So...what Now? (Progression)

[Derpo]

Two vultures are sitting in a tree. One vulture says to the other vulture: "Patience, my &#!. Let's kill something."

 

I know, it's beta. I get it. The whole point, the shimmering saga,  the coalescence of game elements into a coherent cosmos...all that is coming later. Be patient, you say. But I am not the ordinary gaming vulture, waiting for the demise of some wildly imaginative developer's dream so I can feast on the commercialized corpse. I want a satisfying game, soonish.

 

Arcade games don't really need stories. You just mash buttons until you can't see straight. I did that, sufficiently, in the 80s. I'm past that. Today IS the sparkling future only hinted at by Space Invaders and Donkey Kong. Today we HAVE stories in our games. You explore a new place and find out that one of the corpses had a crush on the other corpse...hopefully earlier on in the decomposition process. You click a virtual computer and find out the operator was defalcating funds (it sounds nasty but it really just means tapping a fund improperly). And now in the future, the effulgent glory that is 2013, when you play a game something overarching happens. Your activities have an effect on the virtual reality that comprises the game itself. A story unfolds.

 

Devs, let me be the first to tell you that Warframe the computer game, while an incredible achievement, will not fly as originally conceived. You can't have your locations randomly generated, because that is anathema to STORY. You can't make the penultimate progression be 'Mastery' while the only purpose of mastery is unlocking slightly more efficient weaponry. Making the most incredible 3D arcade game in the history of mankind is laudable. But you won't be paid enough to make it worthwhile unless you include STORY and PROGRESSION. More to the point, your investors won't be paid enough. If you think that your investors won't interfere, then you haven't made it around the block.

 

You could include a special tile in each location that is not shared with any other location. You could put your story elements in this special tile. You could conceivably keep the random generation if you are clever about it. You could have story elements that are unlocked by mastery levels so that there is a point to increases in mastery. You could include story elements in random drops so that the story comes out eventually. You could have your lovely Canadian chick voice tell us the story in the introduction to the various locations. You could crack open the source code to your own Bioshock, and use all of the story-telling tricks you've used before. Or not. It's your game. But right now, it's no Bioshock. It's more like Space Invaders TPS 3D with leveling weapons and armor.

Edited April 19, 2013 by Derpo

[AXCrusnik]

Some interesting suggestions for story telling options... I like the idea for select missions, non randomly generated made for telling the story, but if you want a completed game NOW you should check out some completed games... now.

Edited April 19, 2013 by AXCrusnik

[Derpo]

Some interesting suggestions for story telling options... I like the idea for select missions, non randomly generated made for telling the story, but if you want a completed game NOW you should check out some completed games... now.

Thank you for your response,  AXCrusnik. Thank you for your support of adding story to the game.

 

Regarding the clause that says 'if you want a completed game NOW you should check out completed games...now'. I don't recall saying I wanted a completed game. You see, I predicted that some troll would give this response (not that you're a troll, just that one clause). That's why I said "It's Beta, I get it". What I want is a reason to play. And I want a reason to play NOW and not WHEN THE GAME IS DONE.

 

I have many completed games that I can play. I have real stuff I can do, too. But for reasons of my own, I like to help make new games better. Inviting me to go do something else, while rude and all, is not going to have much effect on me. I'm going to support this game until it launches or until I give up on the game itself by virtue of having said all I can to help the developers. I'm not going to leave because some git tells me "If you want a completed game go somewhere else." No offense intended.

Edited April 19, 2013 by Derpo

[Derpo]

My first truly unpopular post...a proud moment for me, but not as revealing as it could be. Is it the idea that the game should have story elements that you folks dislike, or is it the abrasive way that I proposed story elements?

 

I'm guessing that you're responding to the in-your-face, stayed up all night, annoying writing style more than the actual idea of adding story. I'm going to let this thread die, and write a more polite and respectful introduction to the Story Element Idea when I have had more sleep and am presumably more palatable.

[AXCrusnik]

I'm not saying leave, but if you're looking for story in this game you're too early. Lore is being worked on for this game. It's barely been out of closed beta for a month, and they mentioned in the first livestream lore is being worked on. They want it to be as good as or better than speculation and that can be a hard thing to accomplish.

 

This game can get tiring if you play it constantly (as many other games do), you should check out those other completed games and then come back to Warframe when it feels fresh again.

 

IMO rushing a game leads to more of the "commercialized corpses" the vultures you claim not to be eat up.

Edited April 19, 2013 by AXCrusnik

[Derpo]

I'm not saying leave, but if you're looking for story in this game you're too early. Lore is being worked on for this game. It's barely been out of closed beta for a month, and they mentioned in the first livestream lore is being worked on. They want it to be as good as or better than speculation and that can be a hard thing to accomplish.

 

This game can get tiring if you play it constantly (as many other games do), you should check out those other completed games and then come back to Warframe when it feels fresh again.

 

IMO rushing a game leads to more of the "commercialized corpses" the vultures you claim not to be eat up.

Well technically I don't claim I'm not a vulture, I'm only claiming to be 'not an ordinary vulture'. I could be an abnormal vulture, if you see what I mean.