PvE Content

[Goose1009]

Hey guys, I did a search, but frankly its too broad of a subject to come up with much.

So what kind of PVE content is there going to be? Is there going to be more to it than "Goblin tribe A has shown up near our Hex, lets exterminate them."? Is there going to be any context to any of it? For myself, Pathfinder has always been about the personal story and journey of the PC's. It could be rescuing a damsel from a tribe of orcs or recovering a lost artifact from some tomb or really anything you can think of. But all of it had context. I never told the party, "There are Goblins over there, you should go murder them".

Or are we going to be responsible for coming up with our own Context? Such as: Goblin tribe A has shown up nearby, I hear they have been attacking caravans and ran off with the kings prized war horn, we should recover it for him. I'm sure we would be handsomely rewarded.

Admittedly i'm new to Sandbox MMO's (SWG really the only one i played) so its quite possible that 99% of the population could care less about it, but I was curious so hopefully someone here is able to educate me on the matter.

[Dakcenturi]

Most PvE content is going to be player generated, wars, player events, etc.

Like you mentioned there will be an escalation system where mosters are going to grow in regions and cause problems and need to be dealt with.

There will also be dungeons, but there are limited details on what exactly that will entail.

Also, they've mentioned FAR down the rode they are planning on doing modules that you can run through.

[Being]

Mostly we come up with our own content using tools the developers will build for that purpose.

There are to be some PvE/themepark features like setpiece dungeons we can discover (and a superdungeon that should as if it will be fantastic) but by and large count on making up your story as you go along.

There will also be light-weight PvE near settlements to reduce the threat of hostile mobs before they evolve/escalate into heavyweight PvE.

[Soldack Keldonson]

If it is player generated it is PvP content unless they are goign to allow us to design PvE dungeons and such

[Being]

Soldack Keldonson wrote:

If it is player generated it is PvP content unless they are goign to allow us to design PvE dungeons and such

Not true.

While they have said player created dungeons are desired that will be a ways down the road and only if workable.

PvP will not constitute all player developed content, although it will be a big source when wars are being waged. Example: what if I place a treasure map in a chest in a cave you discover, and the treasure is actually where the map says it is?

[Soldack Keldonson]

I expect Player generated "content" to focus on resource acquisition.

Almost all equipment will player crafted...

1) So players must go find the resources battling PvE to locate and harvest.
2) Other players will want those resources so they must protect them from other players
3) settlement will arise near and even on top of the best resource areas
4) these settlements will need protecting from PvE
5) other players want the location of the settlement...so PvP over it
6) The high end player crafters will probably be forced to construct there crafting stations out of the safe zones by a game mechanic so settlements will protect the crafters and the resource locations
7) As various resources will require diverse locations, multiple settlements will be required which can be banded together to form player kingdoms that will need protecting from PvE and PvP.

I am about to post about Birmingham, Alabama in relation to this...

[Sebastian Hirsch]

I hope, that therer will be enough chances for the occasional adventuring... until the bad guys are strong enough to field armies of trolls (in full plates).Incidently I love my Kingmaker game^^

[Being]

...all we need to do is convince GW to make persistent containers like chests that can hold such a map, and a way to generate an X on a map to put in the first chest, and also a chest container that will persist that can hold stuff we put in it to leave at wherever we generate the X for the map. Then carry the map chest to wherever we want it to be found. Then maybe leave a note to the map chest on a table at the inn.

Then watch as they go through the stafges of curiosity, suspicion, gathering friends for protection, and then setting out on and adventure I created.

Might even get them to make those chests lockable and even trappable.

Then we can buy said chests and mapmaker (one use each) with selectable versions (lockable, skill levelled lock, trappable, type of trap, trap level all adding to the price) on the Goblin Store in-game for real money.

Of course, if the trap is lethal grade I would want a PK-flag waiver with it ;)

[Imbicatus]

Also it seems like some of the PvE experience wil be triggered indirectly by player actions.

The negiboring settlement is working on creating undead? You may have to defend your settlement from a zombie horde that was attracted by the necromatic energy. An explorer stumbles upon a dragon lair and steals the treasure without killing the dragon? Guess who has to deal with burned crops now?

The environment is persistant, so anything a player does will have ripples that affect the PvE content of everyone else.

[Soldack Keldonson]

Being wrote:

Example: what if I place a treasure map in a chest in a cave you discover, and the treasure is actually where the map says it is?

Being, you are describing very isolated "role-playing" type "content" that is extremely too limited to be described as "part of the game"

Your example is one treasure map for hopefully tens of thousands of players. Player generated contented would be an app that allows players to design a treasure map that spawns for each player int he game. Until there are apps that allow players to add content accessible to all the players in the game, its not player generated content, its just a guy role playing with a few others...

What will be accessible to others is the resources need to obtain the best gear in the game which allows the best combatants to slay the best mobs or makes the most defensible structures or the best siege engines...etc....so player generated "content" will be the drama that is associated with the struggle for resources. Until they give us apps to design PvE content for others...

[Being]

If ten thousand players are each creating such content it will be no small thing, Soldack.

[Soldack Keldonson]

Being wrote:

...all we need to do is convince GW to make persistent containers like chests that can hold such a map, and a way to generate an X on a map to put in the first chest, and also a chest container that will persist that can hold stuff we put in it to leave at wherever we generate the X for the map. Then carry the map chest to wherever we want it to be found. Then maybe leave a note to the map chest on a table at the inn.

Then watch as they go through the stafges of curiosity, suspicion, gathering friends for protection, and then setting out on and adventure I created.

Might even get them to make those chests lockable and even trappable.

Then we can buy said chests and mapmaker (one use each) with selectable versions (lockable, skill levelled lock, trappable, type of trap, trap level all adding to the price) on the Goblin Store in-game for real money.

Of course, if the trap is lethal grade I would want a PK-flag waiver with it ;)

Being now I agree with you. This would be player generated PvE content, but nothing like this has been proposed yet by a GW person that I have seen.

I love your idea!

[Being]

proposing out-of-the-box ideas (see what I did there?) is part of crowdforging I think!

[Valandur]

Check this thread out, it's got links to many developer posts on a variety of topics. Link

If you haven't heard about escalations, the Devs have a plan they term escalation. Basically they plan on having mobs that if left alone will grow in size until they begin spilling over into adjacent hexes threatening players and even settlements. Another thing that's been mentioned are the different ways mobs can be dealt with. For example, say a group of goblins pops up in the next hex from your settlement. You happen to come across the band and have a number of choics in how to deal with them. Here is a clip of one interview with a GW Dev where he explains this..

Quote:

Mark: Well, yeah, again, we really want your actions to be persistent, and I think that’s the big advantage of this type of game, is that we’re trying to make sure you make a real impact on the world at all times. So if you kill that orc chieftain, the orc chieftain is dead, and you’re going to drive the orcs out of that area.

We’re still evolving the system, but we do want a system by which all the monster factions have their own agenda. The orc horde is trying to do something, they’re trying to invade the settlement or invade the territory, and you either enlist that captain or you beat him back or you do whatever, but you actually progress essentially a story that relates to those orcs in your hex.

So people that prefer to play PvE will be desired, even encouraged to join settlements to keep these escalations in check or beat them back if they threaten a settlement or its inhabitants.

Then there are dungeons whos locations appear in random places.

A more traditional quest type system is going to be implemented in the form of player to player contracts. Using these a player can accept a contract to find, harvest and deliver specific items like resources needed by crafters, or delivery missions transporting goods from one settlement to another. Even bounties on players will be possible using the contract system.

Those are some of the PvE elements the Devs plan on having within PFO. I'm sure there are more ideas in the works but that gives you an idea of what to expect.

Edit: a lot of what I'm saying has been covered by other posters above. These guys are fast! Lol

[Soldack Keldonson]

I hope there is something like the civilization computer game where if an area is unexplored or there is no current vision in the area, a bandit settlement will appear and start sending out raiding parties.

[Valandur]

Soldack Keldonson wrote:

I hope there is something like the civilization computer game where if an area is unexplored or there is no current vision in the area, a bandit settlement will appear and start sending out raiding parties.

That's pretty much what they are planning. Here's a link to a video on the topic. Escalations

[AvenaOats]

Adventure in the River Kingdoms for PvE discussion eg Out of Adventure, Explorations, Development, Dominion - the Adventure content seems to apply to eg a party of adventurers exploring a dungeon. etc.
Where the Wild Things Are for Dungeons and mobs
Designing Thornkeep gives a taste of some of the lore
Live Through This for NPC Alliances

As Valandur says the core interaction of quest content is replaced by Contracts.

See Valandur link above for Escalations.

==

That all said, PvE dev content is the realm of themepark mmorpgs: it's very expensive and takes a lot of resources to make. As already said, player-player interaction is intended to be the key.

The other take-home I believe, is that PvP + PvE cross-feed into each other. You're not hacking goblins for nothing: You might be opening traffic routes or harvesting resources for the economy or finding dungeons for similar reasons (context) as well as the content.

[Valandur]

AvenaOats wrote:

Adventure in the River Kingdoms for PvE discussion eg Out of Adventure, Explorations, Development, Dominion - the Adventure content seems to apply to eg a party of adventurers exploring a dungeon. etc.

Where the Wild Things Are for Dungeons and mobs
Designing Thornkeep gives a taste of some of the lore
Live Through This for NPC Alliances

As Valandur says the core interaction of quest content is replaced by Contracts.

See Valandur link above for Escalations.

==

That all said, PvE dev content is the realm of themepark mmorpgs: it's very expensive and takes a lot of resources to make. As already said, player-player interaction is intended to be the key.

The other take-home I believe, is that PvP + PvE cross-feed into each other. You're not hacking goblins for nothing: You might be opening traffic routes or harvesting resources for the economy or finding dungeons for similar reasons (context) as well as the content.

Oh nice, thanks for posting these AvenaOats! :) going to bookmark these for sure.

[Goose1009]

That Where the Wild Things Are post is what i wanted to hear. I hope there is enough of it out there for those of us who arent big into crafting/gathering.

[Jiminy]

Of course, as PCs open up the wilderness areas and populate them, those poor displaced Orcs and Goblins will e forced out - which means they have to go somewhere. Roaming bands of Golbins, a host of Orcs, all pushing into other PC areas will generate content. I'm sure they will build small settlements for PCs to raid, or inhabit caves or ruins to make mini-dungeons.