In a set and forget ecology, could every mob in game, with the exception of set encounters, be given its own progression clock?
In an interactive environment where AI mobs have their own agro tables etc. and can attack each other (as we've seen in other games), can the victorous mob get a tiny bit more skilled? Over time, some mobs will become dominant in a given area and perhaps gain a following of lesser mobs, depending on their disposition.
This would give a dynamic evolution to the world where if a given "minor boss" is taken out by a player, rather than a flat respawn, you have natural competition decide who rises to the top and what shape that area takes over time.
Once a given mob reaches a certain degree of power, its notariety could spread into romours in nearby towns, or bounty quests etc.
Just throwing the idea out there.
For a completely sandbox game this would be a really cool way to build your world.
In Pantheon tho I would rather they stick to a more traditional approach to mobs.
I would play a game like this no doubt... Kind of like Ryzom except more up to date.
I like the idea of opposite faction mobs being able to attack eachother and I used to really enjoy training the Froglock King to the Undead side for some carnage lol.
As far as totally dynamic mobs that can level and attract followers I'm thinking you would have to design the game like this from scratch and not just shoehorn it into an existing idea.
Still would love to see a modern take on this blown up to the max with a fully dynamic mob system.
Thanks for reading,
Kiz~
RandomCarnage said:In a set and forget ecology, could every mob in game, with the exception of set encounters, be given its own progression clock?
In an interactive environment where AI mobs have their own agro tables etc. and can attack each other (as we've seen in other games), can the victorous mob get a tiny bit more skilled? Over time, some mobs will become dominant in a given area and perhaps gain a following of lesser mobs, depending on their disposition.
This would give a dynamic evolution to the world where if a given "minor boss" is taken out by a player, rather than a flat respawn, you have natural competition decide who rises to the top and what shape that area takes over time.
Once a given mob reaches a certain degree of power, its notariety could spread into romours in nearby towns, or bounty quests etc.
Just throwing the idea out there.
Excellent idea. A remote Orc stronghold near to some Gnolls or Goblins having low level conflicts and 1 lucky Orc always seems to survive and, unbeknownst to you as your group shows up he's now lvl 12 instead of lvl 8 like all his compatriots. Brilliant.
We used to accomplish something similar back in EQ1 where we'd get our enchanter to charm an Orc, then I'd buff it with high level shaman spells, hand it some nice weapons, druid would put a huge damage shield on it then we'd all gate out. The screams could be heard across zone lines.
I like it - especially if a town scrier or tavern etc. started talking about "Rumors of a growing gnoll threat."
I don't want to see generic kill quests being implemented, even though, I like the idea of dynamic bounties, but, maybe a small faction boost for the city would be appropriate - or two free mugs of dwarven ale courtesy of the Tavern that discussed the threat. It also would give a reason for players to venture to some of the lesser traveled zones if mobs became almost mini-bosses or named and would have a different loot table.
I'm not sure how that could be determined though/or how the idea could be implemented effectively - but I like it, and it makes me think of how EQ had the wide range of mob levels such as the Griffin and Orc Pawn in the same zone. I'm all for anything that adds to the danger in the world.
The developers of Darkfall said they would have that exact system back in the early 2000s. They said if mobs were left alone, they would create little camps and that those camps would become forts and so forth. The stronger the camps became, the greater the chance that stronger mobs would spawn including named. That of course never happened. Was a cool idea though.
I like this! EQ had some of this going on in the Luclin expansion, and I always thought it was cool (though sadly it was pretty buggy at times). I don't know if I agree that it should be the norm per se, but it would be awesome if it could exist in some zones. I really like the idea of diverse zones, and not just "got here for orcs. Now go here for gnolls" in every zone the way some games do now. (Though obviously there should be 'home bases' of sorts for the various mobs)
Also it would be cool if, in addition to gaining ability, the mobs "honed" their weapons/gear over time, which made them a bit harder, but also made the loot better. So that way, if you're going to camp a zone and farm, you get some "ok" loot several times in a row, but if you let the zone alone for a while, the named mobs are a bit tougher, but also drop gear with slightly better stats as a result. It could encourage people to go out and do other things instead of farming, but would also not restrict people from farming if that's what they want to do. Also, if you got a "lower" version of the gear, maybe there's an extra quest you could do (or pass off to a smith) to make it the same as the "better" version the "advanced" mob would give you by default, giving alternative means of acquiring the same gear depending on your gameplay.