Sun Aug 08, 2004 5:13 pm
New Mod Concept
The following was my opinion post elsewhere. I intend to begin work on a "Total RP" mod using the freshinifiles.zip as my starting point and, using only FL's original ships and weapons base, build a relatively simple mod the caters directly to Role Playing Basics only. The concept will naturally change from this initial setup, but i'm going to get started on it and see where it takes me. Any non-flammable suggestions are welcome.
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IMO, most "RP" mods these days are heading in the wrong direction. Private and multiple factions and RPG are incompatible goals. It seems everyone's trying to please the particular whims of as many people as possible.
What many players really want is a good, working structure for the game that is conducive to actual RPG. This can easily be done by limiting the amount of factions. A typical problem is 15 factions on a 25 player server, causing there to be 1 or 2 players of several factions online or 5 or 6 of a single faction with hardly any representation of the others.
It is my considered opinion that excellent RP could be had by limiting the player factions to the basic units that most promote it.
Players would be able to join factions from a separate startup system (dare i say, like TW's n00bYork or Excelcia) but they would choose from the following:
1. A single pirate/criminal organization. Attacks traders and smuggles.
2. A single Law Enforcement organization. Opposes pirate's activities.
3. A single Trader's Guild. The "money" behind RP, as they always are. Attempts to trade in pirate infested systems and hire escorts as nescessary.
4. Choose to be a Freelancer. Nefarious, "whose side are they on" types. May be escorts to traders vs. pirate or pirate smugglers vs. Law. May smuggle themselves, or trade legitimately. Perhaps even bounty hunt if the money's right.
This would mean that essentially there would be only 4 player factions on the server. People would, of course, align themselves into groups within the factions as they always do. But ship and kill restrictions would apply across their faction. This way, the RP aspects would be preserved, in that you have:
1. One unlawful faction opposed to good order.
2. One lawful faction opposing the unlawfuls.
3. The "innocent citizens" attempting to make their way in the chaos.
4. The unknown factor that keeps things churning.
This way, on a 25 player server, there will always be enough people of all RP factions online to keep the RPG working. Keeping this simple, where the choices are essentially to be criminal, Law, innocent or not-so-innocent(?)with limited emphasis on the "bigger, badder, better" mentality and no emphasis on trying to please all the people, all the time. It would be just RP with the basic tools in place to have it, and nothing else screwing it up. The special ships and private bases and all that junk that just gets in the way would be lacking, causing it to be absolutely no fun for the powergamer types who generally crap up every RP server. This would help to ensure that the players who are there, are there for the RP. And a 25 player server would FINALLY be enough room for RP to actually happen.
This type of mod would be (finally) something separate for players who want to RP, and the pvp-dueling, bigger&badder&faster-rightnow-dammit types would run for the hills and play elsewhere. Glorious!
**Additional Notes**
I would implement a small "death penalty" to prevent dueling and ensure actual RP. (aka, prevent "suiciding"
I would attempt to have some type of dynamic economy, where prices changed at intervals to prevent the typical & endless diamonds/engines/gold runs and cause the trade to move around some.
I would keep ships and equipment essentially stock freelancer, except for the opening up of all existing ships to the players, and perhaps a few judicious insertions. This would be done prior to initial release and remain unchanged to prevent server wipes. Updates would mostly be limited to creating and changing the dynamic economy, and maybe the occasional political changes. (ie: base seizures)
Obviously, this is a simplistic overview of the concept, and the typical restrictions and balance issues would have to be worked out. But it just seems to me that RP is getting lost in the mods while the war/powergame mentality is increasingly being catered to & I WANT RP, Dammit!
------------------------
IMO, most "RP" mods these days are heading in the wrong direction. Private and multiple factions and RPG are incompatible goals. It seems everyone's trying to please the particular whims of as many people as possible.
What many players really want is a good, working structure for the game that is conducive to actual RPG. This can easily be done by limiting the amount of factions. A typical problem is 15 factions on a 25 player server, causing there to be 1 or 2 players of several factions online or 5 or 6 of a single faction with hardly any representation of the others.
It is my considered opinion that excellent RP could be had by limiting the player factions to the basic units that most promote it.
Players would be able to join factions from a separate startup system (dare i say, like TW's n00bYork or Excelcia) but they would choose from the following:
1. A single pirate/criminal organization. Attacks traders and smuggles.
2. A single Law Enforcement organization. Opposes pirate's activities.
3. A single Trader's Guild. The "money" behind RP, as they always are. Attempts to trade in pirate infested systems and hire escorts as nescessary.
4. Choose to be a Freelancer. Nefarious, "whose side are they on" types. May be escorts to traders vs. pirate or pirate smugglers vs. Law. May smuggle themselves, or trade legitimately. Perhaps even bounty hunt if the money's right.
This would mean that essentially there would be only 4 player factions on the server. People would, of course, align themselves into groups within the factions as they always do. But ship and kill restrictions would apply across their faction. This way, the RP aspects would be preserved, in that you have:
1. One unlawful faction opposed to good order.
2. One lawful faction opposing the unlawfuls.
3. The "innocent citizens" attempting to make their way in the chaos.
4. The unknown factor that keeps things churning.
This way, on a 25 player server, there will always be enough people of all RP factions online to keep the RPG working. Keeping this simple, where the choices are essentially to be criminal, Law, innocent or not-so-innocent(?)with limited emphasis on the "bigger, badder, better" mentality and no emphasis on trying to please all the people, all the time. It would be just RP with the basic tools in place to have it, and nothing else screwing it up. The special ships and private bases and all that junk that just gets in the way would be lacking, causing it to be absolutely no fun for the powergamer types who generally crap up every RP server. This would help to ensure that the players who are there, are there for the RP. And a 25 player server would FINALLY be enough room for RP to actually happen.
This type of mod would be (finally) something separate for players who want to RP, and the pvp-dueling, bigger&badder&faster-rightnow-dammit types would run for the hills and play elsewhere. Glorious!
**Additional Notes**
I would implement a small "death penalty" to prevent dueling and ensure actual RP. (aka, prevent "suiciding"
I would attempt to have some type of dynamic economy, where prices changed at intervals to prevent the typical & endless diamonds/engines/gold runs and cause the trade to move around some.
I would keep ships and equipment essentially stock freelancer, except for the opening up of all existing ships to the players, and perhaps a few judicious insertions. This would be done prior to initial release and remain unchanged to prevent server wipes. Updates would mostly be limited to creating and changing the dynamic economy, and maybe the occasional political changes. (ie: base seizures)
Obviously, this is a simplistic overview of the concept, and the typical restrictions and balance issues would have to be worked out. But it just seems to me that RP is getting lost in the mods while the war/powergame mentality is increasingly being catered to & I WANT RP, Dammit!