial RPG aspects of strategy and intellectual challenge. Everything seems to revolve around just dogfighting. Where's the story? I know that there's a superb backstory, but it seems completely disconnected from gameplay.
Can't the two be connected and further developed? We need periodic exploratory expansions: periodic crises to assault the VO universe, unify the players (or at least groups of players), and provide some tension.
Recently, I took a week and a half off to play Geneforge 3 ( see http://www.spiderwebsoftware.com/geneforge3/ ), a currently Mac-only traditional turn-based non-online fantasy RPG with lots of exploration and a deep plot, and returned to VO to experience a kind of serious reverse cultural shock. That game is not an online game, has no PvP and only turn-based combat, and has vastly inferior 2D graphics, but it has a great plot and lots of exploration, and good enough graphics to provide a very immersive atmosphere. I hadn't noticed this aspect while playing VO every day, but it suddenly became apparent just how lacking VO is in the exploratory and plot aspects. The combat in VO is great, but I often wonder, to what end, though? What is the purpose of all that happens?
Purpose is crucial in an RPG, and, after all, VO is officially classified as an MMORPG (Massively Multi-player Online RPG), not an MMOFPS.
-- DekuDekuplex Ornitier
perhaps that is what they (the devs) are already working on?
Correct, epadafunk.
Deku, the game simply isn't done. This will all become clear when the development wiki comes online. Right now the devs are busily creating features that are somewhat modular and can be manipulated in such a way as to more easily create new content. As new features are made, more varied opportunities for play are created. Eventually the basic structure needed to bring the backstory to life will be present. Some time after that there will be opportunities for exploration packs.
What you may not know is that this game was originally Vendetta Test, merely a showcase for Guild Software's custom-built game engine. It was merely a tech demo - it was not intended to BE the MMORPG. Due to a variety of issues discussed elsewhere, the game-engine was not purchased by a larger company, so Guild decided to take on the task alone. It's a slow process. It's easier to build a house from the ground up than it is to renovate, and it's easier to renovate when nobody is living in the house. Guild is rennovating a shack into a theme park, and all the while we've been living in it 24/7. Another company might have elected to shut it's doors and build from scratch - but Guild didn't. I, for one, and glad Vendetta marches to a different drummer.
Deku, the game simply isn't done. This will all become clear when the development wiki comes online. Right now the devs are busily creating features that are somewhat modular and can be manipulated in such a way as to more easily create new content. As new features are made, more varied opportunities for play are created. Eventually the basic structure needed to bring the backstory to life will be present. Some time after that there will be opportunities for exploration packs.
What you may not know is that this game was originally Vendetta Test, merely a showcase for Guild Software's custom-built game engine. It was merely a tech demo - it was not intended to BE the MMORPG. Due to a variety of issues discussed elsewhere, the game-engine was not purchased by a larger company, so Guild decided to take on the task alone. It's a slow process. It's easier to build a house from the ground up than it is to renovate, and it's easier to renovate when nobody is living in the house. Guild is rennovating a shack into a theme park, and all the while we've been living in it 24/7. Another company might have elected to shut it's doors and build from scratch - but Guild didn't. I, for one, and glad Vendetta marches to a different drummer.