Tribal goals/motivators - World Wonders!

[teriyaki]

Tribal goals/motivators - World Wonders!

Here's a simple idea with potentially pretty huge consequences:

The way I see Xsyon right now is that what we have here is some pretty nifty sandbox environment that is very well thought out at the micro level. However there is this problem of the overarching player motivation which is not really clear... What are we striving for as players and tribes?

The devs made it pretty clear that this is not to be a PvP-oriented game. There is PvP in Xyson but it is not the point of it. So what is the point of the game if it is not "crush your enemy and see them driven before you?"

Imo if this game is craft-centric then there should be some massive tribal crafting goals that can be competed for. My suggestion is to introduce World Wonders - unique structures that require enormous amounts of resources and provide bragging rights and/or maybe some material benefits (like special weapons, armor, clothes...). Those structures would be unique, one of a kind per server, akin to what you have in Civilization basically... and you could put in some maintenance resource requirements to keep the tribe busy even after completing them.

In addition to providing builders/crafters with something to do this would give PvP-ers clear and constructive roles in their tribes thus releasing them from the stigma of being "gankers". PvP-ers could either protect valuable resources needed for wonder construction, go sabotage other tribes efforts at making that same wonder or simply steal stuff from competition in order to make the thing grow faster.

Your thoughts?

(p.s. just a side note - i'm not suggesting that those wonders should be "the" goal of the game, but just one of the possible things to go for as a tribe. Just like in Civilization where there are many ways to increase your civilization score so imo there should be many different big things to strive for even in a mmo sandbox like Xsyon. Some tribes might go the World Wonder route to make a name for themselves while others might go conquering others etc...)

One more thing - this would actually have a pretty huge impact on PvP. With this you could have a pretty lively PvP game even if you retained safe tribal zones. Imo the biggest problem of Xsyon's PvP at the moment is lack of motivation - why do you attack the other guy? Just because? That sucks imo and stinks of ganking. World Wonders would make each resource area a battlefield with gatherers trying to collect the mats under attacks from competing tribes warriors. You wouldn't even need to introduce sieging mechanics in order to have loads of PvP. Imo "burn other tribes tepee" is just one of the possible PvP motivators and a pretty shallow one at that.

This would give a POSITIVE motive for PvP - "we're building something!" rather than a negative "lets ruin the other guys' day" with an added bonus that small-scale PvP now becomes viable. Siege-oriented PvP games tend to cause zergs - everybody bunches up at one spot trying to outnumber the other... and they're all warriors with crafters staying home twiddling their thumbs. With resource-motivated PvP you'd have more of a guerilla, indian-style actually ( ) kind of warfare with small, diversely composed bands clashing constantly.

(soz for double post in another section.. realized just now this would be a better place to post it)

[thurgond]

I keep telling my tribe I want them to build me a giant step pyramid with a chief's tent on top and a lot of little huts down below. All they want to talk about is a scrap metal badger to leave outside the local French village.

Ravelli

[wolfmoonstrike]

I think this is a brilliant idea. I think World Wonders should give a boost to the tribe somehow. In fact I think you should have your tribe make a World Wonder before it is actually called a "World Wonder" then you petition a guide and ask if it fits the requirements to be a World Wonder. If it does fit the reqs then they turn it in to an Official World Wonder (turn on the effects) and declare that another cannot be turned into a World Wonder. So in other words if you are the first to make a really giant Pyramid, other can still make a Pyramid but it can't be turned into a World Wonder.

I think a couple of the requirements should be:
Is it unique?
Does it inspire Awe? (Doesn't necessarily have to be big)

That's my thoughts anyway. I really like this suggestion though because it would make tribes each have a Unique flavor and strive for such a flavor. Add PvP purpose and if they added benefits to having a World Wonder (like hunger decays slower or strength is boosted, ect.) for the whole tribe I think that would stop people trying to land grab with homesteads even though they are with a certain tribe.

[mcdowellbri]

Maybe as an idea for the future after we get our feet off the ground. But lets face it, at launch were gonna be struggling to make things with scrap metal and sticks, i really dont think a massive public works project is in our immediate future.

[Toxic]

It would kind of be like how Rome was. The Romans build a magnificent city, they keep for a couple hundred years, then they get invaded and taken over and Rome changes hands every so often and its just a constant fight for the wondrous city of Rome. That's how I picture it will be.

[boomer0901]

I like the idea of wonders, maybe not at the start granted, but down the line could be an interesting idea, maybe a unique recipe found at a random spot and it can only be built once and only once and if it's destroyed it's gone forever. And maybe limit the number of these world wonders to say 3, and if one gets destroyed than another recipes is set into the playing field for someone to find and build at some point.

[savageasf]

I keep telling my tribe I want them to build me a giant step pyramid with a chief's tent on top and a lot of little huts down below. All they want to talk about is a scrap metal badger to leave outside the local French village.

Ravelli

dude! i have the same Idea, but I want to build a series of them around the lake to act as central hubs for commerce and socializing