DEV QUESTION: Groups and Missions

[JacobFlowers]

I read here: http://forums.startrekonline.com/showthread.php?t=14535

That missions will be given from "Central Command." I have an idea which I am not sure is implementable, but first I must give a primer before.

One of the HUGEST problems in many MMOs today is Grouping. When you are given a group question/mission from an NPC with a nice reward, it is extremely inconvenient trying to put a group together.

My recommendation (and how awesome would this be):

A live dynamic group mission generator. And what I mean is this. When the time comes for a group quest the server queries for who is available for that quest and in your starships vicinity. And so from central command you receive this:

Captain _____, you are ordered to proceed to sector xxxx and rendezvous with the USS Triton, Solaria, and Edmonton and await further instructions. There is an unidentified ship that has entered federation space and is not responding to hails from a nearby listening post.

And this Mission from central command will be sent to three LIVE players either in your Fleet, or in Star Fleet in general. If one player declines the mission, then Central Command automatically finds another Starship to report for duty.

Also, if we could interact with our NPCs a little more, that would be great, like having a choice of responses to give Central command, with varying reactions. This would be a lot more content work, but would make the game far richer.

[knightofhyrule730]

Doubtful. Games cant force you to group with people you may not like, etc. If you don't want to group people you have your bridge crew with you.

[indigowhale345]

I think its a very good idea, although it has some problems. Namely, people flying around space generally do so for a reason. So people going from A to B aren't going to want to have a random quest interrupt them, most times. People also aren't going to want to stand around and wait for a random mission. But at the same time the sudden and unexpected mission is what makes it interesting.

I think what they could do is take a page from Tabula Rasa and modify it a bit. TR had a few missions which would be zone wide events. In one there was a predator patrol that would fly around the map, and everyone in the map got the mission to take out the patrol. The first group to do so got the reward. And it could also fail, as the objective was to stop the patrol from making its full patrol, so if it completed the run then no one got the reward. Another mission started when in another zone, a group of bosses spawned, high ranking generals or something, and another call went out to take those generals out.

I think in STO they could do something similar, and have sudden location based missions, maybe even procedurally generated ones that take a look at the location and generate a scenario, say if there is a nebula nearby, there might be a taco freighter stuck or hiding in it, or if there was a planet it could be under attack perhaps, and then it offers a mission to everyone in the sector or nearby sectors. It should encourage those who want to go after it to group up, and everyone else can ignore it and go on their way.

[JacobFlowers]

Doubtful. Games cant force you to group with people you may not like, etc. If you don't want to group people you have your bridge crew with you.

Well, I as i suggested before, you can opt out of missions, for perhaps for a penalty. I mean let's face it, this is the federation and starfleet. And as for being grouped with people you do not like... to bad. Again, its starfleet and the Federation. We are bound more so by our regulations and duties than our personal preferences.

Now opting out of missions for my proposal would be done in various different ways. For example, perhaps your ship is in no condition to fight because you just had a run in with rebel Betazoids. Ok, Central command understands. You could opt out for no reason because you'd simply rather continue mining.

One thing that WoW has that was poorly done was their chat channels. One of which they have described as "Local Defense" of which no one uses. I would recommend this feature be more automated, for example if enemy players or NPCs from another faction venture into our area of space, Central Command could alert us and ask us to intercept if we are disposed to do so.

[JacobFlowers]

I think its a very good idea, although it has some problems. Namely, people flying around space generally do so for a reason. So people going from A to B aren't going to want to have a random quest interrupt them, most times. People also aren't going to want to stand around and wait for a random mission. But at the same time the sudden and unexpected mission is what makes it interesting.

I think what they could do is take a page from Tabula Rasa and modify it a bit. TR had a few missions which would be zone wide events. In one there was a predator patrol that would fly around the map, and everyone in the map got the mission to take out the patrol. The first group to do so got the reward. And it could also fail, as the objective was to stop the patrol from making its full patrol, so if it completed the run then no one got the reward. Another mission started when in another zone, a group of bosses spawned, high ranking generals or something, and another call went out to take those generals out.

I think in STO they could do something similar, and have sudden location based missions, maybe even procedurally generated ones that take a look at the location and generate a scenario, say if there is a nebula nearby, there might be a taco freighter stuck or hiding in it, or if there was a planet it could be under attack perhaps, and then it offers a mission to everyone in the sector or nearby sectors. It should encourage those who want to go after it to group up, and everyone else can ignore it and go on their way.

Captain Bob, i think that very well may be officer thinking right there. That is a pretty good idea. Randomly generated missions such as that could be very very stimulating and add a level of excitement. I think this approach would be nice.

I do however still also think that it would be nice to have auto groups generated on occasion by central command which would force you to work with and meet other people, as is typical in the normal ST Universe.

[osena]

Captain _____, you are ordered to proceed to sector xxxx and rendezvous with the USS Triton, Solaria, and Edmonton

i like that Idea but IF the USS Triton Solaria And Edmonton tear one ships like Nova class ships and the player that is in that zone is in lets say a Sovereign he is more then likey gonn luagh and hit warp 9.99

its fine idea indeed but alot of players would not waste the time to help low level players

but me if am curiseing across the Nutrul zone and some one is and i get distress call am going in to interceptor mode that is how i roll i like batteling and i enjoy fiar fight

And if i lose my ship there all ways more letters in the Alphabet

[JacobFlowers]

Captain _____, you are ordered to proceed to sector xxxx and rendezvous with the USS Triton, Solaria, and Edmonton

i like that Idea but IF the USS Triton Solaria And Edmonton tear one ships like Nova class ships and the player that is in that zone is in lets say a Sovereign he is more then likey gonn luagh and hit warp 9.99

its fine idea indeed but alot of players would not waste the time to help low level players

but me if am curiseing across the Nutrul zone and some one is and i get distress call am going in to interceptor mode that is how i roll i like batteling and i enjoy fiar fight

And if i lose my ship there all ways more letters in the Alphabet

This is why I am not in favor of having a "leveling based system". I don't want levels, and I doubt many others do. Have a skill based where thus people have different strengths and such.

Is it ideal to have a level 68 Galaxy Class ship versus a level 12 saber class?

Or something more like an Experienced Captain, Legendary Crew, Trainee type scenario. If this were the case, then I think it would work.

Besides, I do not want the mentality of levels in this game. Have an elitist federation will not work. I would love to show up in my Sovereign class ship and see people in our proud starfleet ships even if they are smaller, or less experienced.

[osena]

This is why I am not in favor of having a "leveling based system". I don't want levels, and I doubt many others do. Have a skill based where thus people have different strengths and such.

Is it ideal to have a level 68 Galaxy Class ship versus a level 12 saber class?

Or something more like an Experienced Captain, Legendary Crew, Trainee type scenario. If this were the case, then I think it would work.

Besides, I do not want the mentality of levels in this game. Have an elitist federation will not work. I would love to show up in my Sovereign class ship and see people in our proud starfleet ships even if they are smaller, or less experienced.

i never said any thing about level wise laddy but i did say tear one ship plus the larger the ship the bigger the target it becomes your not gonn see a soverein on its lonesome its gonn be in foltilla id love to have one me self but i am more in favor of attack ships the defient class and promtheus but i get whit you are saying cryptic as done said there be no levels just tear ships looks like tear one to tear 3 snince scout and destroyer/battel ship but yeah you only see me in sovereign if i am leading the charge and am acting as flag ship

[JacobFlowers]

bump, anyone else have any thoughts?

[TruthSeer]

I'm really hoping they have a system like they had in Heroes. In City of Heroes they allowed you to share missions with your group. That way the entire group didn't have to have the same mission in order to get the benefits.

Very simple system and considering Cryptic's past I'm hoping it is same to assume (I know, I know) it'll be in STO.

[JacobFlowers]

I'm really hoping they have a system like they had in Heroes. In City of Heroes they allowed you to share missions with your group. That way the entire group didn't have to have the same mission in order to get the benefits.

Very simple system and considering Cryptic's past I'm hoping it is same to assume (I know, I know) it'll be in STO.

They have that feature in WoW and EVE as well, so this is not a new concept. What I proposed earlier is unique and could work given the Star Trek platform.

[knightofhyrule730]

Well, I as i suggested before, you can opt out of missions, for perhaps for a penalty. I mean let's face it, this is the federation and starfleet. And as for being grouped with people you do not like... to bad. Again, its starfleet and the Federation. We are bound more so by our regulations and duties than our personal preferences.

...............

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Thanks for the good laugh.

This isn't starfleet. its a game. If you penalize me for not wanting to play with someone who annoys me then you're going to have a lot of disgruntled players.

I could see using WoW's player finder system. but nothing more.

[JacobFlowers]

...............

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Thanks for the good laugh.

This isn't starfleet. its a game. If you penalize me for not wanting to play with someone who annoys me then you're going to have a lot of disgruntled players.

I could see using WoW's player finder system. but nothing more.

Perhaps you're thinking of penalties such as BANNING YOU FROM THE GAME or omgwtf type stuff. I'm still convinced that it would be a cool feature to add, and if people want to QQ about this, then perhaps let it be a small minuscule penalty to honor or something like that.

As for people who annoy you... maybe you annoy them :-P I bet if you and others made more of an effort to get along with others then our virtual world may be a better place :p