Wargame vs "Living world"

[Slamz]

That might be dynamic but what impact does it have on the players and their emotional connection to the game? Does it change your gameplay experience from what is currently available other than make things more unpredictable and perhaps more inaccessible as a consequence?

I would say that current games create an emotional connection via social interaction and "character investment".

The problem with this model is that "character investment" = "gear and skill upgrades" which is ultimately incompatible with a PvP world. So we have to cast that aside and find something to replace it. (Also, a "character investment" system can make it hard to ever return to a game -- you'd be too far out of date and there would be a new "price of admission" to get back to where you were!)

I would suggest that factional and reputation investments could replace gear and skill investments. When you've seen your wee orcish camp grow to a small empire, you're probably feeling pretty invested.


The tricky part would probably be what happens to Vllad's GuildX after we wipe them and their NPC faction off the map. They could start fresh, but we'll probably have to think of a way to give them a leg up on a restart. Maybe after the defeat is done, they get a letter in the mail from the NPC Grand Knight that says, "If you are reading this, then it must mean that I am dead. You have done well for me in the past, and so I have sent word to my brother, Grand Poobah, to expect your arrival. He will see that you are provided for and perhaps one day you may avenge my death."

Grand Poobah is 200 miles away. So they can either stay and start from scratch or take this offer of a move to a completely new part of the map, where a faction leader over there will treat them as if they had only lost 50% of their reputation rather than all of it.

Or alternatively, maybe factions never really get wiped out. They get to their last stand and if they get defeated there, they "surrender" and become a vassal state to the conquering faction. In that case, GuildX can still work for the NPC Grand Knight, but the NPC Grand Knight is now working for us (perhaps even joining The Purge faction).



As for new players, I think we could get them going well enough simply by creating a decent tutorial and giving them a happy note to give to whatever faction they choose for a free leg up and a place to start.