Linearity Suggestion

8/13/2019 Linearity Suggestion

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Before I start, Id like to point ou that Im aware that Wildstaris not meant to be a

sandbox MMO, and that linearity is a core part of this type of MMOs. With separated areas for

each level, escalating gear, etc. However, I do believe it is possible to break this just a little bit,

but in an amount enough to make players feel they are inside an actual living world and thus

increasing their interest for it. I would also like to point out that I have not played any stage of

the beta and anything I say here is a mere guess, a suggestion or something that was already

revealed by the devs (in livestreams, devspeaks, reddit posts, AMAs, etc.). Any coincidence is

merely just that. Even though I consider myself an experienced player, that is all I am. I have no

knowledge in any aspect of game development, so forgive me if some (or all) of my

suggestions seem improbable, undoable or plainly stupid. I am merely speaking of things I

believe would make this game even better. I also have no knowledge on Carbines current

stand in each of these subjects, so forgive me once more if I talk about something that has

already been rejected or confirmed by the developers. Any citations that I make of other

games are purely for example purposes, and I do not mean to promote or demote any game or

company. This is one post of a series (that I may or may not make) of suggestions that I intendto bring into the community, so please remain on the subject on your comments and, if you

want to talk about something else, wait until I make a post of that subject (or make your own).

Thank you. :)

Well those who have had the chance to play old games, especially those that would

precede what would come to be RPGs, may have encountered or heard of those very simple

games that would simply consist of a huge castle with X floors, each one representing a level

and with a fun boss fight. There were many of those games that were actually good, and

without them we wouldnt be here. But then developers of such games had the idea of making

them even more interesting, and added those secret passages that could take you from floor 1to 4 instantly, or those doors that just wouldnt open, making the player discover that the key

was actually in a floor 32 stories above, so they would return and open that door and

sometimes find amazing rewards, extra bosses, and even the actual path through the games

main storyline. A good example of those games would be those where you get a special skill or

key after killing each boss (like soul reaver, some castlevania games, metal gear solid series,

etc). They never stopped having their core linearity, but they managed to make the gameplay

much more interesting and would cause players to eventually forget that sensation of going

only in a single direction.

Even though some multiplayer games already try to bring that to their systems, theattempts on that area are very short in MMOs. Guild Wars 2 has made some tries, even

though, in my opinion, many of them werent very successful and ended up interfering with

the core linearity that supposedly was part of the game. Path of Exile, although not an MMO,

has done that very well. You can find skills and orbs at lower levels that will be useful even at

the latest parts of the game, and high level players may encounter gear that is actually usable

by low level players. As someone who has played Diablo 3, the torchlight series and Path of

Exile, I am inclined to agree with other players that say that POE has surpassed the other

similar games by adding those features (and others that dont concern this post). My point is,

even though it is the opposite of the core features in MMOs such as Wildstar, I believe that

small ruptures in the linearity may lead to a much more entertaining virtual world. The

purpose of this post is to throw in some suggestions on that matter and to allow everyone


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here to comment, love, hate, suggest better things, etc. Im sure Carbines devs have already

touched the subject, but I also know that a lot of improvements have been made in the game

thank to suggestions and discussions that included our (players/fans) participation. If this post

can result in at least one interesting topic, comment or idea, it will already have fulfilled its

role.

Okay, if you have come this far, it is likely you are interested in this subject. What I am

going to do is post the suggestions I have thought of and hope that people read and reply with

their own opinion on the matter. I have already said why I think this is important (feel free to

comment on that as well) now I will say some ways through which I think these linearity breaks

could be implemented.

1. Area Linearity:Like I said, having determined areas for each level range seems tobe a core feature of the type of MMO Wildstar intends to be. And that is fine,

many games, including some in that same category, have made great success and

brought lots of fun to many people using that system, but, just like the game withX floors, WS wouldnt be hurt by some interesting doors, secret passages and

whatnot. ;-)

So, what can be done?

Id say that adding a small amount of content that doesnt belong to that level range

would be a start. There doesnt seem to be any problem with that, as long as this content does

not disrupt the areas actual one, like big level capped monsters running around and killing low

level players, or these players being forced to go through am area full of high level aggressivemobs so they can reach their quest objectives. Another problem would be too much of this

nonlinear content, which would make the area lose its purpose and end up in messing up the

games core linearity.

A good example would be a simple area with some higher level passive mobs that drop

some interesting crafting gear, which could draw some players to go out of their area to farm

them. The secret door clich isnt that bad, either. Finding a mysterious key at level 40 and

discovering it fits into a closed door that you saw in a level 15 area could be fun. And whatever

is inside that door could be even more fun. The devs could even inspire themselves in some

old school games and make that key not explicitly say what it opens, so people would goaround searching for it. That would certainly add some liveliness to the game world.

2. Quest Linearity:This subject goes well with the previous one, and moderation isjust as important in here as it was there, maybe even a little more. Nobody wants

80% of their current quests to not be in their actual level area, or at least no one

expects such in a non-sandbox game. But that doesnt mean you cant add

something here and there. There could be this level cap giant that roams the Aurin

starter area. The giant is actually friendly and even attacks some mobs that hurt

you close to him damn he could even be an NPC that chats and has some

participation in the starting quests. But as you reach level cap some event happensthat leads to that giants madness making him aggressive and forcing you, level


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capped player, to go back to the starting area and kill that mob. I dont know how

that would fit with Wildstars way of making non instancing and the game changes

that only show to your character. This is just one suggestion, but quests such as

this that bring players from different levels to other areas could make the game

more fun and would synchronize well with the small ruptures in area linearity that

were suggested above. All with a lot of moderation so the game wouldnt be

negatively affected, of course.

Quest linearity ruptures could also apply to path quests, events, cosmetic features,

etc. Having to go all the way to the opposing faction starter area to tame this rare

battle pet for an achievement, having to explore a high level area without dying as

an explorer path mission, having a challenge that awards points to whoever

manages to kill the mob of highest level difference without any help All of those

things could add a little spice to an already well made game.

3. NPC linearity: Well, I guess this is the most explored linearity rupture in MMOs. Insome games you have your faction leader, a level capped boss, give you quests at

level one. Or an important character show up in a low level town. Some of them

could even progress as the player unravels more of the games lore and levels up,

but I imagine Carbine has already thought of that. The only NPCs that I see being

neglected a lot are vendors. Why do all vendors have to sell basically the same

thing? Every weaponsmith has the same weapons, no matter his race or his

location. Every general goods vendor will have the same stuff too which

minimizes travel (which can be good to a certain point, but gets bad if travel is

minimized too much makes the game lose some of its immersion) and takes

away the opportunity of those who like to explore the game for towns were

certain things are cheaper (so they can buy it for themselves or sell for a small

profit), or where different gear can be found. I know the main focus of a MMO is

the players, but that doesnt mean NPCs cant add a lot of liveliness to the game.

(anyone who has played good single player RPGs knows that). Anyways, I wont get

too much into it because its starting to go to a direction different than the

objective of this post, but I may address this some other time.

4. PVE linearity: Both in the PVE that exists at the endgame and during the levelingprocess there is an apparent linearity. Usually one dungeon per level range and

one raid per item-level range. That means you wont do dungeon 2 until you do

dungeon 1, same for the raids. Im not trying to say that PVE should be a huge

mess with people going in whatever dungeons they want, but the game could

allow for a bigger array of choices. Having three dungeons available at level 20,

one where you need lots of resistance to a certain type of damage to succeed,

other where you need to be well geared, and another that takes a higher amount

of skill would make players more invested in either choosing the dungeons that are

more adequate to them or achieving all the necessary things to complete all of

them. Dungeons like this could even lead to other content such as solo or groupquests in the open world (ofc that wouldnt rule out all the other quests that must


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exist for those who dont like to do dungeons). Raiding is more complicated but I

do think some of those things can apply to them. There are a bunch of people who

enjoy the progressive raiding - going for the next boss and then the next raid as

efficiently as you canBut the raid progress doesnt have to be completely linear

and could allow for some choices and some divergences along the way. And lastly,

I really think dungeons and raids could have lots of optional/secret content that

could make them interesting enough to be played multiple times (for the sake of

fun, challenge and rewards not just for farming).

5. Profession and crafting linearity: In my opinion, this is one of the things that needthe most attention in MMOs right now. I plan on making a post someday about

how everything is neglected until they reach max level (crafting and leveling being

the most evident). Whether I do it or not or until I do it, I believe it is important

to address how crafting is so poorly treated in even the best MMOs. When I first

started playing this genre, professions was one of the thing I was the most hypedabout, not only they looked fun and rewarding, they also added a lot of in-game

immersion. I was greatly disappointed when I discovered that crafting was

something that actually made no impact on the game until it reached the level cap

and you had a bunch of rare recipes, or, in some cases, if you farmed a lot to make

cosmetic items that could sell for a lot.

The only suggestion involving linearity rupture that I could give would be making

professions being able to craft items at low levels that could be useful in many

others, maybe even by the same profession and making professions that need

material crafted by others to build certain items (not a new thing, I know, but still

good in my opinion). But ultimately what really changes the impact that a

profession can have in the game is the way items are treated in the game. Games

make uncommon and rare items so easy to get that buying a level 22 crafted rare

gear is actually useless The leveling is so easy that buying some alchemy potions

isnt worth it.But unfortunately this doesnt involve what we are talking about in

this post. I would like to just leave this here so it can give people some food for

thought. There is a lot being missed by making crafting such a pointless thing

during most of the game. Gathering professions may thing not, but they are also

affected by that, after all, in games like this, gathering becomes just some way of

farming stuff to sell later, without the part where you kill mobs.

6. Gear and item linearity:What seems to be happening is that players are gettingmore and more accommodated to getting easy gear at every level, and the game

developers, afraid of losing their player base, are giving these accommodated

players what they want, even though they know it ruins a very important thing in

every game: The challenge. But that ruins a lot of other stuff too the opportunity

to make interesting things with gear that cant be done when rares are getting

thrown at you at every mob or quest; the crafting that I already mentioned in the

other post; the trading can become pretty less interesting who cares about the+1 rare level 32 armor that you found? A better one will drop at level 33 or even


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until you reach it. Anyways Gear is a very important part of any MMO, and I do

not see myself in the position of saying how it should be treated. But I DO think the

devs should consider adding small features (that I cant imagine right now) that

would make the gearing up more fun, and would therefore affect every aspect of

the game (crafting, trading, leveling), since gear is present in almost everything

you do in an MMO.

Even though I only play it casually, Path of Exile really surprised me with the way it

treats gear (and leveling). Some of the elements in the game remind me of final

fantasy games, such as the talent tree and the item socketing. But what I loved the

most about it was how you would waste gear much less frequently than in most

games. Sure you will still vendor a lot of stuff but much will be saved for later,

especially if you are playing in the hardcore leagues where you can have your

character removed from that league but the stashed gear will be saved. I dont

wanna make you read too much about other games; just consider the fact thatthere are great possibilities out there.

Well, thats it. Now I would really like to hear some opinions from other players

and maybe some word from the Devs.

In case you consider yourself inexperienced in games, heres a list of some you can

play to learn more and to pass the time until you get your beta xD. (games arent

all RPGs and wont be separated by date or category; each comma introduces a

new game or series of games):

. Games that tend to the sandbox style: Farcry 3, all games in the Elder Scrolls

series, all games in the Fallout series, minecraft, dont starve, EVE online, Dark

Souls, Ultima Online (and most first generation MMOs), Assassins Creed series

(sort of some are more linear than others and the optional missions are what

gives it a sandbox-like feeling).

. Games that tend to the more linear style: Star Wars: Knights of The Old Republic I

and II, Metal Gear Solid series, Diablo series, Starcraft series (the campaigns),

Warcraft series (the campaigns), Torchlight I and II, Path of Exile, any Final Fantasy

game (actually, most games from Square Enix are worth it), Kingdom Hearts series,

Assassins Creed series (some of the games, likethe first one), most second

generation MMOs (such as World of Warcraft, Rift, Aion, Tera, Lineage 1 and 2,

Everquest), some older multiplayer RPGs such as Mu Online and Ragnarok Online.

Thank you for reading through such a big post. Please, comment on everything,

from the main suggestions to the games that I indicated anything. And

remember, my intention is to contribute to this game be it through my opinions or

through the discussion generated by them. I know you love Wildstar as much as I


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do (or you wouldnt have read all that for sure), so lets do what we can as players.

See you in the comments! :D

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Linearity Suggestion