I always wanted more threads related to my choices when I made my main character in CoX.

I made this meticulous background about being a Tech hero with Nanites, etc etc but it never seemed to matter.

Allowing a few missions every X levels or even every level with unique contacts would be great.

Tech hero? Go to XYZ an speak to Bob about missions every other level in addition to general missions.

A Mind control powerset user? Talk to Jenny from the Block about something related to X group's use of mind control (who better to solve a mystery or confirm someone was mind controlled than a mind controller?)

Even non-combat missions to do experiments that might result in nice power-ups or gear if successful.

Nifty idea; I want to ensure that I am understanding you correctly. in DCUO, power origins mattered, to some degree. It was directly correlated to your mentor, missions, and gear vendors, etc. It would be cool if origins were a key aspect of your avatar.

Essentially, yes a main storyline series anyone can access and a secondary series based on origin as well as a series accessible through power choice, usually smaller rewards akin to "side quests" you might get some places. Something where you pick up a mission to say "Rip apart rogue robots with your super strength" and return with the scrap drops to the vendor.

Potentially even tie it into crafting so that people have crafting defined by their powers to some degree and by whatever "school" of crafting they choose as well. (I wish I could just whisper in the ear of whoever is whiteboarding/designing crafting in this game and see what they're planning. I've written so much about it in other games it's become my obsession.)

I've always felt having everyone being a mountain to themselves is part of what makes CO so boring for me. Who needs a team if everything but the end game content can be solo'd.

I still remember leading Hamidon raids on Virtue in CoX with my bubbles up and hovering around targeting for the crowd. Those were great times! But teaming through story content because of a tough boss or a huge bonus to XP was great as well.

Origin missions should be completely solo-able at all times but it'd be cool if there were some collection aspect (story arc accolades etc) that encouraged people to team through them with others in addition to somewhat unique storys they wouldn't have access to otherwise.

That would result in plenty of soloable content with the exception of maybe story arc "mid-arc" mini-boss missions and "finale" boss missions.

I like, not sure if the "Thank you" button is the "Like" button though, lol.

The big problem with adding any mechanics tied into "origin" is that it can very easily pigeonhole people into certain lore-concepts since it's cost-prohibitive to code in that much freedom into such a system. Most of the time it won't allow for mixed/multiple origins.

No matter what you'll never offer enough flexibility in any game system to fully account for the range of origins and stories that people craft for their individual characters.

However, what you CAN do is create content that allows each character to have a unique playstyle AND story experience that will encourage players to make multiple characters of varying powersets not only for the powers but also for unique story experiences.

Superhero games I feel are uniquely suited to alt-aholics more so than any other genre of MMO. Providing even a minor variation to look forward to as one levels multiple characters will really encourage alts and teaming for those that don't plan on having a couple dozen alts.

Example: In the Marvel universe you come across this strange goop that seems to have a very science-y mystery going on. You don't call Doctor Strange you call Peter Parker, Reed Richards, etc.

If you have a strange artifact you call Doctor Strange and maybe Iron Fist or other people with mystical origins.

These missions wouldn't say to a Science hero for instance: "You have nanites in your body, so you should be interested in this." more along the lines of "I hear you have experience with advanced technology"

You're the embodiment of the Egyptian God Thoth, no one is going to call you and say "You believe in Cthulhu so this is right up your alley." Instead they'd say, "I sensed a strong connection to mystical forces with you. I may have a job for you."

It's perfectly fine having branching content that's based upon your own choices but if I read you correctly it looks like you want to essentially gate/restrict certain content based upon choices done during character creation. Having to make on alt for each such choice or possibly even combination of choices at character creation is stupid imo.

Personally I would rather have a system where you can choose to either investigate it yourself (if you or sidekick/benefactor/"support team" have enough aptitude in that area) or do a few extra missions for someone else who then investigates it for you.

Like anything directly related to a player choice in a game it would still be available via teaming and nothing epic would occur in these missions.

Many games offer branching options some of which some players never see unless they team.

And there is always people who like to solo the game.

I can´t understand people who want to play a MMO alone (?) but they should be considered imo.

I totally agree. But then there are games like SWTOR that have massive expansive campaigns with some crossover for each archetype.

What I'm suggesting are minor and occasional missions that would add a little spice. These could even be missions that automatically scale with level and they all become available to your character after you hit max level since you have such a reputation that everyone thinks you can handle anything.

This isn't really about Soloing its about providing some unique experience each time the same person creates a new character. This encourages people to create new characters after they've maxxed one out and they have something new to look forward to each time.

Those people are the ones that pay for games. You can get Bob with one character he only ever plays. He will come and go as content gets updated and maybe buy a couple costume pieces he thinks fit his character.

Or you have Bill who is driven to experience everything in the game with multiple characters who buys multiple costumes for each of them and is almost always a regular in the game.

There is something to be said for not giving everything to everyone all the time. If they don't want to team they can create new characters and experience this small sliver of content independently.

Well, MMOs are just like any other game. Some may like the game itself, but it happens to be an MMO. The only reason i played XI, was due to the Final fantasy brand. I was a fan of the genre, RPGs and XI just so happens to be online.

Massively multiplayer online game does not mean you have to play with others. In most MMOs, you start off the game with who? Pretty much you and your lonesome, you can play alone, just like any other multiplayer game, such a Marvel Ultimate Alliance, Tekken Tag Tournament or Gauntlet, etc. You can play/beat those games alone, but the multiplayer aspect is merely an option.

In VO, multiplayer should be an option, akin to DCUO. In DCUO, you can solo your gear tiers, slowly, but it can be done. Multiplayer is just faster, but of course you need players for raids.

TheCity wrote:
That´s the point. You CAN solo it but you NEED a team for the raids. So you need others for the full experience.
Don´t get me wrong, I like it. I´m planning to team up with other heroes at day one (if possible)

blacke4dawn wrote:
there is a way to prevent this... if all but class specific quest was shareable then you can go anywhere and group with anyone which can share the quest and grant the same rewards for helping out. if they come out with a communicator to talk to contacts for quest turn ins they won't have to travel to the quest NPC and if they have an item reward it can be sent using the in game mail system so they just have to check their mailbox to get their reward.

I love the idea of every class having their own personal gaming experience not only does it promote a longer play time as you can play each class and not have the same quest but it will offer more reason to group to get more quest and keep the area clustering down. They can even add a looking for group matching system so people can look for help and when you accept it teleports you to the leader of the group that started the looking for group search.

Gerald Deemer wrote:
Me! I will group up occasionally and especially with family, but in a lot of MMOs (going back to UO) I will often solo. Just venture out and do my own thing. It's nice to play in a living world with other live people, but still have the option of playing among, instead of strictly with, those people.

Dragnmastralex wrote:
I agree with this strongly. Part of what made CoH and GW2 so attractive to me was the feeling of a personal story driven by Missions and Contacts related to my character. In both games the connection was superficial, but it still helped to make me feel like the hero of the game. In a game about superheroes... well...

I think it's easy to create a starting point for players based upon their origins, and let them grow from there without worry of constraint. Starting mission contacts relate to your origin and/or power set, and then slowly merge into more and more universal missions/contacts. I feel like CoH did this pretty well actually.