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  1. #1

    Tribal goals/motivators - World Wonders!

    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)

  2. #2
    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

  3. 02-24-2011, 09:16 PM

  4. #3
    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.

  5. #4
    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.

  6. #5
    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.

  7. #6
    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.

  8. #7
    Sounds great, us pvpers would love to go sabotage the world wonder efforts of another clan!

  9. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by boomer0901 View Post
    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.
    Hmm.. Well imo World Wonders would play a very specific high-level function in the game - that of giving a set of competetive goals for the tribes that would go beyond the standard "burn other tribes totem pole to the ground".

    In order to perform that function the ability to start construction on those wonders shouldn't be exclusive.. but Wonders themselves imo should definitely be unique.

    So after some thought here's my "Wonder Ruleset" proposition:

    1) There is a set number of Wonders. Say 7. They can be stuff like "World Chief's Tepee" (an absolutely huge tepee) "The Henge" (a ring of huge boulders), "The Mound" (a large burial mound) The Tower of Fire (stone tower with fire on top) etc etc, all in style with the megalithic/stone-age tech level we're in right now.

    2) Any tribe can start building any world wonder - the only requirement would be to have a high level architect.

    3) Wonders are built in stages that require different types of resources - Say, for the Henge you'd have first stage where you "build rocks" - a LOT of granite. Then you'd have putting up the vertical rocks - a lot of wood and rope for scaffolding. Then you'd need to put in dirt to bury the stuff in earth so you can roll over and position the horizontal rocks.. (that's the latest theory how those megalithic structures were built) In any case, building a Wonder would require stupendous amounts of resources and only the biggest or the smartest tribes would have a chance at finishing them.

    4) There can be only ONE instance of a given World Wonder per server - there can be only one Mound or only one Henge. Once it is built all other attempts at building the same wonder stop and cannot be improved further. (Simply destroying them would be too cruel I imagine.. and besides leaving them there unfinished would be a good incentive for the competing tribe to attempt to do something about it.. )

    5) Wonders would give their tribes some tangible advantage - better respawn rates for animals, decreased decay rates.. or something more fun like access to exclusive recipes for the crafters.

    6) Wonders decay and can be attacked and destroyed by other tribes thus clearing the way for someone else to attempt to build it again.

    That's pretty much it, what do you think?

  10. #9
    it's a sandbox game and that's not sand!

    please no Darkfall wonders!

  11. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by KeithStone View Post
    it's a sandbox game and that's not sand!

    please no Darkfall wonders!
    Lol I didn't know Darkfall has wonders.. Played that game at release and never looked back really.

    Why shouldn't this be "sand"?

    If a game is sandbox that doesn't mean that there can't be a range of goals presented to players to choose from. Themeparks usually give One Goal to the players and World Wonders wouldn't be The Goal of the game. You can still have "burn everybody" if you like.. or just "let me build my garden" or whatever additional goals the devs might decide to present to tribes (tribe titles?). World Wonders would be just one of the possible goals a tribe could go for.

    Also I remember reading that there are titles planed for Xsyon.. These are also goals that individual players can strive for if they wish to do so. Why shouldn't there be such goals for tribes?

    While one guy's goal is to achieve some rare title anothers might be to become a master craftsman or something. No one is forcing anyone to go any route he doesn't want. Imo a good sandbox should present the players with a range of goals to choose from but not force them to take any. These goals might be presented directly by the devs (say titles) or these goals may stem from the game mechanics themselves (becoming a master craftsman).

    Imo the World Wonders feature would give a good set of objectives for a tribe to aspire to and it would do it in away that would utilize all of the tribes functions and members - gathering, crafting, trading, PvP both offensive and defensive as well as organization to bind it all together.

    Lol, look at A Tale in the Desert... It's a sandbox, non-pvp game which is all about building and crafting goals.. That game would be completely boring and pointless without those.

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