Mon Mar 01, 2004 4:47 pm
The major problem with freelancer right now is that it needs an expansion pack.
Right now there are only a few things you can do:
1) Get hired by a base to go and kill a few guys from another faction they dont like.
2) Transport commodities where they are needed
Even if you decide to start raiding convoys or smuggle cardamine, you're really only doing minor variations of those two things. The combat missions are also pretty much very simmilar. Lets not kid ourselves here: You go to waypoint X, kill guys (sometimes one, sometimes all, sometimes destroy cargo they drop, sometimes get them/cargo they drop) and then your done. You dont have any impact on the system. You don't get to see any real change from your efforts, since all the base destruction missions, the bases are spawned for you. Changing scenery, factions, and equipment can only do so much to change that.
I'm sure theres some sort of inter clan warfare in multiplayer that really effects all this, and thats nice, but I'm looking for some fundamental changes in the inherit game.
After beating the game, I set off to explore most of what I could. I tried out trading, and did long niobium/diamond runs for fun and profit. Well, it was kind of boring in transit, but it was exciting since I wasnt neutral to every faction along the way. Finally I got tired of that and set out to get the best ship I could get. So, I figure, get all buddy buddy with some outcasts and get a Sabre, kill some nomads and take their weapons. After that I really couldn't think of anything else to do. I had no reason to go find better equipment, since I had it all. I had no reason to go find a better ship because I had one of the best. While exploring would've been nice, the game didnt lend itself to pointing you in the right direction. It got boring. Real boring.
I've heard some people argue that you can have fun flying for every faction, but lets face it, besides the fact that they hand out money to you for killing ships from other factions and let you dock in their bases, you dont get any real connection to them. The factions dont grow, they dont reward you for your loyalty. Furthermore, when you fly a mission with a faction, they only give you that one mission, there is never any real continuation, where if you go back to the base they immediately offer you another mission to go on like Juni does.
So what can be done? Modding efforts have gotten the game only so far. Sure, you can add new stars, factions, ships, items, but in the end your not fundamentally impacting the same gameplay system. You still operate with the same apathetic factions, and enventually you will find the be-all-end-all ship layout system that you dont see any reason to improve upon. And some mods, in my opinion, completely miss the point of the game freelancer and throw as many ship models and systems in regardless of continuity. I'm not wanting to mod my game so I can watch as my freelancer-esque ship fends off ships from an entirely different universe.
While there are new server tools coming out that will let there be GMs and make some impact on the game, it largely falls on people managing data and being prompt about updates, it still doesnt do anything to singe player.
But I'm suggesting something completely more epic and grand in scope.
Freelancer is a good start, but it needs more interactivity. An expansion that could expand the gameplay so that factions would change based on player actions, that features a more robust mission system. From the little I've read, these were probably in the original design specs that never got through to the end, and is a sad tale indeed. An expansion to the original game could extend its playability by giving it some new life.
A sequel could work too, but for the most part that would have to continue with the plot of the original game, and crafting a well designed plot and adding enough new features to make the game look different would be more time consuming than just reintroducing what was originally planned but later cut out.
Bottom Line? MS wont let a sleeper hit have the potential of becoming a real hit.
Edited by - Eraser on 3/2/2004 12:51:32 AM
Right now there are only a few things you can do:
1) Get hired by a base to go and kill a few guys from another faction they dont like.
2) Transport commodities where they are needed
Even if you decide to start raiding convoys or smuggle cardamine, you're really only doing minor variations of those two things. The combat missions are also pretty much very simmilar. Lets not kid ourselves here: You go to waypoint X, kill guys (sometimes one, sometimes all, sometimes destroy cargo they drop, sometimes get them/cargo they drop) and then your done. You dont have any impact on the system. You don't get to see any real change from your efforts, since all the base destruction missions, the bases are spawned for you. Changing scenery, factions, and equipment can only do so much to change that.
I'm sure theres some sort of inter clan warfare in multiplayer that really effects all this, and thats nice, but I'm looking for some fundamental changes in the inherit game.
After beating the game, I set off to explore most of what I could. I tried out trading, and did long niobium/diamond runs for fun and profit. Well, it was kind of boring in transit, but it was exciting since I wasnt neutral to every faction along the way. Finally I got tired of that and set out to get the best ship I could get. So, I figure, get all buddy buddy with some outcasts and get a Sabre, kill some nomads and take their weapons. After that I really couldn't think of anything else to do. I had no reason to go find better equipment, since I had it all. I had no reason to go find a better ship because I had one of the best. While exploring would've been nice, the game didnt lend itself to pointing you in the right direction. It got boring. Real boring.
I've heard some people argue that you can have fun flying for every faction, but lets face it, besides the fact that they hand out money to you for killing ships from other factions and let you dock in their bases, you dont get any real connection to them. The factions dont grow, they dont reward you for your loyalty. Furthermore, when you fly a mission with a faction, they only give you that one mission, there is never any real continuation, where if you go back to the base they immediately offer you another mission to go on like Juni does.
So what can be done? Modding efforts have gotten the game only so far. Sure, you can add new stars, factions, ships, items, but in the end your not fundamentally impacting the same gameplay system. You still operate with the same apathetic factions, and enventually you will find the be-all-end-all ship layout system that you dont see any reason to improve upon. And some mods, in my opinion, completely miss the point of the game freelancer and throw as many ship models and systems in regardless of continuity. I'm not wanting to mod my game so I can watch as my freelancer-esque ship fends off ships from an entirely different universe.
While there are new server tools coming out that will let there be GMs and make some impact on the game, it largely falls on people managing data and being prompt about updates, it still doesnt do anything to singe player.
But I'm suggesting something completely more epic and grand in scope.
Freelancer is a good start, but it needs more interactivity. An expansion that could expand the gameplay so that factions would change based on player actions, that features a more robust mission system. From the little I've read, these were probably in the original design specs that never got through to the end, and is a sad tale indeed. An expansion to the original game could extend its playability by giving it some new life.
A sequel could work too, but for the most part that would have to continue with the plot of the original game, and crafting a well designed plot and adding enough new features to make the game look different would be more time consuming than just reintroducing what was originally planned but later cut out.
Bottom Line? MS wont let a sleeper hit have the potential of becoming a real hit.
Edited by - Eraser on 3/2/2004 12:51:32 AM