Archived from groups: alt.games.everquest (More info?)
Our world lives. Our wold breathes. We see it grow. We see it change.
We watch the world move on.
Last week the elves lost the outpost of Firiona Vie to the forces of
Lanys T'Vyl. Armies of elves, erudites, and the adventurers of Norrath
battled against the hoards of evil in the form of dark elves and the
demons of Hate. The outpost fell under the crushing fists of Lanys's
ethereal titan, a golem of great mass and ancient age. A day later, the
face of Norrath had changed.
Dynamic events set massive online games apart from most static
roleplaying games. Moreso than any other feature, these events show
players that the world they roam in isn't simply a static game with a
single direction, but a living breathing world; a world where anything
can happen.
Bloody Kithicor was the first time such an event changed the world I
roamed in. The once-safe forest of Kithicor at night became a torn land
of powerful undead armies. No longer would travelers use the roads at
night, choosing to run the outskirts of the mountains instead or wait
until the safety of sunlight sent the dead back into their dark pits.
The fall of Grobb again changed Norrath. Grobb, the home of the trolls,
became Gukta, the home of the Guktan froglok. Many a troll adventurer
still holds a bitter heart for the loss of their home.
Dynamic events offer nearly unlimited benefits and advantages to an
otherwise static game. Moreso than most large-scale battles, dynamic
events have the opportunity to have Lord of the Rings style wars with
hundreds of NPCs against hundreds of players. The Dreadlands feels like
a warzone. Armies smash against each other, swordsman cut into hoards
of evildoers, for an evening, a zone we all know well becomes a whole
new place.
Dynamic events help tie the story together. Following the writer's
motto of "show, don't tell", dynamic events let us build our own
stories and our own tales of past battles. We all saw or heard
something different the night the armies of T'Vyl took the Outpost of
Firiona Vie. The more opportunities we have to create our own detailed
stories surrounding the large shifts in Norrath's struggle, the better.
Dynamic events help tie expansions to the old world. The fall of Grobb
helped tie Ykesha to our own world. The recent Dreadlands war helps tie
next week's new expansion to our existing storyline. The building of
Queen of Thorns in Nedaria's Landing showed us the progress of the
building of Mordin Rasp's dark boat over a period of a couple of
months. These dynamic events help bridge our world into the newer lands
we see twice a year.
Dynamic events are often spoiler free. Few knew how the Dreadlands war
was going to go. No one knew how to defeat Lanys's dracolich. There
wasn't time to post a spoiler on a website and by the time one was
online, the dracoliche was already dead. The more our world changes,
the less likely we are to rely on out-of-game information to guide us.
>From an element of surprise and challenge, this is a good improvement.
There are a few things SOE can do to improve dynamic events. Existing
guides could be given scripts to follow, events to run on each server
that help fill in spots of a much larger storyline. Vampires attacking
Felwithe foreshadow the changes in Mistmoore. A new Gnoll general asks
for help in reclaiming paw from the elemental horrors inside. The same
resources used for events such as riddle sessions and Greater Faydark
rescue missions can instead be used for plot-driving events of the same
caliber and scope.
Beyond that, the only advice we can give is "more events". Events like
the recent fall of Firiona Vie show how powerful these events can be
and how well players respond to them. Events like this help keep
Norrath constantly moving and shifting. It brings older players back to
see new changes and shows new players a dynamic and evolving game.
A strategy and schedule for regular zone revamps also help keep
Everquest shifting and evolving. While such a suggestion falls into the
category of "more better work faster please", a system to efficiently
revamp zones keeps the world continually fresh. These revamps, tied to
the dynamic events that open them, build Norrath even further into a
living breathing world. They can help tie the story together and give
new and older places more exciting and updated content to explore.
Dynamic events show us how Norrath builds and grows. Every time we log
in, we may have a new land to explore. Dynamic events are one of the
most important traits of a massive online game. Dynamic events breathe
life into an often static world.
Loral Ciriclight
21 February 2005
loral@loralciriclight.com
Our world lives. Our wold breathes. We see it grow. We see it change.
We watch the world move on.
Last week the elves lost the outpost of Firiona Vie to the forces of
Lanys T'Vyl. Armies of elves, erudites, and the adventurers of Norrath
battled against the hoards of evil in the form of dark elves and the
demons of Hate. The outpost fell under the crushing fists of Lanys's
ethereal titan, a golem of great mass and ancient age. A day later, the
face of Norrath had changed.
Dynamic events set massive online games apart from most static
roleplaying games. Moreso than any other feature, these events show
players that the world they roam in isn't simply a static game with a
single direction, but a living breathing world; a world where anything
can happen.
Bloody Kithicor was the first time such an event changed the world I
roamed in. The once-safe forest of Kithicor at night became a torn land
of powerful undead armies. No longer would travelers use the roads at
night, choosing to run the outskirts of the mountains instead or wait
until the safety of sunlight sent the dead back into their dark pits.
The fall of Grobb again changed Norrath. Grobb, the home of the trolls,
became Gukta, the home of the Guktan froglok. Many a troll adventurer
still holds a bitter heart for the loss of their home.
Dynamic events offer nearly unlimited benefits and advantages to an
otherwise static game. Moreso than most large-scale battles, dynamic
events have the opportunity to have Lord of the Rings style wars with
hundreds of NPCs against hundreds of players. The Dreadlands feels like
a warzone. Armies smash against each other, swordsman cut into hoards
of evildoers, for an evening, a zone we all know well becomes a whole
new place.
Dynamic events help tie the story together. Following the writer's
motto of "show, don't tell", dynamic events let us build our own
stories and our own tales of past battles. We all saw or heard
something different the night the armies of T'Vyl took the Outpost of
Firiona Vie. The more opportunities we have to create our own detailed
stories surrounding the large shifts in Norrath's struggle, the better.
Dynamic events help tie expansions to the old world. The fall of Grobb
helped tie Ykesha to our own world. The recent Dreadlands war helps tie
next week's new expansion to our existing storyline. The building of
Queen of Thorns in Nedaria's Landing showed us the progress of the
building of Mordin Rasp's dark boat over a period of a couple of
months. These dynamic events help bridge our world into the newer lands
we see twice a year.
Dynamic events are often spoiler free. Few knew how the Dreadlands war
was going to go. No one knew how to defeat Lanys's dracolich. There
wasn't time to post a spoiler on a website and by the time one was
online, the dracoliche was already dead. The more our world changes,
the less likely we are to rely on out-of-game information to guide us.
>From an element of surprise and challenge, this is a good improvement.
There are a few things SOE can do to improve dynamic events. Existing
guides could be given scripts to follow, events to run on each server
that help fill in spots of a much larger storyline. Vampires attacking
Felwithe foreshadow the changes in Mistmoore. A new Gnoll general asks
for help in reclaiming paw from the elemental horrors inside. The same
resources used for events such as riddle sessions and Greater Faydark
rescue missions can instead be used for plot-driving events of the same
caliber and scope.
Beyond that, the only advice we can give is "more events". Events like
the recent fall of Firiona Vie show how powerful these events can be
and how well players respond to them. Events like this help keep
Norrath constantly moving and shifting. It brings older players back to
see new changes and shows new players a dynamic and evolving game.
A strategy and schedule for regular zone revamps also help keep
Everquest shifting and evolving. While such a suggestion falls into the
category of "more better work faster please", a system to efficiently
revamp zones keeps the world continually fresh. These revamps, tied to
the dynamic events that open them, build Norrath even further into a
living breathing world. They can help tie the story together and give
new and older places more exciting and updated content to explore.
Dynamic events show us how Norrath builds and grows. Every time we log
in, we may have a new land to explore. Dynamic events are one of the
most important traits of a massive online game. Dynamic events breathe
life into an often static world.
Loral Ciriclight
21 February 2005
loral@loralciriclight.com
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram